After the study abroad program was suspended, Sheng Xia could focus entirely on revision. Her problem-solving skills improved significantly, with her mathematics and chemistry error collection notebooks already full and requiring new ones.

Thinking about how she learned to make error collections with Zhang Shu seemed like yesterday.

Time had passed so quickly.

Having grown accustomed to weekly quizzes and bi-weekly major tests, when the second mock exam arrived, everyone had lost their test anxiety. The joint exam was like that – although there was still internal ranking within Fu Zhong, comparing with outside schools gave them a different mindset, with some pride as a provincial key school, and even a hint of excitement.

The night before the exam, after the second evening study session, Sheng Xia went with Xin Xiaohe and others to experience “North Gate Culture” again. This time it was Sheng Xia’s turn to pay.

They even tried a different bubble tea shop.

“Isn’t Zhang Shu coming for the second mock exam?” Xin Xiaohe’s roommate asked.

“He probably can’t come,” Sheng Xia replied.

“Is he feeling better?”

“Much better, but he can’t sit for long.”

“Sigh… is he studying in the hospital?”

“He is.”

“That’s good then.”

Though she said this, there was clear regret in the girl’s voice.

Everyone understood – forget about being injured, even if Zhang Shu was perfectly healthy and studying hard every day, it would be difficult to maintain his lead after everyone’s intense preparation following the hundred-day countdown ceremony.

Learning is like rowing upstream – not advancing means falling behind.

Even children understand this principle.

Xin Xiaohe consoled, “No matter what, Brother Shu will get into He Yan University!”

He Yan had many prestigious schools. He Qing University and Hai Yan University were the cream of the crop, though other schools weren’t bad either. For instance, the He Yan University of Science and Technology, where Yang Linyu took the independent recruitment exam, was also a key university directly under the Ministry of Education.

Hearing this, Xin Xiaohe’s roommate smacked her mouth: “What are you saying? Brother Shu will get into He Qing or Hai Yan, no need to consider others, right Sheng Xia?”

Sipping her sweet bubble tea, Sheng Xia felt a bit dazed and answered, “He will.”

Xin Xiaohe spoke faster than she thought, meaning no harm. Now feeling embarrassed, she quickly changed the subject, hugging Sheng Xia: “You two will go to He Yan together. Damn, I’m so envious of Zhang Shu.”

She then cupped Sheng Xia’s face and glanced down at her curves, which weren’t obvious in the school uniform.

“Tsk tsk tsk, does Zhang Shu know you’re so well-endowed?”

Sheng Xia widened her eyes, forcefully pulling away Xin Xiaohe’s hands – what was she saying?!

Xin Xiaohe: “Look, she’s angry from embarrassment!”

“What size are you, Xia Xia?”

Xin Xiaohe: “At least C?”

Under the questioning gazes, Sheng Xia nodded slightly.

“Unbelievable, how can you be C when you’re so slim? I’m also envious of Brother Shu.”

Once this topic started, it was like a floodgate opening, unstoppable.

“Hey,” another girl whispered, “have you heard of this theory?”

“What?”

“That boy’s… middle finger length correlates with that… that length?”

“Really?”

“Also, the more prominent the Adam’s apple, that… that diameter…”

“Holy crap!”

“Brother Shu’s hands, even I’m jealous as a girl.”

The girls exchanged knowing looks, unable to suppress their rising smiles as they gazed meaningfully at Sheng Xia.

Sheng Xia was confused at first, but seeing their whispers and meaningful eye contact, even someone as slow as she began to guess. Her entire face burned hot – her eyes were hot, her breathing was hot.

Xin Xiaohe glanced at Sheng Xia and continued pushing: “Brother Shu’s Adam’s apple…”

“We can’t talk about that, we can’t!”

“Oh my!”

“Don’t say we can’t talk about it! Didn’t you say in the dorm before that Zhang Shu looks particularly something something?”

The girl quickly waved her hands: “What are you saying in front of his girlfriend? Shut up, I never said that, no!”

Xin Xiaohe was the worst: “Which something?”

“You know, that kind of… desire, that particularly something!”

“Which desire?”

