Chapter 36

The monthly exam results are out.

"You'll definitely pass this time, right? Xiaotian's been giving you make-up lessons for so long." Han Chengcheng sat in her seat and looked back at Lu Bai, who had his eyes closed, his hands clasped together, and was muttering something. She tapped Lu Bai's desk with her fingers, "You should have started praying to the gods and Buddhas at least a week ago. Isn't it a bit late to do so now that the results are out?"

"Sincerity is the key to success. Sincerity is the key to success."

Lu Bai finally finished reading, and then said to Han Chengcheng earnestly: "Han Cheng, you don't understand, it is this skill that requires the most sincere heart. If not now, when will you worship? I even found my grandmother's perpetual calendar last night, and it mentioned this luck..."

Lu Bai was spitting everywhere, and Han Chengcheng kept making noisy noises, not really paying attention. She kept her eyes on Yin Li, who had gone to the front to check her grades. When she saw Yin Li come back, she quickly asked, "How was it?"

"It's about the same as last month for both of us, no ups or downs." Yin Li said.

Han Chengcheng heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that, and Lu Bai also came over: "Hey, what about me? Have you seen mine?"

"You..."

Yin Li was about to speak, but swallowed the words back. She looked at Lu Bai, "tsk tsk" twice, and shook her head: "You should wait and let Xiaotian tell you."

"Oh my god, stop it..." Lu Bai felt his heart leap into his throat. He'd planned to wait for Zhang Xiaotian to finish looking before telling him, but now he couldn't sit still any longer. He jumped up and wanted to go over and take a look himself. He walked to the edge of the crowd, but before he could squeeze in, Zhang Xiaotian was pushed out by the crowd.

"Tian'er, have you seen my grades? Did I pass?" Lu Bai grabbed Zhang Xiaotian and asked, "Isn't it possible I failed again? Damn, I thought I did okay."

Zhang Xiaotian didn't answer, but pushed Lu Bai back: "Let's talk about it when we get back. It's too crowded here."

"No, tell me now!" Lu Bai was pulled around, but his head was still tilted back. "My heart is pounding. Tell me quickly, did you pass or not?"

"Watch your step!" Seeing Lu Baiguang was so busy talking that he almost tripped over the table leg, Zhang Xiaotian had no choice but to half push and half pull him from behind. "Don't you think you did well on the exam? Why are you so panicked?"

"That's just a feeling... Wait, what do you mean by laughing?" Lu Bai felt like he was about to have a heart attack, but when he heard Zhang Xiaotian's "puff" laugh behind him, his heart suddenly settled down. He stopped and turned around to ask, "I passed!?"

"Why do you think so?" Zhang Xiaotian looked at him with a smile, "I didn't say anything."

"I knew it the moment you said that!" Lu Bai swung his fist and lightly hit Zhang Xiaotian. "Still trying to scare your master? You're still hundreds of years short of cultivation! How many points?"

"92." Zhang Xiaotian handed over the note in his hand, "I copied your results."

After Lu Bai took it, he simply didn't leave. He stood in the middle of the aisle, turning the note over and over, shaking his head smugly as he read it.

"Tsk tsk, see? This is real strength." Lu Bai patted the paper and said to Zhang Xiaotian, "From over 60 to 92 points, there's no one else who can raise that much points in one go except me, your master!"

Look at his cocky look. Zhang Xiaotian smiled and nodded.

"Can we go, Lu Bai?" Li An was stuck in the back and couldn't return to his seat. "It's just a passing grade, you're so arrogant!"

"Why can't I be awesome? Why don't you try to raise your score by 30 points at once?" Lu Bai waved the note in his hand like a treasure.

"I'd like to mention it, but I don't have that much room for improvement in my English," Li An sneered.

"That's the only thing you can boast about."

"Can we go back to our seats and talk?" someone protested. "Everyone's jammed here, and class's about to start!"

Zhang Xiaotian also hurriedly urged Lu Bai to go back, reaching out to grab the results he had copied for him and said, "Go back to your seat and leave."

Back at his seat, Lu Bai flipped the note over and over again, almost wanting to see a flower on it. Zhang Xiaotian took the book out of his desk and threw it on his desk.

"Stop looking, class is about to start."

Lu Bai glanced at it twice more, then happily folded the note and put it in his pencil case. He turned around and said, "I have to put this up for worship when I get home, and burn some incense to the gods I just prayed to..."

