She didn’t know what that person wanted.
Xu You felt somewhat tired, silently carrying her hot drink while walking.
Suddenly feeling someone watching her, Xu You snapped back to reality and met Chen Xiao’s gaze.
She smiled at Xu You, but her expression was slightly complex as she spoke in a drawn-out voice, “Hey, who bought you that milk tea?”
After a few seconds of silence, Xu You asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just curious.”
Xu You didn’t know that Chen Xiao was already wildly imagining things in her mind. She shook her head and spoke vaguely, “I don’t know either.”
“Stop pretending!”
Chen Xiao wore a serious expression and pressed further: “Tell me, are you having a secret affair with someone?!”
Secret affair?!
That word scared Xu You.
What nonsense was this? It was completely ridiculous – she’d only transferred here a few days ago and hadn’t even gotten to know everyone yet. How could she be having an affair with anyone?
“What are you thinking?”
Xu You didn’t know how to respond, feeling a bit anxious, she said “Oh my” a couple of times, “Your imagination is too wild.”
“It must be someone from your class!”
Seeing Xu You’s reaction, Chen Xiao thought she really didn’t know and began analyzing systematically: “But the boys in your class are all pretty high quality – many handsome ones, and many from good families too. You could say it’s one of the highest quality classes in our grade.”
At this age, most students found studying at school quite boring and dull. While studying, they definitely needed to find some entertainment.
So all the big and small events in their grade, various gossip and trivial matters, were shared during break times when people gathered together. It spread from one person to another, and soon the whole grade would know. Chen Xiao knew lots of gossip, especially about those ‘prominent figures’.
Who liked whom, which handsome boy from which class was dating which beautiful girl, who had grudges with whom – she knew it all like the back of her hand.
But Xu You was clearly distracted.
Chen Xiao continued, getting more excited as she pulled at her: “Maybe some boy from your class has already taken a liking to you! Class 9, you know!”
“Um.” Xu You didn’t want to continue discussing this topic and started changing the subject, “Do you know where the multimedia classroom is?”
“Multimedia classroom?” Chen Xiao’s flow of words stopped as she frowned in confusion, “Why do you need to go there?”
Xu You answered: “Our teacher posted tomorrow’s monthly exam seating arrangements, and I’m taking the test there.”
“Oh, oh, oh.” Chen Xiao realized, “You’re a transfer student, I forgot. But that exam room is for those at the bottom of the class.”
Xu You nodded to show she understood.
The two had just walked into the school, turning a corner from the tree-lined path, and a teaching building appeared before them.
Chen Xiao pointed across from the fountain and told Xu You: “Look, next to the music room, the multimedia classroom is on the first floor.”
Xu You looked in the direction she pointed, silently memorizing it.
—
Following Yi Zhong’s custom, there was no early morning self-study on the two exam days.
Since classes hadn’t been divided into arts and science streams1 yet, everyone had to take both comprehensive arts and science tests.
The first day had Chinese in the morning, comprehensive science in the afternoon, and comprehensive arts in the evening.
The second day had math in the morning and English in the afternoon.
Xu You set her alarm for 6 o’clock. She quietly put on her clothes, climbed down from her bed to get ready, and sat at her desk reviewing essay writing for half an hour.
After a while, her roommates gradually woke up one by one.
Liao Yuemin rubbed her eyes while yawning, passing by Xu You’s desk and greeting her tiredly: “Youyou, up so early?”
Xu You responded with a sound, packed up her books, and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.
Before leaving, she filled her large water bottle with hot water and put it in her backpack.
Carrying breakfast bought from the cafeteria, Xu You walked slowly to the exam room, with pairs and small groups of students passing by her.
In the morning campus, several osmanthus trees were planted along the road. It was the flowering season, and when the cool breeze blew, a faint flower fragrance spread around.
The sky was slightly bright, with golden light falling on the horizon.
Arriving at the exam room, Xu You found her seat and sat down, took out her books, and started reviewing while eating her breakfast.
The exam would start at 8:30.
Xu You looked down at her watch – it was already 8 o’clock, but there were still very few people in the exam room.
