“Students, don’t be nervous. The college entrance examination is just a small experience in our lives. If you do well in the exam, your life will be smoother. Even if you don’t perform so well, you can still create a better future if we work hard in the future!”
Lao Li was leaning against the podium. He had two big blisters on the corners of his mouth from internal heat, but he was still trying hard to smile.
“Don’t be afraid. From now on, forget about the first, second, and third mock exams. The college entrance examination is a new beginning! Also, pay attention to your ID card, admission ticket, pencil, eraser, and marker… Don’t let your parents make too many delicious dishes. Greasy food is not good for your health… If you really feel down, you can call Teacher at any time and we can have a chat…”
“Why do I feel like Lao Li is about to cry?” Yu Chengsong whispered while tapping on the phone.
“It’s probably not time for him to cry yet.” Yin Gu handed over a piece of candy. “His internal heat is not less. I see he doesn’t even dare to drink water in big gulps. He must have an ulcer.”
“We should hurry up and take the test.” Yu Chengsong bit open the candy wrapper, “Otherwise the first one to fall will not be you or me, but Comrade Lao Li.”
“Are you nervous?” Yin Gu supported his chin and looked at him.
“Nervous, scared to death, I haven’t slept well in 19 years.” Yu Chengsong shook exaggeratedly and looked at him. “What about you?”
“I’m not nervous.” Yin Gu said seriously, “I have confidence in myself. I have been rising for twelve years. I am the future pillar of the motherland and a scarce talent in colleges and universities… I can’t be nervous.”
“Wow.” Yu Chengsong applauded him, “You are awesome.”
Today is the last day in school before the college entrance examination. Tomorrow is a day off. The day after tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are the college entrance examinations.
During the past six months, Yu Chengsong’s life seemed to be set at double the speed. He was so busy that he forgot everything.
He studies all the time, everyday. When he opens his eyes in the morning, the first thing he sees is the calendar on the wall.
Yin Gu’s situation was similar to his. The only difference between two people going from being inseparable to living a dull life in middle age is because of the college entrance examination.
The daily routine of sweet talk is gradually replaced by discussions of problems.
Sometimes Yu Chengsong woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. He would open his eyes, look at the ceiling, and silently recite “Li Sao” before he could go back to sleep peacefully.
Yin Gu would suddenly become dazed while eating. When Yu Chengsong asked him what he was thinking about, he would recite the question again. The two of them would immediately pick up paper and pen to start discussing, leaving Yu Chengdi to continue eating for the three of them.
There is definitely tension in this kind of atmosphere, but his nervousness will not affect his performance. It will only urge him to correct his lazy learning state.
Brother Song thought proudly, All of us top students are like this.
“Boarding students, don’t rush to take your things home. The school will open the dormitories for two days after the exams, so you can take your time to pack… OK, that’s all. School will end in less than ten minutes. Be careful on your way home. If anything happens, call me immediately. My phone is always on.”
After saying this, Lao Li was still worried, so he moved a chair and sat in front of the podium, looking at the students.
On the last day, no one was reviewing seriously anymore. Even if they had books in their hands, they couldn’t concentrate because of the noise in the classroom.
Yu Chengsong packed his schoolbag, cleared the desk, and subconsciously turned his head to look at Yin Gu’s desk.
“Hmm?” Noticing his gaze, Yin Gu paused with his hand stretched into the table and smiled, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Yu Chengsong took his hand away, “Let me take a closer look at this magical table.”
“Are you hungry?” Yin Gu felt around and took out a small piece of bread and handed it to him. “Let it serve you one last time. It will be moving next time.”
Yu Chengsong took the small bread, but didn’t eat it. He held it in his hand and looked at him while lying on the table: “Why is it moving?”
“Me.” Yin Gu said, “I carry them with me, so isn’t it moving?”
“Magical Gu Gu’s magical backpack.” Yu Chengsong laughed, “It’s so magical.”
He couldn’t help but glance at the whole class again. At that time, the school required seats to be rotated, and the two of them found Director Han and made an exception. The whole class was moving, but only the two of them were sitting in the last row, watching them move, as steady as a rock.
The classmates are still the same classmates, Lao Li is still Lao Li, and Yin Gu, who was still beside him, was still Yin Gu.
Yin Gu only sat in this perspective for one year, but he sat in it for two full years.