"Who did you ask for help?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him.

"Emperor Wenchang, Li Hua, and Shakespeare."

Shakespeare is fine, but Li Hua... Zhang Xiaotian asked him, "Li Hua wants to write a letter to his pen pal and has to ask you to write it for him. Is it any use asking him for help?"

"You're right!" Lu Bai suddenly realized, "Then if I don't worship him, can I get a few more points?"

Li Hua was truly miserable. Zhang Xiaotian laughed again.

"We have a day off this afternoon. Do you want to go out singing?" Yin Li turned around and asked, "I just told my mom about it. If you're going, you two should tell them too."

"Just said that? What did you say? Oh, you brought your phone!" Lu Bai acted like a jerk, pretending to stand up and complain, "I'm going to tell the teacher about you!"

"If you have the guts, go ahead and tell me you didn't bring enough with you." Yin Li narrowed her eyes. "Hurry up and sing or not. I'm asking you two something!"

"Go, go!" Lu Bai agreed before asking, "Who are they?"

"Me and Chengcheng, Lu Yibo, Guan Yue, Jiang Yan, Li An... well, there are quite a few of us anyway." Yin Li looked at Zhang Xiaotian again, "Xiaotian, are you going too?"

"I..."

There were quite a lot of people. Zhang Xiaotian thought that since he couldn't sing, it was fine. Seeing that he wanted to refuse again, Lu Bai groaned, "Oh, go ahead, my God. I did well in the exam. What's the point of me not going if you don't go, huh?"

"Then I... go." Zhang Xiaotian couldn't stand him acting like this.

"Look at you, you can't leave Xiaotian even for a moment. Why don't you just tie Xiaotian to your belt?" Yin Li raised her eyebrows.

"How could I!" Lu Bai defended himself.

Is that so? Zhang Xiaotian pondered this, realizing that he had spent most of his time at school with Lu Bai. His infiltration wasn't exactly silent, but Zhang Xiaotian had never once considered rejecting him. He was a little incredulous at how his life, once thought unchanging, had changed in just a few months. But then he realized it was all because of Lu Bai, and he wasn't surprised.

"When Xiaotian gets tired of you one day, you should behave yourself."

"You find me annoying? How is that possible..." Lu Bai argued with his neck stiff, but he caught a glimpse of Zhang Xiaotian smiling from the corner of his eye, and his tone became weaker again.

"You're almost holding hands with Xiaotian even when you're going to the bathroom," Yin Li said. "Please give him some private space."

Even if I'm used to it, I still feel a little reluctant to accept it. Zhang Xiaotian saw Lu Bai's inquiring look and nodded deliberately.

Then he watched Lu Bai's invisible dog ears droop down.

Yin Li waved her hand and added, "Alright, enough of the fuss. Let's meet at the entrance of the karaoke bar after 2pm, the one near the Meteorological Bureau."

Lu Bai originally wanted to go with Zhang Xiaotian, but Zhang Xiaotian refused.

"We're going to meet in the afternoon anyway, why are you going back and forth?"

Lu Bai opened his mouth and rarely stopped making trouble. Zhang Xiaotian was quite surprised. But when Zhang Xiaotian was about to reach the door of the karaoke bar, he saw Lu Bai standing at the door from a distance.

"I'm here." Lu Bai put away his phone as soon as he saw Zhang Xiaotian, and then explained, "Well... there are too many people in the room and I'm a little hot. I'm not waiting here on purpose..."

"Oh." Why are you saying this?

Zhang Xiaotian walked in and found that Lu Bai did not follow him. He turned around and saw Lu Bai still hanging around the door.

What are you doing?

Zhang Xiaotian looked at him and happened to meet Lu Bai's eyes when he turned around.

"Let's go?" Zhang Xiaotian said.

"Oh, I... well, I was worried that the students who were coming later wouldn't be able to find the private room, so I'm waiting at the door. You go in first, don't go to 206 by mistake."

Lu Bai waved at him through the door, then stood at the door with his hands in his pockets, blowing the wind like a lunatic.

Room 206 was easy to find. When Zhang Xiaotian entered, Yin Li was singing. Seeing Zhang Xiaotian coming in, she waved. Zhang Xiaotian nodded at her and glanced at the people in the room.

It looks like everyone is here... Is there anyone else who hasn’t come yet?

