Every year, A University usually admits about 50 to 60 students from S Province. The admission scores didn’t reveal much, especially with S Province’s recent reforms that added a 60-point elective subject, bringing the total score to 810 points. This made A University’s admission line quite unpredictable. Before 2009, scoring 700 points in S Province would have your phone ringing off the hook with calls from top universities like A, B, C, and D, given the notorious difficulty of S Province’s exams. However, after the 2009 education reform and the addition of the 60-point elective module, nearly a thousand students in S Province scored over 700 points each year.
Therefore, looking at scores alone was useless; provincial rankings were what mattered. Xu Zhi’s provincial ranking was thirty-eighth, which put her comfortably within A University’s range.
But then, unexpectedly, Chen Luzhou’s exam results popped up on the screen.
Chen Luzhou, science stream, total score: 713. Elective subject: zero. Provincial ranking: 362nd.
Well, he was now outside the top 300. Even with his additional 20 points from academic competitions, he might just barely miss A University’s admission line. He had initially thought getting into A University wouldn’t be a problem, but after seeing Xu Zhi’s ranking, he realized how fierce this year’s competition was. He had overestimated himself. Fine, this was good too. No regrets left.
“Are you checking your results?” Xu Zhi asked hesitantly on the phone.
“Mm,” Chen Luzhou held the phone, having already exited the official score-checking website. He was about to look up A University’s historical admission scores for the architecture department. “Want to know?”
“Do you want to tell me?” Xu Zhi felt curious but was wary after what happened with Tan Xu. She feared he might not want to share if he hadn’t done well. “It’s okay if you don’t. You’re going abroad anyway.”
“713,” he said directly, though he didn’t mention this was his raw score. The college entrance exam was just one phase of life’s test. Whether he emerged as a king or a pauper in this phase wouldn’t affect the kind of person he’d become in the future. So he felt many things could wait to be seen later. Explaining too much would only make someone feel sorry for him, which served no purpose.
So, Xu Zhi assumed this included the elective score. “That’s not bad, is it?”
While browsing A University’s admission guide, Chen Luzhou lazily joked into the phone, “It’s alright, I guess. But for me, anything below 750 is considered a failure.”
Xu Zhi hadn’t expected him to be even more shameless than her. “Are all you First High people this crazy? Besides, aren’t you afraid Jiang Changwei will beat you for saying that?”
Jiang Changwei was Qingyi City’s infamous strict teacher from First High, rumored to be one of the college entrance exam paper setters, so students in their city were quite afraid of him.
Chen Luzhou chuckled, slowly scrolling down with his mouse. “You Ruijun folks are on a first-name basis with Teacher Jiang?”
“Well, he never taught us anyway. We just get headaches every time we see he’s set the questions for the city’s joint exams,” Xu Zhi said miserably. “The difficulty always goes up to 8.5, and we can’t bear to look at our scores afterward. Hey, did he teach you?”
“Yes, he taught me in my first and second years of high school. He also coached the math competition team.”
“So, is he one of the college entrance exam paper setters?”
Chen Luzhou thought for a moment, deciding to satisfy her curiosity. “That’s the rumor at school. For the past two years, around May, other teachers would cover his classes. The school said he was sent out for study and research. Everyone guessed he was setting the college entrance exam papers.”
“Doesn’t he know he’s going to set the papers?”
“Even if he knows, he wouldn’t tell us. But rumor has it he doesn’t know either. They usually just notify you to go out of town to study, and you only find out you’re there to set exam papers when you arrive. They confiscate all communication devices, and you’re not released until after the college entrance exams are over. So for that month and a half, no one could contact him. We guessed he was setting papers. Anyway, if you ask him personally, he always denies it.”
“He’s probably afraid of getting beaten up,” Xu Zhi laughed. After a pause of two or three seconds, she called out, “Chen Luzhou.”
Chen Luzhou made a sound of acknowledgment. He had been planning to check other schools’ architecture departments for her, but hearing her tone, he sensed she had something to ask. His hand involuntarily slowed down. “Go on.”
After a moment of silence, she asked, “Can you help me check another person’s score?”
Chen Luzhou’s scrolling hand paused slightly. He had mostly guessed who it was. “Do you remember his ID number and exam registration number?”
“I remember the ID. I helped him buy train tickets before, so it’s saved on my phone. I’m not sure about the exam registration number, but we can try,” Xu Zhi added, “He helped me a lot with my studies. I just want to know what went wrong—”
“No need to explain,” he interrupted, his tone barely changing, though slightly colder. He closed A University’s admission guide without expression and reopened the score-checking portal for her. “Give me the numbers.”
