Destiny beats in front of the Internet cafe screen

  Inner Mongolia at the end of June was hot and dry, and the dry wind once again blew the grassland green.

In the Hulunbuir Ewenki Autonomous Banner, the employees of the power supply company, under the scorching sun, inspected the lines in their jurisdiction in advance-from June 22, 2022 to the end of July, they suspended all maintenance plans.

  An Internet cafe in Ewenki Banner also "chased customers" in advance: it issued an announcement to users who are keen to play games, and will receive more important guests in the near future.

Traffic police, firefighters, and medical personnel also converged in the same direction, having simulated emergency drills a day or two earlier.

  All the work is to ensure that the 324 college students in Ewenki Banner can successfully participate in the voluntary filling of the college entrance examination.

This year, there are a total of 11.93 million college entrance examination students nationwide. This is the largest number of students participating in the college entrance examination in history, and it is also a session seriously affected by the epidemic. Some places have postponed the college entrance examination due to epidemic prevention and control.

  On June 26, the first batch of college students in Inner Mongolia began to fill in their volunteers.

  "That was the beginning of a great adventure in life, and it was more frightening than any entertainment machine." Liu Qi, a college student in Inner Mongolia in 2020, recalled the day when he filled out his voluntary application.

  1

  In the past few days, when the scores of the college entrance examination were announced, two sports students in Inner Mongolia hugged excitedly when they saw that they had passed the undergraduate course of the cultural course.

A family in Chifeng cooked a table of dishes, listened to the song "Good Luck", and accompanied the candidates to wait for the results until the good news of a score of 637 came.

  After the score is announced, it is followed by filling in the volunteers.

  During the summer vacation a few years ago, Ma Chenyue worked part-time in a service organization in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, that helped people fill in the application form.

This is almost in sync with the gradual increase in local temperature. Since the end of June, the temperature in some parts of Inner Mongolia has repeatedly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.

  "It's very hot!" Although the air conditioner and exhaust fan were turning desperately, Ma Chenyue recalled that she still felt a lack of oxygen.

  The Internet cafe was crowded with students who filled in volunteers, as well as their parents, grandparents, seven aunts and eight aunts.

For candidates, Internet cafes charge from 3 yuan per hour, halved to 1.5 yuan.

There are not enough chairs. Some people go to restaurants outside the Internet cafe to borrow chairs, and some bring their own maza.

The fathers of those anxious candidates chose to go to the door to smoke a cigarette to ease their anxiety.

To a certain extent, this group of people who came in and out also kept the Internet cafes hot.

  There is no other place where the college entrance examination volunteers can be as thrilling as the candidates in Inner Mongolia.

  "Dynamic ranking, precise positioning", this filling method, which has been piloted in Inner Mongolia since 2006, is very different from the traditional parallel volunteer model: candidates can check their dynamic rankings in real time to confirm whether they can be selected for their favorite colleges and universities. and professional.

Each person can only choose one, until the system shuts down, they can modify their volunteers repeatedly.

  Liu Qi, an examinee in previous years, said that repeated revisions felt like fish swimming around in various schools.

According to the public information of the Inner Mongolia Entrance Examination Information Network, in 2015, each candidate revised their volunteer 92 times on average.

  In order to facilitate real-time query and multiple revisions, many candidates will go to Internet cafes with more stable internet speeds to fill in their volunteer applications. In recent years, fewer candidates have filled in at home than before.

  Intelligence and winks are intertwined in Internet cafes.

Parents patrolling Internet cafes in circles and circles, snuggling up to take pictures at strangers’ computers—they search for potential competitors for their children, especially those with similar grades and targeted majors.

  When exchanging information with the candidates, the parents deliberately lowered their voices and launched "human sea tactics" to resist the leakage of information: the family surrounded the candidates and the computer until outsiders could no longer see the computer screen.

  Sadness and joy flow in one space at the same time, especially when every hour comes.

In Inner Mongolia, candidates fill in the report in order from high to low scores, and each hour closes a score segment.

Therefore, the last 10 seconds before the hour is the hottest time in the Internet cafe.

  "Ten, nine, eight, seven..." Someone in the Internet cafe started to count down.

  Ma Chenyue recalled that in the sound of the keyboard tapping and the rotating sound of the exhaust fan, her fingers repeatedly entered the letters and numbers on the keyboard to verify the verification code displayed on the screen.

