He took the microphone from its stand, and a highly infectious voice came from his mouth:
"Today, I am honored to speak here as a representative of the college entrance examination students.
I am Fang Bai, a fourth-year repeater, a college entrance exam taker who once failed, standing on the college entrance exam stage again!
Do not be discouraged, do not regret!
The college entrance examination is a competition of knowledge, psychology, and physical fitness, a test of strength, intelligence, and perseverance, and a contest of precision, strictness, and meticulousness.
We have all toiled day and night, through summer and winter, immersed in books, traversing through countless practice papers.
For this college entrance examination, we have prepared for over a decade.
Facing the college entrance examination, I too have been lost, hesitated, and ultimately failed, but I have not given up. I look up to the sky again, not to pluck stars or moon, but to maintain an unyielding stance.
...
Banners wave, commands urge, a hundred days forge true steel;
Laughing up to the sky, with sharp blades and spears, we display our might, invincible;
Blood may flow, heads may break, but our fighting spirit soars higher;
Chasing victory in the examination hall, war drums and horns raise our military prestige, winning every battle!"
A college entrance examination oath-taking speech is inherently required to be spirited and to stir the emotions of teachers and students. It represents not only Fang Bai himself but also the dreams of all college entrance examination takers. Fang Bai spoke passionately without notes.
Everyone present was infected by Fang Bai's increasingly passionate speech, listening with their blood boiling.
This is youth, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Set sail, live up to your youth.
Words that would normally give one goosebumps were, at this moment, perfectly fitting.
Fang Bai indeed spoke with passion and was fully immersed. His youth, too, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
He spoke more and more, his passion spilling over the venue, flying freely, like a boat floating on the vast sea, immediately reaching the Kunlun Mountains.
It only took tens of seconds for the teachers, students, and parents below the stage, listening to Fang Bai's eloquent, powerful, and determined speech, to go from their blood boiling to tears welling up in their eyes.
Yes, many students on site shed tears. They wanted to freely vent the efforts of over a decade.
He had failed, he had been lost, but he still persevered. He could represent all college entrance examination takers, not because he had good grades or a wealthy family, but because his spirit and determination deeply moved all college entrance examination takers.
The school leaders and teachers sitting on the stage watched Fang Bai ignite the audience, speaking without notes. They didn't know if he had memorized it, but his unrestrained and passionate expression lit up the venue, and they spontaneously stood up to listen.
Finally, Fang Bai shouted his college entrance examination goal: "My goal is: Shanghai Jiaotong University or Fudan!"
Fang Bai has two university major goals: Microelectronics at Fudan University and Mechanical Design, Manufacturing, and Automation at Jiao Tong University.
Fudan University is across from Qin Shuyu's university, while Jiao Tong University is a bit further from her university.
However, location is not Fang Bai's sole reason for choosing Fudan. He will buy a car, so he doesn't care about the distance from Jiao Tong University to the University of Finance and Economics.
Microelectronics is Fudan's only strong non-liberal arts major. The related industries of chips and integrated circuits are all weak areas for the country. In the future, many chip design units will be in Shanghai. Moreover, Fudan's microelectronics comprehensive strength is even stronger than Tsinghua, especially in engineering and process aspects.
If Fang Bai plans to go into the chip direction in the future, then he will apply for Fudan's microelectronics major.
As for Jiao Tong University's mechanical engineering strength, it is on par with Tsinghua.
The country is relatively weak in mechanical fields such as high-end CNC machine tools, large engineering machinery, precision instrument equipment, high-end aero engines, and high-end bearings. If Fang Bai wants to tackle these directions in the future, then he will choose to apply for Jiao Tong University.
Both directions are viable; neither is inferior, and Fang Bai's Golden Finger can be utilized, for example, to design better electronic circuit diagrams or mechanical design diagrams, which is also why he chose these two majors.
It's certainly not possible to do both at once with so much energy, so after mastering one, he will then delve into the other.
College entrance examination applications must be filled out a few days before the exam, not after the scores are released, so it's completely a blind choice. Fang Bai is still agonizing over it.
Information flow was difficult; in previous years, it was extremely hard to know the university admission scores.
Now, there is a statistical booklet of university admissions, the provincial enrollment plan, and the highest and lowest admission scores from previous years. One can also call universities for consultation, but it is difficult to get information about specific majors.
After 1998, college entrance examination applications were filled out after estimating scores from the exam. However, if one didn't know the actual score, overestimating would likely lead to rejection, or underestimating would result in a disadvantage. So, typically, scores were estimated on the same day after the exam, otherwise, one might forget the answers.
By 2004, college entrance examination applications were filled out after the scores were released, making the choices much more accurate.
Last year, 2.83 million people took the college entrance examination, and the university admission rate was 22%.
