Who Are You Actually Planning to Pursue?

After the Appointment with Prestigious Universities event ended, fewer than ten days remained until the Second Mock Exam.

The importance of the Second Mock Exam went without saying. Its questions were close to the difficulty of the Gaokao, whereas the third mock exam would be somewhat easier, focusing on basic knowledge.

There was another reason, of course. By the third mock exam, it would already be May, with only a month left until the actual Gaokao. An overly difficult paper could undermine the students' confidence.

During this period, the pressure of revision left the students physically exhausted and mentally drained.

Their subject teachers weren't having an easy time either. They went over the questions students had gotten wrong again and again, afraid of missing some crucial point.

Their homeroom teacher, Yin Yanqiu, had visibly grown thinner and more sallow. Her voice kept going hoarse, recovering, then going hoarse again.

Huang Bohan often stared blankly at the sparrows outside the window.

Chen Zhu asked him why.

He said he wished he could fly out of the school like a sparrow. Being here was just too exhausting.

Chen Zhu laughed when he heard that. Flying out of school only meant entering the working world. Was that any less exhausting?

He might as well study hard and gild his wings with excellent Gaokao results. Only then could he fly higher and farther, and take in more magnificent scenery.

But Huang Bohan wasn't in any mood to listen. He couldn't even muster the energy to go downstairs for the break-time exercises.

Whenever the stirring Athletes' March played, Huang Bohan muttered, "Hurry up and be May. Hurry up and be May..."

Once May arrived, the seniors would stop doing break-time exercises. Only the first- and second-year students would go downstairs, while the seniors could simply look down at them from the corridors.

Everyone would be delighted then, as though they'd gotten a great bargain, never realizing that they would never have another chance to do those exercises again.

"Come on, let's go. Yu Xian will say hi to you in a minute."

Chen Zhu grabbed any excuse he could think of to coax the half-dead Huang Bohan along.

"I'm the freebie in a buy-one-get-one deal, okay?"

Huang Bohan grumbled, "When Yu Xian says hi to you, she looks at you. When she says hi to me, she still looks at you. You really think I haven't noticed...?"

Chen Zhu burst out laughing. The guy wasn't stupid after all. How had that woman managed to lead him around by the nose back then?

He should run into her once they started university, right? Back then, even he hadn't seen through her true nature. Suddenly, he was rather looking forward to that woman's award-winning performance.

For all his complaining, Huang Bohan didn't have the nerve to stay in the classroom. After dragging his feet for another two minutes, he obediently went downstairs.

As they passed the line for Senior Class 1, they ran into Yu Xian again.

For a while, Yu Xian had greeted Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan whenever they came down for exercises. It had caused a bit of a stir in their year, but with the Second Mock Exam approaching, nobody had the energy for that sort of gossip anymore.

Yu Xian seemed to have realized this too, and gradually switched to giving them a faint smile instead.

Especially when she spotted Chen Zhu, the corners of her eyes curved into happy little crescents.

Chen Zhu nodded politely in return. Once he was back in his own class's line, he suddenly remembered that today was April 3. The Qingming Festival was only two days away.

The way I think now really feels out of place.

Chen Zhu thought this as he went through the break-time exercises.

Perhaps he subconsciously felt that he couldn't remember even a few short strings of Arabic numerals.

Yet there was no way he would forget Qi Zheng's habit of collecting books.

He could even recall Cao Jingjun casually mentioning over lunch yesterday that he didn't like alcohol and only liked black tea.

And then there was Yu Xian. Her mother had passed away. If he made a point of offering a few words of sympathy before the Qingming Festival, would that make her a little happier?

Chen Zhu felt that his way of thinking was often steeped in the nuances of social relationships, missing some of the simplicity of a high school senior.

But there didn't seem to be much he could do about it. He had been a serving deputy division-level official before being reborn. His knowledge could blend together, but his way of thinking really wasn't something he could change.

Now he could only hope September would come soon. Once he entered university, that sort of thinking might actually be an advantage in its miniature version of society.

After the exercises ended, Yu Xian and Wu Yu were still standing there, discussing whether to go to the restroom or the school shop, when Chen Zhu walked over with a smile.

Huang Bohan followed behind like a bodyguard. He was waiting to go to the restroom with Chen Zhu, since the two of them were "toilet buddies."

Wu Yu spotted Chen Zhu first and immediately greeted him with a smile. "Director Chen is here!"

"What do you mean, Director Chen?"

Chen Zhu asked curiously.

"Because you're only seventeen or eighteen, but you always talk and act like an old man."

Yu Xian leaned her head out beside Wu Yu, cast Chen Zhu a sidelong glance, and picked up the explanation with a smile. "So we gave you the nickname Director Chen."

Actually, Yu Xian had wanted to nickname Chen Zhu "Doggy Chen," because he had once been willing to be a dog just to kiss her. But that was far too private and embarrassing, and letting it get out would damage his reputation.

She only intended to tease him about it when the two of them were alone.

"You're giving me a nickname?"

Chen Zhu made a fitting counterattack. "Then I'll call you Sis Cos from now on. Your name sounds like the Chinese word for cosine, after all."

"Sis Cos?"

