Sheng Xia practically fled into the office. Fu Jie sat at her desk, calling her with smiling eyes: “Sheng Xia, come here.”

That expression… there probably wasn’t anything wrong.

Fu Jie wanted to talk about the independent recruitment program. Sheng Xia’s tense nerves relaxed slightly.

The publishing verification standards were still pending, so she couldn’t relax – she had to prepare for the worst.

“Use the New Year holiday time to catch up on progress. If you need anything, you can contact me anytime. You can also send me your drafts to review,” Fu Jie instructed.

Sheng Xia said: “Yes, thank you, teacher.”

Fu Jie: “You’ve made great progress this time. Keep it up, okay?”

“Yes, I’ll try my best.”

“Writing drafts while reviewing, during the final exam period – it must have been tough?”

Sheng Xia nodded, then shook her head: “It was okay.”

Fu Jie lowered her voice: “It seems Zhang Shu is quite responsible. I heard from Teacher Wang earlier that when you injured your leg, Zhang Shu personally promised to help improve your grades, and he did it.”

Sheng Xia’s relaxed nerves suddenly tensed up again.

This was true. Sheng Xia nodded: “He helped me a lot.”

“Zhang Shu is indeed a good classmate,” Fu Jie praised while carefully observing Sheng Xia’s reaction, then smiled. “Your Teacher Wang said, ‘Oh, Sheng Xia has injured her leg and needs to go back and forth to the hospital, it’s bound to affect her mentally, this won’t work!’ Do you know what Zhang Shu said?”

Sheng Xia looked up – why did she feel Teacher Fu was… a bit unusual?

“He said…” Fu Jie lowered her voice to imitate, “I will make her work.”

…

When Sheng Xia returned to class, Wang Wei was standing outside with a grave expression.

She asked Xin Xiaohe: “Is it time for the heart-to-heart brother session?”

“Seems so,” Xin Xiaohe whispered. “What did Fu Jie call you for? Was it because of Zhang Shu?”

Sheng Xia shook her head, “No, just some personal matters.”

Her gaze shifted slightly, glancing at Zhang Shu across the aisle.

He was working on practice problems, showing no particular emotion.

When the evening study bell rang, Sheng Xia was again the first to be called out.

She felt somehow guilty.

Fortunately, Wang Wei also brought up independent recruitment: “I heard from Teacher Fu that you’ve decided to try for Heqing University’s independent recruitment?”

“Yes,” Sheng Xia nodded. “Teacher, could you keep it secret for now?”

Wang Wei’s eyebrows arched high, “You mean from Zhang Shu?”

“Huh?” Sheng Xia suddenly looked up, both panicked and confused.

Seeing her expression, Wang Wei knew he had misunderstood. He smacked his lips, saying somewhat awkwardly: “Oh, you mean Secretary Sheng?”

Sheng Xia’s heart was pounding.

Teacher Wang, what did he mean? Why did he also mention Zhang Shu…

“Yes, my mom doesn’t know either,” she responded.

Wang Wei asked: “Why?”

Sheng Xia said: “It’s too uncertain to mention now. My grades aren’t stable enough, and talking about it now would create too many distracting factors.”

She stopped there, but Wang Wei understood.

Honestly, at such a crucial time, spending so much energy writing drafts and publishing books, with no guarantee of success – not just parents, even he and Fu Jie thought it was too risky.

Moreover, the parents’ current arrangements seemed very reliable. If she proposed participating in independent recruitment, she would likely face opposition and obstruction.

Wang Wei said: “But perhaps your father could help?”

Sheng Xia shook her head: “No, that wouldn’t be right.”

Wang Wei reminded her: “It’s not about breaking rules. In a society built on relationships, sometimes within the framework, a single word can make things go much more smoothly.”

Like publishing.

Sheng Xia lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.

Wang Wei became a bit nervous – had he touched on some sensitive point?

Then he heard her say very softly: “I’m the one seeking education. His power and privilege have nothing to do with my studies.”

Wang Wei was stunned, forgetting there was a phrase called “scholarly pride.”

“If you need any help, tell me or Teacher Fu immediately. Regardless of whose daughter you are, you’re our student.”

Sheng Xia pressed her lips together and nodded.

Looking at this student who was almost excessively obedient, Wang Wei suddenly felt touched: Old Wang could say such profound words one day – he had to look at himself with new eyes!

“You’ve made huge progress in this exam. Analyze the reasons and keep working hard!” Wang Wei encouraged.

Sheng Xia just nodded again.

Wang Wei: “Zhang Shu he—”

The girl looked up at this, her eyes bright and sparkling.

Wang Wei was almost speechless – these two, did they have to be so obvious? If this continued, he would worry!

“Zhang Shu didn’t do well this time. As desk mates, you should encourage each other and improve together, okay?”

Sheng Xia felt that somehow Teacher Wang’s tone was also unnatural.

Besides nodding, she didn’t know how else to respond.

“Alright, you can go. Keep up the good work!”

After Sheng Xia returned to the classroom, Wang Wei didn’t call Zhang Shu out next as expected but called someone else instead.

The people waiting for gossip in the classroom were a bit disappointed.

Perhaps because the results had just come out, everyone was rather restless. Few in the class were reviewing, with quiet conversations happening everywhere.

Xin Xiaohe caught Sheng Xia and asked: “What did Old Wang talk to you about?”

