Skiing plan

The person from earlier was really something, Wu Yingying thought, her face turning red. He could have easily walked away without paying, but instead, he took the initiative to pay the bill. However, this guy was quite annoying—he had even tricked her into giving him her name. What bothered her the most was how he could bring two beautiful women to dinner. She sneered inwardly, thinking, "What does it have to do with me if he's out eating with a couple of beauties?" But every time she thought of his mischievous smile, her heart couldn't help but skip a beat...

"Vei'er, could you get me a bowl of MALADANG?" I handed Chen Wei'er two yuan.

Chen Wei'er smiled, waved her hand, and returned the money to me. "No cilantro, just mushrooms, napa cabbage, tofu skin, and some gluten, right?"

"Hm, how do you remember all that?" I asked, surprised.

Chen Wei'er blushed and quickly changed the subject, "How come you have so much free time today?"

"I came because I missed you," I said.

Upon hearing this, Chen Wei'er's body stiffened, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at me. She said softly, "But... you promised you wouldn't like me."

"I never said I liked you. I only said I missed you," I played dumb.

"Well... that still doesn't work," Chen Wei'er shook her head. "Ugh, you distracted me, and now the hot pot is overcooked!" She quickly pulled the small basket out of the pot, only to find that the vegetables had become dehydrated.

"I'll make you another bowl," she said, furrowing her brows.

"No need, I'll make do. It's a waste to throw it away!" I grabbed the small basket from Chen Wei'er's hands, poured the contents into a bowl, and added some seasoning.

"Has Yang Kaiyuan's family been giving you trouble again?" Chen Wei'er asked, concerned.

"No, I think it will be calm for a while," I replied, continuing to eat. Surprisingly, the overcooked hot pot still tasted good.

"Okay." Chen Wei'er nodded, but didn't know what else to say. She just stared at me, lost in thought.

What was going on with Chen Wei'er? I was sure she had feelings for me, but she always kept a distance, maintaining a will-they-won't-they relationship, while also asking me to admit that I didn't like her. Did she have some hidden reason? There were a lot of people around, but I promised myself that I would find a chance to ask her about it clearly.

The final exams finally arrived as scheduled. In my past life, I always looked forward to the holidays coming quickly, but also wished the exams would be delayed a little longer. Looking back, it seems so contradictory, but people always grow in the midst of contradictions.

I filled out the exam papers, plugging formulas into math, physics, and chemistry problems, and answered the Chinese and English questions with my eyes closed.

"Hey, student, why are you sleeping during the exam? It's only been ten minutes! Even if you don't know anything, at least try to act like you're doing something! And come on, if you don't know the other questions, you could still guess the multiple-choice ones!" The proctor's loud voice startled me as I was about to drift off.

"I've already guessed everything that can be guessed," I muttered, not lifting my head.

"What do you mean by 'you've guessed everything you can guess'? What about the others? Surely you can't have no idea about the fill-in-the-blank questions? Even if you don't know them, at least you could guess some of the answers!" The proctor was so angry, he nearly said, "Even if you don't know, you could still copy a few answers."

"There's nothing left to guess, unless you want to help me look for some?" I stood up and handed the test paper to the proctor, then laid back down to continue my nap.

"Help you look? Hmph! I've never seen such a student! I'm telling you, since you've handed the paper to me, I'm counting it as you've already submitted it!" The proctor shouted angrily when he saw that I still hadn't moved.

"Whatever," I replied nonchalantly. To be honest, I was completely exhausted. Yesterday, after school, Zhao Yanyan told me her parents were out, and I knew exactly what the little girl was thinking. I ended up being tangled up with this little lion all night, until the morning light finally came. When I got to school, Zhao Yanyan was as lively as ever, but I was yawning non-stop. I still couldn't understand why Uncle Zhao always seemed to leave town right before a big exam—was he doing this on purpose?

The proctor was shocked when he took another look at the test paper. It was filled with answers, and even the last bonus question had been solved. Only then did he notice the student's name and realize that this was Liu Lei, the student who, despite rumors of constantly skipping class or sleeping, somehow always managed to top the grade rankings.

