Overall, this final exam was more difficult than previous years, especially the math questions at the end which were hard to score on. The underachievers had no wisdom to gather with their combined forces.

At first, little notes were flying everywhere, but soon they stopped.

While the invigilator had his back turned, someone observed a gap in passing and whispered, "Why isn't it passing around anymore?"

"What's there to pass? Nobody knows how to do it."

"It's too hard. I'll remember the name of the person who made this paper, Wu Zheng!"

Complaints filled the air, and Xie Yu had already answered almost all the questions with his pen in hand. He folded the paper with all the correct answers written on it, but halfway through, he heard the idiot behind him agreeing, "It's really difficult."

He Chao didn't finish many questions and had already put down his pen. He sat in the corner, looking listless. He wasn't wearing his school uniform and propped his chin up with one hand, saying to that complaining brother next to him, "I don't understand any of these questions."

"..." Addicted to acting, huh?

Xie Yu leaned back without a sound and reached under the table, curling his fingers and tapping He Chao's desk. "Restrain your acting a little."

This guy had even passed him a note during the middle of the exam, with two arrogant words written on it: too easy.

As they passed notes, the topic changed to how they would spend their vacation.

- Hey little friend, are you going straight home later?

- Or else? Spend another night squeezing with you?

- Well, that's not impossible.

- Get lost.

It was an overcast day, and the dark clouds on the horizon seemed to be pressing down. It was the last exam, and everyone was exhausted and nervous.

Head Teacher Jiang's broadcast was filled with static, and usually his voice gave them headaches. But now, unexpectedly, it soothed their anxious state: "There are only ten minutes left until the end of the exam. Please pay attention to the remaining time."

The invigilator from the adjacent group sauntered over, humming a tune and glancing out the window as he walked.

This time it wasn't Old Tang who was invigilating. This teacher was more lenient, turning a blind eye to their cheating and probably thinking that even if these people were face-to-face copying and communicating, they wouldn't be able to copy anything worthwhile.

Ten minutes quickly passed, and the bell for collecting papers rang.

Xie Yu held a pen in his hand, staring at the answer sheet that he had controlled below the average line, and went into a daze for a while.

For the past few days, Madam Gu would call him every night. She was worried about him being under too much pressure, but couldn't help asking how his studying was going.

"Mom doesn't expect you to get top grades, just do your best. Otherwise, you'll regret it later," she said.

Despite the sound of the invigilator pacing back and forth in his ear, Xie Yu felt as though he could hear Madam Gu sighing. After she finished, she asked, "What do you want to eat after the exam? Make sure you have everything you need..."

It wasn't until He Chao patted him on the back and passed the exam paper from behind that Xie Yu put down his pen.

Holding the exam paper in his hand, Xie Yu felt an indescribable sense of restlessness.

After a while, he secretly let out a sigh and passed the exam paper up.

After the exam, the whole room cheered. Someone nearby was packing up and asked, "How do you feel, Brother Chao?"

He Chao didn't have much to tidy up, with one hand in his pocket and half-sitting on the desk, waiting for his boyfriend. He smiled and said, "I feel pretty good, especially with that last test. I think I can get a score of twenty."

The person was shocked by the mention of "twenty points" and didn't know what to say.

"..." Xie Yu threw the draft paper he had just crumpled into the trash can and kicked He Chao's desk leg lightly with his foot. "Let's go, twenty points."

This time, Gu Xuelan insisted on coming to pick him up from school. Xie Yu stood at the corner of the stairs answering the phone, refusing several times without success. He raised his hand and pressed his forehead, unconsciously speaking more heavily, "Really, I don't need it. I can go back by myself. The bus stop is just two steps across the street, and I don't have much to carry."

People were coming and going in the hallway.

Madam Gu's voice was mostly drowned out, but Xie Yu still clearly heard the silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then, Madam Gu spoke almost cautiously, "I'll park the car next to your school?"

Xie Yu's fingers tightened, the words on the tip of his tongue circled around before finally becoming, "Okay."

He rarely heard Madam Gu speak in this tone.

Usually, Madam Gu would get angry after just a few words, especially when it came to Blackwater Street and his grades. They both had to restrain themselves in order to sit down calmly and talk for a little longer.

The entrance of the No. 2 High School was filled with parked cars, stretching from this end of the street all the way to two blocks away.

Xie Yu dragged his suitcase and circled around before finally finding Madam Gu's car.

Xie Yu was taken aback. It wasn't the Bentley she usually drove. It was black and had a very common style. Compared to the long line of cars, it was inconspicuous.

"Changed cars?"

Gu Xuelan took off her sunglasses and said, "This is Uncle Wang's car. Did you pack everything? Don't forget anything..."

Xie Yu walked to the back and put his things in the trunk.

They were stuck on the road in front of the entrance of the No. 2 High School for a long time before the car slowly turned out.

Silence filled the car.

When they were almost home, Gu Xuelan finally asked, "When will the results come out? How do you feel about the exam?"

Xie Yu looked down at his phone. There was a cold joke from He Chao on the message screen. Before he could even mock the stupid joke, this person had already sent a long string of "haha".

"It's just like that," Xie Yu didn't know what to say, "The results won't be out for a while."

