1

At the end of June, Xicheng was already in full summer. The sky was cloudless, and the air was filled with an agitating heat. A faint breeze stirred as the leaves danced in the shade.

At 1:30 PM, during the lunch break, Classroom 6 was as noisy as a market. The boys in the back row were playing games, frequently cursing.

A girl sitting in front of them, trying to sleep, was awakened by the noise. Annoyed, she muttered a few words, but the boys quieted down only briefly before starting up again.

Frustrated, the girl grabbed her water cup and went outside, slamming the door behind her.

—Clang!

This loud noise woke most of the class, and someone muttered, "What a nerve! Can't sleep yourself, but you don't want anyone else to either."

Lin Tiao groggily opened her eyes, the heat wrapping around her from all sides. Her back was damp with sweat, and her summer school uniform clung uncomfortably to her skin.

The overhead fan turned slowly, creaking intermittently.

Her deskmate, Meng Xin, noticed she was awake and leaned over, bringing with her a faint orange scent, delicate and pleasant. "Want to go to the snack shop?"

Still groggy, Lin Tiao took a moment to gather herself before wiping her face and replying, "Sure, it's too hot in here."

The two walked out together. After descending the stairs, Meng Xin draped an arm over Lin Tiao's shoulder. "Thankfully, we'll move to the new teaching building for our second year. I feel like I'll melt if I stay in this old building much longer."

The school had two campuses, about the distance of a playground apart.

The old campus was the original teaching area of Shizhong. The five-story building seemed shorter than others of the same height. The walls were covered in green moss and climbing vines, and some of the white paint had peeled away, revealing red bricks underneath.

In contrast, the new campus had been a vocational school that Shizhong acquired and renovated after the vocational school went bankrupt. It featured modern amenities, with the most attractive being the air conditioning. The old campus only had four outdated fans in each classroom due to aging electrical circuits.

As Shizhong grew rapidly and became a provincial model high school, the number of new students increased each year. Eventually, it was decided that first-year students would stay in the old campus while second and third-year students would move to the new campus.

"There's just one week left. We'll make it," Lin Tiao said as she picked out a few bags of chips in the snack shop. She casually asked Meng Xin, "Is this exam going to be arranged by our previous midterm results?"

"Yes," Meng Xin replied while enjoying the cool air from the freezer. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, you only had one subject in the midterms, so you'll probably be in the last exam room this time."

"Doesn't matter," Lin Tiao said nonchalantly. To her, the location of the exam made no difference.

But not everyone felt the same way.

As she finished speaking, a mocking voice came from behind, "Some people's grades aren't great, but their attitude is so big..."

Lin Tiao turned around to see a girl behind her. Before she could say anything, Meng Xin shot back, "Tang Yushi, can you not be so rude? We're all in the same class, is it necessary?"

Tang Yushi and Lin Tiao had always been at odds, a well-known fact in Class 6, but Lin Tiao didn't know what specifically had offended this young lady.

"Who wants to be in the same class as you?" Tang Yushi's eyes briefly scrutinized Lin Tiao with a cold expression. "Hmph."

Lin Tiao remained indifferent and led Meng Xin to the checkout counter. She said to Meng Xin with a straight face, "Didn't your mom teach you not to talk to idiots?"

"…"

A burst of laughter came from nearby. Lin Tiao glanced over to see a few boys standing between two shelves, watching them.

The boy in the middle had a clear, sharp face, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and holding his school uniform with one hand, his blue and white uniform pants rolled up slightly, revealing a bit of his shin.

His gaze was calm and steady as he looked at Lin Tiao.

After a few exchanges of glances, Lin Tiao casually shifted her gaze to the other boys behind him and then quietly turned back. "Boss, I'll pay."

Ignoring Tang Yushi and the previous laughter.

Whatever, it's not like she's embarrassed.

After Lin Tiao and Meng Xin left the snack shop, the boys also came out. Xu Yichuan put his arm around the boy who had just made eye contact with Lin Tiao. "That girl was pretty cool, didn't even use bad words when cursing."