The proctor's attitude immediately changed. He softly said to me, "Quick, put on your jacket, don't catch a cold." The school was depending on this student for good results, and who knew—he might even be the future top scorer of the national exams. He certainly couldn't afford to offend me. Students like this were a hot commodity anywhere, and if I decided to transfer to a competing school, it would be a big problem for him.

"Okay." I responded without much concern. This kind of thing happened all the time in my past life—teachers always took extra care of the students who performed well.

As expected, the results of the final exams came out as planned. I scored full marks in math, physics, and chemistry, and a 98 in Chinese, which I was quite satisfied with. However, I was unexpectedly deducted 3 points in English. When Ye Xiaoxiao handed me the test paper, she apologized and explained that the grading teacher didn't recognize a word I used in my essay, which led to the deduction. I was extremely frustrated at the time. How could they deduct points just because the teacher didn't know the word? But Ye Xiaoxiao said that by the time the paper had gotten to her, the grades had already been finalized, so there was no way to change it.

I decided to let it go. Even with the deduction, I still ranked first for the year, with Zhao Yanyan holding a solid second place, but she had made much progress—she was now only about 20 points behind me.

Thanks to the experience of the last time, the moment I mentioned the parent-teacher meeting, my mom and dad immediately started bickering. The one thing they'd both been avoiding had now turned into a competition to see who would go.

In the end, my dad won, arguing that he was better at communicating with teachers, and he took the opportunity.

"Hey, Old Da, have you heard about the winter camp the school is organizing?" On the last day of the semester, I finally saw Guo Qing when I was picking up my report card.

"Winter camp? Who said that?" I asked, completely confused. I didn't recall hearing about any winter camp in my previous life.

"It's been posted everywhere, right on the bulletin board!" Guo Qing replied.

"Oh, I see now, that's why there were so many people crowded around there. So where is the winter camp?" I nodded, finally understanding.

"To Xixing Mountain for skiing!" Guo Qing said. "I heard the scenery there is amazing, and the ski resort was just built this year!"

"Skiing?" That's actually a pretty good idea. In my previous life, I was an amateur member of the university's skiing club and even participated in a few competitions. While I couldn't claim to be a pro, I was definitely able to ski comfortably. After I started working, there were fewer opportunities to ski, sometimes only once a year. Once I became CEO, I didn't touch a snowboard at all. Hearing about it now from Guo Qing, I immediately felt tempted.

"How do we join? Are you going?" I immediately asked.

"Sigh! I'd love to go, but they won't let me!" Guo Qing sighed.

"They won't let you? Is there some kind of requirement to join the winter camp?" I asked, puzzled.

"Isn't there? This winter camp is an event organized by the school to encourage students who perform well in their studies. Only the top ten students of each academic year can attend, and it's completely free! Old Da, you and your wife can go on a free trip this time!" Guo Qing said with a look of envy.

I wondered why I never heard of this event in my past life. In my first-year final exams, I was ranked 8th from the bottom for the entire year, so something like this had nothing to do with me.

"Beep... beep... beep!" I was woken up by the urgent ring of my cellphone. Keeping my phone on 24/7 was a habit I had developed when I was CEO in my previous life. Back then, calls could come in at any time, especially from the board members who were in countries with a time zone opposite to mine. This habit of being instantly alert the moment my phone rang stayed with me.

"Hello, this is Liu Lei…" I said, automatically picking up the phone.

"Huh? What are you saying? Honey, wake up! We agreed to go to school together!" Zhao Yanyan's sweet voice came through the phone.

Then it hit me — today was the day for winter camp registration. I had arranged with Zhao Yanyan to meet at 8 AM downstairs from my apartment.

"Where are you?" I quickly jumped out of bed and began searching for my clothes.

"I'm downstairs at your place, freezing! Okay, I won't talk anymore, my hands are cold. Hurry up and come down!" Zhao Yanyan hung up the phone.

I rushed through washing up and getting dressed, taking less than ten minutes in total. I couldn't help but be grateful for the good habits I had developed during my college years.

When I reached downstairs, I saw Zhao Yanyan standing nearby, blowing on her hands to warm them. As soon as she saw me, she happily jumped into my arms and pouted, "Why are you so slow? My hands are all red from the cold. Warm them up for me." She slipped her hands under my coat.

"This was as fast as I could go! From the time you hung up to when I got downstairs, it's barely been ten minutes," I explained.

