Zhang Shu could already walk by himself and didn’t need support. However, when he lay down, his abdomen would hurt, causing him to furrow his brows. Sheng Xia furrowed her brows along with him.

Sheng Xia asked, “Did your wound hurt while taking the exam?”

How could anyone endure sitting for half a day?

Zhang Shu caught her expression and seemed to understand – she had suddenly come because of his test scores.

“No,” he answered honestly, “I forgot about it while doing the exam.”

She knew that once he decided to go, he would give it his all. “Chinese was only because you wrote too slowly. I calculated that if you could get 120 points in Chinese this time, the situation would be much better. Don’t worry too much…”

Zhang Shu instinctively asked, “How much better?”

Even if it improved, compared to his previous performance, it still wouldn’t be good.

Before Sheng Xia could think of how to console him, Zhang Shu spoke: “Each stage has its own goals. Being able to complete the exam is already a victory at this stage. Rankings are just a reference – they can be used to understand your position, but focusing too much on them doesn’t help with improvement.”

Sheng Xia was influenced by the determination in his eyes and nodded in agreement.

Zhang Shu looked at her: “How about you? Your scores?”

Sheng Xia had done quite well this time, scoring over twenty points above the first-tier university cutoff line, maintaining her previous best performance. What was particularly strange was that despite being so sleepy during the math exam, her score was unexpectedly good.

“Pretty good,” was all she could say.

“Looks like I’m the one worried about not being able to go to He Yan now,” he said with a smile.

Though it was just casual banter, he didn’t expect her to take it so seriously. Her lips pressed into a straight line as she looked at him apologetically.

He quickly changed the subject: “It’s fine, I’ll be discharged from the hospital in half a month. I know my limits.”

Sheng Xia’s brows relaxed slightly as she sincerely said, “If you need any help, just let me know.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt something was off. It made it seem like she thought she was so capable when even a weakened camel was still larger than a horse – wasn’t his performance still better than hers?

Zhang Shu rubbed his chin, appearing to think carefully. “There is something you could help me with.”

Sheng Xia: “Hmm?”

“Shaving.”

Sheng Xia: …

Shaving?

“Help me shave, I haven’t done it in three or four days.”

“I… I don’t know how!” she stammered.

“I’ll teach you.”

“…”

A few minutes later, Sheng Xia stood by the bed holding a small basin of water, at a loss for what to do.

“Put the water on the nightstand, first wipe my face with the towel, apply shaving foam, then just go for it,” Zhang Shu commanded concisely from the side.

Sheng Xia put down the basin and stared at the razor in her hand – hadn’t she seen an electric razor in the bathroom? Wouldn’t that be less troublesome? It could be operated with one hand and didn’t require bending over.

“Um, the electric one…” she voiced her confusion.

Zhang Shu maintained a straight face: “That’s not mine.”

How ridiculous, that thing buzzes so loud it’s deafening.

Sheng Xia: “Oh.”

She wrung the towel half-dry but worried about the next step. Should she just cover his face and wipe? Or should she focus on details first, like the corners of his eyes and mouth? Or should she let him wipe himself?

After all, he could still move one hand freely.

While she was hesitating, Zhang Shu said, “How can you wipe from that far away? Is your arm that long?”

The implication was that he didn’t want to wipe it himself.

Sheng Xia bent down. “Then… close your eyes,” she requested.

Zhang Shu looked at her face so close to his and was once again amazed at how someone could have such good skin – fair and seemingly poreless.

Perhaps he was bewitched, but he felt she had a natural fragrance about her, a kind of scent that was difficult to describe. He had never smelled it on anyone else before. When they used to sit together, he could faintly detect it, but it wasn’t as obvious as now.

“No,” he answered.

How often did she take the initiative to come this close? Why shouldn’t he look?

Sheng Xia saw his eyelids slowly lift, his gaze moving from her jaw, past her lips and nose, finally settling in her eyes.

Their eyes met, inexplicably locked together.

Sheng Xia quickly shifted her gaze to the towel, not arguing with him further, and began carefully wiping his face.

