He Siyue walked on, somewhat absent-mindedly, not sure if he hadn’t processed what was said or what. He remained silent for a while, almost reaching the classroom door. Suddenly, Zhai Jiajing stopped in her tracks and added, “But then again, even if Shen Xingruo’s grades are excellent, she transferred to our school. I think the principal’s recommendation… Class Monitor, you also have a good chance.”
“Class Monitor, you used to be the president of the Model United Nations club, and in freshman year, you were the Minister of Education in the Student Union. Plus, you’ve been on the honor roll every semester, always contributing to the class as the class monitor. If the principal recommends you, they should consider your overall qualities. I believe you have a good chance too.”
Then, with a somewhat envious sigh, she remarked, “I heard that our school’s principal’s recommendation carries a lot of weight. Although it exempts you from the written exam, once you get the recommendation, you’re pretty much set.”
He Siyue was more aware of what Zhai Jiajing said than she realized.
Recently, the principals of Mingli had been remarkable, with the prestigious recommendation spots, and two spots, one for each of the science and humanities classes in sophomore year. The principal’s recommendation didn’t guarantee direct admission without an exam. It simply allowed exemption from the written test and admission directly to the interview stage of the university’s autonomous enrollment process. Then, based on the combined scores of the written and interview sections, candidates received admission preferences. Usually, these preferences were categorized into three levels, a, b, and c, followed by a number indicating the score reduction. For example, obtaining an “a5” meant a deduction of 5 points when applying for a certain major, and “b20” meant a direct reduction of 20 points when applying to the university. Additionally, there were exceptional “c” and “d” categories, with “d” being for special candidates, who usually had little chance.
Looking back at previous years’ principal’s recommendations at Mingli, even the worst scores were around “b40” after the interview, indicating a 40-point deduction for admission. Most were in the “b60” and “c” categories. Excluding the “c” and “b60” categories, just the “b40” would practically guarantee a spot at a prestigious university for Shen Xingruo, and even for him, He Siyue.
He Siyue’s grip tightened on the papers, and he subconsciously glanced at Zhai Jiajing.
However, Zhai Jiajing remained silent, only smiling before taking the cup of hot water and entering the classroom.
In the afternoon, Shen Xingruo attended classes as usual, receiving many inquiries and greetings from her classmates. She explained one by one that she wasn’t feeling well and had taken half a day off. Her classmates didn’t seem suspicious.
Someone whispered, “Lu Xingyan hasn’t come to school yet. What’s going on with him? I heard he’s going to study languages this year, preparing to go abroad.”
“Didn’t someone say he was expelled due to poor grades?”
“What? His academic record wasn’t even at Mingli originally. Why would he be expelled?”
Shen Xingruo paused, not expecting so many rumors to circulate just because she took a leave of absence on the first day of school. But she didn’t feel comfortable explaining to Lu Xingyan, so she pretended not to have heard.
Shi Qin added fuel to the fire, jokingly, “Xingruo, you didn’t reply to my message this morning. I thought maybe your grades were so good that you were snatched away by Huize High School.”
Shen Xingruo took out her phone from her bag and checked it. Indeed, there was a message from Shi Qin.
“Sorry, I didn’t see it earlier.”
“It’s okay. Are you feeling better now?”
“Much better.”
“That’s good.”
Apart from these concerns and gossip, what most of her classmates talked about was congratulating her for once again ranking first in the final exams.
沈星若 glanced around, feeling something was amiss. Subconsciously, she turned her head and caught He Siyue’s gaze not far away. He Siyue seemed startled by her sudden turn, managing a strained smile before quickly unnaturally averting his eyes.
Shen Xingruo paused for a moment, hearing the call to stand up, then turned back.
The late summer sunlight outside was particularly intense, and the cicadas’ chirping seemed to lose its vigor. Students sitting by the window were flushed red from the heat, and the classroom felt stuffy, with the air seemingly stagnant.
Shen Xingruo sat in the classroom, listening to the whirring of the ceiling fan.
Meanwhile, Lu Xingyan finally woke up, sitting up on his bed. He had slept through the entire morning and into the afternoon, sweating profusely under the covers, which had become sticky. His fever had subsided, but Aunt Zhou adamantly forbade him from taking a shower, only allowing him to wipe himself with a basin of hot water.
Unable to resist Aunt Zhou’s insistence, Lu Xingyan reluctantly agreed. After spending some time wiping himself in the bathroom, Aunt Zhou changed the bedsheet and duvet cover for him. When he came out, Aunt Zhou ushered him back into his “steamer” of a bed and forced him to drink ginger soup and eat some porridge and side dishes.
With the fever gone, Lu Xingyan felt much clearer-headed, at least no longer feeling dizzy. He reached for his phone at the bedside, realizing he hadn’t checked it for most of the day. To his surprise, he found a barrage of messages and missed calls from his friends, filling up his WeChat notifications.
He couldn’t help but smile as he opened WeChat.
Li Chengfan: Bro, are you going abroad? The rumors in the class seem pretty convincing, but wasn’t he still asking about seating arrangements yesterday?
Xu Chengzhou: Who knows, but if Young Master Lu is going abroad, then I guess I don’t have to return his headphones!
Xu Chengzhou: His sound quality is amazing. Even the sound of him calling is so lifelike, you guys know what I mean? Awesome!
