23 Chapter Twenty-Two (Two Updates Combined)

She said even my farts smelled good.

For the past two weeks since Li Yingqiao returned home, she hasn't left the house. Apart from a trip to the cemetery last week, she's spent the rest of her time binge-watching anime series, catching up on those she missed due to work over the past few years. Finally, after two consecutive all-nighters, she suffered heatstroke.

Actually, she was quite healthy and rarely suffered from heatstroke when she was young, while Yu Jinyang often got red welts from being pounded by her. But since starting high school, under the pressure of academics, she began to neglect exercise and suffered from heatstroke every few days, especially in her senior year, when even cupping therapy wasn't enough to cure it. On the other hand, Yu Jinyang, who consistently practiced dance, rarely suffered from heatstroke anymore.

So she secretly vowed that she must pass the exam, she must pass the exam, she must pass the exam and get into a prestigious university.

Actually, the release of the 2016 college entrance examination results in S Province was quite lively. Besides the dark horse from Qingyi High School who single-handedly caused the enrollment rate of Ruijun High School to skyrocket for the next few years, and the prodigy from Qingyi No. 1 High School who scored 700 points on the raw exam but almost had to be sent abroad by his parents because he didn't take the elective subject exam—

That year, Fengtan Middle School unexpectedly produced a dark horse, even surpassing a group of liberal arts prodigies from Qingyi Zongshan, and won the top liberal arts score in S Province that year. Moreover, he is the only provincial champion in Fengtan and even the entire Nanlai City to date.

This person was Li Yingqiao's deskmate, named Fang Yue. She was from the same hometown as them and was one of the first batch of people in the town to be relocated due to demolition. However, she did not move to Xiaohua City, but went to the countryside to study with her grandfather. She was not as lucky as Li Yingqiao and relied entirely on her own efforts to get into Tanzhong High School.

Fang Yue was always quiet and reserved, but on the day the college entrance exam ended, she unusually left her ID card and exam admission ticket number with Li Yingqiao, asking her to check her scores, and then disappeared without a trace. However, on the day the scores were released, Li Yingqiao couldn't find Fang Yue's scores; her scores had been locked, and all she knew was that her ranking was in the top fifty in the province.

Four days after the scores were locked, Li Yingqiao learned about Fang Yue's grades from the homeroom teacher, Lao Mi. However, she still couldn't contact Fang Yue herself. Fearing that she might miss the best time to fill out her college application, Li Yingqiao took Yu Jinyang and a few others to the countryside to look for Fang Yue that very night.

Fang Yue hadn't left her her phone number, or even her specific address. Instead, Yu Jinyang, after a moment of silence, said he might know where Fang Yue lived.

It was drizzling that night. As soon as they got off the minibus, they walked along the muddy yellow path towards Fang Yue's house. The rain was fine and dense, and soon their shoes were covered with mud. Zheng Miaojia and Gao Dian had never been to such a remote countryside before. The dark fields stretched as far as the eye could see, and there wasn't a single house in sight.

The two walked cautiously, asking Yu Jinyang how much further it was every few steps.

Yu Jinyang always replied calmly, "Soon."

Later, Li Yingqiao couldn't help but ask how much further it was.

Yu Jinyang replied casually, "Two minutes."

He coaxed and tricked them all the way, and amidst the croaking of frogs, the three of them stumbled along the seemingly endless country road.

Li Yingqiao had never been here before either. Looking down at her newly bought white sneakers, she couldn't help but feel sad. How could she have imagined that she would end up in such a desolate place when looking for Fang Yue? She was a little annoyed, thinking that she should have changed her shoes before coming here.

However, Fang Yue was not at home. There was only a woman with disheveled hair and seemingly difficulty walking in the mud-brick house. She was sitting on a low stool, holding a corncob and coaxing a child. When she heard that they had come to see Fang Yue again, she grabbed a broom from the side and tried to chase them out.