Her movements were so gentle that Zhang Shu felt like he was being tickled.

When she reached his lips, she carefully avoided the flesh of his lips, her fingertips wrapped in the towel tracing the contours around them.

Zhang Shu suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth, giving a small smile.

Sheng Xia was startled by this sudden movement, instinctively pausing and glancing at him before continuing…

Though it was just a momentary pause, the air seemed to grow warmer.

Sheng Xia observed his light stubble, her thoughts wandering.

Why were men and women so different? They grew beards and Adam’s apples, while women didn’t. Women had other things—

Stop.

She put down the towel and picked up the spray-like container. “This one, just squeeze it out?”

“Mm, apply it wherever there’s stubble.”

She squeezed a bit onto her hand, the hissing sound seemed very jarring – or rather, because she was nervous, every sound made her jumpy.

She slowly reached out to spread it on his face.

When skin touched skin, both of their expressions changed.

Zhang Shu’s body instantly tensed, his widened eyes burning with intensity.

Sheng Xia felt like he was an electrode – one touch and she felt a buzz of electricity, her entire arm going numb.

Inadvertently, her hand shook and foam fell on Zhang Shu’s chest. She hurriedly wiped it off with the towel, then ran to the bathroom to get a dry towel and wrapped it around his neck.

He looked like he was wearing a bib.

Sheng Xia apologetically said, “I’m sorry, I…”

“You’re doing very well, don’t rush.”

“…”

She had wanted to say sorry, but she couldn’t do it, please do it yourself.

“It’s fine, just apply more,” he slightly lifted his chin, making it easier for her to apply.

The gesture seemed like an invitation.

Sheng Xia steeled herself, squeezed out some more, and started applying from his cheeks. Looking closely, she realized the range of men’s facial hair was quite surprising – denser around the mouth, sparser around the edges, with a bit below the jawline as well.

She had thought beards only grew around the mouth.

This time she imagined his face as a cake base – just spread the cream evenly and it would be fine. This mindset made things much easier.

Zhang Shu lowered his gaze, his eyes tracing her features countless times.

Under the light, her long eyelashes fluttered, casting shadows beneath her eyes.

Her whole being was tranquil and gentle.

She was so serious, seriously touching his face.

Thinking this, a heat rose in his abdomen. Zhang Shu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he uncomfortably looked away.

Shaving felt like fighting a battle.

The initial preparation was extremely difficult, but when it came to the actual offensive, the tension dissipated, replaced only by a desire to finish quickly.

The razor became a weapon of victory in her hands.

Where the blade passed, shaving foam was pushed away, revealing clean skin underneath. She found it quite satisfying.

“Does it hurt?”

“Did I cut you?”

She asked occasionally.

“No pain.”

“No.”

He cooperated perfectly – pursing his lips, lifting his chin, turning his face – extremely obedient.

She finished smoothly, even intuitively rolling the foam into the towel…

Then she gently held his face with both hands, looking left and right – so clean, such a sense of achievement.

She couldn’t help but break into a relaxed smile.

Rouge-red lips, flawless skin, pure smile, everything was within reach. Zhang Shu felt the light suddenly brighten as if an angel had descended.

A very cliché description, but it was Zhang Shu’s first thought.

He wanted to get closer.

This thought flashed through his mind, and before he could think it through, his body had already acted first. Taking advantage of her bent posture, he easily wrapped his arm around her waist.

Sheng Xia froze, suddenly looking up.

He was just holding her lightly, without pulling her closer or making any further moves.

But it was exactly this careful gesture that made things feel more ambiguous…

And she was still holding his face, seeing in his expression a hint of disbelief and confusion. Though they had shared a deeper embrace that night on the playground, it was nowhere near as unsettling as this casual touch. If that night had been an outpouring of emotions, this current contact was a conscious exploration.

One lying down, one bending over.

The posture was excessively intimate.

Sheng Xia felt her waist become immobile.

She had lost all sensation.

She wanted to straighten up, but she was frozen. Her mind seemed unable to command her body, completely out of sync.

Who was she? Where was she? What was she doing?

“Knock knock” – the door was perfunctorily tapped twice, then opened.