It sounds long, but in the blink of an eye, high school is over.
Closing his eyes and recalling, the memory of Yin Gu before coming here had already become blurred, not to mention his mood at that time, he couldn’t even remember what major events had happened.
And Yin Gu’s memory after coming here was as clear as glass that was carefully wiped every day.
Life has meaning because of you—for some reason, this sentence suddenly appeared in his mind.
When the last bell rang, all the students stood up and put on their backpacks as usual, but no one rushed out.
Lap Li stood up and looked at them, smiling kindly as he did every day in the past two years, and admonished them tirelessly: “Students, fighting! You are well prepared, just do your best! Teacher is cheering for you all!”
Someone shouted, “Thank you for your hard work, Lao Li.”
The class began to shout loudly together: “Thank you for your hard work, Lao Li!”
Lao Li’s eyes turned red, and he waved his hands: “It’s not hard, it’s not hard, you guys, fighting…”
Yu Chengsong suddenly felt sad at this moment.
This was the first time he realized so clearly that he would be separated from his familiar classmates, familiar teachers, and familiar school.
They can get together again, but they will not be Class 36 of Senior High School anymore.
–
“We are so lucky that the exam venues are all in our school, and they are all in the senior high school teaching building.” Zhou Zheyu pedaled slowly, holding a lollipop in his mouth, but his voice still sounded a little nervous. “Maybe my mom went to the temple to pray last month and it worked. It turns out that cramming at the last minute is useful.”
“Where’s my sister-in-law?” Yu Chengsong asked, “You left her alone at such a critical moment?”
“She didn’t let me follow her, saying she was nervous, and she got even more nervous when she saw me.” Zhou Zheyu said with a worried look on his face. “I was fine at first, but when she said that, my calves started to twitch. You know how difficult it would be if we didn’t get the same score.”
“In a different place.” Yin Gu sat in the back seat of Yu Chengsong with his head resting directly on his back.
“Damn, that’s easy to say.” Zhou Zheyu looked over. “You two should restrain yourself, what are you doing?”
“We’ve already reached the college entrance examination. Do you want to report us for being in a premature relationship?” Yu Chengsong said.
“Come on, you two have been in love for a year, these two days won’t make a difference.” Zhou Zheyu sighed, “I really envy you two.”
“What are you envious of?” Yin Gu laughed.
“I envy you two for being in different places, but was okay.” Zhou Zheyu took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. His girlfriend didn’t like him smoking, so he quit. Now he’s under too much pressure and took it out to relieve his craving. “If we were in different places, how could I be at ease with her, a little girl?”
“You think too much.” Yu Chengsong glanced at him, “Now you just need to think about how to take the exam. You’re already worrying about failure before you even start the first plan. How can you be such a loser?”
“Heartless, so heartless.” Zhou Zheyu bit his cigarette holder. “You two should be good to each other. I think among the couples in our class who are in love, you two are the only ones who can last long.”
“Did Lao Li’s soul travel through your body?” Yin Gu put his arm around Yu Chengsong’s waist and said with a smile, “You’re just too nervous and can’t stop talking.”
“Should be, I don’t know either.” Zhou Zheyu wiped his face. “Just think of it as me being reluctant to let my brothers go far away and wanting to talk to you guys more.”
“Go ahead.” Yu Chengsong said, “We’re not going to study hard these two days anyway.”
“Good brother!” Zhou Zheyu shouted.
Although he said he didn’t plan to review, he still had to take a look at the book.
The day before the exam was Saturday, and Yu Chengdi was on holiday. In the morning, he tiptoed downstairs to buy breakfast without waiting for the two of them to wake up. When Yu Chengsong came out to go to the toilet in a daze, he saw him opening a plastic bag in front of the table.
“Aiyo, so rich.” Yu Chengsong smiled, “Come here and let me kiss you, how can you be so sensible?”
“Don’t kiss me, what if I have a cold virus and pass it on to you?” Yu Chengdi handed him the soy milk with a straw. “Brother Gu hasn’t woken up yet? It’s so late!”
“He’s up, he was just staying in bed.” Yu Chengsong took a sip, the sweetness was just right. “I can’t cook tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I transferred a hundred yuan to you via WeChat, you can order takeout if you want to eat anything.”
“I can cook.” Yu Chengdi said, “I will make scrambled eggs with tomatoes myself.”
