The Administrative Aptitude Test ended.
In the corridor outside the examination room, Johny Lee and Tony ran into each other.
Tony looked at him mockingly.
"That Aptitude Test was a bit harder than the national civil service exam last year.
You holding up okay?"
Johny looked back at him, unwilling to show weakness.
"You didn't fail, did you?"
"Me?
Fail?" Tony chucked, his face full of arrogance.
"Don't compare me to you.
Aside from two logic problems I might have hesitated on, and a few obscure general knowledge questions, I nailed it.
I calculated my odds before handing in the paper—my error rate won't exceed seven percent.
Heh. What about you?
On a difficult paper like this, you must have missed at least forty or fifty questions, right?"
Johny smiled, keeping his secret triumph hidden.
"Don't worry about me.
If you're fine, I'm fine."
"Stop acting tough." Tony sneered, clearly thinking Johny was bluffing to save face.
Having finished one exam, Johny felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
But the thought of the Essay Analysis exam in the afternoon gave him a headache all over again.
He didn't even feel like eating.
Maggi and Aunt Sue were waiting outside. Perhaps fearing they would add pressure, they didn't ask how the morning session went.
The group ate a quick lunch at a dumpling restaurant near the West Gate of No. 15 Middle School, and before they knew it, it was time for the afternoon session.
Returning to the exam site, Tony looked composed, radiating confidence.
"Good luck with the exam.
Don't fail too hard."
Although Johny had no confidence whatsoever in his essay writing, he still retorted stubbornly, "You too."
"Hmph!" Tony turned and marched into his classroom.
Policy Essay / Essay Analysis
Time: 2.5 hours (1:30 PM to 4:00 PM).
This section tested seven core abilities: reading comprehension, analytical judgment, problem identification, linguistic expression, stylistic writing, current affairs application, and administrative management.
The answers weren't multiple-choice; they were subjective, short essays requiring high flexibility and political savvy.
Johny was terrible at this.
Although Grandpa Hu had tutored him privately for a few days, giving him a slight improvement, it was ultimately last-minute cramming.
His foundation was too weak.
Originally, Johny's plan had been simple: if the morning Aptitude Test was easy, he would rely on his own brains for that and save his daily "BACK" usage to cheat on the Essay exam.
Since the morning test was multiple-choice, even guessing gave him a 25% chance.
But the Essay section? You couldn't guess your way through a written proposal.
It wasn't easy to fool.
However, plans never keep up with changes.
The morning test had been a disaster, forcing him to burn his "BACK" ability to copy Tony's answers.
That left him completely helpless for the afternoon.
What do I do?
If the difficulty of this exam was anything like the morning's, he was going to score a zero.
Is this the end?
Am I truly destined never to become an official?
1:00 PM.
Half an hour before the exam.
Sitting in Examination Room 026 and watching the second hand tick by, Johny keenly sensed the oppressive atmosphere in the classroom.
Everyone seemed demoralized by the brutal morning session.
Seriousness and gloom hung on every face.
Johny sighed nervously, patted his cheeks to wake himself up, and prayed to the heavens.
I don't need a high score.
I just need to not fail miserably.
If I can just get an average score, maybe my morning cheat sheet will carry me over the baseline.
Johny, oh Johny... you absolutely must perform beyond your usual level!
1:30 PM.
The exam began.
The moment he received the test booklet, Johny hurriedly flipped to the first question.
After reading through the reference materials and glancing at the prompt requirements, his heart sank like a stone. The paper was just as difficult as the morning session.
Johny read the entire text twice but still struggled to grasp the core issue, let alone how to draft a government-standard response.
He was completely lost!
This is bad!
I'm doomed!
He scribbled a haphazard answer for the first question, sweating profusely.
He gritted his teeth and looked at the second question.
> Prompt: "Our country's marine resources are abundant, but per capita ownership is low. The Bohai Sea is our country's largest inland sea and is extremely important to the Northeast economy..."
Suddenly, Johny let out a sound of surprise. He blinked, incredulous.
No way?
Why does this look so familiar?
He quickly looked at the third question.
> Prompt: "Regarding the uncivilized tourism behaviors of our citizens, write a recommendation to the Tourism Administrative Department. Requirements: the recommendation must be reasonable and feasible, clearly structured, and not exceed 400 characters..."