After another ten minutes or so, people gradually started arriving.
Li Jieyi came with Song Yifan and Xie Ci. None of them brought anything except a pen, swaggering into the exam room one after another.
He put his hand on Song Yifan’s shoulder, stood at the doorway scanning around, and asked: “Bro, where’s my beacon of hope sitting, point her out to me.”
Song Yifan craned his neck, looking around.
“There, there!” he pointed towards the right front, “Your light, your goddess of hope.”
Li Jieyi’s eyes looked over, sweeping casually.
A slim figure sat quietly not far away, head lowered, black ponytail falling on her shoulder.
Xu You was focused on reading her textbook, concentrating on memorizing poems, when suddenly she felt someone poke her back.
She turned around to look and a head suddenly leaned close.
Xu You reflexively leaned back, letting out a soft “Ah!”
That soft exclamation made all the boys present laugh.
Some even quietly imitated it a few times.
Song Yifan leaned on the desk behind her, grinning as he said: “Sister, can we make a deal?”
“What?” Xu You looked up and noticed two other boys standing nearby.
One she didn’t recognize, but one she did.
When Xu You’s eyes met Xie Ci’s, she froze for a moment and quickly looked away.
Song Yifan pointed at Li Jieyi beside him and said, “This is my bro, he’ll be sitting next to you later. During the exam, could you let him copy a bit?”
After two seconds of processing.
Xu You asked blankly, “How to copy? What about the teacher…”
She had never done anything like this before and had no experience at all.
Song Yifan patted her shoulder familiarly, indicating she shouldn’t worry, “You don’t need to do anything, just lift your paper a bit so he can see the multiple choice answers.”
Li Jieyi looked at the frail-looking girl in her school uniform before him.
He secretly sighed, no wonder, no wonder.
“Little sister, thank you, my next month’s allowance depends on you. I’ll treat you to a meal after the exam,” Li Jieyi said.
Since he had already thanked her, Xu You felt even more unable to refuse. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded uncertainly, “Uh, no need for the treat.”
With about ten minutes until the exam started, the supervising teachers were already sitting at the front podium counting test papers.
After finishing their random chat, Li Jieyi and Xie Ci jumped down from the desk. Just as they were about to walk back to their seats, Li Jieyi seemed to remember something and came back to ask: “Ci, let me ask you something.”
“Speak.” Xie Ci was lazily leaning on the desk reading a basketball magazine.
“Well.”
Li Jieyi raised an arm to rest on his shoulder, asking in a low voice, “Why were you staring at that girl just now, think she’s pretty?”
Xie Ci continued looking at the magazine, his expression unchanged.
Li Jieyi pushed him again, “Say something?”
“What do you want me to say?” he asked impatiently.
“You think she’s really pretty?”
After hearing this, Xie Ci looked up at him and gave a faint “mm,” then asked: “What are you planning?”
When Li Jieyi walked back to his seat, he was still thinking: good thing he hadn’t told Xie Ci earlier that he was interested in pursuing girls like Xu You.
Although they were usually surrounded by plenty of beautiful girls, they were used to seeing those flashy, heavily made-up types. Suddenly seeing a girl with a bare face, petite figure, and quiet demeanor, it was hard not to feel intrigued.
Because the exam room was large, there were two teachers sitting front and back, though they were quite lenient. After distributing the papers, they just sat there playing with their phones.
Two and a half hours, the exam ended at eleven o’clock.
When the bell rang, few people remained in the exam room, as most had turned in their papers early and left.
For the first time, Li Jieyi seriously completed an 800-word essay in the exam room.
After finishing, he was exhausted and collapsed in his seat.
Song Yifan came to find him, saw his half-dead appearance, and laughed: “What’s wrong, already worn out?”
“Almost.” Li Jieyi crumpled up his draft paper into a ball and leaned forward to thank the girl next to him, “Thank you, classmate.”
His tone was sincere, genuine, and very appropriate.
Xu You was simply packing up her things on the desk, putting her pencil case into her backpack and zipping it up.
