Pages 103-126 Summary

Chen and Shen Ding must wait for the results of the exams to be posted. Shen Ding explains the process to Chen. First, he tells him, any answers with poor handwriting are thrown out. Then they are copied so that the examiners may not recognize anyone's handwriting, and annotated by the examiners. Only those judged the best are given passing marks. The process takes several days.

In the meantime, Chen reads and writes while Shen Ding goes out drinking. One night while he is drunk, Chen asks him if he had put a bribe in his answer booklet. Shen replies "Of course not," supporting Chen's suspicion that Shen Ding had given him bad advice. When the two men go to the examination hall to see if any results have been posted, they find a list of people who have been banned...