Lu Xingyan’s sand sculpture postcard was eventually accepted by Shen Xingruo, who graciously placed it together with the “to” sign from Pei Xiyan.
As September approached, the novelty of a celebrity in school grew, gradually fading as the school days progressed.
Although Pei Xiyan didn’t just make an appearance at the beginning of the school year as rumored, his time at school was indeed limited. The freshmen girls couldn’t get enough, but they were no match for this group of seasoned seniors. Moreover, with the sudden increase in pressure and frequent exams in their senior year, they often found themselves closing their eyes to exam papers, only to open them to another set of papers.
Starting in September, there was a weekly quiz on humanities every Saturday, leaving little time for star chasing. Previously, exams for geography, politics, and history were separate, but now they were unexpectedly combined, confusing for many students. Like Lu Xingyan, who often struggled to distinguish whether a question was about history, politics, or geography in these newly combined exams.
By mid-September, the first monthly exam of the senior year arrived as scheduled. Lu Xingyan scored 448 this time, forty points lower than the final exam, but the difficulty of this monthly exam was incomparable to that of the final. Wang Youfu also reassured them, “Don’t worry, overall, this monthly exam is much more difficult than the college entrance exam. It’s mainly meant to serve as a wake-up call for everyone.”
“Our classmate Shen Xingruo did well. Even with this level of difficulty, he scored a total of 709. Let’s keep up the good work.” He didn’t express it explicitly to avoid pressure, but his classmates understood—this was a subtle encouragement for Shen Xingruo to strive for the provincial top scorer title.
The school valued their batch greatly because this year, both the top scorers in liberal arts and sciences were missed, regardless of the total score, naked score, or provincial rankings. If one had to say something… the only title they could hold onto was the top scorer in the liberal arts section of Xingcheng Rui Xue District.
For schools with lower standards, even a district top scorer would be cause for celebration, but Mingli definitely wouldn’t settle for that; they’d rather remain quietly confident.
The results this batch produced weren’t bad. Two math competition winners made it into the national team; 63 students were admitted to T University, including those with recommendations; the rate of students qualifying for second-tier universities was 99.7%, and for first-tier universities, it was 93%, with the rate for science majors reaching an impressive 95%.
Yet, they didn’t have anyone at the top.
In the evening, Shen Xingruo explained the monthly exam paper to Lu Xingyan. Lu Xingyan, barely able to keep his eyes open, leaned on his desk, struggling to focus.
“This question shouldn’t have been wrong for you. Your approach and steps were correct, but how did you go from 15×6 to 80 in the next step? Everything after that was off…”
Shen Xingruo paused halfway through and glanced at Lu Xingyan before tapping him with a pen.
Lu Xingyan felt a slight pang and furrowed his brows. He struggled to open his eyes and wiped his face, trying to appear attentive as if he wanted to continue listening to the analysis of the exam paper.
However, Shen Xingruo put down the paper and asked, “Did you regress this time? Feeling uninspired?”
What?
Lu Xingyan had just woken up from drowsiness and was still a bit unclear about the situation.
Taking his silence as confirmation, Shen Xingruo continued, “This time the paper was much harder than the final exam, and even harder than the college entrance exam in June.”
“The admission line for third-tier universities in our province this year is 461. With your current level, getting into a third-tier shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If you work hard this year, I think the possibility of getting into a second tier is also very high. The admission line for second-tier this year is 506. You haven’t finished memorizing vocabulary yet. I was thinking of waiting until you finish memorizing, and then giving you last year’s college entrance exam paper to practice. What do you think?”
Lu Xingyan rubbed his nose and mumbled vaguely.
Shen Xingruo encouraged him again, “Think about it. The admission line for the second-tier is only about fifty points higher than for the third-tier, and for the first-tier, it’s only about fifty points higher than the second-tier. When you manage to reach the admission line for second-tier, isn’t it hopeful to aim for first-tier as well? It’s just a matter of improving your score by a hundred points from your first monthly exam.”
“You should also know that several local schools in Xingcheng have preferential admission policies for local students and Mingli students.”
“I heard that in March next semester, Xing University will have a ‘Future Star’ enrollment plan, mainly targeting several famous schools in Xingcheng. It’s much simpler than the general enrollment process. If you work hard, by then, let Mr. Wang write you a recommendation letter. If you pass both the written and oral exams, as long as you reach the admission line for first-tier, you can directly enter Xing University, which is a 985.”
Lu Xingyan: “…”
No way.
He was just sleepy and wanted to take a nap.
What was Shen Xingruo talking about, bringing up 985 universities out of nowhere?
After a moment of recovery, he became clear-headed and looked at Shen Xingruo seriously, saying, “I think your plan sounds perfect, but the feasibility might not be very strong.”
Lu Xingyan had a clear idea about his achievements. He always thought that if he took the college entrance exam, at most he would reach the level of a junior college. Most of his friends were at this level or even lower.
Xu Chengzhou had long-term plans for their group. Just chill for three years, then enroll in the international department of a good university and study for two more years, or three more years for some. There were plenty of places like this that only required money, not scores. South City University was one of them. There were also those schools with joint programs with foreign universities, where many majors had no score requirements. At worst, just go abroad directly.
Shen Xingruo picked up the exam paper again, with a casual tone, “Feasibility not strong? The college entrance exam in Xingcheng is easier than in other provinces anyway. Is it that difficult to study well and aim for a second tier? Or do you want to go abroad and spend three or four years in some mediocre university?”
