Lin Fei’s competition results were released, and the September monthly exam quietly arrived.
“The monthly exams will be held on Thursday and Friday this week. After the exams, it will be just in time for National Day. I will give you three days off, and the make-up classes will start three days later.” Teacher Zhao announced as she walked into the classroom right as the bell rang.
The students immediately groaned in dismay, “Only three days off? That’s too miserable.”
“You’re in your senior year now. Count the days you have left. You’ll have plenty of time to play after the college entrance exam. For now, focus on your studies.”
The students remained unmoved, still wearing gloomy expressions.
Looking at them, Teacher Zhao thought they were still just kids. Even though they had grown taller, they still couldn’t hide their childishness.
“Alright, I’ll tell you some good news in advance,” she said with a smile. “This year’s sports day will include the seniors, and it will last for two or three days. You’ll also get two or three days off. Does that make you happy?”
The students immediately became excited, “Really?”
Teacher Zhao nodded, “Since you’re happy now, shall we start the lesson?”
She picked up the book and began today’s lesson.
Ji Leyu, hearing Teacher Zhao mention the monthly exam, finally opened his drowsy eyes.
He had placed third in the grade for last semester’s final exam. Although Lin Luoqing and Ji Yuxiao thought this was quite good, Ji Leyu himself wasn’t very satisfied.
He had grown accustomed to seeing his name right behind Lin Fei’s. Having someone else in between them made Ji Leyu feel uncomfortable.
This discomfort became even more apparent when he sat down in the exam room.
Ji Leyu looked at the class academic representative sitting in front of him and found everything about her—her good temper, good looks, and everything else—unpleasant.
Probably because he had been staring for a long time, the class academic representative turned around and gave him a curious look.
Ji Leyu immediately smiled and gave her a bright smile.
The class academic representative smiled as well. “Is there something you need to tell me?”
“No,” Ji Leyu replied gently. “It’s just that you usually sit behind me and look at my back. Now that I’m sitting behind you and looking at your back, it feels novel, so I wanted to look a bit more.”
The class academic representative wasn’t annoyed by his words and nodded good-naturedly. “Indeed, it’s rare for me to sit in front of you.”
“This is just a one-time thing. Next time, we’ll switch back.”
“Oh?” The class academic representative tilted her head. “I’ll be waiting to see that.”
“Then you just wait and see,” Ji Leyu responded without hesitation.
As they were talking, the proctor walked into the classroom with the exam papers.
The class academic representative immediately sat up straight, and Ji Leyu fell silent.
The proctor waited for a moment, and only when the bell rang did he open the exam papers in front of the students and swiftly distribute them.
Ji Leyu looked at the paper, then glanced ahead. Unfortunately, what he saw wasn’t Lin Fei’s back, but the class academic representative’s slender back.
He couldn’t help but sigh. For the first time, he felt that the greatest distance in the world wasn’t life and death, but Lin Fei sitting in the first row while he sat in the third row.
He can’t see him all the time!
No, he can’t let this happen again!
Ji Leyu felt he couldn’t bear such injustice!
With this in mind, he was extra careful while selecting answers, afraid of shading a B instead of a D.
As it turned out, thorough checking paid off.
Seeing the bright red 150 on his paper, Ji Leyu felt invigorated.
“Look,” he showed his test paper to Lin Fei.
Lin Fei was already used to seeing these three digits, but that was on his own paper, not Ji Leyu’s.
“Not bad,” he nodded. “You’ve made progress.”
Ji Leyu proudly replied, “Of course.”
As he spoke, Ji Leyu nudged Lin Fei again, his tone playful, “I’ve made progress, haven’t I? Shouldn’t you reward me for that?”
Lin Fei thought he was really pushing his luck, always wanting more.
“Is this progress? You just didn’t do well last time.”
“But I improved this time.”
Ji Leyu said this while waving his paper, making the bright red 150 look like red waves.
Lin Fei was amused by his childish act. “Let’s wait until your overall score comes out.”
“Alright, if my score is higher than last time, you have to reward me.”
“What reward do you want?” Lin Fei asked him.
“A reward is something you give me, not something I decide. Naturally, you should think of it,” Ji Leyu replied confidently.
Lin Fei thought for a moment and nodded slightly, “Alright.”
Ji Leyu, seeing how readily Lin Fei agreed, feared he might secretly cheat and quickly added, “It can’t be the ‘Five Three’ practice book [1]The “53 practice book” refers to a popular series of educational workbooks in China known as “五三” (Wǔ Sān), which translates to “Five Three.” These books are … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3574309_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3574309_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });”
Lin Fei: ???
“Nor can it be any other practice exercises or test papers.”
Lin Fei: …
“And it can’t be a book.”
Lin Fei: …
He limited himself. How could he have not thought of these things just now? What a pity.
Lin Fei sighed softly, regretting his earlier oversight.
Having emphasized his point, Ji Leyu added with satisfaction, “Anyway, it has to be something that makes me happy, nothing related to studying.”
“Got it,” Lin Fei said helplessly.
Only then did Ji Leyu nod, eagerly waiting for his other scores.
The grading speed for the senior year was always fast. Shortly after the math test papers were handed out, the other subjects’ papers were also distributed one after another.
Ji Leyu did quite well this time. He got a perfect score in math, lost two points in English, three points in science, and ten points in Chinese.
“What’s your total score?” The class academic representative, having received her paper, came over to compare.
Ji Leyu handed her his papers casually. After comparing their scores, the class academic representative sighed, “Looks like I’ll be sitting behind you again next time.”
Ji Leyu patted her shoulder. “It’s normal. The three-month period has ended, and the Dragon King is back in his place.”
The class academic representative was amused by his words, laughed, checked a few of his answers to understand why she had lost points, and then left.
