“Please take this exam seriously, it’s the last exam before class separation. According to Jingjian’s tradition, the humanities and science classes will be separated a month before the end of the first year, to ensure that everyone can have the best conditions to enter their second year. When the results come out, many of the students in our class will probably leave this class.”
Zhang Zhengxin placed the textbook in his hand on the table and sighed, “Our Class 13 has been together for almost a year now. Generally speaking, the homeroom teacher of Jingjian’s science class is often a maths teacher or a physics teacher. Since most of the students in our class are preparing to study science, so Class 13 should remain as a key class for the sciences, and I will probably become the homeroom teacher of another class.”
Zhang Zhengxin smiled as he spoke, a hint of reluctance in his smile, “But remember, no matter which class you’ll be going to in the future, the first class you came to in Jingjian was Class 13, so you’ll always be students of Class 13.”
Xu Qichen’s feelings were complicated, although in the eyes of others, he seemed to be quiet and was not very emotional, but in his heart, there was still a little bit of reluctance to leave this class.
It was probably because he had spent his hardest times here that he felt a sense of emotional belonging.
But he would definitely be studying liberal arts, this point hardly needed to be questioned.
Feeling the chair move gently, Xu Qichen turned around and glanced at the boy in the back seat.
His expression looked like he had something to say, but in the end he only said, “I accidentally kicked it, sorry.”
Xia Zhixu would definitely be studying science, and there was little need to question that.
The day before the placement test, Xu Qichen was called out by the homeroom teacher. He wondered what could have happened. It was only after he went out that he realised it was about his aunt.
“Your aunt is in the hospital right now. You’ll have to ask her for the details – I’m already late for a meeting.”
Xu Qichen nodded, then asked, “Are you the one who sent my aunt to the hospital?”
Zhang Zhengxin nodded, “I happen to see her and thought she looked very familiar, so I looked twice. Don’t worry, it’s not very serious.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Now hurry to the hospital.”
Looking at Xu Qichen who came back from outside the classroom and hurriedly packed his bag, Xia Zhixu wanted to ask what happened, but there was a lesson going on and the biology teacher was the toughest of the lot, so he did not get the chance, before Xu Qichen left.
Due to the exam being the next day, Jingjian cancelled the evening self-study that night. Everyone had a thorough cleaning after the last class and finally arranged the exam room.
Xia Zhixu lazily wiped the blackboard with an English newspaper. Chen Fang, who had just finished washing his mop, passed by the window and stopped, tapping on the glass window with his hand. Xia Zhixu just regained his composure and lazily asked, “What?”
“Have you been sick lately? Your soul is always escaping,” Chen Fang joked through the window glass. “The exam will be tomorrow.”
“It’s just an exam,” Xia Zhixu rubbed at a stubborn stain on the glass.
“Aiyo aiyo, as expected! I heard we’re splitting classes the day the results come out.” Chen Fang sighed, “I hope our Yaya will still be in Class 13. But, if she chooses the humanities, then I’ll go with her!”
Xia Zhixu rolled his eyes, “You lack ambition.”
Chen Fang clicked his tongue disdainfully and said, “That’s because you don’t have anyone you like. If you had one, the thought of separating from her soon would make you restless and sleepless all night, thinking that you will go wherever she goes.”
Chen Fang had an expression of ‘I am the Saint of Love’ and shook his head deeply, “Oh, someone like you who doesn’t understand emotions would never understand me.”
The hand rubbing the glass stopped.
Someone he likes.
Separating soon.
Not wanting to separate.
Xia Zhixu fell into a chaotic confusion, but the idiot in front of him clearly could not help him solve his doubts.
After the cleaning, the classmates left one by one. Chen Fang had something to do and left first. Xia Zhixu helped Xu Qichen tidy up the books on his desk.
“Zhixu, you happen to be here. I have to go to the student union later. I was supposed to stick these on the desks, do you have time to help me?” The class monitor held a stack of paper with the exam number printed in his hand, his face full of apologies. “Otherwise, I’ll just come back and stick them myself later.”
Xia Zhixu smiled and shook his head, taking over the things in his hand. “I’m free now, and it won’t take long. You can leave it to me.”
“Thank you!”
