Lin Xiyu offered a grateful smile, tossed her backpack onto the teacher’s desk, and swiftly made her way to her seat.
The invigilator soon approached her to verify her exam admission ticket.
Lin Xiyu cooperatively smoothed the disheveled strands of hair from her forehead, revealing her clear, unblemished brow.
After completing the verification, the invigilator nodded in satisfaction and placed the test paper on her desk.
“Thank you, teacher.”
Lin Xiyu obediently expressed her gratitude. When she went to write, she realized she hadn’t taken her pen out of her backpack.
Darn it, what should she do now?
The test papers had already been distributed. If she went to retrieve her pen now, would the teacher misunderstand and think she was trying to cheat?!
As she was agonizing over this, a jet-black fountain pen came flying from diagonally behind her.
Her heart leaped with surprise. Even without turning around, she could guess who it was.
After tossing the pen, Gu Bin immediately lowered his head and began answering the questions, acting as calm as if nothing had happened.
Lin Xiyu tremblingly reached out, grasped the pen, and under the invigilator’s scrutinizing gaze, awkwardly twitched the corner of her mouth.
Fortunately, the invigilator didn’t make an issue of it and let her off once again.
Lin Xiyu patted her still-pounding heart, pushed aside her wandering thoughts, uncapped the pen, and wrote her name on the test paper.
The final subject of the college entrance exam was Chinese, which happened to be her strong suit.
The minor incident of being rescued didn’t affect her mindset. She quickly got into the zone, focused her energy, and began answering the questions.
Two hours flew by in the blink of an eye. With the ring of the bell, the exam came to an end.
The candidates gradually rose from their seats, handed in their test papers, and left the classroom.
Under the pretense of checking her paper, Lin Xiyu stole a glance at the seat diagonally behind her. Seeing Gu Bin stand up to submit his paper, she hastily capped her pen and followed suit.
The two shouldered their backpacks and walked out of the classroom side by side.
At 185 cm tall, Gu Bin possessed a slender, perfect physique and a sunny, handsome appearance that made him an undoubtedly dazzling presence among his peers.
Lin Xiyu keenly felt the gazes converging from all directions—those directed at him were filled with fervor and admiration, while the ones aimed at her were laden with… astonishment and disdain.
“Your pen, thank you.”
The tips of Lin Xiyu’s ears grew warm as she returned the pen to Gu Bin, wanting to put some distance between them.
Given her current appearance, it was no wonder others were shocked; even she found it glaringly conspicuous.
“What were you doing so early in the morning?”
Gu Bin took the pen and teased her jokingly, “Did you fall into a river? You’ve made yourself such a mess.”
“Something like that.”
Lin Xiyu awkwardly smoothed her hair.
“You actually fell into a river?”
Gu Bin paused mid-step, showing a hint of surprise.
He had only meant to rib her casually, never expecting to hit the nail on the head and guess the truth.
“I encountered an accident on the way here.”
Not wanting him to look down on her, Lin Xiyu quipped self-deprecatingly, “I saved two people in the moat. You could say I was the hero saving the beauty, hahahaha……..”
“You? Saving people?”
Seeing her laugh so carefreely, Gu Bin hesitated over whether to believe her.
“It’s true, you know?”
Lin Xiyu lifted her chin, boasting with immense pride, “There’s a TV reporter who recorded it as evidence. I might even become famous soon……..”
“Keep bragging.”
Unable to stand her smug little act, Gu Bin shoved his hands into his pockets and strode off coolly and aloofly.
“It’s true.”
Lin Xiyu was about to chase after him when she suddenly snapped back to reality, remembering her bicycle was parked in the opposite direction.
She let out an “Aiyo!” and slapped her forehead in frustration before turning to dash toward the other side of the bike shed.
Gu Bin glanced at her, the corners of his lips lifting slightly as a soft, amused chuckle escaped his throat.