CH 140

Chapter 140 That’s all

Jian Chi often had a feeling that when he leaves Saintston and successfully graduates from here to university, this absurd and wonderful experience will be forgotten in his long memory.

Qin Chuxu once said that Saintston was the background of this story, that was to say, places other than Saintston were not within the scope of the so-called plot. The first seventeen years of Jian Chi’s life were dull and satisfying. The year he came to Saintston was like a joke that God played with him. Until the last moment, he didn’t know whether it was training or a gift.

Or both.

The closer to graduation, the more Jian Chi realized that his previous thoughts were too naive. Reality was not a game with the ability to save, and Saintston was not a magical enchantment where the person inside can walk out, all memories erased automatically. This experience had been a part of his life from beginning to end. Even if he graduates, goes to university, and goes to a brand-new country and city, what happened here cannot disappear.

Ji Huaisi won’t, Wen Chuan won’t, Shao Hang won’t, Shen Shuting won’t, and Zhang Yang, Bai Xiyu, Bai Yinnian… When Wen Chuan’s words rang in his ears, what flashed in Jian Chi’s mind was that he was there. Everything he had experienced this year, everyone he has met, good or bad, these scenes skipped through his mind like a slideshow. Jian Chi blinked his dry eyes, and after swaying, he met Wen Chuan’s dark eyes again. The fast-beating heart gradually calmed down until it returned to normal.

“Okay.”

Wen Chuan’s pupils shrank, and for a short while, Jian Chi continued: “I will seriously consider this matter at that time, but the premise is at that time.” 

Looking for a long time, Wen Chuan’s expression flashed slightly, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse: “You aren’t just comforting me?”

Jian Chi smiled, “Have I ever done such a thing?”

Wen Chuan’s tense body seemed to gradually relax, the corners of his tightly pursed lips leaked a faint smile, which melted the frost and snow between his eyebrows and revealed a little bit of softness.

“No.”

Jian Chi stared at Wen Chuan’s face in a daze, until Wen Chuan looked over with a question in his eyes, then he looked back as if nothing had happened, and stepped forward to lead the way, “Let’s go to Zhang Yang’s examination room, today is his last test. I wonder if it’s the current one.”

His eyes followed Jian Chi’s back. Wen Chuan paused for a while and stepped forward, his speed was gentle, and the advantage of his long legs kept him from falling behind Jian Chi, and they walked side by side. At the same time, he turned his head sideways, his long hair tied in the direction of Jian Chi, and occasionally sweeping his shoulders lightly, “Did you just look at me in a trance?”

“…No.” It’s over, he’s been discovered.

Wen Chuan observed Jian Chi’s expression and pulled the corner of his lips, “Does it look good?”

“It doesn’t look good…” Jian Chi bit his tongue and ‘hissed’ in pain, his face was taken to the left by Wen Chuan, He pinched his chin and checked the wound on Jian Chi’s tongue. Wen Chuan, who did all this, was so natural that he didn’t notice anything wrong until he let go of Jian Chi. Then he heard Wen Chuan’s cold voice: “I heard that lying will cause you to bite your tongue.”

Jian Chi felt that Wen Chuan had just said his name.

“Okay, it looks good.”

Jian Chi had to admit that from the very beginning to the present, he would still be inadvertently amazed by Wen Chuan’s face. Sometimes he hoped that Wen Chuan would smile more, but he also felt that it was good for Wen Chuan to be like this all the time, at least not to be seen by those with bad intentions. Jian Chi couldn’t tell whether it was a kind of selfishness or not. 

“I don’t like people staring at my face.” Wen Chuan whispered.

After returning to his senses, Jian Chi was stunned. He felt embarrassed, it was indeed not a polite act, and just as he was about to say sorry, Wen Chuan said the next sentence: “You are not included in the others, when you want to, there is no need to be sneaky, I don’t mind.”

Jian Chi: “…Okay.” No, doing it out in the open would make him even more strange.

Some of the classrooms were still full of students taking exams. Jian Chi and Wen Chuan spoke very softly. When they were about to reach Zhang Yang’s exam room, a figure suddenly walked out of the corner. Jian Chi, who almost ran into him, was pulled back by Wen Chuan. When he looked up, he saw Shao Hang’s livid face, and he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of luck it was.

“You guys…” As soon as Shao Hang squeezed out two words, Jian Chi made a ‘shush’ gesture, and had to lower his voice aggrievedly, “What are you doing here pushing and pulling on each other?”

