Chapter 7

Today, Qi Lei arrived a bit early. When he entered the examination room, there were still twenty minutes before the test started, and the vast majority of the candidates hadn't arrived, including Xu Qian.

However, as soon as he walked in, Qi Lei felt something was off. The candidates, who had been busy with their own affairs, hadn't moved their eyes since he entered, all staring at him intently.

This made Qi Lei feel a bit strange, as if he hadn't washed his face properly!

Just as he sat down, Xu Qian sauntered in, swinging a pencil case.

As an attractive girl, she naturally attracted a lot of attention.

But she was much calmer than Qi Lei, perhaps because she was used to it. She calmly walked to her seat, glanced at Qi Lei, and pretended not to recognize him.

Qi Lei didn't have the heart to greet her, as his mind was preoccupied with physics formulas.

He had memorized them yesterday, and he needed to review them before the exam to ensure everything went smoothly.

The examination room remained quiet for another five minutes, and then Xu Qian, who had been pretending to read a book, finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She propped her chin up and slowly moved toward Qi Lei.

"How did you do on the Chinese test?"

Qi Lei frowned slightly. Why did she ask about that?

"Not great, maybe 30 points at most."

Qi Lei wasn't being modest; based on his own efforts, he could only score around 20 points.

Although he had cheated a bit, who knew what level this fierce girl was at? If she was around the same level as him, then cheating would be pointless.

The reading comprehension and memorization sections were all guesses, who knew how many points he would get.

In total, he could only score 30 points.

Of course, that didn't include the essay.

When Xu Qian heard this, she was immediately shocked. "30 points!? Out of 150, you only got 30 points?"

This wasn't just poor performance; it was as if he hadn't studied at all.

"You really are something!"

"Huh? Huh!"

Qi Lei was unhappy. Xu Qian's commotion drew the attention of the entire examination room.

"Being so harsh to a study slacker isn't very nice! It's really discouraging!"

Xu Qian rolled her eyes. "You have a thick skin, no worries! I'll make up for it in the science subjects."

Then she pulled back, full of doubt. She thought to herself, is he really that bad? Then why did the invigilator make such a fuss yesterday?

After a while, the invigilator entered on time, as usual, glancing at Qi Lei with a complex look.

The candidates also voluntarily handed over their textbooks and practice questions to the lectern, while Qi Lei shredded several sheets of paper filled with notes and threw them into the trash.

Goodbye!

Xu Qian watched, full of disdain. "Use it and throw it away, no feelings at all?"

The exam began. The science test covered physics and chemistry, with a total score of 120, each subject accounting for 50%.

Qi Lei received the test paper, wrote his name and exam number as usual, and then started answering the questions.

Just looking at the first fill-in-the-blank question, he felt relieved; he knew how to solve it.

Perhaps the two days of review had paid off. He continued to the second, third, and even the seventh question before getting stuck.

He skipped it, not wanting to waste time.

After about thirty minutes, Qi Lei had completed all the small questions.

There were only about seven or eight questions he was unsure about, which surprised even him.

Looking at the time, Qi Lei decided to go back and tackle those seven or eight questions. He had plenty of time and wanted to see if he could solve them.

In fact, those seven or eight questions were difficult in terms of the question type.

Last night and this morning, he had been focusing on representative question types and trying to solve one or two of each type.

However, the time was too short, and he couldn't cover all the question types. The unfamiliarity was the main obstacle, but Qi Lei felt he could handle it.

After all, he hadn't forgotten all his high school and college knowledge, and his logical and problem-solving skills in science were still intact. Given a bit of time, he might be able to solve them.

Thus, Qi Lei spent 20 minutes and finally solved all the difficult questions.

This gave him a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of joy from learning for the first time in his life.

He composed himself and began tackling the major calculation questions, which were the real test.

However, Qi Lei didn't rush to start writing. He quickly scanned all the major calculation questions, picked out the easier ones, and solved them first.

These were the points he could definitely earn, and he couldn't afford to lose any.

After finishing the easier questions, Qi Lei checked the time. He still had forty minutes left, and there were eight more difficult questions.

Qi Lei wasn't nervous about the time; instead, he took a deep breath and felt more relaxed.

Each correct answer was a gain.

He immediately started on the first calculation question, which was a very difficult chemistry application problem.

After much thought, he finally found the solution. By the time he finished, ten minutes had passed.

One question took ten minutes, and the next ones were even harder. Qi Lei didn't stop but continued to tackle them.

The second question was a physics problem, which he solved in seven minutes.

The third question, Qi Lei seemed to have found his rhythm, solving it in five minutes.

At this point, there were less than twenty minutes left, and five major questions were still unanswered. Qi Lei worked tirelessly, not noticing that his forehead was drenched in sweat, with strands of hair sticking to it.

At this moment, Xu Qian, who was sitting next to him, was looking at Qi Lei. She had already finished and double-checked her answers, ready to submit her paper at any time.

However, the "king of early submissions" was still there!

Seeing the fine sweat on Qi Lei's forehead, Xu Qian narrowed her eyes, very curious.