Xu Zhi suddenly fell silent.
Chen Luzhou was losing patience. “Xu Zhi?”
“Never mind, it seems a bit unethical to check someone else’s scores without permission,” Xu Zhi said. Her moral standards were quite low, but she didn’t want Chen Luzhou to take the blame. “I’ll ask him myself later.”
“Suit yourself.” Chen Luzhou shut down the computer, preparing to leave.
“Alright, I’ll hang up now. I need to tell my dad about my results,” Xu Zhi said.
The internet cafe wasn’t empty. A guy next to Chen Luzhou had just checked his score – 698. With a numb expression, he closed the page, put on his headphones, and continued gaming with friends as if nothing had happened. Someone seemed to ask him what he was doing standing still earlier, and he casually replied, “Checking scores.”
If even the world of top students was this varied, what about the struggling ones?
“I was hoping to make a shot at the Central Academy of Fine Arts this year, but after checking my score, I knew it was completely out of reach. What a shame, I ranked eighty-first in the province for my major subjects.”
After the scores were released, Zhu Yangqi, Feng Jin, and their group set up camp in Chen Luzhou’s rented high school apartment. The living room was a mess of leftover barbecue skewers and empty beer cans strewn about.
Zhu Yangqi, his obsessive-compulsive disorder kicking in, bent down to clean up like an old nanny, muttering, “Chen Luzhou, just give me some money. Hiring an hourly cleaner costs fifty or sixty yuan these days.”
Chen Luzhou, poor but unapologetic, sat on the carpet with a game controller, playing Super Mario with Feng Jin. He leaned lazily against the coffee table, his dog-like nature showing. “I’ve only got five hundred in my account. If that’s not enough, I guess I’ll have to offer my beauty services.”
Zhu Yangqi: “Ugh, didn’t you say you’d never sell your looks, even if it killed you?”
“That’s why I’d rather die than give you money.”
“With your stingy ways, you’ll probably end up saving enough for a mansion someday.”
Jiang Cheng sat on the single sofa, his girlfriend on his lap. The two were so lovey-dovey that the air seemed to thicken as if someone had smeared it with sticky rice cake. It was hard to watch, but what could they do? That’s what happens when someone has a girlfriend. After Zhu Yangqi finished cleaning, the living room suddenly felt much more spacious and tidy. Probably finding Jiang Cheng’s side too eye-searing, he used a pillow as a barrier and leaned gracefully on Chen Luzhou’s shoulder to watch him destroy Feng Jin in the game. He kept chattering, “You’re going easy on him, aren’t you? Looks like you and Feng Jin aren’t that close after all. When you play against me, you never leave me a single coin.”
“Shut up,” Feng Jin retorted, unwilling to concede. “You’re just lousy at the game.”
Ignoring him, Zhu Yangqi continued to provoke Chen Luzhou, “Cai Yingying just told me that Xu Zhi ranked first in their school. Do you know her score?”
“No idea,” Chen Luzhou didn’t take the bait, his eyes fixed on the TV screen, fully focused on manipulating the game controller in his hands.
“I see,” Zhu Yangqi, unable to fish out any information, continued, “Ruijun is just an ordinary high school. I’ve heard people say that their school’s top student is probably just average at our school. They might even be at the bottom if they tried to get into your Zongshan, right?”
Suddenly, the character on the left side of the TV screen stopped moving. All the coins were snatched up by Feng Jin, who seized the opportunity and unhesitatingly bypassed Chen Luzhou’s character which had been blocking his way.
Zhu Yangqi turned his head, and sure enough, Chen Luzhou had stopped playing. Instead, he put down the game controller, sitting on the ground with one knee bent, hanging his elbow on his knee somewhat mischievously. He even looked at him with a hint of malice, slowly uttering two words: “Wanna bet?”
Zhu Yangqi was stunned. When had he ever seen him take something so seriously? “Bet on what?”
“Let’s bet that even if she gets into our Zongshan, she won’t be at the bottom. Even at Zongshan, students like her are rare.”
Zhu Yangqi teased him, “I think you’re seeing her through rose-tinted glasses.”
Feng Jin overheard and glanced at him in surprise: “Oh, Chen Luzhou, so you like Xu Zhi?”
Chen Luzhou instinctively looked back at Jiang Cheng, but fortunately, he was too busy flirting with his girlfriend to hear. Jiang Cheng was close to Tan Xu, and Chen Luzhou didn’t want Tan Xu to know. He was the latecomer, at a disadvantage, and their bond was undoubtedly deeper than his. He also feared that Tan Xu, who didn’t cherish Xu Zhi at first, might come back to pursue her if he knew someone else was interested. So he gave Zhu Yangqi a cold look, picked up the game controller again, and said coolly to Feng Jin, “No, not really. I just think she’s a bit prettier than average girls?”
