Chapter 112

The consequence of their indulgence was wet bedsheets, a whole night of shameful memories, marks all over his body, and weak, powerless limbs.

Jiang Zhihuo used his physical condition as an excuse to be a lazy bum. Right now, he was lying on Yan Mu’s lap, holding a tablet.

Yan Mu’s voice came from behind his ear. “The results are out.”

Jiang Zhihuo was focused on the battle. “No rush, wait till I finish this instance.”

Yan Mu added, “They’re posting their scores in the group chat.”

“How much?” Jiang Zhihuo asked casually.

Yan Mu: “Chang Luo got 630, Zong Bei 619, Xie Qiu 620.”

“Wow, not bad!” Jiang Zhihuo said. “What about the school beauty?”

“She hasn’t posted,” Yan Mu said. “Probably couldn’t check yet.”

Every candidate in the province was checking their scores, and the website had long since crashed. Those who could check now either had extremely fast internet or were the chosen ones. Jiang Zhihuo wasn’t in a hurry, and Yan Mu didn’t press him.

Just then, Jiang Zhihuo’s phone screen lit up.

He was playing a game on his tablet, his phone tossed aside. Yan Mu noticed the activity first.

It was a call from Li Muhe, but the phone was on silent, so Jiang Zhihuo, engrossed in his instance, didn’t hear it.

Yan Mu fell silent, hesitating for a long time between hanging up directly and pretending not to see it. In the end, he still reminded him, “Xiao Zhou, phone call.”

“Who is it?”

“…” Yan Mu said, “Li-ge.”

The moment he heard it was Li Muhe, Jiang Zhihuo immediately shoved the tablet into Yan Mu’s hands, asking him to play the dungeon for him, then rolled over to answer the phone.

Yan Mu: “…”

They were close enough that Yan Mu could also hear Li Muhe’s voice. “Xiao Huo, I heard the results are out. Have you checked yours?”

“Not yet, it’s too crowded. I’ll check in a bit.” Jiang Zhihuo adjusted his posture.

His voice sounded lazy when he was lying down, and he didn’t want Li-ge to ask what he did last night.

“Li-ge, how have you been lately?”

As he spoke, Jiang Zhihuo quietly glanced at Yan Mu.

Every time he called Li-ge, this guy would drop his whole persona, either acting pitiful or pretending to be angry with a cold face, coming up with a pile of reasons for him to hang up.

“Just finished a project, it’s been okay,” Li Muhe said.

It had been a while since he’d spoken to Li-ge, so Jiang Zhihuo planned to step out of the room to talk.

He had barely moved his leg when Yan Mu raised a hand to press him down, hooking his arms under his armpits and lifting him into his lap like a child. Then, he naturally picked up the tablet, wrapping his arms around Jiang Zhihuo. His arm rested on his waist, completely encircling him.

Yan Mu: “You can keep talking.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “?”

He seemed to be behaving today?

Jiang Zhihuo used Yan Mu as a human cushion and chatted with Li Muhe for a bit. He hadn’t said much when he suddenly felt a tickle behind his ear. Jiang Zhihuo jolted, his words cutting off.

Li Muhe asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Noth—”

Before he could finish saying ‘nothing,’ Jiang Zhihuo smelled a faint scent of rain. Yan Mu’s hand was on the back of his neck, playing the dungeon for him, his arm brushing against his gland, intentionally or not. This position forced them even closer, their breaths unavoidably hitting the skin behind his ear.

“It’s nothing, Li-ge, just a mosquito,” Jiang Zhihuo bit out the last two words, turning to glare at Yan Mu, signaling him to keep his hands to himself.

Yan Mu feigned innocence, mouthing: I didn’t do anything.

After speaking, his gaze drifted downwards.

Jiang Zhihuo: “…”

His estrus had just passed, and his gland was now incredibly sensitive. After a few movements, all the feelings from last night were stirred up again, and his breathing unconsciously quickened.

There was no way he could continue the call!

Jiang Zhihuo found an excuse to hang up, then pinched Yan Mu, hissing, “What are you trying to do!”

Yan Mu held up the tablet. The dungeon was already cleared. He said, “I was concentrating on helping you clear the dungeon.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “Your hand!”

“It’s a comfortable position.” Yan Mu deflected, his gaze drifting downwards again as if to deliberately remind him. “You’re the one who got a reaction, Xiao Zhou.”

