"Beep, beep, beep..."
Fu Ying wanted to take the phone from Dad Fu and turn on the speakerphone so everyone could hear, but Dad Fu, not knowing what his younger daughter was up to, dodged out of the way. Fu Ying could only shout from the side, telling Dad Fu to turn on the speakerphone.
Back then, basic mobile phones were still called Xiaolingtong, and Dad Fu didn't know how to use the speaker function. Just as he was about to hand it over to his daughter to figure out, the call connected.
Dad Fu hurriedly spoke up, "Hello, Teacher Ren, hello. I'm Fu Ying's father."
As it turned out, the Xiaolingtong's external volume was quite powerful; even without the speaker turned on, it was plenty loud, and Fu Ying could pretty much hear the teacher's voice clearly from where she stood.
"Ah, Fu Ying's dad, hello. Is something the matter so late?"
"Hello, Teacher. Sorry to disturb you so late. I wanted to ask about Fu Ying taking the senior high school entrance exam. I heard from some of her classmates that children from other regions can't take the entrance exam here?"
"Fu Ying's dad, Fu Ying must have misunderstood. All our school's students can take the entrance exam right here. They've already registered, and the entrance exam is coming right up."
"No, that's not it. They said outsiders can't attend high school here, and a lot of students have already transferred back to their hometowns to study."
"They can attend high school here! Many students from previous years were admitted to local vocational schools, and some went to regular high schools too. You can rest easy, Fu Ying's dad!"
Fu Ying felt she had to ask herself; Dad Fu didn't understand these policies, and the teacher was obviously holding back some information.
She whispered to Dad Fu and took the phone. "Teacher, it's me, Fu Ying."
The voice on the other end acknowledged her. "Fu Ying, you need to make things clear to your family. You *can* take the entrance exam here—the exam is on June thirtieth!"
"Teacher, I know I can take the entrance exam. I heard from a classmate that those of us with household registration in other provinces cannot apply to local regular high schools, is that right?"
There was a pause on the other line. "You can't apply to regular high schools. But if your entrance exam score exceeds the key high school cutoff line, there are schools that will accept audit students, and you can apply to local vocational schools. As long as you completed middle school here, you can apply for the vocational schools."
As expected, it was the same answer.
Mom Fu didn't quite understand and was just about to take the phone to ask when Fu Ying was already getting ready to hang up.
"I understand now. I'll talk to my mom and dad. Thank you, Teacher."
"Didn't your teacher say you can go to high school? Just take the exam and apply for a high school you're qualified to attend!"
A heart-piercing blow courtesy of her own mother. The ignorant and fearless fifteen-year-old Fu Ying wouldn't dare boast about getting into a key high school, let alone twenty-eight-year-old Fu Ying, whose knowledge had long since faded.
"The teacher said you have to reach the score threshold for a key high school before any school will be willing to accept you. You need high scores, and you also have to pay an audit fee, which varies from school to school."
"How much is the audit fee usually?" It wasn't that Mom Fu was unwilling to spend the money, but given the family's situation, they really had to think carefully. If the cost was too high, they still had a younger son at home who was still in middle school.
"For anything decent, it seems to cost around ten thousand!" This was something Fu Ying had heard about when she was working, while having dinner with a colleague from another department. That colleague wanted to get her daughter into a key elementary school, which required pulling strings and taking her child to the school for an interview; the audit fee alone was over ten thousand, and just getting her child enrolled cost close to one hundred thousand. And that was just for elementary school—high school would definitely not be any cheaper.
Mom Fu gasped. Was it really that expensive? Ten thousand for an audit fee at any school! If they really went that route, borrowing money was the only option, but life would become even harder!
Fu Ying thought to herself: regardless of whether it exposed why she knew so much, she had to keep going.
"I asked around. In previous years, the cutoff score for key high schools was around 580, but my usual scores are only around 500. There's no way I can test into a key high school. If I can't get into a key high school, I can only go to a vocational school, and after finishing vocational school, I can only go to a junior college—I won't be able to go to a regular university."
It wasn't that Fu Ying was deliberately exaggerating. Although you could still test into a college degree from a vocational school and then upgrade to a bachelor's, it was far too troublesome, and she didn't want her parents to work that hard. Right now, she had to administer a strong remedy to her parents; only when they realized that studying in Guangdong Province was completely hopeless and offered no future would they agree to let her return to her hometown to study.