“Give you good food, but you don’t want to eat it.” Yu Chengsong laughed, “You little idiot.”
After finishing their meal, Yu Chengsong and Yin Gu immediately looked at their notes, one on the table and the other on the bed. At this time, there was no need to think about those complicated problems. They just used their eyes to quickly overlap the things on the paper with the things in their heads to deepen their memory.
“Gu Gu, where have you reached?” Yu Chengsong put down the biology notes in his hand and rubbed his eyes.
“I’ve finished reading mathematics, chemistry, and physics.” Yin Gu put down the book, rubbed his neck, and looked at him, “Are you tired? Take a break. I want to take a nap.”
“Come, hurry up.” Yu Chengsong immediately patted the bed, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Yin Gu was lying beside him, their arms and legs entangled, and it was unclear who was hugging whom.
“Let’s not sleep yet.” Yu Chengsong said, “I’m so energetic. If I fall asleep now, I won’t need to sleep until Hei Tian arrives.”
“Then don’t sleep.” Yin Gu touched his back. “Let’s chat for a while.”
“Let’s… guess the topic?” Yu Chengsong looked at him and suddenly said.
“Hmm? Betting on the topic?” Yin Gu was stunned for a moment, then he understood quickly and smiled, “Okay, what do you want to bet on?”
“The winner can make a small request in bed.” Yu Chengsong said, “And the loser can do it after the college entrance examination.”
At this point, he can already arrogantly say such shameless words. Human potential is indeed unlimited.
“Is this… a punishment?” Yin Gu raised his eyebrows. “Why do I feel so good? Let’s bet. I like this.”
“One subject has five questions, and whoever gets the most correct answers wins.” Yu Chengsong took out a piece of paper from the side, “This is such a moving spirit of eagerness to learn, I’m almost moved to tears by myself.”
……
Before going to bed at night, Yin Gu received a call from home. It was his mother.
Yu Chengsong wanted to go out to avoid suspicion but was stopped by Yin Gu and directly answered the call.
“Hello? Mom.” Yin Gu grabbed his hand.
“How are you preparing for tomorrow’s exam?” Zhou Wenwan asked.
“It’s okay.” Yin Gu said.
“Although we don’t have high expectations for you, your father and I still think that you should work hard and get at least enough grades to get into G University.” Zhou Wenwan said.
“I’ll try my best.” Yin Gu curled the corners of his lips silently.
Compared with the first choice, the well-established prestigious University K, University G could only barely rank among the top 20 in computer science, and the score line for the same major was more than 60 points lower than last year.
“You only try your best but never know how to give your all. You never know how to adjust your attitude ” Zhou Wenwan took a deep breath. “I hope you can live up to me and your father. Although I promised not to care about you anymore, but you are our child. At this critical moment, we have an obligation—”
“Mom, there’s something I forgot to tell you.” Yin Gu interrupted her and laughed, “I have a classmate who also went abroad, in the same school and major as Yin He. A few days ago, she told me that Yin He was bullied at school. I studied so hard that I accidentally forgot to tell you. I’m sorry.”
“Xiao He?” Zhou Wenwan’s tone suddenly changed.
“En, you should go ask.” Yin Gu said, “I heard that it was because he stole someone else’s girlfriend, which was too much.”
“…I’ll go ask him. Xiao He is not such an ignorant child. You should pay more attention to your classmate.” Zhou Wenwan said in an unhappy tone. “I’ll hang up now.”
“En.” Yin Gu said.
Yu Chengsong waited until he hung up the phone before saying, “Let’s go back to your house after the results come out.”
“For what?” Yin Gu looked at him and smiled, “To get slapped in the face?”
“Don’t you think it’s necessary?” Yu Chengsong looked at him. “Who gave them the confidence to doubt you so much?”
“It might be Yin He.” Yin Gu said, “In fact, Yin He’s story is true. I’ve been so busy recently that I forgot to share it with you.”
“Today is just the right time to share.” Yu Chengsong said, “I feel refreshed now, and I feel that everything I write tomorrow will be correct!”
“Great!” Yin Gu hugged him.
–
With a good mood, Yu Chengsong was woken up by the alarm clock the next day and had a good sleep.
“Good morning, boyfriend.” Yin Gu sat beside the bed and smiled at him, “Let’s go, wash your face, brush your teeth, eat, and then go to the battlefield.”