Jiang Yan popped open a can and shrugged. "Move aside."

"…" Xu Yichuan, unable to help himself, rubbed his arm and then put his arm around Song Yuan's shoulder. "Right? I wasn't wrong."

"Pretty cool," Hu Hanghang gave a thumbs-up. "I'm really curious about which class she's in. Have you guys seen her before?"

"No, she doesn't look bad, but I've never seen her."

The group chatted among themselves.

Xu Yichuan finally concluded, "Really cool."

He casually swung his arm and accidentally bumped into Jiang Yan, spilling the brown liquid from his soda can all over him.

"…"

The awkward scene lasted only a second.

Jiang Yan quickly recovered, wiped his face, and, before Xu Yichuan could react, kicked him hard. "Cool my foot. I'll make you pay for being 'cool'!"

Xu Yichuan yelped and ran away. "Bro, I didn't mean to!"

Jiang Yan chased after him, and the group of boys disappeared in the distance.

—

When Lin Tiao and Meng Xin returned to the classroom, Tang Yushi and her friends had already taken their seats, glaring at them.

"…" Lin Tiao felt exasperated, wishing she could glue their eyes shut.

Fortunately, class started soon.

Lin Tiao dozed through three classes, and the last period was with the homeroom teacher. She dared not slack off and paid attention for most of the lesson.

As the class was about to end, the homeroom teacher mentioned the class assignment for the upcoming Monday. "The exam seating arrangement is out. The class monitor will post it at the back of the classroom after class."

He handed the exam schedule to the monitor and continued, "This exam affects your class assignments for next semester. If you want to get into the top class, put in the effort. Even if you don't, still try hard. You never know if you'll get lucky and get in."

The class laughed.

Lin Tiao pulled out her phone. The class monitor had already posted the exam schedule in the class group. She glanced over it and, as expected, found her name in the last few rows, followed by the exam room and seat number.

Multimedia Room 03—indeed, the last exam room.

She sighed, not too concerned, put her phone back in the drawer, and stared out the window at the plastic track, where a group of people were running. The hot wind and the cicadas' songs were part of the summer.

Summer had truly arrived.

—

Soon it was the day of the class assignment exam.

As Lin Tiao left for school in the morning, her mother, Fang Yi Song, handed her an umbrella. "I heard the weather forecast says there will be heavy rain this afternoon. Take this."

Lin Tiao took the umbrella and replied, "Okay, I'm off."

Her father, Lin Yongcheng, reminded her, "Be careful."

"I know!"

Lin Tiao left the neighborhood and, as usual, took the bus to school. Perhaps due to the approaching storm, the air had a hint of damp coolness.

Arriving at school, during morning self-study, the homeroom teacher came to discuss a few things related to the exam. Once morning self-study ended, everyone hurried to their respective exam rooms.

The last exam room was in a multimedia classroom in a nearby building. When Lin Tiao arrived, there weren't many people in the room yet. She found her seat and sat down.

After a while, more people came in and sat down behind and to the right of her.

"Brother Yan, help us out later! It's rare for us to be in the same exam room as you. You've got to help us out!"

Hearing this, Lin Tiao paused her book.

The last exam room was filled with students whose grades weren't the best.

What's the difference in copying?

She didn't pay much attention. The boy's response came, "Copy my foot, write it yourself. Didn't you see what's written on the board?"

Lin Tiao looked up at the blackboard.

—Strict exam rules, no cheating!

"…"

The boys continued to chat until the invigilator entered with the exam papers. "What are you all chattering about! It's an exam, and you're making noise! Be quiet!"

The classroom fell silent immediately. Shocked murmurs erupted in the corner.

"Sh*t! Why is it the black examiner? Isn't he the history teacher from Class Eight?"

"Who knows!"

"With the black examiner here, forget about copying!"

The "black examiner" was the dean of Shizhong, named Li Kun. Because of his tall stature and dark skin, everyone privately called him "Blackie."

Having him as the invigilator meant no cheating.