Chapter 106: The Prize in the Bag (Request Subscription!)

After finishing the math exam and stepping out of the testing hall, Li Heng noticed most people had red, swollen eyes and looked deeply dejected.

A few boys and girls even broke down crying, crouching in silence, muffling their sobs.

The scene was painfully hard to watch.

Yet no one went to comfort them, because the math exam had been too hard—most had performed poorly and fallen short of their expectations; they themselves needed comfort, let alone have the energy to console others.

Down on the second floor, Mai Sui was still waiting by the stairwell.

Li Heng observed her; her expression was relatively calm, at least far better than those around her: “Let’s go find Liu Li, we’ll eat.”

“Okay,” Mai Sui smiled sweetly and followed him downstairs.

When they met Liu Li by the rock garden, her first words were: “Ugh! This year’s math was impossibly hard, but since I found it hard too, everyone else must’ve too—so really, it’s not a loss, just that the average score will be very low.”

Mai Sui felt the same.

So her mindset remained fairly steady; of course, she herself thought she’d done reasonably well.

As usual, after eating, the three sat under a tree in the shade, flipping through their political science textbook—though cramming at the last minute was probably useless.

But for the three of them, what they were reading now wasn’t the book itself—it was a way to stabilize their minds and quickly slip into exam mode.

The afternoon politics exam was much as expected: ordinary, neither outstanding nor disastrous, but she performed at her usual level, and Li Heng was already satisfied.

Liu Yejiang didn’t show up for the politics exam, and that night he didn’t return to Room 215; instead, his parents came to the dorm, silently packed up all his belongings, and left.

The next day, a rumor spread wildly through the school: a boy had gone mentally unstable during the morning math exam and had gone insane—he only improved after being rushed to the hospital, but since he scored zero in both math and politics, his college entrance exam was over.

Many whispered among themselves, debating whether the rumor was true, but most focused their energy on preparing for today’s exam.

The final morning exam was history; the feeling was much like geography and politics—decent.

The afternoon exam was the last one: English.

Due to his past experience co-founding an overseas training institution with Yang Ying, his English had improved greatly—he worked through the test smoothly, not necessarily pulling up his score dramatically, but at least securing his baseline.

After finishing in one continuous flow, he upheld his serious, responsible attitude toward the exam: first he reviewed the entire paper from start to finish, then focused intensely on the questions he felt less confident about.

After this flurry of activity, when he finally looked up, he realized only ten minutes remained.

Phew!

Li Heng exhaled, double-checked his name and exam number, neatly arranged his pen and eraser, then sat up straight, meeting the final bell with solemn ceremony.

He hadn’t expected it—reborn back over half a year ago, he’d just taken another college entrance exam he’d so often dreamed of.

“Dong dong dong dong. Dong dong dong dong.”

With a touch of nostalgia, the final bell rang—the college entrance exam was over!

The college entrance exam was over!

Coming to his senses, Li Heng gathered his exam belongings and joined the noisy crowd exiting the testing hall.

Outside, heavy rain had begun to fall.

In this season, southern rains were called “long-footed rains”—like bitter cold or scorching heat, the dampness and flooding left people dazed.

On the second floor, Li Heng asked Mai Sui: “It’s over—finally, I can ask: how did you do?”

Mai Sui smiled. “Okay.”

Li Heng asked: “Do you have a shot at Peking University?”

His question startled passersby; Mai Sui was already beautiful, and with this remark, dozens of eyes turned toward her.

Mai Sui paused, then said seriously: “I can’t be certain. But my gut tells me—if luck’s on my side, I might just scrape the Peking University cutoff.”

“If I’m unlucky, maybe I’m just a few points short.”

Li Heng gave her a thumbs-up: “Either way, that’s already an excellent result. Come on—we’ll head to the classroom to wait for Song Yu and the others. Today, we’re definitely celebrating.”

Mai Sui happily followed him downstairs.

But at the first floor, she hesitated—facing Li Heng’s expectant gaze, she murmured shyly: “I didn’t bring an umbrella today.”

Li Heng sighed. “With this rain, what are we going to do?”

Mai Sui grinned mischievously: “How about you wait here while I sprint back to the dorm and bring you an umbrella?”

Li Heng was speechless. “Didn’t you get soaked enough a few days ago? I heard you caught a cold and took medicine—do you want to repeat it?”

Hearing his complaint, Mai Sui smiled sweetly, slipped behind him, and fell silent, waiting out the rain beside him.

After a while, watching his back, she suddenly asked: “What about you? Are you sure you’ll get into Peking University?”

Li Heng thought a moment. “I don’t know. Feels just like you—maybe I’ll make it, maybe I won’t.”

Mai Sui listened, then after a pause asked: “If you really do get into Peking University, what will you do about Song Yu and Chen Zijin? Who will you choose?”

Inside, Li Heng thought: I won’t choose either—I want both.

But aloud he said: “With Song Yu’s nature, I can only take it one step at a time.”

As they talked, an unexpected figure appeared from the path ahead.

Song Yu appeared.

She held one umbrella herself, and carried another in her hand.

Seeing her, Li Heng grinned: “You came to pick me up?”

Song Yu gave him a faint smile, then handed him the extra umbrella. “I came to pick up Mai Sui.”

Mai Sui immediately undercut her: “You’ve never picked me up before—always me coming to get you.”

