Chapter 78
When filming the promotional video, Xu Qingzhou always thought that Xuan Li had a proud yet playful personality. But after having a meal together, he discovered that Xuan Li is very lively and outgoing.
Besides being completely uninhibited during the meal and providing plenty of emotional support to the cook, she also disregarded Chi Jun's objections and revealed many embarrassing stories about Chi Jun from his childhood to Xu Qingzhou.
Chi Jun appeared indifferent, but his seemingly nonchalant words were actually a way of clarifying his own situation while simultaneously exposing Xuan Li's past misdeeds.
Xuanli wasn't stupid; how could she not understand? The battle between the two old friends quickly escalated from fighting over the food to a frantic revelation of each other's past dark histories.
This benefited Xu Qingzhou, who was sitting on the sidelines reaping the benefits. He listened with great interest, biting his chopsticks, and sometimes even forgot to move his chopsticks.
After the meal, Xuanli slumped contentedly in her chair and started playing a mobile game to pass the time. She noticed that Chi Jun had taken the bowl outside to wash it, and she stared in surprise.
Wow, so diligent!
Chi Jun gave a forced smile: "Not everyone can be as shameless as you, just freeloading without doing anything."
Xuanli rolled her eyes, scoffed, and went back to her original position, continuing to tap and swipe on the screen with her fingers.
Xu Qingzhou brought over some fruit slices halfway through.
Xuan Li had just finished a game. She picked up a piece of mango with a toothpick and glanced up to see Xu Qingzhou looking at her with gentle eyes and a smile. Every smile and frown of hers exuded a girl's gentle and pure temperament.
She couldn't help but exclaim, "Qingzhou, you're so virtuous!"
After saying that, he glanced out the window at the person washing dishes outside and pursed his lips:
"Tsk, what a pity."
Her expression and words made it seem as if she genuinely thought Chi Jun was not good enough for her.
Even though Chi Jun was a close friend he grew up with, Xu Qingzhou didn't like seeing him like this.
She took out paper and pen and said seriously:
Not a pity
He's a really nice person.
Xuan Li was surprised that Xu Qingzhou, who always seemed mild-mannered, would actually retort so immediately. She was slightly taken aback, then realized what was happening, smiled with narrowed eyes, and said nothing more.
He chewed fruit slowly and deliberately, his eyes gazing out the window, lost in thought.
When Chi Jun returned after washing up and tidying up, Xuan Li had just finished a phone call and said that she had something urgent to do in the afternoon and had to leave. However, before leaving, she shamelessly asked Xu Qingzhou if she could make braised pork again next time she came to visit.
Xu Qingzhou didn't seem to think anything of it.
Chi Jun reacted very rudely, reaching out to press Xuan Li's head down and shoving her away, adding a sarcastic remark:
"What a big face."
Enraged, Xuanli stormed off, cursing and swearing as she went, still muttering that such a petty man was far inferior to Zheng Yangshu, that sunny and gentle young man.
Xu Qingzhou: "..."
Why bring up Zheng Yangshu...?
Xu Qingzhou had never been in a relationship before, but she had gained some experience in relationships recently. In addition, when the promotional video caused a sensation on the forum, many people assumed that she and Zheng Yangshu were a couple. After sorting through the events, Xu Qingzhou quickly realized why Chi Jun's reaction was a bit strange every time Zheng Yangshu was mentioned. He seemed indifferent and had a hint of sarcasm.
Now that Xuan Li has brought it up again, Xu Qingzhou can't help but feel a little embarrassed.
She subconsciously looked at Chi Jun.
The other person didn't seem to care, casually sat down in a chair, and continued eating the remaining half of the fruit slices next to him. Noticing Xu Qingzhou staring at him, he turned around and asked:
"What's wrong?"
Since he didn't seem to care, Xu Qingzhou wasn't foolish enough to bring it up on his own initiative.
She shook her head, returned to her desk, and continued to focus on working on her practice papers.
On a dry March afternoon, sunlight streamed in through the door frame, casting a bright and cheerful glow into the small rented room.
The room was quiet, except for the occasional crisp "whoosh" sound of Xu Qingzhou flipping through the papers.
Chi Jun ate fruit while casually reading a book.
Until the phone suddenly "dinged".
Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou didn't pay attention at first, until the "ding-dong" sound was like a child who didn't get attention from his parents. After the first sound, he didn't get a response and started to throw a tantrum to get attention, making a series of loud and arrogant noises in the room.
Chi Jun frowned slightly, got up, picked up his phone from the small dining table, sat back down, and opened WeChat.