He was the only one left in the empty classroom. At the end of May, the gardenias on campus had already bloomed, and the fragrance of the flowers slipped in through the freshly polished glass windows, entangling with the dust dancing in the sunset light, before finally disappearing into the darkness.
For this exam, the seats were all arranged according to grades. Xia Zhixu looked down at the stickers in his hand and flipped through a few pages, all of which were for the top fifty students. This made him a little happy because it meant that he and Xu Qichen would take the exam together in this classroom.
But perhaps this is the last time, after the division, the rankings of humanities and sciences will also be separated. Xia Zhixu silently pasted the exam numbers one by one, in order, except for holding onto his own and Xu Qichen’s exam numbers separately without pasting them.
He sat back in his seat and lay prone on the bare tabletop, his head tilted as he looked at the two thin pieces of paper he was holding in his hand. The light shone through the white paper and onto his face.
Summer was approaching, and even the light had become sharp.
He reached out with two hands, holding the exam number strip with his name in his left hand and the other one in his right hand.
[Xia Zhixu 20150913002]
[Xu Qichen 20150987031]
His fingers manipulated the stickers, causing them to slowly approach each other, like two trains colliding in a tunnel.
Until the ‘Xu’ in ‘Xia Zhixu’ swallowed up and became one with the ‘Xu’ in ‘Xu Qichen’.
Xiazhixuqichen.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
It was like the name of a romance novel with a tragic ending.
Lf ujnf j rfio vfqgfmjalcu rwlif jcv rajgfv yijcxis ja atf iluta bo atf fjgis rewwfg recrfa. Coafg rfflcu fcbeut, tf qjrafv atf akb fzjw cewyfgr bcab atflg mbggfrqbcvlcu rfjar, mibrfv atf mijrrgbbw vbbg, jcv ifoa.
We Hlmtfc olgra kfca tbwf ab qlmx eq tlr qtbcf jcv mjiifv tlr jeca. Fcfzqfmafvis, rtf kjr jigfjvs bc atf kjs yjmx ogbw atf tbrqlaji. Lf kjlafv jczlberis vbkcrajlgr jcv kjlafv obg tfg ab ribkis kjix yjmx.
“What happened?” Xu Qichen held her arm.
Shu Ying shook her head and said, “It’s not a big deal. I worked overtime at noon and didn’t have time to eat. I finally got ready to come back from work. Then that scumbag found me and kept trying to drag me somewhere.”
“Didn’t you already break up?” Xu Qichen frowned.
“You don’t understand. In the eyes of a scumbag, breaking up means nothing,” Shu Ying sighed. “Then I started to feel dizzy from low blood pressue, so he managed to drag me along. Luckily, your Teacher Zhang showed up and got rid of him. Then he drove me to the hospital.”
Now Xu Qichen understood that Zhang Zhengxin had in fact saved his aunt.
“Be careful when you go out in the future. I’ll secretly bring my phone with me from now on. If anything happens, please call me.”
Shu Ying was happy to hear that, but she shook her head, “Why would I call you? What if we both faint on the road? But I’ll call you if I want to do a porcelain knocking scam.”
How is she still able to joke?
“Ai, by the way, I heard your teacher say you’ll be taking exams starting tomorrow. I’ve never really been concerned about your studies. It’s your own business, so just do your best ba.”
Xu Qichen hummed and took out the key to open the house. Somehow, he just couldn’t insert the key for a long time. Shu Ying could not stand looking anymore. She took the key from him and opened the door herself.
Xu Qichen followed her inside. He hesitantly asked, “Aunt, should I pick Humanities or Science?”
Shu Ying placed the key on the cabinet, somewhat surprised, “I thought you wouldn’t ask me such a question.”
“Why?”
She pointed to Xu Qichen’s room and chuckled, “Look at your room. The book storage area is even larger than where you sleep. You love reading so much, how could you possibly study science?”
Xu Qichen could not refute her words. Before entering high school, he never imagined that one day he would be troubled by this. In his heart, or in the hearts of everyone, he was destined to study humanities.
“What’s wrong?” Her instincts made her study Xu Qichen’s expressions. “Could it be that the girl you like is studying science?”
“No way…” Xu Qichen shook his head.
“I won’t interfere with your studies,” Shu Ying sat down on the sofa. “I always thought that this splitting of subjects was really a failure of the education system, but there’s no way. Without the split, there will just be a greater pressure on you. You just need to ask yourself what kind of person you want to become in the future.”