Gao Dian, being the tallest and largest target, was hit the most frequently. He was chased all over the house by Fang Yue's mother. Later, Li Yingqiao loudly announced that they were just Fang Yue's classmates and that the college entrance exam results were out! Only then did Fang Yue's mother stop. After staring intently at Yu Jinyang next to her for a few seconds, she suddenly turned and went into the house, grabbed a red plastic bag containing money, and threw it at Yu Jinyang, saying, "I recognize you. Don't come again. Don't come again!"

Ignoring what they were saying, he shoved them, money and all, out the door.

They had no choice but to walk back along the quiet, dark country road they had come from. They weren't as afraid as before; even the croaking of frogs sounded somewhat comforting. The rain had just stopped, and the moon was slowly emerging again, its outline gleaming over the mountains.

Under the pale glow of the waning moon, it seemed as if the last warmth was caressing the outline of the mountain. The once majestic ridge now appeared gaunt and barren under the clear moonlight.

The group looked up at the sky together, then sighed in unison.

Why.

On the way back, Gao Dian finally couldn't help but ask Yu Jinyang, "Meow boy, how did you know Fang Yue's house is here? Does she owe you money?"

“Her dad used to work at my dad’s factory. He was the one who started the strike at the factory. My dad and I visited their house a few times, and it was only after we arrived that we realized this was Fang Yue’s house. Once, my dad was showing off his driving skills and said he was going to drive the car to Fang Yue’s house. As a result, the wheel got stuck in a ditch, and grass hasn’t grown in that spot since.”

Yu Jinyang walked slowly, glancing at the roadside. The others followed his gaze. Sure enough, there was a patch of sparse, drooping weeds in a wasteland beside the gully, resembling alopecia areata, a highly hereditary condition that is difficult to cure.

"What a disaster," Gao Dian sighed, "...that guy, did he put back the tree he knocked over when we started school last time?"

"I planted an apple tree. I was scolded by the traffic police, so I obediently planted a sycamore instead."

“What was your dad thinking? It’s already congested over there, and then he puts an apple tree there. If it bears fruit, everyone passing by will have to stop and pick one.”

He said he was worried we'd get hungry during class.

"..."

"…………"

After walking for nearly half the distance, Li Yingqiao remained silent. Yu Jinyang glanced at her, slowed his pace, and said, "Still thinking about Fang Yue? You're always running around busy with other people's affairs. Don't let it interfere with your own."

“How could that be?” Li Yingqiao said without looking up, focusing on avoiding the small mud puddles on the road. “Teacher Liang and Zhu Xiaoliang have already analyzed it for me, it won’t be delayed.”

"That's right, you are tenth in the province after all. I admit defeat. Zhu Xiaoliang's hands were shaking when he was on the phone with Hu Zheng. I've never seen him so excited in all the time I've known him."

Li Yingqiao glanced at him and remembered, "No wonder you were standing motionless by the fish tank, protecting the goldfish."

Yu Jinyang chuckled, put his hands in his pockets, and said with a rare hint of sarcasm, "To be honest, I've been against Teacher Liang keeping goldfish from the very beginning."

Li Yingqiao chuckled, "So later, every time we came in for tutoring, the first thing you did was go to the fish tank and count the goldfish? Fang Yue said you were a bit odd. She didn't believe Zhu Xiaoliang would eat them."

"Then tell me, do I have a problem?" Yu Jinyang asked.

“A little.” Li Yingqiao replied without hesitation.

"..."

He was unhappy and was glaring at her coldly.

Li Yingqiao laughed: "It can't be that serious, meow, why are you being so petty now?"

“Such petty nitpicking?” he said. “Li Yingqiao, then don’t forget that you owe me 338,250 words in your self-criticism.”

"Keep it to yourself. Come to Beijing and ask for it if you dare."

She spoke in a playful, shameless tone, as if she were someone who didn't care about being in debt or having too many lice.

"..."

"Meow, remember to come visit me in Beijing."

"No, I don't associate with people who have credit problems. You're on my credit blacklist."

"Then let me out."

"Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand—"

"Keep it black, keep it black, never contact each other again for the rest of your life."

"You said it."

"I said it!"

“Your words are like farts,” he said.

"You not only fart, but your farts even have UA in them!" Li Yingqiao retorted in his ear, "Yes, yes, yes, Yu Miaomiao, your farts are the most A! Is that okay now?"