She is a trader who fills in volunteers on behalf of others, and she tests her hand speed and accuracy: every time she changes schools, every time she checks the ranking, she needs to quickly enter the verification code.

  How fast is the operator's hand?

A bystander once said that in the countdown of 3 seconds, before she could see the verification code, the trader had completed the input.

There are also candidates who deliberately choose friends who love to play games to do it for them, just because the other party is fast.

  Ma Chenyue concluded that accuracy is more important than quickness.

Once you type the wrong verification code, you have to wait for the page to refresh and then re-enter it. She calculated that this process will waste 10 seconds.

  She has helped candidates change schools in the last 10 seconds: hold your breath, put all your attention on your fingertips, and enter the verification code quickly and accurately - if you fail, the candidate will slide the file and can only wait for the supplementary recording and the next batch Submission or repeat.

  These 10 seconds determine the future of the candidates, especially those candidates who are in the lower ranks, they must always be alert to being squeezed out of the line by other candidates with high scores.

Liu Qi has experienced such a moment. Her ideal college is Beijing Normal University, which recruited 10 candidates in Inner Mongolia that year.

But her ranking has been bouncing back and forth between 10th and 11th.

  In an Internet cafe in Tongliao City, she looked at the number in front of her and jumped from 10 to 11 and back to 10 again.

The beating numbers were almost at the same frequency as her heartbeat, "pounding, pounding, pounding", she could barely hear the outside world, and felt that her arms were stiff and unable to move.

  In the last 10 seconds, almost everyone held their breath.

Liu Qi's mother couldn't bear the torment of uncertainty, so she stood behind her and carefully suggested whether to change to another more secure institution.

Liu Qi did not waver, sticking to Beijing Normal University.

In the end, a shout in the Internet cafe broke the calm, "Liu Qi, so-and-so, apply for Beijing Normal University, success!"

  Inner Mongolia's unique application method allows candidates to immediately know whether they are accepted or not.

The one who shouted was the teacher of the institution who helped to choose the volunteer. He deliberately raised his tone on the words "university" and "success", as if he had witnessed the successful launch of the spacecraft.

  When the hour comes, it usually begins with cheers, applause, and hugs, with parents repeatedly saying, "Thank you, teacher."

Only once, before Ma Chenyue had time to cheer, heard a stomping sound from upstairs, and then a girl rushed down from the Internet cafe on the second floor crying.

She slipped.

  2

  In June 2022, Ma Chenyue's volunteer service agency for filling in applications welcomed 3 young faces. They may go to different futures: a science boy who scored 591 points and hopes to apply for the Chinese People's Public Security University. Check; another science boy who is 12 points lower than him, his first choice is Tianjin Medical University, and he wants to be a doctor.

There is also a girl studying liberal arts, who is going to study as a public-funded normal student at Inner Mongolia Normal University in this district.

  Ma Chenyue was a college student in 2018. She recalled that on the day she applied for the exam, she arrived at the Internet cafe before 8:00 in the morning and "walked around" in Peking University, Tsinghua University.

  This is the closest time she is to Tsinghua University and Peking University: one second, she was ranked 30th in Tsinghua University and Peking University, and the next second, other people rushed in, and she fell outside the 300th.

She described that the way of filling out this dynamic ranking is like a blind date, and you can always know whether your net worth and wealth can match the person you like.

  Candidates with high scores who filled in earlier left the Internet cafes in batches, and a group of game fans replaced them.

Hearing the sound of playing games not far away, disappointment came to Ma Chenyue little by little.

At 11 a.m., she could choose a major at Inner Mongolia University; at 12:00, she could only study Russian at the Manzhouli College of Inner Mongolia University; and at 1 noon, she could not even read Russian.

  Real-time visibility into dynamic rankings can help candidates understand how well they fit into their ideal institution.

Before the system closes on the hour, if candidates find that they may be squeezed out of the pitch line by other candidates, they can change schools to avoid slippage.

  According to the Inner Mongolia Entrance Examination Information Network, "Dynamic Ranking" is the best way to fill in volunteers in Inner Mongolia in many years of practice, so that the information is symmetrical.

It avoids the element of luck and is fair, open and transparent.

The examination information website announced that although the minimum admission scores of the famous colleges and universities in Inner Mongolia vary from year to year, the ranking of the lowest scores is relatively stable, which basically eliminates the waste of "high scores are low, low scores are high" and the waste of admission places in famous schools. Phenomenon.

