Chapter 33
The midterm exam lasted for two days. After the math test on the first afternoon, Tao Xi entered the classroom and saw Bi Chengfei gathering a group of people to check answers, with their voices so loud that they wanted to announce it to the world.
"I chose C for the last multiple choice question. What did you choose?"
"It's definitely B, the monitor also chose B!"
"It's over, it's over. I'm dead!"
…
Tao Xi covered her ears and returned to her seat.
What he hates most is checking answers after the exam. A finished exam is like water spilled, and checking answers only adds to one's anxiety.
Tao Xi lay on the table and covered his ears, although it didn't work very well. He was looking at the review materials for tomorrow's subjects while silently repeating "I don't want to listen, it's just a turtle chanting sutras". Suddenly, he saw a hand appear on his desk, with bent fingers and tapping twice.
He looked up suddenly and found that it was Lin Qinhe standing beside his desk. He was looking down at him with a frown and asked in a low voice: "Is there a problem with the exam?"
His expression and tone seemed a little nervous.
Tao Xi's eyes lit up, and he quickly stood up and whispered to Lin Qinhe, "I think I did well."
He did feel that he did well in both Chinese and maths exams today.
"But I got so nervous when I heard their answers. I was afraid that my good feelings were all an illusion." Tao Xi raised his chin in the direction of Bi Chengfei not far away, complained to Lin Qinhe, and then covered his ears.
Lin Qinhe's slightly frowned brows relaxed. He looked at Tao Xi who was covering his ears for a while, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and said to him, "Put your hands down."
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe blankly and obediently put down his hands that were covering his ears.
Then Lin Qinhe suddenly took a step towards him, and the distance between them suddenly shortened. His breathing stagnated, and he looked at Lin Qinhe's face so close to him with trembling eyelashes.
Lin Qinhe lowered his head, raised his hand and inserted his white wireless earphones into his ears, and his slightly cool fingertips touched his earlobe.
The rhythm of the music soon began to beat on the eardrums.
Tao Xi was stunned. He felt his right earlobe being gently pinched. He couldn't help trembling like a frightened rabbit. He stared at Lin Qinhe with wide eyes and couldn't speak.
Lin Qinhe withdrew his hand, rubbed his index finger and thumb, and asked Tao Xi calmly: "Can you still hear it?"
Tao Xi shook his head in confusion.
He could not hear the sound of Bi Chengfei's group answering questions, nor could he hear the music coming from the headphones. He could only hear the increasingly violent beating of his chest.
He didn't have to cover his ears, but he wanted to cover his burning face.
Tao Xi lowered his eyes in panic, whispered "thank you", and quickly sat back in his seat, lying on the desk to continue reading materials with his head buried low.
Lin Qinhe looked down at Tao Xi's red ears, then returned to his seat. He smiled silently, took out his cell phone, changed to a more cheerful song, and turned up the volume.
Then, as expected, I saw the person sitting over there tremble.
The two-day exam ended very quickly. Wenhua No. 1 Middle School’s grading efficiency was extremely high. The results would be released on the third day after the exam, and the complete result rankings would be posted in the lobby on the first floor of the teaching building early in the morning.
Of course, many parents who are eagerly concerned about grades will ask the class teacher about grades and rankings in advance.
The night before the results were announced, Zhou Qiang worked overtime in the office until ten o'clock. During this time, he received at least twenty calls from parents of students in the class, one of which was from Lin Qinhe, who had never called him before.
That night, Xu Ziqi also called his mother in the dormitory. Tao Xi was sitting there doing his homework. He looked up at Xu Ziqi and saw that the expression on his face changed visibly from anxiety to shock to frustration, as fast as the face-changing in Peking Opera.
"What? How could this happen?!" Xu Ziqi's face turned pale and she quickly walked out of the dormitory.
Pan Yan sneered, took out his cell phone and played the song "Yi Jian Mei" loudly, feeling very gloating.
Tao Xi was not in the mood to gloat. He had a calm expression and was spinning the pen in his hand faster and faster until it finally flew out.
He was so nervous.
It’s even more stressful than waiting for the results of Qingshui County’s final joint examination.
He dreamed all night. He dreamed that he did not make it into the top 50, and that he and Xu Ziqi went to Class 2 together. Then he saw Lin Qinhe and Yang Duole walking into Class 1 together, talking and laughing.
He shouted Lin Qinhe in his dream, and Lin Qinhe turned around and said to him coldly, "You are not worthy of being my deskmate."
Tao Xi woke up feeling cold sweat. After washing up and without eating breakfast, he ran to the scoreboard in the hall on the first floor of the teaching building. There were already many students crowded in front, and bursts of ghost howling and cheering could be heard.
Tao Xi squeezed in with great difficulty, and at first glance he saw Lin Qinhe's name at the top of the scoreboard, 27 points higher than the second place Huang Qing.