“Xin Xiaohe! Stop instigating! Your Yang Linyu has long fingers too!”

Xin Xiaohe: …

Just as the girl was feeling triumphant about finally getting one over on Xin Xiaohe, Xin Xiaohe raised an eyebrow and instantly changed her tune. Looking like a battle-hardened veteran who saw through such trivial tricks, she said, “What do you mean ‘my’ Yang Linyu? Besides, length isn’t everything – I hear it hurts if it’s too long. Thickness is better. Of course, having both is ideal.”

Everyone: …

Sheng Xia: …

Xin Xiaohe was still Xin Xiaohe – if you can’t beat her, might as well surrender.

This was far beyond Sheng Xia’s realm of experience.

She had heard Tao Zhizhi say that once you start having late-night talks in the dorm, conversations would inevitably turn naughty, no matter how proper the dorm seemed on the surface.

They say to make a girl change color, you don’t need to do anything – just let her live in a dorm.

Among several girls, there would always be one naughty girl first, then it would gradually spread.

If by graduation you hadn’t had such conversations, either you hit a probability theory blank spot, or the relationships weren’t close enough.

Sheng Xia had never lived in a dorm, and there weren’t even any moderately tame topics to help her ease into it. Her entire concept system was truly shattered.

High school girls.

Hmm.

One could only say Xin Xiaohe’s dorm had really good relationships.

She, as an outsider, was completely numbed.

This numbness lasted through the entire next evening study session.

When Wang Lianhua came to pick her up, seeing her blank expression, she even asked if she wasn’t feeling well.

She wasn’t unwell, she was—

What was she?

She didn’t know.

In middle school, there was a time when girls in class were obsessed with novels, and a flashy magazine was passed around almost the entire class.

Sheng Xia had glimpsed a few pages, finding the verbs monotonous and adjectives exaggerated and redundant, with some words even seeming made up.

She felt there was no need to read further, so she didn’t.

But everyone else loved it.

There was one particularly strange book that girls became very secretive about after reading.

Sheng Xia’s deskmate at the time was reading it during evening study, and as she read, her entire body became rigid, sitting cross-legged with a straight back, completely motionless.

Sheng Xia called her several times with no response.

So Sheng Xia also peeked over for a few glances.

Those descriptions—

Sheng Xia still remembered vividly. Though the word choices weren’t rigorous, they painted vivid mental pictures.

Onomatopoeia could take up half the content.

It was truly remarkable.

Sheng Xia’s ears immediately turned red, and she quickly looked away.

That was her first and last direct contact with such information.

Tonight was the second time.

Especially when the subject of discussion became her and Zhang Shu.

Can’t talk about it, can’t talk about it.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

But that night, led by “mindful meditation,” Sheng Xia still went astray step by step.

In the hazy dream, the boy’s chest was firm, his strong arms tightly embracing her waist, one hand firmly holding the back of her head as he lowered his head—

The dream seemed to have a cinematic consciousness.

The boy’s long fingers and prominently bobbing Adam’s apple became slow-motion close-ups.

The dream had no sound, no plot, and she couldn’t see herself – only these images playing over and over.

Waking from the dream to a new morning.

Sheng Xia was covered in sweat, staring blankly at the ceiling.

What was she doing?

Was this what they called a… wet dream?

You’re done for, Sheng Xia, are you a naughty girl?

She shook her head, washed her face with cold water, and finally came to her senses. While changing clothes, she inexplicably found herself examining her chest in the mirror.

Suddenly, the image of Xin Xiaohe burying her face in her chest flashed before her eyes.

Ahhhhhh!

Stop it!

Wang Lianhua was urging her, so Sheng Xia quickly put on her loose school uniform and hurried out with her backpack.

Looks like she couldn’t go see him for a while.

She wasn’t right in the head right now.

Arriving in the classroom and getting into study mode, she finally felt her mind clearing up a bit.

When exam time came, the class monitor urged everyone to move seats.

Hou Junqi came to help Sheng Xia move, suddenly asking, “Little Sheng Xia, do you miss my Shu?”

Sheng Xia suddenly looked up.

What’s going on?

Was it that obvious?

Could people tell when you think about those things?