Fang Bai heard that in the year the college entrance examination was reinstated, the number of applicants reached 5.7 million, and the university admission rate was extremely low, only 5%.
Fang Bai's first choice is definitely one of these two schools. There are no parallel applications now; being one point off could mean only getting into a regular undergraduate program.
Precisely because of this, filling out applications carries significant risk. The admission scores of various universities did not have as large a gap as in later generations, which provided opportunities for lower scores to get into prestigious schools.
In many provinces, one could still get into Tsinghua or Peking University with less than 600 points.
Applications are filled out by referring to scores from Regular mock exams scores. Many test-takers do not perform well during the actual college entrance examination.
Even Fang Bai felt it was touch and go. The two universities he applied for had high major score requirements, especially in the highly competitive Jiangzhe Province. If he didn't do well, he might fall into a regular undergraduate program, so he could only strive for a high score.
When Fang Bai announced his target schools, the teachers, students, and parents present couldn't help but exclaim "Wow."
The admission scores for these two universities in Jiangzhe Province are not low; they are both above 600, but scores above 620 are stable.
If several high-scoring candidates apply for the same major and do not agree to major adjustments, it would be truly disastrous.
However, there are still a hundred days, and with his improvement rate, there is still hope.
Besides, this is just a goal.
Many students in the audience also shouted out their own goals.
"My goal is Wen City University!"
"Hangzhou Dianzi University of Industry"
"Zhejiang University of Chemical Technology"
"Any university is fine, as long as I can get into university!"
With information currently limited, most college entrance examination takers don't know which university is best suited for them.
They only know a few top domestic universities and a few universities within the province. As for majors, they understand even less; there's too little information available for research.
Let alone now, even twenty years later, how many college entrance examination takers truly understand university majors?
Everyone says computer science is popular, but is it more hardware-oriented or software-oriented?
Mechanical engineering is stable, but is it more design-oriented or process-oriented?
After Fang Bai finished his speech, the next segment was the oath-taking by teachers and students.
The college entrance examination oath-taking ceremony concluded just before eleven in the morning.
This college entrance examination oath-taking left a profound impression of Fang Bai on the teachers and students.
From then on, college entrance examination takers remembered Fang Bai's face, as well as his college entrance examination goal.
Most students felt Fang Bai wouldn't get in; Oubei No. 1 Middle School hadn't had a student admitted to these two schools for many years.
The main concern was that he wouldn't perform well in the college entrance examination and might fall directly into a regular undergraduate program.
But it must be said, Fang Bai already possessed this level of ability.
Moreover, everyone felt that being able to get into any university was excellent, and they didn't care which one. Even a vocational college was considered impressive.
The next day,
Wen City Daily published news about Oubei No. 1 Middle School's college entrance examination oath-taking, specifically mentioning the participation of education bureau leaders. The content stated that student representative Fang Bai delivered an impassioned speech, targeting Fudan or Jiao Tong University.
Teachers from various high schools in Wen City, upon seeing the newspaper, said that Fang Bai, a student from Oubei No. 1 Middle School, was overestimating himself, setting too high a goal, and might fail, becoming a laughingstock then.
Most of them didn't even know who Fang Bai was, or even what score he got in the first mock exam. They just generally felt that Oubei No. 1 Middle School students' grades weren't very good.
In short, it was all kinds of disdain, feeling superior when looking at schools worse than their own.
The teachers at Oubei No. 1 Middle School didn't take Fang Bai's words seriously. They thought that since his family was wealthy, Fang Bai just casually set a goal in his speech. They would first look at the results of the third mock exam before filling out the application. If he could stably score above 620, applying to those two universities would be quite secure.
Applying to universities is always a risk. Even if he didn't get into his top choices, there were still regular undergraduate programs, and failing that, at least a vocational college.
Principal Zhang received a call from Principal Luo of Yongjia Middle School, who said, "Your student Fang Bai has set such a high goal, it might be a bit difficult. How about sending him to our school? Maybe it's possible then."
"Principal Luo, you're dreaming. Don't think I don't know your intentions."
"What intentions? I just think if you let us cultivate this student, and we assign a few special-grade teachers for one-on-one tutoring, it might truly be possible."
"To be honest, Fang Bai rarely comes to school, so targeted tutoring from teachers might not be effective."
"Principal Zhang, Fang Bai originally intended to come to our school. His heart is with Yongjia Middle School."
"Haha, the old fox's tail is showing, isn't it? I don't care where his heart is, as long as he's with me."
After ending the call, Principal Zhang spat, unable to help but curse Principal Luo for being shameless.
With only about a hundred days until the college entrance examination, Principal Zhang was eagerly anticipating Fang Bai getting into a key university.
The next chapter will quickly conclude and enter the industrial main storyline.