On the morning of the preliminary college exam, when Ning Er opened the door he found Shao Bohan still standing in front of his house, waiting as usual.
Upon spotting Ning Er, Shao Bohan raised his hand to greet him and offered a smile to Mother Ning. Only after Ning Er closed the door did he wink at him and gently grasp Ning Er’s wrist as they descended the stairs together.
“Have you packed everything?”
Ning Er nodded nervously and added, “Did you bring everything? You need those 2B pencils, don’t forget. Only black ink pens are allowed. Do you have an eraser too? And what about a ruler for the answer sheet? Did you bring your admission ticket and ID? Oh, and don’t forget the eraser…”
After a lengthy list, Ning Er realized that Shao Bohan hadn’t uttered a word the entire time. He looked at Shao Bohan, and his face turned crimson in an instant.
The person stopped and was smiling warmly at him. But he was staring at him so intently, making Ning Er feel incredibly embarrassed. “What are you laughing at…”
The two of them reached the entrance of the residential complex, bundled up in their winter clothes. Shao Bohan’s sleeves were loose, and he discreetly held Ning Er’s hand close to him. His voice carried a playful tone as he said, “Xiao Er, if you care about me, can’t I be happy about it?”
Ning Er’s lips moved, but he couldn’t find a way to refute it. Instead, his face grew even redder.
He came up with a reason, saying, “It’s because you’re so careless. You even forgot your 2B pencil during the last monthly exam… Oh, by the way, did you remember to bring it this time? Don’t forget again.”
“Even if I forget, it’s okay. I’ll just raise my hand and tell the teacher,” Shao Bohan’s lips curled up, “Teacher, I’m out of pencil lead. My boyfriend, Ning Er from Room 58, has some. I’ll go borrow one from him.”
Ning Er was both embarrassed and annoyed, “Shao Bohan!”
Shao Bohan burst into laughter.
After such a fuss, some of the tension surrounding the upcoming exam seemed to dissipate.
Today, Mother Ning and dad had initially intended to accompany Ning Er to the exam center. Yanzhong was the largest school in Yancheng, and students from the entire district’s physics and chemistry classes were taking the Little Four Subjects exam there. It was just a ten-minute walk from their home to the school, so whether or not Mother Ning escorted him didn’t really matter. What mattered most was Grandma Shao’s suggestion, “How about we don’t accompany them this time? Let them go like they usually do, on their own. If we go to send them, they might get more nervous, so it’s better to let them maintain their usual composure.”
Grandma Shao’s words made sense, and Ning Er’s dad wholeheartedly agreed. So, the two families decided not to accompany them.
When they reached the breakfast stall, Shao Bohan bought two cups of black rice porridge. He handed one cup of black rice porridge to Ning Er.
In the chilly early spring breeze, Ning Er’s small face was almost entirely concealed within a thick scarf. He held the steaming cup of black rice porridge in his hands, drinking it sip by sip.
After a brief moment of silence, Shao Bohan calmly inquired, “Scared?”
Ning Er paused for a moment and shook his head, “Not scared.” Then he thought for a moment and asked, “What about you?”
“If you’re not scared, then I’m not scared.”
Shao Bohan gazed steadily at Ning Er, and Ning Er raised his head to meet his gaze.
Both of them sipped their cups of black rice porridge, exchanged glances, and couldn’t help but break into smiles.
As they neared the school, Ning Er asked, “Hey, I remember you don’t like black rice porridge, right?”
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.
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Ning Er’s steps paused for a moment, and Shao Bohan turned to look at him. Quickly, Ning Er caught up with him.
“You’ve got this.”
A faint voice reached Shao Bohan’s ears. He turned to look at Ning Er in surprise.
Ning Er had already reached the entrance of his exam room, walking there without glancing back. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind, “Xiao Er.”
Ning Er turned around.
Shao Bohan waved the transparent stationery bag in his hand and gave a slight smile, saying, “You’ve got this.”
