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Shen Xi: “...Know what?”
Her throat bobbed: “The art exhibition, you helped me with it.”
Without the confidence and courage the art exhibition gave her, she would never have gone to the Weida University entrance exam with such self-assurance; without his repeated reassurances that night, she would never have woken up feeling so light-hearted in the morning.
A large part of her excellent results, in fact, was due to Shen Xi.
Her ray of hope, hearing this, finally breathed a sigh of relief: “I thought something happened.”
Shen Xi rubbed her head, saying, “I knew you’d lose control of your emotions. Indeed, not telling you was the right thing to do.”
His neck felt cool.
He moved her head away, and with a helpless smile, used his fingertip to wipe away the lingering tears from Lin Zhan’s eyes.
“Alright, what are you crying about?”
On the way back, Lin Zhan walked slowly, staring at and then stepping over the small bumps on the concrete road.
She said word by word, “Shen Xi, I will be very good to you in the future.”
Shen Xi smiled at her, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and he said with a chuckle, “Mm.”
She knew she was being unusually emotional tonight, unlike herself.
“Very, very good,” she added.
Shen Xi whispered back to her.
“You’re already very good.”
________________________________________
The final round of review was nearing its end. The students of Chonggao High, who had been on edge since the beginning of their senior year, found themselves unusually relaxed as the college entrance exam approached.
With only a little over a month left, everything was already set.
This was true for the students who had studied for three years, but for the art classes, especially Class Three, everyone became even more diligent.
For them, the most important things were not the challenging questions, but the foundational ones. The more they could solidify their basic knowledge, the higher their chances of success.
Lin Zhan was currently enjoying “special treatment” at her desk.
—Test questions personally selected by top student Shen.
And surprisingly, even though some of the questions Shen Xi chose for her weren’t simple, she didn’t feel annoyed. Instead, the more she wrote, the more energized she became, and the broader the smile on her face.
Perhaps anything related to him, no matter how tedious, was sweet to her.
Sun Hong went out to get water and noticed Lin Zhan writing problems in high spirits. Thinking she was doing some interesting reading comprehension, he leaned over and saw she was doing math problems.
Sun Hong: ...
He said to Zheng Yimian, “In my life, this is the first time I’ve seen someone so satisfied, even smiling, while doing math problems.”
Lin Zhan looked up at him: “Otherwise?”
Sun Hong: “I usually use math problems to suppress myself. For example, if I fall for a girl, but I know it’s impossible between us, yet I can’t give up, what do I do then?”
Qi Lijie asked, “Jump off a building?”
Sun Hong: “Get lost.”
Then he said to Lin Zhan, “Then I’ll write a math problem for her, imagining each math problem as a hurdle on my way to pursuing her. Later, I did a trigonometry problem, went back and deleted her contact information, and for three years, I never thought of her once. Later, I thought, what’s love? To hell with love. As long as I don’t have to do math problems, I’m fine with being single.”
Lin Zhan: “...”
She lowered her head and continued writing.
Qi Lijie was intrigued: “Actually, I’m more curious, do you still like girls?”
Zheng Yimian: “Agreed.”
Lin Zhan took a moment to reply: “Seconded.”
Sun Hong looked at Qi Lijie, raising the cup in his hand: “See this glass cup in my hand? Next second it’ll be on your head.”
The two pushed and shoved their way out to get water. Lin Zhan was struggling with the derivative problem in her hand, biting the end of her pen, and said to Zheng Yimian.
“Mianmian, I kind of want to give up on Shen Xi.”
Zheng Yimian: “...”
Seeing Lin Zhan scratching her head again, Zheng Yimian said, “Stop scratching, or you’ll go bald.”
Lin Zhan wrote down a few equations, calculating stroke by stroke. The school broadcast was still playing a song: “The pencil in my hand / Goes back and forth on the paper / I use a few lines to describe who you are to me...”
She scribbled on her draft paper: “I use a few lines to describe who you are to me?”
After speaking, she picked up her pen and wrote a line:
“Shen Xi, husband of Lin Zhan; Empress Zhan dotes on him greatly.”
She tapped on the book cover for Zheng Yimian to see: “My three-line love poem.”
Zheng Yimian: “...”
While the two were making a fuss, someone called out to Lin Zhan: “Zhanzhan, the water dispenser is out of water!”
Lin Zhan stood up: “Got it, coming.”
The person who delivered bottled water daily would place the water at the classroom door.
Lin Zhan walked to the classroom door, picked up the water, and was about to go inside.
Outside, Shen Xi spotted her at once, walked over in two steps, and held her hand.
“Let me do it.”
Lin Zhan didn’t react for a moment, watching him carry the water into the classroom.
She stood still.
Until someone noticed something was off and started shouting at Shen Xi: “Holy crap, who’s this?”
“President, did you go into the wrong classroom?”
Lin Zhan then quickly caught up in a few steps, but Shen Xi had already finished changing the water.
Some onlookers, not even bothering to sleep anymore, exclaimed: “Wow wow wow, buy one get one free!”
Lin Zhan squinted at them: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Oh, so we can’t even talk about it, our Sister Zhan. Alright, alright, you did well this time! Found an in-law for our Class Three!”
Lin Zhan glared at them: “Go write your problems, all you do is talk nonsense all day.”
“A dog doesn’t watch gossip! Everyone agrees, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
...