  This has caused Inner Mongolia to drop the drop rate and repeat rate in recent years.

According to media reports, the admission rate of Inner Mongolia in 2007 was 58.25%, which increased to 94.19% after 10 years.

The test taker repeat rate also dropped from 23% in 2008 to 7% in 2017.

  The annual college entrance examination voluntary reporting period is also the peak tourist season in Inner Mongolia with luscious pastures.

The long and narrow Inner Mongolia is like a spirit fox looking back to the west, lying in the north of China. It has never been the "big province for the college entrance examination" in the media propaganda. Many candidates in Inner Mongolia say that their studies from childhood to adulthood are quite "Buddhist".

  Someone once took advantage of the "dynamic ranking": first, ask a few high-scoring candidates to choose their ideal colleges, help fill the pits, wait until the last few seconds to leave, and then enter by themselves to ensure that they can go to the ideal colleges.

  In order to plug this loophole, in 2008, Inner Mongolia increased the practice of filling out volunteer applications in time-sharing and subsections: candidates with high scores can fill in the application earlier, so as to seize a good major in a good school; When you log in, you can only see the colleges and majors "selected and left".

  However, the reporting method of "dynamic ranking and precise positioning" is about to come to an end.

On June 27, Inner Mongolia officially released the "Implementation Plan for Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of Examination and Enrollment of Ordinary Colleges and Universities in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region".

  On the online consultation platform opened by the Education Department of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Education Department explained: At present, except Inner Mongolia, 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country implement the parallel voluntary filing method.

Parallel voluntary filing can increase candidates’ selection opportunities, and can choose multiple schools and majors; it can also effectively reduce the risk of filling in the application. It does not require high computer configuration, network speed, bandwidth and other environments, which can effectively reduce the tension and anxiety of candidates filling in voluntary applications. It is helpful for candidates to fill in their volunteers according to their scores, interests, hobbies and specialties.

  In the eyes of many locals, the college entrance examination method of "dynamic ranking and precise positioning" can be implemented in Inner Mongolia for 16 years, which is closely related to the small number of candidates.

  It tests the local network, electricity and other security systems.

In 2020, some banner counties experienced power outages during the examination period, extending the closing time by two hours.

  Yu Zhigang, deputy general manager of Ewenki Autonomous Banner Power Supply Company, has participated in the work of ensuring electricity for the college entrance examination for 9 consecutive years.

This is something that is repeated and easily overlooked.

Every year, two security personnel will set up a tent in the corner 100 meters away from the centralized examination center, always alert to the sound of the buzzer alarm.

  In 2022, Yu Zhigang arranged in advance 10 power security personnel not to participate in other work during the registration period, focusing on ensuring power for candidates.

  3

  Whether it is dynamic ranking or parallel volunteering, in recent years, more and more candidates across the country rely on application agencies to fill in their volunteers.

  Those parents who have been worrying about their children for more than ten years are the target users targeted by the major application agencies in Inner Mongolia.

Parents hope that their children's scores can be maximized and climbed to the best colleges and universities. "Don't waste a single point!"

  In the vicinity of many high schools in Inner Mongolia, parents often receive flyers from various applicants.

They can't wait to print their advantages on the flyers: some can cover Internet cafes with fast internet speed and superior environment, some claim that they have used big data algorithm analysis, and some have formed a professional team, which is authoritative and reliable.

  If you don’t know what is suitable for your child to read, you can pass personality tests, occupational tests, and psychological tests to tailor-made exclusive programs.

  The most commonly used advertising slogans are "one-to-one service", "private customization" and "exclusive", and even different levels of charging standards are listed for different families, ranging from a few hundred yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.

As long as you are willing to pay 15,000 yuan, your child will have a single room in the Internet cafe, and there is no need to crowd the hall with other people.

  Some candidates whose parents go out to work can only rely on their grandparents to wear reading glasses to read the "Guidelines for Volunteer Registration for the College Entrance Examination" page by page in Internet cafes.

Those parents who have not gone to college, ask relatives who have gone to college to help their children.

In the end, many people still pin their hopes on the institutions to apply for.

  Ma Chenyue observed that when applying institutions asked students about their preferred majors, many students answered "whatever" and "nothing."

  She had seen a boy who was silent and shy, letting his mother fill in his school to a school with acquaintances, and did not take the initiative to mention her wishes.

There is another candidate who didn't care about where he was going, until he saw that there were fewer schools to choose from, and he began to read the volunteer book.

