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Chi Ning raised an eyebrow and understood.

This guy didn't like the look of him. He'd come specifically to make trouble for him.

"Oh." Chi Ning nodded, the soft, fluffy hair on his head swaying with the motion. He lifted his lashes. "Go ahead and look."

The dean choked on his words.

Chi Ning reminded him, "The exams start this afternoon and end the afternoon after next. The results come out on Friday, and the rankings will be posted on the bulletin board after school. Remember to take a look then."

Wang Quan nearly burst out laughing.

That was the good thing about Chi Ning. He said whatever was on his mind. When he was well-behaved, he was genuinely well-behaved; when he was irritating, he was genuinely irritating too.

Having hit a soft nail, the dean gave a cold snort and started to leave with his hands behind his back. When he turned around, though, he saw that half of Class 18 was standing on the track, all of them staring this way. It was a rather eerie sight.

He took a step back and barked, "What are you looking at?"

Qin Heng turned to leave, but glanced at Chi Ning from the corner of his eye. He saw that Chi Ning had no intention of explaining himself and was currently talking to a bespectacled kid with his head tilted to one side.

They were standing so close that, from this angle, their heads practically looked like they were pressed together.

Suddenly, Qin Heng didn't want to leave anymore. His jaw tightened as he ground his back teeth.

If he'd known this would happen, then when Chi Ning had called to ask him that day, even if he hadn't directly laid everything bare, he should have at least coaxed him a little.

He should have first... first... damn it.

"Brother Qin, skipping class to play ball today?" Zhang Qiuwen asked.

Qin Heng tugged at his collar and said, word by word, "Play my ass."

Zhang Qiuwen: ...

Wasn't I just trying to help distract you because you were in a bad mood?

"If not basketball, then what?"

Qin Heng said, "Study."

Zhang Qiuwen: Huh?

His face was full of sudden realization. "What?"

But Qin Heng didn't answer him again. He turned and walked away.

He used to think studying was useless. It was better to learn a trade, better to know how to work; that earned money faster. At most, studying gave you a nicer reputation.

He didn't care about reputation.

But things were different now. He didn't want people's first thought, when he and Chi Ning were together in the future, to be—how could Chi Ning possibly like someone like him?

He had to get into college. He had to stand openly and properly at Chi Ning's side. The paparazzi wouldn't think Chi Ning had gone bad just because Chi Ning had accepted his gold medal.

The placement exams began that afternoon.

Chi Ning took some time to flip through the review sections of the senior-year textbooks. He couldn't remember some of the knowledge points clearly, but going over them like this at least gave him a general idea.

Before the exam began, Wang Quan handed out the exam slips. "The seating for this exam is arranged according to last semester's final rankings. The seat numbers have already been pasted on the corners of the desks, so check carefully before you sit down."

The students from Class 1 who had stayed at school to study were all preparing to fight for the college entrance examination. Chi Ning, a guaranteed-admission student, seemed somewhat out of place among them. When the papers were handed out, even the proctor glanced at Chi Ning twice.

Before senior year, although Chi Ning had excellent grades, he hadn't had much presence at school. Now, however, he had become a prominent figure.

The rumors in those tabloids, accompanied by photos, had everyone itching with curiosity. Even the teachers had privately discussed that if Chi Ning could maintain his grades, all the rumors would collapse on their own.

Maintaining first place in the grade at No. 1 High School was no easy feat. If Chi Ning really was as the tabloids described, then his grades would definitely plummet.

The proctor's gaze kept drifting toward Chi Ning. He saw the end of Chi Ning's fountain pen gently swaying as he smoothly wrote line after line of numbers.

An hour later, Chi Ning put down his pen.

Looking at this 2001 placement test paper, he couldn't help feeling a little sentimental.

He hadn't thought so when he was studying before, but looking at it now, the exam papers from 2001 were really easy...

In the future, college entrance exam students practically had to finish learning advanced mathematics ahead of time if they wanted perfect scores.

And now?

Checking it once would be disrespectful to his doctoral degree.

He might as well hand it in early.

The proctor: ?

Looking at the paper Chi Ning handed over, he said in a low voice, "The school has arranged dinner. It's in the box outside. Take it and go eat somewhere farther away in a while, so the smell doesn't tempt everyone else. There's another exam at six thirty after you finish."

Chi Ning hummed, then quietly took his lunchbox and headed for the bamboo grove.

The school did care about its students. Today's lunchbox was neatly packed with steamed pork with preserved vegetables. Thin slices of pork belly covered the rice, and even the rice had soaked up plenty of gravy.

He sat on the steps beside the bamboo grove and took two bites, but kept feeling like someone was watching him. When he turned his head, he met Qin Heng's eyes.

With half a piece of meat in his mouth, Chi Ning looked at the lights in the classroom across from him. Only then did he realize that the bamboo grove was behind Class 18. Few people came here, but it was very close to Qin Heng's classroom.

He turned his back and hid the lunchbox away as if guarding his food.

Qin Heng: ...

What was that supposed to mean? It wasn't as if he was going to snatch his meat.

He laughed despite himself and silently told himself, Look at you, acting so cheap. He already said your relationship was ordinary, so what are you still looking at?

