Chapter 82: A Sunny Morning

Lu Yan He's bit of popularity came fast and went fast.

By Friday morning, on his way to school, not many people were casting surprised looks at him because they recognized him.

A sunny morning.

Lu Yan He slept comfortably for six and a half hours and felt much more relaxed.

He stood at the bus stop eating a steamed bun.

English news was playing in his headphones.

Thanks to this era of advanced technology, he had all sorts of ways to improve his exam preparation efficiency.

Officer Qiu's car stopped in front of him again.

The window rolled down.

"Get in." This time, Qiu Ling didn't even ask; she told him directly to get in.

Lu Yan He smiled pleasantly.

"Officer Qiu, why are you so early too?"

It was only six-thirty in the morning.

Qiu Ling said, "I have things to do."

She drove fast, and Lu Yan He felt a bit nervous.

"Quite a few people have been paying attention to you these past few days, right?" Qiu Ling asked with a smile.

"A lot of people," Lu Yan He said. "It even slightly saved my dying career; I went to record a show yesterday."

"Really?" Qiu Ling was pleasantly surprised. "Not bad. What show? I'll go watch it later."

"A web variety show, 'Small Song Gathering' on the Arctic Light platform."

"What show is that? I haven't heard of it."

"The show isn't very popular."

Qiu Ling said, "Your commendation certificate and banner have arrived. We plan to go to your school next Monday to give them to you."

"Huh? School? Why go to school?" Lu Yan He said. "Can't you just bring them to me after you get off work? We live so close anyway."

"Do you think this is dropping by to give an apple?" Qiu Ling rolled her eyes. "We have to hold an award ceremony for you in front of your school representatives; it's very formal."

"Ah..." There's such a process? Lu Yan He inexplicably didn't want to face the embarrassment of "social death."

Being awarded a "Righteous and Courageous" banner in front of everyone, and having to solemnly accept the banner and take photos with others—just thinking about it made his toes curl.

"What's wrong? You don't want to?"

"It feels very... awkward."

"Awkward?" Qiu Ling looked at him in shock and said, "You're an artist, what are you afraid of being awkward about? You face so many people usually."

"Those people are strangers. In school, everyone is someone I know. Can these be the same?" Lu Yan He immediately retorted.

Qiu Ling still didn't understand.

"This is a commendation, an honor, a good thing. What's awkward about it?"

"You don't understand the world of us young people."

A murderous look instantly radiated from Qiu Ling's eyes.

"What do you mean? Are you saying I'm old?"

The murderous look on Qiu Ling's face permeated the narrow space of the car. Lu Yan He's survival instinct exploded; he stopped courting death and immediately said, "You're only two or three years older than us, what's old about that! If you put on a school uniform and walked into our school, the security guard definitely wouldn't stop you."

Only then did Qiu Ling satisfiedly withdraw her knife-like gaze.

"Anyway, stop talking nonsense. We'll be there next Monday," she said. "Just stay at school."

Lu Yan He nodded dejectedly: "Got it."

Qiu Ling dropped Lu Yan He off at the gate of the Thirteenth Middle School.

"Many thanks, Officer Qiu. I'm off."

"Mm."

Lu Yan He got out of the car and waved at Qiu Ling.

Qiu Ling nodded her chin and left.

Cool.

Lu Yan He turned and walked toward the school.

A gust of wind blew, and it was already a bit hot.

In September weather, as long as it doesn't rain, compared to August, it's just that the ground can't roast an egg anymore; it's still hot, and the sun starts burning people before seven in the morning.

He walked quickly into the teaching building and found Xu Zijun right in front of him.

Lu Yan He had gradually gotten to know quite a few classmates in the class, but Xu Zijun, whom he had come into contact with earliest, had not had much contact since.

She was indeed too silent and rarely spoke in class, unlike Linyu, who, although also studying very hard, was always surrounded by other people, and everyone liked her.

When Xu Zijun finished climbing one floor and turned to go up, Lu Yan He saw Xu Zijun with her head down, her eyes red, and she even raised her hand to wipe her eyes.

Is this... crying?

Lu Yan He was stunned.

Only then did Xu Zijun notice that Lu Yan He had appeared behind her at some point.

Her footsteps paused, she looked at Lu Yan He at a loss, and then she quickened her pace and ran away, seemingly very unwilling to let him see her crying.

What happened to her?

Lu Yan He arrived at the classroom but didn't see Xu Zijun; she probably went to the restroom.

She didn't want him to see, and she definitely didn't want other classmates in the class to see either.

Lu Yan He scratched his head.

"Linyu, have you decided?" As soon as he sat down, he heard Chen Yi's voice.

Chen Yi was also one of the students with the best grades in their class; in terms of comprehensive ranking, she was only behind Linyu.

Linyu asked, "Decided what?"

Chen Yi said, "Which school are you preparing to participate in the independent enrollment for?"

Linyu shook her head: "I haven't decided yet."

Chen Yi sighed, looking very conflicted as well. "The main thing is that this year, several universities that can get recommendation qualifications require signing an enrollment agreement."

"Yeah." Linyu also showed a helpless smile. "This is also where I'm still hesitating. The schools that can get recommendation qualifications are not our target universities, but if you want to get an independent enrollment quota in the end, you must sign an enrollment agreement. This is very depressing."

Chen Yi said, "I discussed it with my parents, and they feel that my performance is too unstable, so they want me to just play it safe."

Chen Yi's fluctuations were indeed relatively large; when she did well, she could get into the top three in the grade, and when she failed, she could slide to around twentieth in the grade.

Of course, these were all the troubles of top students.

Lu Yan He just thought of Xu Zijun's appearance just now after hearing their conversation.

Was she sad because she didn't get the independent enrollment recommendation quota for her favorite university?

At this time, Xu Zijun came in.

Her eyes still looked a bit red, but she was mostly back to normal.

She even carefully glanced at Lu Yan He's direction.

Lu Yan He pretended not to notice anything and just nodded slightly at her.

Today's morning study time was English.

Mr. Chen entered the classroom two minutes early and found a few students to hand out the reading comprehension questions they had tested last night.

He walked directly to Lu Yan He first and said, "You've made obvious progress lately."

"Huh? Really?" Lu Yan He looked at Mr. Chen, feeling a bit flattered.

Did he accidentally expose his true strength?

That's not right; he clearly remembered that he had deliberately answered half of the questions wrong last night.

Mr. Chen said, "Although half of the answers are still wrong, I see that you marked the original text, and you basically found every key point. The reason you answered wrong is because you don't know those words."

Lu Yan He was stunned and came back to his senses.

Careless! ===== CHAPTER 83 =====