accelerate
Ou Liyao slapped her forehead. She really couldn't remember anything, she could even forget something as small as passing on a message to her senior.
Fortunately, she could salvage the situation. She watched the second hand on her watch count down and grabbed Zhang Yuning just as the evening self-study bell rang, asking him to wait up and go to the cafeteria for supper together, which was on the treat of her senior, Wenxue.
Zhang Yuning, who was originally going to show off at the street dance club, had to turn back and asked Zhuo Hui, the class monitor who was also in the street dance club, to help her get a leave of absence.
Seeing that he nodded in agreement, she skipped over to the next class to call her best friend to have dinner together in the cafeteria, saying that someone was treating and that she should hurry up and pack her things.
By the time Ou Liyao arrived late, holding Xu Changjia's hand with her left hand and dragging Zhang Yuning with her right, the bowl of noodles in the literary scholar's bowl was almost empty.
"Hey, you're here! Hurry up and eat, or the freshly grilled meat will get cold." Seeing that they were one person short, Wen Xuanyi slurped his noodles while pushing the barbecue he had ordered for them forward with his other hand, looking a little sad, before continuing to eat.
The three kids opposite him were quite formidable fighters; he knew this from the time the four of them ate over three hundred yuan worth of his meat in Mengshan, so he specially ordered a large table of barbecue for them. Seeing that they had almost finished eating, he finally started a conversation, "Ruoqian came to see me before he left."
Even before the profound truths spoken by the literary master arrived, Zheng Ruoqian's phone rang incessantly on the table.
With three little heads peering over expectantly, Wen Xuanyi pressed the answer button.
He called specifically to let them know he was safe and sound, and to tell them that he had settled in H country.
Xu Changjia and his friends can't bring their phones to school. He made an appointment with his senior classmate, Wenxue, to stay a little longer when he was transferring classes so that he would have a chance to talk to his three friends.
It was only then that the group realized that when he decided when to go to H country, he had already planned to bring Ou Liyao back to the experimental class, but he didn't know if there was any precedent for this.
After much thought, he realized there was someone who could help him, so he specially invited his senior, Wenxue, to dinner before the New Year to ask him if it was possible to do so.
Wenxue Chang said it wasn't a big problem, and their homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, was also easy to talk to, so he left the matter to him. It was at this time that Wen Xuanyi also learned that he was going to H country to pursue his musical dreams. Combining this with what happened in Mengshan earlier, he suddenly understood something and praised him.
Zheng Ruoqian and his mother have settled in H country. Today is his first day reporting to the company, where he has been assigned to start vocal and dance lessons.
His mother's idea was that he should read books and do exercises in his spare time so that he could come back to take the college entrance examination later. After all, his student status was still retained at No. 1 High School, so it would give him more options.
His three friends tried various ways to comfort him, telling him not to worry too much about his studies, that they would keep his test papers and other materials and send them to him regularly, so that he could stay in H country with peace of mind and make something of himself. They then asked him a few more questions about his situation there and were relieved to learn that he was doing well.
Wen Xuanyi chimed in at the opportune moment, saying that he had already fulfilled his promise and could now focus on studying vocal music and dance in H country. They were looking forward to seeing him on television one day.
Zheng Ruoqian readily agreed, "Okay."
They were an hour behind H country, and didn't want their kids to stay up too late. Wenxuanyi watched them say goodbye several times on their phones, so he grabbed the phone and joined in, ending the call with his own voice before decisively hanging up.
Seeing that they weren't very interested, he casually asked, "That little guy Zheng Ruoqian has already figured out his future path: to become an idol and a shining star on stage. What about you guys?"
"Let's not talk about anything far away, let's talk about something closer to home. How many points do you want to get on the college entrance exam? Which university do you want to apply to?"
Xu Changjia blurted out almost subconsciously, "Which university did the Literature Master attend?"
"North Shore University."
Zhang Yuning spoke first, continuing, "I don't have any high goals either. I also miss Beian University and will try to get a higher score on the college entrance exam than you."
Wen Xuanyi patted him on the shoulder, "I'll be waiting for you on the North Shore. Good luck and get over 730 on the exam."
He glanced at his watch; it was getting late, so he took them back to their dorm. Before leaving, he emphasized to the two girls, who didn't yet have any clear goals, to think carefully about their future paths. He stressed that at least how many points they wanted to get and which university they wanted to attend were things they could decide and work hard for.
Wenxuanyi's vacation is almost over, and the next time he comes back will be during summer vacation. I can't help but nag a bit more about these younger brothers and sisters that I have always taken care of, and I don't want them to go astray.
Ou Liyao hadn't thought about the long journey; she just wanted to be happy and have school every day. She simply agreed without taking it to heart.
