They were chatting about rather pointless topics, but neither of them found it boring.

Actually, the topic doesn't matter; what matters is who you talk to.

Seeing that it was already past eleven o'clock, Chen Bing had a bad feeling. She hadn't realized she'd been chatting with Xiao Shang for too long. She had originally intended to let the other person rest a bit more and stop studying…

Hmm, this seems like it might work?

Without dwelling on the issue, Chen Bing, realizing it was quite late, messaged Shang Yunmiao, telling her to go to sleep early.

Shang Yunmiao: Okay~ Goodnight, Chen Bing.

Chen Bing: Okay~ Goodnight, Shang Yunmiao.

After putting down her phone and waiting a while, Shang Yunmiao saw that Chen Bing really didn't send any more messages, so she sighed regretfully, then turned over and prepared to go to sleep.

Olympiad, Chen Bing, Tomorrow, Mathematics...

A jumble of thoughts appeared in Shang Yunmiao's mind, carrying her deeper into the night, and at some imperceptible moment, pulling her into an even deeper dream.

The next morning, not long after Chen Bing and he arrived at school, a teacher leading the group came to the classroom to look for them.

Picking up their pre-prepared schoolbags, the two followed behind their teacher and boarded the school bus provided by the school.

Originally, Shang Yunmiao wanted to sit with Chen Bing, but as soon as she got on the bus, Hao Meng and other girls she knew waved to her.

A considerable number of students from the first and second years of high school went to participate in the Olympiad. Including the three teachers who led the teams, there were a total of twenty-three people.

Fortunately, the school buses provided by the school were large enough, so although there were many people, everyone could sit comfortably. In fact, there were even some empty seats.

However, this is not entirely a good thing, because the empty seats have become an invisible and intangible barrier between the boys and girls.

After being forced to accept the fact that she was separated from Chen Bing, Shang Yunmiao hugged her schoolbag, sat down with Hao Meng and the others, and quickly started chatting.

Chen Bing was sitting with his relative Chen Yuan, and in front of him was Du Wendi, who seemed to be imparting his experience to another boy.

"Ice God, do you want Yuan?"

"What do I need you for?" Chen Bing asked, puzzled. She turned to look at Chen Yuan, who had spoken to her. She saw that the phone in Chen Yuan's hand was flashing white light, as if something was being activated.

Oh, the primordial spirit? I thought it was something else.

Chen Bing waved her hand, declining Chen Yuan's offer to play for a while, and then asked, "Is your relaxation level really that high? The Olympiad starts at three o'clock this afternoon, why don't you take advantage of this time to learn a bit?"

Shaking his head, Chen Yuan played with his already activated primordial spirit while talking to Chen Bing: "I'm usually a rather impetuous person, and I'm completely incapable of studying before exams. Anyway, I studied until 2 a.m. yesterday, and I feel about right. Now I should relax and take a nap later."

Upon hearing this, Chen Bing didn't say anything more. After all, everyone present was a brilliant and talented individual, and it was only natural that they had their own unique methods of learning and taking exams.

After watching Chen Yuan's Teyvat journey for a while, Chen Bing turned around and took out her phone and Bluetooth earphones from her bag.

Thinking that it was no fun listening to music alone, Chen Bing took out an earphone, got up and handed it to Shang Yunmiao.

After eliciting a burst of gossipy laughter from the girls, Chen Bing returned to her seat, put on her headphones, and started playing instrumental music that Shang Yunmiao liked.

Before he could quietly appreciate the elegant music, the ordinary people around him started chattering and asking him questions related to his studies.

After casually dealing with the situation for a while, Chen Bing heard Chen Yuan muttering something beside her.

I turned to look at him and saw that he had already put down his phone and was doing math problems. But... what was he saying? Was he explaining his problem-solving approach?

A little curious, Chen Bing calmed down and listened attentively for a moment.

Chen Yuan's voice wasn't very loud, and it took Chen Bing quite a while to understand what he was saying.

Oh, so he was reciting lines from his original spirit character, like something about being impregnable.

After all, his name contains the character "元" (Yuan), and he's a top student from a top-tier university with a strong absurdist background. It's understandable that he'd be a bit more of an anime/manga fan and more abstract in his personality.

Stopping thinking about the problem, Chen Bing took out her workbook from her bag, intending to review while listening to music.

