Silence fell for several seconds.
You could hear a pin drop.
After a while, the proctor’s urgent shouts could be heard throughout the exam room.
“—Xie Ci, you two stop right now!”
Xie Ci exploded on the spot, frightening some people who didn’t understand what was happening. Though in some girls’ eyes, he looked both handsome and cool in that moment.
Eventually, the grade director rushed over, and the two troublemakers were pulled out of the exam room.
The proctor closed the door, patrolling back and forth, instructing: “Stop looking, everyone stop looking, focus on your exam.”
However, after such an incident, everyone was distracted and could hardly focus on their papers. Moreover, the director’s scolding voice occasionally drifted in from outside:
“I’m telling you, fighting during an exam, what kind of behavior is this!”
“And you, Xie Ci, tell me which teacher in our school doesn’t know you? You’re grown up now, don’t you know how to control yourself!”
……
The voices outside died down, and the multimedia classroom gradually returned to silence.
Xu You’s hand holding the pen trembled slightly. She forced herself to calm down, eyes fixed on the scratch paper, not blinking, emptying her mind to solve the second-to-last big physics problem.
Ball A, potential difference, potential energy, charged particles…
Professional terms and data were processed step by step in her mind.
The scratch paper was filled with calculations, black ink spreading across the page.
Song Yi Fan and Li Jie Yi had turned in their papers early and left the exam room, who knows where they went.
The seat in front of her remained empty; Xie Ci never returned.
This continued until the bell rang signaling the end of the second exam.
Xu You packed up her things, holding her backpack ready to leave.
At the door, she hesitated for a moment. Then she went back to get his jacket that had been stuffed in the drawer.
After finishing dinner in the cafeteria, Xu You carried her things back to the dormitory.
Only Li Ling Fang and Liao Yue Min were in the room discussing questions; Chen Xiao wasn’t there.
“Welcome back, You You, how did your afternoon exam go?”
After finishing the comprehensive science exam, everyone was feeling more relaxed. Li Ling Fang put down her pen and asked Xu You: “Did you finish your paper? I felt the time was so tight, I didn’t even have time to check my answers.”
Liao Yue Min also chimed in, comforting her: “Many people in our exam room were also complaining about not having enough time after finishing today, don’t worry about it.”
Xu You put down her backpack to the side and nodded at them, “I was rushing too, but it’s okay.”
In fact, she had finished the entire paper with twenty minutes to spare.
The remaining time was spent spacing out.
After reviewing her books for a while, Xu You’s mind kept drifting back to the afternoon’s events.
For some reason, her thoughts were restless, constantly wandering. She really couldn’t focus anymore, so she took her pajamas from the wardrobe and went to shower.
After finishing her shower, she casually grabbed a book from her desk, climbed into bed, turned on the desk lamp, planning to let her hair dry before sleeping.
Chen Xiao, who slept in the bed opposite Xu You’s, was still chatting with friends on her phone. Catching sight of Xu You also getting into bed, she commented in surprise: “Ah Chai, why are you going to bed so early today?”
Xu You knelt on the bed fluffing her pillow, gave a soft “mm” and answered: “I’m a bit tired today.”
“What’s wrong? You look preoccupied.”
Chen Xiao thought she was upset about doing poorly on the exam, rolled over, propped her chin on her hand while swinging her feet, “It’s just one exam, don’t take it too seriously.”
“Mm.”
While Xu You was still thinking about how to return the clothes to Xie Ci tomorrow, she heard Chen Xiao ask:
“Was there a fight in your exam room today between Xie Ci and someone? Seems like it was quite a scene?”
Liao Yue Min, who was soaking her feet below, looked up, not seeming too surprised: “Ah? Is it true? I think I heard others talking about it too.”
Since everyone was talking about it as soon as they left the exam room, Chen Xiao, who was always first to know gossip, nodded and continued enthusiastically: “Seems like Xie Ci beat up Fu Yi Shun from our class.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know, probably had some previous grudge.”
Chen Xiao rolled over again, yawning.
At this point, Li Ling Fang, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up, “Could it be because of Qiu Qing Qing?”
“What does this have to do with Qiu Qing Qing?” Liao Yue Min was confused.
“Wasn’t Fu Yi Shun said to have liked her for a long time? I had a friend who was their middle school classmate who said Fu Yi Shun had been pursuing Qiu Qing Qing for many years. She’s always been quite proud, right? We all thought Qiu Qing Qing rejected him because she looked down on students with poor grades like them, but who knew she’d end up with Xie Ci recently.”