Feng Jin responded with a couple of “Oh”s, “She is indeed beautiful. I didn’t expect her grades to be so good too. I don’t agree with what Zhu Yangqi said. After all, she’s still ranked first, right? No matter where you are, being the head of a chicken is still… ” Realizing this metaphor wasn’t quite right, he corrected himself, “Even the tail of a phoenix is still a phoenix.” That didn’t sound right either, so he gave up, “Ah, forget it, I can’t describe it well. Anyway, when I first saw her, I thought she was damn beautiful. I thought maybe I hadn’t seen many beautiful girls in recent years, but since even you say so, I’m relieved. My aesthetic sense isn’t off.”
Chen Luzhou and Zhu Yangqi exchanged a glance. Chen Luzhou coughed, “You don’t… like her too, do you?”
Feng Jin laughed, “I’m like you, just superficially appreciating her beauty. Wait, why did you say ‘too’? Who likes her?”
This time, Jiang Cheng heard. While peeling grapes for his girlfriend, he asked with interest, “Who? Who likes whom?”
Chen Luzhou looked at Zhu Yangqi—you better solve this problem you created.
Zhu Yangqi had to take the fall, “Me, me, me. I like Cai Yingying.”
Feng Jin was immediately sidetracked, somewhat incredulous, “Zhu Yangqi, you like Cai Yingying?”
Jiang Cheng had no idea who Cai Yingying was, so he didn’t pursue the topic. He fed grapes to his girlfriend one by one and asked if she wanted some tangerines.
Chen Luzhou was also shocked and laughed, “Zhu Yangqi, are you serious?”
“This is all because of you,” Zhu Yangqi no longer hid it, blushing as he whispered in Chen Luzhou’s ear, “It’s all because I helped you set up that date with Cai Yingying that night.”
“The way you say it, did she force a kiss on you? You sound like you were quite passive,” Chen Luzhou couldn’t stop laughing.
“Well, no,” Zhu Yangqi reluctantly explained, “After we finished eating at Shangfang Hotpot, she said she was too full and wanted to walk it off. So I accompanied her for a stroll. Then we ran into Zhai Xiao and Chai Jingjing halfway. Remember them?”
Feng Jin found their gossip quite interesting and listened attentively.
Chen Luzhou leaned lazily against the coffee table, nodded slightly, made a sound of agreement, and looked at Zhu Yangqi knowingly. Without needing him to continue, he completed the story, “Then Cai Yingying held your hand, asking you to pretend to be her boyfriend, and you, being so spineless, fell for her.”
Zhu Yangqi was on the verge of tears: “Chen Doggy, you’ve indeed watched too many shows. You immediately thought of such a clichéd plot, and it turned out to be true. Ah, do you think I’m sick? Just a slightly pretty girl touching me, and I’ve already thought of names for our children.”
Chen Luzhou knew Zhu Yangqi too well. In elementary school, when a girl in their class forgot to distribute candy and gave Zhu Yangqi an extra piece, he had a crush on her for a year. Later, when they were about to graduate from elementary school, a girl accidentally put the yearbook page meant for her crush into Zhu Yangqi’s yearbook, and Zhu Yangqi vowed to study hard and get into a top middle school for her sake.
Feng Jin then said, “Zhu Yangqi, you’re in trouble. I think Cai Yingying already likes someone else.”
Zhu Yangqi: “I know, but how do you know? Did you chat with her alone too?”
Feng Jin quickly explained, “Don’t misunderstand. Remember when we went to explore restaurants in the nearby city? On the way back, it was just the two of us, and we were bored, so we chatted a bit.”
By now, they had switched to a soccer game. Hearing this, on the large green field, Chen Luzhou’s number 8 player stopped moving again. He looked at Feng Jin suspiciously and asked, “On the way back from the nearby city, it was just you and Cai Yingying? Where was Xu Zhi?”
Feng Jin nodded, “Xu Zhi said she was waiting for you. We came back first. Why, didn’t you come back together?”
At this point…
Before Chen Luzhou could think further about why Xu Zhi was waiting for him, the doorbell rang. He was about to tell Zhu Yangqi to open the door, but in a flash, a small possibility crossed his mind. So he firmly pushed Zhu Yangqi, who was about to stand up, back down, silently tossed the game controller into Zhu Yangqi’s lap, and went to open the door himself.