"That's impossible! I counted, it took at least half an hour!" Zhao Yanyan teased.

"Alright, alright, it took half an hour then!" I had no way of arguing with her unreasonable logic.

"That's more like it. Let's go, or we'll miss the time!" Zhao Yanyan pulled her hands out from under my coat and shoved them into her down jacket pockets before running to the roadside to hail a cab.

At that time, taxis in Songjiang City were still quite rare, and the models were mostly old ones like the Xiangli or Lada. The Jetta and Santana hadn't yet been added to the list of official taxis. Although there wasn't yet a meter for taxi fares, and traveling across the whole city cost just five yuan, I had to admit that the people driving taxis back in 1995 were actually making quite a lot of money.

"Take me to the Fourth High School!" We finally flagged down a delayed taxi, and once we got in, I told the driver.

"You'd better find another car, buddy. They're repairing the road near Fourth High School, and the road is a mess. I could probably do two trips in the time it takes to get there," the driver said, looking troubled.

Actually, my home wasn't far from Fourth High School. In the past, this would've been a relatively quick and easy ride. But unfortunately, there was construction on a bridge near Dazhi Street, and now none of the taxi drivers wanted to take this route.

I checked the time: it was already 8:10, and school started at 8:30. If I changed cars now, I'd definitely be late, and I might not even find another one.

"I'll pay you double the fare, just get me there quickly," I said to the driver.

"Really? Alright then!" The driver's face lit up as soon as he heard the extra fare. One trip now meant two fares' worth of money. Who wouldn't be happy with that? Even if he rejected the fare, there was no guarantee he'd get two other good rides. Anyone would be happy with that.

"Hold on tight, I'm speeding up!" the driver said, slamming on the gas. The car shot off like a rocket, and I seriously wondered if he had secretly driven F1 before. He had shifted into fourth gear the moment we started.

"We're here!" Just as I was planning to catch a little more sleep, I heard the driver's voice in my ear.

I opened my eyes and looked up. Sure enough, we had already arrived at the entrance of Fourth High School. I pulled 10 yuan from my pocket and handed it to the driver. It was now 8:18. I had to admit, money really has power. What would normally have been a fifteen-minute ride, this guy had completed in just eight minutes.

The school's large bus was already waiting on the playground. When Zhao Yanyan and I got on, we saw that it was already full, with a few people standing. Surprisingly, Chen Wei'er was also there, and there was an empty seat next to her!

Zhao Yanyan gave me a mischievous look, pointed to the seat beside Chen Wei'er, and then ran to the back row to squeeze in with some familiar girls.

"Why aren't you sitting?" I asked one of the standing boys, pointing to the empty seat beside Chen Wei'er.

"Are you a freshman?" the boy asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" I replied, feeling like I was coming across as pretty mature.

"That makes sense! You see, Chen Wei'er is our school's famous 'cold beauty.' She has countless people chasing after her. But very few actually dare to get close to her. No one wants to get rejected, you know? There's this rumor that someone asked her how to become her boyfriend, and guess what she said? She said you have to outperform her academically! Can you believe that? She's never been second in the class," the boy said, sneering.

"Oh? Really?" I didn't realize that about Chen Wei'er. She always seemed so easygoing, though sometimes very intense. I couldn't help but think back to that one night and the embrace we had.

"Excuse me, Miss Chen Wei'er, may I have the honor of sitting next to you?" Just then, a boy who had just gotten on the bus walked up to Chen Wei'er.

"There's nothing to honor or not honor. If you think you're worthy of sitting here, then sit," Chen Wei'er said, glaring at the boy who had just boarded.

The boy, embarrassed, stepped aside. But it seemed like he was used to such rejections. He quickly shrugged off his momentary shame and returned to his usual demeanor.

"Ha, another one who's been turned down! That guy's name is Li Shaojie. He's in the same class as Chen Wei'er and one of her most loyal pursuers. I've heard his family is pretty wealthy. One morning, I saw him driving a Mercedes to school," the boy next to me went on, chattering non-stop.

"How do you know so much?" I asked, surprised. This guy seemed to have potential as a paparazzi.

"Heh, well… actually, I'm also one of Chen Wei'er's admirers!" the boy said, grinning.