Chapter 5

June 14, Saturday, sunny.

At exactly six in the morning, Li Luo got up, washed his face and brushed his teeth, put on his school uniform, and went to the balcony to open the window.

A cool morning breeze greeted him.

Li Luo closed his eyes, recalled last night's gains, and felt deeply calm, yet a faint heat stirred within him.

"Up so early?" Li Guohong, just awake and preparing breakfast in the living room, glanced at Li Luo on the balcony and asked in surprise, "Did you get enough sleep?"

"Dad, I'm full of energy now," Li Luo turned and walked back into the living room, grinning, "I feel like I can get into Fu No. 1 High."

"..." Normally, Li Guohong would have rolled his eyes, but today was the high school entrance exam—he could only smile, then patted his son's shoulder a few times, "Good, keep this spirit!"

Confidence is always a good thing.

After washing up, Li Guohong began preparing breakfast.

Li Luo returned to his bedroom, took out a scratch pad, and scribbled on it, reconfirming the exam questions he had already solved last night.

Taking advantage of his fresh post-sleep clarity, he opened the memory palace deep in his mind and briefly recalled tomorrow's science and English exam papers.

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was already past seven.

Lin Xiuhong had also gotten up and was helping in the kitchen.

After finishing, she called toward the bedroom, "Li Luo! Go knock on Xi Xi's door and invite her over for breakfast."

"Got it," Li Luo replied, put down his pen, and stepped out the door.

At the door of apartment 402 across the hall, Li Luo reached beside the couplet pasted on the door and pulled out a key hidden behind it.

But Li Luo didn't open the door right away—he knocked firmly on Ying Chanxi's door first, then inserted the key.

The familiar living room layout unfolded before him.

Ying Chanxi, woken by the knocking, opened her bedroom door with sleepy eyes, wearing a cute panda pajama set, rubbing her eyes as she stepped out.

Still half-asleep, Ying Chanxi's round, slightly chubby face looked even more adorable and dewy.

"My mom wants you to come eat breakfast."

"Oh..." Ying Chanxi nodded, covered her mouth with her hand, yawned, and walked past Li Luo toward the bathroom, "I'll wash my face first."

"Then I'll head back."

"Wait," Ying Chanxi stopped at the bathroom door, turned back to Li Luo, and said, "There's a school uniform on the balcony—go get it for me."

"Alright."

"And white socks."

"Got it."

Li Luo walked to the balcony, took down the clean short-sleeved shirt and pants, and grabbed a pair of white socks.

Ying Chanxi entered the bathroom, brushed her teeth and washed her face, skipped any skincare—her fifteen-year-old skin needed no treatment; a splash of cold water made her face glow pink, as if it could be squeezed to release water.

"Change and come over," Li Luo tossed the clothes onto the sofa and returned to 401.

After washing up, Ying Chanxi shed her pajamas, quickly changed into her uniform, tied her hair as she walked across to 401.

After breakfast, it was already half past seven.

Li Luo packed his bag, confirming he had everything he needed.

Beside him, Ying Chanxi carefully checked everything again before handing the bag to him with peace of mind.

Once all was ready, the four of them stepped out the door.

Yinjiang District Yucai Middle School was not far from Li Luo's home—just two intersections away.

So Li Guohong didn't drive; the four walked there, arriving at the school gate in seven or eight minutes.

At the school gate, security guards had set up yellow caution tape; cars and pedestrians flowed along the road.

Students in various middle school uniforms gathered here, holding their admission tickets, queuing under security checks to enter the campus.

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Even though his soul was already thirty-five years old, being back in this scene stirred a surge of emotion and a trace of nervousness in Li Luo.

"Teacher Zhang, hello hello."

Li Guohong spotted Li Luo's homeroom teacher and stepped forward first to greet him.

"Hello hello," Zhang Wei glanced at Li Luo, then smiled, "You're Li Luo's parent, right?"

"Yes yes yes, Li Luo's been a handful—thanks for taking care of him."

"Not at all, it's what we're supposed to do."

Parents and teachers exchanged polite pleasantries.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi walked over to Zhao Rongjun.

As the only boy in class admitted to Fu No. 1 High through independent enrollment, Zhao Rongjun had been assigned by the homeroom teacher to distribute admission tickets to classmates.

Seeing Li Luo arrive, Zhao Rongjun rummaged through a bag and handed him his admission ticket.

"Li Luo, you really went back to study yesterday?" Zhao Rongjun asked curiously.

"Yeah," Li Luo blinked, puzzled, "What did you think?"

"Cough cough..." Zhao Rongjun hadn't expected Li Luo to suddenly change his ways, but still said, "Well, good luck with your exam—do your best!"

"Of course," Li Luo nodded, "Thanks to the monitor's guidance, I think I can get into Fu No. 1 High—we'll still be classmates."

"Overconfidence is arrogance," Shao Heqi suddenly appeared from the side and interjected, "I suggest you be more realistic—Fu No. 1 High isn't something you can just dream of."

Li Luo glanced at the vice-monitor, indifferent to his words.

He was just boasting to people he trusted.

His true ability was obvious to everyone—he knew exactly what level he was without the memory palace.

But beside him, Ying Chanxi patted his shoulder, her bright smile blooming as she encouraged, "Everyone needs dreams—I believe in you."

"The monitor's right," Shao Heqi said at once, changing his tone after hearing Ying Chanxi, "Let's all do our best."

Li Luo glanced at Shao Heqi and sighed inwardly—the kid was already cut out to be a sycophant at such a young age, pitiful really.