Li Chengfan…
Li Chengfan: I think your thinking is pretty accurate, so I don’t need to return my Sennheisers either.
Zhao Langming: Don’t you already have your own?
Zhao Langming: You’re something, Li Chengfan. QQ Music has it all.
Li Chengfan…
Li Chengfan: But come to think of it, I think I still owe him two thousand. Since we’re miles apart, with different currencies, and two thousand won’t even buy a plane ticket, I guess…
Lu Xingyan’s smile gradually faded as he listened to the messages. Suddenly, he sent a voice message to the group.
“Zhao Langming, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about the two thousand you owe me. When are you going to pay it back? How about now? I happen to need money lately.”
His throat was slightly swollen from the cold, making his voice a bit hoarse.
There was an abrupt silence in the group chat.
Lu Xingyan chuckled lightly. “I’m not dead yet, and you bunch of unfilial children are already calculating my inheritance??”
Lu Xingyan’s friends started playing dumb.
Li Chengfan: Bro, you’re still alive? Hey, you didn’t go abroad, after all, that’s great!
Li Chengfan: But what did you say? I’m in history class right now, and can’t listen to voice messages.
Zhao Langming: Yeah, Xingyan, your Mandarin is terrible, can’t even understand when it’s converted to text.
Lu Xingyan converted the voice message to text and then shared a screenshot in the group.
Lu Xingyan: I trusted you for nothing.
Zhao Langming: That’s WeChat’s fault, I really can’t convert it.
Zhao Langming: Oh yeah, Xingyan, why didn’t you come today? The class was gossiping nonsense, some said you went abroad, and others said you were expelled or something, making it sound so convincing.
The others also cooperated tacitly, acting as if nothing had happened, and began to express their concern one after another.
Lu Xingyan: Don’t change the subject.
Lu Xingyan: Pay back the money.
Lu Xingyan: And the headphones, Sennheisers, now, immediately, give them back to me.
Bian He stayed silent, but he was particularly shrewd.
Bian He: Xingyan, the results of the final exams are out, you’ve made a big improvement this time.
Lu Xingyan?
Lu Xingyan: How much?
Bian He, sitting at the back, took advantage of the teacher’s writing on the blackboard and quickly snapped a picture of the report card and sent it over.
Chinese: 95, Mathematics: 108, English: 79, Politics: 70, History: 68, Geography: 68, Total score: 488
Class ranking: 49
Grade ranking: 1191
Lu Xingyan was stunned when he saw his grades.
He only failed in English.
Mathematics: 108?
In this lifetime, the fact that there could still be a subject with a three-digit score was something Lǜ Xīngyán couldn’t quite believe, even as he said it himself.
The results were posted early today, but Li Chéngfān, Zhào Lǎngmíng, and their group hadn’t paid any attention to it at all. It wasn’t until now that they discovered Lǜ Xīngyán had scored close to five hundred, leaving them all dumbfounded.
Li Chéngfān: “Damn it, Yán-ge! And you said you didn’t cheat!”
Zhào Lǎngmíng: “Math, 108? I barely passed with 89. I thought I did exceptionally well this time! Yán-ge, tell me honestly, did you bribe someone to get the answers?”
Lǜ Xīngyán stared at his score, not saying a word for quite some time. After a while, he came to his senses and forwarded the picture to Shěn Xīngruò.
Lǜ Xīngyán: “I scored 488. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lǜ Xīngyán: “Are you trying to back out?”
Lǜ Xīngyán: “We agreed that if I scored 500, you’d let me be your boyfriend. Don’t try to back out now.”
Interestingly, Shěn Xīngruò usually didn’t use her phone during class. But after changing seats, Zhào Lǎngmíng was now seated diagonally to her left, with only a narrow aisle between them. Shěn Xīngruò could catch a glimpse of Zhào Lǎngmíng’s phone tucked under his desk, and she could faintly see the white and green interface of WeChat.
—Maybe he’s chatting with Lǜ Xīngyán.
When she left the room, Lǜ Xīngyán was still sound asleep.
He might be awake by now.
She wondered if his fever had subsided.
With these thoughts, Shěn Xīngruò’s mind wandered for a moment.
Just then, the history teacher received a phone call and said, “Everyone, please self-study for a bit. I have some matters to attend to.”
Watching the history teacher’s figure as he talked on the phone and walked out, Shěn Xīngruò hesitated for a moment, then took out her phone and checked it.
Sure enough, Lǜ Xīngyán had sent her a WeChat message.
She thought for a moment before replying, “Is 488 the same as 500? The college entrance examination is like crossing a narrow bridge with thousands of soldiers; twelve points are like twelve playgrounds full of people.”
Lǜ Xīngyán…
Are you possessed by Wáng Yǒufú?
Shěn Xīngruò didn’t reply further.
She glanced at her book, but the history teacher, for some reason, seemed particularly agitated after receiving a call, arguing fervently with someone in the corridor. It seemed like it would take a while.
She took out her phone again.
In just a few minutes, Lǜ Xīngyán bombarded her with over a dozen messages.
Her phone was struggling to keep up, freezing up with each attempt to respond. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she managed to open the chat interface. Somehow, the voice message feature started playing automatically, and it was quite loud.
Lǜ Xīngyán’s playful flirtation poured out without any restraint —
“Have you missed me this afternoon?”