Pursuing Her Best Friend after Confession Failed-Chapter 15 - 14 Who takes the civil service exam after being reborn?

The homeroom teacher, Old Wang, spoke eloquently in class, his face aglow and looking to be in high spirits.

"There’s a trick to filling out your college applications. You definitely can’t just apply to popular universities and majors. You need to aim a bit lower to avoid falling through the cracks and not getting accepted anywhere. Otherwise, you’ll have to repeat the year, and your scores won’t necessarily be any better..."

"Interest is the best teacher. The major you apply for must be one you genuinely like. Boys can consider majors like mechanical design and automation, civil engineering, computer science, biological sciences, and so on. These are all popular fields..."

"The 21st century is the age of Technology. With our nation’s rapid development, foundational sciences, life sciences, and the computer and internet sectors are all flourishing. These emerging fields have vast prospects..."

"Girls can opt for majors in medicine, education, or finance. These fields offer high salaries, broad employment prospects, and stable jobs..."

As a seasoned master teacher with decades of experience, Old Wang’s insights were quite sharp. He spoke with authority, having clearly prepared with great care.

Li Yuan wanted to offer a rebuttal but didn’t know where to begin.

What Old Wang said wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t suitable for most ordinary male students. Compared to his advice for the boys, his suggestions for the girls were far more practical. For liberal arts, the school matters most; for sciences, it’s the major. This is especially true for ordinary people not attending a top-tier 985 or 211 university. For them, a good major determines the heights they can reach in the future. They were part of the 2008 graduating class. By the time they finished university, it would be 2012. The world would have changed drastically, and many majors would no longer be in demand. And the final destination for everyone is the civil service exam. In his opinion, ordinary students from ordinary universities were better off choosing a major suited for the civil service exams. They could prepare throughout their college years and then land a post in a developed coastal region. They could earn a decent annual income, not much less than the coders from 985 universities working at major corporations... If he hadn’t already earned his first pot of gold and was still leading a mundane life, he might have considered that path. He would have found a way to join the Party in university, then pursued a career through targeted recruitment or by taking the provincial and national civil service exams. With four years of focused, grueling study and the advantage of being a fresh graduate, he was confident he could have succeeded... As for now, in a little over a month when the stock market results came out, he might very well achieve financial freedom...

Who the hell would want to be a civil servant after being reborn!

As Li Yuan’s thoughts were running wild, he suddenly felt a nudge on his arm, followed by a soft, fragrant whisper at his ear, "My mom wants me to apply to universities in Modu. Will you go?"

Li Yuan shut down her hopes instantly. "No!"

The hope in Bai Weixi’s heart immediately vanished. With a self-deprecating smile, she asked, "So our promise is worthless now, isn’t it?"

Li Yuan remained silent. He and Bai Weixi had once made a promise to go to the same city and attend the same university together. In his previous life, he had done just that. Although they didn’t attend the same university, they went to the same city.

Bai Weixi looked at Li Yuan and felt a profound sense of distance. The person before her was no longer the boy she once knew. This unfamiliar feeling left her distressed and lost.

A tear traced a path down Bai Weixi’s snow-white face. She looked at Li Yuan and asked in a very soft voice, "Li Yuan, will we ever see each other again?"

"No," Li Yuan answered coldly. "Give up hope."

The last vestiges of Bai Weixi’s hope were shattered. She stared blankly at Li Yuan, as if trying to permanently etch his image into her heart.

「...」

This class meeting was mainly for the students to get together and to explain how to choose a university and fill out their applications. In 2008, these choices were extremely important. A single misstep could lead to a world of difference.

On the school’s athletic field, Wang Shuai nudged Li Yuan’s arm. "Yuan, Bai Weixi looked like she was crying when she left."

"Let her cry. What’s it to me?" Li Yuan replied coolly.

Wang Shuai wanted to say that she was crying because of him, but seeing the look on Li Yuan’s face, he held his tongue. These past few days, he had noticed some things. Li Yuan’s personality and attitude were now completely different from before.

He was puzzled. Could a single rejection really change a person so drastically? Besides, it wasn’t as if Bai Weixi had completely rejected him—she had cried over him several times. If a girl on the level of the school beauty ever shed a tear for him, he would cherish that memory for a lifetime.

"Yuan, the scores are out. Based on last year’s cutoff, you should be able to get into a decent 211 university. Have you thought about where you’ll apply?"

Li Yuan had already made his decision but saw no reason to reveal it yet. "I haven’t really decided. I’ll probably go to a big city. There are more opportunities there."

Wang Shuai readily agreed. "Big cities are great, but the housing prices are just too high. In Beijing and Modu, apartments already cost more than ten thousand yuan per square meter. It’s insane. A house is for living in. How can the price be driven up so high?"

This is just the beginning, Li Yuan thought to himself. In ten years, housing prices in Beijing and Modu will skyrocket to more than ten times what they are now. Even in this small county town under our feet, prices will soar to eight or nine thousand per square meter in the future.

Thinking that Wang Shuai’s family was still relatively well-off with money to spare, he remarked, feigning casualness, "Handsome guy, I have a feeling housing prices are going to surge. If I had a few million right now, I’d buy several properties in Beijing or Modu. I’d be set for life and could become a multimillionaire without lifting a finger."

Wang Shuai was dismissive of Li Yuan’s opinion. "No way prices will rise. There’s a global economic crisis this year, and property values are falling. We’d be lucky if they just held steady. Buying a house now would be like joining the Nationalists in 1949!"

Li Yuan had intended to persuade Wang Shuai to buy property in a big city, but after hearing that, he dropped the idea.

Everyone has their own destiny. He hadn’t even managed to break free from his own, so what right did he have to guide anyone else?

"Handsome guy, I think you should consider computer science for your major. CS will definitely be in high demand in the future."

Wang Shuai, who had zero interest in computers, immediately shook his head. "I’m interested in chemistry. You know my grades in chem are decent. I’m planning to apply for a chemistry-related major."

Li Yuan was speechless. For the sake of his good friend’s future, he decided to try one more time. "Passion doesn’t pay the bills. I still recommend computer science. Just think about it carefully..."

"Fine, I’ll think about it."

"Yuan, are you planning to get your driver’s license this summer? I’m going to."

Getting his driver’s license over the summer was already part of his plan. Li Yuan nodded. "I was planning to sign up tomorrow. Want to go together?"

Wang Shuai grinned. "Sure. Yang Zhen and Dazhi are planning to go too. Zhongding, however, didn’t do so well on the college entrance exam. His mom grounded him and is going to send him to Old Wang’s review classes in a few days."

"Don’t worry about Zhongding. For him, retaking the year is far more important than settling for a vocational college."

Li Yuan recalled that in his past life, out of the five of them, it was actually Zhang Zhongding who ended up having the best career. He might even have a chance of reaching the vice-county level in the future...

Wang Shuai shrugged it off. "Alright, see you tomorrow then. I’ve got to get home and carefully study the college application guide to pick the right university and major."

"Okay. We’ll go to the driving school to sign up together tomorrow."