Chapter 18: Monthly Exam
"Treat this monthly exam like it's the real college entrance exam!"
The homeroom teacher stood at the front of the class, handing out test papers with a serious expression, warning every student.
"Do your best! Your parents will have to sign your results tomorrow."
"Cheating will get you in trouble, so don’t even think about it!"
With the teacher’s repeated warnings, the once relaxed classroom atmosphere instantly turned tense.
No more whispers, no more glancing around. The room was so quiet you could almost hear everyone breathing.
Chen Cheng stared at the test paper, wide-eyed and completely lost.
She wrote her name at the top, then looked down at the questions, zoning out.
To be honest, at a quick glance, she couldn’t understand at least a third of the test.
Some questions looked familiar, but she couldn’t recall how to solve them at all.
She was already twenty-seven before she transmigrated. High school knowledge had been long forgotten. Even though she had tried to study these past few days, her brain had been rusty after seven or eight years of not using this stuff. There was no way she could recover all that knowledge overnight.
The monthly exam was kind of important, at least as a measure of whether she had been studying seriously this past month. If her grades dropped too much, she might even get called in with her parents.
"Crap..."
Chen Cheng muttered under her breath and sneakily glanced at Pan Jie.
She vaguely remembered that Pan Jie’s grades weren’t great either, one of the few students who didn’t even get into a regular college.
But... he’s probably still better than me right now, right?
Pan Jie noticed her gaze, hesitated for a moment, then nervously checked on the teacher who was walking around monitoring the exam. After making sure the coast was clear, he shifted his test paper slightly to the left, just enough for Chen Cheng to see.
"Thanks~"
Hearing that, Pan Jie looked so happy that he nearly moved half his test right under her nose.
Way too obvious!
"No need, be careful."
"Alright."
Chen Cheng didn’t want to get caught cheating, so she quickly refused his help.
She had no choice but to figure things out on her own...
Some things, if you know it, you know it. If you don’t, you don’t.
It’s not like she got some kind of cheat ability when she transmigrated, no magical memory palace to help her recall everything. So, she just filled in the answers for the questions she knew, then rested her chin in her hand, staring blankly at the rest.
Maybe if she stared hard enough, the answers would magically appear.
"I think… this is how you solve it?"
She mumbled to herself, but her mind drifted off to the scene in the infirmary earlier.
Her eyes wandered past a few classmates before landing on Hu Wei.
Was An Yuan interested in Hu Wei?
He sure was overly helpful just now…
But didn’t he always say that petite, flat-chested girls weren’t his type?
Plus, Hu Wei is so short, she’d totally drag down his kids' height in the future!
Not a good match. Not at all.
If An Yuan really had feelings for her, she’d have to find a way to talk him out of it.
"Knock knock."
A sudden tap on the desk snapped Chen Cheng back to reality. She turned her head and found the homeroom teacher standing beside her, face dark and stern.
Usually, the teacher looked kind and approachable, like a friendly neighbor. But right now? She looked like a nuclear bomb waiting to go off.
"You’re zoning out during the exam? How much have you written?"
"I was just… thinking about the questions..."
Chen Cheng shrunk into her seat, trying to act like she was seriously working, moving her pen across the paper as if deep in thought.
The teacher glanced at her test, frowning deeply, then sighed and shook her head.
She had just checked on An Yuan too. Once a top student, but now his grades had dropped significantly.
…………………………………………
"Ah~ finally over! My butt is sore from sitting!"
During regular classes, at least she could chat with Pan Jie to pass the time, but during exams? No chance. It was so stifling that she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Stretching lazily, Chen Cheng took a deep breath of the cool evening air. The fresh chill instantly cleared her foggy mind.
It was already late October. The daytime temperature was still above 30°C, but at night, it had dropped to just over 20°C, nice and comfortable. Probably wouldn't be long before autumn officially arrived.
Up ahead, a group of silly classmates were holding hands, jumping around like little kids. She couldn’t bear to watch.
"An Yuan, how did you do?"
Curious, Chen Cheng turned to ask An Yuan.
"Meh… I forgot a lot."
She nodded in deep agreement. "Same here! I forgot everything! If I hadn’t copied some homework the past few days, I probably wouldn’t have been able to answer a single question!"
"I was thinking of copying from Pan Jie, but that guy just showed half his test on my desk. Scared me so much I didn’t dare to cheat."
But An Yuan didn’t laugh like he usually would. Instead, his expression was serious.
"You seem way too happy about this."
"Of course! I finally got that monthly exam out of the way somehow."
"You won’t be laughing when the results come out."
Chen Cheng’s smile froze. She lowered her voice, feeling guilty. "It should be fine, right? I just had a bad test day, that’s all."
An Yuan rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking troubled. "I’m more worried about what the homeroom teacher will think. She already warned me during morning reading not to get into a relationship. If she tells our parents and they misunderstand..."
They both knew their grades had nothing to do with dating, but to outsiders, their scores suddenly dropping while they stuck together all the time? What else could it be besides a relationship?
Chen Cheng started to panic. "It shouldn’t be that bad... right?"
Her mom was strict when it came to her. Raising a son? Easygoing. Raising a daughter? Super strict. If she was even 30 minutes late getting home, she’d get a phone call interrogation. If her mom really believed she was dating, would she end up getting smacked with a feather duster?
And worst of all, how would she even explain it?
Seeing the fear on her face, An Yuan actually laughed.
"Don’t worry. I already talked to the teacher. She gave us a chance and even had me write a statement."
"Huh? When?"
"During break, when you were zoning out."
After scaring her enough, An Yuan finally grinned. "As long as our scores improve on the next monthly exam, she’ll pretend nothing happened."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Chen Cheng patted her chest in relief. "Phew~ That’s good! That’s good!"
But this meant she couldn’t slack off anymore, she actually had to study for real now...
Curious, she asked, "So, what did you write in the statement?"
"Basically, if our grades improve next time, the teacher will turn a blind eye to the whole ‘dating’ thing."
"But we’re NOT dating! Why didn’t you explain that?!"
An Yuan shrugged. "Who would believe it? Besides, I do plan to date seriously in high school. Ideally, with someone whose grades are about the same as mine, so we can get into the same university."
Chen Cheng suddenly went silent.
That familiar sour feeling bubbled up inside her again, burning like acid in her chest.
"But... what if you don’t get into the same university?" She tried to sound rational. "Wouldn’t that just turn into a long-distance relationship?"
"I’ve done long-distance before," An Yuan admitted. "It took three to five hours on the bullet train. I’d visit once a month, stay a few days, then leave again. It was exhausting."
"And long-distance dating? If they cheat on you, you wouldn’t even know, right?"
An Yuan turned his head, looking at her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.
Why did it feel like... even though Chen Cheng kept encouraging him to date to shut down rumors, she actually didn’t want him to date at all?
At first, she warned him about getting played by Li Wanyi. Then, she said he shouldn’t be a player and should take relationships seriously. Now, she was saying he should avoid long-distance relationships.
And somehow... all of her arguments actually made sense?