Chapter 102: Countdown (Happy New Year)

Countdown to college entrance exam: (3) days.

"Reporting from the scene, this Saturday, the '08 batch of 'National Unified Examination for Admissions to Regular Higher Education Institutions' will begin. It is time for students across the country to harvest their fruits..."

"Classmate, what is your wish after the college entrance exam!"

"I want to go to Jingbei to watch the Olympic Games..."

Beside the Viking Fighting, in a Sichuan restaurant, the TV was playing news about the upcoming college entrance exam.

Several young men who were "coaches" in writing but "salespeople" in reality were gathered together to eat.

"Summer vacation is coming soon, and it's the peak season for signing up for classes. Brothers, let's work hard!"

"One of my students' mothers is a teacher, and I asked her to introduce a few to me."

"Wow! That teacher's figure is really good."

Amidst the clinking of glasses, only one sturdy figure was focusing on eating, with ears deaf to matters outside the bowl.

"By the way, Little Fan, I just realized! Aren't you also a third-year high school student! Why aren't you taking the college entrance exam?!"

Fan Junwei finished a large bowl of soup to moisten his throat and took the time to say: "I am taking it."

The others didn't know how to evaluate this, thinking to themselves, you don't look like an examinee at all, working every day.

Fan Junwei scratched his head: "I'm just experiencing it..."

"Just be a poor student then, still experiencing it!"

Fan Junwei smiled and didn't refute.

One of them remembered something and said: "By the way, Little Fan, what's the situation with that old man who comes to watch you box every day?"

Fan Junwei thought for a while and said: "I don't know... he just stares at me every day, but doesn't speak."

"That sounds pretty terrifying when you put it that way. Next time he comes, I'll try to block him. He's not even enrolled in a class, just here to mooch off the air conditioning, right?"

One person suddenly raised a glass: "Come on, let's have one. Wish Little Fan success in the college entrance exam!"

"Wish Little Fan success in experiencing it!"

The restaurant owner behind looked up: "There are college entrance exam students here~ Today I'll give a 9.85% discount! Wish you get into a 985! Drinks excluded!"

However, it only met with mockery and boos.

For a moment, it was even livelier.

————

Countdown to college entrance exam: (2) days.

"Thanks to the reporter on the scene. I believe that this year's college entrance exam, students everywhere have made full preparations. Let us wish them together to live up to their youth and welcome a beautiful future..."

At the gate of Dongyang No. 3 Middle School, inside the small shop, students from Class 8, Grade 3, who came to scout the location, gathered together.

The noisy sound of the TV became the background, and none of the young boys and girls noticed that they were the protagonists in the news.

"No. 3 Middle School is so big... If you enter at the last minute, you'll have to run 800 meters."

"The teacher said if you can't make it, you can ask any police officer, traffic police, or adult for help, and they will all help us..."

"My mom said she would stay in a hotel nearby tomorrow to avoid being late..."

"Is that necessary? Can you rest well in a hotel?"

The chattering discussion eased the nervousness about the college entrance exam.

"Shuyao, which university do you plan to take?"

Lin Shuyao, who was distracted, shook her head: "My third mock exam was 344, barely passing the first-tier line estimated by the teacher. I plan to see again when filling in the application after knowing the scores, but my dad said to go to a big city as much as possible."

"So envious... I'll be burning incense if I can get into a public junior college..."

At this time, one person said: "I don't know which university Zhai Da will go to..."

"He's over 400, and recently he's been so diligent, maybe he even went up. Need to say? Definitely aiming for Tsinghua or Peking! Our school hasn't produced a Tsinghua or Peking student yet!"

"Not necessarily... just because the score is high, must one go to Tsinghua or Peking? Don't you look at what major you like?"

"Who cares about that? It all comes from the score! Even if he doesn't want to go, the Education Bureau will press his head to go, let alone our school; Dongyang County hasn't produced a Tsinghua or Peking student yet..."

"Who knows? Zhai Da is quite maverick sometimes. Suddenly his score is so high, suddenly he starts playing magic..."

The chattering discussion started again, only this time there was a bit more sighing in the language.

Probably because a familiar person seemed destined to get further and further away.

Lin Shuyao was distracted again.

————

Countdown to college entrance exam: (1) day.

"Please allow me to remind you here: starting tomorrow, in all cities across the country, please do not honk your horns easily, observe traffic order, and when necessary, please provide help within your power to the examinees..."

"Also wish all examinees to ride the wind and clouds of the era, interpret the grand with sharp tips, encourage each other as they go, and return with victory..."