The preliminary college exam lasted for two days. After it was over, there was no break at all. Students immediately plunged back into their busy revision routines.
Yanzhong had a tightly packed curriculum, with all courses concluding in the first semester of the second year. Starting from the next semester, the entire school would shift into the stage of preparing for the college entrance examination. But for the time being, Ning Er had no time to worry about college entrance exam preparations. Next week, all students participating in the self-recruitment exams would be traveling to various cities for their exams. Haicheng was quite close to Yancheng. There was no need to establish a separate test center in Ningcheng. That’s why Ning Er and Shao Bohan needed to take a bus to Haicheng for their exams.
How to get to Haicheng was still a question.
Mother Ning suggested, “Let’s take a bus there a day in advance. It should take about three hours if there’s no traffic. Are we going by bus, or should we borrow your younger brother’s car?”
Ning Er’s dad shook his head and said, “He needs the car for himself. He has to deliver goods to Ningcheng over the weekend, so he can’t lend us the car. Why can’t they just set up a separate test center in Ningcheng? Other schools have theirs in Ningcheng, why does Fudan have to make us travel all the way to Haicheng?”
Ning Er explained, “It’s still more than two hours to get to Ningcheng, and Haicheng is only a three-hour drive away.”
The truth was that Su Province was just too close to Haicheng. So, the major universities in Haicheng hadn’t set up a separate test center in Ningcheng.
In the end, it was Shao Bohan who came up with a solution.
Two days before the exam, Shao Bohan knocked on the door and suggested that they could simply ride in the Shao family car together.
Mother Ning hesitated a bit and asked, “Xiao Han, can your family’s car accommodate all of us? Both I and Xiao Er’s dad would like to go too.”
Shao Bohan smiled and replied, “I’ll be going alone.”
Mother Ning didn’t expect this answer, and was a little embarrassed. But Shao Bohan explained, “My grandma hasn’t been feeling well lately, so she can’t accompany me to Haicheng. My parents are on a business trip in Europe and won’t have time to be with me. So, the reason I came today was to ask if it’s possible for me to go with Xiao Er. This way, we can look out for each other.”
With this explanation, Mother Ning had a valid reason to agree.
No one at Shao Bohan’s home could accompany him. Despite being of legal age, in the eyes of the adults, he was still a child. It would be a bit odd to let him go to the exam alone. Although Ning Er’s dad and mom were hitching a ride in Shao Bohan’s car, they could also look after him along the way.
Mother Ning suddenly realized something and asked, “Xiao Han, don’t you live at home?”
Shao Bohan had a reasonable explanation, “My home is quite far from the exam center. It’s not very convenient to travel back and forth. That’s why I’d like to stay in a hotel with you guys.” He smoothly changed to another topic, “Coincidentally, my dad has a friend who owns a hotel near the exam center. Booking rooms isn’t easy at the moment, so I’ll check if he can help us reserve some. Auntie, what do you think?”
In reality, securing hotel rooms was also a concern, but Shao Bohan was like a godsend, making Mother Ning both happy and grateful.
Ning Er sat on the sofa and sneakily glanced at Shao Bohan, who raised an eyebrow in his direction.
Ning Er’s ears turned red, and he quickly lowered his head.
On Friday afternoon, Ning Er and Shao Bohan both took half a day off and rode to Haicheng together.
The journey was smooth. They arrived in Haicheng in the late evening. The four of them checked in at the hotel.
At the door of their room, Ning Er’s dad said, “Let’s tidy up our things first. We’ll call you in half an hour. We can go together to check out the exam center and familiarize ourselves with the route for tomorrow’s test. Take a little rest in the meantime.”
With that, Ning Er’s dad and mom entered the room, closing the door behind them.
Shao Bohan swiped the key card. Then, Ning Er entered the room carrying his bag.
Mother Ning and dad shared one room, while Ning Er and Shao Bohan shared another.