But Xu Changjia is different. She has memories of her past life and bloody lessons. She knows that every word Wenxue Chang says is true. She also wants to live each day to the fullest and fight for her own life.
Every day the sun rises, the spring buds outside the classroom grow bigger and bigger, like shoots sprouting.
Time seemed to have been sped up at this moment. Xu Changjia, who used to be able to find joy in passing notes during class, now spends his days memorizing from the moment he opens his eyes. He doesn't even waste a single minute during breaks between classes, either organizing notes or doing practice questions. He even uses the fifteen-minute break between classes to memorize a few more words from his pocket book, as if wasting a minute would be a sin.
Seeing Xu Changjia like this, Ou Liyao felt a pang of heartache. It had been a long time since she had seen Xu Changjia laugh heartily. She tried several times to pull her out of the classroom for a walk, but the answer was always: "Wait a bit, I'll come after I finish this problem."
And so they waited until the school bell rang, and the same thing happened again in the next class.
She used to be able to drag her to the cafeteria as soon as class ended, but now, in order to study more, Xu Changjia would rather wait an extra fifteen minutes before going to the cafeteria to eat cold food. She has been eating with her for almost a semester now.
Zhang Yuning saw Ou Liyao, who was sulking, come back from the direction of the next class several times, and couldn't help but ask: Did Xu Changjia go to the toilet with you again?
Ou Liyao turned to the side and began to complain bitterly, "Yeah, Zhang, you know, Jiajia has been doing quite well in the last few exams, always ranking around tenth in the grade. Why can't she stop and let herself catch her breath?"
“Jiajia and I shared a dorm room. That night, she was doing her homework in the dorm. I noticed that her eyelids were drooping, so she pinched herself hard and went to the balcony to let the cold wind blow on her to wake herself up. She then did half a math test.”
"We're here to go to school, there's no need to work so hard and eat cold food every day, is there?"
Ou Liyao didn't understand why she was working so hard. Zhang Yuning was someone who was used to enjoying life, so she naturally couldn't understand why Xu Changjia had to work so hard. Wasn't it enough to just do enough?
Just like him, he doesn't really care if he doesn't get first place in the grade in a monthly exam once in a while.
Ou Liyao couldn't understand it more and more, so she suddenly leaned closer to him and said mysteriously, "Why don't you call Zheng Ruoqian when you have time and ask him? He and Jiajia are quite close, so he might know why."
Zhang Yuning thought it was a brilliant idea and agreed without even thinking about it. As soon as get out of class ended at noon, she ran to the teachers' office, borrowed a phone, and called Zheng Ruoqian.
Based on the timing, he should have just finished eating and have time to answer the phone and chat for a while.
Zheng Ruoqian knew that Zhang Yuning was the type of person who wouldn't come to his door without a reason, so he got straight to the point and asked what he wanted to see him about.
He explained the crux of the matter in just a few words, and Zheng Ruoqian only needed to think for a moment to know where the key point was. He asked him, "Did Senior Wenxue say something to you guys when we were eating in the cafeteria that day?"
Is this the college entrance exam? Which university do you want to attend?
Zhang Yuning was somewhat confused. Weren't these things things she could do with just a wave of her hand? Was it worth her working so hard?
“Yu Ning, not everyone is a child prodigy like you. From childhood to adulthood, you can win awards as long as you want to, and you can understand the questions on the test paper as long as you look at them a few more times. But you also have to allow for the existence of ordinary people like us.”
“Xu Changjia and I are both people who need to work hard to reach a certain height, and of course, it is possible that we may not reach it. But she also has her own unwillingness to accept defeat, so she wants to get closer to her hope and wants to give her all for it. We are her friends, and we just need to support her.”
Zhang Yuning suddenly remembered when they were in the same dormitory. It seemed that he was sitting opposite him with a comic book in his arms. When he stopped to drink some water and eat a snack, he casually glanced at Zheng Ruoqian's test paper and saw that he had written a question wrong. How did he do it back then?
They mocked him mercilessly—yes, they mocked him.
How could you get such a simple problem wrong? Try substituting the formula back in and pay attention to the decimal point.
Did that arrogant feeling unknowingly cause Zheng Ruoqian a lot of harm?
There was no sound on the other end of the phone, only faint breathing could be heard. Zheng Ruoqian seemed to see right through him. "I'm so glad to be your friend. It's an honor to know such a smart person. It also made me realize that people are different."
Zhang Yuning's throat tightened, and he choked up a little. It was as if he suddenly understood why he had been disliked by everyone all these years. He was so cold and ruthless, so arrogant and looked down on the whole world. Who would treat him sincerely?
"Thank you for being my friend." Zhang Yuning hurriedly hung up the phone. As he turned around, his eyes were a little red. He could only try to look up at the sky, but why did the glaring sunlight make him shed tears?
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