Chapter 57 The College Application Changed?! ...
Unexpectedly, Chen Yubai gave such a direct, even barbed, reaction. Ling Baizhou was clearly taken aback for a moment before managing a weak smile, trying to ease the tension: "No way... Don't you really think she's adorable?"
"Not at all." Chen Yubai's voice was so cold it was almost devoid of warmth, but the end of his tone carried a hint of annoyance.
He turned his head to the side, a shadow falling across his brow bone in the dim light: "She's a pain in the neck. I advise you not to get any ideas about her."
“Troublesome? What’s troublesome about her?” Ling Baizhou frowned, his tone revealing a hint of confusion and resentment. “I think she has a great personality. Before, when we talked about splitting up the classes, she was the first to raise her hand to support my suggestion to form study groups…”
"You think she has a good personality, but that's only because you two aren't familiar with each other," Chen Yubai interrupted him, her voice carrying an undeniable certainty, as if it were the most obvious truth in the world.
Ling Baizhou paused, his expression hesitant: "Really...?"
"Really." Chen Yubai's answer was firm and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
...
In the shadows of the balcony, Peng Chengyi slowly clenched her hands hanging at her sides.
Although she had never felt any affection for Ling Baizhou beyond friendship, hearing a boy express his liking for her for the first time in her life inevitably caused a subtle and indescribable flutter in her heart.
However, this budding, subtle emotion was instantly shattered by Chen Yubai's cold and disdainful words.
It's one thing for this dog to insult her and argue with her to her face, but to talk about her like this behind her back at a time like this!
How is she not cute?! How is she troublesome?!
He's blind! He's the biggest problem in the world!
The panic and helplessness in his chest were quickly replaced by surging anger, and his heart throbbed with pain.
She bit her lip, not wanting to hear another word. She turned around abruptly, her footsteps light but angry, and retreated into the room. She pulled back the covers and nimbly crawled inside.
In the darkness, she stared at the ceiling, wide awake. The distant sound of the waves seemed like a cacophony of noise.
Chen Yubai's words kept replaying in her mind, and the more she thought about them, the more frustrated and upset she felt.
Even as she got off the train, Zheng Xinyue's words, "He likes you," had left her somewhat unsettled, and a ripple of emotion stirred within her that she herself didn't want to delve into. Looking back now, she finds her past self utterly ridiculous.
He not only didn't like her at all, but he even secretly prevented others from liking her.
Damn! This dog is a huge stumbling block on her path to future romance!
In any case, she absolutely cannot stay at the same university as him again.
Otherwise, she would probably have to live a lonely life for the next four years!
As for Ling Baizhou...
After Chen Yubai's slander just now, he probably won't have any more feelings for me, let alone confess his love.
Thinking of this, Peng Chengyi turned over, looked at the faint light coming in through the window, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
That's fine too.
Otherwise, if he really confesses his feelings, she would have to rack her brains to figure out how to politely refuse, and it would be especially awkward when they got along afterwards.
Peng Chengyi slowly closed her eyes, completely unaware that the conversation downstairs was still going on.
“But I…” Ling Baizhou’s voice rang out again, with a gentle stubbornness, “I still want to try confessing to her. It may be troublesome, but I think I can tolerate it.”
Chen Yubai frowned slightly, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly: "How can you be so tolerant? The college entrance exam results haven't even come out yet, how can you be sure you can get into the same university as her?"
Ling Baizhou was taken aback by the question, but after a moment, he still stubbornly said, "Even if we're not in the same school, we can still talk in different places."
"Long-distance relationships generally don't end well," Chen Yubai scoffed, like a bucket of cold water being poured on him.
“At least then we won’t have any regrets about our youth,” Ling Baizhou retorted softly, but his eyes were somewhat unfocused.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yubai's expression tightened abruptly. His suppressed emotions seemed to have finally found a breakthrough, and he blurted out with almost undisguised sharpness, "Is she just an option for you to avoid regrets?"
"Have you ever thought about what would happen if you started a relationship and then broke up? Would she be heartbroken? Would she be sad? Where would you be when she needs someone to take care of her in a long-distance relationship?"
His barrage of questions was like pebbles thrown into the silent night. Ling Baizhou was stunned and speechless for a moment.
