A placeholder in love

The boy had initially regarded Chen Zhu with open wariness.

But when he heard Bian Xiaoliu say that Chen Zhu was her honest, easily bullied deskmate from middle school, his gaze suddenly turned "friendly."

He probably figured that a loser like this could never threaten his position.

What had Director Chen done for a living?

Reading people was his bread and butter. One look at the change in the boy's eyes gave him a pretty good idea of what he was thinking.

Chen Zhu's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he thought little of this boy.

We were just quiet, well-behaved kids back in school. That doesn't mean we're destined to spend our whole lives amounting to nothing, all right?

"Chen Zhu, when did you cut your hair? I almost didn't recognize you."

Bian Xiaoliu smiled as she spoke. "I remember how thick and long your hair was in middle school. It looked like a lid sitting on your head."

"Ages ago."

Chen Zhu answered casually, then looked at the boy and asked offhandedly, "Your boyfriend?"

"Um..."

Bian Xiaoliu hesitated, seemingly weighing whether to acknowledge their relationship in public.

The boy immediately grew nervous too. He pretended to look elsewhere, but his ears were pricked up as he waited for her answer.

In the end, she apparently decided that none of the boys taking driving lessons here were particularly outstanding, so telling the truth wouldn't hurt her image.

Bian Xiaoliu finally nodded. "We only made it official yesterday, after the Gaokao ended. His name is Ji Haixing. He's a year ahead of us, and he'll be starting his second year at Guangdong University of Finance and Economics after summer break."

Noticing the hesitation his old middle-school classmate had unwittingly revealed, Chen Zhu nodded without a word.

Some people already had a boyfriend or girlfriend but weren't all that satisfied with their partner. When they were out, especially in front of someone of the opposite sex with particularly outstanding qualities, they instinctively pretended to be single.

It was a classic case of keeping one option around while looking for a better one. The moment someone better appeared, they would make the switch.

This might have been Bian Xiaoliu's first relationship, but that subconscious impulse came from her personality.

Thinking about it that way, Chen Zhu actually felt a little sorry for her boyfriend.

"How did your exams go this year?"

As she spoke, Bian Xiaoliu sat down beside Chen Zhu.

She probably felt tired of standing and saw nothing wrong with sitting beside an old classmate.

But when Ji Haixing saw his girlfriend sitting with another boy, his expression stiffened. Still, he felt that objecting would make him look petty, so he stood to one side and sulked on his own.

Chen Zhu shifted almost imperceptibly, leaving more room between them.

Ji Haixing was most likely just a placeholder until she found someone better. If she truly loved him, Bian Xiaoliu wouldn't have ignored her boyfriend's feelings.

She could easily have called Ji Haixing over to sit between them.

The situation left Chen Zhu too embarrassed to show off by telling the truth. Instead, he answered, "Hopefully I can get into Guangdong University of Finance."

Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and Guangdong University of Finance were both finance-oriented universities in the province. Of course, neither belonged to Project 985 or Project 211.

Judging by previous years' admission cutoffs, though, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics required slightly higher scores.

Hearing that Chen Zhu was aiming for Guangdong University of Finance finally put Bian Xiaoliu's boyfriend completely at ease.

This boy might have had a slight edge over him in height and looks, but he could crush him in everything else, from personality to academic credentials.

"Chen Zhu."

Bian Xiaoliu sounded a little surprised. "Your grades were so good in middle school, and I heard you even got into Zhixin's advanced class. How did you end up at Guangdong University of Finance?"

Chen Zhu smiled unconcernedly. His words sounded both like a reminder and an answer to his old classmate's question. "People change."

With all his wariness gone, Ji Haixing walked over, brimming with superiority. First, he checked whether there was enough space between Chen Zhu and Bian Xiaoliu, and whether they were pressed close together.

Seeing that they were about a foot apart, he relaxed. Then, sounding magnanimous while actually finding fault, he said, "Exactly. Why Guangdong University of Finance? If you'd worked a little harder in high school, you could've come to our university."

"Huh?"

Chen Zhu couldn't understand this sense of superiority and instinctively asked, "Is Guangdong University of Finance and Economics that much better than Guangdong University of Finance?"

That question actually exposed how little Chen Zhu knew about universities outside both national projects. Put simply, he clearly wasn't a student in the "520 to 550 points" bracket.

That was hardly surprising. He had always set his sights on Tsinghua and Peking Universities. Even at his worst, he had never fallen below the average score needed for Project 985 universities.

