31

Monday's big recess was as boring and long-winded as usual due to the flag-raising ceremony. This semester, a new segment was added: every Friday, two students from the top twenty in each grade were randomly selected to share their study experiences the following Monday after the flag-raising ceremony.

The school even came up with a ridiculous slogan for this sharing session: "Share a bit of your study experience today, and we'll all get into Tsinghua University tomorrow."

This new segment extended the thirty-five-minute recess to thirty minutes, leaving only five minutes for students to return to their classes.

Because of this, many students would sneak away during the speeches. The lucky ones would make it back to their classes or even have time to stop by the mini-market. The unlucky ones...

"Which class are you guys from? Who's your homeroom teacher? Didn't you hear the rule about not leaving early during the flag-raising ceremony? Stand still and see who dares to leave!"

A serious male voice from the flag-raising platform echoed through the stadium's surround sound system.

A booming voice drowned out the speaker.

Students near the west gate of the stadium turned to look.

Standing at the back of the line, Lin Tiao was also drawn by the commotion. She turned her head but couldn't see what was happening due to their poor position, only hearing faint sounds.

Hu Hanghang and Xu Yichuan, standing next to Lin Tiao, also tried to see what was happening but had no luck.

Hu Hanghang withdrew his gaze and turned to speak to Lin Tiao. "Sister Tiao, what were you and Brother Yan doing last Saturday? Why didn't you come to the dinner? Xu Yichuan rarely treats us, you missed out, I feel sorry for you."

Hearing about the dinner, Tao Jia, standing in front of Lin Tiao, also turned to join the conversation. "Yeah, what were you guys up to last Saturday?"

Lin Tiao looked up at the girl and then saw the boy holding the class sign at the front of the line. She lied with a straight face, "I don't know. Didn't Jiang Yan go to the dinner? I went to the hospital to remove my cast. It ended too late, so I didn't go."

"...huh"

Hu Hanghang couldn't believe it. "Didn't Yan-ge go to the hospital with you? He didn't go?"

"No, I went alone." Lin Tiao remained calm.

Hu Hanghang was incredulous. "So he didn't go to the hospital with you. Where did he go then? Did he secretly play games again?"

Lin Tiao shook her head and pointed to Jiang Yan, who was handing over the class sign and walking towards them. "He's here. You can ask him yourself."

As she finished speaking, Jiang Yan had already arrived, standing between Hu Hanghang and Xu Yichuan, flanked by them.

Hu Hanghang asked, "Bro, be honest, where were you yesterday?"

The morning sun was bright, and the playground had no shade. Jiang Yan squinted against the light, hands in his pockets. He lazily lifted his eyelids and replied, "I went to the hospital with my deskmate."

Xu Yichuan was disappointed. "Bro, be honest. She said she went to the hospital alone. What else do you have to explain?"

Jiang Yan glanced at Lin Tiao, who was watching the show. He raised his hand to touch the mark on his nose that hadn't faded yet. Whatever he was going to say, he changed his mind and said, "Ah, now I remember, I didn't go to the hospital."

Hu Hanghang pointed at him. "I knew it."

Jiang Yan didn't even look at him. "I went to the mental hospital."

Everyone: "..."

Jiang Yan continued under their skeptical gazes, "I ran into a fool on the way, and since it was on the way, I took her back to the hospital."

Everyone: "..."

Lin Tiao: "..."

Damn it.

Although Xu Yichuan and the others didn't really believe him, Jiang Yan's intimidating presence left them no choice but to let it go.

The issue of missing the dinner was thus somewhat unresolved due to Jiang Yan's wild storytelling.

A few days later, the mock exams arrived as scheduled.

After the division into arts and science classes, the mock exams followed the format of the college entrance exam, spanning Thursday and Friday. After the exams, an eight-day break for Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day followed.

So on the exam day, no one felt any nervousness. Everyone was enthusiastically discussing the upcoming eight-day holiday.

"My mom said she's taking me abroad after the exams."

"Abroad? My dad said if I fail again, he's signing me up for a mixed doubles project."

"That's rough, man."

"If I meet my end, I'll give you my fully unlocked game accounts. By the way, did you try the new hero in King's Glory last night?"