Gu Xuelan's hands rested on her bag, fingers intertwined before finally loosening with a hint of exhaustion.

The results for the No. 2 High School were released late, and during the first few days of vacation, everyone was out having a blast. They were still chatting in the class group chat at dawn. Only when the fun had died down did they start to think about how they did on the exams.

[Wan Da]: Hao-zi, why did you quit the team? We promised to stick together through thick and thin, rain or shine, in the game. How could you abandon me like this?

[Liu Cunhao]: You go ahead and play. My right eyelid has been twitching these past few days, and I have a feeling that I might be in trouble when the results come out.

[Wan Da]: So what's the connection between the two!

[Liu Cunhao]: Starting today, I'm going to put on a show for my parents and pretend to love studying...Maybe they'll go easy on me when the time comes and spare my life.

[Wan Da]: ...

[Luo Wenqiang]: You're talented, Hao-zi.

[Liu Cunhao]: You flatter me. It's all thanks to Brother Chao's advice.

Xie Yu had just finished showering, his hair still damp, as he listened to He Chao talking on the phone about their class group.

He Chao had a piece of candy in his mouth and spoke with a hint of amusement, lazily saying, "Hao-zi came over and asked me how I managed to survive all these years. I just said a few random things and he actually believed me...He hasn't been online for days, no matter how much they call him."

Xie Yu turned on the speakerphone and tossed his phone onto the bed, getting ready to put on his clothes.

The room was heated well enough that Xie Yu didn't feel cold even though he was barefoot. He had just put on half of his outfit and was holding onto the hem of his shirt when He Chao heard the rustling sound on the other end and casually asked, "Little friend, what are you doing?"

"Changing clothes," Xie Yu replied.

"..."

After putting on his clothes, Xie Yu realized that there was no sound coming from He Chao's end. He leaned in to look at the screen and saw that the call had not been disconnected, as the time on the screen was still ticking. He tentatively called out, "Brother?"

It had been almost a week since they last saw each other, and just hearing his voice was almost unbearable for He Chao. He almost hung up the call, feeling helpless, before whispering, "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Xie Yu noticed the tone in his voice and couldn't help but smile. "Do you want to see me? Let's video chat, brother."

He Chao cursed under his breath.

After a moment, he sent a video invitation with a tough demeanor.

He Chao was in his bedroom, half-lying on the bed with only a thin sweater on. The collar was loose, and he pretended to be calm as he looked at Xie Yu. "I'm looking. Do you want to take off your top or bottom first?"

He Chao's tough attitude didn't last long. He watched as Xie Yu's hand grabbed his shirt hem and slowly lifted it up along his waist and abdomen. The boy had a slim figure and still wore the red string on his wrist. Although the lighting wasn't great, the image on the screen still hit him straight in the eyes.

Xie Yu stopped halfway through, he thought he was going a bit too far.

Just as he was about to let go, He Chao had already cut off the video.

The phone screen returned to the chat interface.

- Damn.

- You win.

- I'm going to take a shower.

Xie Yu threw his phone to the side and didn't care that his hair was still wet. He went straight to bed.

Just now, he had dinner with Zhong Jie downstairs. Zhong Jie intentionally or unintentionally brought up the topic of the final exams, mentioning grades countless times. Madam Gu couldn't bear it and came out to mediate, saying, "The grades haven't come out yet...let's eat."

Zhong Jie, this idiot, even if he studied for another semester, his IQ wouldn't change. He said in a weird tone, "In my opinion, there's no need to wait for the results. It'll be the same anyway."

Xie Yu silently repeated to himself while eating: Don't argue with idiots.

But another thought kept popping up: But I can beat the idiot until he can't speak.

As Xie Yu was lost in thought, he picked up his phone and looked at his chat with He Chao for a while before opening the class group chat.

The group had been discussing grades for a while, but they didn't expect that Old Tang would actually send out the electronic version of the grades that he had sorted out a few days ago, in order to take care of their mental health during the holiday.

[Teacher Tang]: [/picture].

The group chat was filled with cries of despair. Even though they had casually mentioned it, they didn't really want to see their grades thrown in their faces.

[Xu Jing]: Teacher, can you retract it?

[Luo Wenqiang]: Actually, we weren't that interested in knowing our grades...

[Liu Cunhao]: I thought I could live for two more days.

The most dazzling result on the report card wasn't Xu Qingqing's highest grade in English for the whole year, nor was it Xue Xisheng's first place in the class. It was a certain someone who claimed to be able to score 20 points.

Although He Chao claimed to have only scored 20 points, his average score in all subjects was close to 50. Everyone in the class was more excited than if they had gotten good grades themselves.

[Liu Cunhao]: Brother Chao, you've made incredible progress!

[Xu Qingqing]: This is so touching, I feel like crying.

[Wan Da]: Let's play some games, I'll throw a few grenades to celebrate!

[Luo Wenqiang]: Brother Chao actually scored 49 points in math this time! Such a high score!

This group of people were excitedly chatting and tagging him multiple times, but there was no response from He Chao.

[Liu Cunhao]: @He Chao, Brother Chao? Where are you?

Then the whole class watched as another guy, the one who always silences conversations whenever he appears, sent four words.

[Xie Yu]: "He's taking a shower."