"I know," Xu Tangcheng said.

He couldn't say for sure why he had that belief but the moment he realised that Yi Zhe's phone was switched off, the first thought he had was that Yi Zhe's phone had ran out of battery and not that the phone's owner had cut off all contact with the outside world on his own volition because he was in a bad mood. He looked up and down Yi Zhe's body, confirming that his current condition couldn't be any worse. The thin school uniform was clinging to his legs and the area over his chest also completely soaked, clearly outlining the shape of his body. Xu Tangcheng frowned and looked up to rebuke him when he noticed that the gaze directed at him seemed to contain something different.

Remorse, anxiety… all that were in there, but that was not all.

A moment of hesitant guessing made him unable to say anything more.

"When I came out, I left through a side door… I'm sorry."

"Why are you saying sorry?" Looking at his distressed face, Xu Tangcheng said laughingly. "In the first place, I didn't contact you beforehand. It's normal for us to miss each other."

Yi Zhe was just getting down from the bike. Upon hearing this, he pressed his lips together and lowered his head. He pulled the brake level a couple of times, very quickly.

The rain seemed like it would get heavier. Xu Tangcheng heard a rattling sound behind him. He turned around and saw that the one side of the school gate was already closed.

"Let's go. We'll park your bike on the opposite side."

Opposite the school was a public square. Xu Tangcheng remembered that there was a twenty-four hours paid parking space there in the past. He looked over to the other side of the road and asked Yi Zhe, "Is there still overnight parking there?"

"Yes." Yi Zhe nodded and followed him to walk forward. Xu Tangcheng raised his hand a little higher, holding up the umbrella above both their heads.

He actually had another umbrella in his hands. But Yi Zhe needed to push his bike so he didn't pass it over.

The accumulated water at the school gate had receded a little. There were again cars passing by one after another on the road, their lights bright and dazzling, piercing through the pouring rain. When they crossed the road, Yi Zhe inadvertently glanced to the side and suddenly saw that one of Xu Tangcheng's shoulders was already wet. He looked up and finally noticed that the umbrella had been slanted towards him the whole time.

Raindrops rolled off the canopy, shattering on the ground.

"Let me hold it." His hand gripped the upper part of the umbrella handle, touching Xu Tangcheng's hand.

"You're pushing your bike, it's not convenient."

But Yi Zhe exerted strength and took the umbrella straight into his own hand.

"It's fine."

Before this, no matter how sudden or how heavy the rain he encountered was, he had never shared an umbrella with someone else. When he tilted the umbrella to the other side and covered the other person's entire body, a sense of satisfaction suddenly emerged in Yi Zhe's heart. It was probably similar to the feeling of sneaking the strawberry on a strawberry cake into the other person's plate or furtively letting them have the last bottle of cold beverage from a stall during a hot summer's day.

Tiny and insignificant, a secret happiness in the heart.

When they returned to the car, Xu Tangcheng finally saw the missed call from Zhou Hui. He called back and told her that they would be home soon and also asked her to make a pot of ginger soup to dispel the cold.

"Yi Zhe-ge, you reached home and then turned back?" Xu Tangxi turned around and asked in surprise.

Yi Zhe was rubbing his hair with a dry and soft towel. When he heard the question, he nodded and said, "Yeah."

"You could just ask my mum to call us."

Xu Tangxi's uncomprehending tone was also Xu Tangcheng's. When he understood from Zhou Hui what had happened, he couldn't really understand why Yi Zhe had to do things the hard way. It was clearly something that could be resolved with just a phone call so why had he turned back and braved this heavy rain?

Through the rearview mirror, he looked at Yi Zhe who had rubbed his hair until it was a mess and couldn't help nagging. "You're really making trouble for yourself. You were home already, why did you come back here? What if you catch a cold after being drenched for a whole night? You're sitting for the gaokao soon, if anything happens to your health, it'll have a big impact."

"It's fine." Whether intentionally or not, Yi Zhe avoided the first half of his words and only answered, "My body's strong. I won't catch a cold."