…
“Hello, your takeout order.”
Well, although he knew she wouldn’t come, and he knew that her joke about coming over to cook porridge for him was just that—a joke—when he heard the doorbell, his heart still couldn’t help but beat uncontrollably. Zhu Yangqi said he wasn’t close to Feng Jin and had been going easy on him all night, but the truth was, he was distracted.
The light in the corridor was broken. Potted plants at the window blocked half of the moonlight, making the entire corridor pitch black. Chen Luzhou could barely see the silhouette of the delivery person. From the voice, it was a woman with a low tone.
“Thank you,” Chen Luzhou took the takeout bag, but the other person didn’t let go.
He instinctively looked up at her face. Because it was so dark, Xu Zhi was afraid Chen Luzhou wouldn’t recognize her, so she turned on her phone’s flashlight and shone it on her face from below, rather foolishly. Her skin was naturally very fair, and her features were delicate, so she didn’t scare Chen Luzhou to death.
“It’s me, Chen Luzhou.”
I’m gonna—
Chen Luzhou almost cursed out loud. He had just been thinking about her, and now he probably wouldn’t dare to for a while.
“If Zhu Yangqi had opened the door, your head would be cracked open by now,” Chen Luzhou said.
“If he had opened the door, I would have just left,” she replied.
“Then why are you here now, Miss Architect Xu?” He took the takeout from Xu Zhi’s hand, leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, looking down at her with a smile, “Coming to check the feng shui of my place in the middle of the night?”
Xu Zhi looked at him with clear, bright eyes, as frank as could be, “Huh, didn’t you say I’d be a puppy if I didn’t come?”
He drawled an “Oh.” Then he stepped out, closing the door behind him. With his back against the door, takeout still in hand, and one hand in his pocket, he looked down at her shamelessly in the dark corridor. Xu Zhi had long since turned off her flashlight, so when Chen Luzhou closed the door, the last bit of light was blocked out.
He hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol tonight, but his heart was burning, his heartbeat pounding in his chest.
Chen Luzhou looked down at her, his voice lowering, “Just to cook a bowl of porridge?”
“Is your cold better?” Xu Zhi finally said seriously, “And I wanted to ask about your college applications.”
“What about them?” He glanced up at the light above, his expression unusually attentive as he listened to her.
“I’m not considering Qing University anymore, but Beijing is too far. I’m thinking about Shanghai. T University’s architecture department in Shanghai is second only to A University.”
The two leaned side by side in the corridor. The senior high revision building was very quiet. Since the day of the exam, everyone had moved out, except for a few planning to retake the exam next year. Only Chen Luzhou’s floor was still occupied. The light bulb was broken and no one had fixed it. Xu Zhi leaned against the mottled wall, stained with seeping water, seemingly undecided, and asked him:
“What do you think of T University’s architecture department?”
Chen Luzhou had already looked it up for her at the internet cafe and thought it was too low. T University’s historical admission scores were around 710. What a coincidence, wasn’t that about the same as his score?
Chen Luzhou leaned against the door, still holding the takeout, one hand in his pocket, glancing at her. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, unable to contain his restlessness, “What do you mean?”
Are you trying to hook me?
Xu Zhi looked confused: “…No, I calculated that the high-speed train to Beijing costs 680 yuan, but to Shanghai, it’s only 180 yuan—”
Author’s Note:
Chen Luzhou: She must be compromising for me, not going to Beijing but to Shanghai instead. She wants me to stay!
Xu Zhi: Yingying… let me calculate, the high-speed train to Beijing costs 680 yuan, but to Shanghai, it’s only 180 yuan.
Two hundred red envelopes.
I recalculated the scores yesterday and made some adjustments. Xu Zhi’s score is 738 including the elective.
CLZ’s college entrance exam score isn’t low either. I’ll explain more later. I can say that in reality, there are hardly any students in this province with his raw score. I feel like I’ve made my own story too unrealistic by writing it this way.
—
Don’t just look at the admission score when considering college acceptance. In fact, with Xu Zhi’s score, aiming for A University’s architecture department is still quite risky. Chen Luzhou didn’t look at the provincial ranking at first. If he had seen the provincial ranking, he would have felt it was a bit dangerous. It’s just that compared to Ruijun High School, for Xu Zhi to achieve such a score, Chen Luzhou is very proud. Moreover, many times people choose a relatively more secure institution to ensure they get into their preferred major. But this plot development doesn’t affect the subsequent story at all. I’m just mentioning this in advance to prevent some readers from over-identifying with the characters.