Yu Jinyang: "……………………"

Fang Yue joined them in her senior year of high school.

To be honest, if Fang Yue hadn't achieved such a stunning result that year, attracting everyone's attention, Li Yingqiao's results would have been unexpectedly impressive in 2016 as well. She went from paying her way into Tanzhong High School to surprising everyone in the second year of high school by directly entering the top ten of the humanities key class in the class placement exam. After that, she consistently ranked in the top ten of the grade. At that time, Fang Yue's results were not even as good as hers.

Fang Yue was assigned to the same humanities class as Li Yingqiao after the division of arts and sciences in the second year of high school. Fang Yue was very introverted and would avoid class activities as much as possible. This was because Fang Yue had a dark blue birthmark on her left cheek that covered half of her face. In junior high school, she was ostracized and isolated by her classmates in the countryside because of this birthmark.

After being admitted to Tanzhong High School, Fang Yue felt that she was not very sociable, so she took the initiative to ask the teacher to let her sit in the corner of the last row by the classroom window. This way, the birthmark on her left cheek would only face out the window and no one would notice it. She spent her first year of high school peacefully like this.

After being assigned to the humanities class in her second year of high school, the humanities teachers were unwilling to give her this special treatment because Fang Yue's long-term malnutrition had resulted in her being rather short, and the back rows were basically occupied by tall boys.

Fengtan does not allow boys and girls to sit at the same table. Even if an exception is made for her, no boy is willing to sit with her in that corner for two years without moving.

After all, in the midst of a dull and monotonous academic life, occasionally moving your seat might just land you in front of someone you like, and you might even wake up earlier the week you're a little closer to them.

If a boy is actually willing to stay with her without moving, that would be even worse; the teacher would have to carefully consider his motives.

Fortunately, there was Li Yingqiao in the class at that time. She was not short and had a cheerful personality. Mina talked to her about Fang Yue, and she was prepared to be rejected, but she didn't expect Li Yingqiao to agree so readily, which moved Mina very much.

I thought that Li Yingqiao's personality would help Fang Yue integrate into the group, but unexpectedly, Fang Yue made Li Yingqiao withdrawn as well. In their senior year of high school, the two of them hardly participated in any class activities and spent all their time doing practice problems and reading books.

What Mina didn't know was that Li Yingqiao had brought Fang Yue into their own tutoring group. Under Zhu Xiaoliang's endless math torment, Yu Jinyang's tireless explanations of English grammar, the support of Miao Jia's lifelike paintings, the stimulation of Li Yingqiao's various insect specimens, and finally the passionate encouragement of Gao Dian's seal-like clapping—Fang Yue's grades improved by leaps and bounds, her ranking rising from around 100th in the whole school to the top ten. Fang Yue's weaknesses were too obvious, and English was her weakest point. Once she overcame this weakness, her grades improved significantly.

On the day the results of the final mock exam were released, Fang Yue's total score had exceeded 700.

Li Yingqiao was the first to see the results. As soon as she arrived at Liang Mei's house, she couldn't wait to take out the test paper and show it off to Yu Jinyang and the others: "Look, look, this is the first time I've seen such a high score. Fang Yue, if you can get this score in the college entrance examination, you're guaranteed to get into S University in our province."

Before Yu Jinyang and the others could express their opinions, Li Yingqiao immediately spotted a few more points where she shouldn't have lost marks, and circled them with her pen.

"How could you still get this wrong? You shouldn't have lost points on these parts of the cloze test. You're so careless. You must check your work more often for the college entrance exam. Maybe you can make it into the top ten in the province."

Li Yingqiao was most obsessed with studying during the last few months of her senior year. Completely captivated by Fang Yue's impressive scores, she would eagerly analyze each of Fang Yue's mistakes on her English test, saying things like, "Look, this 'While' here indicates concession or transition, not an adverb of time. You shouldn't have gotten this wrong! I've explained it so many times, and Gao Dian got it all right—"

Gao Dian looked down at his test paper, which had so many crosses he could go fishing in the river, scratched his head and said, "I don't even know I chose the right one, I just guessed."

