Score

Lao Li's alarm clock rang on time at 4:44 AM. He sat up with a start, not because of anything else, but because today was the "big day" - the day postgraduate entrance exam scores were released.

He tremblingly opened his computer, entered his admission ticket number and password. The few seconds it took for the page to load felt longer than running a marathon. Finally, a bright red number popped up on the screen:

Lao Li rubbed his eyes, thinking he had misread it. He refreshed the page, and it was still 444.

"This... this is unlucky!" his wife muttered from beside him.

Lao Li ignored her. He quickly opened a WeChat group called "Postgraduate Exam 444 Mutual Aid Group." The group had already exploded:

"I also got 444! Does anyone know what this means?"

"Same 444! What's going on this year?"

"444s stick together for warmth!"

...

The more Lao Li read, the more panicked he became. He decided to go to the "Postgraduate Exam Holy Land" - the Confucius statue in front of Qufu Normal University - to pray.

When he arrived at the Confucius Temple, Lao Li was dumbfounded. The place was packed with people, crowded with examinees like him, holding their admission tickets and looking anxious. They lined up in a long queue, taking turns bowing, burning incense, and making wishes to the Confucius statue.

In the queue, a bespectacled boy suddenly shouted excitedly: "I understand! 444 is a homophone for 'everything goes smoothly' (事事顺)! This is an auspicious sign!"

When everyone heard this, they burst into cheers. They quickly forwarded this "good news," and their WeChat Moments were flooded with "444, everything goes smoothly!"

Lao Li also started to feel happy, thinking that he must have misunderstood the number.

However, things were not that simple.

The next day, major media outlets reported on the "Postgraduate Exam 444 Phenomenon." Experts had various opinions, some saying it was a problem with the grading system, some saying it was a coincidence, and others saying it was a hint of some mysterious power.

Even more bizarrely, some companies began to offer high salaries to graduates with a postgraduate entrance exam score of 444, on the grounds that "they possess extraordinary potential and luck."

Lao Li also received several interview calls, and the interviewers praised him to the skies, calling him a "once-in-a-century talent."

Lao Li was flattered, and he began to believe that he was really "the chosen one."

On the day of the interview, Lao Li, wearing a brand-new suit, walked into a well-known company full of spirits. The interviewer was a middle-aged woman who looked at Lao Li's resume with a meaningful smile on her face.

"Mr. Li, your postgraduate entrance exam score is truly impressive," she said.

"Thank you, I also feel very lucky," Lao Li replied modestly.

"So, can you tell me what your understanding of the number '444' is?"

Lao Li cleared his throat and began to talk eloquently about the theory that "444 means everything goes smoothly."

The interviewer listened, smiled, and shook her head. "Mr. Li, you may have misunderstood. The reason our company values the score of 444 is because..."

She paused, took a document from the drawer, and handed it to Lao Li.

Lao Li took the document and saw a line of words written on it:

"Employee Satisfaction Survey: 4.44 points (out of 10 points)."

Lao Li was stunned.

The interviewer continued: "We are a company that values employee feedback very much. After years of data analysis, we found that employees with a postgraduate entrance exam score of 444 tend to have a satisfaction level with the company that is highly consistent with the company's overall satisfaction level. That is to say, they are the people who best represent the average level of the company."

"So... you're hiring me because I'm... average?" Lao Li's voice trembled slightly.

"No, not average," the interviewer corrected. "It's 'standard.' We need a standard employee to serve as a benchmark for measuring other employees."

Lao Li completely collapsed. He walked out of the company building and looked up at the sky.

The sky was blue, and the sun was dazzling.

He suddenly remembered his former dream: to become an excellent engineer and contribute to society.

But now, he was just a number, a standard, a dispensable reference point.