College Entrance Examination
It was early June, and the weather was already quite hot. The sun shone brightly on the campus of No. 1 Middle School, bringing an unusual quiet and solemnity.
The first exam room was located in the easternmost classroom on the top floor of the teaching building. The windows were open, and an occasional breeze blew in, ruffling the light blue curtains. The air was filled with disinfectant, old books, and a tense atmosphere.
Lin Xiyan found his seat, in the middle of the window row. He put down his transparent pencil case, which contained his admission ticket, ID card, and several of his most comfortable pens. His fingers subconsciously curled up, their tips feeling a little cold.
He raised his head and looked diagonally forward almost instinctively.
Jiang Yibai sat there, a row away. He wore a simple white, short-sleeved school uniform, his back straight as he stared down at the table. His profile looked a bit cold and hard in the bright light. He seemed to sense the gaze behind him and glanced back quickly and calmly.
Their eyes met briefly in the air.
Jiang Yibai's eyes remained calm as usual, but Lin Xiyan could clearly detect a fleeting, subtle hint of comfort and encouragement within that deep purple. It was so fast it seemed like an illusion.
Then, Jiang Yibai turned his head back and resumed his indifferent attitude, as if the glance just now was just a casual glance.
But Lin Xiyan's heart, which had been beating slightly faster due to nervousness, strangely calmed down a bit. He lowered his head and, imitating Jiang Yibai's behavior, stared at the empty desk, took a deep breath, and tried to calm the chaotic formulas and knowledge points in his mind.
The classroom was silent, the only sounds being the subtle rustling of the invigilator unpacking the exam papers and the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window. The other students also held their breath, and an invisible pressure hung in the air.
Lin Xiyan could hear his own heartbeat, which was a bit too loud. He couldn't help but look up at the figure in front of him. Jiang Yibai sat very steady, his shoulders relaxed, without a trace of anxiety. That inner calmness, like a magnet, subtly attracted the uneasy emotions around him, including his own.
The test papers were finally distributed to everyone. The pristine white paper, densely packed with lead type, carried a decisive weight.
The invigilator read out the exam rules in a clear and steady voice, his voice echoing in the quiet classroom. Lin Xiyan's fingers pressed against the slightly cool test paper, listening to every word, afraid to miss any detail.
When the command "Exam Begins" was finally given, the classroom was instantly shrouded in extreme silence, with only the rustling sound of pen tips sliding across answer sheets, like dense raindrops hitting leaves after a sudden downpour.
Lin Xiyan took a deep breath, picked up a pen, and began to fill in his name and admission ticket number. He wrote each number with extreme care. Then, he opened the first page of the test paper.
His eyes scanned the questions, his mind racing. The previous multiple-choice questions were moderately difficult, and he'd done them relatively well. But he remained laser-focused, not daring to let his guard down for even a moment. As the seconds ticked by, beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
Occasionally, he'd hit a dead end. His thoughts seemed to be stuck, unable to find a way out. Whenever this happened, he'd subconsciously pause, his pen tip hovering over the paper. And almost always, within those few seconds of his pause, the figure diagonally in front of him would move ever so slightly—perhaps changing the way he held his pen, or coughing ever so slightly.
These tiny movements, unnoticeable in the audible exam room, are like a silent reminder, or perhaps a tacit companionship, as if to say: Don't worry, take your time, I'm here.
Lin Xiyan would take a deep breath, force himself to calm down, and review the question again, and he would often find new ideas.
Lin Xiyan's pen froze completely when he came to a comprehensive question about functions and derivatives. The conditions were a bit convoluted, and he read over them several times, but his train of thought seemed to have reached a dead end. Sweat dripped from his temples, dripping onto the answer sheet, leaving a small wet mark.
He panicked. Time was running out, and this question was worth a lot of points.
At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Yibai, who was standing diagonally in front of him, seem to... lean back slightly, his back resting lightly against the chair. His right hand left the table and rested casually on his lap, and his fingers... seemed to tap twice, very lightly and rhythmically.
The rhythm was familiar. It was the opening steps of a common technique for manipulating the graphs of complex functions that they had discussed many times together.
It was like a ray of light breaking through the fog.
Lin Xiyan suddenly regained consciousness, looked back at the question, and tried to apply that line of thought. Sure enough, the tangled knot seemed to loosen slightly. He quickly lowered his head and wrote furiously.
After solving the problem, he breathed a long sigh of relief and looked up. Jiang Yibai had resumed his sitting position, as if the subtle movement just now had never happened.
But Lin Xiyan knew that it was not a coincidence.
A warm current seemed to flow through his heart, dispelling his previous anxiety and restlessness. He picked up his pen again and immersed himself in the next question, his mind much calmer than before.
Halfway through the exam, the sunlight grew stronger, streaming in through the window and casting bright spots of light on the desk. Lin Xiyan finished one side and gently flipped the paper. The rustling sound of paper seemed a little abrupt in the silence.
He noticed that Jiang Yibai also flipped the test paper at almost the same time. The two of them moved in perfect sync, as if they had just rehearsed.
The difficulty of the questions in the second half increased significantly. Lin Xiyan was completely absorbed, almost oblivious to time and everything around her. The only thing in the world seemed to be the test paper in front of her and the calculations she was writing. Occasionally, when she looked up to catch her breath, she could see Jiang Yibai still maintaining his focused posture, only the fingers holding the pen moved rapidly.
The back image was like a steady mountain, silently telling him: There is someone walking with you on this road.
When the bell finally rang sharply, Lin Xiyan had just put down the last period. He put down his pen, his arm aching, but his heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and peace.
The invigilator began collecting the papers. The classroom was filled with various subtle sounds—relaxed sighs, the shuffling of desks and chairs, and the hushed conversations of the examinees.
Lin Xiyan sat in his seat without moving. He watched the invigilator take the test paper from him and then walk diagonally to the front.
After Jiang Yibai handed in the paper, he turned around naturally, his eyes passing over the crowd and landing precisely on Lin Xiyan.
His face remained expressionless, but his eyes were no longer the completely calm and distant look he had in the exam room. Instead, they held a subtle, inquiring tone. As if asking: How is it?
Lin Xiyan looked at him and nodded very lightly, almost imperceptibly.
The corners of Jiang Yibai's mouth seemed to curl up slightly, then returned to normal. He stood up and followed the crowd out of the classroom. As he passed by Lin Xiyan's seat, his footsteps paused imperceptibly, and his fingers seemed to accidentally brush the corner of Lin Xiyan's desk.
An extremely brief, light touch.
Like a feather passing by.
Then he walked out of the classroom and his figure disappeared in the light at the door.
Lin Xiyan lowered his head, looking at the corner of the table he had just touched. There seemed to be a faint trace of warmth there. He slowly began to pack up his pencil case, his movements neither hurried nor slow.
The sunlight outside the window is still warm, and the cicadas are chirping even louder.
The first exam is over.
He didn't think about how he'd done on the test, and the formulas and answers seemed distant. What replayed in his mind over and over was the brief glance they'd exchanged when he turned back, the two barely audible knocks, the almost imperceptible touch as they passed each other.
These tiny moments, which only they understand, are like tiny stars, piecing together a quiet and bright starry sky in his heart.
He picked up his backpack and walked out of the examination room. The corridor was crowded with people and the noise was overwhelming.
But he felt extremely peaceful in his heart.
Because he knows that in the surging crowd, there is someone who is always walking on the same track with him.
Follow this arduous journey to reach the stars.
This important exam is just one stop on the journey, and they have just begun.
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