Chapter 3: Chen Lu, Could You Give Me the Key?
Upon hearing this, Qian Hong nodded in agreement. "That's true. With your grades, if you study hard, you'll definitely get into a university. As for me, I'm destined for vocational college."
When he spoke that last sentence, there was a clear hint of self-mockery.
As senior year began, many people resolved to study hard due to various factors. He, too, had harbored grand ambitions more than once, shouting slogans like, "Give me a year, and I'll give you a college entrance exam miracle!" Unfortunately, he would often only keep it up for a few days before reverting to his lazy state of zoning out in class and lacking energy during the day.
He was forced to make peace with himself.
So, he completely understood Xu Ming's thoughts.
After a brief silence, he suddenly thought of something and picked up the conversation where it left off.
"I thought you and Zhang Yingxin were already together. Didn't expect that after all that, you were still just spinning your wheels. I think it's great you've completely cut ties. Dating isn't nearly as fun as playing Warcraft at an internet cafe."
Xu Ming heard Qian Hong calmly accept his fate of vocational college and didn't try to persuade him; after all, studying was something one had to do for oneself. However, the latter part of Qian Hong's sentence almost made him burst out laughing.
Mainly, who would have thought that his best friend, who barely spoke to girls, would go to the internet cafe every week, claiming to play games, but was actually having an online romance? He only found out about this in his previous life after the college entrance exam.
"You're right, dating is boring." Xu Ming nodded, deliberately agreeing.
Soon, after they finished eating, the two washed their utensils at the water tap and went straight back to the classroom after using the restroom.
There were three self-study periods that evening.
During this time, the homeroom teacher only peeked in from outside the window a few times. Since no teachers came to take up class time, it was all up to the class monitor, Li Wenhui, to sit up front and manage discipline. This, in turn, made it convenient for Xu Ming, allowing him to fully immerse himself in his own revision rhythm. The math textbook in his hand had also been switched to the second semester of first year high school.
As time passed minute by minute, his understanding and mastery of math knowledge points gradually strengthened.
【Through diligent study, your [Mathematics] level has increased, and you have gained 3 experience points.】 【Through...】
Soon it was nine-fifty PM, and the regular class ended their evening self-study.
"I'm heading back to the dorm first." Qian Hong glanced at Xu Ming, who was still studying, said goodbye, and was the first to pack his things and leave.
Before long, only a dozen or so figures remained in the classroom. Because the elite class in the west and the re-takers class in another building both finished self-study twenty minutes later, some high-achieving students in the regular class would also follow this schedule. Xu Ming already didn't have much time left, so naturally, he had to make even better use of it.
The hands of the clock on the wall ticked away, and people left one after another. When almost everyone in the classroom had left, he finally gathered his things and walked to the girl with a simple ponytail, sitting in the middle of the front row.
According to how everyone usually addressed her, it would have been fine to just call her by name at this point. But perhaps because his state of mind was different, the words that came out of his mouth were exceptionally polite.
"Classmate Chen Lu, could I have the classroom key?"
"I'll probably be here quite early tomorrow." His tone was very firm, and his expression was full of seriousness. Besides the one in the homeroom teacher's office drawer, she was the only one who had the classroom key. To avoid arriving too early for morning self-study tomorrow and not being able to get into the classroom, it would be much more convenient to get the key in advance.
Chen Lu had spent the entire evening self-study period focused on doing practice problems. In the empty classroom, suddenly having her name called out by a boy unexpectedly inevitably startled her a bit.
"Huh?" Her shoulders jolted violently.
She collected herself and looked up. Upon seeing it was Xu Ming, a hint of suspicion appeared between her brows. Although she hadn't spoken much with Xu Ming, she knew that he usually entered the classroom for morning self-study right at the last minute, even though he rarely was late. If she really gave out the classroom key, tomorrow morning, the hallway outside would probably have a crowd of people waiting.
But even though she understood clearly in her heart, she was too embarrassed to refuse verbally, and her words stumbled out.
"The key... um..."
Xu Ming carefully observed Chen Lu in front of him. In terms of looks, she was even prettier than Zhang Yingxin; her high ponytail accentuated her youthful beauty. But due to her gentle personality, she rarely interacted with classmates in class, so he didn't know much about her. However, he clearly remembered that Chen Lu got into Yanjing University, breaking the regular class's college entrance exam score record. In fact, with her grades, she could have easily transferred to the elite class, but he heard she had a familial relationship with the homeroom teacher, which was why she stayed in Science Class 3. Unfortunately, in his previous life, by the time he got into graduate school, she had already graduated, and they couldn't become university classmates.
His thoughts moved quickly. Seeing that she still hadn't given a definite answer, he proactively spoke up.
"Is it not with you?"
"Yes, Yang Huijuan took it. It's with her dorm key." Chen Lu's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she quickly nodded in agreement. However, her left hand, secretly tucked into her desk, made this answer seem a bit less confident.
"Alright then." Xu Ming didn't think much of it and directly took a step, intending to leave.
Just as he reached the podium, he heard Chen Lu's voice call out from behind him: "When you come tomorrow morning, the classroom door will definitely already be open."
He turned his head and glanced. He always felt that her expression seemed to carry a bit more apology than before. His gaze lingered for a few seconds, and he softly uttered two words.
"Okay."
Xu Ming returned to the boys' dormitory building. He walked carefully along the side of the corridor to prevent his shoes from stepping in puddles. He raised his hand and pushed open the dorm room door, and the familiar layout immediately came into view. Seven double-bunk iron beds were tightly packed inside, just like a large communal sleeping area. The narrowest part of the aisle was less than fifty centimeters. Even though the temperature was still a bit cold now, the windows still had to be open. Otherwise, the air would be truly foul.
Qian Hong had already burrowed into his blanket, playing with the MP3 player he brought to school. A copy of "Yilin" was also thrown near the wall. Hearing the sound of the door, he looked up, saw Xu Ming, and greeted him proactively.
"Just getting back?"
In the upper bunk near the dorm door, the class monitor, Li Wenhui, was chatting with the boy on the opposite bed. "That math practice paper this afternoon really wasn't hard. The homeroom teacher had covered many of the problem types before. If only the college entrance exam paper was this simple."
"Anyway, I didn't do so great. I only solved half of the last big problem."
Xu Ming nodded at Qian Hong. Without listening to others' idle chatter, he found his bed, immediately changed into slippers, took his basin, and went to wash up.
At ten-twenty PM, he lay down in bed and went to sleep before the dorm lights went out.
...
The next day.
He was the first to open his eyes, then naturally sat up, completely devoid of his usual difficulty waking up. It seemed his body had established a brand new biological clock.
"Is this what self-discipline feels like?"
As he marveled to himself, he quickly got dressed and tiptoed out of the dorm room, without disturbing his other roommates who were still deep in sleep.
Arriving at the dormitory building entrance, he looked at the clock on the wall. It was exactly 5 AM, just as he had planned—a full half an hour earlier than the usual senior year wake-up time.
To quickly complete his revision for all subjects and raise his subject levels, he could only appropriately sacrifice some sleep time. Anyway, all told, there were only a hundred days left until the college entrance exam.
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