Chapter 10: The Lucky Girl in Front of Me Before the Exam

At nine o'clock, the exam officially began.

After the papers were distributed, the girl sitting in front bowed her head to fill in her information. The sunlight dyed the edges of her ponytail a golden hue; there were a few split ends, and the fine, soft fuzz on her slightly turned left cheek made her look even more serene and gentle.

Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze from her slender neck, his spirits lifting. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous; although he had used his memory of time to imprint every possible subject point into his mind, this was, after all, the exam that would determine his placement for his senior year. But having a beautiful girl sitting in front of him—perhaps that was a good omen.

The two days of testing flew by. The girl in front had indeed brought him good luck; he performed steadily from the Chinese exam all the way to the final English paper, even exceeding his own expectations in some areas. In the process, Jiang Nian learned her name: Zhang Ningzhi.

He had borrowed an eraser from her during the math exam. Just before the English test, thinking that he had been piggybacking on her luck and would likely never see her again once the exams were over, he decided he should do something. So, while thanking her, he bought a carton of fruit-flavored milk for her. Outside of school, no girl would dare accept something from a stranger, but within the school grounds, the risk was much lower. Zhang Ningzhi hesitated for a moment, then whispered a thank you and accepted it.

He didn't give it much thought. During the final English exam, the classroom was so quiet that only the sound of rustling paper remained. Smelling the ink from the test paper, Jiang Nian’s hands trembled slightly. It was perhaps because this was the final exam, or perhaps because of his short-sleeved shirt, which was half-soaked with rain. A mountain breeze blew in from outside the door, causing his teeth to chatter, leaving his mouth feeling sour and numb. His heart hammered like a drum, and his head felt feverish.

"It's fine," he muttered to himself while working on the paper. "I've got at least 100 in Chinese, should be 100 in Math, and over 210 in the combined science section... If I get 20 on the English essay and lose 10 on the listening portion, a 130 in English is solid."

A score of 540 was only his conservative estimate. For a paper out of 750, it wasn't an exceptionally high score, but in his standard class, it was already quite impressive. If these were truly the college entrance exams, it would be more than enough to get into a decent university. Jiang Nian estimated that once this diagnostic exam was over, he would likely be first in his class. If things went well, transferring to the science olympiad class shouldn't be a problem.

At 4:30 PM, they left the exam hall, and everyone began packing up to return to the classroom and clear out their desks.

Since the exams spanned the weekend, the usual Sunday evening study session was canceled. This meant that from the moment the exams ended, the entire evening was free. The classroom was chaotic; some headed straight for the internet cafe, while others chose to restore their desks to order before leaving. The classroom, the hallways, and the entire senior building were exceptionally noisy and lively. Some students discussed the exam papers, while others surrounded their teachers, clapping their hands or slapping their thighs in regret.

Many students were milling about between classrooms, and there were plenty of new faces. They were either huddled over draft paper checking answers, laughing loudly, or making plans to hit the internet cafe. Jiang Nian bent down and easily hoisted his heavy basket of books. As he straightened up, he saw Zhou Yuting walk in, her eyes scanning the room, likely looking for someone to help her move her books.

As they brushed past each other, Zhou Yuting called out to him.

"Jiang Nian, can you help me move my books? They're too heavy, I can't move them myself."

*—[When a girl you’ve actually broken up with, but nominally haven't, asks for your help, it is best to pretend you didn't hear her.]*

Jiang Nian turned a deaf ear and walked two steps forward before turning back. "Huh? Were you calling me?"

"Yes, can you help me move my books?" Zhou Yuting asked. Perhaps because of the weekend exams, she was wearing a white cotton dress. "And help Yingying, too."

Sun Yingying was Zhou Yuting's "plastic" best friend, who had a crush on Liu Feipeng.

"Oh, why don't you ask Le Zhi to help you?" Jiang Nian glanced at her, a curve forming on his lips. "He would definitely be more than happy to help you move books."

Zhou Yuting choked on her words. Of course she knew Le Zhi would help her, but Le Zhi was too annoying; Jiang Nian didn't nag, and he was good-looking. Although Zhou Yuting would never consider a poor boy like Jiang Nian as a boyfriend, having another handsome "dog" to fawn over her only served to raise her own value.

"He's too annoying. It's better to ask you."

Jiang Nian had originally wanted to bring up her birthday party to mock her, but then he thought, *I’m about to move up a class, why waste my breath?* Making a girl cry wouldn't make him a winner anyway.

"Yeah." He replied coldly, then turned and walked away with his book basket.

Zhou Yuting stood there, expecting Jiang Nian to return after dropping off his books to help her. But after waiting for a long time and seeing no sign of him, she went outside to look and was so angry her nose was practically crooked. Jiang Nian had gone to the next classroom to help a different girl move her books. She swore she would never look at Jiang Nian again, nor would she ever say another word to him. *Does he think this will make me feel insecure?!*

...

"No need, I can move them myself," Xu Qianqian said, feeling a bit embarrassed as she noticed the surrounding gazes. "They’ll find you to help them later anyway."

"Moving books is moving books, it's just a small favor," Jiang Nian said, looking indifferent.

"That won't do, their books are too heavy," Xu Qianqian frowned. "You should just go. Wait for me at the school gate, I'll be there in a moment."

Without realizing it, Xu Qianqian had grown accustomed to walking home with Jiang Nian.

"Alright, then."

After moving the books, Jiang Nian left the teaching building and looked back at his classroom. He suddenly felt a small ripple of anticipation—he was looking forward to the day the results were posted. Today was Sunday, so they should all be out by tomorrow, and the class transfers would happen next week.

A short while later, Xu Qianqian came out with her backpack. She looked left and right, spotted Jiang Nian, tightened her backpack straps, and walked toward him. Some classmates nearby saw this and couldn't help but stop and stare. They had expected to witness some puppy-love gossip, but the two of them just walked away quite plainly, even pulling out their test papers to review.

"Do you think you can get a 540 this time?" she asked with a frown. "I heard that usually, to transfer into the lower-tier olympiad class, you need at least a 550 to be safe."

As they walked side by side, Jiang Nian almost suffered a cardiac arrest at her words. *Wait, buddy, I’m using a cheat code here, do we really have to play like this? You Olympiad people... you’re all basically Ultraman Seven, aren't you? Are there really so few people with connections?*

When Xu Qianqian learned of Jiang Nian’s naive thoughts, she couldn't help but scoff. "It's precisely because there are people with connections that you need a higher score. They can stay in the Olympiad class even with a 400; what does the transfer have to do with them?"

It was too realistic. That was how human relationships worked in a small county.

"Fine, let's compare English answers," Jiang Nian took a deep breath. "How did you do on the English test this time? Still a perfect score?"

Xu Qianqian hummed, revealing a look that was thirty percent mockery, thirty percent smugness, thirty percent nonchalance, and ten percent proud little swan.

"What do you think?"

Neat power lines sliced through the twilight, and the veil of night descended quietly.