Chapter 74: Monthly Exam
"Treat every monthly exam like it's the final college entrance exam! Take it seriously!"
"If you dare to cheat, be prepared for the consequences!"
Chen Cheng could already predict that she’d hear these same lines from the homeroom teacher every single month.
Resting her chin on one hand, she absentmindedly spun a pen with the other hand while quickly skimming through the classical Chinese poems that might be on the test. The last thing she wanted was to remember the lines but forget how to write the unfamiliar characters.
"Pass out the test papers!"
The test papers were handed forward from the front row. When the stack reached her, Chen Cheng took one and passed the rest to the student behind her.
With a sigh, she closed her book, bracing herself for the worst. But when she glanced at the test paper... it actually didn’t seem that hard?
Looks like a month of studying did pay off. At least it helped her recall a lot of what she had forgotten. All the knowledge she had tossed aside was finally coming back to her.
Just as she was about to start writing, she felt an intense gaze that made her scalp tingle.
Looking up, she saw her normally gentle and kind homeroom teacher staring at her with a terrifyingly stern expression. Like if she didn’t do well this time, she’d be thrown straight into hell.
Crap!
I cannot fail this test! At least not Chinese!
Her face turned pale. She could already imagine the teacher calling her mom to report that she wasn’t studying properly because she was too busy dating in class.
Luckily, the teacher didn’t stare at her for long before shifting his gaze to An Yuan.
Compared to the "pretty but kinda dumb" student in the middle ranks, the teacher was more concerned about An Yuan, who actually had the potential to get into a top university. His grades had been slipping, and that was a bigger disappointment.
Two periods. About two hours of test time.
When you're focused on something, time flies by in a blink.
"Chengcheng! How was the test?"
After the exam ended and the papers were collected, Hu Wei rushed over excitedly.
"Hmm... probably just average?"
Chen Cheng thought back to the test. She had answered every question, and aside from the essay and reading comprehension, she didn’t think there were any major problems.
"That’s good enough!" Hu Wei sighed in relief and patted her flat chest.
"..."
Hu Wei was an average student, never ranking too low, but also never performing exceptionally well. She was solidly in the lower-middle range.
Knowing that her best friend hadn’t suddenly made any big academic leaps, Hu Wei felt reassured and clung to Chen Cheng’s arm. "Wanna go to the bathroom together?"
"I’ll pass. Gonna review some English instead."
English was the subject Chen Cheng struggled with the most, and even studying last minute wasn’t making her feel any better.
"By the way, how did Shuting do?"
"Ugh, let’s not compare ourselves to her, okay?"
"Then... what about Li Wanyi?"
Hu Wei glanced at Li Wanyi, who was chatting with some other girls. "She’s always in the top few..."
"Figures."
Even though in an alternate future Li Wanyi would turn into a total fake, right now, she was still the classic "perfect girl", pretty, tall, smart, and popular. She was well-liked in class, and most of the other girls naturally gathered around her.
The only downside was that her personality was a bit overbearing, and her sharp facial features made her look strict and unapproachable.
Maybe all the praise had gone to her head, and that’s why she turned into an annoying person in the future?
The thought annoyed Chen Cheng. She could accept other people being better than her, but when it was Li Wanyi, she just felt salty and didn’t want to admit defeat.
"I’m off to the bathroom~"
Hu Wei waved as she left, while Chen Cheng kept her head down, continuing to review English vocabulary and grammar.
She wasn’t too worried about the listening test. After all, she had spent years playing online games with foreign players, so she was used to hearing broken English and all kinds of international accents swearing at her.
But writing? That was another story.
If she had known how much she'd struggle with English now, she should’ve actually used voice chat back then and trashed-talked with her teammates. At least then, her English wouldn’t have gotten this bad!
………………………………………
It was lunchtime.
Chen Cheng had just finished her exam and was completely exhausted. She sluggishly followed behind An Yuan as they made their way into the cafeteria.
There were some noticeable changes. More posters about hygiene and health were stuck on the walls, and the food counters looked cleaner and brighter. Through the glass, she could see the busy kitchen staff at work, along with a few women, probably parents, supervising them.
In front of the serving stations, students were crowded in layers, eagerly waiting for their turn.
Chen Cheng wasn’t great at handling big crowds, so she kept quiet and obediently followed An Yuan, squeezing into the swarm of students.
She wasn’t sure what new dishes the cafeteria had. If she knew, she could’ve asked An Yuan to get the food while she went to grab soup and rice, then found a seat to wait.
She stayed close behind him, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone from her sight. All around her, students were wearing the same autumn school uniform jackets. Since she was short, all she could see were the backs of people’s heads, making it almost impossible to find An Yuan by his build alone.
Without a friend by her side, she immediately felt uneasy. She instinctively clasped her hands together and nervously stood on her tiptoes, looking around.
"An... An Yuan?"
She called out hesitantly. A few students nearby turned to look at her with puzzled expressions. Embarrassed, her face flushed red, and she lowered her head, deciding to leave the crowd and step away from the serving line.
Just then, a large hand reached out from the crowd and grabbed hers.
"Over here."
"Mm!"
She quickly moved toward him, sticking close this time, almost pressing against his arm. "You disappeared all of a sudden..."
"I turned around, and you were gone. You’re too short."
"Yeah, sure, as if you're the only tall one. I’m at least 1.7 meters, okay? That’s tall for a girl!"
"Where did you get 1.7 from?"
"Rounded up."
Bickering out of habit, they finally made it to the counter. Dozens of dishes were lined up, but they could only order the ones right in front of them.
An Yuan leaned forward, stretching his arm to point at a dish with an unfamiliar name. "Auntie, this one, this one, and a fried chicken leg..."
"What’s that thing you just picked?"
"Dunno. Looks decent."
The cafeteria lady finished serving and then turned to Chen Cheng with a knowing smile. "And you, the girlfriend?"
"Uh..."
Chen Cheng suddenly felt like the lady was teasing her. She glanced down and realized her hand was still in An Yuan’s, and half her body was practically pressed against his arm.
In a strict high school where dating was forbidden, seeing a boy and a girl holding hands was definitely rare.
An Yuan seemed to notice it too. He looked down, then immediately let go of her hand like he had been electrocuted.
Her hands were surprisingly small, soft as tofu, cool to the touch. So cold that it made him feel a little bad for her.
Meanwhile, Chen Cheng acted like nothing had happened and casually ordered two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.
Maybe because she was pretty, the cafeteria lady didn’t hesitate at all, piling her plate with three heaping scoops of food.
After getting their trays, they found a seat and sat down next to each other, eating in silence.
Chen Cheng was the first to speak. "Tastes way better than before. Almost as good as restaurant food."
"Yeah..." An Yuan hesitated for a moment before saying, "About earlier, I wasn’t really paying attention."
Seeing his awkward and flustered expression, Chen Cheng narrowed her eyes, her lips curling into a smirk. She couldn’t resist teasing him.
"Oh? It was just holding hands. Why are you acting like some clueless virgin?"
Because he cared about her more now, it was impossible to pretend like it didn’t affect him.
An Yuan shot her an annoyed glare. "You really have a punchable face, you know that?"
"Go ahead! But don’t blame me when the cafeteria auntie breaks your legs!"