He had thought about it like that before.
Lu Xingyan explained, “No, no, I haven’t. Don’t I still have to chase after my girlfriend? What if I go abroad and you run away with someone else?”
“… Shut up.”
Lu Xingyan remembered something else, “By the way, where are you planning to go, D University or T University?”
Shen Xingruo looked up, “Does it matter to you whether I go to D or T University? Sounds like you could also pass the exam.”
“…”
“Okay, okay, I got it.”
He indeed couldn’t pass the exam.
But then, Lu Xingyan thought for a moment and asked again, “No, it does matter. This determines the distance between us in the future, do you know? Although D University and T University are both in the capital, the two schools are so far apart.”
Shen Xingruo paused, his gaze falling on the exam paper. After a while, he said, “Probably D University.”
Lu Xingyan nodded. He didn’t take Shen Xingruo’s encouragement and earnest expectations to heart. 985 universities were too far-fetched for him. Instead, he thought about what Xu Chengzhou had mentioned about international departments and schools with joint programs.
There should be some around the vicinity of D University.
Days passed quickly when life got busy, and before they knew it, September quietly slipped away.
In October, as the ginkgo leaves slowly turned yellow, there were hardly any traces of summer uniforms on campus.
During the National Day holiday, the seniors only had three days off. When they returned to school on Monday, a row of photos was posted on the notice board at the entrance—the list of candidates recommended by the principal.
The list had two rows, with five candidates in each row. The top row was for candidates from the liberal arts class, and the bottom row was for candidates from the science class. It seemed to be arranged according to class rankings, with Shen Xingruo placed first in the liberal arts class, followed closely by He Siyue.
The notice board had attracted quite a crowd early in the morning.
Lu Xingyan saw it when he returned to school with Li Chengfan and the others after finishing lunch.
Li Chengfan said, “What’s this thing posted for? Are we supposed to vote? Damn, Shen Xingruo is giving face to our class leader. Look at how refined and elegant she looks in her ID photo…”
Lu Xingyan’s hand swiped across his head, then casually rested on his shoulder.
Lu Xingruo’s ID photo, Lu Xingyan had seen before. It was on her student ID card.
She was wearing Mingli’s light blue summer uniform, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail, no makeup, no accessories, and a subtle smile.
But her skin was flawless, her appearance was charming, and her temperament was elegant. Phrases like “out of the ordinary” and “ethereal beauty” didn’t seem out of place when applied to her.
Zhao Langming changed the hand holding the basketball and chuckled, “Vote? There’s no suspense. Even if Lu Xingyan threw money around here, our Sister Ruo would still take the first place, wouldn’t she?”
Li Chengfan echoed repeatedly and teasingly pointed at the photo of He Siyue, “I think our class leader’s photo isn’t bad either. Look at those boys from the science class, they completely lack the sunny and generous aura of our class leader. Don’t you think his photo, when placed next to Goddess Shen’s, is quite eye-catching…”
Before he finished his sentence, Lu Xingyan swiftly gave him a swipe on the head and glanced at him sideways, “Get He Siyue’s photo down for me, and the sitch about the two thousand won’t need to be mentioned again.”
Zhao Langming hurriedly offered his help, “Hey hey hey! Let me handle this, Lu bro. If I get it for you, you won’t need to pay back the two grand, right?”
Li Chengfan retorted, “Zhao Langming, you’re so damn penny-pinching!”
Zhao Langming chuckled and scolded, “You don’t know a thing. This is called making every penny count!”
With class time approaching, the group didn’t linger too long at the notice board. They chatted aimlessly and entered the third teaching building.
But as soon as they entered the classroom, Lu Xingyan noticed that something wasn’t quite right. It seemed like many people were looking at him, whispering among themselves but not daring to do so openly.
He returned to his seat, rubbed the back of his head, and glanced at Shen Xingruo’s seat.
—Shen Xingruo hadn’t arrived in the classroom yet.
He was about to send a text when Ruan Wen and Shi Qin approached together.
Stopping in front of Lu Xingyan’s seat, both of them looked somewhat strange. It was hard to tell if they were scared or something else, but their expressions weren’t pleasant.
Lu Xingyan looked up and asked, “What’s up?”
Ruan Wen and Shi Qin exchanged a glance, and finally, Shi Qin, with a bit more courage, spoke up, “Um… Lu Xingyan, Mr. Wang has called for Shen Xingruo, to his office.”
“What’s going on?”
Lu Xingyan frowned.
Ruan Wen whispered, “We don’t know either, but we heard that someone wrote a report to the principal’s mailbox, reporting… reporting that you and Shen Xingruo are dating and living together…”
Shi Qin couldn’t help but follow up, “Is it true that you and Shen Xingruo…”
With a sudden “creak,” Lu Xingyan stood up from his seat.
His movement was quite forceful, causing the desk and chair to make a loud noise as he moved them.
Ruan Wen and Shi Qin dared not speak any further. They were close enough to see Lu Xingyan’s expression instantly turned cold, and the atmosphere around them became tense and stagnant.
“Where did you hear this from?” Lu Xingyan asked.
The two girls stuttered and couldn’t explain clearly, “We don’t know, everyone just… says so…”
Just then, the deputy class monitor entered the classroom and called out from the doorway, “Lu Xingyan, Mr. Wang wants to see you in his office.”