“Didn’t Xie Ci and Qiu Qing Qing break up a while ago?”
“Maybe there are still lingering feelings?”
“Come on, handsome guys’ hearts are never settled, does he look like someone who could be faithful?” Li Ling Fang couldn’t help commenting.
Chen Xiao, acting like a relationship expert, started analyzing extensively, “I think, for girls like Qiu Qing Qing who are so beautiful and have good grades, they might just be the true love for guys like Xie Ci, and then it develops like those dramatic romance novel plots, ending happily ever after.”
Then she contradicted herself, “But maybe not, I think Qiu Qing Qing’s personality is too cold, probably few guys could handle that. If I were a guy, I’d prefer someone like Xu You, so gentle and well-behaved.”
Xu You lay with her eyes closed, appearing to be asleep, not responding.
“The thing is,” Liao Yue Min said oddly, “with so many people pursuing Qiu Qing Qing, she might not even be interested in Xie Ci. Actually, to be honest, there are quite a few handsome guys in our grade.”
Chen Xiao snorted with laughter, looking at Liao Yue Min and asking: “Are you serious?”
No one spoke.
Only Chen Xiao’s voice remained in the dorm room, “I heard from my bestie that Xie Ci’s family is in real estate, and his father even donated a building to our school. I have a friend who’s pretty close to their group, says every time they go out, Xie Ci pays for everything and spends money without hesitation.”
….
The roommates’ idle chat continued.
Xu You pressed her head against the pillow, silently turning over.
The discussion topics had moved from Xie Ci’s fight to who all his ex-girlfriends were and how rich his family was.
Her thoughts began to drift.
In her mind appeared Xie Ci’s habitually lazy face with its mischievous smile, and she recalled things she’d heard from others.
Sigh.
The two days of monthly exams flew by.
After that comprehensive science exam, neither Fu Yi Shun nor Xie Ci had appeared again.
The last afternoon was English.
Before the exam began, Xu You took out her eraser and 2B pencils one by one, arranging them on her desk.
Li Jie Yi sat beside her restlessly, trying to chat with her again, “Sister Xu, I’ll be counting on you again for this last exam.”
He had already become familiar enough to use a nickname. Xu You was speechless inside but looked at him and nodded.
Seeing Xu You nod, he seemed rather eager, practically leaning over: “Hey, after the exam I’ll treat you to a meal, sis, thanks so much for your help this time!”
“Don’t call me sister.”
“That’s not the point, the point is the meal!”
Xu You discreetly moved away a bit, waving her hand, “No need.”
After thinking for a moment, she still asked: “Do you know where Xie Ci went? Why isn’t he taking the exam?”
Li Jie Yi was playing with his phone in his right hand, made an “ah” sound and answered carelessly: “Probably just didn’t want to take it.”
“Is he… okay?” Xu You’s voice was tiny, almost inaudible.
Li Jie Yi raised an eyebrow, looking at her, seeming puzzled, “What could be wrong with him?”
Xu You was stunned for two seconds. She sat up straight and shook her head.
Li Jie Yi asked the same question again.
Xu You heard his meaningful laugh, “If anyone’s in trouble, it definitely won’t be Ah Ci.”
This English test was surprisingly simple.
Xu You finished the entire paper in less than an hour. After turning it in and leaving the exam room, there were still few people in the school grounds.
She wandered around for a while before returning to the classroom.
There were only a few people in the classroom.
Including her, just four people.
Xu You sat at her desk, organizing the exam papers from the past two days by subject.
After finishing, she felt thirsty and picked up her water bottle from the desk.
For some reason, the bottle cap was particularly tight this time, and after trying two or three times, she still couldn’t twist it open.
Sighing, she put the water bottle back on the desk and shook her hands. Xu You bit her lower lip, her fair oval face scrunching up as she held her hands to her chest, bending down to try again.
Suddenly she sensed someone standing beside her.
Before she could react, the water bottle was taken from above her head.
Xu You turned her head to see Xie Ci leaning on the desk behind her.
He smiled lazily, applied some force, and easily twisted the bottle open.
She was completely stunned, stammering out a thank you.
Xie Ci’s lips curved into a smile as he set the water bottle aside.
He bent down, tilting his head, hand resting on the chair, slightly leaning down to examine her eyes: “I heard from Li Jie Yi that you were very concerned about me?”
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