On the way home after evening study hall, Huang Bohan was still hung up on those three "dirty idioms" from earlier.
He was also puzzled by the sudden leap in Chen Zhu's Chinese score.
Chen Zhu certainly couldn't tell him the real reason, so he tossed the question back at him. "Weren't you the one who told me to follow your revision schedule and memorize whatever you memorized? Why are you asking me now?"
"Huh?"
Huang Bohan had been slowly coming to terms with it, but Chen Zhu's answer set him agonizing all over again.
You followed my revision schedule, and you ended up with 136 while I only got 109?
Why does it feel like you're playing me?
"Chen Zhu, can you keep that score up in the Second Mock Exam?"
"If you can, you might actually get into Peking University," Huang Bohan said sourly.
Chen Zhu shook his head. "That's really hard to say."
In truth, Chen Zhu thought Peking University was a long shot. Around 650-660 was probably his limit. Even if that score barely got him into Peking University or Tsinghua, he wouldn't have his pick of the good majors.
Surely he couldn't study archaeology. Its admission cutoff was low, but after graduating, he'd practically be taking a shovel out to the far northwest to dig in mines.
"It'd be better if you didn't go to the capital anyway."
Huang Bohan snorted. "If you stay in Yuecheng, we can see each other more often. Oh, right, what did Ms. Yin want with you earlier?"
"She asked me to speak at the pledge rally..."
Chen Zhu told him about having to go onstage and share his tips on "how to do well in Chinese."
After hearing that, Huang Bohan felt envious again.
At the monthly exam review assemblies in the past, he and Chen Zhu had always been among the students who could only sit in the audience and listen. Still, with his good friend beside him, he hadn't felt much of anything about it.
Occasionally, they could even poke fun at the academic gods' appearance and Mandarin pronunciation.
Now that Chen Zhu was going onstage too, Huang Bohan suddenly had no idea who he could make those comments with.
When Chen Zhu got home, Chen Peisong and Mao Xiaoqin were watching television on the sofa. Seeing him return, his father stood up with a grin. "Let the empress dowager rest today. I'll warm up some milk for our crown prince."
"Oh, stop it!"
Mao Xiaoqin swatted her husband on the back, then went over to get Chen Zhu his slippers. "Are the First Mock Exam scores out?"
"They're out."
Chen Zhu pointed at his backpack. "I brought all the papers home."
"Really?"
Mao Xiaoqin happily carried his backpack over to the sofa. As the mother of a student in his final year of high school, she had invested a great deal of time and energy over the past year. Sometimes, she cared even more about his exam results than Chen Zhu himself did.
After taking out the papers, Dr. Mao went through them one by one, analyzing why he had gotten certain questions wrong:
"145 in math. You definitely knew how to do this fill-in-the-blank question. You were just too careless."
"140 in physics. I heard this paper was pretty difficult."
"141 in chemistry. Don't write so messily next time. Presentation marks matter too."
"92 in English. Chen Zhu, did you do the reading without the comprehension? Why did you only get twenty points?"
"Chinese... huh? Peisong! Peisong!"
Mao Xiaoqin suddenly called out several times.
Chen Peisong hurried over from warming the milk. Assuming Chen Zhu had performed poorly and upset his wife, he began smoothing things over before he even had time to dry his hands:
"Well, a disappointing exam result is just a small test of character. It helps Chen Zhu understand his weaknesses and where he needs to work harder. As parents, we need to give our child more love and support and help him regain his confidence after a setback..."
"Don't bring your work spiel home!"
Mao Xiaoqin cut him off without ceremony. "Our son improved in Chinese. He scored 136."
"Huh?"
Delighted, Chen Peisong took the Chinese paper and looked it over several times before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Old Zhao from the police station just texted me saying his daughter got 642 on the First Mock Exam. He even slipped in a question about how much Chen Zhu scored."
Chief Zhao's station and the subdistrict where Chen Peisong worked were in the same area. Their positions were of comparable rank, their work overlapped, and Zhao also had a daughter in her final year at Provincial Experimental High School, so the two got along very well.
