Gaokao: Rules of Survival - Chapter 1

The college entrance exam began. The loudspeaker announced the exam rules.

“Bzz… bzz… bzz…”

Screams mingled with the electrical static.

“Bzz… The exam rules are as follows. One: Familiarize yourself with your exam room in advance. You must do so within the designated time before the exam. Candidates who delay their exam by entering the wrong room or taking the wrong seat bear full responsibility. Anyone not taking the exam in their assigned seat after the official start will be treated as having violated the rules…”

I looked toward the front. Three proctors in white stood quietly behind the teacher’s desk. They had only two eyes. They carried exam papers, not red pens.

But I had distinctly seen three eyes on each of them just now.

The chief proctor’s extra eye was in the middle of his forehead, like that of the god Erlang Shen. The female proctor’s was on her left breast, shaped like a knife wound. Another proctor had no mouth: in its place was an eye with its eyeball hanging out.

Yet now they all looked normal. Two eyes, one nose, one mouth. The other candidates looked perfectly calm, too.

Had I imagined it? Was the pressure getting to me?

At last, the announcement ended.

The bell rang. The proctors began handing out exam papers and answer sheets.

The first subject was Chinese.

But the paper I received was English.

I laid my answer sheet over the exam paper and filled in my name, candidate number, and other details. That was when I caught a glimpse, through the answer sheet, of several lines of red writing on the paper underneath!

[GAOKAO SURVIVAL RULES]

[1. Do not write your Chinese essay during daylight hours.]

[2. The proctors have two eyes (someone had drawn several circles around “two eyes” with a very thick pen for emphasis). They wear red and carry red pens, not stun batons or exam papers.]

[3. Do not make a noise. Stay quiet, or you will die.]

[4. Do not refuse anything the devils ask of you, especially when they are dressed in white and carrying exam papers.]

[5. Do not work on English after dark.]

“All right. Has everyone received their paper and answer sheet?” the chief proctor asked.

He was dressed in white.

He had exam papers in his hand.

Wait. Hadn’t he just handed them out?

“We will now distribute the mathematics papers.” The other two teachers began handing out math papers and answer sheets.

I stared at the chief proctor’s hands.

A stack of Chinese papers appeared in them out of nowhere!

Weren’t we supposed to take the gaokao one subject at a time?

Why were they giving us the Chinese, math, and English papers all at once?

Just then, the female proctor appeared beside my desk.

She handed me a paper.

She was wearing a white blouse and a straight white skirt. She looked like a pure, holy angel.

“Don’t be nervous. Just do your best,” she said gently.

The Gaokao Survival Rules on the Chinese paper vanished!

In her mid-height heels, the female proctor walked serenely to the desk in front of mine to distribute the papers.

Inside her snow-white Mary Janes, I saw a pair of bloodstained goat hooves.

Slowly, the Gaokao Survival Rules reappeared on the Chinese paper.

[6. Do not let anyone discover that you can see the goat hooves.]

The female proctor was still handing out papers.

Every step left a bloody footprint on the floor.

I held my breath. My heart hammered. Cold sweat covered my body.

“You there.” The female proctor suddenly turned to look at me!

Her smile was friendly, as warm and gentle as a spring breeze. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Her white blouse made her complexion look wonderfully healthy.

It also made the bloody eye on her left breast horribly conspicuous!

Everyone in the room was quiet.

It was as though I was the only one who could see that blood-drenched eye.

I forced a smile. “My stomach hurts. I need the bathroom.”

“Go on, then. Try to get back before the exam starts.” She immediately went to find a roving proctor.

Soon, a woman dressed in black entered.

“Are you the one who needs the bathroom? The rules say I have to stay with you the entire time.”

I nodded. The bloody eye on the female proctor’s chest had disappeared.

The roving proctor took me to the women’s bathroom on the same floor. I was inside a stall while she stood guard in the doorway. Since I had already seen the exam paper, I wasn’t allowed to shut the door, in case I cheated.

At least she was a woman, too. If she had to watch, so be it.

The gaokao’s anti-cheating measures were so strict that I couldn’t even use my own toilet paper.

I unfolded the toilet paper the roving proctor had given me. When I opened the second layer, I found writing inside.

[7. You can trust the people dressed in black. But do not use anything they give you.]

The roving proctor was dressed in black.

The toilet paper… had come from her.