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Psst! We're moving!
I want to get into University Z because it’s in the city where she is.
— Zhang Lurang
Back at home.
Su Zaizai untied the leash from Xiao Duan Tui (Short Legs).
Once freed, its short legs ran and ran.
It quickly ran to the pet water dispenser placed in the corner to drink water.
Su Zaizai watched it for a while and teased: “Zhang Xiaorang, do you know? You should be glad we have an elevator in our building.”
As she spoke, she walked to the coffee table and poured herself a glass of water to drink.
Then, Su Zaizai went to stand in front of Short Legs and rubbed its head.
“Didn’t I tell you that when I call you like this, you should ‘woof’?”
Su Zaizai squatted beside it and watched for a moment.
Soon, she stood up and went to the bathroom to wash her face, cooling down her sunburnt face.
The water flowed with a哗啦啦 sound, and Su Zaizai inexplicably started daydreaming.
She snapped back to reality and turned off the tap.
She picked up a couple of tissues nearby to wipe her face.
Su Zaizai returned to her room and took out her phone again.
The screen still showed the message Zhang Lurang had sent at eight o’clock last night.
— Why did you hang up?
Su Zaizai hesitated for a while, unsure how to reply.
Yesterday, upon hearing his words “you always guess correctly,” she thought he was answering her statement “because I’m not by your side.”
Overcome with excitement and shyness, she hung up the phone.
But after thinking about it for a while, she felt that Zhang Lurang’s meaning might be...
How do you always guess correctly that I’m feeling down?
Su Zaizai felt somewhat embarrassed.
After pondering for a long time, she concluded that her latter guess was correct.
Moreover, after hearing that he was feeling down, she hung up the phone...
Su Zaizai didn’t dare to reply.
But not replying wasn’t a solution either.
With determination, Su Zaizai sent two messages.
Su Zaizai: Yesterday, I laughed and accidentally hung up the phone.
Su Zaizai: Then I fell asleep.
After sending successfully, she sighed in relief and began packing things to return to school.
After thinking for a moment, she suddenly felt something was amiss.
Su Zaizai immediately picked up her phone and typed two more sentences.
— Last night, after hearing what you said, I couldn’t help but burst into tears.
— Accidentally hung up the phone.
Zhang Lurang: “...”
He was speechless.
Zhang Lurang didn’t take it too seriously and sent a voice message.
— “Have you done the questions?”
Su Zaizai was a bit upset and started sending voice messages as well.
“No, you’ve only been gone for one day, and I haven’t adjusted my mood yet.”
“Study hard,” he said.
After graduating from high school, he would be an adult.
Zhang Lurang wanted to stay in City Z, where Su Zaizai was.
He wanted to always have her by his side.
________________________________________
The gears of time kept turning, never stopping.
On June 8, 2014, college entrance exam candidates walked out of the examination hall.
Excitedly throwing books and screaming, hugging each other with tears streaming down their faces.
Along with this came Su Zaizai’s senior year of high school.
Su Zaizai sat down at her seat and pulled out her score report from one of her books.
Her eyes moved from left to right.
Stopping at the second number.
Mathematics: 98 points.
Su Zaizai pursed her lips and stuffed several math analysis books into her backpack.
Then she walked out of the classroom door towards the dormitory.
At night, the surrounding temperature was cool, quite comfortable.
The leaves rustled, making a “rustling” sound.
Yet, Su Zaizai’s heart inexplicably became a bit restless.
She returned to the dormitory and quickly took a shower.
After washing her clothes, she was about to climb onto her bed to study under the small light.
Just then, she saw Jiang Jia on the lower bunk looking annoyed, heavily throwing her phone onto the bed.
Su Zaizai blinked, puzzled: “What’s wrong with you?”
Everyone in the dorm knew about Jiang Jia and Guan Han’s relationship.
So Jiang Jia didn’t mind and sighed, directly voicing her thoughts.
“Guan Han, I don’t know what he’s thinking, it’s so annoying. We’re already in our final year of high school, and he keeps playing with his phone all the time, not listening no matter how much I say.”
Because of her math score, Su Zaizai’s mood was a bit low.
She didn’t know how to comfort her.
After hesitating for a moment, she still said: “You should talk to him properly.”
Jiang Jia picked up her phone and sent a few messages to the other person, her eyes becoming red.
She wiped her eyes and softly said: “It’s useless, I’ve said it many times. If he continues like this, there’s no way we’ll get into the same university.”
Xiao Yu looked over and consoled her: “Hey, don’t cry...”
