Osmanthus and wine aboard once more, yet never like our youthful days

After hearing Chen Zhu's description, Zhao Yuanyuan felt that Wang Changhua didn't sound very interesting. She turned to Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan. "Guys, which universities are you planning to apply to?"

"I haven't decided yet. I'll discuss it with my parents when I get home tonight."

Huang Bohan gave an honest answer.

"As for me..."

Chen Zhu had intended to keep them guessing.

Then Yu Xian spoke from behind him. "Is Director Chen waiting for someone to decide so he can fly off into the sunset with her?"

"Bohan."

Zhao Yuanyuan whispered to Big Huang, "Why does Sis Cos sound so jealous?"

Huang Bohan chuckled. That was something she would have to ask her dear Chen Zhu.

That night, Chen Zhu had shown Yu Xian his QQ friend list to prove he hadn't added Song Shiwei, thinking he had cleared his name.

But the rumors at school were simply outrageous. Whenever Chen Zhu's name came up, someone was bound to ask, "What about Song Shiwei, then?"

On top of that, the exercise breaks had stopped, leaving Chen Zhu and Yu Xian with one fewer chance to see each other every day.

And so, Yu Xian had gotten a little jealous.

She didn't bother hiding it, either. It was written all over her pretty, oval face, and whenever she had a moment, she would come over to tease Chen Zhu.

Chen Zhu wasn't annoyed. Looking at Yu Xian, he said, half joking and half serious, "How about I follow your lead? Whatever major you choose, I'll study it too."

"Sure! Then come to the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts with me!"

Yu Xian raised her head and shot Chen Zhu a sidelong glance with her limpid eyes. She looked imperious and feisty, but beneath it lay charm and a hint of sweetness.

The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts was one of the country's eight major fine arts academies.

Yu Xian, Wu Yu, and the others had already passed its joint art entrance exam. As long as their Gaokao scores met the cutoff, they would receive their admission letters. They didn't even have to worry about choosing universities.

Chen Zhu took a sip of ice-cold Coke. "The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts isn't out of the question. I just need to do a little work at home first."

"What kind of work?"

Huang Bohan asked curiously.

"Work on convincing my parents."

Chen Zhu smiled. "See if they'll let me go back to eleventh grade and switch to art."

"Oh, please."

Huang Bohan and Zhao Yuanyuan could tell he was only saying it to be nice, and both waved him off dismissively.

Only Yu Xian kept staring at Chen Zhu. Pressing her red lips together, she said with a hint of challenge, "If you go back to eleventh grade, I'll go back with you!"

Their eyes met for a while, and Yu Xian's gaze never wavered.

Chen Zhu gave her a gentle smile and let the subject drop.

"Coward."

Yu Xian muttered under her breath, then asked with a pout, "Are your parents planning to send you to university in the capital?"

Chen Zhu had scored 654 on the First Mock Exam, 658 on the Second Mock Exam, and 671 on the Third Mock Exam. If he maintained that level, he could just about meet the cutoff for Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

Tsinghua University and Peking University held a special place in Chinese people's hearts. An ordinary student might disregard the question of majors altogether and get in first, planning to switch majors later.

In reality, switching majors at Tsinghua and Peking Universities was extremely difficult and required a very high GPA. Given Chen Zhu's English proficiency after his rebirth, along with his enthusiasm for studying, that probably wasn't going to happen.

So his first choice remained economics at SYSU's Lingnan College, a major that left him free to start a business or fall back on taking the civil service exam.

But when Yu Xian asked, Chen Zhu deliberately teased her. "That's right. I'm going to the capital."

"Oh."

Yu Xian didn't seem surprised by that answer. She lowered her head and tapped away at the register, ringing up several customers.

Now Chen Zhu was the one who found it strange. He couldn't help asking, "If I go to university in the capital, will you come visit me?"

"Of course... I will!"

Yu Xian tipped her face up and said brightly, "But you'll have to take me out for good food!"

Chen Zhu pursed his lips. "Flights from Yuecheng to the capital are expensive."

"Dummy!"

Yu Xian swept back her long burgundy hair, looking as though he had never seen anything of the world, and said smugly, "I can take the train! It only takes a little over a day. One plane ticket costs as much as several train tickets..."

"Oh, dear."

Beside them, Wu Yu kept sighing. "Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless..."

Once he had teased her enough, Chen Zhu finally turned serious. "I'm planning to go to SYSU. Mostly because these scores aren't a safe bet for Tsinghua or Peking University. And it'll save you all that traveling back and forth."

"Really?"

Yu Xian's head snapped up, her eyes sparkling with astonished delight.

Chen Zhu nodded. "My family has already discussed it, and we asked Teacher Yin for her opinion too. She even lamented that Tsinghua and Peking Universities would be getting one fewer student this year."

"Apart from those two who secured admission through competitions and don't even need to come to school anymore, only Deng Qian, Kang Liangsong, and Song Shiwei in our class can get into Tsinghua or Peking University."

Chen Zhu casually added that last remark.

He already knew Song Shiwei would choose SYSU, but he deliberately phrased it that way to distance himself from her in front of Yu Xian.