Sheng Xia carefully selected what to say: “Asked me to analyze reasons for improvement, keep working hard…”

“I guess it’ll be my turn soon…” Xin Xiaohe sighed. “I didn’t reach the goal Old Wang set for me last time. I feel like I’ve hit a plateau.”

Xin Xiaohe had scored about the same on several tests – not falling behind, but no breakthroughs either.

Sheng Xia comforted her: “You’re climbing towards the peak, on a steep slope. No matter how hard you push, the speed stays the same because you’re building up strength. Only when you suddenly reach the top will it be visible? It should be soon, probably by the first mock exam!”

Xin Xiaohe made a crying face and threw herself into Sheng Xia’s arms: “Wuu, you’re the best…”

Suddenly, Xin Xiaohe stopped. She raised her head, staring blankly at Sheng Xia with a shocked expression: “Sister, you’re so soft…”

As she spoke, her eyes lingered on Sheng Xia’s chest for two seconds before looking up again – frantically hinting at what she meant by “soft.”

Sheng Xia’s face “boom” lit up…

At the same time, Xin Xiaohe noticed that across the aisle, Zhang Shu, who had been focused on practice problems, suddenly looked up with a very complex expression.

From confusion to understanding, then with some avoidance, becoming unfriendly, and finally turning into a kind of… warning.

Even though Xin Xiaohe was outgoing, she was still a girl at heart. Now she also felt embarrassed and quickly covered her mouth dramatically, revealing two eyes as wide as Mr. Bean’s.

Sheng Xia was facing Xin Xiaohe and hadn’t noticed what was happening behind her. She just had red ears from Xin Xiaohe’s obvious attempt to cover up.

The “heart-to-heart brother” talks were barely finished by halfway through the second evening study period.

Wang Wei walked to the podium and said: “Everyone has received their final exam results. Some people put in effort and achieved impressive results, while others slacked off, which is reflected in their grades. At this stage, you should understand the importance of every exam…”

After about fifteen minutes of familiar topics, Wang Wei suddenly had someone turn off all the classroom lights and started playing a video.

“This is the first motivational video from the alumni association this year. Watch it carefully and think about where your goals are, where you still fall short, and how far you have to go. I won’t say more – I hope everyone can gain something tonight, change something.”

In gentle music, the alumni association’s logo faded in and out.

Then the gates of Heqing University appeared on screen. The camera turned to show several senior students standing under the gates, saying to the camera: “This is Heqing University, I’m from South Li University Affiliated Middle School.”

The scene changed to show the gates of Haiyan University, then turned to show several youthful faces saying to the camera: “This is Haiyan University, I’m from South Li University Affiliated Middle School.”

Then—

“This is Dongzhou University, I’m from South Li University Affiliated Middle School…”

“This is South Li University…”

Almost identical camera movements, almost identical lines.

Including all the well-known key universities across the country.

The emblems of various universities flashed on the screen, the rhythm getting faster and faster, all the emblems forming a complete grid, all the previously played lines overlapping into one: I’m from South Li University Affiliated Middle School, I’m here waiting for you.

Then came scenic shots and activity footage from various universities, with senior students introducing their schools as if giving a tour, some promoting while complaining, laughing, and playing, radiating youth.

This was university campus life, these were university students!

The class was silent, the video reflecting in pairs of eyes and glasses.

Something was slowly rising from the bottom of her heart, though Sheng Xia couldn’t explain what it was.

When she heard the line – “This is Heqing University” – inexplicably, she felt a sense of belonging.

Among all those seniors, she only remembered the faces of those from Heqing University.

They still looked simple and clean, but different from those sitting in the classroom.

What had brought about the transformation of one year?

Sheng Xia felt warmth approaching from her right, but she was too focused on watching to pay much attention.

Suddenly, breath brushed her ear, and she heard a low voice saying: “Have you decided which university you want to get into?”

Sheng Xia’s ear tingled.

The voice paused, and Sheng Xia felt her hand, casually resting on her knee, being picked up, fingers intertwining.

She instinctively looked down. In the darkness, a slender hand with distinct knuckles passed through hers, fingers tightly interlocked.

The voice was still by her ear, saying: “Want to go to Heiyan together?”

Sheng Xia’s heart skipped a beat before she suddenly turned her head as if coming back to herself.

Zhang Shu’s face was inches away, the screen’s light flickering across his face, his eyes particularly bright in the darkness.

They…

They…

They gazed at each other in the darkness of the room, whispering in the stillness of the crowd.

As far as Sheng Xia could see, everything around seemed to blur, leaving only her and him in the dark classroom.

Did he say Heiyan?

Could she do it?

Was she capable?

The video was still playing, but Sheng Xia couldn’t hear it anymore. She only heard her heartbeat, and that line—

“I will make her work.”

She had never heard him say it directly, but at this moment, in her mind, it gradually transformed into his slightly arrogant yet determined voice—

I will make her work.

When the nearly ten-minute video finished, the lights came on brightly. The class was silent, everyone looking at each other, some smiling, some melancholic, all immersed in a kind of aspiration.

Sheng Xia looked at the young man who had already retreated to his seat, feeling a bit dazed – just now, when everyone was focused on the video, had he spoken to her?

The lingering warmth on her fingertips, not her own, gave her the answer.