Chapter 3

"The whole hallway is noisy, just our class. I heard the noise from the stairwell. There are only 60 days left until the college entrance exam; look at the other senior classes, is any of them this noisy, huh? Have you all forgotten your own names?"

Liu Ying walked around the classroom, finished reciting her 'tightening spell', and then continued: "I understand that everyone is under a lot of pressure, but please remember, pressure is also motivation. When you dream back to this day by chance many years from now, you will realize that these were the days you worked hardest for yourself on the path of life."

Blocking out the homeroom teacher's chicken soup, Xu Qingzhou took out his science comprehensive test paper and slowly browsed through it.

As shown in the figure, a sufficiently long horizontal conveyor belt is always moving to the left at a speed of v = 3 m/s. There is a small wooden box 'a' with a mass of m = 2 kg on the conveyor belt. The coefficient of kinetic friction between 'a' and the conveyor belt is μ = 0.3. At the beginning, 'a' and the conveyor belt remain relatively stationary.

Δt = 3s, there are two smooth objects with a mass of m = 1 kg... Xu Qingzhou calculated the answer in his mind after one glance.

Respectively requiring the use of the Law of Conservation of Energy and Newton's Second Law, v1 = 3 m/s, s = 7.5 m, t0 = 0.5s. After reading through the whole thing, he only saw two words: simple.

Such a simple question, and I actually got it wrong?

However, are the two women opposite looking at me? The one on the left, the girl is very pretty, seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a ponytail common among high school girls. She wears an ordinary school uniform but exudes an ultimate youthful beauty. She is just standing there, and everything around her seems to be eclipsed.

Read! {

Xu Qingzhou continued to shake his head. What he wants to do most right now is go back and see his mom and dad.

Hearing these remarks, Xu Qingzhou was not surprised that this guy had become a 'licker'.

That was rash; this body has never smoked before.

The other one... Ding... Ding Jiahui.

"Get lost, you."

"I want to go home."

Xu Qingzhou walked slowly, crossed two streets, stopped in front of a newsstand, and fished out the 20 yuan in his pocket.

He was almost choked to death by the first puff.

The classroom was very quiet. Xu Qingzhou spent two periods in a daze, his mood complex, worried about gains and losses. One moment he regretted not having had time to enjoy his honors, and the next he felt fate was quite kind to him, giving him a chance to start over.

Xu Qingzhou felt a moment of trance.

This smoking habit must be broken!

Xu Qingzhou stuffed a freshman Chinese textbook into his bag and walked out of the classroom amidst Guo Ziyang's chatter.

"Fine, I'll go myself. Remember to call me 'Silver Daddy' tomorrow."

It felt like a max-level veteran returning to the newbie village.

The matter of rebirth was too mysterious. Looking at the familiar yet slightly strange streets, and thinking about seeing his young parents in a while, that indescribable emotion surged up again.

9:35 PM, the school bell rang. At Nancheng Middle School, boarding students had to stay for the last evening self-study session, while day students could go home.

That movement—one look and you could tell he was an old smoker.

"Besides, Zhang Yuxin only said she didn't want to date in high school; there's still university."

Since it's already lit, I'll finish smoking it first.

"Phew~ cough cough~"

Xu Qingzhou was stunned for a moment, looked down at his school uniform, and immediately understood, smiling casually: "It's for my dad."

The two parted ways at the intersection.

The dictation is only worth six points; it's fine if I don't get it, though it's better if I do.

At this time, the roads and surrounding residential areas hadn't been renovated yet; there were old, black walls everywhere, but the roadside was very clean, without the shared bikes that were once seen everywhere.

It wasn't until the third period that he recovered. Strictly speaking, he wasn't good at biology, but using his existing knowledge to solve the things on the test paper was truly like using an anti-aircraft gun to shoot a mosquito.

Xu Qingzhou searched his mind for a long time and matched the name.

Song Yao? He vaguely remembered that Song Yao had good grades back then and was admitted to Jingda University with the second-highest science score in the school.

Xu Qingzhou exhaled a puff of smoke, his gaze passing through the gradually dissipating wisps, observing the passing students, in twos and threes, chatting and laughing.

Song Yao glanced at Xu Qingzhou indifferently, her eyes full of disgust, and pulled Ding Jiahui away.

If word of the smoking reached the old couple's ears, I might get a 'double-gender beating'.

Not to mention anything else, I must cherish this body in this lifetime.

Two streets away from Wutong Residential Area, he stopped in front of a trash can, intending to finish smoking before leaving to avoid running into acquaintances.

"Boss, give me a pack of Red Pagoda Mountain cigarettes and a lighter." The old man stared at Xu Qingzhou and didn't move.

He planned to smoke a cigarette first to calm down.

No frequent urination, urgency, or incomplete emptying, no back pain or blurry vision—a young body is just great.

Xu Qingzhou looked at the Red Pagoda Mountain cigarettes held between his fingers and frowned slightly.

In his past life, every physics problem would involve complex and massive calculations. The laws described by quantum mechanics act on particles in the microscopic world, and the appearance of chemical reactions is the macroscopic result of the behavior of many particles.

"I used to think he was an honest person; I didn't expect Xu Qingzhou to be this kind of person." Ding Jiahui started firing like a machine gun: "I heard he failed his confession. Boys are just immature, wallowing in self-pity, thinking smoking is cool?"

Passing students saw Xu Qingzhou smoking in his school uniform and mostly avoided him subconsciously. In the perception of middle school students, only hoodlums smoke.

Perhaps because Xu Qingzhou looked honest and didn't seem like he was acting, the old man nodded and handed the cigarettes and lighter to Xu Qingzhou.

"Qingzhou, it's just a failed confession. What's most important when chasing a girl? Persistence! A rejection doesn't mean she doesn't like you; maybe it's just because the timing wasn't right."

!.

Noisy all the way, after walking out of the school gate, this guy finally thought of the main business, chuckling, "Qingzhou, internet cafe? With our combined strength, we can definitely reach Silver rank tonight!"

Just like this sentence: "And if the accumulation of water is not deep, _______________."

Being young is great; the future is full of infinite hope.

In the old man's stunned gaze, Xu Qingzhou took the cigarettes and lighter, skillfully tore open the pack, and casually pulled one out to hang on his lips.

The only thing that was a bit challenging was Chinese; his Chinese was average, hovering around 90 points.

Xu Qingzhou also tested the bottom line of his Chinese level. The reading comprehension questions weren't difficult—he had thirty-some years of experience, after all—but he was a total noob at dictation.

"Balance work and rest. I'll tell the auntie later that you're studying at school," Guo Ziyang tempted. He noticed his best friend had been absent-minded all night. The best way to treat a broken heart, of course, is to dominate the Canyon of Kings.

No matter what, for Xu Qingzhou, this was a completely 'easy mode' game.

The three evening periods were all Chinese classes, letting them do problems themselves.

"Such a boy, he deserves to be single!"

Song Yao didn't speak, or rather, she wasn't interested. For the three years of high school, she and Xu Qingzhou had no intersection. When they met at school, the other party would always keep his head down, so they couldn't even be considered nodding acquaintances.

Honest person? Hearing Ding Jiahui's words, Xu Qingzhou laughed dumbly. Compared to the label of 'scumbag', 'honest person' sounded more like an insult.

He took a few puffs. Perhaps because he only wanted to satisfy the craving, he felt it was tasteless when the cigarette burned to a third, so he pinched it out, threw it into the trash can, and walked toward Wutong Residential Area.

(End of chapter)