Their struggle for a new life begins when rumors about the reinstitution of the gaokao filter through to the farm. This instills new hope in all the students. Pan, wiser and more mature than the others, immediately understands how the rumors are related to epochal political changes:

Pan: Theres a major change coming. Deng Xiaopings reappearance means major changes; I just didnt expect it to be so soon.

Zh- c# l#hai le, y3o d3 bi3n, D-ng Xi2op!ng de f&ch;$ y#w-i zhe gu5ji` y3o y6u d3 de bi3nhu3, k0 w6 m9i xi2ngd3o j$r1n l1i de zh-me ku3i.

这次厉害了，要大变，邓小平的复出意味着国家要有大的变化，可我没想到居然来得这么快。

Qiang: Do you think it is possible? N! ju9de y6u k0n9ng?你觉得有可能？

Pan: Not just possible. Very likely. Im sure big changes are coming. B%sh# y6u k0n9ng, sh# h0n y6u k0n9ng, w6 j~h$ k0y! k0nd#ng gu5ji` y!d#ng hu# y6u d3 de bi3nhu3.

不是有可能，是很有可能，我几乎可以肯定国家一定会有大的变化。

Qiang: Theres hope now? Our suffering is over? I dont need to look at Chis face again? Ill take the exam and go to college!

Zh-me shu4, y6u p3nw3ng le, ch$t5u de r#zi d3o le. Zh- hu! w6 z3i y0 b%y7ng k3n n@ L2o Ch! de li2n le, w6 y3o k2o ge d3xu9 g0i n@ k3nkan.

这么说，有盼望了，出头的日子到了。这回我再也不用看你老迟的脸了，我要考个大学给你看看。

After a few days, news about the restoration of the gaokao is made official and broadcast nationwide. Everyone is thrilled—except Old Chi, an old-school bureaucrat who doesnt want to accept the news, fearful he will lose all his students constructing a road to the farm. He opposes their wishes and refuses to authorize the enrollment forms needed for them to take the exam. Chen Qiongs father, the criticized intellectual, arrives to visit his daughter and tell her the news about the gaokao. Though the girl doesnt want to see her father as she is ashamed of his political status, she cant resist the collection of books he uses to teach night lessons and further her chances of taking the exam.

The books required for the test are rare and highly treasured, so much so that Qiangzi and Genbao are moved to try and steal some from the local bureau, but are caught in the act by the guards.

To release his friends, Pan tries to convince Old Chi that stealing books is not a crime, quoting one of the most prominent men of letters that China has ever known:

Pan: Stealing books is not theft. T4u sh$ b% su3n t4u.

偷书不算偷。

Chi: Who said that? Sh9i shu4 de?

谁说的？

Pan: Lu Xun said that. L^ X&n; shu4 de.

鲁迅说的。

Chi: Ive heard of him. So what? W6 zh~d3o zh- r9n, z0n de?

我知道这人，怎的？

Pan: Lu Xun was a model. Chairman Mao said so.

L^ X&n; sh# q!sh6u, zh- k0sh# M1o Zh^x! shu4 de.

鲁迅是旗手，这可是毛主席说的。

Chi: It doesnt matter who said that. It still isnt right.

Zh- hu! sh9i shu4le y0 b&x;!ng.

这回谁说了也不行。

After a long confrontation with Chi, a fatal accident and nights spent studying by candlelight, the crucial day of the exam, December 10, 1977, arrives.

The night before the exam, Chen Qiong visits Pan:

Chen: I cant sleep. I guess nobody can. Shu#buzh1o, w6 g$j# zh- sh!hou sh9i d4u shu# buzh1o.

睡不着, 我估计这时候谁都睡不着。

Pan: Nervous? Are you ready for the exam?

J!nzh`ng a, z0nmey3ng, zh^nb-i h2o le ma?紧张啊，怎么样，准备好了吗？

Chen: I think I am. After 25 years, its the first time Ive had this feeling. Im lucky.

M9i zh^nb-i h2o y0 y3o zh^nb-i h2o. èrsh!w^ ni1n le, w6 d# y~ c# y6u j~nti`n zh-y3ng de g2nju9. W6 h0n x#ngy&n.;

没准备好也要准备好。二十五年了，我第一次有今天这样的感觉。我很幸运。