Chapter 631: I

The day of graduation finally arrived.

During high school, when we buried ourselves in studying, everyone secretly wondered when we'd finally get through the college entrance exam, eager to just end it all.

But now that this moment had come, there was much reluctance.

Upon hearing Kong Junxiang's words, everyone's expressions were complex, and none looked particularly happy.

"The graduation photos we took earlier have already been printed," Kong Junxiang said, pulling an envelope from his bag and taking out the photo, "one for each of you, as a keepsake."

Li Luo reached out and took the graduation photo passed down from the front, examining it carefully in his hands.

During the photo shoot, he had stood in the center of the back row.

Yan Zhusheng, because he was so tall, was placed at the far right of the second row of girls, to avoid blocking the boys behind.

Ying Chanxi, as the top student in the grade, naturally sat beside Kong Junxiang, right in the center of the front row.

Zhao Rongjun, the big black guy, stood beside Li Luo.

Xu Yinghuan and Qiao Xinyan stood side by side, the former smiling brightly, the latter smiling modestly.

"Oh, by the way," Kong Junxiang said, about to move on to the next topic after handing out the photos, when he spotted a shadow flicker past the door.

He remembered something, his gaze crossing the front-row students to land on Ying Chanxi and Li Luo, and said to them, "Li Luo, take Ying Chanxi to the fifth-floor office—someone's looking for you."

Li Luo immediately understood what this meant, stood up, and took Ying Chanxi with him, telling Xu Youyu to stay behind with Yan Zhusheng.

Outside the classroom, the vice principal greeted them with a smile and said, "Come with me."

In truth, school administrators had already made multiple attempts to counsel these two students.

Unfortunately, they couldn't sway the pair's wishes, so the school had given up on relying on them to aim for Tsinghua or Peking University.

But this year's college entrance exam took an unexpected turn: although Li Luo and Ying Chanxi had no intention of applying to Tsinghua or Peking, the mere honor of being provincial top scorers was enough to bring Qianjiang No. 1 High many tangible and intangible gains.

Thus, when the vice principal saw them, he beamed with obvious delight.

"Several schools' admissions officers are upstairs," the vice principal said as they climbed the stairs. "I know you two are firm in your choices, but still, listen to what each school has to offer—just to be polite."

"Understood."

Following the vice principal to the fifth-floor office, Li Luo and Ying Chanxi met the admissions officers.

Besides Tsinghua and Peking University, admissions officers from two top 985 universities in Changning City had also come.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi listened in turn to each school's preferential admission policies, including scholarships, major selection, benefits, and more.

In truth, with their provincial top-scorer scores, they could have received the highest-level benefits at any university in the country.

But for Li Luo, none of this mattered.

For Ying Chanxi, it mattered even less.

After listening to the officers' explanations, Li Luo smiled at Ying Chanxi, then turned to the Qianjiang University officer: "Our school's teachers must have already informed you."

"Long ago, Ying Chanxi and I decided we would only attend Qianjiang University."

"To the other officers, I'm truly sorry for taking up so much of your time."

The admissions officers from the two Changning universities didn't seem disappointed—they hadn't expected much anyway—and merely smiled and shook their heads, saying it was no trouble.

Approaching provincial top scorers to discuss their preferences was merely routine procedure.

Even if Li Luo and Ying Chanxi didn't choose Peking University, they'd surely go to Tsinghua—there was no chance for these two to compete.

But the Tsinghua admissions officer was somewhat resigned.

"Are you absolutely certain?" one officer continued. "Aren't you going to discuss it with your parents again? Today is just the start of the application period—you still have four or five days to decide."

"Choosing a university affects your entire life—I think you should be more cautious."

"You're both outstanding students. If you come to us, your future path will be far broader."

"I don't like hearing that," the Qianjiang University officer protested. "Our university isn't inferior."

"Li Luo, you're a web novel author, right?" another Tsinghua admissions officer adjusted his glasses and said. "One of your works was adapted into a TV drama—that's already quite impressive."