A moment of silence fell between them. Ling Baizhou seemed to have suddenly grasped some crucial information. He abruptly raised his head and asked tentatively, then with a hint of realization, "Wait... you wouldn't actually... like her too, would you?"
Chen Yubai's expression froze for a moment under the dim light, his lips tightened, and he remained silent.
Ling Baizhou suddenly realized what he had done, couldn't help but slap his forehead, and chuckled softly, "Damn... I knew it! I was so stupid!"
He smiled with a hint of self-deprecation and a sense of relief: "No wonder, when we first met in the first year of high school, I said she was cute, but you insisted on saying she was fierce. So you started being anti-rioting right from the beginning."
Chen Yubai's expression shifted several times, and finally he gave a helpless tug at the corner of his mouth: "Yeah, I've been on guard for three years, but I still couldn't stop it."
“No wonder we can be friends,” Ling Baizhou joked, trying to find humor in the situation. “We have such similar tastes.”
Chen Yubai didn't refute, but simply gave a faint "hmm".
After a brief silence, Ling Baizhou put his hands in his pockets, stood up, paused for a moment on his face, and said in a seemingly nonchalant tone, "Since you like it too, then forget it, I won't fight you for it."
"As if you could steal it." Chen Yubai scoffed, his tone returning to its usual slightly arrogant and nonchalant manner.
"Tch, you're so arrogant, what are you afraid of up ahead?" Ling Baizhou glanced back at him, his eyes revealing a hint of mockery.
Chen Yubai choked and fell silent instantly.
“But I understand.” Ling Baizhou lowered his eyes and smiled, his tone carrying a hint of sincerity. “It is indeed the most difficult thing for close friends to become lovers. One wrong step and you may not even be able to stay friends.”
He reached out and patted Chen Yubai on the shoulder, his eyes solemn: "I can only... wish you good luck."
After saying that, he turned around and walked back to the villa with a flourish.
The courtyard returned to silence, and the damp sea breeze rustled through the leaves, bringing a salty coolness.
Chen Yubai slowly leaned back in the wicker chair, his gaze passing through the fence, looking absently at the dark sea in the distance.
The night was deep, and the waves were surging.
His expression was hidden in the shadows, his lips slightly pursed into a straight line.
-
Just as Peng Chengyi had predicted, Ling Baizhou did not come to confess his feelings to her until the end of the trip, when everyone waved goodbye at the train station.
The last trace of unease in her heart finally dissipated completely, as if an invisible burden had been lifted. She followed Chen Yubai and got into the taxi that was taking her back to the family compound.
The carriage fell silent for a moment. Outside the window, the trees and billboards were fragmented by the summer sun, their light and shadow blurring and flashing past her eyes. She hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not mention the time she had overheard him talking badly about her behind her back that night.
After all, looking back, she herself had done the disgraceful thing of anonymously criticizing him on the campus forum.
Let's call this even.
She silently drew a period to her heart.
The days flew by in anticipation and anxiety, and soon it was time for the college entrance examination results to be released.
Peng Chengyi nervously sat in front of the computer early in the morning, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the thin red string on her wrist repeatedly.
The moment the score was announced, she quickly raised her hand and clicked the mouse, her heart pounding in her throat.
When the score clearly appeared on the screen, she finally breathed a sigh of relief—it was about what she had expected, or even a few points higher!
Overwhelmed with joy, Peng Chengyi jumped up from her chair in excitement, ready to rush out of the room and shout "Mom!", but then she heard Zhou Lifen answer the phone outside the door.
Suppressing her barely contained excitement, she tiptoed out of the room, gesturing wildly to her mother to show her score.
As Zhou Lifen listened to the phone call and watched her daughter's excited expression, a relieved smile spread across her face. She said into the receiver, "Okay, thank you, teacher. We will seriously consider it."
Then he hung up the phone.
"Who is it?! Of all times to call!" Peng Chengyi asked impatiently, her curiosity and excitement mingling.
“It was a teacher from the admissions office of Huaqiao University,” Zhou Lifen said with pride, “saying that you were among the top 50 in the province!”
Peng Chengyi was stunned, her eyes widening slightly: "Ahhh! Really?!"
