Two days flashed by, and the midterm exams arrived as scheduled. The campus of No. 3 High School was permeated with a tense, quiet, and solemn atmosphere.
This wasn’t just because it was a large-scale joint examination involving several neighboring cities, which the school and teachers took very seriously; it was also because, according to the school’s long-standing tradition, the midterms were invariably followed by an unmovable parent-teacher conference.
Consequently, students exerted every ounce of effort to produce a respectable grade to hand over to their parents, hoping to avoid a severe thrashing.
For Qiao Muyu, there was only one result that could satisfy Qiao Yongde: first place.
He had carefully hidden the results of the two previous grade-wide exams this semester from his father. Fortunately, he usually behaved like a “good boy” at home, putting on such a convincing performance that Qiao Yongde had let his guard down, allowing Muyu to bluff his way through.
But once the parent-teacher meeting arrived, there would be no way to hide his scores.
It was no exaggeration to say that Qiao Muyu approached this exam with the same level of combat readiness he would have for the Gaokao (National College Entrance Exam). He ate well, slept well, stayed relaxed, kept a clear head, and remained highly focused during the test, checking every answer meticulously. He didn’t dare waste a single second. Walking out of the exam hall, he felt so good that he believed it would be “against the laws of nature” if he didn’t get first place—he was just short of lighting three sticks of incense for the Goddess of Mercy.
However, two days later, when Qiao Muyu saw the name at the very top of the ranking list on the bulletin board, it felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, chilling him to the bone.
1st Place: Lu Zhen, 703 points.
2nd Place: Qiao Muyu, 691 points.
A difference of only one rank, yet for Qiao Muyu, it represented two completely different paths: heaven and hell.
As the saying goes, “Things shouldn’t happen a third time.” Having lost three times in a row, he finally reached his breaking point.
…
That evening after self-study, Qiao Muyu rode his bicycle home alone.
An autumn rain had just fallen on Nanjian City during the day. The cold night wind blowing against his face carried a faint dampness. Tree leaves rustled and fell, crushed into muddy footprints by passersby—a scene of pure desolation.
One of Qiao Muyu’s earbuds was playing English listening exercises as usual, but his thoughts were so cluttered he couldn’t take in a single word.
Suddenly, he felt a sense of weightlessness in the pedals. The bike lurched, and he hastily stuck his leg out to steady himself. He looked down; the chain had fallen off.
Crap. When luck is bad, even drinking cold water gets stuck in your teeth.
Already in a foul mood, Qiao Muyu became even more frustrated and began pushing the bike forward. Suddenly, the crisp sound of a bike bell rang out beside him, followed by Fang Yao’s signature annoying greeting.
“Qiao Number One, why aren’t you riding? Trying to look melancholic?”
Qiao Muyu didn’t even give him a glance. “The chain fell off.”
“God, you’re such a loser.” Fang Yao offered a rare bit of sympathy, hopping off his bike to walk with him. “No wonder your face looks so terrible; your ‘Hall of Fate’ is practically black.”
“Go away. Your whole face is black,” Qiao Muyu snapped.
“Did you eat gunpowder today? Why so aggressive?” Fang Yao had a sudden realization. “Ah, I know. Is it because you got second place again?”
His nerves pinched, Qiao Muyu bit his lip irritably. “None of your business.”
Seeing the silent admission, Fang Yao immediately began gloating. “Pfft, hahaha! Old Qiao, you’re finally experiencing what I’ve felt all these years! Now it’s your turn to be the ‘Eternal Second Place’!”
Qiao Muyu gritted his teeth and forced a smile, trying to maintain his last shred of dignity. “Heh, I’m nothing like you. I never cared about empty titles like ‘First in Grade.'”
Fang Yao returned a fake smile. “Heh, stop acting. Look at those dark circles under your eyes. I bet you were so anxious you couldn’t even sleep.”
“I…!” Qiao Muyu felt a surge of humiliated annoyance. “What are you laughing at? You dropped to third place. What do you have to be happy about?”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Being third is much more comfortable than being second! Because whenever I think about you in second place—being more anxious, more pained, and more unwilling than me—hey, my heart doesn’t hurt nearly as much!” Fang Yao sighed with genuine contentment.
“To be honest, Old Qiao, I used to dream about you missing an exam or having a mental breakdown so your grades would plummet and I could finally taste what first place feels like.”
Qiao Muyu was speechless at his bluntness. “So you’ve been cursing me behind my back? How dark of you.”
Fang Yao, unbothered by the insult, continued to grin. “If you stay in second place long enough, your heart will turn dark too!”
Qiao Muyu tried to kick him, but Fang Yao anticipated the move, dodged, and pedaled away triumphantly. “Later, buddy! Hope you get a good night’s sleep!”
…
It was after ten when he arrived home. The hallway lights were dim, and through the closed, old door, he could hear the faint sound of a television.
After some mental preparation, Qiao Muyu inserted the key, pushed the door open, and saw Qiao Yongde sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, watching TV.
“I’m back.” Qiao Muyu greeted him softly and kept his head down, walking toward his room to minimize his presence.