Perhaps because Sheng Xia was standing too close to the head of the bed, she couldn’t be seen through the small window.

The person who entered hadn’t expected anyone else inside and suddenly stopped.

Sheng Xia abruptly straightened up, her eyes meeting the bewildered gaze of the care worker.

Sheng Xia replayed the previous scene in her mind – just now, that position she was in, it looked like she was about to kiss him!

No!

That’s not it!

Sheng Xia practically fled the hospital. Zhang Shu had called a car for her, and throughout the process, the subtle smile in his eyes became increasingly apparent.

The entire way home she felt like she was running a fever, so instead of returning to class, she called Wang Lianhua to pick her up from school early.

Back home, Sheng Xia began studying Zhang Shu’s test papers, which she had photocopied.

For Chinese, the reason for lost points was obvious – untidy presentation and overly brief reading comprehension answers were the major areas of point deduction.

In English, except for the composition, they were all multiple-choice questions, which he had done quite smoothly.

For Mathematics, the paper was marked up chaotically. One could imagine he hadn’t used scratch paper, probably finding it troublesome with his limited hand use. Even the answer sheet wasn’t clean – instead of using correction tape for mistakes, he had simply crossed out large sections. With limited space, he ended up writing densely, making it barely legible.

The science comprehensive exam was the same.

Looking at the papers, you could tell he had struggled to write them.

She compiled all his wrong answers, planning to record video explanations for him later.

At his score level, there wasn’t much she could do for him; she just hoped to make his learning a bit easier.

By the time she finished organizing, it was already past midnight. Sheng Xia couldn’t help but recall how he had previously organized past exam papers from Fujun for her – so many sets, who knows how much effort it took.

She silently cheered, both for him and herself: I will make it work for you, A-Shu.

Since Sheng Xia couldn’t keep running to the hospital, Hou Junqi acted as a courier, delivering recent test papers to Zhang Shu every few days.

When teachers explained the papers, Sheng Xia listened with particular attention, clearly recording not only their answer strategies but even their tangential insights. She then sent these notes along with videos to Zhang Shu.

If he still had questions, he would video call or send voice messages to ask.

At first, Sheng Xia couldn’t explain things clearly either. To teach him, she would first get clear explanations from the teachers, practice explaining it to herself in her head, and then explain it to him.

Lai Yilin praised her: “Your questions are very targeted. At this rate, you might get into a 985 university without even needing independent recruitment.”

Sheng Xia admitted she was just being a messenger for Zhang Shu, saying that top students had very different approaches to questioning.

Lai Yilin asked in surprise: “He doesn’t know these things?”

Sheng Xia: “Some of them. For others, he says he understands but isn’t completely clear.”

Lai Yilin seemed thoughtful and smiled: “Is that so? Well, keep being a good messenger then.”

On April 20th, Heqing University released its Strong Foundation Program announcement, publicizing the list of candidates qualified for assessment.

For the Classical Chinese Literature major, they planned to admit 3 students through the Strong Foundation Program, with 1 person qualifying for assessment.

Sheng Xia was the only person in the entire country who qualified.

As long as she could score above the first-tier university cutoff line and publish a book before the admission process, her acceptance would be guaranteed.

Busy losing track of time, Sheng Xia hadn’t checked promptly and learned the news from Sheng Mingfeng.

Sheng Mingfeng said: “You being the only one in the country shows you truly excel in this area, but being the only one also means it’s an unpopular field. Dad has looked into it carefully – this is a newly established major with unknown career prospects. Even comparing it to the Chinese Language and Literature major, the outlook isn’t optimistic.”

Sheng Xia: “If it’s about textual research, I think I could do it for a lifetime.”

Sheng Mingfeng neither agreed nor disagreed, only saying: “We’ll keep the study abroad option open. You can decide on the college entrance exam.”

Although he maintained his stance, this statement essentially meant he was leaving the choice entirely up to Sheng Xia.

Wang Lianhua was both delighted and somewhat melancholic, muttering: “Why do I already feel like you’re leaving me?”