Jiang Zhihuo: “…”

He was speechless and decided to resort to direct action.

He pushed Yan Mu onto the bed and started roughhousing with him. Yan Mu didn’t fight back. In a gap between their scuffling, he picked up the tablet and entered a string of exam admission numbers. Then, his entire aura changed. Though his expression remained mostly neutral, it was as if flowers were blooming all around him. “Xiao Zhou, congratulations.”

“For what?” Jiang Zhihuo still wanted to beat him up.

Yan Mu turned the screen towards Jiang Zhihuo. The official website displayed his college entrance exam results.

Name: Jiang Zhihuo

Total Score: 746

Provincial Ranking: 1

The night he became the provincial top scorer was destined to be anything but peaceful.

That evening, Jiang Zhihuo received countless calls. Admissions offices from various top universities called one after another. Jiang Zhihuo had a clear goal, which was to go to B University with Yan-ge, and politely declined the invitations from other universities.

Next was Yun Xiaoxu. The moment he picked up, the earpiece exploded with noise. “Holy shit! Ge! I saw your name! The provincial top scorer! Holy shit, it’s really you! No one has the same name as you, right?! You’re too amazing, Ge! My teammates are all stunned, I’m telling you!”

Then it was Zong Bei. “The provincial top scorer! How did you do it? I even exceeded my own expectations this time; all my guesses were correct, and you still managed to score over a hundred points higher than I!”

Wen Da and Qu Xiao also found Jiang Zhihuo. The moment the call connected, there was a string of stunned exclamations. “Shin? That… that provincial top scorer, Jiang Zhihuo, that’s you? Why do I feel like I’m dreaming? Our bar’s little bartender became the top scorer?! I became the top scorer’s boss?! Hahahahaha!!”

The commotion around Jiang Zhihuo lasted for days. He was interviewed by two reporters a day and even appeared on the news with the liberal arts top scorer. The committee of the residential community where he and Yan Mu lived came to their door, snapped a photo of them, and posted it on the community bulletin board. The next day, a banner was hung up in the community—Congratulations to Jiang Zhihuo, resident of Unit 3 of this community, on becoming the college entrance exams Top Scorer.

The banner was large and red, with the three characters for ‘Jiang Zhihuo’ hanging at the community entrance, so he didn’t dare leave the house for three days straight.

When the landlord heard that he had rented his house to a provincial top scorer, and that the other one was admitted to B University for winning a national competition, he brought his middle-school-aged daughter over that very night for a visit. After a round of handshakes and photos to ‘absorb the good luck,’ he waived their next three months’ rent.

Even the driving school called. “Is this Top Scorer Jiang? Are you planning to learn to drive during the summer break? Our driving school will waive all fees for the top scorer.”

After being interviewed by yet another media outlet, Jiang Zhihuo collapsed onto the bed. “If I’d known, I would’ve gone to a competition too. I only scored in the seven hundreds, why is this so exaggerated?!”

Not only was Jiang Zhihuo’s life in an uproar, but when the media posted the top scorer’s photo on Weibo, the internet also exploded. That night, Jiang Zhihuo had a small taste of fame, trending on the hot search for two hours.

#MostHandsomeCollegeEntranceExamTopScorer#

[Holy shit? Is this a face a top scorer is allowed to have?! Please debut, little brother!]

[So handsome?! Handsome and with good grades?! Oh my god?!]

[This handsome guy looks familiar, where have I seen him before? Was it in my dreams?]

[Not in your dreams, sister! We’ve really seen him! He appeared in Pick U!!]

Someone dug up the clip from Pick U 101‘s library exterior shoot, where Yun Xiaoxu’s group was stumped by a difficult math problem and had to ask two extremely handsome passersby for help.

[Holy crap, it’s really him!! I thought he was amazing when I watched the show, but I never expected him to become the top scorer?! 746? Who would even dare to imagine that score?]

[Which university is he planning to attend?]

[B University! I heard he’s going with his boyfriend.]

[?????? What? Boyfriend? He has a boyfriend?!]

[Don’t even say it, sister, how could someone that handsome not have one! I’m also from Lincheng; he and his boyfriend have long become a legend here. One is the college entrance exams top scorer, the other was admitted to B University through a national competition. A divine couple. I’m envious, I’m crying, I’m shipping them!!]

The days after the results were released were the most chaotic. Later, everyone got busy with filling out their university applications, and Jiang Zhihuo finally got a few days of peace.