The two families often ate together, and Chen Zhu had met Chief Zhao's daughter. She was short and plump, like a shot-put athlete. At meals, her mother wouldn't even let her have a couple of extra pieces of braised pork.
"Our son's grades aren't a tool for you two to compete with."
Displeased, Mao Xiaoqin urged him back to work. "Hurry up and warm the milk. Chen Zhu's been hungry for ages."
"Rest assured, boss. I'll get right on it!"
Chen Peisong cheerfully returned to the kitchen. Once Chen Zhu had gone to his bedroom too, Mao Xiaoqin picked up her PHS phone with a smile, walked out onto the balcony, and dialed a number:
"Good evening, Sister Zhang. How did your Zihan do on the First Mock Exam? Chen Zhu? He improved just a tiny bit this time. A little over 650..."
The next day was Monday, and Chen Zhu went to school as usual.
With the monthly exams just over, the teachers spent the next two days going through the papers in class. Life seemed to have returned to what the final year of high school was truly like.
Tedious days, too little sleep, a breeze that clung to you, and beautiful sunsets that always appeared unexpectedly during evening study hall.
Li Jianming still came to pester Song Shiwei every day, though he restrained himself a little more. Chen Zhu paid him no attention either.
It wasn't until Saturday evening study hall that their homeroom teacher, Yin Yanqiu, announced that the "pledge and motivational rally and First Mock Exam review assembly" would be held the following afternoon. Deng Qian would lead everyone in taking the pledge as the representative of the graduating class.
Chen Zhu would also go onstage to share his experience studying Chinese.
Only then did a ripple run through the class. Had Chen Zhu already reached the same level as Deng Qian in their homeroom teacher's eyes?
Mou Jiawen turned around and glanced at Chen Zhu's gentle smile, then immediately said to Song Shiwei, "Shiwei, do you think Chen Zhu's been working so hard lately because he's planning to confess to you?"
Song Shiwei had been concentrating on her exercises when her deskmate interrupted her thoughts. She didn't get angry. Reaching up, she tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing a face beautiful enough to captivate anyone.
She didn't seem to quite understand what Mou Jiawen meant and gave her deskmate a puzzled look.
"Look..."
Mou Jiawen counted on her fingers. "Standing up for you was the first thing he did for you. Getting his hair cut for you was his way of changing how you saw him. Improving his grades for you means he now has a shot at going to the same university as you. Even his personality feels less introverted than before."
Song Shiwei hadn't expected anyone to interpret it that way. Could all of Chen Zhu's positive changes really have been because of her?
But she didn't like arguing, so she lowered her head and returned to her work.
"Ah..."
Mou Jiawen didn't feel snubbed. Instead, she propped her chin on her hand and sighed wistfully. "If a boy was willing to change for me, never mind Chen Zhu, I'd even be willing to date Huang Bohan."
Freedom was drawing near, and the feelings these teenage boys and girls had kept buried and suppressed were slowly beginning to thaw.
The following day was Sunday. The school really was pretty obnoxious: to avoid disrupting regular classes, it had scheduled the pledge rally for Sunday afternoon.
The only half day of rest the final-year students got all week.
At around three, the school loudspeakers began calling everyone to assemble on the sports field. More than five hundred final-year students reluctantly headed downstairs, cursing the goddamn school as they went.
The classes lined up in their usual formation for break-time exercises, but without the wide gaps they had to leave during exercises. Students could now make out the faces of those in the neighboring classes.
The first speaker was He Yong, the principal of Zhixin Middle School. He strode up to the microphone, held up his speech printed on A4 paper, and declared in a ringing voice:
"Respected teachers, dear students, as spring returns to the earth and all things awaken, we gather on this vibrant campus for our Gaokao pledge rally and First Mock Exam review assembly..."
At first, the students below found it rather novel, but the long-winded speech soon wore away their interest, and they began chatting among themselves.
Just then, a girl in Class 1 of the graduating year suddenly tapped the shoulder of another girl beside her. "Yu Xian, doesn't that boy in the next class look kind of familiar?"
(There'll be another chapter around eight tonight. Please vote and show your support.)
(End of chapter)
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