“I’m really annoyed. He’s even affecting my desire to study.”
Su Zaizai spaced out for a moment and suddenly asked: “If you can’t get into the same university, will you break up with him?”
Jiang Jia nodded without hesitation: “Absolutely.”
Su Zaizai’s expression froze, and she didn’t say anything further.
She lowered her head, looking at the blinking breathing light on her phone.
She lit up the screen.
Su Zaizai: Rang Rang.
Zhang Lurang: Just finished evening self-study.
Zhang Lurang: What’s wrong?
She didn’t reply and sent a WeChat message to her mother.
— Mom, sign me up for a math tutoring class.
Su Zaizai got into bed and reopened the chat window with Zhang Lurang.
She thought for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Soon, the other side sent another message.
Zhang Lurang: The other party is typing...
Su Zaizai laughed out loud.
All the heavy and restless feelings disappeared because of his one sentence.
After thinking for a while, she still asked.
Su Zaizai: Rang Rang, how much did you score on your last English test?
Zhang Lurang: 124
Su Zaizai: !!!
Su Zaizai: Last time you got 110, right? That’s amazing!
Zhang Lurang’s pursed lips curved slightly.
Then, he suddenly felt uneasy and asked: What about your math score?
There was no reply from the other side.
________________________________________
“I woke up halfway through last night and saw your light still on...” Jiang Jia took a bite of bread and frowned. “What time did you sleep?”
“Ah, I didn’t pay attention.”
“With these scores, you’ll definitely get into a key university.”
Su Zaizai scooped some porridge with her spoon, the steam spreading before her eyes.
Suddenly, her nose tingled.
Jiang Jia looked worried: “What’s wrong with you?”
Su Zaizai changed the topic.
“Jia Jia, how are things going between you and Guan Han recently?”
Jiang Jia shrugged indifferently: “Same as usual. If I don’t contact him, he doesn’t contact me either. Anyway, we’re not in the same class anymore, so it’s not annoying not seeing him.”
“Do you not like him anymore?” Su Zaizai softly asked.
“What does it matter if I like him?” Jiang Jia bitterly smiled. “He hasn’t thought about our future, so why should I put so much effort into him?”
“...”
“You and he aren’t like you and Zhang Lurang. Long-distance relationships won’t have good results.”
Su Zaizai tightened her grip on the spoon.
If she couldn’t get into University Z,
They would have four more years of long-distance relationship.
A love with few meetings and many separations.
She didn’t know if Zhang Lurang would still want her.
________________________________________
Su Zaizai didn’t reply to him again today.
Zhang Lurang irritably ran his fingers through his hair.
Suppressing the urge to call her, he opened a set of comprehensive science test papers and started solving them.
Because of his bad mood, he didn’t notice how late it was.
After finishing,
Zhang Lurang picked up his phone again and glanced at it.
The chat box with Su Zaizai displayed “The other party is typing...”
Zhang Lurang paused, looking at the time in the upper left corner of the screen.
2 AM.
His expression instantly turned cold, and he sent a message.
— Why aren’t you sleeping?
The person on the other end seemed incredulous that he was still awake.
This time, they immediately replied.
Su Zaizai: ...
Su Zaizai: I woke up halfway through my sleep.
Zhang Lurang reached out to turn off the desk lamp in front of him, leaning against the wall.
His face glowed faintly under the phone’s light.
His tightly pursed lips and tense profile made him look rigid.
Zhang Lurang couldn’t suppress the growing bitterness in his heart.
Completely disregarding how childish his question might sound, he voiced the doubt in his mind.
That thing he couldn’t accept.
— Do you not like me anymore?
The reply came slowly.
Su Zaizai: No.
Su Zaizai: I really like you.
Afraid of disturbing her roommates’ rest, Zhang Lurang didn’t even switch his phone to vibrate mode.
He just quietly watched.
It was quiet on the other end, and very slowly, these two messages came over.
Zhang Lurang’s previously tense mood didn’t relax at all.
He paused for a moment, quickly sending a message.
— What’s wrong?
Su Zaizai: Ah, I’m confessing to you.
Su Zaizai: Rang Rang, are you unhappy?
He felt something was off but couldn’t quite place it.
Zhang Lurang just wanted the college entrance exam to be over soon.
Then, he wanted to quickly be by her side.
He curved his lips slightly and replied: Mm.
Zhang Lurang: Go to sleep.
Zhang Lurang: Even if you wake up, don’t play with your phone.
Su Zaizai: Got it, you go to sleep early too.
Su Zaizai: Good night.