"Zhang Xiaotian! Sit here!" Lu Yibo called him, patting the empty space next to him vigorously. As soon as Zhang Xiaotian walked over, he was pulled to sit down.

"You're too late, we've already sung several songs!"

You came too early.

Zhang Xiaotian felt a little uneasy sitting next to a classmate whose name he could barely remember. He looked around at the few empty seats left in the room and asked Lu Yibo, "I see Lu Bai is still at the door. Let's save a seat for him."

"Why bother with him? There's no place for him to sit?" Lu Yibo was busy pouring drinks. "If there's no place for him to sit, he'll just stand. Who told him to come and not order any songs but stand outside the door?"

"He said he was waiting for the students who didn't come."

"Who hasn't arrived yet?" Lu Yibo looked up at the room. "Is everyone here? Anyway, everyone I know is here. Maybe Yin Li has called someone else?"

Zhang Xiaotian nodded. There were too many people here, and Zhang Xiaotian felt uncomfortable. He looked up and tried to find a corner with fewer people to sit in. He saw the door of the box open again, and Lu Bai walked in with a classmate whose name he could not remember.

Lu Bai glanced around before even entering the room, and paused after meeting Zhang Xiaotian's gaze. Just as Zhang Xiaotian was about to signal Lu Bai that he wanted to move, Lu Bai stalked over, shouting, "Come in, come in, it's lively!" and forced his way between Zhang Xiaotian and the stranger. The two were now incredibly close, and it seemed as if if they were any closer, Lu Bai would be sitting in Zhang Xiaotian's arms.

"Hey! Isn't there room over there? Why do you have to squeeze us in?" Lu Yibo pulled Zhang Xiaotian to the side and said, "Look at how you're squeezing people. Zhang Xiaotian, come over to me."

Zhang Xiaotian was pulled, and then the bodies leaning towards him on both sides were hot. He could no longer bear it, and jumped up like a carp. "I'm going to the bathroom." After saying that, he escaped from the box.

Only after standing outside did Zhang Xiaotian realize he'd overreacted a bit, but since the person had already left, there was nothing he could do. He decided to wash his hands and wait a while. That way, it would seem more genuine, and he could change seats on his way back. As he was walking to the bathroom, he turned a corner and ran into Han Chengcheng.

"You're just here, Xiaotian!" Han Chengcheng said with a smile, "The last one will have to sing later!"

"I don't know how..." Zhang Xiaotian was a little embarrassed, but he quickly realized, "Huh? Last one?"

"Yes, everyone is anxious to play, so they came early. As soon as they entered the room, they rushed to the song request stage. Before they finished singing the first song, they had already queued up dozens of songs to follow."

But just now Lu Bai said he was waiting for someone, and he did come in with another person.

"Only Lu Bai is not in a hurry. He said he was worried that you couldn't find a private room, so he had to wait for you." Han Chengcheng said.

By the time Zhang Xiaotian returned, Li An had already taken over the microphone. He'd chosen a familiar pop song and was getting everyone to sing along. Everyone in the room who could sing had already started, and Lu Yibo even asked for another microphone. Zhang Xiaotian didn't move to another seat, but returned to where he'd been sitting. Lu Bai had stuffed two cushions there to reserve his seat, and he was leaning against them, playing with his phone. Zhang Xiaotian walked over and kicked the tip of Lu Bai's shoe.

"I'm back!" Lu Bai raised his head suddenly and quickly moved the cushion away, revealing the seat that could barely accommodate one person.

The sofa was only this big, and no matter how much he adjusted it, it wouldn't make it any more spacious. Zhang Xiaotian had always avoided physical contact with others. In the past, in a situation like this, he probably wouldn't have bothered to consider whether it would spoil everyone's fun. He would have quickly fled to his own private space, or even simply not come at all, which was more in line with his style. But now, Lu Bai was pulling him in with such force, Zhang Xiaotian didn't know how many more attempts he dared to make with Lu Bai around.

Zhang Xiaotian thought, fortunately Lu Bai is sitting next to him, so it’s not too hard.

No, it’s not that lucky actually.

The dim lighting and noisy surroundings, which heightened emotions and blurred boundaries, had the opposite effect on Zhang Xiaotian. Crowded with people, Zhang Xiaotian felt his nerves become even more sensitive, especially on the side next to Lu Bai.

