The holiday was a pitiful single day. Zhou Li spent it sitting downstairs in the residential complex, reading a book, and that was it.
「May 2nd, Thursday.」
The early sumr morning was shrouded in a thin mist. The sky was not yet bright, and the cool air carried the faint fragrance of locust flowers as Zhou Li made his way to school.
Many students in the sa school uniforms were on the streets, whizzing past on electric scooters or bicycles. So from his class would turn their heads to greet him, and Zhou Li would respond with a smile. As he approached the school gate, his steps deliberately slowed. He peered through the retractable gate before speeding up and heading straight for his classroom.
Sitting at his desk, Zhou Li glanced at his watch. Morning self-study wouldn't begin for another twenty minutes, but two-thirds of the students were already present.
The classroom was filled with noise.
And there was a complex mix of slls.
Zhou Li pulled out a book and placed it on his desk, then began to observe his classmates.
About half of the students had already started studying on their own, while others were still chatting and playing around.
So complained about the holiday being too short.
Others shared where they had gone yesterday or the hidden delicacies they had discovered on certain streets.
Boarders brought rice porridge from the cafeteria to eat in the classroom. They usually gathered in groups of three or five, taking out their communally purchased Fansaoguang chili sauce, braised minced at with cowpeas, mushroom sauce, and other rice-accompanying Divine Artifacts. They ate while laughing and talking, making a simple bowl of porridge seem like a delicacy.
Zhou Li had once specifically bought these things to try but was sowhat disappointed by the taste.
The two girls at the desk in front of him, whose grades weren't very good, were known as the class's Two Golden Flowers. They were very lively early in the morning, chattering noisily.
"Any normal person knows Optimum tastes better, okay!"
"Well, I just like Supre!"
"What kind of taste is that!"
"You're the one with no taste..."
No one ca to talk to Zhou Li. Sitting alone in the last row, he appeared sowhat lonely, so he quickly turned his attention back to his book to avoid looking even more forlorn.
Soon after, the rest of the students gradually arrived.
Zhou Li placed a few test papers on top of his book for the group leader to collect later. Seconds before the bell rang, his deskmate arrived.
A small tuft of cowlick sat down next to Zhou Li, swaying twice with the movent, as if searching for a signal.
"Morning, Zhou Li!"
"Morning," Zhou Li replied, turning his head.
He was sowhat distracted. After looking at his book for a while, he hadn't absorbed much. Sohow, the words of the young man from two days ago kept echoing in his head, surfacing ti and again.
This made him quite annoyed and filled with an inexplicable lancholy.
A day during the final month's sprint for the college entrance examination was incredibly dull. It involved constant problem-solving, completing one test paper after another, and then waiting for the teacher's feedback. Or, during self-study, the teacher would sit at the podium, dealing with the queue of students waiting to ask questions. For students striving hard during this sprint, such days were tough to endure. Yet, if one's mind wandered, the ti flew by.
Zhou Li felt he had wasted the day and was quite guilty by the afternoon. He had wanted to try harder, as every extra point counted.
「The last class of the afternoon.」
Not long after class started, the horoom teacher appeared outside the classroom. She greeted the math teacher, who was playing on his phone, with a beaming smile and walked right in. Before she even reached the podium, her expression quickly darkened.
She placed the form in her hand on the lectern. The math teacher imdiately sidled over, his eyebrows rising in anticipation.
The classroom quieted down. Watching the horoom teacher's expression and the math teacher's obvious 'popcorn-eating' face, so students who felt they hadn't perford well braced themselves for a scolding.
"Several of us teachers worked overti last night to grade the papers, and the results have made furious!"
"What's the matter with all of you?"
"So many of you didn't get the scores you should have!"
"Who will tell why?"
"..."
Ten minutes of lecturing left many students cowering, shrinking their necks and hiding their faces behind the books on their desks.
Then the horoom teacher began to call out nas for criticism. The first few students she called on were berated briefly, but the scoldings grew longer as she went down the list, clearly indicating she had ranked them.
By the end, Mother Zhao's mouth was dry. She looked down at the last na on the list.
It was a na circled in red pen so many tis the paper was torn.
"Li Nan, stand up!"
WHOOSH!
