Chapter 42

Less than thirty days remained until the college entrance exam. The moment you stepped into school, a massive countdown banner loomed overhead, reminding every student of how close it was.
The atmosphere in the third-year building had reached a terrifying intensity, even more so than in previous years, thanks to Yan Xiao and Qiu Li.
Still, everyone was calm.
The “terror” was just the sheer drive to study. After months of following Qiu Li and Yan Xiao’s lead, everyone had grown used to working hard. No matter what the final results would be, at least they could face themselves without regret.
After May 20, the scent of the exams grew heavier by the day. By the end of May, as June arrived, the real battle began.
To keep students relaxed, the school didn’t do any special ceremonies or speeches on their last day. No “don’t be nervous” or “just do your best” talk,
They wanted everyone to treat it like a normal school day, to go into the exam with steady hearts.
That was Yanwen Academy’s long-standing tradition.
Even so, emotions ran high.
As Yan Xiao and Qiu Li stepped out of the teaching building, a shout rang out from somewhere nearby,
“Good luck on the college entrance exam!”
Like a drop of water falling into hot oil, the entire campus erupted.
“Good luck!”
“Victory in the exams!”
The chorus of youthful voices rose to the sky.
In her previous life, when she’d already taken the college entrance exam once, Yan Xiao hadn’t felt anything special about it. To her, it had just been another test. Even the day she graduated, she hadn’t been sentimental.
But now, hearing this wave of energy, seeing the joy and passion around her, she finally understood.
She understood what “youth” meant.
She understood why everyone shouted to the heavens, why this struggle mattered so much.
This period of fighting side by side, of striving and enduring, it was something precious, something sacred.
Looking at the crowd still cheering and throwing papers into the air, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted toward the building, “Good luck on the exams!”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear and crisp, cutting through the noise.
And somehow, her shout set off another wave of chaos, students who’d planned to quietly pack up found themselves shouting too, laughter and cheers echoing through the air.
When she finally dropped her hands and smiled, her heart swelled.
This, this is youth. It’s beautiful.
She stood there a moment longer, letting herself soak it all in. Just as she was about to leave, the crowd above suddenly broke into an uproar,
“Qiu Li, shout one!”
“Shout one!”
“Qiu Li!”
“Qiu Li!”
And occasionally
“Campus heartthrob!”
“Top student!”
“Shout one!”
Yan Xiao, who had originally planned to slip away, looked up, now thoroughly entertained by the chaos.
Qiu Li glanced at her face full of amusement, the corners of his mouth twitching helplessly.
A moment later, he copied Yan Xiao’s earlier gesture, raising a hand to his mouth and shouting
“Good luck on the college entrance exam!”
“Good luck, Yan Xiao!”
Those two calls instantly sent the crowd’s excitement to its peak.
The entire senior-year building exploded in cheers.
Not to be outdone, Yan Xiao cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted back, “Good luck, Qiu Li!”
When she finished, she gave him a playful, challenging look.
But everyone else was too busy shouting cheers for their own friends, or for themselves, or for their secret crushes, no one noticed the quiet spark between her and Qiu Li.
Amid all the especially loud “Go Yan Xiao!” and “Go Qiu Li!” cheers, the two subjects of all this noise finally couldn’t take it anymore. They exchanged a look toward the school gates, then, perfectly in sync, turned and walked out together.
The crowd was wild.
But this feeling was wonderful.
As they stepped out of the school side by side, the warm summer breeze swept over them, carrying the heat of youth itself…
The two-day college entrance exam ended in a blink.
The moment Yan Xiao walked out of the exam room after the final paper, she took a deep breath, feeling even her soul lighten, as though the weight she had carried uphill for so long had finally been set down at the mountaintop.
She looked toward the blinding sunset, a slow smile curling on her lips, just when
“Xiao-xiao!”
Zhou Hang bounded up like a grasshopper. “You’re finally out! The genius and I have been waiting forever!”
Yan Xiao looked up and saw Qiu Li smiling at her.
“Hungry?” Qiu Li handed her a strawberry milkshake, her favorite. “Let’s go eat?”
Yan Xiao took the milkshake and was just about to nod, because yes, she was starving, when Zhou Hang started wailing like a human trumpet:
“Eat what! We’re going back to school! Class dinner tonight! Come on, Xiao-xiao, you too!”
With Zhou Hang’s trumpet-like persistence, Yan Xiao could only nod and agree to go back to school for the class dinner, even though they weren’t even in the same class.
Just as the three were about to leave, the Class 2 monitor ran up to her: “We’re having our class dinner tonight! Meet at the school gate at 7:30, don’t forget!”
Zhou Hang, like a dog whose bone had been stolen, barked indignantly: “Xiao-xiao’s coming with us! Why are you stealing people? Not cool!”
The Class 2 monitor looked utterly baffled, Xiao-xiao was in his class! How was he stealing anyone?!
Seeing the two about to start bickering, Yan Xiao quickly suggested that both classes just join up. The advanced class had fewer people anyway; together it wouldn’t be too crowded. That settled it, everyone was happy and headed back to school together.
Dozens of students, freshly freed from the biggest exam of their lives, filled the restaurants near campus with noise and laughter. Luckily, the Class 2 monitor had reserved a private room early. It was a bit small, but squeezing in wasn’t a problem.
After the stress of the college entrance exam, with everyone still in their teens, the room was soon bursting with life—rowdy and radiant. Sitting quietly in the corner, Yan Xiao couldn’t help feeling a little sentimental.
“Come on, come on!” the Class 2 monitor, always great at hyping up a crowd, stood with his glass raised. “We finally finished! Who knows when we’ll all be together again, so let’s toast to our friendship and our youth!”
With a clatter, everyone lifted their glasses.
Yan Xiao glanced at her own table, just as she reached out, Qiu Li pushed a glass of juice into her hand.
“You drink this,” he said, naturally sliding her beer out of the way.
Yan Xiao hadn’t planned to drink anyway, she wasn’t even of age yet, and she wasn’t about to touch alcohol. But when she saw Qiu Li moving her beer in front of himself, she couldn’t resist pointing at it, intending to remind him he wasn’t of age either.
Before she could say anything, Qiu Li suddenly leaned down close to her ear.
It was crowded and loud in the private room, so when Qiu Li saw her pointing at the beer, he thought she wanted to drink and tried to stop her. Worried she wouldn’t hear him, he leaned in and murmured
“You’re still young. No drinking. Be good.”
That clear, soft voice brushed warm against her ear.
Yan Xiao: “…”

Author’s note:
Yan Xiao: No, I won’t behave!
Qiu Li: Okay, don’t behave, don’t behave~ (#^.^#)