"Even if you're strong, you shouldn't put yourself through this. I don't care whether or not you think you'll catch a cold. When we get back later, you will first go home and take a hot shower, and then I'll bring a bowl of ginger soup over to you. My mum said that it's not very good to drink ginger soup at night but it's the lesser of two harms, so I think you should still drink a bowl." With that, he turned towards Xu Tangxi. "You too. When we get home, hurry up and take a shower."

"Okay," Xu Tangxi replied.

"No need, that's too much trouble..."

Halfway through his words, he received a look.

"Okay. Sure," Yi Zhe changed his words.

Xu Tangcheng put on the left signal and drove the car out onto the road.

This hot shower was the quickest Yi Zhe had ever taken in his entire life. He completely ignored Xu Tangcheng's reminders for him to spend more time in the shower. And when he was done showering, while waiting for Xu Tangcheng to come over, he quickly tidied up the living room. The clothes strewn everywhere were tossed into another room; the surface of the coffee table was too dirty so he found a damp towel and wiped it; the melon seed shells on the floor were swept away…

When he was done cleaning up, he felt that he didn't need the ginger soup at all. His body had long since been covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Even Xu Tangcheng was briefly stunned when he came in and saw him. "Why is your face so red just from taking a shower?"

He put the ginger soup on the coffee table and walked to Yi Zhe's side. He touched his forehead. "Don't tell me you're having a fever?"

His other hand touched his own forehead. Comparing the two, the temperature seemed fine.

Yi Zhe lowered his eyelids. His fingers twisted behind his back. He didn't make any sound.

The ginger soup was in a round glass food container. When the cover was removed, warm steam immediately rose. Xu Tangcheng pushed the food container over to Yi Zhe and exhorted, "Be careful, it's hot."

After just one gulp, Yi Zhe couldn't control his furrowing brows.

"Not good?"

The ginger taste was too strong.

But the words that came out of his mouth were, "It's a little hot."

Words that did not match the heart, the first step to winning a person's heart.

Xu Tangcheng smiled. "Didn't I just tell you so? Blow on it."

And so, ripples formed on the surface of the soup in the lunchbox. Ring after ring, expanding and dispersing quickly.

Xu Tangcheng absent-mindedly picked up a book that was on the coffee table. It was a compilation of English reading comprehension revision questions. He rested his arms on his thighs and flipped through a few pages, and realised that all the questions had been completed. The pages bore the marks of corrections in red as well as explanations for some unfamiliar words and analyses of the structure of the long sentences.

A compilation of reading comprehension revision questions was not something that would appear on its own on the coffee table in his home. Yi Zhe snuck looks at the person beside him out of the corner of his eye. His fingers that were holding the food container started to tap restlessly against the glass sides.

Xu Tangcheng didn't notice his small movements. After reading for a while, he asked casually, "How are your results recently? The exams are only about ten days away."

"Still all right." His fingers stopped. Yi Zhe blew on the soup again, then imitated Xu Tangcheng and also rested his arms on his thighs. "My results are quite steady in the recent few mock exams. Top five in the year."

In actual fact, he was in the top four. He was being modest.

"That's amazing." There was a flicker of pleasant surprise in Xu Tangcheng's eyes. His spirits high, he leaned over and asked, "Do you have a target school? Your selection pool is very large now, you can choose well."

"School…"

Yi Zhe muttered a word. Xu Tangcheng thought that he meant that he hadn't thought of it properly yet and joked, "Why don't you consider University A? The teaching quality is robust, the school environment excellent, the campus beautiful, and you can also be my junior."

After saying that, Xu Tangcheng had already started laughing at his own self-promotion and self-praise. Next to him, Yi Zhe's heart was pounding. The skin on his face was gradually starting to not listen to his command, led astray by Xu Tangcheng's emotions. He pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile, his hands turning the food container.

A completely meaningless move, exposing the nervousness in his heart. After that, with fake nonchalance, he said, "Sure."

Xu Tangcheng laughed again after hearing that. "Really?"

"Yeah." This time, Yi Zhe lifted his head and looked at him under the brightness of the light. He gathered his courage to ask, "I'll go become your junior, okay?"

