Lin Yuzhi was incredibly solemn, looking as if he were willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of learning—it was truly an inspiring sight.
Even Xu An was somewhat moved by his words. It seemed Lin Yuzhi really did love studying, even if the whole situation felt a bit strange.
Still, helping him predict some exam questions wasn’t impossible. He nodded and said, “I can do that. But are you planning to get used to the exam atmosphere for every single subject?”
“Of course. Would the College Entrance Examination let me skip a subject just because I felt like it?” Lin Yuzhi replied.
Xu An shook his head; it wouldn’t. But another problem occurred to him. “Then who is going to set the exam papers for you?”
“That’s easy. I’ll just head over to the teachers’ offices and look around when I get there,” Lin Yuzhi fabricated another random excuse. In reality, the papers were provided by the Scholar System, but since that was a secret he couldn’t share with Xu An, he had to talk nonsense.
He patted Xu An’s shoulder solemnly again. “Academic God, I’m counting on you. I’m going to head to the other wards to collect some duvet covers and bed sheets so we can climb out the window later.”
He had already considered this while looking downstairs earlier; the best way out was definitely the window. Going down the stairs was too slow, and more importantly, it was impassable—the stairwells were completely filled with zombies. The elevator was even less of an option; opening the doors might reveal a horde, and even if you were lucky enough to find it empty, you’d likely run into a crowd of zombies once you reached the bottom.
After weighing the options, escaping through a relatively safe window was the best bet. The only danger would be zombies inside the other patient rooms, so he would have to move quickly. But before any of that, he needed to scavenge enough sheets to make a rope.
Xu An glanced at the hand on his shoulder but didn’t ask anything else. He simply nodded in agreement.
Lin Yuzhi checked the time; it was around three in the afternoon. He plugged his phone in to charge. While the power system was still functioning, he wanted to get a full charge so that he wouldn’t be left with a dead phone once the grid eventually collapsed.
He realized that while scavenging for supplies over the next two days, he also needed to find some power banks and get those charged up as well. Ideally, he could find some small solar chargers at a mall; that way, he could charge his phone anywhere, anytime.
Giving Xu An an “OK” gesture, he cautiously slipped out of the room. He had to be at the school and in the classroom before 8:00 AM on July 6th, which meant he needed to head over there ahead of time. This wasn’t like a normal day where he could just arrive exactly when the bell rang. The best plan was to get there by July 5th, which meant he had to speed up his scavenging.
If he saw power banks, he’d take them; if not, so be it. His primary goal was getting duvet covers and bed sheets.
There were quite a few zombies on the fifth floor, but fortunately, he hadn’t made much noise during his time there. As a result, the zombies hadn’t congregated in front of Room 505 and had mostly scattered. He didn’t dare wander too far to scavenge, limiting himself to the nearby rooms.
By nightfall, Lin Yuzhi returned. His clothes were stained with blood, and there were splatters on his face as well. He wiped it off carelessly, stripped off his outer shirt, and sat on the floor panting, dropping the scavenged sheets beside him. What should have been a few minutes’ work had taken two hours because of the zombies.
“It’s about to get dark. Stop scavenging for now. Although the power is still on, it’s not guaranteed. It’s better to wait until tomorrow,” Xu An said, rolling his wheelchair over and handing him a towel. It was an orange towel with a ginger cat on it.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t refuse. He took it, wiped his hands, and nodded. He didn’t dare wander around at night either. Just as Xu An said, darkness didn’t hinder the zombies at all; they could lock onto a target just by hearing a sound. They didn’t feel pain, so even if they slammed into things, it wouldn’t slow them down.
Living humans were different. If they couldn’t see, they couldn’t see. Bumping into things would hurt, and if they suffered a serious injury like a sprained ankle, they wouldn’t be able to run and would lose their lives for nothing.
Even though it was only around 5:00 PM and there was still some light, the city looked strangely dim, perhaps due to the constant snarling of zombies outside.
He leaned back against the wall, sitting next to the wheelchair, and waved his hand. “This axe is too hard to use. When I get to the school, I’ll see if I can find something better. Is there anything you want, Academic God? I’ll bring it back for you.” He turned to look at Xu An.
Seeing Xu An looking back at him, Lin Yuzhi smiled. The gloom he had felt from killing zombies earlier dissipated instantly.
Xu An looked at him and shook his head. “I don’t need anything. Just be careful. If you really want to bring something back, look for useful books or unused practice papers once you’re at the school. But only if you can ensure your own safety.”
Although Xu An wasn’t sure if the situation at the school would be any better, it was a possibility. Since Lin Yuzhi was going anyway and would be in a classroom, he might as well bring back useful materials if it wasn’t dangerous.
“Right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Lin Yuzhi sat up abruptly. “I was so focused on the exam that I forgot I could scavenge there. Fine, I’ll bring back all the textbooks and papers I can find. Oh, and I remember there’s a shop selling study materials near the school gate; I’ll stop there too if I can.”