That afternoon, the ranking list was posted.
The class academic representative put the ranking sheet beside the blackboard. Ji Leyu glanced at it as he passed by. Sure enough, his name was next to Lin Fei’s again—he was second, and Lin Fei was first.
It was the ranking he was familiar with, and he was very pleased.
Ji Leyu took out his phone, snapped a photo of the ranking sheet, and sent it to their family group chat.
Ji Leyu: [Scores are out~~]
Ji Yuxiao, seeing their rankings, immediately sent three red envelopes: one for each of his kids, and of course, his beloved wife couldn’t be left out.
Lin Luoqing saw the message later, around eight o’clock. He had just finished filming and returned to his resting chair. He took his phone from his assistant and saw the monthly exam ranking sheet Ji Leyu had posted in the group chat.
Lin Luoqing smiled as he looked at the top of the chart, seeing the two familiar names. He was about to send them red envelopes when he suddenly noticed two other familiar names on the sheet—”Song Qiang” and “Jiang Jingshuo.”
He was stunned almost instantly. He remembers asking Lin Fei and Ji Leyu at the beginning of the school year if anyone had transferred into their class, and they both said no. So how are these names on the list now?
Did they transfer in later?
Lin Luoqing held his phone, filled with worry.
Jiang Jingshuo wasn’t too concerning; he should have transferred in during the second year and become friends with Lin Fei.
In their second year, Jiang Jingshuo hadn’t shown up, and Lin Luoqing was worried that he had inadvertently disrupted Lin Fei’s friendship, feeling troubled for a long time because of it.
Now that Jiang Jingshuo had appeared, Lin Luoqing finally felt relieved.
But Song Qiang had also appeared.
Lin Luoqing leaned back in his chair, looking at Song Qiang’s name, and sighed in frustration.
He knew Song Qiang was supposed to be here and at this time, but because she hadn’t appeared on the first day of school, he had hoped she wouldn’t show up and wouldn’t meet Ji Leyu so early.
This encounter wasn’t beneficial for either of them. Ji Leyu’s unrequited love and Song Qiang’s undeserved suffering didn’t lead to happiness or improvement for either of them. It would have been better if they hadn’t met at all.
But they did meet, and at the crucial point of their senior year.
Thinking of this, Lin Luoqing sent private red envelopes to both Ji Leyu and Lin Fei.
Ji Leyu quickly claimed his red envelope and replied, [Thanks, Dad.]
Lin Luoqing took the opportunity to make a video call.
Ji Leyu answered and smiled at the screen where Lin Luoqing appeared.
Lin Luoqing’s eyes were as gentle as ever. “You did well on the exam. You even got a perfect score in one subject.”
“Of course. I was very serious about this exam.”
“Are you even ashamed to say that?” Lin Luoqing chuckled. “If you could be this diligent in every exam, your father and I would be relieved.”
“I’ll try, I’ll try,” Ji Leyu said with a hint of guilt.
“By the way, has your class gotten bigger? It seems like there are two more names on the list?”
“Yes, two transfer students joined the class.”
Lin Luoqing nodded. “That makes sense. In the final year of high school, parents want their children to do better. Your school is well-regarded, so it’s not unusual for students to transfer in.”
“Yeah,” Ji Leyu agreed.
As he was about to reach for the grapes, he suddenly heard Lin Luoqing ask, “You also think senior year is important, right?”
Ji Leyu: ???
Ji Leyu instinctively grew wary.
Sure enough, the next moment he saw Lin Luoqing smile and say gently, “So in this final year, you’d better behave yourself and absolutely avoid falling in love, understood?”
Ji Leyu was both amused and exasperated. “Why does everyone think I’ll start dating early?”
“Who else?” Lin Luoqing asked curiously.
“Of course, it’s our homeroom teacher,” Ji Leyu sighed. “She even warned me recently that I absolutely must not fall in love early.”
Lin Luoqing chuckled. “It’s not surprising. With your looks, I casually browsed your school’s forum and found a whole thread dedicated to you. Your school’s students are quite creative with names—Poppy, hahaha, it’s quite fitting.”
Ji Leyu felt a bit embarrassed by this comment. “Why are you even looking at these things? I don’t even look at them, and you do?”
“I only saw it by chance. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have known you had such a nickname.”
Ji Leyu rubbed his hot ears. “It’s all nonsense from them. I don’t know anything about it.”
“Of course, you’re so naive.”
Ji Leyu nodded repeatedly, looking innocent. “That’s right. My mind is only on studying. Only studying can make me happy.”
‘Do you even believe that yourself?’
Lin Luoqing laughed. “Alright, focus on your studies then. I won’t disturb you any further.”
“Mm,” Ji Leyu waved, watching as he ended the video call, and then sighed in relief.
Seriously, why did his dad even look at their school’s forum?
How embarrassing!
As he thought this, he secretly reopened the forum and saw the thread with single pictures of him and Lin Fei, as well as their cp thread.
Alright, although the names the girls at their school come up with are quite embarrassing, their photography skills are pretty good.
Ji Leyu looked at the posts with pictures of him and Lin Fei and saved them one by one.
After saving those, he went to both Lin Fei’s thread and his own to save their individual photos.
He had to admit, the group photos were more charming. Indeed, he and Lin Fei were meant to stand together; only together did the scene look complete and harmonious.
Ji Leyu quietly bookmarked the CP thread for him and Lin Fei, reluctantly put down his phone, and began to do his homework.
Author’s Note:
Xiaoyu: My brother and I should stand together! Always close together!
Xiaoyu: Why does each one have to be posted individually? Wouldn’t it be better if all three of them were CP posts?
Fan: Uh…
CP Fans in ecstasy: Yes, yes, yes!
References[+]