In the Sanmao Residential Quarter, at Zhai Da's home.

Yu Xiaoli served the sumptuous dishes on the table.

"Little Da, Little Wei! Come out to eat!"

Tomorrow is the college entrance exam. She had already asked for three days off, not wanting to miss the most important days for the children.

Of course, as a middle-aged woman, Yu Xiaoli inevitably pursued some "auspicious omens." She had long ago tailored a cheongsam for herself at the factory, implying a victory at the first battle.

Zhai Da tried to persuade her to no avail. One could imagine what it felt like to wear a cheongsam in the summer and stand outside for a day... but Yu Xiaoli insisted on wearing it.

The door of the small room opened, and Zhai Da and Lu Wei walked out together, both in casual home attire, shorts and short sleeves.

It seemed that Zhai Da had been sitting for a long time and got up, and his clothes got stuck at the waistline of his large shorts. Lu Wei followed behind, carefully stretching out her plain hands to smooth it for him.

Huddled in the small room for a day, Zhai Da stretched a huge stretch, unable to help but make a "hmm" sound.

Lu Wei wasn't that thick-skinned; she just moved her wrists delicately and quietly.

Yu Xiaoli patted Zhai Da's back, helping him relax his muscles, and by the way, reminded him not to hunch his back:

"Hurry up and eat. It's not too late to study after eating."

Zhai Da sat down while twisting his neck: "Not studying anymore. All preparations are complete. Let's relax our spirits for the remaining time."

Excluding sleep, there were only a few hours left. Instead of finding things to do in this time, it was better to adjust his state.

In these three days, the two didn't disrupt their rhythm and still completed their learning tasks step by step.

Daily effort is more important than anything. Two skyscrapers had already been built and were not afraid of 767.

Now Zhai Da felt he was terrifyingly strong.

Yu Xiaoli smiled: "Whatever, you two decide for yourselves."

The three sat at the dining table, but the TV was changed to a different channel by Yu Xiaoli. The news about the college entrance exam overshadowed the Olympic Games for a short time, but Yu Xiaoli specially tuned to an irrelevant program to avoid putting pressure on the two.

Inside, it was still content about the Olympic Games.

Zhai Da watched for a while and sighed, turning his head. The timing was unfortunate... he really wanted to watch the Olympic Games opening ceremony.

To this day, he still remembered the sense of shock and pride he felt when he saw it on TV back then.

Especially the drumming part; it was simply blood-boiling!

It was a pity that the opening ceremony tickets went on sale in April '07, and he estimated it was sold out in a second... otherwise, even if he exhausted his savings to find a scalper, he would be willing to take a look.

One could only say... even if one is reborn, one will leave regrets. The '08 opening ceremony was missed; he was afraid that there wouldn't be a similar opportunity for decades to enjoy an opening ceremony on one's own land.

While eating, Yu Xiaoli reviewed the plan for tomorrow over and over again: what time to wake up, what time to set off... She would wait at the gate of No. 3 Middle School all the time and take them to eat together during the break between the two exams...

Besides the preparation bags for Zhai Da and Lu Wei, Yu Xiaoli also prepared one for herself, counting as a backup, in case any stationery of the two broke and there was no replacement.

It could be said that she was extremely meticulous in every aspect.

After eating, Yu Xiaoli took the initiative to clean up the bowls and chopsticks and said to Zhai Da: "Don't fight with me today. If you're not studying, go out for a walk. I feel like you haven't left the house for several days. Take Little Wei with you."

Zhai Da looked at Lu Wei inquiringly, and Lu Wei naturally wouldn't have any opinion.

Lu Wei returned to her room, put on her white socks, and stepped into her canvas shoes. Zhai Da was simple; he had a pair of slippers specifically for going out, and for fear of mosquitoes, he put on a loose autumn school uniform.

The two had no destination, but they wouldn't go far. After going downstairs, they walked around the Sanmao Residential Quarter.

In June, unknowingly, the gardenia flowers on both sides of the sidewalk bloomed. Whenever a breeze blew, it would bring bursts of floral fragrance.

Zhai Da couldn't remember if there were such trees at his door. Perhaps he could only think of it when he smelled the floral fragrance every year, and after the flowers withered, he threw it to the back of his mind, just treating it as an ordinary street tree.

Trees need to bloom to prove their identity.

Zhai Da put his hands in his pockets, feeling that he seemed to have lost a little weight recently. Studying consumes brain power, and most of the human body's energy was supplied to the head.

