Chapter 35

It was still hot.

Qin Heng let out a breath, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Have a snack. You're too skinny. That won't do."

Chi Ning didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "My weight is still healthy. I'm not especially thin."

That was what he said, but he still took a big bite of the flatbread.

It was so delicious, mmm.

He loved this kind of old-fashioned fried flatbread. Back when his brother was still acting, Chi Yang would bring it to him from Taiguan District.

Now that he no longer had to act, Chi Yang stopped going to a place as dangerous as Taiguan District.

He had not eaten this kind of flatbread in a long time.

"If there were shrimp inside, that'd be even better," Chi Ning said indistinctly. "Fried shrimp."

"Tomorrow." Qin Heng stood across from Chi Ning, watching the boy's cheeks puffed full of food. Only then did some of the chill left by the nightmare fade away.

It was fine. In this life, he would take good care of him. There was no way he would let him get that thin again.

The thought made Qin Heng freeze for a moment.

Why did these bizarre thoughts always pop up, as if there really had been a previous life?

Maybe there really had been...

Then the heavens had treated him damn well.

The person he had failed to win over in his previous life could still be pursued in this one!

They were made for each other! The Matchmaker had tied them together with a stainless-steel red thread.

Qin Heng's voice drifted upward. "Should we buy a fish tank for the house? Put it by the entryway. It can block the view of your lab so paparazzi won't be able to photograph it."

Chi Ning gave a vague hum. "You like keeping fish?"

He had never seen Qin Heng have such an old-man hobby in his previous life.

Qin Heng said, "Didn't you want shrimp? Keep them alive. Makes them easier to kill."

Chi Ning: ...

Poor shrimp. Delicious flatbread.

"Keep them, then. Whatever you want."

Sorry, little shrimps, but you really were delicious.

Crocodile tears slid from the corners of his mouth.

After finishing his food, Chi Ning crumpled up the remaining greaseproof paper and sighed. "Qin Heng, your cooking is really delicious. To thank you, I can prepare a gift for you."

Qin Heng's heart stirred. "What gift?"

Chi Ning smiled faintly. "I'll give it to you after the monthly exams."

Qin Heng thought, His smile is way too sweet. His lips look like they have glossy lip balm on them—so soft.

Chapter 35

Exams, exams, exams—the teacher's magic weapon.

Scores, scores, scores—the student's lifeblood.

Given another chance at life, Chi Ning had completely let himself go.

He wanted to just scribble something down, but a 2001 senior-year exam paper could be answered at a glance. There was no room to wing it. His brain did not even need to work before his hand had already finished writing.

A laid-back life was so easy.

His life of slacking off had been forced into success.

The last day of the monthly exams.

After finishing their final subject, the top students of Class One gathered together and sighed.

"This test was a little easy. I saw God Chi hand his in after forty minutes."

"True. I handed mine in at sixty minutes. What about you?"

"I was earlier than you. Fifty-something minutes, I think."

The person who had not handed in his paper until sixty minutes after the test began was immediately dealt a heavy blow.

While students from the other classes stared at them in shock, the group smacked their lips and discussed, "When we fill out the exam survey after the monthly exams, let's write 'far too easy' under difficulty."

The other students: ?

No, did being in the competition class mean they could just ignore the lives of ordinary mortals?

It was not like anyone from their competition class would even take the college entrance exam. Hurry up and all get recommended admission already. Stop being such an eyesore here.

Damn it.

God Chi was considerate of his classmates. He would never say something like writing "far too easy" on the survey.

They were both competition classes, so why was the difference so huge?

The very different Chi Ning was eating the last dinner sponsored by the school in the little bamboo grove.

Qin Heng had somehow learned a method and even brought a small box of food. In the evening, he only had to pour boiling water over the outside of the metal box, and the meat inside would become fragrant and steaming hot.

With what Qin Heng brought and the food ordered from school, there were somehow five dishes and a soup. It was no less lavish than an outside stir-fry restaurant.

Chi Ning touched his lower belly.

Fortunately, he had recently followed his teacher's advice and practiced combat. Otherwise, his abs would have been fed away.

The power of modern cuisine was actually this terrifying.

Qin Heng hinted very subtly, "The exams are over."

Where was my gift?

Chi Ning said, "Oh. I'll give it to you at home."

Qin Heng's Adam's apple bobbed, his expression darkening.

What kind of gift had to be given at home?

"We're not going to Tea River Lounge to study today?"

Chi Ning said, "No."

Dinner had been too filling. If he went to Tea River Lounge for dessert afterward, he was afraid he would puff up like Aunt Marge from Harry Potter.

"I need to use the lab." Chi Ning paused, then spoke with interest. "And I can take a look at the shrimp you're keeping."

How nice.

They could be eaten and admired.

Quite tasteful.

Qin Heng had assumed using the lab would be like taking a laboratory class at school, and that Chi Ning would go into the study to write a report after twenty or thirty minutes.