Lin Zhan pushed Shen Xi: “You should go, if you don’t leave, our class will explode.”
Shen Xi nodded, noticing her unnatural expression, and asked very seriously, “So eager to make me leave?”
“...”
Lin Zhan was teased by him, and quickly turned the tables, winking at him.
“See you tonight then.”
“...”
Shen Xi: “...I’ll go first.”
________________________________________
Five days before the college entrance exam, Chonggao High dismissed school early, giving everyone some time for self-study.
On the last evening, a large piece of paper was taped to the blackboard, with a tree drawn on it.
Everyone took a brush and drew a leaf on the paper, writing their hopes for the future inside the leaf.
It was like outlining a beautiful blueprint for the future.
Huang Chen said from the podium, “Perhaps you’ll meet again in the future, or perhaps never. Maybe many years from now, you’ll take out your graduation photo and think, ah, this person, I no longer remember.”
“I think fate is a very subtle thing. Among so many classes, you were all grouped together, and I became your homeroom teacher. No one will accompany anyone forever; it’s possible that in the end, everyone will have forgotten each other, but I think being able to walk a path together, sharing a period of youth, is already very beautiful.”
“In this class, whether it was the laughter you left, the sweat you shed, the tears of emotion, or the unsatisfied quarrels, at this moment, it’s all over.”
“Next, a brand new journey awaits you. I wish you all a bright future.”
“Finally, let’s have a group hug.”
Walking out of the classroom door, many people had red eyes.
Lin Zhan and Zheng Yimian were the last to leave.
Huang Chen said, “You two are the best in the class. Zheng Yimian is the student I worry about the least, and Lin Zhan is the student I worry about the most. I hope you both achieve great things in the future. I believe in you.”
...
After the hug, Lin Zhan packed her belongings into a large suitcase.
Throughout the campus, there was the sound of people pushing suitcases along the path, the plastic bottom of the suitcase rubbing against the uneven road, producing a long, dragging sound.
As she left, she looked back.
She felt a little reluctant to part.
Standing on the playground, she smiled and told Shen Xi, “The first time I spoke to you was right here.”
Chonggao High carried too much of her: her confusion, her glory, her youth, and her first love.
Here, she slowly learned to live with her imperfect self.
It was after meeting him that she learned to calm her mind, believe in herself, and overcome pre-exam anxiety.
And Shen Xi, on the other hand, learned to escape his monotonous life, slowly, step by step, approaching a vibrant world.
Nothing is perfect.
Lin Zhan thought.
But at least, she had never regretted it.
________________________________________
Two days before the college entrance exam, Lin Zhan quietly reviewed basic knowledge points at home.
On the first day of the college entrance exam, Jiang Wan drove her to the examination venue.
When they arrived, there were already many people at the venue. Lin Zhan sat in the car, eating the homemade sandwich Jiang Wan had made for her. After finishing, she went to look for Zheng Yimian and the others.
She didn’t find Zheng Yimian, but she found Shen Xi and his mother sitting to the side.
Lin Zhan couldn’t help but take a second look.
Ye Qian was instructing her son to eat more.
She spooned out some porridge from the thermos: “Eat a little more. You need to be full to do well on the exam. You’re eating too little.”
Shen Xi: “Mom, I’m really full.”
Seeing Shen Xi so rarely helpless, Lin Zhan gloated with a smile.
Shen Xi gave her a warning glance.
Ye Qian noticed her son’s gaze and then turned her head in the direction he was looking.
The moment she saw Lin Zhan’s face, Ye Qian almost blurted out, “Isn’t that...”
“Mom,” Shen Xi’s brows furrowed.
Ye Qian looked at him: “What’s wrong?”
Shen Xi said, “Let’s go back to the car quickly. Dad is waiting for you in the car.”
Ye Qian said, “No, I just thought that girl looked so familiar...”
Shen Xi’s gaze sharpened, and he immediately said, “You saw wrong, an optical illusion.”
Ye Qian was half-convinced: “...Is that so?”
Shen Xi nodded: “Yes, go back to the car quickly.”
Seeing Ye Qian about to turn back to confirm, Shen Xi firmly held her shoulders: “Mom, don’t waste my time. I need to go into the examination hall now.”
Ye Qian quickly averted her eyes: “Okay, then Mom will go first. You do well on the exam.”
Shen Xi breathed a sigh of relief: “Mm.”
Lin Zhan entered the examination hall’s main gate. Soon after, Shen Xi caught up with her.
She smiled and said, “I knew Auntie must be a very gentle person. And she is.”
Shen Xi hadn’t fully recovered from the lingering fear, and casually replied, “Mm.”
Lin Zhan: “Why are you so distracted? Are you nervous?”
Nervous.
Nervous about something else.
Shen Xi avoided the question: “Are you nervous?”
Lin Zhan shook her head: “Not nervous at all. What’s there to be nervous about? I can get into Weida University anyway.”
Shen Xi: “Good, then do your best.”
The first exam was Chinese, which Lin Zhan was good at.
The second was math; there were two problems that Shen Xi had made her practice.
The third was comprehensive liberal arts, neither particularly good nor bad.
The fourth was English.
Before the English exam, thinking that she would soon be free, Lin Zhan excitedly suggested to Shen Xi before entering the examination hall:
“Let’s sleep together tonight!”
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