Finally, she advised her not to get distracted, to prepare well for the college entrance exam, to pretend this hadn’t happened, and to achieve the best possible results.

Sheng Xia agreed.

She felt her parents had both changed somewhat.

Wang Lianhua wasn’t as domineering anymore; Sheng Mingfeng seemed to have shifted from gentle firmness to firm gentleness.

Had time gradually smoothed out their fierce conflicts?

It seemed not.

They still opposed each other.

But they were now listening to what she had to say.

Listening to her, and considering her opinions.

She was no longer just a piece of putty they pulled between them.

Was it because she had grown up?

…

The weather grew increasingly hot, sunset came later, and even the wind carried a sense of restlessness.

The seasonal summer cucumber juice had gone on sale. Sheng Xia bought a cup after dinner and returned to the classroom contentedly.

Usually, in the half-hour before the evening study session, the third-year teaching building formed a stark contrast with the first and second years.

The former was silent with students writing furiously, while the latter buzzed with laughter and chatter.

Today, Class Six was different. Everyone was gathered in small groups, discussing something.

When Sheng Xia entered the classroom, everyone looked at her.

Li Shiyi pulled Sheng Xia to sit down and handed her phone over, “Look, Zhang Shu is online roasting idiots!”

The screen showed screenshots posted by a blogger, nine images in total.

Blogger’s caption: [LOL, I kept seeing this account commenting on Xinfeng, turns out it’s him @SHU_abcdef. Dare I call you the Roast King of Nanli?]

“Xinfeng” was a social networking mini-program developed by a Fujun senior, more popular at Fujun than forums or Weibo.

You could post anonymously, but comments would show usernames. Many people used it for confessions, so it was also called the Confession Wall.

These Weibo screenshots were a collection of recent comments by a user named “SHU_xxrmm”.

Anonymous post: [Serious discussion, is Zhang Shu done for? This outcome is like picking up sesame seeds but losing the watermelon, right?]

—SHU_xxrmm: Zhang San, is Xinfeng done for? This post is like eating radishes without salt and worrying for nothing.

[No matter how much hype he gets, who cares about a top student? When’s he getting discharged? I bet it’ll make news again.]

—SHU_xxrmm: He’s getting discharged next week. Since you care so much about your father, are you planning to come to bow three times and pay your morning and evening respects?

[It’s impossible now, no matter how good he is, he can’t go from 300th place to top student in just over a month.]

[I think he can, Zhang Shu forever!]

[Is the above poster some brain-dead Zhang Shu fan? Still praising him in this situation?]

—SHU_xxrmm: Is the above poster some jealous idiot? Still barking in this situation?

Anonymous post: [Was Zhang Shu stabbed saving that girl from their class? How can that girl even stay there? I couldn’t if it were me, I’d die from guilt.]

—SHU_xxrmm: Zhang Shu was stabbed by the rumor-mongering poster above. How can they even post? I couldn’t if it were me, I’d die from guilt.

[Yeah, didn’t his girlfriend get into a fight last week with two indignant girls over this? Like some idol drama.]

—SHU_xxrmm: Yeah, his girlfriend reasoned with two rumor-spreading girls last week. Like talking to cows.

[No, they mistook the girl from the bookstore for his girlfriend.]

—SHU_xxrmm: My girlfriend is heavenly beautiful, how could there be so many look-alikes? I might mistake others, but I’d never mistake my girlfriend, thanks.

[His girlfriend is quite pretty, but does her destiny carry something…?]

—SHU_xxrmm: His girlfriend is very pretty, and her destiny includes bringing good fortune to her husband.

Anonymous post: [Wow, is that Zhang Shu responding to those old posts?]

—SHU_xxrmm: Yes, it’s Zhang Shu responding to those crooked posts.

…

…

Sheng Xia flipped through page by page. There were many more, simply breathtaking.

He hadn’t responded to confessions meant for him, but he had replied to almost every post mentioning “girlfriend.”

From him, she finally learned what it meant to give tit for tat.

Was he being a bit too smooth with his responses?

Was he being a bit too casual throwing around the term “girlfriend”?

And what was with that username anyway?