Staring at the phone screen for just a second, his expression remained unchanged, but his eyebrows slowly rose—
It was a bunch of photos sent by Xuan Li.
Out of revenge and because she always enjoyed watching the drama unfold, Xuan Li sent him a bunch of photos of Xu Qingzhou and Zheng Yangshu interacting in front of the camera on the day the promotional video was filmed.
Some couples exchanged smiles, some held hands, and some even played with bubble machines...
Chi Jun thought the person who planned this promotional video probably had something wrong with their head. It's not like they're three-year-olds in kindergarten or high school students who bring a bubble machine to school to play for no reason.
In the photo, colorful bubbles are flying everywhere in a lush garden. Zheng Yangshu is chasing Xu Qingzhou with a bubble machine in the posture of holding a machine gun. Xu Qingzhou is dodging in the sky full of bubbles, covering his eyes with both arms, his mouth is open in panic, but he is laughing wildly in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
The sunlight streamed down cleanly, and against the backdrop of the lush and verdant garden, it truly exuded vitality and youthful energy.
Chi Jun swiped the photos back and forth expressionlessly, zooming in and out repeatedly with his finger. Suddenly, as if feeling a knot in his heart, he let out a long sigh.
He subconsciously turned to look at Xu Qingzhou, only to find the little girl staring at him with concern and inquiry in her eyes.
"how?"
Chi Junming asked a question he already knew the answer to.
Xu Qingzhou pointed at his phone with his finger.
"Ah," he pretended to understand, casually shaking his phone a couple of times, "I don't know when I added some random people, they're sending me spam texts all the time, just ignore them."
After saying that, he skillfully poked at it a few times with his fingertips.
"Blocked."
Xu Qingzhou had a bad feeling.
The person who could provoke Chi Jun's emotions was probably not an unrelated individual.
However, since Chi Jun didn't want to talk about it, Xu Qingzhou didn't ask and turned back to continue tackling the difficult problem.
The second mock exam is in a week.
To allow test takers to prepare in advance, it is said that the difficulty level of the exam will be aligned with the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), and even the time allocation for each subject will be exactly the same as the NCEE.
All senior high school students have been under immense pressure lately, taking this mock exam very seriously, as if their scores on this exam directly determine their college entrance exam scores and which universities they can apply to.
Under the influence of this atmosphere, even Xu Qingzhou, who has always maintained a relatively stable mindset when it comes to studying, couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and anxious.
Aside from eating and sleeping, she spends almost all her time practicing problems to ensure efficiency and overcome difficult challenges.
Although Chi Jun didn't have a deep understanding of the college entrance examination, he could still sense a sense of urgency from Xu Qingzhou's daily behavior.
He wisely refrained from disturbing her, taking on almost all the housework except for cooking. He politely declined most meaningless social engagements, even visits from friends, only dragging Xu Qingzhou out for 20 minutes after dinner with various excuses to stretch her body and relax her tense mind.
A week later, the second mock exam began as scheduled.
The students took the exam for two whole days with serious expressions, even squeezing in time to review and practice during lunch and dinner breaks.
The last exam was finally over on the afternoon of the second day.
The students followed the answers all the way back to their classrooms to move chairs and put their things away. Back in their familiar classrooms, they felt no sense of relief whatsoever.
Because the desks and chairs had not yet been completely returned to their original positions, the math teacher appeared at the front door of the classroom with a stack of graded and scored test papers and asked the class representative to distribute the papers.
Amidst a chorus of wails, the exam papers were handed out one by one.
Some were happy, some were sad, and there were occasional sounds of regretful slapping of thighs.
Xu Qingzhou calmly finished reading the bright red 145+45=190 on the test paper, turned the paper over, and continued to solve the last sub-question of the last big question that he hadn't been able to solve in the last exam.
The teachers at Lianghua Middle School are very efficient at grading exams. Even the math exams that were just distributed were graded and scored the night before. They only distributed the papers after all the other subjects had finished, for fear of affecting the students' mindset.
Sure enough, during evening self-study, test papers for various subjects began to be distributed one after another, and even the scores for the minor subjects that had just been taken in the afternoon were released.
At the same time, the grade ranking report also arrived at breakneck speed.
Xu Qingzhou maintained his position as the top student in the class in terms of total score.
Second in the grade.
That's a good result.
However, until the very last moment, everything is still uncertain. The students' enthusiasm did not slacken after finishing the second mock exam; on the contrary, it became even more frantic as the countdown numbers for the college entrance examination on the blackboard shrank.
