Chapter 7: I

Song Yao put aside her strange thoughts and ate quietly, not dwelling on them further; no matter what, she wouldn’t date before graduating university, and what Xu Qingzhou intended meant nothing to her.

Ding Jiahui sat down with two bowls of soup and glanced at Xu Qingzhou, who was eating intently across from her.

None of the three spoke.

“Xu Qingzhou, you’re not chasing Zhang Yuxin anymore?” After eating a while, Ding Jiahui couldn’t hold back and began probing his intentions.

“Mm, not anymore,” Xu Qingzhou replied, nodding as he scooped rice.

Ding Jiahui paused her chopsticks, puzzled: “Why? Didn’t you like her?”

Xu Qingzhou quickly finished the remaining food, set down his chopsticks, and wiped his mouth. “Ding classmate, high school is for studying hard and becoming a useful person—not for dating.”

He recalled a profound saying: One cannot possess both youth and the awareness of youth—unless one has been reborn.

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At 6:15, the self-study period had no teacher; after the bell rang, everyone did their own thing.

“Didn’t think so,” Song Yao said calmly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and continuing to eat.

“So handsome,” Ding Jiahui murmured, watching Xu Qingzhou’s departing figure, then suddenly snapped back, turning to Song Yao: “Wait, that’s not right—I didn’t say I wanted to date!”

Seeing her best friend finally catch on, Song Yao shook her head; with a mind that always lagged half a beat, how could this girl think herself a romance expert?

“Just now I passed the cleaning zone and ran into Guo Zi. He grabbed me and asked if you were trying to court Song Yao. Don’t worry—I already explained for you: your true love is Zhang Yuxin.” Guo Zi was a chatterbox around acquaintances.

!.

“I just asked her to borrow my meal card because mine had no balance.”

Xu Qingzhou ignored this loudmouth; the guy couldn’t even muster a word around girls.

Xu Qingzhou raised an eyebrow: “Even you know?”

At the cafeteria intersection, he found it strange—he’d run into Song Yao and her sister again.

“Huh?” Guo Zi blinked, scratching his head, confused. “You really don’t like her anymore? I thought you were just trying to make her jealous—playing hard to get.”

Ding Jiahui moped for a while, then asked: “What were you two talking about just now?”

Xu Qingzhou pulled out his biology textbook, planning to review the basic concepts. But as more students filled the classroom, he noticed people sneaking glances at him—especially Zhang Yuxin, who looked at him with the mournful gaze of someone dumped.

“But… don’t you think Xu Qingzhou has changed a lot? He even looks more handsome than before.”

There were only five people in the classroom, chatting loudly, but he clearly felt the air grow still for two seconds the moment he stepped in.

Xu Qingzhou had no intention of tutoring Guo Zi; sixty days was too short to raise scores significantly. As long as he kept his composure, he’d be fine.

“Nothing much. Just said I’d use Xu Qingzhou’s card for dinner tomorrow,” Song Yao replied coolly, her peripheral vision catching the boy already swallowed by the crowd, vanished.

Before, Guo Zi was ten points lower than him—624—and got into Beijing University of Foreign Economics and Trade. “You really need to read less romantic novels. You’ll turn stupid,” Song Yao thought her friend was beyond saving.

He carried his tray to the collection point.

Liu Ying, as usual, walked around the classroom once before stepping to the front to speak:

“That’s a great idea—I never thought of it,” Guo Zi slapped his thigh, already memorizing this pickup tactic, planning to try it in university.

“Wait, Fatty, correct me: knowledge is my true love. Zhang Yuxin is in the past—don’t mention her to me.”

Xu Qingzhou followed his memory to the recharge window and added 100 yuan to his card.

“Only two months until the college entrance exam. Once you’re in university, you can stay up all night and no one will care.”

Ding Jiahui shot up, staring at Song Yao in shock, excited: “Yao Yao, Xu Qingzhou absolutely, absolutely likes you! Borrowing the meal card is just a tactic—hmph, you can’t fool my keen eyes.”

Xu Qingzhou nodded and headed toward the classroom. He’d never noticed before how fatefully connected he and Song Yao were—meeting three times in one day.

Xu Qingzhou nodded and said: “I only want to study now. Also, Fatty, the second mock exam is coming soon—you should focus.”

He instantly understood what was going on, but didn’t care; in the tense high school life, everyone survived on gossip—no need to take it seriously.

From the campus loudspeakers, Xu Wei’s “Blue Lotus” played. Students in uniforms wandered in small groups, bustling yet peaceful—a scene of quiet serenity.

Hearing “second mock exam,” Guo Zi’s gossip-driven enthusiasm instantly died. He slumped and pulled out his math error notebook.

Oh, those two girls had been sitting at the table beside them.

“I’m done. See you.”

Just before six, Guo Zi plopped down and blurted: “Zhouzi, did you have dinner with Song Yao?”

Our class is the rocket class of Chengnan High School—even students like me and Guo Zi, who rank in the middle, score above the key university cutoff.

Though he couldn’t recall the exact date, he knew the second mock exam was around late March to mid-April.

“Damn, I really am! Lost opportunity—I should’ve just eaten here.”

Song Yao remained cold; Ding Jiahui, however, watched him with wary suspicion.

“Two boarding students from Class 2 sneaked out last night to go online and got caught by police. Our homeroom teacher got a call at midnight to pick them up. Luckily, none of our classmates did anything like that—if they had, even with the college entrance exam coming, they’d be sent home for reflection.”

Guo Zi shrank back, feeling guilty—thankfully he was a day student.

After mentioning the internet, Liu Ying turned to the second mock exam.

“One more thing: next Tuesday is the second mock exam, a citywide simulation with the exact same procedures as the college entrance exam—admission tickets, security checks, and a citywide ranking. I hope everyone takes it seriously and prepares well to face it in peak condition.”

“Use these next few days to identify and fix your weak points.”

(End of Chapter)