10 – First Monthly Exam
Before going to sleep, Xin Jushang prepared to set an alarm on her phone for the next morning.
Suddenly, she noticed a message from an hour ago displayed on her screen—
【Chosen One-Chuan】: Happy birthday, deskmate. I’ll make up the gift tomorrow 🙂
The timestamp showed it was sent at 9:22 p.m.
Exactly matching the date of her birthday.
Xin Jushang froze for a moment, not even realizing she was smiling.
What was she smiling about? There was nothing funny about this.
She quickly suppressed her smile, returning to her usual expressionless face. Yet, the corners of her lips still curled up into a subtle, beautiful arc.
After pondering for a while, she coolly replied to Zhou Yuchuan with just two words—
“No need.”
The next day, even as school was about to end, Zhou Yuchuan still hadn’t produced the promised birthday gift.
Liar. Just as expected, a scumbag who only makes empty promises.
Xin Jushang thought to herself.
When the dismissal bell rang, she packed her bag and was about to leave with Xu Zhiyan when Zhou Yuchuan tugged at the corner of her clothes.
“Don’t go, wait for me,” he whispered.
Xin Jushang had no choice but to let Xu Zhiyan go first, sitting back at her desk to see what Zhou Yuchuan was really up to.
After waiting for about ten minutes, a boy pushed open the back door, carrying a two-tiered cake in his hands.
This cake looked even more exquisite and luxurious than yesterday’s single-tier strawberry cake.
“Bro Chuan, twenty-five kilometers round trip—I actually biked all the way to get this for you.”
The boy panted heavily, proudly seeking credit from Zhou Yuchuan.
“Thanks, bro.” Zhou Yuchuan took the cake and patted the boy’s shoulder.
This boy was Jiang Mi, one of Zhou Yuchuan’s close friends from his previous school, No. 1 High School.
“But Bro Chuan, what’s this cake for? Whose birthday is it today?” Jiang Mi scratched his head, utterly confused. “I remember Sister Jianing’s birthday was yesterday, though…”
Dangerous statement.
Zhou Yuchuan’s expression darkened, and he kicked Jiang Mi in the knee, making him yelp in pain as he clutched his leg.
“Bro Chuan! Why’d you kick me? Didn’t you tell us to call her Sister Jianing before?”
Jiang Mi felt nothing but wronged, deeply wronged.
“Don’t mention her anymore.” Zhou Yuchuan’s voice turned cold. “I don’t have feelings for her anymore.”
“Huh? How’s that possible?” Jiang Mi was shocked, his jaw nearly dropping.
Out of pride, Zhou Yuchuan hadn’t told his old friends from No. 1 High School that Zhao Jianing had found someone new.
He couldn’t bear the embarrassment.
“Yeah, I’ve fallen for someone else.” Zhou Yuchuan lied without batting an eye.
For now, this was the only reason that would stop Jiang Mi from bringing up Zhao Jianing’s name again.
“Who? Who’s my new sister-in-law?” Jiang Mi was as excited as a monkey on Mount Emei.
“Why do you talk so much? Get lost.”
Seeing that Jiang Mi still wanted to pry for gossip, Zhou Yuchuan had no choice but to kick him in the butt, shoving him out the back door before slamming it shut.
Xin Jushang, sitting nearby, had actually overheard their conversation. But she had to pretend she hadn’t heard a thing.
Yet, her earlobes inexplicably felt warm.
Zhou Yuchuan walked over with the two-tiered cake and placed it on her desk, feigning nonchalance. “A belated birthday gift.”
The cake even had Xin Jushang’s name and initials written on it, making it impossible to refuse.
Xin Jushang looked up and happened to catch sight of the layers of mango decorating the outside of the cake. The corner of her mouth twitched. “Mango?”
“Yeah, wasn’t yesterday’s strawberry cake kind of unlucky? So I chose mango instead.”
Zhou Yuchuan was practically bowled over by his own cleverness. He couldn’t help but marvel happily to himself: How could there be such a thoughtful, perfect man like him in the world?
Seeing Xin Jushang remain silent, looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t, he couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”
The boy’s passionate, sincere gaze made it really hard for Xin Jushang to speak the truth.
She could only reply softly, “No, I like it a lot.”
Before leaving, Zhou Yuchuan made a cheering gesture toward Xin Jushang:
“Deskmate, good luck on the monthly exam the day after tomorrow.”
The evening glow outside the window slanted across the boy’s body. Backlit, he descended upon the girl’s heart like a deity, catching her completely off guard.
Soon, the day of the monthly exam arrived. The exam rooms and seat numbers were arranged according to the results of the start-of-term exam.
However, since Zhou Yuchuan and Xin Jushang hadn’t taken that start-of-term exam, they had no scores and could only be assigned to the last exam room.
The first test was Chinese.
After Xin Jushang arrived at the exam room, she found herself in the very last seat, with Zhou Yuchuan sitting right in front of her.
“Deskmate, don’t be too nervous. Just do your best,” Zhou Yuchuan turned around to give his little deskmate a heads-up.
Xin Jushang nodded.
Looking at Zhou Yuchuan’s earnest, comforting expression, she felt a little like laughing but managed to hold it back.
The proctor began distributing the exam papers. When Xin Jushang first got her paper, she skimmed through the entire thing. Seeing that the classical Chinese passage was exactly the one she had reviewed the night before, she revealed a confident smile.
The second test was math, scheduled for the afternoon.
Since it was the last exam room, almost everyone present was academically weak. So, apart from Xin Jushang and Zhou Yuchuan, whose pens never stopped moving, most of the other students had given up struggling with an hour still left.
This math exam was insanely difficult.
Since it was a joint exam by the six best schools in City C, designed to distinguish the true top students, several of the major questions went beyond the syllabus, even touching on university-level calculus.
The weaker students and some average performers were practically crying in despair: Oh heavens, why must they suffer such torture!
Xin Jushang spent nearly ten minutes thinking about the last problem, leaving her very pressed for time at the end. But she still managed to complete her answers perfectly before the bell rang to hand in the papers.
The next day tested science subjects and English.
This science exam was also extremely difficult and obscure, and the English reading comprehension was very challenging too—reportedly, the passages and questions were taken from CET-6 reading materials.
But she still completed the exams with great confidence.
After finishing English, all students had to return to their own classrooms.
As soon as Xin Jushang stepped into the classroom, she heard a chorus of complaints.
Indeed, the difficulty of this six-school joint exam had left even the students in the advanced class feeling helpless and on the verge of tears.
Zhou Yuchuan, however, remained as carefree as ever, engrossed in admiring his own handsome face in the small mirror on his desk, just like usual.
As if all the commotion around him had nothing to do with him.
Seeing Xin Jushang return, he finally put down the small mirror in his hand, looking somewhat worriedly at his deskmate—
“This exam was really difficult. Don’t give up just because of one failure.”
Xin Jushang: ?
Slowly typed out a question mark.