Why is this guy so strange? His academic performance is poor, but he's not annoying at all. He should be insecure, but he exudes confidence. Overall, he's a very comfortable boy.

Xu Qian thought, if she had such a friend, she wouldn't be bored.

Unfortunately, they were destined to be on different paths, briefly intersecting but then gradually drifting apart.

Due to her family background, Xu Qian matured much earlier than other children. She knew early on that teenage friendships were not as innocent and spontaneous as they seemed.

Teenage friendships were judged by one standard: academic performance!

In school, high-achievers wouldn't be friends with low-achievers. After exams, even if two people were on the same level, they would end up in different schools and different groups.

Then, they would drift further apart and become more distant.

Just like her junior high school days, everyone wrote "forever" in their yearbooks, but reality was cruel. For most of her classmates, graduation meant a permanent farewell, with no further interaction.

If this was the case for three years of classmates, how much more so for just two days of exam companionship?

Thinking about this, Xu Qian felt a bit disappointed, both unwilling and helpless.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the science exam.

Li Yanhong didn't rush to collect the test papers but slowly tidied up the lectern.

Her eyes occasionally drifted to Qi Lei, and when she saw the boy, drenched in sweat, finally straighten up with a sense of relief, she called out, "Come on, put down your pens! If you don't submit your papers, your scores will be canceled!"

"Are you listening? Qi Lei, right? You always cause problems. Can't you be more careful?"

Qi Lei apologized repeatedly to the invigilator, but the smile on his face couldn't be hidden.

He had finally solved the last major question just as the bell rang.

As he stood up to submit his paper, he glanced at the next seat and noticed that the usually carefree Xu Qian seemed unhappy, with a gloomy expression.

He asked softly, "What's wrong? Didn't you do well?"

Xu Qian glared at him, thinking, "How could I not do well?"

She countered, "What about you? Estimate your score."

Qi Lei sighed, "I don't know."

He really didn't know. He had just finished the test and hadn't had time to check. He wasn't sure if his answers were correct or how many points he would get.

"You don't know?"

Xu Qian shook her head, thinking that her teasing before the exam had touched Qi Lei's pride, and now he was too embarrassed to report his score.

"Fine, don't say it! If you had this much shame, why didn't you study hard earlier?"

She stormed out of the examination room, leaving Qi Lei feeling a bit puzzled.

"Did I offend her?"

In the afternoon, there was the English exam, which was Qi Lei's strongest subject. However, he still didn't dare to be careless. When he got home, he found his English textbook and started flipping through it from the beginning.

Junior high school English wasn't difficult, mainly testing students' vocabulary and basic grammar.

Vocabulary was definitely not a problem for Qi Lei.

The challenge was in grammar. Junior high school English was British English, while the TOEFL test he took in the future was for non-native English speakers in the United States, and there were differences between the two.

Qi Lei couldn't help but complain, "Why didn't I take the IELTS? That would have been less trouble."

The purpose of reviewing the book was to identify the differences between the standard grammar and sentence structures in the textbook and his own knowledge, to minimize errors in this area.

However, unlike when he studied physics and chemistry, Qi Lei flipped through the book quickly, almost skimming through it.

Before long, he had finished the first volume of junior high school English.

Tang Yi and Wu Ning arrived on time, bringing lunch for Qi Lei as usual.

Seeing him reading and eating, they left without staying long.

Until the exam, Qi Lei had roughly reviewed all six volumes of junior high school English.

Xu Qian entered the examination room with the invigilator, back to her usual carefree self, and even greeted Qi Lei.

The exam began with the listening section, which was easy for Qi Lei.

The subsequent questions were answered quickly, and with the listening section, he finished in less than an hour.

He could have finished even faster, but he spent extra time on the English writing section.

He had to be extra careful, replacing all the content with vocabulary learned in junior high school. Otherwise, using obscure words would not only not earn points but also result in deductions.

He didn't rush to submit his paper; it was the last subject, and rushing was pointless.

Qi Lei marked all the major and minor questions that tested grammar on the draft paper and checked them one by one.

Combining his recent review, he ensured there were no grammatical errors.

With half an hour left before the exam ended, Qi Lei checked again, confident that there were no more mistakes. He stood up, submitted his paper, and saw no point in staying any longer.

Before leaving the examination room, he bowed to Li Yanhong and said, "I've caused you trouble!"

Li Yanhong watched him leave, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, especially a sense of regret.

She had taught for many years, and this candidate had left a deep impression on her.

And Xu Qian...

Xu Qian's eyes were almost on fire.

He left? He just left like that! Like Xu Zhimo's "Farewell to Cambridge" — "I wave my sleeves and take not a wisp of cloud"?

You... didn't even say goodbye?

Her fists clenched, her knuckles white, as she glared at the classroom door for a long time.

Does he even know what it means to finish this exam?

It means parting ways, never to meet again. Do you understand? After using me for two days, you don't even say goodbye?

No way! Who said you could leave?

Xu Qian suddenly picked up a pen and wrote a phone number on the corner of the draft paper, tearing it off and clenching it in her hand.

She stood up, submitted her paper, and rushed out.

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