“Wait.” Qiao Yongde’s voice stopped him.
Qiao Muyu paused and turned around, keeping his expression neutral. “What is it, Dad?”
Qiao Yongde’s gaze remained on the TV screen, his tone unreadable. “Your midterm results came out, didn’t they? How did you do?”
Qiao Muyu swallowed involuntarily, his smile stiff. “It was pretty good.”
“Still lying!” Qiao Yongde suddenly turned and glared at him. He threw the remote control with such force that it shattered, batteries flying everywhere. The loud crash made Qiao Muyu flinch.
“Your homeroom teacher already posted the ranking in the parent group! I saw it! You only got second place? Qiao Muyu, if I hadn’t asked today, were you going to keep hiding your decline from me?!”
Qiao Muyu shook his head helplessly. “No, Dad, I didn’t decline. My total score is higher than last time. It’s just that someone else did better, so my rank—”
“Excuses!” Qiao Yongde cut him off mercilessly. “If someone else can get that high of a score, why can’t you? It just proves you aren’t working hard enough! I don’t think your heart is in your studies at all. Are you doing those useless ‘artistic’ things behind my back again?”
“I’m not…”
But Qiao Yongde didn’t listen. He rushed over, snatched Muyu’s backpack, and violently dumped everything out. Books and stationery scattered across the floor, but he found nothing unrelated to studying.
Feeling a bit foolish but unwilling to back down, Qiao Yongde could only keep shouting: “Are all those practice papers for nothing? You can’t even get first place! Raising you is worse than raising a dog. Damn it, a waste of my money!”
He then snatched Qiao Muyu’s phone. “Don’t even think about using this. You’re probably looking at bad things online every day! Reflect on yourself!”
Bang!
A deafening door slam followed, and the house fell back into a suffocating silence, as if everything that had just happened was a nightmare.
Qiao Muyu stood dazed for a long time before bending down to pick up his bag and books. He patted off the dust, went to his room, and placed them on the desk. He sat down and switched on his desk lamp, but because he had used it all night previously, the battery was low. The light was weak and flickering, and he suddenly felt he didn’t have the strength to plug it in.
His phone was gone. He couldn’t even complain to a friend. He had no idea what to do.
In his chaotic state of mind, he remembered Du Jingfei’s advice—maybe he really did need a way to vent his stress so he wouldn’t live so miserably. After a moment, he opened a drawer and saw a half-pack of cigarettes and a lighter he had confiscated from Huang Zhensen previously.
He took out a cigarette, lit it, brought it to his lips, and took a deep drag. The bitter, intense smoke instantly hit him. He suppressed the urge to cough, waiting until the smoke had fully passed through his lungs before slowly exhaling. The blue-white smoke swirled around his face like a long, melancholy sigh.
Puff after puff, the red tip of the cigarette glowed and faded. Before he knew it, the cigarette had burned to the end.
Qiao Muyu pulled the ranking list out from between his books and crushed the cigarette butt directly onto the name at the top of the list.
Looking at the small, charred hole in the paper, Qiao Muyu thought: Fang Yao was right. I think I am becoming dark. He truly wished the grades of everyone ahead of him would plummet.
But even a fool knew that was just superstition. Fang Yao had been cursing him for two years and it hadn’t done a thing.
If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. He’d have to rely on his own actions.
The materialist Qiao Muyu tossed the cigarette butt away and lay in bed with a heavy heart, tossing and turning all night.
…
As long as the world didn’t end, classes continued the next day.
At lunch, Qiao Muyu had no appetite. He took a few sips of thin seaweed soup and poked at the white rice with his chopsticks, chewing listlessly.
His two lunch companions were as chatty as ever.
Xu Rongcan started the conversation: “Did you guys see the midterm rankings? A lot of people’s ranks shocked me. Especially Zhao Ran from Class 2—wasn’t he always a stable top ten student? This time he got 87th! I thought I misread it!”
Du Jingfei immediately chimed in: “Don’t you guys know? Zhao Ran got caught in an ‘early romance.’ It just happened yesterday.”
“What?” Xu Rongcan’s eyes widened. She swallowed her food quickly. “Who is he dating?”
“Fang Yuanyuan from Class 13. Apparently, she’s their class beauty. I’ve seen her from afar; she’s definitely pretty.”
“God, their homeroom teacher must be furious. Zhao Ran was his prized student.”
“You bet. Teacher Chen broke them up immediately and ordered them to split! I heard Fang Yuanyuan cried her eyes out, and Zhao Ran has been suspended for two days. His mom took him home to ‘reflect.'”
Xu Rongcan sighed. “Tsk, tsk. Early romance really does ruin people.”
Du Jingfei agreed wholeheartedly. “Duh. That’s why teachers and parents have treated it like a monster for years. Once you get involved, nine times out of ten, your grades plummet!”
Qiao Muyu, who had been listening disinterestedly, suddenly perked up at the keyword.
Wait—grades plummet?
His eyes lit up with a spark of excitement as he slapped his thigh: Brilliant!
He finally knew how to defeat Lu Zhen!