Jian Chi corrected: “Don’t say that indiscriminately, Wen Chuan and I just happened to pass by here.”

“I walked around to your classroom, but you weren’t there.” Shao Hang squinted slightly as he swept over Wen Chuan, not sure whether it was sarcasm or unwillingness, “He asked you so you left with him? Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“If you want to talk, don’t do it here, let’s go first.” When he encountered Shao Hang, Jian Chi could only send a message to Zhang Yang, hoping he could see him after the exam. 

Facing Shao Hang’s cynicism, Wen Chuan chose to approach Jian Chi’s ear: “Are you hungry? We can go to the cafeteria first.”

“Don’t you know how to speak? Why do you need to get so close?”

Wen Chuan didn’t even look at him, “The exam room is next to me, I’m not like some people without common sense.”

“You…”

Jian Chi, who was walking in the middle, just wanted to hurry up and go to the cafeteria to eat.

As the penultimate exam of his high school career, Jian Chi could clearly feel the relaxed atmosphere around him after the mock exam. Many people during class talked about their plans for the two-month vacation after graduation, all with anticipation. Zhang Yang also chatted with Jian Chi about this, and took stock of his and Fang Yu’s graduation travel plans with great interest. On this point, they were very in sync. Fang Yu loved to explore and Zhang Yang was also a master who can’t rest. He can feel the joy of future trips just by listening to his description.

“What about you, Jian Chi, what are your plans?”

When the question came to him, Jian Chi couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. For a moment, he also had a little bit of anticipation about traveling abroad, but soon he thought about the economic problems, and who should he go with. Jian Chengchao had to take care of the shop at home. It was not impossible for him to close for a few weeks, but he was very stubborn when it came to work, and travel costs a lot of money. Thinking of this, Jian Chi can only answer: “I’m not sure yet.”

“When you go to university, you will only be able to stay in that place for the next few years. It’s so boring. You must take advantage of the holidays to go out and have a look.” Zhang Yang was still encouraging Jian Chi, when there was a small commotion from the seats beside him. A few people got up and left the classroom, and then more and more people flocked to the direction of the corridor. Jian Chi couldn’t help but look over, Zhang Yang grabbed a classmate who was walking out, “What happened, why are you running outside?”

The student said: “The rankings for the mock exams are posted, did you not check your mailbox?”

After groaning, he let go of the man, and quickly clicked the mouse to log in to his mailbox. Jian Chi found the school’s e-mail on his mobile phone. He didn’t see it clearly after clicking it yet and Zhang Yang’s call burst into his ear.

“78%, Jian Chi, my predicted score is 78%!”

Jian Chi looked at Zhang Yang’s computer. The form wrote Zhang Yang’s scores in this exam, and the pictures in the attachment were the school’s evaluation from the mock test, the final score of the assessment. The big ‘78%’ was bold, and it was hard for Zhang Yang to hold back his show of joy: “I thought I was not even good enough for 70%, but I actually have 78. Does this mean that I have a chance to squeeze 80% in the official exam? Is that right, Jian Chi? By the way, I didn’t even ask you how many points you got.”

“Yes, and the chances are very good.”

Jian Chi replied while looking at the screen of the phone. The attachment was loaded, and the same bold font was written with ‘98%’ .

Zhang Yang caught a glimpse, and groaned again.

Despite the expectations and speculations, Jian Chi’s heartbeat inevitably quickened when he actually saw this number. After the tension, there was a burst of complete relaxation. As soon as he raised his head, he met Zhang Yang’s pious and excited gaze.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m so happy,” Zhang Yang sighed, wiping his nonexistent tears, “To be honest, I didn’t think grades were so important, anyway, in the end, no matter what, it’s not like I wouldn’t be able to get into a school, so the first two years, I didn’t care. I didn’t listen to the lessons in class, and I didn’t miss any extracurricular activities. If I hadn’t made you as a friend this year, I would definitely not even have touched the book cover, not to mention that I could slowly climb from the middle and lower ranks to the middle and upper ranks. I only know now that I didn’t care about my grades because they were so bad, but now, I got a good score with my own efforts. It feels really good. Thank you, Jian Chi, really.”

A warm current flowed into Jian Chi’s chest, he was also very happy, sincerely happy for Zhang Yang, and moved by his heartfelt words. He patted Zhang Yang “My credit is only half, and the rest is your own diligence and hard work.”

