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Shen Xi: “Mm, I made it.”
In that crafting video, the experienced female shop owner took almost forty minutes to complete a rough draft. Lin Zhan could imagine how long it would take Shen Xi, someone who fundamentally disliked and had little experience with handicrafts, to finish this item.
A warm current seemed to flow into Lin Zhan’s heart.
Shen Xi, on the other end, asked with a smile, “Do you like it?”
Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, Lin Zhan nodded heavily.
“I like it.”
Everything about you, I like it all.
“Sleep well tonight,” Shen Xi mused, “Don’t stress too much.”
“Mm.” Lin Zhan’s fingers played with the soft feathers, feeling as though the feathers were returning a gentle caress to her entire being.
“Then I’ll go to sleep now, goodnight.”
Shen Xi, on the other end, smiled faintly: “Goodnight.”
After hanging up the phone, Lin Zhan rubbed her aching knees, which were sore from kneeling. She stood on the bed and hung the dreamcatcher above her headboard.
She pressed the light switch off.
In the pitch black, the dreamcatcher gently swayed.
________________________________________
After Shen Xi hung up the phone, he stared blankly for a long time. When he came back to his senses, he looked at his palm.
He chuckled for a moment, then reached out and turned off the desk lamp.
There was one more thing he forgot to say.
But he thought, the dreamcatcher would help him deliver it to her.
—My girl, have a good night’s sleep.
________________________________________
That night, Lin Zhan did not suffer from insomnia.
Waking up to her alarm early the next morning, she held her head and slowly came to, only then realizing that she hadn’t suffered from insomnia the night before.
After washing her face, she packed her drawing board and easel, and set off.
It was autumn in W City, and the morning breeze carried a slight chill. After arriving at the examination venue, Lin Zhan went to a nearby breakfast shop to get a bowl of noodles.
Following the signs, she found her examination room and seat. The teacher at the door checked her ID and admission ticket before letting her in.
She quickly set up her easel at her seat, waiting for the paper to be distributed.
This competition was only about color.
The topic that day was very average, neither difficult nor simple. Lin Zhan painted for three full hours and submitted her paper.
After returning home, Jiang Wan, as usual, asked her, “How was it? Was it difficult?”
Lin Zhan usually didn’t respond, but this day, she surprisingly said, “It was alright, normal performance.”
This sentence simply delighted Jiang Wan, because Lin Zhan rarely said things like “normal performance”; almost every time she came back from an exam, her mood was very bad.
This time was an exception.
But even with Lin Zhan’s normal performance, it ultimately couldn’t overcome the vastly different painting style from the judges.
The day before the joint entrance exam, the results of this competition were released.
Lin Zhan received a third prize.
Neither good nor bad.
But Lin Zhengping was very angry.
This time, he tried his best to control his emotions, but couldn’t fully suppress them.
“So many competitions recently, you only got first prize in that insignificant ‘Stars Cup,’ and nothing else in any of the others.”
“Lin Zhan, with your mindset, it really won’t do. Tomorrow is the joint entrance exam, you’re always afraid of difficulties, how can you face them head-on?”
“Every day you seem to be diligently painting in your room, how come there’s no progress at all?”
Lin Zhan: “Then you think I’m secretly playing in my room?”
Lin Zhengping: “I wouldn’t know that, you know best yourself.”
Lin Zhan gritted her teeth, still holding back, only saying, “I’m not arguing with you, it’ll affect my mood. Tomorrow is the joint entrance exam, I’m going back to my room first.”
Lin Zhengping said sternly from behind, “If you don’t do well in the joint entrance exam, your phone will be confiscated, and you won’t be allowed out before the college entrance exam.”
Lin Zhan gripped the doorknob, holding back again and again, but couldn’t, and sneered.
“Then just confisc everything, don’t even let me leave the house. Don’t even bother with the joint entrance exam tomorrow, since you think I haven’t learned anything after studying for so long.”
“Are you still arguing with me?” Lin Zhengping slammed the table, “You always just use the excuse of ‘wrong art style’ to fob me off. If your art style is wrong for the joint entrance exam, don’t you know how to change it yourself? Don’t you know how to learn what others like?!”
“Right, it’s not like you’re the one painting, so of course you think it’s easy. On one hand, you want me to paint with a strong personal style to win awards, and on the other, you want me to paint in an exam-oriented style for the exam,” Lin Zhan took a deep breath, “You’d better see clearly, your daughter only has this much ability. If you want to brag with my awards, you’d better not hold onto that hope.”
Lin Zhengping was furious: “I’m doing this for your own good, and you say such things?!”
“Just because it’s for my own good, does that make it right?”
Jiang Wan quickly tried to mediate: “Alright, stop arguing, Zhanzhan has the joint entrance exam tomorrow, don’t affect her mood.”