He felt the plan was solid. After all, he was going there anyway. His only fear was that the situation at the school might be extremely severe, which would be a problem. But if the shop was surrounded by too many zombies, he simply wouldn’t go; No. 5 Middle School wasn’t the only school in Lin’an, and that wasn’t the only shop.
Thinking of this, he nodded, then fished two packs of biscuits and a bottle of water out of his backpack and stuffed them into Xu An’s hands. “Academic God, I’m counting on you. Predict a few more questions so I can memorize them.”
Whether he could get a higher score now depended entirely on Xu An.
Xu An nodded. He still felt there was no need for Lin Yuzhi to risk going to a school just for a baseline test, especially since he was already assessing him here. But since the other was determined to go, he stopped trying to dissuade him and focused on predicting the questions instead.
Baseline tests usually aren’t too difficult; they are designed specifically to check the students’ foundations. Simultaneously, he handed Lin Yuzhi the papers he had already prepared, letting him review them and providing similar problem types.
Lin Yuzhi ate biscuits while working on the papers. Though his head still ached from the effort, having an “Academic God” by his side made it possible for him to keep going despite the difficulty.
When it was time for bed, Lin Yuzhi dragged the mattress off the hospital bed and placed it on the floor. Fortunately, there was a blanket, or they would have caught a cold during the night—the hospital’s central AC was still pumping, otherwise they would have sweltered.
It was now around 9:00 PM. Once night fell, they turned off the lights. Light would attract zombies, even though they were on the fifth floor. In their situation, it was better to be cautious about anything that might be a risk.
Lin Yuzhi stood by the window looking out. Only two days ago, this had been a bustling city. At night, from this height, the streets would have been a sea of beautiful lights and traffic. Now, only the streetlights remained on. There were no moving cars, only wrecks crashed by the roadside and zombies wandering the streets.
He watched for a moment before drawing the curtains and turning to pick up Xu An.
“I can do it myself,” Xu An said, startled.
Lin Yuzhi hoisted him up anyway. “It’s fine, I’m quick.”
Seeing this, Xu An could only say thank you. Soon, the two of them were lying on the mattress together. Since it was a single-sized mattress, it was a tight fit for two men, but they managed by squeezing together.
Lin Yuzhi didn’t mind. He turned his head to look at Xu An. “Academic God.”
“Just call me Xu An,” Xu An said again, his voice tinged with a hint of helplessness.
Lin Yuzhi made a sound of affirmation. “Alright then, Xu An. Do you think I have a chance at scoring 700? I have very ambitious goals.”
In truth, his goals were even more ambitious than that, but he was afraid of scaring Xu An if he said it out loud.
Xu An smiled and nodded. “Ambitious indeed.”
“What did you score on your College Entrance Exam?” Lin Yuzhi was curious about Xu An’s results. He only knew Xu An had been the top scholar, but he didn’t know the exact number.
Xu An thought for a moment. “Not that high. 745.”
Lin Yuzhi’s eyes widened. Not high?! He himself struggled to get double digits, while this guy got a 745. How was that even possible? And where did those five points go? He remembered Xu An’s grades in school were always in a completely different league from the student in second place.
Curious, he asked, “Where were those five points deducted?”
“Math. I wasn’t feeling very well that day and fell asleep because I was too tired, so I missed a few questions. I was still groggy when I was woken up.” Xu An clearly didn’t care much about the missed questions, speaking as if it were a perfectly ordinary occurrence.
Lin Yuzhi nearly coughed up blood. He fell asleep and missed questions, yet only lost five points. If he hadn’t fallen asleep, wouldn’t he have had a perfect score?
The Scholar System should have been given to Xu An; with him, the points would be rolling in. Lin Yuzhi stared at Xu An’s head with such envy he was practically drooling. If only he had a brain like that.
Xu An looked at him. “It was luck. There were many high scores that year, so I just got lucky.”
“Really? Who scored higher than you?” Lin Yuzhi asked, intrigued.
Xu An thought again. “No one.”
Lin Yuzhi was speechless. If no one was higher than him, what did “luck” have to do with it?
He checked the historical exam scores on his phone and found that, just as Xu An said, no one was higher—not even nationwide. That year, the next highest score was only 720. He browsed some forums and discovered that the papers that year had been notoriously difficult, especially the math section.
If Lin Yuzhi had taken that exam, he probably wouldn’t have scored a single point. Yet Xu An had finished almost everything after waking up from a nap, and the only reason he lost points was because he ran out of time, not because the questions were too hard. If he hadn’t been sick, he probably would have gotten a perfect score.
Envy. Was this what the world of an Academic God looked like?
Eventually, he stopped looking, put down his phone to finish charging, and prepared to sleep. But a moment later, he looked at Xu An again, repeating the question Xu An hadn’t quite answered. “Do you think I have a chance at 700?” He looked expectant.
“You do,” Xu An nodded seriously.
Lin Yuzhi beamed. If Xu An said it was possible, then it must be. Clinging to that “possible,” he drifted off into a happy sleep.