She stood up with her water bottle in her arms, nodded, and casually replied, “No need to thank me.”
Then she left.
Her movements were swift and decisive, without any hesitation, not even sparing them a glance.
Behind her, the two boys exchanged looks. Li Jieyi clicked his tongue and raised his eyebrows, saying: “Quite a character.”
—
The afternoon was for the comprehensive science exam.
Afraid she wouldn’t have enough draft paper, Xu You specifically brought several blank sheets.
After experiencing the top student’s “care” in the morning, Li Jieyi kept talking to Xu You before the exam, constantly trying to get closer.
“Hey classmate, where are you from?”
After a while, “How old are you, why do you look so young?”
Then, “How about I treat you to a meal after the exam?”
Li Jieyi tilted his body, stretching his neck. On the other side, Xu You lowered her head organizing her things, answering occasionally.
Just as she found her notebook in her bag, her desk suddenly tilted from a strong force.
Two boys were wrestling and fighting next to her, causing the desk to shake. Her water bottle crashed down, water flowing from the loosely closed lid, instantly spreading across the desk. Xu You’s clothes were also wet.
She stood up from her seat, instinctively crying out in surprise, hurrying to steady the bottle.
At the same time, Li Jieyi also reacted.
He stood up and impatiently cursed at the two boys, pushing them: “Fu Yishun, are you sick?”
Fu Yishun straightened his clothes, not backing down, angrily cursing back, “So what if I bumped you, got a problem?”
The atmosphere between them became tense.
Just then, Xie Ci and Song Yifan walked over from behind.
Xie Ci frowned as he looked at Xu You standing to the side, saw her wet sleeves, and turned to ask Li Jieyi: “What happened?”
“Fu Yishun knocked over Xu You’s water bottle.”
“It’s fine, it’ll dry soon.” Xu You frowned slightly, wiping the desk with tissue paper, interrupting them, “Quick, go back to your seats, the exam is about to start.”
She really didn’t want any trouble at this time.
Xie Ci acted as if he hadn’t heard, pushed Fu Yishun’s shoulder, his chin raised arrogantly, “What’s going on, are you fucking blind?”
No one around dared say a word, watching the conflict between the two, no one dared to step forward to stop them.
Finally, the supervising teacher came down from the podium, separated the crowd, and told them: “What are you all doing! Quick, go back to your seats! The exam is about to start!”
Before leaving, Fu Yishun glared at them fiercely, saying: “Just wait.”
—
The person in front of Xie Ci and Xu You changed seats, and as soon as the exam started, he lay down to sleep.
Halfway through the comprehensive science exam, Xu You finished the multiple choice questions and filled in the answer sheet, then set it aside.
Li Jieyi knowingly raised his head to start copying.
Xu You flipped her paper over and started working on the longer questions.
After writing for a while, suddenly a paper ball was thrown onto her desk. She froze.
After a few seconds, her back was hit again.
Xu You turned around – the boy who had knocked over her water bottle earlier was sitting diagonally behind her, continuing to throw paper balls in her direction.
This time it was a bit off, hitting the head of the person who was sleeping.
Xu You pressed her lips together, lowered her head and continued writing her exam, ignoring the harassment from behind.
The paper balls kept coming.
Xie Ci raised his head from his arms and turned around.
Xu You was bent over her desk, writing her science exam.
Several paper balls were scattered around her.
Her long eyelashes were lowered, her features delicate, shadows covering her eyes, hiding all emotion.
“—You wanna die?”
In the quiet exam room, suddenly a thunderous voice broke out.
Everyone present, including the teacher, turned their heads towards the source of the sound.
Xie Ci had lost his temper, suddenly pushed his desk away and stood up, grabbed a random book, and walked to Fu Yishun.
SLAP!
A book, its pages rustling in the wind, hit Fu Yishun’s face directly.
Everyone was stunned by his ferocity.
Xie Ci kicked Fu Yishun’s desk askew and pointed at him saying: “You’ve got guts, try throwing one more today, and I’ll make you eat them all, believe it or not?”
- High schools in China traditionally divided students into arts and science classes. ↩︎
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