He froze completely.
"Huh?"
"What's wrong with you?" The invigilator looked over sternly.
"Do your own work, and keep it down!"
Johny quickly bowed his head. "Sorry, sorry."
He lowered his head to look at the paper again, confirming he hadn't misread it. Shock and delight battled for dominance in his brain.
He moved his gaze to the fourth question.
Oh my god!
Johny sucked in a cold breath.
He wanted to hammer his forehead with his fist to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
These are the questions?
These are the actual questions?
THESE ARE THE FUCKING QUESTIONS!?
Yes mother fuckers, i am so gonna pass!!
After asking himself three times, he still couldn't believe his eyes.
These were the exact topics Grandpa Hu had drilled into him over the last three days!
Realizing half an hour had already passed, Johny stopped thinking.
He picked up his pen and began writing furiously.
His memory was fresh.
The arguments, the structure, the specific phrases Grandpa Hu had recited—they flowed from his pen like running water, without a single stutter.
The invigilator's attention had been fixed on Johny, suspecting him of planning to cheat. He paced around and eventually stood behind Johny, glancing at the answer sheet.
After a few minutes, the invigilator's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the quality and speed of the writing.
He walked away, leaving Johny to his zone.
4:00 PM.
The final bell rang.
The invigilators packed up the submitted papers and sealed the bags.
As Johny was packing his bag to leave, the invigilator nodded at him approvingly and smiled.
Johny returned a stiff, awkward smile and walked out of the room like a zombie.
What was going on?
What exactly was going on?
On the playground, complaints poured in from all directions.
"Oh no, I'm finished this time.
The questions were insane."
"Yeah, the Aptitude Test was bad enough, but I didn't expect the Essay section to be a killer too.
Especially that tourism question—who knows how to write a government proposal for that?"
"I failed.
Sigh. Guess I'll take the exam again next year."
Nine out of ten people looked worried.
The slaughter had been universal.
Outside the school gate, Maggi and Sarah were waiting for him in the shade beneath a tree.
Aunt Sue was also with them; it looked like Tony hadn't come out yet.
Johny walked toward them, distracted.
Seeing his mother and Maggi opening their mouths to ask how it went, he suddenly raised his hand.
"Don't say anything yet.
Mom, Maggi... I have to go somewhere immediately.
It's extremely urgent.
You two head home first!"
Before Sarah and Maggi could react, Johny reached out and flagged down a taxi.
"Go fast " he told the driver, jumping in. "The Cancer Hospital, please.
Step on it!"
Beijing Cancer Hospital.
As soon as he entered the Comprehensive Oncology Ward, Johny froze.
Grandpa Hu's room was empty.
The bed was stripped, and his belongings were gone.
He grabbed a nurse passing by.
She checked her clipboard and told him the old man had been discharged last night—likely shortly after Johny had left him.
Johny immediately took out his phone.
He looked up the number Grandpa Hu had called him from days ago and dialed it.
A female voice answered robotically.
"Hello, Cancer Hospital Inpatient Department."
It wasn't Grandpa Hu's personal phone?
He had used the nurse's station landline?
Johny ran to the Nurse Station to ask for Grandpa Hu's contact info or address, but the nurse shook her head firmly.
"Hospital policy prohibits disclosing patient information."
Standing in the corridor, Johny stared blankly at the empty Room 3016.
The old man had lung cancer.
He didn't have many days left.
Was yesterday the last time I will ever see him?
Facing the empty ward, Johny bowed his head and bowed deeply three times.
Only now did he understand why Grandpa Hu had been so confident.
Only now did he know why Grandpa Hu told him not to share the study materials with anyone else.
Perhaps his son was the one setting the questions for the Beijing exam this year.
Or maybe he obtained them through high-level channels.
Regardless, this Essay exam had contained 70% of the exact questions Grandpa Hu had tutored him on!
Grandpa Hu had leaked the exam to save his savior.
Johny clenched his fists, eyes stinging.
If I still can't pass the written exam with this level of cheating... I might as well bang my head against a wall until I die!
Authors Note:-
Well thank you grandpa Hu , you will be remembered.
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