Half an hour may seem short, but it also felt quite long. This exam only lasted for one day, testing two subjects: math and physics. After staying in the hotel today, they will take the test tomorrow evening, spend another night in Haicheng, and then head back home the day after.
Since they didn’t have much to pack and the time was short, Ning Er managed to finish packing in just five minutes.
Shao Bohan seemed to be texting someone. Ning Er, who was feeling a bit bored, began to wander aimlessly around the room.
This was a five-star hotel. The room was quite spacious, filled with various strange items. Ning Er rushed into the bathroom to take a look, but he couldn’t find the light switch. With a soft beep, the bathroom lights suddenly turned on, startling Ning Er, who took a step back. When he looked again, the toilet lid had actually lifted itself up!
It lifted up all by itself!!!
Ning Er was taken by surprise for about half a minute and then spent some time investigating. He finally understood that this was, in fact, a sensor-activated toilet with a lot of features. As long as you stepped into the toilet’s area, even just by half a step, it would automatically turn on the lights and even lift the seat for you.
Ning Er played with it a few times, finding it quite fascinating.
He glanced back and saw Shao Bohan still messaging someone. He then went to the minibar to take a look. There was a kettle, some cups, and a refrigerator. It didn’t seem much different from other hotels, except for some beverages Ning Er had never seen before, probably imported.
Ning Er spotted a piece of paper in the corner, so he picked it up and glanced at it.
“35?!!!”
Ning Er’s eyes widened. He stared at the numbers on the bill along with the Chinese yuan symbol in disbelief.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again to take another look.
It was still 35!
A can of Coca-Cola actually costs 35! It’s actually 35! What’s the difference between this and robbery!
“Bottled Sprite also costs 35? Bottled water… 30?!”
So expensive.
Ning Er nervously stared at the numbers on the bill, feeling extremely fortunate that he saw the bill first before touching anything in the room. As he was halfway through, a deep voice sounded from behind him, “Ten times the regular price? That’s indeed quite expensive.”
Ning Er turned around to look. Shao Bohan had quietly walked over from somewhere, looking at the bill from behind him.
“It’s really expensive, like highway robbery,” Ning Er couldn’t help but comment.
Shao Bohan nodded solemnly, “You’re right. I’ll find an opportunity to talk to Uncle Wang. I’ll tell him that my Xiao Er here says they’re robbing people and to pay more attention and improve things.”
Ning Er blushed at his words.
Shao Bohan suddenly extended his hand, his expression instantly becoming serious. “Xiao Er, I think this thing is even more outrageous in terms of robbing people.”
Ning Er followed the direction of his finger and, in an instant, he was utterly mortified.
Shao Bohan remained quite serious, “A box of Durex, here, it should be this box. A three-pack costs 65? This is definitely robbing people. Buying 16 of them only costs 80, but they’re charging 65 for just 3. It’s outrageous. I need to have a serious talk with Uncle Wang. Even if they’re robbing people, they shouldn’t do it so blatantly. Don’t you agree, Xiao Er?”
Ning Er felt embarrassed and fumbled as he said, “H-how did you know that 16 of them cost 80 yuan?”
Shao Bohan froze.
After a moment, Shao Bohan cleared his throat and said, “Right, why do I know… um, I must have guessed.”
Ning Er : “…”
Perhaps afraid that Ning Er wouldn’t believe him, Shao Bohan added, “I really just guessed. Don’t doubt me, Xiao Er. I’ve never bought them. Am I the type of person who would?”
Ning Er was too embarrassed to speak, but in his heart, there was a loud and resolute voice.
You!!! Are!!!
***
The author has something to say:
Shao Bohan: I absolutely, positively have never bought Durex, absolutely not!
Ning Er : You… you… you QAQ!
—————
Have you bought them or not? Haven’t you made up your mind yet? 【Spread your hands】
K: Do you all see where this is going? I do ㅤ/ᐠ – ˕ -マ
Lol reel in your pervertedness bohan 😂