After lunch, everyone headed back to the classroom for a nap.
Xu Chuning got up early and was genuinely sleepy. She lay her head down on the desk with her eyes closed and quickly fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was to the sound of the bell signaling the start of the afternoon classes.
Xu Chuning was surprised; she had not expected to sleep for so long during her nap.
Not just her, Deng Xitong was also astonished, "Did you have insomnia last night?"
Xu Chuning: "No."
Deng Xitong: "You slept for quite a while today."
Xu Chuning rubbed her bleary eyes and whispered, "Maybe I’ve just been too tired lately."
"..." Deng Xitong nodded in understanding, "You’ve been working too hard."
Xu Chuning smiled: "It’s just another ten days or so, then we’ll have our sumr vacation."
Speaking of the sumr vacation, Deng Xitong’s eyes lit up, "What are your plans for the sumr? Are you going on a trip?"
After asking this, Deng Xitong realized her mistake, her expression stiffened as she hastily said, "I didn’t an it that way, I was just curious."
Xu Chuning grinned, not taking offense, "It’s fine, my mom and I are probably going back to Ning City."
They would spend a few days every sumr visiting their grandmother in Ning City, and... to inquire about ’Li Xiaonan’s’ situation.
Deng Xitong suddenly understood and asked her, "Is Ning City fun? I’ve never been there."
Xu Chuning: "...You’ve got there."
Even though she was from Ning City, You Shuzhen’s hotown was in a small town below Ning City, and Xu Chuning’s outings in Ning City were mostly around that small town—with few visits to even the county town.
After moving to Jiang City, when she and You Shuzhen returned every year, they would only wander around the town.
The town had no towering skyscrapers nor tourist spots for spending money. But Xu Chuning liked the town a lot; it was very comfortable there, with the wind being gentle and having a hint of dry heat, yet not making you feel overheated when blowing by.
The town had streams and rivers, and during her junior high days, she and other peers from the town or those a few years younger would go to the river to catch fish and shrimp. Sotis they would even chill the waterlons grown by their grandmother in the stream, then take them ho to slice open and eat under the grapevine with their grandmother and mother.
Thinking of life in the town, Xu Chuning’s smile grew more pronounced, "If you want to go, I can only take you up the hills and down the rivers."
Deng Xitong: "That’s fine."
She had grown up in the city, and although her grandparents lived in the countryside, she visited infrequently, so she yearned for the rural town life.
"If I’m free, I’ll co to see you," said Deng Xitong.
Xu Chuning: "Sure."
Shen Sinian, who had been eavesdropping, chid in at just the right mont, "What about ?"
Xu Chuning turned around: "What?"
Shen Sinian: "If you and Aunt You go back to the town for the sumr, can I co too?"
Xu Chuning: "..."
She had forgotten about Shen Sinian.
Mother and son exchanged glances. Xu Chuning thought for a mont, "If we’re going back for half a month, do you want to co for that long?"
It wouldn’t be a problem to bring Shen Sinian along to the town—the house there was a small two-story building they had built themselves with plenty of rooms. But... Shen Sinian was now part of the Shen Family, the son of Younger Uncle Shen Yubai; he should be going back to the Shen Family for the sumr, not accompanying her to the town for half a month.
Shen Sinian: "If Aunt You doesn’t mind, of course I can."
Speechless, Xu Chuning reminded him, "Don’t you need to go back ho?"
"..."
Shen Sinian paused, realizing what Xu Chuning ant, "I—"
Xu Chuning lowered her voice, "You should ask them."
Shen Sinian drawled, "Okay, if they agree, do you agree?"
Xu Chuning: "I’ll ask my mom when I get ho too."
Shen Sinian: "Okay."
As Deng Xitong listened, her head was full of question marks.
She knew that the two were close and that Shen Sinian often visited the small shop where Xu Chuning’s mother worked, and they got along well. She had once suspected whether they liked each other, or whether Shen Sinian had a secret crush on Xu Chuning, but after observing them, the idea was snuffed out.
But now, looking at it, the affection between these two classmates is a bit too much, isn’t it?
What’s more important is that Deng Xitong feels that the way Xu Chuning and Shen Sinian interact doesn’t resemble classmates, nor friends; of course, they’re not lovers either. When these two are together, it gives her the feeling that Xu Chuning is like Shen Sinian’s older sister, and Shen Sinian is like the younger brother.
Their conversations often give her the illusion that they are siblings, or even mother and son.
Just now, that line, "If they agree, then you agree," is sothing Deng Xitong often says when she’s being spoiled with her mom.
Xu Chuning agreed with Shen Sinian and turned away, her gaze coincidentally eting Deng Xitong’s assessing eyes, which held a sowhat complex expression.
Xu Chuning didn’t understand. "Why are you looking at like that?"
Deng Xitong snapped back to reality. "No, I was just daydreaming."
Xu Chuning: "..."
After chatting with Deng Xitong, Xu Chuning suddenly rembered sothing and turned back to remind Shen Sinian, "Shen Sinian."
Shen Sinian: "What?"
"You seem to have forgotten sothing," Xu Chuning said. "Min Jian."
Shen Sinian: "..."
He really had forgotten.
Shen Sinian had long promised Min Jian that he would dedicate his entire sumr vacation to Min Jian’s plans—he would do whatever Min Jian wanted.
Min Jian hadn’t really asked Shen Sinian to do much, but if Shen Sinian wanted to debut, he needed to go through a period of closed training, and sumr was the best opportunity for that.
Thinking of this, Shen Sinian struggled, "I should have a few days of holiday too, right?"
"Shall we talk about that when the ti cos?"
Shen Sinian: "...Alright then."
He sighed deeply, feeling a bit down.
Let’s not ntion the sumr vacation for now, the most pressing matter for Xu Chuning and the others was the end-of-term exams.
The final exams for the second year of high school were scheduled for late June.
By mid-June, the weather in Jiang City had already started to heat up. The short walk to school every morning was quite torturous.
Fortunately, Xu Chuning had long been accustod to it.
On the twenty-fifth, the seating arrangents for the exam were released.
Xu Chuning was still in the first position in the first classroom, and Shen Sinian didn’t do badly either. He hadn’t made it into the first classroom yet but had moved up to the second examination room.
Knowing Shen Sinian’s seat, Yu Gaoyi was very sad. "Bro, during the last exams we were both bottom-feeders. In the blink of an eye, you’ve moved on to the second exam room."
Shen Sinian glanced at him. "I’ll be in the first exam room next ti."
Yu Gaoyi: "I know."
He was quite depressed. "I thought you were just faking it last ti."
He even advised Shen Sinian, saying that one doesn’t get points simply by filling in the exam paper.
What did Shen Sinian tell him at the ti? He said he knew; he did alright on his exams.
Thinking back on it now, Yu Gaoyi felt like he was a joke.
"I underestimated you."
Shen Sinian laughed lightly. "What’s up with you?"
Why so suddenly sentintal?
Yu Gaoyi: "You don’t understand."
He looked aggrieved. "My parents are pressuring ."
Shen Sinian: "...They’re pressuring you now?"
"Yeah," Yu Gaoyi confird.
Shen Sinian was silent for a mont, and couldn’t help saying, "The exams start tomorrow. Isn’t it a bit late for them to be pressuring you now?"
Yu Gaoyi: "..."
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