Without looking up, Li Yingqiao pointed out the points Fang Yue shouldn't have lost, while patiently explaining to him, "You guessed right once before too. English is about feeling. If you can guess right the first time, you can guess right the second time. If you guess a few more times, you'll develop a feel for it and a gut feeling. It's no different from knowing how to do this question."

After saying that, she pointed at Fang Yue and said, "But you can't guess. Generally, top students like us know a lot of distracting information, so it's easy for us to make the wrong choice."

...

Finally, they found Fang Yue in an internet cafe. Fang Yue had been working there for almost half a month since finishing her college entrance exams, watching computers during the day and sleeping for two hours at night on a cot set up under the counter. There were several college admission brochures on the cot, and seeing this, Li Yingqiao knew that she must have checked her scores herself.

Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. However, she was exhausted from searching for people these past few days and had barely slept at night, fearing that Fang Yue would miss her application deadline. Unable to control her temper, she blurted out, "You should know your scores by now. The admissions office at University A has been to your house several times. The teachers are frantic, they can't reach you no matter what they do! What are you doing! Fang Yue, everyone is worried about you, and you're hiding here! Let me remind you again, the final deadline is 5:30 pm tomorrow. If you miss it, you'll be crying! Okay, you've finished what you asked me to do."

A group of people stormed in and immediately started berating Fang Yue. The internet cafe manager, thinking Fang Yue had made a mistake with the bill, was about to speak when Zhu Xiaoliang and Liang Mei pulled him aside. Several children stood dumbfounded by the counter, surrounding Fang Yue. Li Yingqiao glared at her fiercely, still demanding an explanation from Fang Yue: "What are you thinking? Are you hiding because you did poorly on the exam? Or what? You could at least have told me something! You didn't say anything and just asked me to check your grades. After getting such a bad score, you've disappeared! We're about to call the police!"

Fang Yue remained silent; she had never been good at expressing herself. Her fingertips turned white from pressing on the counter, and her throat felt like it was blocked by a burning coal. She looked at Yu Jinyang, then at Li Yingqiao, her ears burning red all the way down to her neck. The more anxious she became, the less she knew how to explain herself.

Yu Jinyang pulled Li Yingqiao behind him and whispered to her, "Calm down."

Then he turned around and handed Fang Yue a red plastic bag that he had taken from Fang Yue's mother. The calmer and more indifferent his gaze was, the more Fang Yue's face turned ashen.

He said, "We went to your house before, and this is what your mother gave us. I counted all the money in there in front of them; it was exactly eight hundred. I'm keeping it here for the next few days; I haven't touched it. You can count it yourself. If anything happens, you can let us know, and we'll figure something out together. Li Yingqiao is just worried you'll miss your college application deadline. She hasn't even been working on her own application these past few days; she's been looking for you the whole time. She might have been a bit blunt, but please don't mind. Fang Yue, have you filled out your application yet?"

Under Yu Jinyang's unhurried guidance, Fang Yue finally found the entry point and the quickest way to answer the question: "It's filled out."

Li Yingqiao visibly breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk out: "Then I'm not going to bother with you anymore. Next time, don't just leave someone with something and disappear without a word."

"Li Yingqiao!" Fang Yue called out to her hurriedly, "I only asked you to check my grades because I thought you would be happy to see them."

"What's so great about me—" Li Yingqiao took two steps out, then turned back to glare at her, and strode back in two steps, saying, "I've been so scared of you these past two days, my heart is pounding. I have no idea what you're thinking, Fang Yue, is something wrong? Are your family going to sell you?"

Fang Yue shook her head and hurriedly said, "No, no, I just wanted to work to earn some living expenses for college and asked you to help me check my grades. I thought I did very well and that you would be happy to see my results, so I left you my exam admission ticket number. Because I don't have a cell phone, I... didn't know how to contact you. I didn't know you would be so anxious. I'm sorry, Li Yingqiao."

Gao Dian said, "Oh? Then let's go to your house. Your mother is very fierce. She swept me wildly with a broom."