Wu Yu repeated it quietly twice, then turned to Yu Xian with sudden delight. "I think that nickname sounds nice! Pretty stylish too. Director Chen, I'm Wu Yu. You can also call me Xiao Yu."

Wu Yu formally introduced herself to Chen Zhu and told him her nickname as well.

Making friends in high school was that simple: first your full name, then your pet name or nickname.

Beside them, Huang Bohan blinked, then suddenly said, "You guys carry on. I've got something to do, so I'll head off."

"Don't go."

Chen Zhu grabbed Huang Bohan. "Nobody here knows your nickname is Big Huang anyway."

"Heh heh heh..."

Yu Xian and Wu Yu both covered their mouths and laughed. Huang Bohan's face went red, and there was no telling how many hundreds of times he cursed Chen Zhu inwardly.

"Did you need something, Director Chen?"

Yu Xian tilted her delicate, oval face up toward Chen Zhu and asked.

"Well..."

Chen Zhu let his smile fade and said solemnly, "The Qingming Festival is in a couple of days. I wanted to remind you not to be too upset. You should take care of yourself while remembering those who've passed on."

Yu Xian paused. "The Second Mock Exam is almost here, and you still remembered that I'd be visiting her grave?"

Of course I remembered, Chen Zhu thought. Our traditional culture teaches us Chinese to respect those who've passed on. One year before the Qingming Festival, I even accompanied my superior up the mountain to pay respects to his parents.

A superior wouldn't necessarily consider a subordinate who joined him for a Mid-Autumn reunion dinner one of his trusted people.

But he would definitely consider a subordinate who accompanied him to pay respects to his parents one of his trusted people.

"If we didn't still have classes on Qingming, I could even go with you."

Chen Zhu instinctively added a polite offer.

Normally, nobody would ask him to skip class to accompany them.

But the moment he said it, Chen Zhu realized something was wrong. Yu Xian's eyes had suddenly lit up.

"It won't interfere!"

Yu Xian blurted out, "We can go really early! You won't miss morning study!"

Just as I thought...

I should've offered a few words of sympathy and left, Chen Zhu thought.

You couldn't announce, "I'll get the bill," in front of someone like Yu Xian. She really would let you pay it.

But looking at Yu Xian's expectant gaze, and seeing that even Wu Yu seemed moved, Chen Zhu sighed inwardly and said, "It's fine if I'm a little late for morning study. I'll wait downstairs at your place at five."

After they returned to the classroom, Huang Bohan, who had witnessed the whole thing, said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "If things keep developing like this between you and Yu Xian, it's only a matter of time before you become a couple."

"You'll make it official by freshman year at the latest."

Big Huang patted Chen Zhu on the shoulder, both envious and encouraging. "That's Yu Xian we're talking about. She's gorgeous and has a great figure. Dating a school beauty who studies art would definitely give you bragging rights in your university dorm."

"We're just friends."

Chen Zhu stressed, "Accompanying a friend to visit her mother's grave is perfectly normal, isn't it?"

"You're seriously using that line on me...?"

Huang Bohan was about to keep arguing.

Then they suddenly heard someone arguing near the front. It sounded like Mou Jiawen.

She was saying indignantly to a boy, "Luo Feng, what's your problem? Why did you only give me 103 on my physics paper? You took off two points just because I didn't put a period?"

"If you didn't put a period, how was I supposed to know you'd finished answering the question?"

The boy named Luo Feng argued back with a red face, sneaking an almost imperceptible glance at Song Shiwei.

With something entertaining to watch, Huang Bohan and Chen Zhu dropped their discussion of whether Yu Xian was his girlfriend.

The reason for the argument was simple. The class had swapped papers to mark, and Mou Jiawen felt someone had deliberately marked her down again.

She was furious, because this wasn't the first or second time.

"You think I don't know what you're up to?"

Mou Jiawen spoke loudly, addressing both Luo Feng and the boys in the classroom. "You couldn't get Weiwei's paper, so you deliberately marked mine down, hoping to get her attention..."

Hearing this, Chen Zhu couldn't help feeling a pang of recognition. "I know that one all too well. I was short in middle school, but my deskmate was really pretty. Guys who wanted to pursue her would always fucking come over and pick on me."

"You think that's bad?"

Huang Bohan rolled his eyes at Chen Zhu. "When I was in first grade, the girl in front of me pooped her pants. Just because she was so cute, those guys said I was actually the one who'd pooped his pants..."

"Hahaha!"

Chen Zhu laughed without a shred of sympathy.

Perhaps all those repeated injustices had finally pushed the blameless Mou Jiawen past her breaking point. Mid-rant, she suddenly crumpled up her paper and threw it on the floor, her voice cracking slightly as she said:

"Do you really think this is fun? Let me tell you, all of you put together don't mean as much to Weiwei as Chen Zhu alone. They've already added each other on QQ!"

The moment those words left her mouth,

the Class 11 classroom fell silent.

The smile on Chen Zhu's face froze.

Huang Bohan looked even more confused. "You added Song Shiwei on QQ? Weren't you planning to date Yu Xian? Who are you actually planning to pursue?"

(Three thousand words-please vote! Another chapter is coming at eight tonight.)

(End of chapter)