“Kill him four times in and four times out.” Yu Chengsong rubbed his eyes and sat up, also laughing, “If I don’t turn the provincial rankings upside down this year, my surname is not Yu.”
“If I don’t f*ck you over, my surname is not Yin.” Yin Gu replied quickly.
“Just be as slutty as you can.” Yu Chengsong said with a sigh, “The metal detector will buzz when it touches your head. It’s a human-shaped USB flash drive with built-in videos.”
“That won’t do.” Yin Gu stood up and stretched. “These are just our little movies, I don’t want to show them to others, I have to encrypt them when we eat later.”
Before leaving, Yu Chengdi put an orange in each of their pockets, and his face turned pale with nervousness: “Just leave it outside the classroom and don’t bring it in. Whatever you wish for will come true, it will definitely come true!”
“Must be done.” Yu Chengsong tapped his head, his little curly hair soft and fluffy. “Take good care of the house and wait for us to come back.”
“En!” Yu Chengdi nodded.
It takes about ten minutes to walk from home to school. When the two of them arrived at the school gate, they were not allowed to enter. A group of parents holding umbrellas and bringing their children together with serious expressions. There were also several stalls giving away free water at the gate. The whole street was closed, and no cars were allowed to pass.
“Chengsong! Over here!”
Yu Chengsong tilted his head and saw Zhou Zheyu leaning against the wall in the shade, waving at him, with Qian Xiaoyu beside him. He smiled and walked over with Yin Gu.
“Brother Song and Brother Gu, you guys are a little late.” Qian Xiaoyu came with his mother today. He turned around and introduced, “Mom, this is Yu Chengsong, my Brother Song, and this is Yin Gu, my Brother Gu, the first and second in the grade!”
Mother Qian praised each of them one by one, then handed her son over to them with great confidence and went to chat with her little sisters.
“Where’s Lao Li?” Yu Chengsong turned around and looked around, but couldn’t find him. “It would be strange if he didn’t show up at such an important occasion.”
“Jia Manning lost her admission ticket, and Lao Li is helping to find it.” Zhou Zheyu said, “It seems she left it in a taxi, and the whole city is looking for it for her.”
“Less than half an hour left.” Yin Gu looked at his watch. “He—”
“He’s back!” Qian Xiaoyu suddenly shouted, jumping and pointing into the distance, “The class monitor found the admission ticket, right? Lao Li is smiling, they must have found it!”
“Yu Chengsong? Yin Gu?” Lao Li saw them, waved his hand, and immediately trotted over after settling Jia Manning. I don’t know if he was anxious or tired, but his forehead was covered with sweat. “What’s going on? Is it too hot? You didn’t bring an umbrella either.”
“Not bad.” Yin Gu smiled and handed the water in his hand over. “Drink some water first, don’t get a heat stroke.”
“Ai, you guys drink, you guys drink.” Lao Li didn’t answer but smiled, “I just ran a few steps, I’ll be fine after a rest. Have you got your admission tickets?”
“Here you go.” Yu Chengsong unscrewed the bottle of water and stuffed it into his hand. “I’ll buy another bottle. If you don’t drink it, I feel like you’ll fall to the ground in the next second.”
“Haha, I won’t.” Lao Li drank a few big gulps, and the redness on his face faded a little. “Don’t eat big fish or meat when you get home at noon, your stomach can’t take it.”
“I know. My mom didn’t even play mahjong today. She stayed at home to watch over me,” Zhou Zheyu said. “Braised spareribs. I’m flattered.”
“It’s okay.” Yu Chengsong patted his shoulder. “I can have a meal after the results come out. I can even laugh in my dreams.”
“That’s right!” Zhou Zheyu boasted, “I must perform beyond my normal level! For love!”
Yu Chengsong turned his head to look at Yin Gu when he heard that. Yin Gu was also looking at him. The two smiled at each other. No one said anything, but they both knew what the other was thinking.
This is a turning point in their future. Even if not for themselves, they have to fight for each other.
A year ago, they drew a beautiful future for each other. Today, one year later, they are going to use the pens in their hands to fill this future stroke by stroke.
After talking to them for a few words, Lao Li ran to the side to make a phone call, asking teachers in other examination rooms how their students were doing. He was very busy.
T/N: This chapter is quite long so I’m gonna divided them into two parts…