Although she knew she had done well on the test, the ranking still far exceeded her expectations. She had thought that the questions were easier this year and that scores were generally higher.
"Of course it's true!" Zhou Lifen's face lit up with joy. "I have to hurry and tell your dad the good news; he'll be done with get out of class soon."
"Okay! I'll go ask Chen Yubai how his exam went!" Peng Chengyi, like a happy little bird, turned and ran joyfully towards the opposite door. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door was opened from the inside.
"Huh? How did you know I was here?" Peng Chengyi withdrew her hand in surprise, her face beaming with an undisguised smile.
"I could hear your loud noise even through the wall." Chen Yubai leaned against the door frame, a casual smile playing on his lips.
"I wasn't that loud..." Peng Chengyi pouted and immediately got to the point, "What score did you get?"
“698.” Chen Yubai said in a flat tone, as if he were talking about an ordinary little thing.
"Holy crap!" Peng Chengyi exclaimed in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Chen Yubai raised an eyebrow, seemingly puzzled by her reaction.
"Our scores are exactly the same!" Peng Chengyi exclaimed in disbelief, finding it an incredible coincidence. She then eagerly followed up, "You must have received a call from the Huada University admissions office, right? Our scores are both in the top 50 in the province!"
"I just got accepted by Peking University." Chen Yubai smiled.
"Then I reckon Huada University will call soon too." Peng Chengyi paused, her excitement subsiding slightly, and her expression became serious. "So, are you planning to apply to Peking University or Huada University?"
“Peking University, I guess,” Chen Yubai answered almost without hesitation. “Their mathematics program is stronger.”
"Oh." Peng Chengyi nodded and said simply, "Then I'll apply to Huazhong University of Science and Technology. I want to study computer science and develop games in the future."
Upon hearing this, a very faint, elusive emotion flashed across Chen Yubai's eyes.
After a moment of silence, he uttered two words indifferently: "Whatever you want."
-
With the release of scores and the filling out of college applications now complete, the final task of high school life has come to an end.
Peng Chengyi returned to her maternal grandmother's house in the countryside with her parents and spent more than half a month enjoying a leisurely and pleasant rural life.
When I returned to the residential compound, it was the height of summer. The air was sweltering, and the cicadas chirped incessantly.
She was tidying up the local specialties she had brought back from the countryside when suddenly there was a knock on the door, accompanied by the postman's loud voice: "202, your acceptance letter has arrived!"
Peng Chengyi paused, hurriedly stood up, and excitedly ran to open the door.
She received the admission letter bearing the University of Washington emblem from the postman and was about to open it when she noticed that the postman had another identical envelope in his hand.
Huh? Could it be that besides her, someone else in this old residential compound also got into Huazhong University of Science and Technology?
Just as she was becoming curious, she saw the postman, holding the letter, turn around and knock on the door across from her house.
A moment later, Chen Yubai opened the door, took the notice from the other party with a normal expression, and signed his name smoothly.
Peng Chengyi was completely stunned, staring at the scene without blinking, as if she couldn't understand what was happening before her eyes.
After the postman came downstairs, Chen Yubai lifted his eyelids, glanced at the dumbfounded Peng Chengyi, and lazily asked, "What's wrong?"
"You...didn't you say you applied to Peking University?" Peng Chengyi finally came to her senses, frowned, and asked in a confused tone.
“Oh, that,” Chen Yubai said casually, “I thought about it again and felt that Huada’s training program might be more suitable for me.”
"..." Peng Chengyi's lips twitched slightly, and a strange anger rose up. "Then why didn't you tell me you changed your college application?"
In fact, for her, both Peking University and Washington University are top-tier universities with no essential difference, and she can choose either one.
She just wanted to create some distance between them and start their own independent university lives.
As a result, the dog quietly changed its application to the same university as hers: the University of Washington!
Seeing her clutching the acceptance letter in her hand, clearly not wanting to attend the same university as him, Chen Yubai's dark eyes flickered with complex emotions before he chuckled and said, "I don't think I'm obligated to report everything to you, am I?"
-----------------------
Author's Note: [Watching the drama unfold]
Thank you to 啊呀呀, Leventseleve, Soleil, Sunshine, 77890088, 又下雨, and uoow for providing the nutrient solution!
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