Seeing her ears suddenly turn red, Hou Junqi found it strange – Sheng Xia hadn’t randomly blushed for a long time.

But he found it amusing and asked softly again: “Do you miss him?”

Sheng Xia: “No!”

“Really?”

“Mm!”

Hou Junqi looked like he couldn’t keep a secret.

Then he looked towards the corridor and raised his chin: “Look who’s here?”

Sheng Xia instinctively looked over.

The person from her dream came from the corridor, went around to the walkway, and slowly approached.

Only, unlike in her dream, he was in a wheelchair.

Zhang Sujin was pushing him.

Many classmates had spotted him by now and gathered around, asking after him in a jumble of voices.

Zhang Shu was in a good mood and looked to be in good condition.

“Yeah, came back for the exam.”

“Almost better, don’t worry.”

“Can’t you do well without me?”

“Then just give me some incense money instead of praying to the God of Literature.”

“Pray? Please, don’t be superstitious right before the college entrance exam.”

“Come on, that’s enough.”

After his serious illness, he showed no airs of being a top student, nor any sign of weakness. Apart from sitting in a wheelchair, he hadn’t changed at all.

He still seemed to be that lazy, sharp-tongued yet extremely popular youth.

Zhang Shu’s gaze pierced through the crowd, landing on Sheng Xia.

Everyone knowingly dispersed, clearing a wide path for their gazes to meet.

Sheng Xia slightly averted her eyes, but unfortunately, they landed on his Adam’s apple.

And because he was in a wheelchair, his line of sight was lower, so he was slightly lifting his head now.

That Adam’s apple was as sharp as a blade.

Directly piercing through Sheng Xia’s secret thoughts.

Her ears grew redder.

“Sheng Xia is shy.”

“Haha, she is.”

“Aren’t they already together? Why still blush like this? No way?”

Amidst the whispers, the exam preparation bell rang, and everyone took their seats according to their student numbers.

Zhang Shu couldn’t easily enter the classroom, so he switched seats with a student in the corridor.

As luck would have it, right in front of Sheng Xia.

Just as Sheng Xia sat down, Zhang Shu turned his head from the front, “Why didn’t you even say hello when you saw me?”

His abdomen couldn’t move, so he could only turn his head. Seeing his difficult movement, Sheng Xia reminded him: “Don’t move!”

“Oh, alright, then you come here.” Zhang Shu turned his head back.

Nearby classmates: … The domineering patient fell in love with me.

Considering his physical condition, Sheng Xia went to him and asked, “Can you manage? You can’t sit for so long, right?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Zhang Shu’s brows tighten slightly, his eyes showing a hint of depth.

“I can manage,” he answered.

Sheng Xia: “Then don’t hold back, if it hurts, just stop, don’t continue.”

Zhang Shu looked at her for several seconds, smiling slightly: “I won’t. I’ll complete the whole set.”

Somehow, she felt his expression carried a kind of stickiness, sweet and clingy.

Sheng Xia was already distracted, couldn’t look at him anymore, and advised: “Don’t push yourself.”

Zhang Shu: …

Xin Xiaohe, sitting by the window inside the classroom, listened to the whole thing: Speechless, what kind of R-rated dialogue was this?

The proctor arrived, and Sheng Xia returned to her seat, but her gaze couldn’t help but linger on Zhang Shu.

He wore a black T-shirt, and when he lowered his head to write, the vertebrae at the back of his neck protruded, like a fierce beast crouching ready to strike.

“Zhang Shu’s that kind of desire…”

Stop!

After writing his name but not yet allowed to answer questions, Zhang Shu habitually started spinning his pen. Sheng Xia finished writing her student information and looked up to see his pen-spinning motion.

The ballpoint pen nimbly rotated and moved between his lean knuckles, finally returning to the starting point, cycle after cycle.

His knuckles rose and fell with the movement.

“Exam begins, students may start answering questions.”

This announcement was like a lifeline. Sheng Xia quickly lowered her head, entering exam mode.

Her heart was beating uncontrollably fast.

Outside in the corridor, cicada sounds gradually rose, buzzing in people’s ears.

The vibrant summer had truly arrived.