"But I believe you won't be satisfied with this—you'll surely want to reach even higher."

"In this regard, Beijing's resources far surpass those of any other region."

"The headquarters of the China Writers Association is in Beijing. Given your achievements, you'll surely join the association someday."

"Our university has many former members of the association—they'd be delighted to welcome another outstanding young writer like you."

"Even though we don't have a dedicated film and television program, we collaborate with the Film Academy, and we could even help introduce you to renowned directors and producers in the future."

"Think about how much these connections could help your future development."

To be fair, the admissions officers were quite skilled.

Unfortunately, Li Luo wasn't a particularly ambitious guy.

Seeing the Qianjiang University officer's anxious expression, Li Luo found it amusing, and simply said outright: "Thank you all for your time, but our decision won't change."

After exchanging contact information with the Qianjiang University admissions officer, Li Luo led Ying Chanxi out of the office.

As they went downstairs, Ying Chanxi asked curiously, "All those things Tsinghua's officers said—did any of it make you hesitate?"

"No matter how much they said," Li Luo turned to look at Ying Chanxi, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then smiled and pressed her against the wall, lowering his voice, "none of it compares to the sound of your voice making my heart race."

Ying Chanxi was suddenly pinned against the wall, her heart skipping a beat, terrified someone might walk by and see.

But being teased like this by Li Luo, she couldn't bring herself to resist, so she gently pushed against his chest and murmured, "S-Someone might come…"

"Heh," Li Luo thought she was adorable, leaned down, and pressed a firm kiss on her soft lips, even biting lightly, like eating jelly.

But he only kissed her once, then let her go, taking her hand and heading toward Class Eight.

Ying Chanxi, who had expected to be teased much longer, was only kissed once—and as Li Luo pulled her downstairs, she felt oddly reluctant to leave.

As if she wished he'd kissed her longer.

So what if someone saw?

They were graduating anyway—let them see.

Li Luo had no idea what was going through Ying Chanxi's mind, and quickly brought her back to the classroom.

At this moment, Kong Jun was speaking on the podium about various precautions for filling out college applications.

Since this was the first year of the Qianjiang Province college entrance exam reform, there were many new rules, and many past habits and experiences might no longer apply; thus, Kong Jun spoke with great caution, his throat dry from talking.

Unlike Li Luo and the others whose scores were already secure for admission to Qianjiang University.

The other students listened very attentively.

Students like Hua Xiuxiu, Lin Yuan, and Fang Chen, whom Li Luo knew well, all ranked outside the top 6,000 in the province and had virtually no chance of entering Qianjiang University.

Besides Li Luo's six-person group, only Zhu Yufei, Zhang Guohuang, Ren Zheng, and Lu Jiahao from the original Class Eight could get into Qianjiang University.

In addition, there were Liu Shaowen, Xie Shuchen, and a few others who had originally been in the key class.

Among them was even Liao Hailin, who had previously been in the same key class as Liu Shaowen but had scored only around five thousandth place this time; unless he gambled on an obscure major, he would almost certainly miss Qianjiang University.

"Alright, remember everything I just said, and discuss it with your parents at home," Kong Jun said. "The application deadline is midnight on July 2nd. If you have any questions during this period, call me anytime or message me via WeChat or QQ."

"Choosing a school and a major is just as important as the college entrance exam!"

"You can even treat filling out applications as your second college entrance exam in life! Think carefully before making any decision!"

"That's enough. Time's up—go have lunch."

"After lunch, if you still have money on your meal card, you can go refund it at the counter where the auntie recharges cards."

It was only eleven a. m. now, and the bell for dismissal had not rung; students from Grades One and Two were still in class.

Class Eight students stood up one by one and headed toward the cafeteria after leaving the classroom.

"How much money is left on your meal card?" Li Luo asked Ying Chanxi.

"I think there's still three or four hundred," Ying Chanxi recalled. "Should we get a refund?"

"Are you going to refund it?"