Someone exclaimed: "Lin Qinhe is really abnormal. It was scary enough that he was 20 points higher than the second place last time, but this time he was even higher!"
Another person said with a tut: "This is too disrespectful to the second place, is there a grudge?"
After confirming that Lin Qinhe was the first, Tao Xi began to look for his own name. He started from Lin Qinhe's name and looked down, his breathing almost stopped due to nervousness.
No. 42, Taoxi.
The moment Tao Xi saw the ranking, he was unable to catch his breath at first, then he let out a long sigh, his heart beating so hard that it hurt.
He can continue to be Lin Qinhe's deskmate!
Tao Xi completely relaxed and continued to see Bi Chengfei ranked 50th, luckily at the bottom.
Yang Duole, No. 51.
Tao Xi left the report card with an expressionless face, but couldn't help laughing out loud in schadenfreude as he walked up the stairs.
As soon as Lin Qinhe entered the classroom in the morning, he saw Tao Xi's eyes looking at him like light bulbs, and there was just a tail wagging behind him. He paused, slowed down his pace and walked in.
Tao Xi diligently helped Lin Qinhe pull out the chair, and once the person sat down, he leaned over, grabbed Lin Qinhe's arm, shook it, and said excitedly: "Lin Qinhe, I can continue to stay in Class 1!"
After saying this, he suddenly realized that he was too excited, and immediately put down his hand and stepped back embarrassedly.
Lin Qinhe glanced at Tao Xi's hand as it retracted, his expression unchanged, and asked, "How many?"
Tao Xi knew that Lin Qinhe didn't look at the score list. He pursed his lips and said, "42nd place, much better than I expected."
Lin Qinhe nodded and said calmly, "You did well in the exam, congratulations." After that, he took a stack of papers out of his bag and put them on the desk.
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe, and the light in his eyes dimmed. He felt that Lin Qinhe's reaction to his grades was too indifferent, and he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.
He suddenly thought that although he was so excited about continuing to be Lin Qinhe's deskmate, it might not mean anything to Lin Qinhe.
Moreover, would Lin Qinhe be unhappy because Yang Duole fell behind in the class?
After all, they have been friends like brothers for so many years.
He and Lin Qinhe had only known each other for more than two months.
Tao Xi couldn't control himself from thinking about this problem at all. Once it involved Yang Duole, he became like a frightened bird, worried about gains and losses. The excitement that had jumped up in his heart instantly sank to the bottom of the lake.
He lowered his eyelashes and was silent for a while, but he couldn't help but ask Lin Qinhe tentatively:
"Will you be angry when I see Yang Duole ranked 51st? If I hadn't come here, he would have been exactly 50th."
"Why should I be angry?" Lin Qinhe asked almost immediately. He looked at Tao Xi, whose eyebrows were drooping, put down his hand that was taking something out of his schoolbag, and continued,
"The fact that you can stay and he can't only shows that you work harder and are better than him, doesn't it?"
Tao Xi was stunned, raised her eyelashes and looked at Lin Qinhe, and heard him say in a softer voice:
"Besides, you don't have to compare yourself with anyone. I just know that I am very happy that you can stay in Class 1 and continue to sit next to me."
I am very happy.
Tao Xi took a light breath and looked at Lin Qinhe. His throat felt like it was blocked by a ball of wet cotton. The corners of his mouth gradually lifted up, but his eyes felt a little sore.
Lin Qinhe was always like this, making him want to cry and laugh at the same time.
A heart moves left and right, up and down, and finally falls into the warm pool water, becoming soaked and feeling sour and swollen.
Tao Xi bit his inner lip and couldn't speak. He saw Lin Qinhe take out a black velvet square box from his bag, put it in his palm, and said to him:
"This is the midterm reward I promised you."
Tao Xi was startled, looking down at the exquisite gift box in his hand, carefully stroking the soft velvet with his fingers, as if his heart was being tickled by the velvet. He whispered softly: "But didn't I already..."
Asked for a self-initiated hug in advance.
"That doesn't count." Lin Qinhe said firmly, and then lowered his voice, "Open it and see if you like it?"
Tao Xi opened the box as she was told. Inside the box was a bracelet woven with red rope and strung with a turquoise the size of a candy.
The turquoise is carved into a small planet, which seems to be shining with unique blue-green light in the brilliant Milky Way.
Even though Tao Xi didn't know anything about gemstones, he knew that this turquoise must be very expensive. He stared at the turquoise for a long time, heard his heart pounding in his chest, and a sour feeling surged in his nose.
"Don't you like it?" Lin Qinhe asked him softly.
Tao Xi immediately shook his head. He took out the bracelet and tried to put it on his right wrist, but his left hand was a little inflexible and he couldn't put it on properly after trying for a while.
Lin Qinhe stretched out his hand and put the bracelet on Taoxi's right wrist. The red string looked even brighter on her fair and slender wrist, and the turquoise looked like a star flying in orbit around her wrist.