Lin Zhengping: “I think too little affects her, that’s why she’s always complaining about nothing, saying she’s stressed! If she were a boy, I would have whipped her with a belt already!”
Lin Zhengping said to Lin Zhan, “Over these past few years, every top student I’ve had, I’m telling you, every single one of them was forced by their families!”
...
Lin Zhan locked the door and said nothing.
It was always like this; she was used to it.
Last year, two high school students from the neighboring high school jumped off a building due to stress.
Their parents initially didn’t care, only regretting it when things became irreversible.
The emotions of adolescence are so intense yet fragile, and repeated pressure from the family can stack up, becoming the final straw that breaks the camel’s back.
It’s too common.
Lin Zhan forced a smile.
Lin Zhengping was practically holding a knife to her neck, demanding she always be first.
She collected herself, chatted with Shen Xi for a bit, and told him not to call tonight.
The situation was special right now; she couldn’t call Shen Xi, otherwise, it would be troublesome if Lin Zhengping found out.
She started to force herself to sleep.
She tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep, waking up twice in between, and then morning came.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
Jiang Wan came in and called her, “Quick, Zhanzhan, get up and get ready, I’ll take you to the examination venue later.”
Jiang Wan had taken leave to take her to the joint entrance examination.
The joint entrance exam, for Lin Zhan, wasn’t actually a big deal.
Because Weida University didn’t recognize joint entrance exam scores; they looked at their own school’s entrance exam and cultural enrollment.
Her condition that day was average, but there was a somewhat troublesome examinee sitting next to her. That examinee, seeing her paint with such ease, kept peeking at her.
Lin Zhan tilted her drawing board to the side.
Actually, she didn’t mind if he copied her. But her use of color was something others couldn’t learn; most would just imitate clumsily, not only failing to grasp her essence but also ruining their own painting.
Based on that person’s current paper, they would probably score around fifty points.
If they copied hers, they would probably only get forty-something points.
The person next to her, unaware of her thoughts, saw that she was unwilling to let him copy and became a bit annoyed. When he got up to change water, he kicked over Lin Zhan’s water bucket.
She was trying to help him, and he, in turn, repaid her kindness with ingratitude?
Lin Zhan frowned and went to the restroom to get another bucket of water.
She wouldn’t be angered by such a small thing, after all, for her, there was plenty of time for the exam, and the painting was simple.
But with several things piling up, she felt a bit depressed.
After a full day of painting, Lin Zhan breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, she could focus on preparing for Weida University’s independent entrance exam.
Weida University really liked her painting style. Huang Chen had also said at the time, “Lin Zhan, you should focus on Weida’s independent entrance exam. From my experience, if you perform normally, you’ll be in the top twenty; if you perform exceptionally, you’ll be in the top three. You’ll definitely pass.”
For the independent entrance exam, Lin Zhan only planned to prepare for Weida University.
As soon as she left the examination hall, Shen Xi called.
His voice was unusually relaxed: “Finished the exam?”
“First hurdle passed,” Lin Zhan rubbed her neck, “Two more...”
Before she finished speaking, she looked up and saw Shen Xi standing at the entrance of the examination hall.
The entrance was packed with people, but she saw him at first glance.
He saw her too.
Perhaps he came in a hurry, he hadn’t even changed out of his school uniform.
Lin Zhan was stunned for a moment, then heard him ask, “What, didn’t expect me?”
“No, I didn’t,” Lin Zhan replied, “I thought you had class this afternoon.”
“I did, but I took leave,” Shen Xi’s voice was still pleasant amidst the noisy environment, “Didn’t want you to be so tired, having to walk back alone after the exam.”
Because just now, she had told him that Jiang Wan wouldn’t pick her up after the exam and she would have to go back by herself.
Lin Zhan, while flowing out with the crowd, asked with a smile, “I’m so afraid I’ll affect your grades because of me.”
“Impossible,” his tone was firm, “Unless you ignore me, it’s impossible to affect me.”
Tsk, she just loved that confident feeling that permeated his every word.
Especially... charming.
There were too many people, not even leaving her room to hold the phone, so Lin Zhan had to hang up first.
Seeing that she was about to get out, Lin Zhan, like a fish in a dried-up pond searching for the ocean, eagerly wanted to slip out.
However, the people around her were incredibly pushy, as if they had gained experience from daily commutes on subways and buses, each one rushing forward impatiently.
Lin Zhan was stuck in place for several minutes, unsure how to move. In her line of sight, a fair hand reached out.
With almost no hesitation, and no time to marvel, Lin Zhan reached out and took it.
She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth and strength from his palm, and gained a sense of security she had never experienced before.
Warmth flowed between them.
Her head felt dizzy.
Shen Xi quickly pulled her out of the battle zone. Just as she managed to rest for a moment, Shen Xi’s hand loosened.
