Chapter 36: His Smile Was Actually Quite Nice
Wednesday afternoon arrived quickly. Teacher Fang Zixin entered the classroom with the exam seating arrangement: “Quiet down everyone. The seating chart is out, arranged according to last semester’s final exam scores.”
He projected the paper onto the computer screen, then looked at the class and said, “Jiang Qiao, since you don’t have previous scores, the school has placed you in the back section. Next time, with scores, you’ll be arranged accordingly, though it might still be randomized.”
Jiang Qiao nodded: “I understand, thank you teacher.”
Yang Shikun suddenly noticed something on the seating chart and turned to Xu Si and Jiang Qiao: “Brother Si, Jiang, you’re in the same exam room! What a coincidence – you’re desk mates now and will be sitting one behind the other during the exam.”
Xu Si responded with a simple “Mm.”
“Yes, what a coincidence,” Jiang Qiao added.
Yang Shikun spotted his own seat number and excitedly told the boy in front: “We’re in the same exam room! Let me copy your math!”
Zhou Xiaodong gave him an OK sign: “Then let me copy your English.”
“Sure, sure.”
Yang Shikun patted Hao Ming: “Remember to let me copy from you.”
Hao Ming rolled his eyes: “We’re all in the same exam room, aren’t we about the same level? What’s there to copy?”
Yang Shikun replied: “You don’t get it! Even though we’re in the same room, some people are better at certain subjects. I’ll let you copy my English.”
Hao Ming: “I’d rather write my own than copy your fifty-point English.”
“What do you mean by that, Hao Ming? Are you looking down on me?”
“No, we don’t even know if we’ll be sitting close enough.”
Yang Shikun: “That’s true, I got excited for nothing. Let me calculate if we’ll be sitting near each other.”
Xu Si checked – Jiang Qiao was number 40, he was 39. However they arranged it, they’d be sitting one behind the other.
When it was time to move desks, someone’s cup broke. Students started calling out: “Breaking brings peace and safety!”
As Jiang Qiao was finishing organizing her books and preparing to move them, she suddenly felt her load lighten. Looking up, she saw Xu Si had taken half the stack from her hands.
Still wearing his fierce expression, he asked while looking down: “Where to?”
Jiang Qiao paused before answering: “Outside.”
After delivering the books, he came back and took the rest from her hands to carry outside as well.
When he returned, Jiang Qiao said softly: “Thank you.”
The young man stood tall in his loose school uniform, his legs notably long, his features somewhat sharp. But now his eyes held a smile as he said: “You’re welcome, classmate.”
Jiang Qiao stared at him for a moment. Actually, when Xu Si smiled, he didn’t look fierce at all – he looked quite nice.
The first exam was Chinese. Jiang Qiao took her things to the exam room and sat in the second-to-last window seat, placing her items on the desk.
When Xu Si entered, he immediately spotted Jiang Qiao quietly reading by the window.
A male student approached Jiang Qiao with candy: “Want some candy, Jiang?”
Jiang Qiao looked up at him and shook her head: “No thank you.”
Zeng Qi then turned to Xu Si behind her: “Want some, Brother Si?”
Xu Si gave him a cold glance: “No.”
Zeng Qi sat in front of Jiang Qiao and tried to make conversation: “I sit in the front row, Jiang. You might not remember me.”
Jiang Qiao responded with a simple “Mm.”
“I remember when you first came. Our class has never had such a pretty girl before.”
Jiang Qiao didn’t know how to respond to that, finally managing a “Thank you.”
After beating around the bush, the boy finally asked what he wanted: “Can I copy your multiple choice answers?”
Someone nearby said: “What’s there to copy in Chinese?”
“How would I copy from you?” Jiang Qiao had never encountered this situation before and didn’t know what to say.
“Just don’t cover your answer sheet when you’re done. I have 5.0 vision, I can see it.”
Jiang Qiao said “Okay.”
Zeng Qi clasped his hands: “Thank you, thank you!”
Teacher Li Qiuhong had told him if he couldn’t score at least 70, he should get out of class. For others, she only required a passing grade, but for him, it was 70.
He remembered Li Qiuhong’s exasperated words: “How do you even manage to score in the forties for Chinese? Just writing an 800-character essay would get you over 30 points. Tell me how you managed to score only forty-something? Xu Si didn’t take the test, so his score isn’t counted in the average, but you taking the test is worse than not taking it at all, sigh.”
Jiang Qiao: “You’re welcome.”
Shen Mu came around with two bottles of milk, handed one to Xu Si: “For you.”
“Don’t want it.”
Used to being rejected, Shen Mu wasn’t bothered and handed the other bottle to Jiang Qiao, awkwardly saying: “Bought it anyway.”
Jiang Qiao took the milk: “Thank you.”
The supervising teacher entered the exam room, distributed the papers, briefly reminded everyone to write their names, then sat at the podium. Making a round, they woke up several students who had fallen asleep as soon as the exam started.
“Wake up, what are you sleeping for in Chinese? You could get over 30 points just writing the essay.”
The boy rubbed his eyes and went back to sleep.
The teacher: “…”
Jiang Qiao first flipped to the back to check the essay topic, then started working on the questions at the front.
In the classroom, some were passing notes and making hand signals. The supervising teacher coughed lightly, signaling them not to be so blatant. The students complied, moving their signals under the desks.
The teacher turned a blind eye to the minor cheating – after all, they were all in the same exam room, they couldn’t copy anything too impressive.
Xu Si saw Jiang Qiao finish the multiple choice section and push her answer sheet slightly to the side.
Zeng Qi quickly copied it and gave Jiang Qiao an OK sign.
Jiang Qiao turned the page and started writing her essay.
Xu Si looked at Jiang Qiao diligently writing her exam and thought she seemed out of place in this exam room. Next time, she would probably be in one of the front exam rooms.
With fifteen minutes left, Jiang Qiao put down her pen, checked her answer sheet to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, then stopped writing.
When the exam-ending bell rang, the teacher reminded the students in the first row to collect the answer sheets.
After the answer sheets were collected, Jiang Qiao organized her things to leave.
Zeng Qi approached her: “Jiang, how do you think you did on the multiple choice? Could you get half right?”
Jiang Qiao responded with an “Mm.”
“If I do well, I’ll treat you to snacks.”
Zeng Qi calculated – with half the points from multiple choice, over 30 points from the essay, and scraping together some points from the other sections, surely he could reach 70 points?
“No need,” she said, standing up to leave.
Luo Xing saw Jiang Qiao return to drop off her things: “How was the exam, Qiao Qiao?”
“It was fine.”
Luo Xing: “Forget about each exam as it ends. See you tomorrow, Qiao Qiao.”
“See you tomorrow.”
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