Tao Xi looked at the bracelet on her right wrist, blinked a few times, looked up at Lin Qinhe and said with a smile:
"Thank you. I like it very much."
I like everything you give me and I can't bear to let it go.
Lin Qinhe glanced at the red rope and turquoise on Tao Xi's wrist. He noticed that Tao Xi paid too much attention to the red rope peace knot on Yang Duole's right hand, and thought that he liked red rope bracelets, so he used the red rope to string the turquoise together.
He looked at Tao Xi's eyes, which were once again filled with stars, and whispered, "I heard that turquoise represents peace and good luck. Can you do well in the next final exam?"
In fact, he didn't say that turquoise is also the birthstone for December, and he didn't just want to wish him good luck in the final exams, he wanted to wish him, who was born in December, peace and good luck throughout his life.
Tao Xi nodded vigorously, raised her chin slightly, and looked satisfied and confident: "Don't worry, I have a lucky bracelet now, I will definitely do well in the exam every time!"
In fact, what he wanted to say was that meeting you had almost used up all his luck.
I dare not ask for more luck.
Sixteen years ago, when his mother was pregnant with him in Taoxi Bay, she wove a string of red peace knots for him, wishing him good health, good fortune and happiness.
But he didn't get the peace knot.
Now, the person he loves gave him a string of turquoise woven with red rope, wishing him peace and good luck.
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe. Although they were very close to each other, he seemed to be looking at this person with great effort, as if many, many years had passed between them, those years he missed him.
He was thinking that besides his mother, there was someone else in this world who was willing to bless him.
He likes this person so much.
This person might like him too.
Tao Xi's left hand fingers gently fiddled with the turquoise on his right wrist. He took a deep breath and suddenly asked Lin Qinhe: "Can I go to the same university with you in the future?"
He pursed his lips nervously and continued, "What I mean is, I want to go to the same university as you. Whichever university you apply to, I will apply to. No matter how difficult it is, I will definitely work hard to get in, okay?"
I can work hard for you to get into Wenhua No. 1 Middle School, work hard to stay in Class 1, and I will definitely work hard to get into the same university as you.
He didn't say, not only college, I want to try my best to enter your life and walk hand in hand with you for the rest of your life.
Lin Qinhe looked at Tao Xi's eyes, which were so nervous that his eyelashes were trembling. He curled his fingers into his palms and was silent for a while, as if he had made a big decision in this short period of time. He whispered:
"good."
A smile instantly broke out on Tao Xi's face, her eyes were as bright as evening stars, and her eyelashes were filled with smiles.
Lin Qinhe looked at the smiling eyes for a while, then turned his face away and retracted his gaze. He lowered his head, took out the pen, played with it in his hand, and stroked the cold pen body with his fingers.
But Tao Xi obviously didn't intend to let him go. She moved closer to him, so close that he could smell the faint scent of shower gel on him, and tilted her head to ask him:
"So, are you more inclined towards Tsinghua or Peking University? The two schools will definitely fight over you. If it were me, I would go to whichever school offers me more bonus."
Lin Qinhe looked at the pen in his hand and said, "I haven't thought about it yet."
Tao Xi said "Oh" and couldn't help but grab Lin Qinhe's arm again, and said anxiously: "Then you must tell me in advance if you have thought it through!"
Lin Qinhe glanced at Tao Xi holding his hand, with the bracelet he gave her wrapped around her wrist. He turned his head and smiled slightly, saying, "Okay, but you have to continue to improve your grades, then you will have more choices."
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment, then immediately nodded and said, "No problem, I will definitely do better next time!"
Then Tao Xi saw Lin Qinhe put a stack of papers he had taken out of his schoolbag on his desk and said to him, "This is another midterm reward. Give it to me when you finish it."
Tao Xi was dumbfounded.
Could it be that the mid-term bonus that Lin Qinhe promised to give him was a wholesale amount of three?
He took a deep breath, clenched his fist and said, "Okay! No problem! It's just a test paper, right? I can definitely finish it!"
Tao Xi started writing the test paper without saying a word.
Being able to go to the same university as Lin Qinhe made his heart fly, as if he was immersed in soft bubbles. The thought of it made him so happy that he wanted to blow a bubble himself.
He was concentrating on writing the test paper. After finishing each question, he looked at the turquoise on his right wrist for a few seconds, and then started writing the test paper again.
After being restless for a long time, I suddenly had an idea.
Tao Xi suddenly turned his head to look at Lin Qinhe who was reading a book, squinted his eyes, and asked: "Since you don't know my ranking, why did you bring a gift for me?"
Lin Qinhe paused while turning the pages of the book. After a few seconds of silence, he said calmly, "Even if you don't pass the exam, I still want to give it to you."
Tao Xi was startled and her ears began to turn red uncontrollably.
He said "Oh", quickly lowered his head, started writing the paper for a while, and looked at turquoise for a few seconds.
It's just that the heartbeat seems to be more irregular.
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