Worse still, even as she scolded Song Yu, she snatched the umbrella from Li Heng’s hand and said half-jokingly:

“The long summer vacation is coming—you’ll see each other less and less. Cherish this moment.”

With that, Mai Sui walked off alone under the umbrella, briskly and without hesitation, leaving Song Yu no chance to maneuver.

Once she was far away, Li Heng asked curiously: “Aren’t you taking the exam at the second testing center? How’d you get back so fast?”

Song Yu replied calmly: “The English exam was easy—I turned in early.”

Li Heng asked: “How early?”

Song Yu said: “Twelve minutes.”

Their eyes met. Li Heng stared into her clear gaze. “I thought you came specially to pick me up—turns out English was just too easy.”

Hearing his self-deprecating tone, Song Yu smiled prettily, glanced around at the crowd, and asked: “Are you walking with me, or should I go get another umbrella to pick you up?”

“Is that even a question for me?” Li Heng immediately stepped under her umbrella and drew closer.

Even though they’d shared an umbrella just days ago, Song Yu still felt uneasy.

First, it was broad daylight.

Second, the school was crowded with people—even though most were students from other schools—it still weighed heavily on her mind.

Seeing her walk ahead without speaking, Li Heng asked: “Should I just run back to the dorm in the rain?”

Song Yu replied calmly: “Fine.”

She said “fine,” then stopped walking, waiting for him to leave.

Li Heng’s face twitched. “You’re really not giving me any face?”

Song Yu smiled knowingly, her eyes seeming to say: Who knows whom better? Do you really think you’d run?

Li Heng changed the subject: “Is Peking University already in your grasp?”

Song Yu gave a soft “Mm.”

Then she asked the same question Mai Sui had: “What about you? Are you sure you’ll get into Peking University?”

Li Heng dodged the question: “If I get into Peking University, will you seriously consider our relationship?”

What relationship?

Both knew exactly.

They gazed at each other in silence for thirty seconds. Seeing he didn’t look away, didn’t flinch, just stared fixedly into her eyes, Song Yu quietly shifted her gaze and kept walking.

The air grew suddenly quiet, as if a mist wrapped around them—intimate on the surface, yet divided by a thin veil into two separate worlds.

The Moral Education Building was far from the girls’ dorm, requiring passage through the faculty cafeteria and the small convenience store, then cutting across a shortcut past the rock garden.

Passing the faculty cafeteria, they ran into Teacher Wang Qi and the English teacher.

Two other teachers from different classes were there too.

The sudden encounter from the narrow path caught the English teacher off guard—yet not entirely.

Not entirely because she’d long known Li Heng’s ambitions.

But surprised because: when had Song Yu grown so close to this guy?

Teacher Wang Qi held a bag of cream ice cream—two cents each. He walked over, circled them without restraint, then asked eagerly: “How did you two do?”

Li Heng, under her gaze, felt uneasy and smiled ingratiatingly: “Teacher, she’s definitely getting into Peking University.”

Teacher Wang Qi asked him: “Can you be her knight in shining armor?”

Li Heng replied shamelessly: “Well, I need her to give me a chance first. If she gives me a chance, I’ll get into Peking University.”

Hearing this, Teacher Wang Qi’s face lit up—he nearly burst into laughter, patted Li Heng’s arm, and turned to Song Yu:

“This kid’s a bit thick-skinned, but he’s a decent guy.”

“Song Yu, for my sake, give him a chance. If you can’t, at least get him into Peking University first—help me out.”

Normally, a homeroom teacher wouldn’t say something so inappropriate.

But now was an exception—Teacher Wang’s head was overflowing with joy.

Besides, he figured: they’d already shared an umbrella. As someone who’d been there, he knew Song Yu might not have accepted Li Heng yet, but she certainly didn’t dislike him—she’d already crossed the line beyond mere friendship.

After all these years, which boy had ever gotten this close to Song Yu?

That’s why Teacher Wang spoke so confidently.

For the first time ever, a teacher had openly played matchmaker. Song Yu felt a slight flush, but remained composed, smiling faintly as she stared at the blue stone slabs beneath her feet, saying nothing.

After a short pause, the homeroom teacher burst into laughter, his spirits soaring. He pulled two ice creams from the bag, handed one to Li Heng, and asked: “You’re not going home tonight, right?”

Li Heng replied: “No, there are no buses today.”

The homeroom teacher said: “Go wait in the classroom. I’ll bring some wine and dishes—we haven’t eaten together in years. Let’s drink tonight.”

At that moment, Wang Run chimed in: “Why go to the classroom? It’s inconvenient there. Come to my place.”

Li Heng asked: “Teacher, can I invite a few people?”

Teacher Wang Qi waved her hand: “You mean Liu Li and the others? Go get them quickly—the more people, the more fun.”

Teacher Wang Qi and the English teacher went to the cafeteria to get food; the latter handed the keys to her home directly to Song Yu: “It’ll take us a while to get the food. Go ahead without us.”

Seeing there was no escape, Song Yu said: “I’ll take you back to the dorm first, then go get Mai Sui and Li Jun.”

“Mm, fine.”

Li Heng instantly understood her meaning—she didn’t want him to run into Xiao Han outside the girls’ dorm, so she decided to drop him off first.

Of course, she wasn’t particularly eager to face Xiao Han like this either.

No reason—she just couldn’t explain why.

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(End of chapter)