A week later, they had to return to school to print their report cards.

Having not seen their classmates for about twenty days, everyone chatted in the classroom for a while before moving to the school auditorium.

The principal went on stage to congratulate everyone on their excellent results. The grade-level director gave brief guidance on university applications, choosing the right city and major, and also recommended future popular industries for students to consider. A teacher representative spoke emotionally about their three years of high school. Finally, all the teachers and school leaders stood on the stage.

“Thank you for your hard work over the past three years.”

“May you, from this day forward, continue to move forward fearlessly toward mountains and seas.”

In the stuffy auditorium, the buzzing sound of the speakers echoed back and forth.

When Ding Jianhui walked into the classroom, everyone was making a racket, chatting with friends in small groups, with the boys in the back row gathered together. Ding Jianhui didn’t disturb them or ask them to be quiet. He knew very well that after today, the chances of gathering everyone together again would be very, very few.

He walked into the classroom alone. The teacher’s desk was clean, with no exam papers, no chalk box, no chalk dust. But a large box was placed incongruously on top of it. A note was taped to the top of the box. “Open it.”

What are they up to now?

Ding Jianhui smiled and opened the box.

When he saw what was inside, Ding Jianhui suddenly froze. His hand hovered in mid-air. After a long moment, he regained feeling and moved it stiffly.

The box was filled with a jumble of things.

Class 1 had prepared a box full of gifts for Ding Jianhui.

The number tag, pinned to one’s back during a run; a black pen for exam blessings; a large bundle of used pen refills; a book with dog-eared pages; a stack of exam papers; a pair of earphones; a class T-shirt signed by the entire class…

Big and small, there were fifty gifts in total.

A sticky note was attached to each gift.

“I ran the 800-meter race at this year’s sports meet. It was terrifying. I never want to run again!”

“In my senior year, I suddenly wanted to see how many pen refills I’d go through. At first, I thought two or three boxes would be enough. Good lord, it’s a huge bundle!”

“I love using CG brand pens, they’re super smooth! (Mainly because the characters for ‘Confucius Temple Blessing’ make me feel at ease).”

“My favorite book this year. I read it back and forth many times. Whenever I felt tired, didn’t want to study, and felt hopeless about life, I would flip through it.”

“These earphones accompanied me through a whole year of evening self-study. I like listening to light music while doing papers; it makes me feel calm.”

“…”

Ding Jianhui took them out one by one, reading each one.

His hands trembled more and more. They were clearly very light, small things, but toward the end, he found he could barely hold them.

At the very bottom of the box was a photograph.

It was a group photo taken during the sports meet. Everyone was wearing their class T-shirts, squeezed together in the classroom. The shutter went off without warning. One person’s eyes were shut, one was caught staring at someone else, and one had already slipped into a pose.

They were crowded in the aisle, the desks pushed into a messy pile, stacked high with exam papers and textbooks. The windows were open to the outside, where milky-white clouds were kneaded into the azure sky, and the sunlight was bright.

On the back of the photo, there was a sentence.

“Teacher, we’re giving you all three years of our high school.”

Ding Jianhui suddenly felt his eyes go dry, his sockets burning hot. He looked up, pressing his lips together tightly, and took several deep breaths.

He had been so engrossed that he hadn’t noticed his surroundings at all. Only then did he realize that the classroom had gradually quieted down. The students who had been laughing and fooling around had returned to their seats. The desks were no longer messy; there were no textbooks, no exam papers, no mini fans or power banks.

Everything was as if it were yesterday, yet everything was now empty.

Only the fan on the ceiling continued to spin forcefully.

Ding Jianhui looked at everyone. He was trying his utmost to restrain himself, but his eyes were still red.

He turned his back to compose his breathing. A moment later, he turned back around and, just like in class on any other day, propped his hands on the lectern. “Class, you’re dismissed.”

The school bell happened to ring in the corridor, long and clear, mingling with the damp chirping of cicadas, spreading to every corner of the school.

That day, the sky was purple.

That day, the air was still stuffy, and they wore their school uniforms.

That day, their high school life, where they had given their all and charged forward, yet could also comfortably rest their heads on their desks on a certain dusk and fantasize wildly about the future, had ended.

shae has something to say:

I swear, this chapter makes me a bit emotional. The author just reminded me of my high school years, which ended three years ago. 

To all young readers out here, do cherish your high school days as much as possible because nothing is more memorable and enjoying beside those periods of time^^