Gaokao: Rules of Survival - Chapter 2

“Finished?” the proctor in black asked.

I hesitated. “…Yes.”

“Then hurry up and wipe. You need to get back to your exam.”

My hand trembled around the toilet paper.

Should I believe those words that kept appearing out of nowhere?

“Oh, Ms. Li, there you are.” Just then, a roving proctor dressed in red walked in. “What is it? Another student needing the bathroom as soon as the exam starts?”

“Yes. Something she ate upset her stomach.” The proctor in black sighed. “It’s the gaokao. Why aren’t they more careful about what they eat?”

The toilet paper slipped from my hand into the squat toilet.

The roving proctor in red handed me a packet of tissues. “Don’t be nervous. Just do your best!”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Better safe than sorry. I didn’t use the toilet paper the proctor in black had given me.

Back in the exam room, I caught a glimpse of everyone working on their English papers.

Suddenly, it was dark outside.

Rule Five of the Gaokao Survival Rules: Do not work on English after dark.

But my classmates were all writing furiously.

It was completely dark now. The classroom lights were off, but everyone’s head glowed like a lit candle, casting a warm light into the darkness.

Everyone was working on English.

Was something terrible about to happen?

My heart was in my throat.

All three teachers in white were waiting for me to return to my seat. I looked at them. A holy white light shone from their entire bodies. Not one had a third eye.

I sat down and lowered my eyes to the Gaokao Survival Rules on my paper. For a long time, I couldn’t calm myself.

What on earth was going on?

Just then, at the edge of my vision, the darkness around me began to brighten.

I looked up. The boy in front of me was glowing. His clothes were changing color.

He had been wearing a dark, tie-dyed T-shirt. Now, before my eyes, its colors faded to white. It began to give off the same holy light as the proctors!

Worse, I could clearly see two wings sprouting from his back, growing at an alarming rate!

What was this?

An angel?

I didn’t dare breathe.

The light spread, growing brighter. To my horror, I realized that the shirts of every student around me were changing color.

When we entered the exam room, everyone had been wearing their own clothes, in all kinds of colors. Now every one of them was rapidly turning white.

Except mine!

My hand began to shake around my pen.

The words of the Gaokao Survival Rules on my English paper grew redder and redder.

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

At some point, six enormous exclamation marks had appeared out of nowhere.

But everyone around me was working on English.

They had all become angels.

And I…

Looking beneath my desk, I saw, in horror, that my feet were turning into goat hooves…

Trembling, I opened my English paper.

[5. Do not work on English after dark!!!!!!] The exclamation marks were handwritten. Whoever had added them had pressed hard enough to tear the paper.

But everyone around me was working on English.

They had grown angel wings.

I had grown goat hooves.

Why should I believe the writing?

It was just a load of nonsense that had appeared out of nowhere.

Why couldn’t I write my Chinese essay during the day?

Why couldn’t I do English after dark?

Why could I trust people in black, while the ones in white were devils?

There was no reason. No evidence. Nothing worth believing!

I wrote my name on my English paper.

“The price of the shirt is nine pounds and fifteen pence…”

The English listening test started automatically.

I watched the hooves on my feet rapidly recede. My striped top began to fade and glow. My back itched, as though something was growing there.

At last, I too became an angel, my wings folded behind me.