In his memory, when they graduated from high school, he'd heard Shao Heqi had confessed to Ying Chanxi.

But the result was obvious—Ying Chanxi rejected him outright.

"Time's almost up, go in first," Zhao Rongjun checked his watch—it was nearly eight in the morning—and spoke up.

So Li Luo and Shao Heqi took their admission tickets and lined up to enter the school.

Not long after, the chubby, freckled girl Jin Yuting arrived from outside the queue and met them at the entrance to the exam building.

Shao Heqi had nothing to say to Li Luo, but seeing Jin Yuting approach, he smirked with a hint of mockery: "You know what Li Luo said outside just now?"

"What?" Jin Yuting looked puzzled.

"He said he's going to pass Fuyi High," Shao Heqi, no longer holding back without Ying Chanxi present, found Li Luo hilarious.

Jin Yuting, just arriving, burst out laughing: "What? Li Luo… I don't even have a hundred percent chance of passing Fuyi High—how can you just say that?"

Li Luo ignored them both, sat down on the nearby steps, and closed his eyes to rest.

Based on Shao Heqi's usual grades—he ranked in the top fifty schoolwide—passing Fuyi High was definitely no problem.

But for Jin Yuting, who always hovered around rank one hundred, Fuyi High was far from guaranteed.

Still, it was vastly better than Li Luo's consistent ranking outside the top 300.

The two brats looking down on him was understandable—he simply had no energy to argue with them.

Soon, fifteen minutes before the exam began, the venue opened and candidates streamed into classrooms, finding their assigned seats.

Li Luo followed the crowd into the exam hall, sitting in a seat that was unfamiliar yet vaguely familiar; unlike the tense, heavy atmosphere around him, he gradually grew calm.

The proctor stood on the podium, explaining exam rules and discipline, displaying the sealed envelope and pulling out stack after stack of test papers.

As the exam time neared, the Chinese language papers were distributed to each desk; Li Luo took a deep breath, reviewing the questions while comparing them to the Chinese exam in his Memory Palace.

Perfect!

The questions were correct.

Li Luo finally relaxed.

When the exam bell rang, he picked up his pen and began answering.

…

The Chinese language exam lasted from 8:30 to 10:30 a. m.

In June, the weather in Yuhang City was hot enough to fry eggs on the asphalt.

Many parents, after dropping off their children, left—only returning around ten o'clock.

But many others stayed by the school gate, waiting the entire time for their children to emerge from the exam hall.

"Has Li Luo been studying with you lately?" Ying Chanxi asked Zhao Rongjun curiously during the quiet wait.

"Huh?" Zhao Rongjun clearly froze, not catching on.

What did she mean by "studying with him"?

Whenever Li Luo asked him to play ball, the moment he mentioned studying, Li Luo would sabotage him on the court.

"Not at all?" Ying Chanxi's face twisted with deep confusion, scrutinizing him up and down.

Zhao Rongjun felt uneasy under her gaze.

He was never good with girls, and under Ying Chanxi's stare, his back began to sweat.

But relying on years of默契 with Li Luo, Zhao Rongjun held his ground: "Hmm… I can't really answer that."

Just stall for now.

But to Ying Chanxi, this reaction confirmed everything.

"Really?" Ying Chanxi sighed. "Don't cover for him—he told me yesterday. I thought he'd given up, but turns out he's been sneaking off to study with you every day."

Zhao Rongjun: "…?"

He had no idea what Ying Chanxi was talking about.

When had he ever given Li Luo private tutoring?

Did buying him spicy strips after losing a game count?

But at this moment, Zhao Rongjun knew silence was the best answer.

Meanwhile, as Ying Chanxi chatted with Zhao Rongjun, Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong waited by the school gate, never leaving.

Around ten o'clock, Lin Xiuhong wiped the fine sweat from her forehead beneath a tree when someone called her from behind.

"Isn't that Xiuhong?"

Lin Xiuhong turned to see her cousin Zhang Xuefen approaching.

Unlike Lin Xiuhong's plain attire, Zhang Xuefen was dressed head to toe in branded goods—necklace, bracelets, sunglasses—her makeup thicker than the dough Lin Xiuhong kneaded at her breakfast stall.

"Oh, Xuefen," Lin Xiuhong replied briefly, with no desire to chat.

But Zhang Xuefen clearly didn't intend just a greeting; she walked over to the couple and began chatting: "Your Li Luo is taking the high school entrance exam this year too?"

"Yes."

"How are his grades usually?" Zhang Xuefen smiled sweetly. "You've always been smart—your son must be no slouch either?"

"Fine," Lin Xiuhong replied wearily, not wanting to elaborate.

"You're just being modest," Zhang Xuefen shook her head. "My Chun's grades are always in the top hundred—he'll definitely get into Fuyi High. Your Li Luo will too."

Lin Xiuhong took a deep breath, forced a smile, and nodded politely—until the exam bell rang. She immediately grabbed Li Guohong's arm and headed for the school gate.

"Your cousin's mouth is still the same," Li Guohong finally muttered, making Lin Xiuhong roll her eyes.

"If you and your son could just be more impressive, I wouldn't have to endure this."

"Alright, alright, Li Luo will be out soon—let's not talk about this anymore."

After the exam bell ended, the proctors began collecting papers, and a few minutes later, the examinees gradually emerged from the classroom building.

Ying Chanxi returned to Lin Xiuhong's side, tiptoeing to peer inside, and soon spotted Li Luo's figure; she raised her hand and waved toward him.

"How did it go?" Ying Chanxi asked, slightly worried.

"It's settled."