Her heart sank, feeling empty.
He reached out, took off her art bag, and put it on his own back.
Lin Zhan was still immersed in the feeling of loss from him letting go, her head slightly bowed.
Then, before she could react, Shen Xi swung his hand back, gently hooking his finger.
Lin Zhan pursed her lips, taking small steps behind him, pretending to be calm, natural, and practiced, as she took his hand.
...
This time, the feeling was a little different from last time.
As “evaluator” Lin Zhan thought.
This time, his palm felt even hotter than before.
It was as if countless flowers bloomed in her heart, yet she tried her best to maintain her composure, walking very naturally.
Soon, their clasped hands became sweaty.
Lin Zhan bit her lip and repeated her standard pose, leaning forward to look at his expression.
Shen Xi’s masseter muscle tightened, and he asked, “What are you looking at?”
Lin Zhan made the first move: “Seeing if you’re blushing.”
According to common sense, Shen Xi should blush even more from her teasing, and if she was lucky, his ears would turn red too.
This guess made Lin Zhan feel pleased and satisfied.
However, the next second, Shen Xi led her to a stop in front of a shop and motioned for her to look to her left.
Lin Zhan saw a mirror.
“What’s wrong?”
Shen Xi’s voice held a hint of a smile: “Look, whose face is redder?”
Heat instantly rushed up Lin Zhan’s spine. Her mind buzzed, and she lowered her head, saying, “I’m not looking.”
After saying that, she still lifted her eyelids for a quick glance.
...
Shen Xi’s face was normally rosy, but she was flushed from her ears to her cheeks.
And here she was, pretending to be so experienced!
Lin Zhan blurted out a lie, feigning calmness: “Mine is actually due to skin dehydration. It’s windy now, plus I was cooped up indoors for a long time just now...”
“Mm,” Shen Xi said with a smile, “I don’t believe you.”
Lin Zhan: ???
She feigned fierceness: “You have to believe it even if you don’t want to!”
“Alright,” he conceded, “But I still don’t believe it.”
One night a long time ago, she asked Shen Xi if he was jealous, and Shen Xi said no. She said, “Mm, I don’t believe you.”
Shen Xi seemed to be deliberately imitating her, returning every single word of her teasing with double the intensity. She wished she could disappear instantly.
Lin Zhan: “Are you showing off how good your learning ability is?”
Returning all her teasing techniques back to her?
Shen Xi was silent for a moment, then said, “You’ll know whether my learning ability is good or not in the future.”
________________________________________
To specifically prepare for Weida University’s independent entrance exam, Lin Zhan changed art studios again, specifically finding teachers from Weida University to tutor her.
After the joint entrance exam, she had more time to study cultural subjects.
Less than half a month after the exam, the results were out.
Lin Zhan didn’t perform very well this time, scoring a few points lower than usual.
There was nothing she could do; it was an uncontrollable factor. Her mood wasn’t good at the time, so naturally, she couldn’t produce anything particularly good.
Besides, she didn’t care much about this joint entrance exam score anyway. She didn’t plan to attend schools that recruited based on joint entrance exam scores. As long as nothing unexpected happened, she could steadily get into Weida University.
As expected, Zheng Yimian scored very well, ranking third in the entire W City.
Lin Zhan also did well, scoring a little over 240, which also put her among the top ranks in the city.
But Lin Zhengping was naturally dissatisfied.
He felt that he had indulged Lin Zhan too much during this period, which caused her to continuously regress.
So, during the period leading up to Weida University’s independent entrance exam, he watched Lin Zhan every day.
Lin Zhan was like a balloon filled with water, and Lin Zhengping was a needle. As time passed, Lin Zhengping moved a little closer.
She felt like she was about to explode.
Fortunately, Weida University’s independent entrance exam came soon after.
The competition venue was in another district.
Jiang Wan discussed with Lin Zhan whether she wanted to be accompanied.
“Mom really can’t get away. If you want to go, your dad can go with you.”
Lin Zhan shook her head, “It’s fine, no need to accompany me, I can go by myself.”
“This exam is quite important, Mom is afraid you...”
“If I really don’t do well, you accompanying me won’t change anything. You accompanying me can’t change anything, so don’t bother. If you let Lin Zhengping accompany me, it’ll have the opposite effect; he’ll annoy me to death, so forget it.”
After discussion, Lin Zhan decided to go alone.
It didn’t matter, she had been alone many times.
It was funny to think that for this most important exam, she wasn’t even as nervous as she had been for the previous competitions.
Perhaps it was due to Shen Xi’s guidance, or perhaps the pressure of that single spot was gone, or even more likely, she had developed an immunity to Lin Zhengping’s nagging...
When Lin Zhan told Shen Xi about this, holding her phone, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself.
There was a brief pause on the other end, then he quickly said, “Then I’ll go with you?”
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