This conversation started with Xu Tangcheng's joke and at the end, he still thought of it as a joke. Hence, it was with a laugh that he said okay and it was also with a laugh that he said that in the future, he will look out for him. But he did not know that when it concerned himself, every single word that Yi Zhe spoke came from twelve out of ten points of seriousness.

During one of the last few night self-study sessions before the exams, Yi Zhe was summoned by the class teacher. When he arrived at the office, he finally understood that the content of this conversation was: Maintaining the stability of the students' hearts and minds before the exams on an individual basis.

"Yi Zhe, the improvement in your academic results in Year 3 is extremely large. To be honest, this is not something I expected. In the past, I knew that you were smart but even after scolding you for so long, your heart was still restless. Now, you know how things should be and you know to focus on your studies. I am very happy."

Old Du's words were sincere and heartfelt. Yi Zhe also listened seriously for once. He admitted that the past him had indeed caused not a small amount of trouble and his track record was full of blemishes. It was only because of Old Du that he was not kicked out of the experimental class. For example, that incident that got on his record—when he had stood in the vice principal's office, he had also seen Old Du speak in a low and soothing voice, saying everything good about Yi Zhe that he possibly could.

"I'm actually not worried about you taking the gaokao. I think your psychological state is good and that you aren't afraid at all when you enter the exam hall. So, as long as you keep yourself steady, believe me, it would not be a problem no matter which university you want to go to."

Hearing Old Du say this, Yi Zhe felt a surprise relief. Even he himself had not expected this.

After a momentary silence, he asked, "Is that true?"

"Huh?" Old Du didn't expect him to respond and blanked out for a moment.

Yi Zhe repeated, "It won't be a problem no matter which university it is?"

"It's true." Old Du immediately slapped his thigh and said very loudly. Then, he carefully mulled over Yi Zhe's tone and detected something hidden in a deeper layer. "Why, do you have a target in mind?"

Yi Zhe lowered his head. The thumbs and index fingers on both his hands connected to make a rectangular frame that just nicely captured the cross formed by the edges of the ceramic tiles on the floor.

"I will enter University A."

Not "I am thinking of entering," not "I want to enter," but "I will enter."

University A, communications engineering.

He didn't know what it was like for others but along with the approach of the exams, this goal occupied almost his entire heart, so much so that he couldn't wait to reach it. He couldn't wait to get to that campus, couldn't wait to go in and out the same campus building as him, couldn't wait to bump into him in the cafeteria when he was starving.

After he said the words "I will enter University A" to Old Du, he felt as though a burden had been lifted from his mind and there was also a faint anticipation. The secret he had suppressed for so long was finally revealed to the world openly and boldly. That tiny sprouting intention he carried in his heart had also finally found something to be its support.

His emotions were overly agitated, so much so that on the night before the exams, he unexpectedly couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in bed, his eyes wide open, his mind switching between classical poetry that had to be memorised, model English essays, key points for answering literature reading comprehension questions… and also the occasional flashes of Xu Tangcheng. After a long torment, when he had counted up to 200 sheep, he still could not sleep.

It wasn't enough that the exam candidate couldn't sleep; a few walls away, the person who had obviously left his university entrance exams years in his past was unexpectedly also tossing and turning in bed.

For the past two days, Xu Tangcheng had been constantly arguing with himself whether or not he should drop off and pick up Yi Zhe. If he did, he thought of what other people said about how it was a must to maintain the usual state of mind during the exams. How things usually were, was how things should be during those two days and there must definitely not be anything out of the usual. If he did not, he felt worried. Everyone else had people dropping them off and picking them up while Yi Zhe had to ride his bike alone to and fro in the heat of the day. He might not even be eating properly.

He argued with himself for a long while to no avail. The most obvious fruit of his labours were that the tiny bit of sleepiness he had was completely gone. Since he could not sleep anyway, he decisively put his legs up, flipped over and sat up, then went to the window to smoke.

In the end, Xu Tangcheng did not send Yi Zhe to school. When Yi Zhe woke up in the morning, there were two messages in his phone. Both were a simple "Good luck."