But in reality, the moment Chi Ning entered, he went straight for the workbench.

Qin Heng finished two sets of practice papers upstairs. More than two hours passed, yet Chi Ning still had not mentioned the gift.

Curious beyond measure, he secretly glanced down from the staircase.

Chi Ning wore a white coat that did not fit him very well, with protective goggles on his face. He was completely focused at the clean bench, staring without blinking. He looked even more professional than the scientists on television.

If Qin Heng went over to interrupt him now, never mind finding out what the gift was—even whether he could get it was uncertain.

It was better to know when to back off.

Qin Heng sat back down at his desk and continued doing problems.

Recently, more people in Class Eighteen had started studying. Their levels varied wildly, giving the teachers terrible headaches during class.

But Qin Heng discovered that after just finishing remedial middle-school lessons, he was actually the most academically capable person in Class Eighteen.

Zhang Qiuwen, who had been forced to take remedial lessons by the suit-wearing thug of a teacher, ranked second.

To accommodate students who wanted to improve, Class Eighteen's teachers activated targeted poverty alleviation mode.

Every day in class, they were like rural officials conducting inspections, walking among the students with their hands behind their backs as they taught. They gave everyone tailored help, saving whoever they could.

Qin Heng lowered his eyes.

Most of the classmates who had suddenly wanted to try studying had taken Chi Ning's words from the start of term to heart. A smaller number had seen Qin Heng working hard.

It was as if everyone had suddenly woken up and realized that the easiest opportunity to turn their lives around was right in front of them.

With one outstretched hand, Chi Ning had pushed open a tiny crack in the heavy door of understanding blocking Class Eighteen's path.

—Creak.

Holding a stack of A4 paper and carrying his backpack, Chi Ning pushed open the study door.

This was killing him. In his previous life, he could work nonstop for three months without feeling tired. In this life, he had not even worked for three hours before getting sleepy.

He yawned and muttered wearily, "My bones have gotten lazy from resting."

Chi Ning set the data on the empty desk, curled up on the sofa in the corner, and squinted at Qin Heng. "Any problems you can't do? I'll teach you now."

Qin Heng said, "Yes."

Chi Ning patted the spot beside him. "Come here."

Very quickly, the space beside him sank as the little beanbag chair dented.

Chi Ning took the problem and glanced at it. Most of the things Qin Heng could not do involved knowledge points he had not learned yet. "It's normal not to know this."

Sleepy and indistinct, he said, "I'll explain this knowledge point. Once I'm done, you'll know everything... First, let the unknown be x, then..."

After rattling it all off, Chi Ning turned to check Qin Heng's expression. "Did you understand?"

Qin Heng gave a low hum.

"You're learning much faster than I expected. At this pace, we can even do a round of review after finishing everything."

Tilting his head, Chi Ning leaned against the back of the sofa and murmured, "Maybe you can even make it into A University in the capital. Your physical fitness is so good—you could study national defense."

When Chi Ning was sleepy, his voice became especially soft. At that moment, Qin Heng's goal of applying to Gangnan University's finance program suffered an unprecedented blow. He even felt that if Chi Ning used that voice to ask him for anything, he would agree.

Chi Ning gave a brief "ah," forced his eyes open wide, and pulled out a carefully wrapped box from his backpack. "Your gift. The food was so good, and I didn't know how to thank you. I made this myself."

Qin Heng took it. The box was wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with an exquisite ribbon. At first glance, it looked extremely expensive.

Made by hand—what could it be?

"Can I open it?"

"Of course." Chi Ning closed his eyes. "Go ahead. You can use it right away."

Qin Heng untied the ribbon and carefully opened the paper box. Inside was a stack of neatly piled A4 sheets.

The first sheet—Summary of High School Mathematics Unit One Knowledge Points and Practice Problems for Related Question Types.

The second sheet—High School Mathematics Unit Two...

Every page had been handwritten. The knowledge points listed page numbers, and the questions also seemed to have been written by Chi Ning himself.

Qin Heng: ...

It really had been handmade, and it really was thoughtful. He smiled helplessly and gently rubbed the thin sheets between his fingers.

Just as Chi Ning was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt warmth by his ear. A current of breath followed Qin Heng's voice into his ear canal. "Do you also want to attend the same university as me? Otherwise, you wouldn't have spent time writing this for me."

Qin Heng paused, then asked in a coaxing tone, "Is that it?"

Chi Ning hummed. "Yes."

Qin Heng went still. He had truly wanted to hear Chi Ning admit it, but once Chi Ning seriously did, he began to feel embarrassed instead.

When Chi Ning got no response, he opened his eyes and looked at Qin Heng. "Hm?"

Qin Heng thought, How could Chi Ning be this adorable? Even a single syllable hummed through his nose was like a little hook, scratching at his heart.

He stammered, "I-I'll get into Gangnan University."

Chi Ning lifted his chin. "Of course you will. Who do you think is teaching you?"