Of course, it wasn't significant. He planned to exercise after the college entrance exam.

He didn't know how others arranged it, but this summer vacation, he would be very busy.

"It's settled, none of you are allowed to hand in the paper early tomorrow. Except for showing off, it's meaningless. We'll both come out at the last minute."

Lu Wei had her hands behind her back, following Zhai Da step by step. Although her face was always calm, her pace unknowingly synchronized with Zhai Da's.

The canvas shoes and the smooth, slender calves, in the night lacking streetlights, were like swinging on a swing.

"Okay~"

"You've also practiced those essays and memorized them well. Just copy them. My prediction of the topics is super accurate."

"Okay~"

The two just walked along the residential quarter, chatting one sentence after another.

"Tomorrow is the college entrance exam. Are you nervous?"

Actually, Zhai Da wasn't indifferent to tomorrow's college entrance exam. He just wasn't nervous, but he still had a big event approaching, that kind of excitement of energy in his body waiting to be released.

But after asking this sentence, Zhai Da knew he asked in vain. Lu Wei wouldn't be able to identify it even if she were nervous.

Turning his head to look, Lu Wei seemed to be pondering. Although emotions were difficult to identify, the changes brought to her body and spirit were still there, just like she would blush when listening to 【Dynamic MP3】. At this moment, she might also be in tension and unease.

Zhai Da stretched out his hand. Lu Wei didn't understand, so she also raised a hand.

Palm, back of hand, upper-to-lower fist, lower-to-upper fist.

"Giving you a bit of energy. You won't panic at all tomorrow. Guaranteed smooth!"

Lu Wei nodded. After thinking, she gave Zhai Da a manual-transmission smile.

This tall and thin girl stood on the sidewalk, standing gracefully.

The orange light from the streetlight overhead fell, and then was shattered by the swaying gardenia tree, turning into swaying shadows that fell on her shoulders.

Zhai Da found it interesting: "Is this because you feel you should smile, or because you want to smile?"

Lu Wei released the onion-white fingers pushing her cheeks: "Should smile... afraid you won't be happy."

"That's fine. If you feel you should do something, just do it boldly. If it's weird, I'll remind you."

After speaking, Zhai Da felt his hand being held, and a cold, smooth touch came.

Zhai Da looked at the little hand holding him: "What about this? Should hold it?"

"No... also giving you... a bit of energy. Is it weird?!"

Zhai Da couldn't help but laugh: "Not weird. If you want to hold it, just hold it."

He didn't struggle either, calmly accepting this energy.

Since his rebirth, he had experienced many things, and of course, the main one was studying. He was very glad to be able to meet Lu Wei, and the two of them helped each other move forward.

It's a coincidence. If he hadn't fainted in the second mock exam room after his rebirth, Yu Xiaoli wouldn't have asked for leave to run back, and Lu Wei wouldn't have chased him home to deliver things...

He estimated he wouldn't have cared about his mother having a little quiet apprentice at the factory, and "high school student Zhai Da" wouldn't even have sent his mother to work...

Lu Wei... might also have worked for a short time due to various reasons...

Clearly they were so close, yet they would have brushed past each other because of a small matter. Fate is truly clever.

In one's life, how many times will one brush past others? Perhaps a certain seemingly irrelevant figure is your inseparable shadow in another parallel world.

Zhai Da was the one being held, but he was pulling Lu Wei forward.

"Remember the first time I saw you, I felt you were a bit familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen you. Later I found out that you were the top student of the previous batch."

He considered himself to have found the answer, so he had never asked even once.

Lu Wei behind him didn't respond, nor did she pick up the conversation.

About a few seconds of silence, Zhai Da turned his head curiously, but saw Lu Wei biting her lip.

"What's wrong?"

Lu Wei subconsciously tightened her hand holding Zhai Da.

"That wasn't the first time..."

Zhai Da suddenly realized: "I understand. You mean you must have bumped into each other at school; that doesn't count..."

"School wasn't the first time either."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom... when she left, it was the first time."

Zhai Da froze in place. What do you mean when her mom left...

Lu Wei's mom wasn't...

Wait...

In an instant, some memories that were very distant from "reborn Zhai Da," some memories that were blurred by the brain's subconscious because of fear and physiological discomfort...

Even if he heard people talking about car accidents, it was just a memory that flashed through his mind...

Surged out...

When a person turns into meat, it's actually worthless...

"Young man, young man?"

"Hey~, you did the right thing, at least a little more dignity..." ===== CHAPTER 103 =====