The Taming of the Ruffian Hero

In the beginning of his test, Zheng Kai was given 10 rubber bullets and asked to shoot an AK47 model gun. He was told that he could get 1 point by getting seven 10-rings. There were 10 scoring rings on the target, and the 10-ring was the small center spot of the target. Upon hearing that, Zhao Yuan widened his eyes in surprise and began to wonder how difficult his test would be, while touching Lin Wenxi’s forehead with one hand to check whether he still had a high body temperature. The moment Zheng Kai saw the model gun, he looked grim. He observed the gun for a moment and then quickly loaded the bullets into it. He lifted up the gun, aimed and shot all the bullet shots at once. Nine of these bullets hit the 10-ring. Upon seeing that, Zhao Yuan could not help but cheer. Zheng Kai easily got one point.

After that, he was asked to dismantle and reassemble an AMR sniper rifle model. He swiftly completed this task, which deeply impressed Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi.

After getting 4 points in a row by completing 4 different hands-on tasks, Zheng Kai felt much more confident. Nevertheless, when he heard the next question, he was dumbfounded.

“Which battle is considered to be the turning point of the Warring States period? Where did it take place?”

“Uhm…” Zheng Kai wanted to retort that this question should not be put in this category. On second thought, he realized that it did have something to do with military knowledge. He was rendered speechless.

“The Battle of Changping, fought between the Qin state and the Zhao state,” Lin Wenxi said and then coughed violently. The next moment, they saw that the green light was on, which meant that they answered the question correctly. Now they had five points. Zheng Kai turned around and gave a thumb-up sign to Lin Wenxi.

“Which battle is the turning point of the anti-fascist World War II? Which countries fought it? And how many troops did each of these belligerent countries send to the battle? What was the most widely-used individual firearm back then?”

Zheng Kai was rendered speechless again. Lin Wenxi could not help but get closer to Zhao Yuan and felt warm and comfortable in his arms.

Zheng Kai failed to answer all the following 14 questions. When he finished his test, he banged his fist on Zhao Yuan’s shoulder and said, “Now we count on you.”

Zhao Yuan nodded and said, “Take a good care of him.”

The moment Zhao Yuan left, Lin Wenxi immediately began catnapping at his desk. Upon seeing that, Zheng Kai smiled understandingly. He took off his coat and covered Lin Wenxi with it. After that, he sat as far away from Lin Wenxi as he could.

“Shang Yang Reforms occupy an important place in the history of ancient China, since it abolished slavery and established a centralized feudal monarchy. Thousands of years later, a reform in Japan drastically changed the Japanese society, turning the feudal country into a capitalist one. What’s the name of this reform? And who’re the outstanding figures during this reform?”

“What? Is this really just one question?” Zhao Yuan thought dejectedly and planned to give up.

“It’s Meiji Restoration, and the outstanding figures are Sakamoto Ryoma… Takasugi Shinsaku…” Lin Wenxi said slowly and with difficulty and he answered the question correctly. Zhao Yuan was so excited that he wished that he could rush to Lin Wenxi and kiss him now. He clenched his fist to suppress the urge and moved to the next question.

“What are the macro regulatory tools for the national market economy? Which functional departments are using them? Please give examples of economic regulation in recent years and try to analyze the roles of these regulatory tools.”

Zheng Kai gasped in shock at this question, and Lin Wenxi frowned without saying a word.

“Prices, tax rates, exchange rates, interest rates, and wages. Commodity prices are determined by the market. Central and local governments will cooperate with one another to control the commodity prices by injecting or retrieving different funds. The central bank is in charge of exchange rates and interest rates. As for tax rates, tax bureaus, finance bureaus and civil affairs bureaus at different administrative levels will work together to determine them… Recent examples…”

Zhao Yuan elaborated his argument for at least several minutes. Lin Wenxi was astonished and deeply impressed, as he seldom saw Zhao Yuan study this kind of things.

“Try to analyze the post–World War II electoral system in the United States. What’s the advantages and disadvantages of letting their presidents have investors? What do you think about this kind of democracy?”

Zhao Yuan replied, “The vast majority of people usually don’t have much thought about politics, economy, and international relations. Most of their voting decisions are influenced by the political ideas, backgrounds and behaviors of the candidates. As most of the voters never know the candidates in person, they can only make their decision according to the candidates’ speeches, the media remarks, and some opinion leaders’ ideas. “Remarks from the media and the opinion leaders are usually very one-sided, and the candidates’ investors are able to create and spread those one-sided remarks. Without these investors, the candidates can never get so much media exposure. As such, I think this kind of democracy is pseudo-democracy.”