Xu Qingzhou was so inspired by the experience that he dared not slack off at all. That night, Chi Jun dragged him out for a hot pot and bullfrog feast to celebrate, and when he came back, he plunged headfirst into a sea of questions.
After all, there are millions of students watching you closely, waiting for you to be careless and then pounce on you and kick you down.
The slogan "One point can take down a thousand people" is never an exaggeration.
*
While Xu Qingzhou was fiercely competing in the learning arena, Chi Jun, besides supporting her and doing the necessary things, also spent most of his time busy.
Spring and summer are the seasons with the most diverse clothing styles, and merchants are putting in a lot of effort to launch new products one after another, keeping fashion models like Chi Jun busy as well.
Logically speaking, a freelance model like Chi, who has not signed with any company, has no background or resources, and relies entirely on his own work, should have a less than optimistic situation. However, he managed to carve out a path for himself in the industry by relying on his good looks and personal charm.
Not only did job offers pour in, but the degree of freedom was also very high.
He can arrange his work according to his personal schedule and also explore other niche circles or industries at any time according to his interests.
Recently, a well-known Chinese-style fashion show was held in a neighboring city. Chi Jun had no connection to it and hadn't paid any attention to it, but he suddenly received a distress message the night before.
A male model encountered a sudden problem just before the show's opening day. The staff somehow managed to contact Chi Jun through a convoluted network of connections, asking him to step in and save the day.
Chi Jun thought about it and realized that there was nothing urgent the next day. Besides, he had worn so many clothes as a model, but he had never tried ancient-style clothing before, so he agreed.
The traditional Chinese style fashion show was a great success that day.
The male and female models were all exquisite and graceful, with elegant demeanor. Combined with the refraction of the stage lights and large glass mirrors, the effect was truly luxurious and magnificent. Through on-site audience photography and post-production with appropriate traditional Chinese background music, some models with particularly outstanding appearance and temperament became popular that night.
Chi Jun is one of them.
However, while his video went viral online and was discussed wildly, Chi Jun was still fast asleep in his small rented room, completely unaware of what was happening.
The next day, after sleeping in late, I was munching on a steamed bun while leaning against the railing when the middle-aged woman who worked as a cleaner at the hospital pulled another shorter woman over, excitedly holding her phone and asking:
"Little Xu's brother, is this you? Is it?"
Chi Jun turned his head and glanced at his phone.
The man in the video wearing a red and black color-blocked ancient costume and an official's hat is none other than him.
He smiled and nodded.
"It's me."
The woman immediately turned to her companion triumphantly and said, "I knew it! I recognized him at a glance!"
The short woman next to him, who had a somewhat masculine appearance and a calm and reserved personality, gave Chi Jun a thumbs up upon hearing this.
"sharp."
"This video has been shared 800,000 times! Wow, you're a big star now!"
Chi Jun found it funny and was about to say that he wasn't a celebrity when a series of phone rings suddenly came from inside the house.
He greeted the two middle-aged women, then turned and went inside to answer the phone.
It was the friend who asked him to save the day calling.
The moment the other person answered the phone, they started mocking him, saying he was angry and that he shouldn't forget him when he became rich and powerful.
Chi Jun laughed and cursed, "Get lost," before asking, "What's up?"
"It's nothing serious, it's just that yesterday's event was all thanks to you—" My friend said in a nonchalant tone, still joking, "It went viral, and everyone's planning a celebration party. You absolutely have to come."
Chi Jun popped the last bit of steamed bun into his mouth, and after finishing it, he said, "I'm just here to save the day, what's the point of me going?"
"Who said that? This event wouldn't be as popular as you, a big shot like him?"
"..."
Chi Jun said expressionlessly, "Hang up."
"Hey, hey, stop joking! It's just a group of young people getting together to make friends. Do you remember that beautiful girl with the Weibo ID 'Big Pear' from last night? She specifically asked me if you were coming."
Chi Jun: "I'm not going."
"No," the other person said, somewhat puzzled, "I'm not even joking anymore, why aren't you coming?"
Chi Jun smiled.
"I'm busy, I'm going shopping with my girlfriend this afternoon."
"What?!"
A sharp sound came from the phone, and Chi Jun couldn't help but frown. He moved the phone away a bit, wondering why the sound was so stereo and even had an echo.
Until he glanced to the side and saw the male ghost standing by the small dining table, staring at him with a look of horror and shock, his mouth agape.
Chi Jun: "..."
Doesn't the male ghost know?
oh.
It seems I forgot to tell him.
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