Just now, when Lu Yibo pulled Zhang Xiaotian to move to the side, Lu Bai also moved over there. Now their legs were tightly pressed together. Zhang Xiaotian felt that Lu Bai would be able to feel it if he moved a little.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't dare to move. More than that, he even slowed his breathing. His classmates' singing filled his ears like a flood, yet he didn't miss a single sound or movement from Lu Bai.

Lu Bai hadn't spoken since he sat down, just quietly leaning back on the sofa, playing with his phone. Occasionally, a classmate would chat with him, and he'd smile a little, then lower his head again. Having agreed so readily that morning, Zhang Xiaotian had expected him to have a blast. Exactly how much excitement was unpredictable, but at least it wouldn't be like this.

He's a little too quiet, Zhang Xiaotian thought.

Before Zhang Xiaotian could ask, Lu Bai made his move. He left the backrest of the sofa, his upper body swaying, and suddenly fell on Zhang Xiaotian's shoulder. Familiar smells and sounds rushed towards him, and Zhang Xiaotian was caught off guard and almost couldn't resist.

"How did you get here?" Lu Bai asked him.

"Take a taxi." Zhang Xiaotian cleared his throat.

"I took a taxi too." Lu Baimao rubbed his hot head, "Let's go together, and save a trip."

Zhang Xiaotian didn't know what to say. His neck felt a little itchy from being rubbed. He looked down at Lu Bai's phone interface. Lu Bai was flipping through his playlist on the music app.

"You..." As soon as Zhang Xiaotian opened his mouth, Lu Bai looked at him, as if he had been waiting for him to talk to him. Zhang Xiaotian cleared his throat again, "Did you order a song?"

"Not yet," Lu Bai showed him his phone, "see if there's anything you want to hear?"

"What..." Zhang Xiaotian stared at the phone that was pressed against him, his vision blurring. Lu Bai swiped slowly to allow him to see clearly, but suddenly, Zhang Xiaotian saw the image of Lu Bai entering the room.

He arrived early but didn't order any songs, he just ran out and stood there stupidly; but he wasn't that stupid, he still knew to use classmates he didn't know as a cover.

"Is there nothing you want to hear?" Lu Bai saw that he was silent for a long time, as if he suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly explained, "I can sing anything that's not here. No, I don't force you to choose..."

"This one," Zhang Xiaotian pointed at one of the songs. "I heard this one during self-study class last time."

"Oh!" Lu Bai was very happy. After ordering the song on his mobile phone, he quickly asked the classmate next to the song ordering station to help him. Then he crossed his legs and leaned on Zhang Xiaotian, tapping his toes to the rhythm.

"Who were you waiting for at the door just now?" Zhang Xiaotian asked him.

The feet stopped.

"Ah, no one... No, I'm waiting for that person, Jiang Yan."

Nonsense, Jiang Yan was already in the house.

Zhang Xiaotian didn't ask any more questions. Lu Bai's song happened to be on, and he quickly took the microphone and started singing properly, then secretly glanced at Zhang Xiaotian.

Someone around him continued to join in the quiet chorus. Zhang Xiaotian relaxed, leaning back against the backrest, observing Lu Bai's profile. The atmosphere, which had been irritating and uncomfortable moments before, now felt tranquil. The drumbeats gently yet unwaveringly struck Zhang Xiaotian's nerve endings, a vibration that seemed to effortlessly disintegrate something. Zhang Xiaotian was caught off guard, yet it also seemed as if he had anticipated it.

Maybe the song is too gentle.

As Lu Bai sang, he kept his eyes on Lü Yibo, who was holding the other microphone. As soon as he saw him raise his hand, he stopped him, fearing that Lü Yibo's hoarse voice would affect his performance. As soon as he finished singing, he handed the microphone over, leaned back next to Zhang Xiaotian, and asked him, as if to take credit, "How was it?"

very good.

If Zhang Xiaotian were to think about it, he could come up with any number of compliments, but at this moment, he felt a little embarrassed to speak them out loud. Zhang Xiaotian simply nodded, and Lu Bai seemed very happy. He then asked him, "Is there anything else you want to hear? Or if you find it boring, let's go first, and I'll take you home to play games."

"Anything is fine."

You can stay and hang out with everyone, or go back and play games, as long as we can still be together like this.

Why did he think this way? Zhang Xiaotian looked at Lu Bai's smiling eyes and pondered the answer in his mind.

Maybe it’s not all because of the song.