After answering these two questions, Zhao Yuan looked quite tired out. Lin Wenxi exchanged a look with Zheng Kai and then looked at his backpack. Zheng Kai was puzzled. Lin Wenxi said, “Water.”

“Do you want to drink some water?” Zheng Kai said, took out a bottle of unopened mineral water and gave it to Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi sighed slightly and handed the water to Zhao Yuan.

Zheng Kai touched his own head and simpered.

Fortunately, the next two questions were simple. Zhao Yuan answered them correctly.

“Since the reform and opening up, how much the GDP of China has increased? How many enterprises have been established since that time? Where are these enterprises located? Which enterprises are the most representative ones?”

“The GDP has increased from a negative number to a positive number… The enterprises are located all over the country. As for the most representative ones, well, some state-owned enterprise, some other state-owned enterprise…” Zhao Yuan did not know the answer and started talking nonsense. Upon hearing that, Zheng Kai could not help but laugh out loud.

Zhao Yuan continued to talk nonsense when answering the other 14 questions. After getting five points, he returned to his seat, his face somber. As Zheng Kai and Zhao Yuan got only 10 points together, Lin Wenxi had to get 20 points. Otherwise, their team’s average score would be below 10 points and they would be eliminated from the competition. That meant, Lin Wenxi had to answer all the 20 questions correctly during his test. Everyone thought that it was impossible.

“Let’s go, Wenxi. Let’s go to the hospital first. You can’t wait any longer.” With these words, Zhao Yuan wanted to help Lin Wenxi get up.

“No. How can we give up without trying? I think he can do it,” Zheng Kai said and stood up to stop Zhao Yuan.

“To go on undeterred by the danger ahead? Well, I admire your confidence and courage. But Wenxi is too sick to take this test. Do you really want to see him fight till death when you already know the result?” Zhao Yuan said grumpily.

“Bother Yuan, why not say that we never know what miracle is wrought in our life? I’m fine. I can do this. Please rest assured,” said Lin Wenxi. Because of the high fever, he could hardly open his eyes now. Zhao Yuan remained silent for a moment and then hugged Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi rested his head on Zhao Yuan’s chest to feel his breath and listen to his heartbeat.

Question 1 Fill in the Blanks: (A poem written by Du Fu) “Look at the setting sun and chant a______”. Please recite the poem and point out which genre it belongs to.

“It’s Liang Fu Chant, a Yuefu poem. ‘Step out of the city gate of Qi City and look at the distant Yinli. There are three tombs in the middle…'”

After Lin Wenxi finished reciting the poem, the green light was on.

Question 2: Please list all the dynasties of the ancient China, their beginning and ending dates and the names of the monarchs or emperors.

Lin Wenxi listed the required details one by one and only got stuck for a moment when talking about the five nomadic tribes and the three Han generals who founded 16 states (A.D. 304-439). In the end, he successfully listed all the required details.

Question 3: When the Tang dynasty reigned in the ancient China, how many countries existed in the other parts of the world? What about their social systems?

“What a ridiculous question! Who knows the answer?” Zhao Yuan thought angrily and nearly cursed out.

To his surprise, Lin Wenxi named quite a few countries after some thought. “There might be some other countries, but as they didn’t leave any reliable historical materials, no one can be sure about their existence,” added Lin Wenxi.

The green light was on.

Zheng Kai and Zhao Yuan were astonished.

They could hardly believe what happened when Lin Wenxi got 19 points. Now, it was the last question. The three of them simultaneously held their breath.

Question 20: Please recite 50 poetic lines which included a character from the examinee’s name.

Lin Wenxi chose the character Xi (stream) from his name and started to recite. “I always remember the evening I spent at the pavilion by the stream… Clouds rise from the stream while the sun is setting… The stream near the peach forest is too shallow for a boat…”

After reciting more than 40 poetic lines, Lin Wenxi felt exhausted and dizzy. He still had a high fever. He waved to Zhao Yuan, asking Zhao Yuan to help him stand up.

At this moment, the red light was on. Lin Wenxi panted heavily and slumped back into his chair. Zheng Kai suddenly stood up and clenched his fists, while thinking, “So this is it? Are we going to be eliminated from the competition?”