Yu Xian didn't even notice that detail. She was too happy that Chen Zhu would also be staying in the province. With a cheerful wave of her little hand, she declared, "Nobody leave tonight! We're going out for hot pot after work!"

Yu Xian was wearing an apron tied at the waist that day. Her wave not only showed off her slender waist, but also made her bust look fuller and more shapely.

No wonder there's a style of lingerie that looks like an apron.

Chen Zhu realized that it really did show off the best features of a woman's figure.

"Chen Zhu, Wang Changhua's coming over with an instrument case on his back."

Just then, Huang Bohan looked out through the glass and couldn't resist joking, "From a distance, it looks like he's carrying an AK."

"What schoolgirl uniform? I wasn't thinking about schoolgirl uniforms..."

Thinking Big Huang had seen through his thoughts, Chen Zhu immediately denied it.

"Who said anything about schoolgirl uniforms?"

Huang Bohan asked, utterly bewildered.

"Oh, nothing. Where's Changhua?"

Chen Zhu shook his head without batting an eye. Looking over, he saw Wang Changhua wearing a trendy short-sleeved top and shorts, sporting oversized sunglasses, and carrying a guitar case on his back.

Even on the crowded pedestrian street, that outfit was enough to turn heads.

What a shame he was born more than a decade too early!

Chen Zhu suddenly felt that Changhua had been born in the wrong era. After 2020, how could a guy with that rapper look possibly struggle to find a girlfriend?

"Xiao Yu, a friend of mine is here. Could you get him a bottle of Coke? Sorry for the trouble."

Chen Zhu turned to Wu Yu.

Unfortunately, this was 2007. Even Wu Yu muttered in disdain the instant she saw Wang Changhua enter, "What a show-off! No wonder he got beaten up."

They had seen the injured Wang Changhua at the police station that night and heard Chen Zhu explain what had happened. In any case, they felt...

Going to the same high school as this guy made them feel as though they must have done badly on their high school entrance exams.

Wang Changhua had no idea what the girls thought of him, but he enjoyed having everyone's attention focused on him. He sat down casually in front of Chen Zhu and deliberately took off his guitar case to rest it on his lap.

"Changhua, why did you bring a guitar..."

Chen Zhu had only just started asking.

Wang Changhua suddenly interrupted. "Chen Zhu, how did you know I can play Jay Chou's 'Common Jasmine Orange,' 'East Wind Breaks,' 'A Thousand Miles Away'..."

As though reciting a menu, he rattled off more than a dozen songs before stopping.

Chen Zhu shook his head, speechless.

After that little display, Wang Changhua felt thoroughly pleased with himself. He pushed up his sunglasses and glanced around, then asked in confusion, "Has the innocent, 170-centimeter high school girl not arrived yet?"

Bang!

Wu Yu set the soda on the counter and glared at Wang Changhua. "I'm 170 centimeters in shoes. Will that do?"

After being put in his place, Wang Changhua obediently took a couple of sips of Coke. But looking at Wu Yu's pretty face, he couldn't resist asking, "Who's this beauty? She looks a little familiar."

"Wu Yu, an art student from senior class one."

Chen Zhu kindly reminded him, "But she's seen you at your most miserable. I suggest you stick to ordinary conversation."

"Come on. Who hasn't had a low point in life?"

Wang Changhua said with complete confidence, "With my talent, dating a few campus beauties once I'm in university will be a piece of cake."

Chen Zhu didn't join in his boasting. Instead, he asked curiously, "Which university are you planning to go to?"

"SYSU..."

"Huh?"

"Next to SYSU, next to South China Normal University... Guangzhou University!"

"Oh, Guangzhou University."

Chen Zhu understood. In 2007, Guangzhou University was still a lousy second-tier university, the sort that even Guangzhou locals didn't want to attend.

But the university later worked hard to improve and gradually became a first-tier institution. Of course, it was still quite far behind the Project 985 and Project 211 universities.

That didn't matter, though. Since Chen Zhu had invited Wang Changhua to the convenience store, it meant he intended to bring him along.

He absolutely couldn't let Changhua, who had taken the blows for him, shed blood, sweat, and tears!

All afternoon, Chen Zhu, Huang Bohan, Zhao Yuanyuan, and Wang Changhua chatted in the convenience store, talking about teachers, classmates, and their hopes for the future...

Yu Xian and Wu Yu came over to join the conversation from time to time.

Although they were all still under pressure from the Gaokao, occasionally frowning or even sighing deeply when it came to mind, chatting with friends really helped them unwind.

Laughter filled the air, bright with youthful enthusiasm.

It felt like a candle called "youth" had been knocked over in the rain, yet kept burning even as it lay drenched.

At seven that evening, the manager came to take over, and Chen Zhu's group went to a nearby hot pot restaurant for dinner.

The red oil in the broth bubbled and steamed, giving off an irresistible aroma. Together, they raised their glasses of orange juice.

"Let's give it our all a month from now! We're closer to our dreams than ever!"

"Let our dreams carry us forward, and make our youth count!"

"Cheers!"

(High school was almost over. An even more exciting university life was coming soon.)

(End of chapter)