...
Houdel was completely stunned.
Large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, yet the tips of his fingers and toes were cold as ice.
Among six sheets of exam papers laid out, apart from a few arithmetic and geometry problems on the second sheet that he could do, he was unable to attempt any of the questions on the other five sheets.
It's not that he "wouldn't" do them, but that he "couldn't" do them.
Because he couldn't even comprehend what the questions were.
Before enlisting, Houdel had never been to school. After enlisting, under the literal "whiplash" instruction from Lu Xirong and other soldiers, he learned some characters and had gained knowledge beyond shooting and riding.
Houdel had once been quite smug about this because he was the fastest and most responsive learner among the new recruits.
However, when he faced a real exam, he suddenly realized——what he had learned was far from enough.
The words in the questions, taken alone, he could recognize a few.
