Jiang Cheng followed his usual routine of "meditating" in the evening, going over the content he had reviewed and memorized for the next day's exam subjects. The books, notes, and various materials on his desk had not been touched again recently. He had just been sorting through the knowledge already stored in his brain.

Gu Fei did not join him in meditating this time. He had nothing much to ponder over either. Today's exam had already gone surprisingly well, probably the best in his three years of high school. He just needed to maintain this feeling.

He closed the bedroom door and called Wang Xu in the living room to ask about Yi Jing's condition.

Yi Jing had been sent to the hospital without finishing her math exam. When she woke up, she cried her heart out, refusing to stay in the hospital for even one more second. She wanted to go home and review for tomorrow's subjects.

"She still has a high fever," Wang Xu said. "I feel like she's an emotional mess right now. If she goes to take the exam like this tomorrow... it's hard to say how well she'll do."

"Are you at her place now?" Gu Fei asked.

"What can I do at her place at a time like this? Old Xu and Old Lu just went upstairs," Wang Xu sighed. "I've been standing downstairs this whole time."

"Go back first," Gu Fei said. "You can't mess up your exam tomorrow too."

"Whether I mess up or not, it'll just be going through the motions, you know," Wang Xu said. "Da Fei, listen, if Yi Jing has to repeat a grade from messing up the exam, I'll repeat the grade with her."

Wang Xu spoke with great determination, completely unlike his usual boastful bluster. Gu Fei felt that he was serious this time about what he said, solemn and sacred.

The power of young love.

He hung up the phone, lit a cigarette, and stood by the window looking at the scene outside that was quieter than usual.

Compared to Yi Jing, Jiang Cheng's condition was quite stable. This was something he had always admired wholeheartedly about Jiang Cheng - that strong aura of confidence facing any kind of setback head on. It was something he had never possessed.

The more he saw of this side of Jiang Cheng, the more wistful he felt.

He had been stagnant at the river bottom for far too long, drifting aimlessly with the swirling silt and water. The closer he tried to get to Jiang Cheng, the more clearly he could see the gap between them.

This was the first time he had faced an exam with the proper attitude, the first time he had seriously searched his memory for answers before putting pen to paper.

But what could he do afterwards? He suddenly felt confused.

Jiang Cheng had gone to bed early, before 10 pm, after sorting through the knowledge points in his brain. He took a shower and got into bed, saying, "Boyfriend, sing me a lullaby."

"...I've never sung one for Er Miao," Gu Fei sat at the edge of the bed, thinking for a bit before starting to sing softly, "Little bunny, be good, open the door..."

Jiang Cheng smiled with his eyes closed, but before Gu Fei could even finish one verse, he was already asleep.

Gu Fei was not sleepy at all. He casually picked up Jiang Cheng's notebook to flip through, leaning against the headboard as he slowly read. He had to admit, he could still remember quite a lot of the content, even the parts he couldn't recall clearly still had a vague impression.

He didn't know if this was knowledge Jiang Cheng had secretly imparted to him, or if he had forcefully crammed it in himself.

He turned his head to stare at Jiang Cheng, half his face buried in the pillow. What an adorable boyfriend...

After staring for a while, he reached out to twist a lock of Jiang Cheng's bangs. Before he could twist a second time, Jiang Cheng frowned and slapped over, half slapping his hand and half slapping his own face.

Then he mumbled and turned over to continue sleeping.

What an impressive boyfriend, Gu Fei smiled. Impressive enough to hit himself.

In fact, Jiang Cheng did not sleep very soundly that night, tossing and turning the entire time. But Gu Fei was already used to restless nights, so he didn't feel it too much.

When they got up in the morning, he was quite amazed to see Jiang Cheng looking very spirited.

"One last push and we'll be free," Jiang Cheng said on the cab ride, taking out two tablets and giving him one. "Li Qian's ginseng tablets are pretty good, quite invigorating."

"Mm," Gu Fei nodded.

"Write as much as you can for the essay questions in liberal arts," Jiang Cheng looked at him. "Even if you only remember one sentence, expand on it and write a few more lines. You know? Your handwriting is nice, writing more leaves teachers with a good impression. If they're happy, they might give you an extra 1 or 2 points. Half a point is still a point."

"Okay," Gu Fei smiled. "You still have the leisure to manage me?"

"No leisure to manage others, but plenty to manage you," Jiang Cheng said.

After entering the exam hall, Gu Fei sat in his seat. This was the last day.

He had never come here with any hopes for academics. Today marked an end to that chapter.

He had never imagined he would have so many feelings about a day like this.

As the test papers were handed out and spread open before him, he lifted his pen and brought it down. Every stroke carried memories of Jiang Cheng. All his memories of these questions were related to Jiang Cheng.

When he came across a familiar question, the first thing he would think of was Jiang Cheng's appearance when memorizing this question, repeating it out loud. For some questions, he might not remember the specifics, but he could clearly recall the scenes, every single time, of when he was testing Jiang Cheng on them.