“Think of the future you, and let him make the decision for you.”
Future?
“I got it, aunt.”
The exam was a two-day battle ending in chaos.
Zhang Zhengxin sent the subject choices of humanities and sciences to the students and asked them to consider it for two days on their own. After the evening self-study, Xia Zhixu still went home with Xu Qichen, just like before.
For some reason, the atmosphere as they walked was somewhat awkward, and both of them were hesitant to speak until they were about to split up. Xu Qichen whispered goodbye and said, “I’m going back.”
“En…” Xia Zhixu gritted his teeth. “Wait, wait a moment.”
Seeing Xu Qichen turn his head, Xia Zhixu asked, “Do you think I should choose humanities?”
“Why would you choose humanities?”
Xia Zhixu scratched the stubble on his back neck and said, “Just… I want to challenge myself or something…”
That excuse was too lame.
Without looking at him, Xu Qichen asked softly, “Then, do you think I should choose science?”
Xia Zhixu’s face suddenly changed and his expression became tense. “Of course not! You love literature so much and have a talent for it. Nowadays, there are not many people like you who enjoy literature. Of course you have to choose what you like!”
Choose what he likes…
What if he likes them both?
Xu Qichen, who lowered his eyes, couldn’t help but smile and said, “Then you must also choose science.” He looked into Xia Zhixu’s eyes and said, “You must also choose what you truly love.”
The corner of Xia Zhixu’s mouth twictched, as if there was something pending in his heart that finally fell down. He nodded and said, “… Okay.”
“En.” Xu Qichen also nodded. “Then, I’m going.”
The day of the division was Wednesday, and the atmosphere in the class was a bit sad, especially for girls who were reluctant to part and made various agreements for when they were separated. Xia Zhixu was afraid that his emotions would be too obvious, so he kept smiling and said, “Let me help you move the books, you have so many books.”
Xu Qichen shook his head and said, “It’s okay, I’ve been moving my extracurricular books back home since a few days ago. I can carry these books on my back.” Seeing classmates who were assigned to the humanities class like him, he started walking outside, and there were also many new classmates assigned to Class 13 standing outside. Xu Qichen put on his backpack and said, “Then, I’m going.”
Xia Zhixu nodded. He still wanted to take him to the fifth floor, but this emotion was too emotional for a boy, afraid that it would be too obvious and annoying.
He could only say, “Good luck.”
What he originally meant to say was, ‘We would still be friends even after we go to the new class,’ but that felt pretentious, so he let it go.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qichen turned back after two steps.
“After the evening self-study, I’ll wait for you at the fourth floor stairs.”
Xia Zhixu’s eyes immediately lit up.
Does that mean he still wants to walk home together?
When Xu Qichen left Class 13, Chen Fang ran to Xia Zhixu’s side and said, “I say, why don’t you learn to act in the future? Look at the expression on your face just now, you can cry and laugh at once, it’s so amazing!”
Xia Zhixu slapped Chen Fang’s hand away, still immersed in the joy and unable to extricate himself.
“Oh, from today on, I’ll be the only one of your good friends left.” Chen Fang looked at his new classmates walking into the class with a gloating expression, and suddenly thought of something. “Oh, by the way, when I went to the office this afternoon, I accidentally saw the class list for the humanities class. Guess what I saw?”
“If you want to say something, just get to the point.”
Chen Fang tutted twice and said, “Didn’t Xiao Xu go to Class 4? The humanities class only has one key class. Guess who else went to Class 4?”
Xia Zhixu was not very concerned about the humanities class. Looking at Chen Fang’s expression, he became even less interested and said, “If you want to talk, just say it.”
“As you say,” Chen Fang pouted, “then I won’t say it. You can check it yourself.”
What a weirdo, Xia Zhixu frowned and sat down to open a book on Olympiad mathematics, without paying any further attention to him.
The seat in front of him was replaced by a girl, thin and fair, with a long ponytail. Her hair frequently swept over Xia Zhixu’s desk, making him feel unhappy.
In fact, he knew in his own heart that the origin of this unhappiness was not because of the new front seatmate, but because of the previous front seatmate. However, he felt that it was childish to be in a bad mood due to that, so he blamed this unhappiness on the unlucky new person sitting in the front seat.