Zhang Lurang didn’t know that on the other end of the phone,
After putting down her phone, she picked up her pen again and continued writing questions.
Crying, collapsing, and feeling helpless, she kept writing questions.
In a long-distance relationship, who can feel at ease?
No one can feel secure.
________________________________________
The first mock exam in City Z coincided with the final exams of the first semester of senior year.
During the closing ceremony, the results were released.
Su Zaizai knew she hadn’t done well and had no desire to check the bulletin board for her scores.
Her other scores remained around the same level.
Based on last year’s admission cutoff score for University Z, Su Zaizai needed to score at least 110 in math.
But her performance was unstable, with fluctuating scores.
Whenever she took a math test, she got nervous. If there were difficult multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions, her mindset would collapse.
Xiao Xiao glanced at the bulletin board for the results.
Soon, she sat down in her seat and turned to Su Zaizai: “Zaizai, you ranked thirty-first in the class this time.”
Su Zaizai was silent for a moment, then softly asked: “How much did I score in math?”
“Ah, I didn’t pay attention.” Xiao Xiao looked toward the bulletin board and called out to someone nearby, “Hey, Nan Shen, how much did Su Zaizai score in math?”
Wang Nan walked over hesitantly: “It seems like 92.”
Su Zaizai’s eyelids drooped, her voice barely audible: “Thank you.”
She had no grand ambitions.
If Su Zaizai wanted to get into University Z on her own, she would put in the effort.
Even after trying hard, if she still couldn’t make it, she wouldn’t be too upset.
If something is unattainable, then so be it.
Su Zaizai never believed that forcing something could lead to anything good.
But if Zhang Lurang wanted to go there,
She had to go too.
Su Zaizai felt, for the first time, that life was so, so difficult.
Every day, she stayed up until two or three in the morning, endlessly solving problems.
Yet her scores still didn’t improve.
She suddenly felt like a burden.
Su Zaizai didn’t dare tell him that her scores weren’t improving.
She was afraid it would affect his mood.
She also feared he might break up with her like Jiang Jia did.
And most of all, she feared Zhang Lurang would say: “If you can’t get into University Z, I’ll go to the university you can get into.”
She liked him, never to burden him.
The pressure of studying and the uncertainty of the future almost crushed her entirely.
Su Zaizai’s eyes gradually reddened, filling with tears.
She bit her lip, unable to resist taking out her phone.
With every keystroke, tears fell.
— Zhang Lurang, I think I can’t get into University Z.
________________________________________
After sending the message, Su Zaizai immediately regretted it.
She wiped her tears and quickly recalled the message.
Changing it to another sentence: Rang Rang, winter vacation has started~
Su Zaizai: I typed the wrong characters just now.
After sending it, she finally relaxed.
People around her began packing up to go home.
The winter vacation wasn’t long, but Su Zaizai still wanted to bring more books back to study.
Therefore, she asked her father to pick her up.
Before Su Zaizai started packing, her phone rang.
Because she was in the classroom, she tensed up.
But soon relaxed upon seeing the caller ID.
—”Rang Rang in my heart”
She paused, walked out of the classroom, and went to the end of the corridor.
Seeing no one around, she answered the call.
Su Zaizai cleared her throat and called out: “Rang Rang.”
It was quiet on the other end.
A few seconds later, Zhang Lurang spoke: “Have you been crying?”
Su Zaizai’s throat tightened, and she said: “What are you talking about?”
She crouched down, covering her eyes with her hands.
“Did you not do well on the exam?” he gently asked.
Holding back sobs, Su Zaizai asked: “Did you see it?”
“—Yes.”
“Jiang Jia said Guan Han’s scores are bad; she said if they don’t get into the same university, she’ll break up with him.”
“I’m afraid you’ll do the same, so I didn’t dare tell you.”
“... But my math scores can’t seem to improve.”
…
Su Zaizai didn’t know what she was saying, only that she blurted out everything she’d been bottling up inside.
After hearing her out, Zhang Lurang finally spoke.
“Then don’t take the exam.”
Su Zaizai’s breath caught.
Zhang Lurang’s voice was somewhat hoarse and low, as if infected by her sadness.
“Take the exams you can pass; I just want you to be happy.”
“Will you...” break up with me?
Before she finished, he interrupted her words.
“Impossible.”
Tears brimmed in Su Zaizai’s eyes, making her look pitiful.
“Would you give up University Z because of me?”
Zhang Lurang suddenly chuckled and said: “No.”
After a brief silence, Su Zaizai heard him say:
“I still have to take care of you.”
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