◎Applause and Flowers◎
This was the fifth time Chun Zao had laughed during morning reading. To prevent her deskmate from noticing, she could only hold her politics textbook up high as her fortress for her girlish heart.
The term “Princess” had surprisingly strong staying power. Just thinking about it would make her thoughts scatter like fine sugar threads spinning at high speed in a centrifuge, quickly condensing into a sickeningly sweet mass.
Cough. Chun Zao cleared her throat, dismissed distracting thoughts, and forced herself to fully invest in memorizing key points.
With midterms approaching, being distracted was taboo.
At the beginning of November, the Grade 11 midterm exams ended amid students’ wails and laments. This exam was a joint test, cooperating with another century-old key high school in Yi City – the Affiliated High School. With both schools competing, the difficulty was upgraded from monthly exams, especially for the big three subjects. When comprehensive liberal arts ended, Chun Zao felt somewhat uncertain.
But when Chun Chuzhen asked about it, she still pretended to be confident: “Should be no big problem.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t some jinxing FLAG. Four days later, Chun Zao received her grade ranking: third place.
This was her first time entering the top three since entering Yi Middle School. Because she had been placed in the key class from the start, every exam was a battle of gods. Even after the liberal arts and science division reduced competitive pressure, it was just moving from one survival-of-the-fittest biological chain to another colosseum.
This time, the difficulty of Chinese and English was blood-vomiting level, and these two subjects were Chun Zao’s specialties, so she gained significant points.
Before reviewing the test papers, Teacher Gao specifically praised Chun Zao a few more times on the podium:
“Let me mention something first – for this cloze test, only one person in the entire liberal arts class got it completely right.”
“That’s our Class 3’s English class representative.”
The whole class applauded, especially Tong Yue, who howled like she was in the front row VIP section of a concert.
Chun Zao just lowered her eyes and smiled gently.
Yi Middle School would post honor rolls for major exams to commend the top thirty outstanding students in liberal arts and sciences, displayed side by side in a showcase.
Before Class 1’s PE class, Yuan Ye didn’t rush to the sports field but instead went to the commendation board on the main avenue.
Tu Wenwei followed behind him carrying a basketball: “What’s there to see? First place – I already checked for you this morning.”
However, his deskmate stopped in front of the liberal arts class ranking announcement.
Tu Wenwei looked at him profoundly, witnessing him curve what seemed to him an extremely creepy smile, then he had a sudden realization: “Could it be…”
Yuan Ye glanced at him sideways: “Could it be what?”
Tu Wenwei had the expression of someone identifying a criminal: “Your ‘situation’ is in here, isn’t it?”
Yuan Ye smiled without answering.
Damn, a default admission?
But it was also pretty obvious – when had this guy ever paid attention to these things?
Tu Wenwei immediately approached the red-background, yellow-text ranking list for a comprehensive scan: “Who is it?”
Yuan Ye: “Let’s go.”
Tu Wenwei was nailed to the spot and began screening: “What’s the rush? Let me find them.”
Yuan Ye found this interesting and stopped urging, watching to see what he could figure out.
Tu Wenwei squinted: “I feel like this one…”
“Hmm?”
“This ‘Chun Zao’ – the name does match well with yours, and she looks pretty good too.”
Worthy of being you, Tu Wenwei.
Yuan Ye let out a laugh through his nose, his attitude unclear.
Tu Wenwei turned his head: “Is it her?”
“Give me the ball.”
“Why?”
“Time for class.”
He couldn’t stay here long, or he’d give himself away in front of his deskmate. Yuan Ye turned and tossed the ball back to dissolve his smile.
“Hey, just tell me.” Tu Wenwei caught it with both hands and chased after him: “Did I guess right or wrong? Give me a straight answer! You always have this same reaction.”
Yuan Ye looked at him: “What reaction?”
“Mysterious and secretive, always hiding things. It’s no fun if you keep being like this.”
Yuan Ye raised an eyebrow slightly: “Do I?”
Tu Wenwei nodded: “You do.”
Yuan Ye said, “If you knew, that would be the end of it.”
Tu Wenwei looked wronged: “What’s wrong with me? I can keep secrets.”
Yuan Ye snorted coldly.
“So it is on that list, right? 1/30 – Narrowing down the range makes it easier to find. Let me study it carefully after school.” Tu Wenwei rubbed his hands together, switching to Sherlock Holmes mode.
Yuan Ye was secretly amazed at how this person could be both smart and stupid. He could only offer symbolic encouragement: “Go for it, detective. I have faith in you.”
That evening at home, the rental wasn’t the cold freezer atmosphere after the last monthly exam, but warm as spring. Domino’s pizza sets and cold drinks had rarely appeared on the table, filling the air with aroma.