At the end of class, the girls in the class started chatting. Xia Zhixu’s desk mate remained the same. She was still the girl who loved gossip, but recently she had found a new gossip topic – zodiac signs. She bought a horoscope book from a small stall outside the school gate, and a group of girls gathered around her seat, discussing these empty headed and brainless things in a lively manner.
“Hey, what is the lucky stone of Aries?”
“Citrine. Let’s go buy one!”
“By the way, you’re Sagittarius right? That’s famous for scumbags, hahaha!”
“What’s the best match for Cancer?”
“Cancer woman and…” his desk mate flipped through a book and said, “Pisces man! Scorpio as well!”
After working on a question for a long time, Xia Zhixu simply put down his pen and glanced at the grand gathering at his desk mate’s side. Suddenly, he remembered that Xu Qichen’s birthday was on February 21st, so he should be a Pisces.
Since today was his shift, he had brought his phone with him, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to contact Xu Qichen, which came in handy now. He secretly took out his phone, lowered his head, unlocked it, and opened the search engine.
Glancing at his desk mate and her cronies again, he found that they were still immersed in a lively discussion. Xia Zhixu quickly typed a few words in the search box.
[Pisces and Gemini]
Enter.
Seeing Xia Zhixu bent over and frowning, as if seeing something terrifying, his deskmate asked, “Ai, Young Master Xia, what’s wrong?”
Xia Zhixu had a good family background, so he had many such nicknames.
Unexpectedly, he furiously threw his phone into the drawer.
What was that nonsense?
[The pairing degree between Pisces and Gemini: 50%, one sentence summary: requires effort to maintain.]
Pisces, who are sensitive and pessimistic, and Gemini, who are sharp and quick to change, are incompatible in every way.
As if this extremely negative analysis was not enough, why were all the relevant searches ‘Pisces and Gemini are mutual punishment signs’, ‘Why can Pisces destroy Gemini’, ‘Pisces and Gemini make a tragic pair’, and ‘Why can’t Gemini be with Pisces’?
“What’s the matter with you? Why are you angry?” His desk mate reached out and shook her hand in front of him.
Xia Zhixu suddenly stood up and squeezed out from behind his desk mate. “Zodiac signs and other things are deceiving. If you have the time to discuss this, why not do more exercises?”
Then he left the classroom in a fury.
“What’s wrong with Xia Zhixu today… Has he been possessed by Director Wang?”
Standing at the entrance of Class 4 with dozens of new classmates, Xu Qichen looked down at the small gray dot on his shoe tip and suddenly heard a familiar voice.
“Come in.”
It’s Zhang Zhengxin. Xu Qichen was surprised. Is he his homeroom teacher?
This gave Xu Qichen some comfort, after all, Zhang Zhengxin was a very good teacher.
“Sit wherever you like.”
Xu Qichen walked into the classroom with a backpack on his back. There were also some students from Class 4 in the classroom, and the new students were very active in finding their favorite positions. Xu Qichen felt that sitting everywhere was the same and silently walked behind.
There is only one set of seats left by the window. No one liked this position because leaning against the window by the hallway, any small movement would immediately be seen by the class teacher or teaching director in the hallway, so it was considered the ‘high-risk zone’.
Well, he was slow, so he had no choice. Xu Qichen walked over with his backpack on his back, and his desk mate outside was lying on the table sleeping. Xu Qichen patted him on the shoulder. Without even raising his head, he dragged the chair forward and let Xu Qichen squeeze through.
For some reason, he reminded Xu Qichen of Xia Zhixu.
And… his hair was also so very black.
Xu Qichen tidied up his new desk. But Zhang Zhengxin remained the same. He introduced himself very warmly and talked a lot.
“Then, please get to know each other. If you need me, I’ll be in room 302.
When Zhang Zhengxin left, he deliberately smiled at Xu Qichen. Xu Qichen lifted the corners of his mouth and responded with a polite smile.
There was still some time before class, and Xu Qichen took out a book and gently placed it on the table. His desk mate suddenly straightened up and stretched out with both hands.
“Ai? Everyone’s here…” His tone was very lazy, like a voice riding the wind.
After stretching, he lay on the table again, staring at Xu Qichen with his head fixed on his side.