It was rather incredible that he had used this method, whether clear or vague, to memorize so much content he had zero interest in.

On the morning liberal arts exam, he followed Jiang Cheng's request to fill out the essay questions as much as possible, even adding some content during the review.

The English in the afternoon was not so easy to write. Especially the essay - but he still did his best to string together short sentences to complete it in a grade school style.

When the final bell rang to end the exam, he heaved a huge sigh of relief as his heart suddenly emptied out and his mind went blank.

It was over.

He wondered how his boyfriend had done.

As everyone squeezed towards the exit, discussions broke out immediately - happy exclamations over answered questions, frustration over mistakes, then sounds of crying.

Such cries were highly contagious, containing strong excitement, unwillingness, loss, and confusion over what everything was for.

Jiang Cheng did not have so many emotions. He only felt light and springy, like his feet had springs and balloons tied to his body, making him want to skip with every step.

He had done quite well, in his accurate self-assessment. Among all his practice exams, this was if not the best, then the second best. He did not ponder too much over a specific score, choosing not to calculate or guess. He was not going to check answers either. He had given it his all, the exam was over, that was that.

All that was left was to await the final outcome. Before that came, he would not let himself get distracted thinking too much.

Right now, his heart was filled with the desire to quickly find Gu Fei in the crowd.

Gu Fei would always wait for him under the third tree from the gate. He didn't know why Gu Fei always got out faster than him each time.

Sure enough, with one sweeping glance forward, he spotted Gu Fei standing straight under the tree, looking towards the crowd.

Unlike previous times, Gu Fei was not leaning against the tree today.

"How'd it go!" Jiang Cheng pushed through people to get to Gu Fei and slapped his arm.

"Pretty good I guess, I even wrote a huge chunk for the essay," Gu Fei smiled and rubbed his arm. "English is your strength, scored full marks?"

"No full marks," Jiang Cheng laughed. "There were two questions I was still kinda fuzzy about whether they were right or not when I handed in the paper, but it was pretty good overall."  

"Then let's not think about it," Gu Fei stretched lazily. "Let's go, Old Xu is definitely waiting for you outside, his eyes are gonna go blind from staring."

"Don't know if... Yi Jing went to take the exam today?" Jiang Cheng said.

"Mm, Wang Xu said she still insisted on taking it," Gu Fei sighed. "She's quite stubborn, and unwilling to give up I guess. After all, unlike you, she's always been the hardworking good student type."

"It's not like I've always been goofing off," Jiang Cheng tsked, then laughed. "But it's true I didn't work as hard as her. Other than grades, there's not much about me that falls into the good student category."

"Who said that?" Gu Fei looked at him.

"I..." Jiang Cheng didn't continue.

"You excel in every aspect," Gu Fei said. "Every single one. Grades are just the last aspect."

"I really want to kiss you right now," Jiang Cheng said.

"I feel Old Xu wants to kiss you first," Gu Fei looked ahead.

"Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng!" Old Xu was at the entrance waving a fan frantically.

"Coming!" Jiang Cheng called out, walking over with an amused smile.

"How was it! English must have been no problem for you, it's your strength! Teacher Lu said you'll definitely score high!" Old Xu stared at him excitedly.

"Pretty good," Jiang Cheng smiled. "It really went quite well, I'm quite confident."

"That's good! That's good! That's so good!" Old Xu said repeatedly, even shaking a little with the fan in his hand.

Jiang Cheng opened his arms. "Teacher Xu, want a hug?"

"You don't let people touch you," Old Xu always remembered this and would jump back after patting his shoulder or arm. "Wang Xu said you'd hit people if they touched you."

Jiang Cheng didn't reply, just smiling as he went over to hug Old Xu. "Thank you, Teacher Xu."

"No need to thank, it's what I should do! You kids taking the exam well makes me happiest, most satisfied about everything," Old Xu said somewhat emotionally, patting his back. "Good kid!"

Just as Jiang Cheng was about to let go, Old Xu suddenly grabbed his head and smacked a big kiss on his cheek. "Good kid!"

"Damn!" Jiang Cheng violently jerked backwards, shoving Gu Fei behind him stumbling. "Are you crazy, Teacher Xu!"

"Too happy, far too happy," Old Xu said with a smile.

"I... stay away from me!" Jiang Cheng wiped at his face. "You've gone too far!"

"Go on that bus," Old Xu pointed and smiled at a large bus parked at the roadside. "It'll take you directly back to school to get your registration booklets, then home."

Some students from their high school already sat chattering loudly on the bus. Those who had no hopes for the exam were already chatting away, putting life and death out of mind for now to enjoy themselves first. Some sat silently staring out the window, and a few had red-rimmed eyes. Most common was the discussion of answers, with three different answers emerging for each question, leaving them rather horrified.