He replied "You too" to Zhao Weifan but when it came to Xu Tangcheng, he stared blankly for a long while before replying with a "Mm."

He closed the message screen and slipped his phone into his pocket. But he still felt a little dissatisfied.

He took it out again and saved a draft.

Two days actually passed very quickly. Before returning to the capital city, Xu Tangcheng stood downstairs and smoked a few cigarettes in succession. He didn't have a cigarette addiction; it was just that he couldn't help being apprehensive while waiting and without noticing it, he had burned through quite a few sticks.

He had also seen a few exam candidates come back one by one. From their chatter, Xu Tangcheng faintly heard things like "Maths was super hard" and "English was pretty easy." Everyone said different things, yet the excitement or dejection was the same. He pressed his lips together and forced out the smoke in his mouth, his heart restlessly guessing how Yi Zhe did in his exams.

No matter how he thought about it, Yi Zhe should be in the group saying "The questions are very easy," right?

He paced around as he waited, shooting countless looks at the main entrance. When it was nearly seven o' clock, he finally saw that person who was cycling back unhurriedly. The person still had earphones in his ears and the wheels of the bike were not moving in a straight line; instead, they traced multiple S-shaped curves on the street.

Xu Tangcheng tilted his head and stood there, waiting for him to come over.

At seven, the sun was still bright and warm. Yi Zhe held a transparent document holder in one hand, the rays of the sun scouring it again and again. The 2B pencil and the black pen were engraved with a layer of the fading light, yet the vestiges of the battle were still clearly visible.

Xu Tangcheng stood quietly, without making a sound. When the two of them were close enough and the wheels had entered Xu Tangcheng's shadow, Yi Zhe finally looked up.

With his emotions tense and keyed-up, Xu Tangcheng was completely unable to discern what kind of look it was that flashed across Yi Zhe's eyes. All he saw was Yi Zhe coming to a stop and looking at him, and the corners of his lips turning up.

It was a relaxed and happy expression.

Xu Tangcheng let out a deep exhale.

"You haven't gone back to Beijing yet?" Yi Zhe asked, no longer holding back the smile on his face.

Probably because he was in a good mood, he didn't get down from the bike and instead, continued to cycle slowly in circles around Xu Tangcheng.

"I was waiting for you." Xu Tangcheng wanted to take another draw on his cigarette but when he brought his hand up, he realised that the stick had already changed shape. The cigarette butt was bent at a not very large angle, vaguely resembling a check mark.

It seemed like a good omen.

"You're the one taking the gaokao but I was also nervous for the past two days." He looked towards the sky and said with a sigh.

Yi Zhe was still circling around him, the circles becoming smaller and smaller but still with him as the center.

"You're so happy," Xu Tangcheng turned his head right and left, his eyes following him. "You did very well in the exams?"

"Very well."

Yi Zhe gave him a silly laugh and continued to circle around him.

After countless circles, Xu Tangcheng finally felt a little dizzy and reached out to stop him. "All right, stop circling. I'm dizzy."

Yi Zhe's "Very well" put Xu Tangcheng in a very good mood. When he started his car to set out, he accidentally stomped hard on the accelerator. An auntie taking a walk at the side was shocked out of her skin and glared at him while waving a palm-leaf fan. Xu Tangcheng immediately stretched out his hand to apologise. "Sorry, Auntie, sorry!"

When the car was nearly out of the courtyard, a figure suddenly appeared in the rearview mirror, cycling madly, back arched up. Before Xu Tangcheng realised what was going on, Yi Zhe had already caught up to him.

He wound the window down. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." The teenager's face was a little flushed and there was a thin sheen of sweat on it. He curled his lips up and lowered his head, then said, "I'm just too happy."

Xu Tangcheng broke out in laughter.

The speed of the bike could, of course, not be compared with the car. Very quickly, Yi Zhe fell behind. Xu Tangcheng wanted to turn his head to look at him, yet when his gaze met the rearview mirror, he suddenly lost his voice, the words he wanted to call out swallowed back down.

In the rearview mirror was the setting sun; he was the young man who could hold back the light.