Fang Yue said, "My mother's mental state is not good. She probably thinks you are debt collectors coming to our door. Yu Jinyang has been to my house before, so she may have mistaken Yu Jinyang for the son of my father's creditor."

"..."

"..."

"..."

ah--

Li Yingqiao looked up at the ceiling of the internet cafe and let out a long howl. She then climbed over the counter, grabbed Fang Yue's neck with both hands, and shook her violently back and forth, gritting her teeth and spitting out each word: "Fang Yue! Ah, I'm speechless. I really want to strangle you."

Fang Yue blushed even more from being shaken, looking like an overcooked shrimp, its flesh almost dry.

After a while, Li Yingqiao finally released her grip and said, "You should have said so earlier! I could have left you my phone number! If all else fails, you could have gone to Liang Mei's place to find me! Besides, with your grades, even if I didn't want to know, I would have found out immediately, okay?"

"Well... I never expected I'd do this on the exam—"

Li Yingqiao breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her again: "It's alright, it's alright, it's good that you're okay. You scared me to death. I thought you were kidnapped like Miaomiao was during her high school entrance exam. It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright. Do you get paid well here?"

Liang Mei, Zhu Xiaoliang, and Yu Jinyang exchanged a silent glance, all seeing a hint of shared misery in each other's eyes—Li Yingqiao, who was as stubborn as a mule in front of the three of them, turned out to be so easy to coax in front of the provincial top scorer.

"It's alright, I can make a hundred a day," Fang Yue said.

"If you want to make money, come to me. I'll show you how."

“Yes, you should ask Qiaoqiao, she has connections!” Zheng Miaojia finally chimed in, “She can get my Chinese textbooks for a high price at the flea market.”

"They're all muscular Li Bai and muscular Du Fu, people have never even seen them before. How could they not fetch a high price?" Li Yingqiao said. "They're still too cheap. Miaojia, you'll definitely be a great painter in the future. She's also painted bald Gao Dian and bald Yu Jinyang. Hahaha—"

After a lively discussion, Fang Yue suddenly remembered the two girls' grades: "Yu Jinyang, Gao Dian, what about you two?"

Zheng Miaojia raised her hand and introduced them to Fang Yue one by one with great emotion: "One is the guy who's always stuck in the crotch, and the other is the perennial third-place guy."

Gaodian: "..."

Yu Jinyang: "…………"

Fengtan Middle School has a high rate of students admitted to top universities each year, with at least 400 students. However, the proportion of students admitted to the top 100 in the province is very small. In fact, fewer than five students from Fengtan Middle School can enter the top 100 in the province each year. However, in 2016, ten students from Fengtan Middle School made it into the top 100.

In the humanities stream, Fengtan students shone brightly, with two students occupying the top ten spots, and the rest ranking outside the top fifty. Yu Jinyang ranked 84th in the province and 3rd in the county in the science stream, the same ranking he achieved in the elementary school entrance exam. Gao Dian, just like in the high school entrance exam, scored exactly the cutoff score for key universities.

They had already gone home by then. Gao Dian had gone to his house to enjoy the air conditioning and was still laughing at him for being the perennial third wheel, even seriously reminding him not to be anyone's mistress in the future. Yu Jinyang had just finished dancing and was sitting cross-legged on the dance studio floor, covered in sweat. Hearing Gao Dian fiddling with his vinyl record, he grabbed it from behind with one hand and said coldly, "Brother Kadang, do you have a problem with that?"

"..."

“Li Yingqiao is right, you’re being a bit petty now, Miaozai.” Gao Dian turned around and shamelessly put his arm around Miaozai’s shoulder.

"Get away," Yu Jinyang shook him off, not letting him touch her, and put all the records back with her head down. "She also said that even my farts smell good, how come you didn't remember that?"

“Really? That’s what she said? But she also said,” Gao Dian said, “you’re too short, you’re not her type at all.”

[Author's Note]

See you tomorrow! We'll meet again at the barbershop tomorrow. I expect two updates tomorrow, and the update time will be similar to today.

Two hundred red envelopes today! Have a great weekend!