However, what was unbearable was that Chen Yuan's voice as he spoke his lines grew louder and louder, and upon hearing this, Chen Bing couldn't help but recall his glorious years traveling on the continent of Teyvat.

Things have changed, and people are no longer the same. It's truly a case of wanting to buy osmanthus flowers and share wine, but it's nothing like the carefree days of youth.

Influenced by Chen Yuan, Chen Bing no longer wanted to sit next to him. She quickly got up, walked behind Shang Yunmiao, patted the girl on the shoulder, and led her to another quiet place to sit.

Of course, there were bound to be some teasing glances from classmates during the process, but Chen Bing, being thick-skinned, didn't care. He was mainly worried that Xiao Shang would feel embarrassed.

Fortunately, Shang Yunmiao had wanted to sit with Chen Bing for a long time, and although she felt embarrassed at the moment, she could still bear it.

After finding a secluded spot to sit down, Shang Yunmiao immediately snuggled happily into Chen Bing's arms.

After patting the girl's head in response, Chen Bing took out his workbook and started working on it with her.

Sure enough, this is still the most comfortable way.

The air was filled with Xiao Shang's sweet scent, and her shoulder was resting on a girl's soft body. What's more, there was the girl's soft voice and her adorable, gentle manner when asking questions. Wasn't this much better than sitting with those grown men?

Well, saying that might sound like I'm prioritizing romance over friendship.

After apologizing to Chen Yuan and the others in her heart, Chen Bing calmed down and continued to study the exercises with Shang Yunmiao.

Shangping is neither far nor close to downtown Chaojin City. At the current speed of the school bus, it takes about two and a half hours to get to the examination site.

There wasn't much scenery along the way; between cities, there was mostly farmland and the like. Occasionally, we passed through some villages and towns, but they were all pretty much the same.

An hour and a half after the vehicle departed, and after studying with Shang Yunmiao for an hour, Shang Yunmiao unconsciously became sleepy because she had gone to bed a little late the night before.

Noticing this, Chen Bing patted the girl's shoulder and then his own, indicating that she could use the pillow to sleep.

After smiling happily at Chen Bing, Shang Yunmiao did not refuse. She put down the exercises in her hand, turned her head to rest her head on the pillow.

Half an hour later, the vehicle entered the city of Chaojin, but its speed decreased, and it stopped frequently.

The road in Chaojin really needs repairs; it's been like this for years and the problem hasn't been fixed.

Looking at the traffic jam outside the car window, Chen Bing thought for a moment, and then, overcome by drowsiness, she leaned her head against Shang Yunmiao and soon fell asleep without even realizing it.

At midday in early June, the weather was still quite hot. Not only was the temperature high, but the sun on a sunny day was also so intense that it was hard to keep one's eyes open. Although he slept with his eyes closed, the strong sunlight still managed to penetrate Chen Bing's thin eyelids and enter his dreams.

In his daydream, Chen Bing didn't know why, but he always felt that there was something wrong with his eyes, which made him very uncomfortable. At the same time, he could only open his eyes a crack and see people with blurry light and shadow.

This feeling was very uncomfortable, but fortunately, after a while, a cloud drifted leisurely across the sky and blocked out the sun.

Strangely enough, in his dream, Chen Bing clearly felt that the problem was with his eyes, but when the sun was covered by clouds, his eyes also got better.

He blinked his sore eyes, not thinking much in his dream, but simply picking up his pen to prepare for the upcoming math preliminary competition.

The flow of time seemed to have gone awry. Perhaps some powerful being had used their abilities, but in any case, during the time Chen Bing took out his pen, time flew by, and in no time at all, half of the exam time had passed.

Chen Bing slapped his head in frustration, thinking that he should have known better than to use a pen.

Since there was no going back, it was better to focus on dealing with the future. Calming down, Chen Bing flipped through the Olympiad exam papers, checking the difficulty level.

The math Olympiad questions this year were all simple first-grade math problems, like "one plus one equals one." Overjoyed, Chen Bing picked up her pen and finished answering all the questions in just two minutes.

Overjoyed, he recognized the person sitting in front of him taking the exam as Shang Yunmiao.

Chen Bing thought to himself, "Shang Yunmiao should have no problem with such simple questions." To be absolutely sure, he decided to help her. So, he stood up and walked over to her to check her answers.

