23 – The Color for the Two of Them
The internal exams at Kyoto First High School are all based on their own test papers, with a difficulty level generally around 0.6. For ordinary tests, this difficulty is quite high.
However, it is precisely because of this setup that Kyoto First High School has the highest university admission rate among all high schools in Kyoto.
The seating arrangement for each exam is strictly based on academic rankings. For example, the thirty students in the first examination hall are, without exaggeration, all from Class One. It is only by the second examination hall that students from other classes begin to appear.
Class One is the most exceptional class in the entire grade. Being in Class One at Kyoto First High School is seen by others as a sure path to top universities like Tsinghua or Peking University.
Since Fu Yao had no ranking, she was placed at the bottom by default. Her examination hall was the thirty-fourth—the last one—and no one was with her.
Jin Zhi’s grades were poor, but only by Class One standards. He was in the third examination hall—Fu Yao had secretly checked his results.
His grades were quite interesting: he passed every subject, but never scored more than ten points above the passing mark. He had it down to a science.
The key was, this wasn’t just a one-time occurrence.
If people didn’t pay close attention to him, they would only see his overall score and not analyze his exam performance in detail.
Consistently hitting exactly the passing line, steady as could be—this undoubtedly fueled one of Fu Yao’s earlier suspicions.
However, there was also a piece of bad news.
Su Hangyi was back.
He left yesterday and returned today.
But it wasn’t a big deal—Fu Yao never expected that revealing the truth once would completely drive someone out of the school.
In every social class in this world, a crisis of trust was what truly struck fear.
Could Su Hangyi still flaunt the arrogance he once had?
Ridiculous.
Soon, the invigilator walked in and began distributing the exam papers.
…
That evening during self-study, Su Hangyi swaggered in. Everyone glanced at him but couldn’t be bothered to pay him any attention.
Su Hangyi wasn’t embarrassed either. Instead, he walked up to the front of the classroom.
Standing on the platform, a faint smile appeared on his relatively handsome face. He cleared his throat twice, drawing everyone’s attention to him: “I caused a bit of trouble for everyone yesterday and really apologize for wasting your time. So today, I’ve prepared a little gift as an apology. Everyone, check your desk drawers—what’s inside is what I’m giving you.”
Upon hearing this, everyone began rummaging through their desk drawers and indeed found a small gift box.
“Whoa… it’s a watch! I remember this watch costs over a hundred yuan!”
“Mine is hand cream… my hands have been really dry lately.”
“Mine is a car model—this model is super expensive!”
“Bro Hang is so generous! As expected of Bro Hang, hahaha!”
“Bro Hang is as lavish as ever!”
…
Su Hangyi stood on the platform, basking in everyone’s praise as if the previous incident had never happened.
Fu Yao couldn’t help but curl her lips, her eyes cold.
When you accept gifts, your hands grow soft; when you eat others’ food, your words grow short.
This tactic was far too mature for this age—likely taught by Su Hangyi’s father.
Then again, maintaining good relationships with classmates was important, no matter how you looked at it.
Fu Yao also checked her desk drawer, but aside from her own belongings, it was empty.
She glanced at Jin Zhi beside her.
Compared to yesterday, his mood had improved a lot—at least he had stabilized.
As for gifts, the little wolf cub didn’t have one either.
The wolf cub was now irritably scribbling something with his pen, a hint of disappointment mixed into his emotions. Burying his head in his work, he seemed to have lost the protective camouflage that made everything around him appear irrelevant, making it impossible for others to read his feelings.
Fu Yao understood this state—after all, the wolf cub was just a child.
No one likes being treated differently.
No one gets used to being treated differently.
Even if the person treating you differently is someone you dislike.
But when you see that everyone else has something except you, that sense of loss comes from human instinct, not weakness.
If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t get close, Fu Yao really wanted to pat this cub’s head.
The crying child gets the candy.
But she wouldn’t cry either.
Fu Yao looked around. Everyone else was the same color, but only she and Jin Zhi shared another color.
It was a strange experience—both painful and indescribably beautiful.
She tilted her head to look at Jin Zhi and said, “I don’t have one either.”
Jin Zhi looked up at her in surprise. She was smiling beautifully.
In this situation, his petty heart found a sense of balance. He couldn’t help but purse his lips, the displeasure in his eyes dissipating: “I… I don’t have one either.”
Fu Yao quietly pulled a lollipop from her pocket and handed it to Jin Zhi: “Then I’ll give you one, so you’ll have something.”
Jin Zhi looked at the lollipop—strawberry flavor again.
He couldn’t help but think of yesterday at the hospital, causing a blush to quickly spread across his face.
He wanted to take it but immediately withdrew his hand. He looked left and right, searching for something but found nothing. In the end, he could only take out one yuan and hand it to Fu Yao.
Fu Yao: (??_??)
“Pfft.”
She couldn’t hold back her laughter again, covering her lips, thinking the teenage boy in front of her was utterly adorable.
“Are you buying my lollipop? You’re even paying for it.”
Jin Zhi’s entire body stiffened, the emotional colors around him completely covered by shy pink. He silently withdrew the hand holding the money: “I… I only have this.”
He couldn’t find any other gift to give Fu Yao.
Seeing him about to take it back, Fu Yao immediately snatched the money.
“Once the goods are out, dear customer, no refunds.”
Jin Zhi: (?Huh?)？
“Oh, and one yuan is too much. I need to give you change.”
With that, Fu Yao took out fifty cents from her bag and handed it to Jin Zhi.
Jin Zhi stared blankly at the fifty cents held between Fu Yao’s fair fingers.
Jin Zhi: blushing!!
Fu Yao stuffed the fifty cents directly into his hand: “I’m an honest merchant. I don’t engage in arbitrary pricing.”
Jin Zhi clutched the fifty cents and looked up to meet Fu Yao’s gaze.
Simultaneously, the light blue around both of them turned to orange-red, like the morning sun breaking through the clouds.
“Hahahaha…”
Their laughter rang out in unison, crisp and clear, hushed and cautious, drowned out by the noisy chatter of the others.
Others had their own joys.
They had their own unique happiness, shared only between the two of them.
Their whispered conversation, simple and pure, was seen clearly by Su Hangyi on the platform, causing the smile he had forced to grow several degrees colder.
His hands, hidden beneath the desk, clenched into tight fists as he stared intently at the two, his heart filled with rage.
Jin Zhi really had some nerve, daring to approach the girl he had his eyes on.
He reached into his pocket, confirming the item was still there, and sneered coldly.
Just wait until he showed him what true disparity meant!
Fu Yao was his!
——Author’s Note——
Feeling sorry for Su Hangyi. His entire purpose for existing is to be slapped in the face by Yao Yao and the wolf cub.
Slacking off today—I’m off to catch up on some reading.