"Yeah, I did. This game is so trash now, it's better to switch to PUBG and become a gunfight king."

This lighthearted and cheerful atmosphere made Lin Tiao almost forget it was exam day when she walked into the classroom.

When she got to her seat with her backpack, Jiang Yan wasn't there yet. Neither were Hu Hanghang and Song Yuan, who also sat at the back.

Lin Tiao wasn't concerned since they always arrived just in time. However, Mr. Yu, who was checking attendance, was worried.

After waiting ten minutes without seeing anyone, Mr. Yu approached Lin Tiao's desk and asked, "Your deskmate isn't here yet?"

"No, he's not." Lin Tiao replied, drinking her milk and looking up at Mr. Yu.

Mr. Yu's face showed a mix of worry and anxiety. "Is he coming to take the exam today?"

"He should be." Lin Tiao hadn't heard anything about Jiang Yan skipping the exam, but it wouldn't be unusual for him to skip, as he'd done it before.

Clearly, Mr. Yu didn't see it that way. Jiang Yan's outstanding grades made Mr. Yu believe he could still be reformed; he just hadn't found the right method.

Mr. Yu lingered in the classroom for another ten minutes. Finally, just before the self-study period ended, Jiang Yan arrived.

Jiang Yan looked like he had just woken up, with messy hair and a tired expression. He hadn't even changed clothes, still wearing what he wore when he took Lin Tiao to the bus.

Lin Tiao noticed he had at least changed his shoes before leaving, not stepping out in slippers.

Mr. Yu's face lit up when he saw Jiang Yan and quickly called out, "Jiang Yan!"

Jiang Yan, still half-asleep, squinted as he scanned the classroom. Finally, he spotted Mr. Yu standing next to his seat and lazily greeted him, "Morning, Mr. Yu."

"Morning, Jiang Yan. The whole day's plan starts in the morning." Mr. Yu patted his shoulder. "Do well in the exam today."

Jiang Yan, jolted awake by the pat, rubbed his brow as he sat down and said what Mr. Yu wanted to hear, "Don't worry, I definitely won't skip the exam."

"That's the spirit," Mr. Yu replied. He then glanced at Lin Tiao, who sat nearby. "Lin Tiao."

Lin Tiao immediately responded, "Don't worry, Mr. Yu, I know what you want to say. I'll make sure to keep an eye on Jiang Yan for you."

Mr. Yu thought, It's one thing for you to keep an eye on him, but you can't skip the exam either. However, before he could voice this, the bell rang, and the classroom erupted into chaos as everyone rushed to their assigned exam rooms.

—

The first exam room was in Class 1, which was in a different building and on a different floor than Class 18.

Meng Xin was also in the first exam room. As soon as the bell rang, Lin Tiao grabbed her backpack and left. Jiang Yan barely had time to react before she was out of sight.

The students assigned to the first exam room were the top thirty in the grade, excluding the elite class.

The atmosphere in the first exam room was starkly different from the last exam room. Having taken exams in the last room before, Lin Tiao felt like she had entered a place where talking was forbidden.

She found her seat according to her student number. Meng Xin was seated behind her. Leaning in, they started chatting. "I didn't realize this exam room was so quiet before."

Meng Xin, still painting her nails, didn't look up. "That's because you rarely came here. As someone who's been in this exam room for years, I can tell you this is normal. Talking is the abnormality."

Staring at her nails, Lin Tiao said, "You make me feel like I'm back in the last exam room."

"Shut up." Meng Xin finished painting her last nail and raised her hand to let it dry. "Where's your deskmate? Isn't he in this exam room too?"

To be honest, Meng Xin was a bit skeptical when Lin Tiao told her that Jiang Yan was in their exam room. Had the top student really become so versatile, excelling in both academics and other areas?

Upon hearing Meng Xin's question, Lin Tiao suddenly remembered that she had been so focused on finding Meng Xin that she had completely forgotten about her deskmate. She frowned slightly. "He'll probably come later; he always arrives just in time."

As if on cue, the preparatory bell for the exam rang, and Jiang Yan walked into the classroom just in time.

His seat was the only one still vacant, not far from Lin Tiao, separated by an aisle. It was almost the same spot as last semester's final exam, except this time he was on her left.

