Among the No. 4 High students, those who took the gaokao seriously probably couldn't make up a whole class combined. But the pressure brought about by the gaokao was still felt by every person, today one classmate gets sick, tomorrow another takes leave, and now someone directly fainted during the exam.

The people standing outside the infirmary doors all had furrowed brows.

"Did she hit her head?" Jiang Cheng quietly asked behind Gu Fei.

"She hit it," Gu Fei turned around, "pretty loud, but when she collapsed the chair blocked it a bit, shouldn't be serious."

"Mm," Jiang Cheng sighed, "just now hearing Wang Xu's shout...scared me to death, I almost sprained my ankle running over."

"Should be fine, too much pressure and lack of rest," Gu Fei said softly, "that's why I keep telling you to sleep by two."

"I've been sleeping on time, don't worry," Jiang Cheng smiled.

Yi Jing didn't have any major issues, lacked rest, too much stress, went to take the exam without eating breakfast, and probably had already felt unwell before the exam ended, persisting until she finished before fainting.

But she only rested at home for one day before coming back to school.

"So you see, sometimes people can endure more than they imagine," Jiang Cheng said, "Yi Jing looks like she'd collapse with a gust of wind, yet endured so much."

"I feel like," Gu Fei frowned, "you shouldn't push yourself to this point."

"I'll be fine, I still have a strong physique," Jiang Cheng lifted his arms, "So muscular."

Gu Fei smiled, "You haven't exercised for half a year. Before, you could still work out a bit in bed, but now even that bit of activity is gone..."

"Could you be more appropriate with your words?" Jiang Cheng looked around, "We're on the street."

"I'm just softly complaining a bit," Gu Fei lowered his voice, "Any compensation after the exam?"

"Ah," Jiang Cheng laughed and tilted his head back for a while, "I've been thinking, after the exam how about going eight hundred rounds with you. I won't do anything else this summer, just do you."

"Ah, it's good to have dreams..." Gu Fei said with a smile.

Before the results of the second mock exam came out, the atmosphere of cramming in the class eased slightly, like the lightness after a period of crazy exam preparation, but it didn't last long.

The numbers on the blackboard went from three digits to two, changing day by day, and each change made hearts surge.

Some were nervous that time was running out, some were anxious for the damn exam to just be over and vacation to start.

Even after the results of the second mock exam came out, this state didn't change much. The nervous became more nervous, the anxious more anxious.

Only Old Xu seemed to have absorbed all these emotions, cycling through delight, anger, sorrow and joy day after day.

Jiang Cheng's total score on the second mock exam was 656. Despite the difficulty being much higher than the first mock exam, his score also went up. Gu Fei felt Old Xu's eyes almost sprouted flowers whenever he saw Jiang Cheng these days.

"Get a 700 on the third mock exam, I bet Old Xu could leap from the first floor to the third floor," Gu Fei said. "Get provincial champion on the gaokao, and Old Xu could run twenty laps around the city square piggybacking you."

"Dream on," Jiang Cheng laughed for a while, "You're really underestimating those other top students."

"Last year the liberal arts champion was just over 650, so I don't think it's completely unimaginable," Gu Fei leaned back against the wall, swaying his legs.

"There are champions who scored over 700 in other places. If I don't get to that level, would I have been better off staying at the affiliated high school?" Jiang Cheng also leaned back, swaying his legs in sync, "Like I said before, would I have been better off picking sciences? No point thinking about it, none of that happened anyway. I only look ahead, always have."

"Mm," Gu Fei smiled, "Admirable attitude."

"No looking back, no comparing left and right, then everything will be fine. Look back too much and you're bound to trip," Jiang Cheng tilted his head, "At most spare the occasional glance at you."

"Keep it down," Gu Fei looked ahead, "Zhou Jing these days, his ears keep getting sharper."

"You called?" Zhou Jing promptly turned back.

"Want candy?" Gu Fei asked.

"Yes!" Zhou Jing nodded eagerly.

Gu Fei took out a few pieces of candy from his pocket and handed them over. Zhou Jing happily accepted them.

After Zhou Jing had turned back to his own desk and continued lying there, Gu Fei lowered his voice, "See what I mean?"

