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墨書 Inktalez
In the pioneering era, the future of the Internet was still in its infancy. While Yahoo was thriving, Microsoft was taking shape with Windows 95, Google was not yet called Google but rather Bakrub, and Amazon was merely an online bookstore.
For Jiang Yizhou, the closest achievement he could aspire to was in the field of Instant Messaging, which uniquely established a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars in China. He wanted to give it a try, at least to earn the title of the father of Instant Messaging and secure a place in the history of the Internet.
Quietly lying in his rented bedroom closet were those Phone Cards, which were merely a foundation for him to achieve financial freedom and accelerate his wealth accumulation. However, he was still unwilling to settle and wanted to create something significant.
The greatest fear in life is missing out, not making mistakes. He did not want to miss out; November was the time when IQ would be released in the United States, and he still wanted to seize the opportunity.
But due to a lack of... well, money, renting a server costs money. The required bandwidth was currently a 64k corporate line, costing several thousand yuan each month. Going online was burning money; this statement was no joke.
In that era, there were cases of people being caught for exploiting loopholes to access the Internet for free, resulting in economic losses due to occupying online time.
There were also clueless kids using family computers that racked up hundreds of yuan in expenses within a month. Although families that could afford computers should not be too poor—at least their monthly income would be over a thousand yuan—pork only cost around one yuan per jin...
In summary, the reason why China's Internet only began to take off slowly after 1998 was due to the decrease in internet costs and improvements in network infrastructure, which meant faster internet speeds.
Nevertheless, Jiang Yizhou still wanted to give it a try.
...
By mid-July, Jiang Xiaoya rode her family's only bicycle to school with an extremely anxious heart. She locked her bike in the parking shed and remained silent with nervousness.
Jiang Xiaoya had little hope for her grades because she had suddenly developed a fever during Zhongkao. Although it was a low fever, her head felt dizzy. She barely managed to finish the exam and realized after comparing answers with other students that it wasn't just about whether she could get a scholarship; even getting into the local high school was now a question mark!
Education had always been emphasized in her hometown. Both County High School and Town High School had scholarships set up by enthusiastic locals. After all, with poverty being prevalent and surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, if education wasn't prioritized, there would be very few opportunities for anyone to stand out and leave their hometown.
Originally, it was the motivation to reignite hope for Jiang Xiaoya, but now that she has to pay full tuition for high school, she wonders if she can continue her education.
"Xiao Ya, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Lin Wenhui stood in front of Jiang Xiaoya's desk, hands clasped behind her back, her relaxed expression somewhat out of place in the classroom.
"Nothing, just a bit worried!" Jiang Xiaoya wiped away the tears that had spilled from her eyes, suppressing her anxious feelings and forcing a smile. "How about you?"
Lin Wenhui pouted, resting her chin on one hand. "My dad checked with the teacher. I'm still about ten points short; I should pay around three thousand yuan in sponsorship fees to get into Town High School. Otherwise, I'll have to go to another town!"
Sponsorship fees are an unspoken rule in the area. If a student's scores do not meet the desired high school threshold, they must pay a corresponding sponsorship fee based on how many points they are short to enroll. In situations where educational funding is insufficient, many schools, especially high schools with little financial support, rely on these funds for development.
However, the county high school and the local high school are considered relatively good. The sponsorship admissions only account for less than one-fifth of new students and can ensure teaching quality. The limitations on the number of sponsored students also mean that the fees are quite high.
Town High School has a base fee of two thousand yuan; for every point short, it costs an additional hundred yuan. County High School is even more expensive and requires connections to have a chance at paying this fee and competing for sponsorship spots.
"Quiet down; everyone return to your seats. Next, I will discuss our school's situation," the homeroom teacher simply placed the paper recording the class's Zhongkao scores aside and began the last lesson by talking about the school's glorious history, hoping everyone would strive to bring honor to their alma mater.
Fortunately, students apply before taking exams; otherwise, this class would definitely turn into an analysis and recommendation meeting since the town's middle school and high school are connected.
"I have shared all I can. I will post the score sheet on the blackboard. If anyone has questions about their scores, feel free to come to my office!"
Once the homeroom teacher left the classroom, all the students erupted into chaos, rushing to see that piece of paper. Most families did not have telephones and could not directly call like Lin Wenhui did; they mostly waited until this moment to check their scores. As for each high school's score thresholds, they had already been written on the blackboard.
"Xiao Ya, why aren't you going up to check your score?" Lin Wenhui already knew her score; she was just here to join in on the excitement.
"I... I'm a little scared!" Jiang Xiaoya's anxiety reached its peak. Even if she just barely made the cutoff score, her parents might still support her to go to high school. If that didn't work, she could ask her older brother for help, although it might delay him. But if she didn't even reach the cutoff, she wouldn't have the face to ask her parents for tuition.
"Oh~~ Jiang Xiaoya, how did you only score this little? You didn't even make it into Town High School, what a surprise!" Among the crowd gathered around the report card, a boy suddenly exclaimed, and then others confirmed in disbelief.
"Really? What happened? If it was just one subject that went wrong, that would be fine, but how come all the scores are so low?"
"Xiao Ya, is this true? What on earth happened?" Lin Wenhui, hearing the surprised voices, also asked Jiang Xiaoya with concern.
"Woo woo woo~~~" The girl had nothing left and buried her face in her arms on the desk, crying. She felt sad and a bit unwilling; others might be able to accept it, but she couldn't allow herself to feel this way. This was her effort, her future...
"Xiao Ya, don't cry yet. What if there's been a mistake? It's not unheard of. I'll go ask Old Class Teacher about it. You stay here and wait!" Lin Wenhui glanced at her worriedly before quickly running out of the classroom.
But for Jiang Xiaoya, it was already quite clear. Sitting at her desk, she cried until her throat was hoarse. When her classmates left with sympathetic and strange looks, and when Lin Wenhui returned with news that they could apply for a review of the exam papers but not to get their hopes up...
Once she was alone, Jiang Xiaoya wiped away her tears and rode her bicycle home...
"Er Ya, where's the soy sauce and yarn I asked you to buy?" Gao Qingzhen said somewhat angrily. She went to check on the results and ended up taking most of the time; now she had returned empty-handed.
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