Feeling someone staring at him, Xu Qichen was a little uncomfortable.
Wasn’t it time to introduce himself? Maybe he should start.
Xu Qichen turned to look at him.
Strange…
He really did look a little like Xia Zhixu.
To be precise, the eyebrows and eyes are a bit similar. They both had very beautiful eyes, with long and dense eyelashes, but his look was more delicate than Xia Zhixu’s. His face was also less sculpted than Xia Zhixu’s, and their temperament was completely different. Xia Zhixu was enthusiastic and cheerful, while the one in front of him looked lazy. Maybe it’s because he just woke up.
“Why are you staring at me?” His deskmate laughed. Xu Qichen noticed that he had a mole on the tip of his nose. When he laughed, his eyes curved. But he did not have sharp incisors. “Are you enraptured by my beauty?”
Ah. They’re completely different.
“No,” Xu Qichen said blandly.
The deskmate suddenly straightened up and spoke with a lively expression, “You’re so interesting. What’s your name?”
“Xu Qichen.”
“That’s a nice name.” He reached out a hand, “Hello, deskmate, I’m Xia Xiqing.”
Xu Qichen was surprised, “You’re a Xia too?”
“Too?” Xia Xiqing rested his chin on his palm, “Is there another Xia here?”
Xu Qichen was a bit flustered and shook his head, “No.”
He suddenly thought of something. “Is it from that poem, ‘Lying on the bamboo mat in the cooling courtyard in summer’?”
Xia Xiqing was surprised, “You’re the first person who noticed that, amazing! But my ‘Xi’ is written with the ‘Xi’ in ‘learn’.” He laughed, “Because my father’s surname is Xia and my mother’s is Xi, and they were deeply in love, so they gave me this name.”
“That’s nice.”
Xia Xiqing shook his head, “Not really. They’re divorced now.”
It was the first time he had met someone who had completely exposed his family situation in less than five minutes of meeting, and he didn’t know how to answer for a moment.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a divorce, no big deal. When they got the divorce, I nearly set off fireworks. Finally, the days of fighting every day were over.”
Xu Qichen smiled and returned to the original topic, “But, I really like the poem with your name. I think it is the most refreshing among all the poems about summer.”
As they were talking, a shadow suddenly appeared on Xu Qichen’s desk. He turned around and looked out of the window, only to find that it was Xia Zhixu.
“You’re here ah.”
Along with Xia Zhixu was Chen Fang, standing by the window. For some reason, Xu Qichen thought Xia Zhixu’s expression was strange.
“So when you said ‘too’, you were talking about him.” Xia Xiqing suddenly held Xu Qichen’s arm and smiled at the dark-faced Xia Zhixu, “Hi, it’s been a while, little Zhixu. Have you been studying well~?”
Xia Zhixu saw him like this and directly reached in to remove Xia Xiqing’s hand. “Why are you in Class 4?”
“What, can’t an artist study humanities?”
Chen Fang on one side pulled half of Xia Zhixu’s arm back through the window and said, “I wanted to tell you but you didn’t want to listen.”
Xia Xiqing turned his face to smile at Chen Fang, “Little Fangfang, it’s been so long, don’t you miss me at all?”
Chen Fang got goosebumps all over his body. He released Xia Zhixu’s arm. “You two have fun…”
“No, Xu Qichen, don’t sit with him. Find another seat,” Xia Zhixu grabbed Xu Qichen’s wrist. “Change now.”
“Why?” Xu Qichen was confused.
Xia Zhixu looked at his expression and felt that Xu Qichen was just a little angel who was not familiar with worldly affairs. When encountering such an unscrupulous demon as Xia Xiqing, he would be bullied every day.
“Don’t ask why. He’s evil, don’t be fooled by his appearances.”
Xia Xiqing once again grabbed Xu Qichen’s arm and said, “Little Zhixu, you shouldn’t be here. How can you slander your little uncle like this in front of others? Be careful, I’ll go back and tell your parents.”
Xu Qichen’s eyes widened, looking at Xia Xiqing, who had a teasing expression, and then at Xia Zhixu, who had an ugly expression.
L-little uncle!?
Thanks for the update!
cutieeees 🥺
wait NOOO I caught up…
thanks for the chapter!!
looks like theres competition now hehe, goodluck ml