"I don't really want to," Ying Chanxi whispered. "They say after you refund, they take back the card, but I want to keep it in our villa's collection room."

"Do you still have Yu Yu's meal card?" Li Luo turned to Xu Youyu, curious.

"I think so," Xu Youyu thought back. "I remember I had only a few yuan left, so I didn't bother refunding."

"Then don't refund," Li Luo smiled. "Let's keep all four cards together as a memento."

"Okay~" Ying Chanxi smiled sweetly.

……

The last meal at school.

It was no different from usual.

But it somehow tasted a little better than before.

And whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed the cafeteria auntie's hand didn't shake as much when scooping food today.

"Class monitor, c-can you sign your name for me?"

After lunch, back in the classroom, a girl from Class Eight blushed and walked up to Li Luo, handing him her uniform.

The uniform was already covered with signatures from other classmates, including Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng.

Finally, the girl came to Li Luo, asking him to sign—apparently to collect everyone's signature in the class.

"Where do you want it signed?" Li Luo picked up his pen without thinking. "Anywhere is fine?"

"Um… here!" The girl quickly spread open the specially left blank spot on the left chest of the uniform. "Sign right here!"

"Below the school emblem?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Done."

"Thank you, class monitor!"

"She likes you," Yan Zhusheng said suddenly from the side.

Li Luo: "... It's just a signature. I'm not the only one who signed."

"They left a special spot right over the heart," Xu Youyu teased, leaning forward. "Our Li Luo really is popular."

"Should I sign yours too?" Li Luo picked up his pen and glanced around, his eyes lingering a moment longer on Xu Youyu's uniform.

"Boring," Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes, but didn't seem jealous.

But soon, someone came to Ying Chanxi too.

Shao Heqi shuffled over awkwardly and asked her: "Can we take a photo together? I..."

"Sure," Ying Chanxi agreed, out of goodwill as classmates.

After taking the photo, Ying Chanxi received a letter from Shao Heqi.

Li Luo saw the letter and suddenly understood.

Hmm… So he did confess after all?

He remembered from his past life that Zhao Rongjun had told him this news after high school graduation.

But it was a letter?

He remembered it clearly being a loud, public declaration of love.

Probably afraid of getting beaten up.

Li Luo rubbed his right fist with his left hand and smiled as he watched Shao Heqi's back.

"Our Xixi's charm isn't small either," Xu Youyu teased from behind.

Ying Chanxi sighed helplessly, shoved the letter into her bag, then immediately received a second letter from Liu Shaowen.

"Sis is amazing," Yan Zhusheng clapped her small hands, praising with a deadpan expression.

"Shut up," Ying Chanxi shot her a glare, then asked curiously, "Why didn't you get one, Zhusheng?"

"Because everyone knows I'm Li Luo's girlfriend," Yan Zhusheng hugged Li Luo's arm, no longer hiding it at school.

Seeing this, Ying Chanxi puffed out her cheeks and huffed: "I am too!"

Qiao Xinyan, beside him, widened her eyes at those words, thinking: You've already gotten this far?

What do you mean by "also"?

"Cough… say less, don't argue," Li Luo interrupted their dispute; seeing the time was nearly up, he stood and said, "We need to go prepare over there."

Saying this, Li Luo beckoned Ying Chanxi and the other two, then walked toward the classroom door.

As they passed by Zhu Yufei's side, he added, "Later, follow Professor Kong's instructions, line up, and head to Zhixing Hall—that old gymnasium spot."

Zhixing Hall.

Built on the site after the attached No. 1 Middle School gymnasium was torn down, the school leadership gave it this name.

"It's really quite large," Xu Youyu said as he looked up at Zhixing Hall in the distance, unable to help but sigh, "Good thing I came today—otherwise, I'd probably never get another chance to go inside."

"Consider it graduating again," Li Luo said with a smile.

"Yes," Xu Youyu smiled warmly at Li Luo and said with quiet meaning, "We're about to… graduate, aren't we?"

(End of Chapter)