  They care more about the way out than their interest.

As soon as the college entrance examination was over, they began to ask Ma Chenyue: Is this major easy to read?

If it is not easy to read, will the low score in the future affect the transfer of majors and postgraduate entrance examinations?

In the future, I will go to the library to review for the postgraduate entrance examination. Are there many library locations in this university?

  When students contacted the institutions that applied for the examination, they asked that their future majors could help them find a stable job in Inner Mongolia.

  Guo Mingyang, a psychology teacher at Tongliao No. 5 Middle School, often gives career planning classes to senior high school students, guiding students to explore themselves and discover their hobbies.

But he found that by the time the college entrance examination was over, the students had long forgotten about it.

  This is the epitome of many high school students: they work hard for good scores on the test, and they seldom think about what will happen after the test.

Guo Mingyang found that only a small number of students can think about the future direction, and most people always follow the crowd.

Some students go directly to popular majors such as economics and law.

  Guo Mingyang analyzed that most high school students have devoted themselves to studying in the past three years, they have seen too little of the world, their vision is limited, and they lack understanding of themselves. Tips for life goals.

  "Spend money for peace of mind," he concluded.

  4

  The last step in filling out the application is to take a photo.

The whole family and institutional teachers stand in front of the Internet cafe, madness, joy and sadness exist in the photos at the same time.

Some people were wearing Hanfu and Lolita skirts under the scorching sun, looking at the camera beautifully;

  A high-scoring candidate couldn't stand watching the rankings jumping back and forth, obeying his parents' request, and went to an ordinary college until the system was closed; there was also a candidate who couldn't get into the selection line and had to stick to his favorite major until other candidates. Temporarily changing schools, he got his wish.

  No matter how thrilling the application process is, those restless and restless adolescent students in Internet cafes will go to colleges that match their scores in two months.

  A girl who was stubborn to study abroad in the province gave up several colleges in Inner Mongolia that her parents had carefully selected for her: it was not until a few seconds before the system was shut down that the parents reluctantly accepted the reality of her studying abroad.

  "When I filled out the application form, I knew that my life would be very different from now on." This Inner Mongolian girl finally went to Southwest University.

She found that Chongqing was not as hot as she thought, and the red and spicy food was delicious.

Occasionally, only occasionally, she will mention the dry wind in Inner Mongolia.

  Ma Chenyue used to yearn to study in universities outside the province, especially Tianjin and Sichuan.

She went to Tianjin when she was a child. In her memory, the roads were clean and foreigners lived there. It was a very different place from Inner Mongolia. The short video recording the beauty of Sichuan cuisine made Ma Chenyue salivate in front of the screen, "How can this happen? A good place to plant?"

  On the weekends of each make-up class in her senior year, she relied on that little curiosity about the outside world to resist sleepiness.

But she ended up staying at Inner Mongolia Normal University.

Accompanied by her mother, she returned home relatively silently, and once considered repeating the reading: Why did she exceed the score line of 33 points this time, and she still couldn't get out of the province?

  She found that in recent years, fewer and fewer candidates are able to study abroad.

A high school teacher also observed that the indicators given to Inner Mongolia by colleges and universities in other provinces decreased year by year, while the number of places in Inner Mongolia colleges increased year by year, which allowed more candidates to stay in the province.

  Liu Qi got his wish to go to university in the province: with the 10th ranking, he entered Beijing Normal University.

She described that when applying for the exam, the ranking was like the stone of Sisyphus, which went up and down. She watched in front of the screen, and it was difficult to make efforts to change the result.

  This result was obtained after three years of high school, one year of repetition, and even the previous ten years of study.

Especially in the year of re-reading, she started with a strong determination to prove herself and cut off almost all contact with her friends, going to bed at 1 o'clock in the middle of the night and getting up at 5 o'clock every day.

  She can no longer learn according to her own preferences and strive to improve her grades in mathematics, a disadvantaged subject.

In that year, her astigmatism deepened to five or six hundred degrees, and she wrote 92 practice papers, which were half the height of a person.

  In those big and small mock exams, her grades bounced from the top 20, the top 10, the top 5, to the 1st, and then to the 8th.

On the day the ranking dropped, she ran to her grandmother's house and cried until 3am.

  But at that moment, she knew: she was the Sisyphus himself who pushed the stone up the hill, and when the stone fell, she would try to push it up again.

  China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Wei Xi Source: China Youth Daily