The cowlick beside Zhou Li shot upwards as a tall figure rose.
He couldn't help but turn his head and look up.
Li Nan's hair had been dyed before the start of her third year of high school. Now, only the ends were slightly yellowed and looked a bit fried from lack of care.
The cowlick stopped swaying.
The horoom teacher, Mother Zhao, reprimanded loudly, "Last ti you ranked eighteenth in the class, and this ti thirty-fifth! Explain yourself!"
Li Nan pondered for a mont, not entirely sure herself, "Bad luck?"
"Nonsense! Are you going to rely on luck for the college entrance exams too?"
"I've told you repeatedly to be consistent! When are you ever going to fix this problem?"
"You..."
"You're the only one in the entire class whose scores fluctuate so wildly!"
The tirade lasted at least five minutes, as long as the ti spent on the previous ten students combined. But Li Nan didn't seem to care; she just stared intently at Mother Zhao's face, wondering what delicious food awaited her that night.
When Mother Zhao's throat grew dry and she paused to swallow, Li Nan thoughtfully reminded her, "Mother Zhao, class is about to end..."
"End class, my foot! You still want class to end? Do you even want to go to university?"
"I do."
"With grades like these, what university are you going to get into?!"
"Oh."
"'Oh' again!" Mother Zhao glared at Li Nan's unfazed expression—like a dead pig impervious to boiling water—and was so angered she barely resisted storming over, grabbing the girl by the ear, and parading her around the classroom three tis.
Another round of rhythmic scolding followed.
Li Nan listened obediently, her heart already set on going ho.
The math teacher beside them had even lost interest in his novel, grinning like an idiot.
Before they knew it, the dismissal bell rang. Amidst Mother Zhao's fury, Li Nan quietly reminded her, "Mother Zhao, it's my dad's birthday today. I need to get ho early for dinner, so..."
"You still want to go ho and eat! How are you going to explain these results to your parents? Are you going to tell your dad at the dinner table that you ranked thirty-fifth? How many students are in this class, huh? How will you explain it to him?"
"I'll just tell my mom I ranked fifteenth."
PFFT! The math teacher couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You... you'll be the death of !" Mother Zhao was furious.
"Take care of your health, Mother Zhao!"
"You'll be the death of soday!" Mother Zhao glared at her. "I told you to learn from Zhou Li—look how consistent he is! Do you even know what you're doing all day? Don't you realize there's only a month left until the college entrance exams? Do I have to move you to a 'special seat' for you to finally focus?"
Li Nan finally showed a look of sha. She had sat in that seat before; it was quite embarrassing. Not only could she not find anyone to talk to during class, but it was also very dusty.
Of course, with only a month left, Mother Zhao probably wouldn't actually move her to a special seat. After lecturing for so long, she suspected Li Nan hadn't absorbed a single word. When she noticed the math teacher putting away his phone and sneaking off to eat, she too waved her hand dismissively and stord out of the classroom, fuming.
The students quickly sward out.
If they didn't hurry, their only option for food would be ordering takeout through the 'doggy door'.
Zhou Li didn't want to jostle with others, so he slowed his pace.
Li Nan, however, was in high spirits. One might have thought she'd just been praised, the way she humd a self-composed tune: "Going ho to eat, going ho to eat..."
Before leaving, she even called out to Zhou Li, "I'm off!"
Zhou Li nodded, "Goodbye, Brother Nan."
Then he also picked up his bowl and left the classroom. One headed to the cafeteria, the other straight to the bicycle parking area.
For day students in their third year, once they entered the school in the morning, they could only leave after the evening self-study session. The security guards at the school gate would check IDs. Nearing the college entrance exams, this scrutiny beca even stricter. This was to prevent students with a craving for snacks from succumbing to the temptations of the many food stalls outside the school gate. At this critical ti, even a simple case of food poisoning could have serious repercussions.
But Brother Nan had his own ways.
The cafeteria food was passable. Of course, it couldn't compare to Aunt Jiang's cooking, but it was nutritious enough. After dinner, Zhou Li noticed 'that person' aimlessly wandering on the sports field. Not wanting to attract his attention, Zhou Li remained in the cafeteria until the person left.
Dusk descended, a sight too beautiful for words.
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