"I see," Jiang Cheng made an exaggerated frightened expression and shrank back, "Scared me to death."

Gu Fei glanced at him and started chuckling softly.

"What's so funny?" Jiang Cheng picked up his test paper, ready to start writing, but couldn't help laughing too, "Wasn't it very scary?"

Gu Fei didn't reply, just kept chuckling with his head lowered.

Jiang Cheng couldn't keep talking either, and started laughing uncontrollably with the test paper crumpled in his hand.

"What's going on?" Zhou Jing turned back again, "What's so funny?"

Neither of them answered, just kept laughing uproariously at Zhou Jing. Jiang Cheng had wanted to restrain himself since there were still many classmates cramming, but one look at Zhou Jing's utter confusion made him laugh even harder.

Even those who had given up were pressed into silence in this high pressure cramming atmosphere, with even the chattier ones falling quiet.

Hearing sudden raucous laughter now was like flicking a switch, quickly spreading through the entire classroom from one or two people.

Within just over ten seconds, the whole class was laughing hysterically in unison.

It seemed like both relaxation and release of stress, with the class quite proud of laughing together. Some were laughing until tears came out, some were slapping desks and stomping chairs while laughing.

Sitting at the podium, Old Lu was so shocked he stood up waving his teaching stick, at a loss where to point it. After standing stunned briefly, he put down the stick and started laughing too.

When the patrolling discipline teacher ran over, Old Lu was leaning against the podium pointing at a student in the front row who was laughing so hard he blew a snot bubble and couldn't straighten up.

"Teacher Lu!" The discipline teacher's eyes bulged, "What's going on here?"

"Look at him!" Old Lu kept laughing as he went up to the discipline teacher, pointing over there, "Snot bubble!"

The suppressed laughter immediately erupted again at Old Lu's words.

"Teacher Lu!" The discipline teacher helplessly dragged Old Lu out of the classroom, "You're disturbing other classes cramming! How could you join in the nonsense!"

"Ah," Old Lu took a deep breath, finally getting himself under control, "Alright alright, just letting them relax a bit, relax a bit. Cramming is so tiring, they don't even chat anymore, feels weird to me."

"Do you have some kind of problem?" The discipline teacher looked at him, keeping his voice down, "Done relaxing now? Teachers from other classes all came out to see what's going on!"

"Settle down, settle down," Old Lu waved his hand as he went back into the classroom, "I know you guys are tired recently. After the gaokao, Teacher Xu and I will treat you to a feast, eat whatever you want! Now back to work everyone!"

After this bout of hysterical laughter, something felt off about the classroom atmosphere, as if everyone had suddenly realized that in just over a month, they would all go their separate ways. This reckless abandon in laughter might be the last time in their high school years.

This subtle melancholy lingered on, not dissipating even with the third mock exam that came and went in a flash.

As expected, the third mock exam was to build confidence, with a manageable level of difficulty compared to the previous two. After this, the school basically wouldn't organize any more formal exams for the students. The next exam would be the gaokao.

"You got lucky with favorable portions this time, it really suits you," Gu Fei said. "666, impressive performance Comrade Jiang Cheng!"

Jiang Cheng just smiled without replying.

"Let's relax a little tonight," Gu Fei said. "I'll treat you to barbecue, take a taxi there, wolf it down fast, then taxi back. Get off at the corner and take a twenty minute stroll before going home to keep cramming?"

"Really?" Jiang Cheng felt his eyes light up. He hadn't been eating poorly, with Gu Fei either cooking himself or getting takeout. But barbecue had endless allure for him. "Marbled, wagyu, marbled, wagyu..."

"Really," Gu Fei nodded, "But we have to control the amount. I'm afraid you'll get diarrhea from too much oil."

Jiang Cheng laughed, "What's this, Grandma Gu is pretty thoughtful huh?"

"Can't help it when my grandson is such a headache," Gu Fei said.

"Piss off!" Jiang Cheng flicked his forehead.

He did it brazenly because the desk was piled high with books like a barricade. When they leaned over the desk, tilting their heads together towards the middle, it became a world of its own.

This little world surrounded by books, only now could its feeling be appreciated. Jiang Cheng looked at the tip of Gu Fei's nose and reached out to touch it again.