Then, Chen Bing was surprised to find that Shang Yunmiao hadn't solved a single problem.

"You can't answer a single question?" Chen Bing asked in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Shang Yunmiao replied with a pitiful expression, "I've only been practicing difficult problems; I can't do something this simple."

Chen Bing thought it made sense, but there was no time to teach her how to do simple problems, so she had to tell her the answer step by step.

Unfortunately, the proctor did not allow him to do so. After criticizing Chen Bing, the proctor ordered Chen Bing to sit back in his seat.

Time passed by, and just as Chen Bing was scratching her head in frustration, not knowing what to do, she suddenly woke up from her dream, and was even woken up by someone.

Upon realizing that Chen Bing had woken up, Shang Yunmiao's face suddenly flushed red, and she slowly withdrew her movements.

Still dazed, Chen Bing first glanced at Xiao Shang, then touched her wet lips.

So, you little rascal, you sneaked some food while I was asleep, huh?

Before Chen Bing could utter her condemnation, Shang Yunmiao waved her small hands and quickly defended herself, saying, "No, no, it was you, Chen Bing, who told me to do this."

Based on Chen Bing's understanding of Shang Yunmiao, she didn't seem like the type to lie. Could it be that he really was talking in his sleep and asked this little girl to kiss him?

After recalling that hazy dream, Chen Bing felt it seemed unlikely.

But never mind, we kissed, it's not a big deal.

After generously forgiving Shang Yunmiao, Chen Bing stretched her slightly tired body, which was feeling a bit fatigued from sleeping for so long, and asked Shang Yunmiao what time it was.

"It's already noon, but the car is stuck in traffic and hasn't moved for a long time."

I slept for an hour and a half? That's a long time.

"How long have you been awake?"

"I arrived more than ten minutes earlier than Chen Bing."

"So you're taking advantage of me during this time?" Chen Bing teased Shang Yunmiao with a smile, getting the response he wanted. Shang Yunmiao blushed and said cutely, "No, I didn't, Chen Bing, don't talk nonsense."

After smiling with satisfaction at the girl's reaction, Chen Bing took out her water bottle from her bag, opened it, and took a sip for herself and Xiao Shang respectively.

Just as Chen Bing finished screwing the cup on and was about to put it back, the long-stalled car slowly started moving again and drove off the congested main road at an intersection. After turning two more corners, the car slowly came to a stop. Just as Chen Bing thought there would be another traffic jam, a bright gate stood in front of her outside the car window, with the words "Chaojin City No. 1 Middle School" written in gilded characters on it.

Shaking his head, Chen Bing thought to himself that the reputation was undeserved. Turning his head to look at the students from Shangping Experimental High School sitting in the car, Chen Bing silently nodded to himself, thinking that they were far ahead.

After making a little joke to himself, Chen Bing observed the expressions of the people in the car with great interest. Some were longing, some were indifferent, and it didn't seem very interesting. It would be better to play with his little merchant.

As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, the teacher who had been chatting in the front got up and told them some things to be aware of. The content was roughly the same as last year. Then they were led off the vehicle and closer to the top middle school in Asatsu City.

After revealing their identities, they were led by a teacher from the school to the school cafeteria for a meal. Just like the hospitality provided by the host before a sect competition, after the meal, the group was taken to a small classroom to rest.

During this time, the teacher from No. 1 Middle School even chatted with Chen Bing for a couple of minutes, just like he had experienced last year.

"No wonder you're called the Ice God, everyone knows you wherever you go." As soon as we settled in the classroom, one of our companions remarked with admiration.

"After all, he's number one in the city. I bet Ice God must be feeling really resentful about Chaojin No.1 Middle School."

After a few laughs, Chen Bing didn't say much. He secretly held Shang Yunmiao's hand and said a few more words to everyone before getting up to go to the restroom.

The teaching building, so different from Shangping Experimental School, really made it hard for Chen Bing to find. Just as he was lost and didn't know where to go, he happened to see a lone student wandering around in the corridor.

After all, being thick-skinned isn't social anxiety, so Chen Bing didn't hesitate much before stepping forward to ask the person for directions to the restroom.

"Excuse me, where is the restroom?"

The man, holding an unidentified book, looked up at Chen Bing curiously after hearing his question.

Upon seeing the boy in a school uniform so different from his own, the boy asked, "Are you here to participate in the Olympiad?"