If Huang Bohan could get into Guangdong University of Technology without answering the final major math problem...

Then Chen Zhu could probably skip the English exam entirely, take only math, physics, chemistry, and Chinese, and still have his pick between Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and Guangdong University of Finance.

To a student with grades like his, what difference could there be between those two universities?

But Chen Zhu's question seemed to offend Ji Haixing. To defend his university's reputation, he couldn't help putting on the air of a senior student who knew everything about finance:

"Economics is a complicated field. Once you've spent a year at university, you'll understand how big the gap between the two schools is. Let me put it this way: almost all the lecturers at our university graduated from SYSU's Lingnan College!"

Perhaps worried that Chen Zhu knew nothing about finance, Ji Haixing deliberately emphasized it again. "You know SYSU's Lingnan College, right? If you don't, go home and look it up on Baidu."

Chen Zhu immediately lost interest.

It was like two people having an argument, only for one of them to suddenly say, "Just because you're beautiful doesn't mean you can insult people however you like!"

How was anyone supposed to keep arguing after that?

Chen Zhu had never intended to steal Ji Haixing's thunder. He simply hadn't expected him to be so competitive.

Ignoring him, Chen Zhu changed the subject and asked Bian Xiaoliu, "What about you? How did your exams go?"

"Me..."

Bian Xiaoliu gave a reserved smile, but quietly raised her voice a little, as if hoping everyone nearby would hear.

"My first choice is SYSU's School of Foreign Languages. In previous years, the cutoff for that program was only a little higher than SYSU's general admission cutoff. This year... I should be fine."

After saying that, Bian Xiaoliu added a touch of "modesty." "I'm only hoping to scrape into SYSU. I wouldn't even dare dream of those flagship programs."

Chen Zhu immediately decided that these two really were made for each other. They ought to stay together forever.

But that probably wasn't going to happen. Once his old classmate got into SYSU and met all those higher-quality boys, wouldn't Ji Haixing end up like Yuan Hua?

-Stop calling me. I don't want XXX to get the wrong idea...

Chen Zhu no longer wanted to chat with them. Just then, the dark-skinned instructor walked over and pointed at him. "Your turn. Start with reversing into a parking bay."

"I'm off to practice."

Chen Zhu said that to Bian Xiaoliu, then nodded at her boyfriend too.

As soon as Chen Zhu left, Ji Haixing hurried over and sat down, afraid someone else would take the seat beside Bian Xiaoliu. Then he complained indignantly, "He's your old middle-school classmate, at least. How can he be so clueless? His parents are migrant workers, right?"

From what Bian Xiaoliu remembered, Chen Zhu's family was reasonably well-off, so she shook her head. "Forget it. He was never good with words."

"Yeah, no point stooping to his level!"

Ji Haixing didn't want to keep discussing some nobody bound for Guangdong University of Finance either. Smiling at Bian Xiaoliu, he said, "I'll come see you off when term starts. I can take a look around SYSU's Lingnan College while I'm there."

"Lingnan College..."

With a wistful, heartfelt air, Ji Haixing said, "What student in Guangdong who wants to study finance or economics doesn't dream of going to Lingnan College?"

By then, Chen Zhu had already started practicing. He hadn't touched a steering wheel in the hundred-plus days since his rebirth, and he had always driven automatics before. Suddenly switching to a manual felt a little awkward.

His movements weren't coordinated as he reversed into the parking bay, leaving him looking rather flustered.

Instead of warning him, Ji Haixing deliberately made trouble. "Keep reversing, keep going, keep going..."

"Oh, come on!"

Bian Xiaoliu gave her boyfriend a shove and chided him, "You know he's too honest to know better. Why are you picking on him?"

"I'm just teasing my junior."

Ji Haixing laughed as he spoke.

After Chen Zhu got out of the car and checked its rear end, he felt a little angry.

If he hadn't kept a careful eye on the distance, following Ji Haixing's instructions really would have sent him crashing into the shelter.

The shelter is one thing, but what if I really were a beginner and panicked, then hit someone?

You found yourself a reasonably pretty girlfriend, but you don't have enough confidence to hold this relationship together, or the guts to insist she listen to you. So you take it out on the boys who talk to her!

I've been sparing your pride this whole time, and this is how you repay me?

Fine, fine, fine.

Then don't blame me for summoning an innocent, 170-centimeter-tall high-school girl.

(If I'd known, I wouldn't have named her Xiaoliu. Damn it, I made myself angry writing this. There's another chapter at 8 p.m.)

(End of chapter)