“Hey, my parents will be overjoyed, they were about to let me go soo, and now I have given them such a big pleasant surprise.”

Zhang Yang grinned while editing the information on his mobile phone. Jian Chi came to the corridor, and there was still a large crowd of people in front of the bulletin board.

Leaning to the window, Jian Chi planned to wait for everyone to disperse before looking at the rankings, but the voices were so loud that after a while he realized that there was another person beside him. Before he could react, Wen Chuan’s voice had already rang: “Do you need help?”

Jian Chi raised his head for unknown reasons. When their eyes met, he suddenly understood Wen Chuan’s meaning, he didn’t know whether to laugh or feel helpless. “En, I need it.”

It was Wen Chuan who walked towards the crowd. The black brooch on his chest made everyone see it and automatically take a detour to the side. Wen Chuan walked all the way to the bulletin board and turned around.

Jian Chi, who was watching, had an indescribable nervousness, and went to Wen Chuan under everyone’s gaze. At this time, Wen Chuan whispered, “Do you still need help?”

“What?”

“The school sent the rankings to me,” Wen Chuan said, “if you can’t find it, I can send you the form.”

What a disgusting and enviable privilege.

Jian Chi looked at the ranking list that took up the entire bulletin board, and saw Ji Huaisi’s name written on the first line. After a pause, he moved to the second line, Shen Shuting. Jian Chi thought to himself that he might have trouble with these two names, so he pretended not to see it and continued to scan down. When he came to the eighth place, he blinked to make sure his vision was clear.

He saw his name.

“Congratulations, Jian Chi.” Wen Chuan’s voice flowed into his ears, mixed with calmness but sincere joy. Jian Chi couldn’t help raising the corners of his lips, this time he didn’t restrain his smile.

“Where are you?”

“Seventeenth.”

Jian Chi found the seventeenth line with Wen Chuan’s name written on it, then remembered something, and continued to search for the name, but this time he looked up from the bottom. His eyes did not find Shao Hang’s name. Jian Chi felt a little strange. When he was about to read it again, he inadvertently overlooked a familiar name.

Fiftieth place, Shao Hang.

This was not a particularly high ranking in Sainston High School, which had a small number of people, but when this position was connected to Shao Hang, it was estimated that everyone couldn’t believe their eyes. In every exam in the past three years, Shao Hang had never made it into the top 100. This was the only time.

Walking out of the crowd in front of the bulletin board, Jian Chi received two text messages, one from Ji Huaisi, who had not been in contact for a long time. The simple word ‘congratulations’ fell into Jian Chi’s eyes with an indescribable weight and tenderness. He looked at the second item.

Shao Hang: I did it.

Shao Hang: [Picture]

In the screenshot of the transcript, ignoring the appalling scores of the other three subjects, the column of mathematics read ‘95%’ abruptly. Jian Chi knew the difficulty of this mock test, and his correct rate was only 98%. Shao Hang was able to get 95% after making up for it during this period of time, but Jian Chi was not sure whether it was an untapped talent or Shao Hang was just that kind of person.

A person who was sure to succeed once he puts all his passion and effort into something.

Just after typing a line in the input box, Shao Hang’s phone number appeared on the screen, and a magnetic voice that couldn’t hide his smile leisurely flowed into his eardrum: “Have you seen the photo?”

“Seen it.”

“I said I could do it, now do you believe me?”

Jian Chi could imagine that when he said this sentence, Shao Hang’s face was proud but also trying to control it to be a calm expression. He smiled helplessly, “I believe you, should I apologize to you?”

“Apologizing can be avoided.” After a few seconds of pause, Shao Hang’s voice became much closer, as if he was breathing in Jian Chi’s ear, “Don’t forget the good love letter.”

He knew that he couldn’t get around this.

Jian Chi thought deeply about what reason he should use to avoid this request, and Shao Hang’s voice sounded again: “Jian Chi, I said this was a step by step task.”

“In the remaining two months, I will let you see my progress, I will do what I promised you, and you must keep your promise.” Saying the last sentence, Shao Hang brought some dangerous insight into everything, and cut off half of the explanation that Jian Chi thought of.

After a short pause, Shao Hang’s voice was accompanied by a heavier breath than usual, and a subtle electric sound came from the receiver, which numbed Jian Chi’s ears.

“I let you down in the past, but I won’t in the future. I’ll let you know that I like you, not just for fun.”