Even as Qin Heng warned himself, he swiftly pulled the classroom curtains shut.

After thinking about it, though, he still couldn't bear to close them completely. He left a narrow gap through which he could see Chi Ning taking small bites of his food.

Even the irritation from being unable to write the exam paper eased considerably.

When the bell rang for papers to be collected, Qin Heng picked up his lunchbox. As if possessed, he turned down Zhang Qiuwen's suggestion that they eat together and headed for the bamboo grove instead.

The scent of steamed pork with preserved vegetables still lingered in the grove, but Chi Ning was already gone.

Qin Heng sat where Chi Ning had sat and took a bite of rice, asking himself, Does it really have to be him?

He took another bite of meat. The little wolf in his heart howled, [Why are you so hung up on saving face? If you care about face, what do you need a wife for!]

That made sense.

Qin Heng convinced himself. For the first time, he seriously didn't skip class. He sat properly in the evening study classroom and finished an entire Chinese test paper.

He knew that few of the answers he wrote were correct, but he still wrote every word carefully. After enduring three days of exams, he felt noticeably more haggard. Exams were much harder than practicing basketball and winning gold medals.

In contrast, Chi Ning handed in his papers early every day, then went to the bamboo grove to eat.

Friday.

The grading section of the senior-year faculty office.

Wang Quan stared blankly at the science comprehensive test paper in his hands. He recognized Chi Ning's handwriting.

But this score... Chi Ning should have been better at chemistry and biology than physics, so how had he...

"What's wrong, Teacher Wang?" The dean poked his head in through the doorway, eagerly coming to watch a joke unfold. "Look at that expression. What, did Chi Ning do badly? See, didn't I say so?"

Wang Quan glanced at him and put on a show of sighing. "Yeah, this score has me a little confused. No matter how I calculate it, it doesn't seem quite right."

The dean leaned in closer. "Let me see?"

The red check marks on the paper were neat and uniform, stabbing painfully at the eyes.

Wang Quan could barely suppress the smile on his face. "Ahem, no matter how I calculate it, there aren't any points deducted. Looks like I can only reluctantly give him a 300."

The dean: ?

"You're messing with me?"

Wang Quan rubbed his shiny bald head. "No, I'm not."

Several young teachers in the senior-year group couldn't hold it in and snorted with laughter.

Teacher Wang was strangely humorous and adorable.

Who would have thought that in their lifetimes, they would see the words "white lotus" embodied in a middle-aged male teacher? No wonder the students all liked the nagging Teacher Wang.

The dean didn't believe it. He snatched Chi Ning's paper away and stared at it as if trying to bore a hole through it.

Unfortunately, he couldn't understand a single question on it. Even if he wanted to find fault, he had no idea where to start.

The young and pretty English teacher held a stack of A4 sheets and said, "Director, once the science comprehensive scores are ranked, the overall rankings will be out. Would you like to come post them on the bulletin board with us?"

The dean's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What was Chi Ning's total score?"

"Ahem." The English teacher was quite trendy; after work, she loved reading trashy web novels. She blew on her fingernails and waved a hand in feigned regret. "He did lose points. Three points off on the Chinese composition. Sigh... such a pity he didn't get full marks."

The young teachers in the senior-year group burst into muffled laughter again. When they saw the dean's pig-slaughtering expression, they immediately began coughing repeatedly, drinking water, reading books, and pretending to be extremely busy.

The English teacher checked her watch and smoothed her hair. "Oh dear, the students are about to get out of class. If the director isn't helping, I'll be leaving first."

In her high heels, carrying the A4 sheets, she looked as delighted as though the entire senior-year teaching group had won a battle—despite the fact that it was Chi Ning who had scored highly and dealt the dean a humiliating blow.

That dean was a well-connected fathead, and they had been sick of looking at him for a long time!

In previous years, after the rankings were posted, everyone would go look at them in batches. But this time, everyone cared even more about how many points Chi Ning had scored and what rank he had gotten.

Some were afraid Chi Ning would do badly and be bullied.

Others were eager to watch Chi Ning make a fool of himself, hoping he would fall from his pedestal.

Li Qiuhe squeezed to the very front and saw Chi Ning's name the moment he looked up.

First place!

"I told you God Chi would definitely be first!" He grabbed the arm of the person beside him, happier than if he had done well himself. "Chi Ning is first, did you see that? The paparazzi were just making things up! He has nothing to do with that Qin Heng!"

Ye Xinran looked at the arm Li Qiuhe had seized tightly. For once, he didn't get angry. "You're right."

He looked at the name ranked second. The three characters of Ye Xinran's name were pressed tightly against Chi Ning's, and it put him in a good mood.

He used to be unhappy because Chi Ning was always first, but not anymore. It would be best if Chi Ning stayed first forever, with their names ranked together.

He pulled his arm free and quietly walked to the bottom. Qin Heng wasn't last, but he wasn't far from it either.

He gave a soft laugh and said, "Boring."

The crowd beside him murmured among themselves. "Didn't the papers say Chi Ning spent the whole summer having fun? He could still get first?"

"What did you expect?"

"Then it really looks like he has nothing to do with Qin Heng, huh? Though that makes sense. Qin Heng is such a delinquent..."