The students in the first exam room were different from those in the last exam room; they were all dedicated and diligent. To them, Jiang Yan was just another competitor.

As for the gossip and rumors about the top student, nobody knew or cared to know. They'd rather spend that time doing a couple more multiple-choice questions.

So when the top student walked into the classroom, it didn't cause much of a stir, let alone any astonished reactions. Only a few people glanced at him.

Jiang Yan, not one for dramatics, walked to his seat and sat down.

He had worked the night shift and didn't go to bed until after 3 a.m., so he was still tired. Leaning against the back of his chair, he closed his eyes to rest, becoming an unusual sight in the exam room.

Lin Tiao turned to look at him and noticed that he had a good sense of exam preparedness. He didn't come empty-handed; he brought two pens and some scratch paper.

The second preparatory bell for the exam rang.

Jiang Yan opened his eyes groggily and saw the two pens and a piece of scratch paper that Hu Hanghang had stuffed into his hands before he left.

He flexed his wrist, picked up one of the pens, removed the cap, and scribbled on the paper.

Red ink.

Why was it red?

Jiang Yan picked up the other pen, which was a retractable type, and continued to scribble.

Why wasn't it writing?

Wasn't this a pen?

A pen that doesn't write can't be called a pen.

Jiang Yan, feeling a headache coming on, tossed the two pens and the scratch paper into his drawer. He rubbed his neck and glanced at his small deskmate sitting next to him.

Generally, the invigilator wouldn't arrive until the third preparatory bell, leaving a five-minute gap between the second and third bells.

Lin Tiao took advantage of this five-minute window, extending her hand to Meng Xin, asking her to apply some glittering nail polish.

Meng Xin, who had once sworn in middle school to drop out and become a self-sufficient nail salon owner in the university town, was very skilled. She finished in less than five minutes, applying the polish evenly without smudging the edges.

Lin Tiao blew on her nails to dry them and noticed Jiang Yan's gaze. She raised her hand towards him and asked in a small voice, "Do they look good?"

Her fingers were slender and fair, with neatly rounded nails covered in a layer of transparent pink nail polish sprinkled with subtle glitter.

Jiang Yan shifted his gaze, meeting her eyes. Her bright, watery eyes twinkled with a hint of a smile, captivating him.

For a moment, Jiang Yan was dazed, and the retort he intended to make got stuck in his throat.

He quickly looked away, but before he could speak, Lin Tiao had already retracted her hand, muttering, "Forget it. You wouldn't understand with your straight-guy aesthetics."

The third preparatory bell rang.

The invigilator walked into the classroom with the exam papers. "We will now distribute the exam papers. Please place all related materials on your desks."

Being diligent students, the instructions were casually given, and the papers were soon handed out.

Jiang Yan, ready to write his name, remembered the two pens he had discarded and couldn't help but curse.

Damn.

He pressed his exam paper down on the desk and tapped the boy in front of him on the shoulder, trying to sound less stern, "Hey, can I borrow a pen?"

The boy turned around and gave him a look that clearly said, If you don't bring a pen, what are you doing here?

Jiang Yan met his gaze, and the boy, without a word, handed him a black ink pen.

The exam began quickly.

The first subject was Chinese, and Jiang Yan always lost the most points in this subject. It wasn't that he was bad at it, but his handwriting was so poor that the Chinese teachers felt obliged to deduct points.

The exam room was silent, save for the sound of pens on paper.

The two invigilators, after half an hour of patrolling, sat at the front desk, chatting about everything but the exam.

Jiang Yan found Chinese torturous, writing from start to finish, with an 800-character essay at the end.

He finished the earlier questions and turned to the reading comprehension section.

The title was straightforward: "My Deskmate," with the word "deskmate" in quotes, suggesting it had a deeper meaning.

Upon seeing the title, Jiang Yan paused and instinctively glanced at Lin Tiao, who was also writing at the time and looked up at him.

Their gazes met across the aisle.

The bright light of the exam room seemed to make the dust float in the air. The boy sat in the light, his facial contours softly highlighted, his lips pressed together, looking rather uneasy.

Lin Tiao stared at Jiang Yan for a few seconds, seeming to realize something, and quickly moved her answer sheet inside and pressed her exam paper on top of it.

"Damn," she muttered.