Chapter 4

At this point in the third year of high school, both teachers and parents have similar thoughts and are no longer paying much attention to these kids.

Back in the classroom, Bian Xuedao lay on his desk and fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already the third class in the evening. The teacher focused on explaining a few difficult problem types, then moved a chair to sit beside the podium, allowing everyone to review freely and to ask questions if they had any.

The classroom was filled with the rustling of pages being turned and the scratching of pens on paper. Bian Xuedao, like a high-speed photocopier, scanned page after page.

Guo Dong watched as Bian Xuedao buried his head in his books for a while, then put down the book, wrote a few lines in his notebook, and drew a few tree diagrams before continuing to read. When he was reading, Bian Xuedao was incredibly focused, and a strange sense of concentration seemed to radiate from him, even affecting Guo Dong. If Bian Xuedao hadn't been present every day recently, Guo Dong would have suspected that someone else had taken his place.

In the grade, Guo Dong's grades were about ten places higher than Bian Xuedao's, and his ranking was much more stable. The reason for his stability was that Guo Dong was well-rounded, while Bian Xuedao was severely biased in math. During the first mock exam, Bian Xuedao scored only 23 points in math, shocking the entire class.

From the looks of it over the past two days, Bian Xuedao seemed to have given up on math. Regardless of the subject, he was engrossed in studying politics, history, and geography, starting from the first-year textbooks. Others had a full score of 750, while his full score was 600. Was this even possible?

Bian Xuedao knew that Guo Dong was observing him, but he wasn't afraid of being observed and had no time to deal with it. He only had 46 days left, but there were still many books he hadn't read. He clearly remembered that his desk partner in the second half of the second semester of his third year of high school, who usually had decent grades, failed the college entrance exam, only passing the second-tier university line by 10 points, which was 20 points lower than his own score. The most serious issue was that Guo Dong had miscalculated his score by 30 points, leading him to attend the lowest-ranked second-tier university. After the exam, the two lost contact.

Guo Dong was right about one thing: Bian Xuedao had given up on math. With only 40 days left, his plan was to focus on subjects that required memorization first. If there was time left, he would review the most basic math and geometry formulas. For the math problem, Bian Xuedao planned to use a different approach. Even if it didn't work out, he would use his memory to hard-earn a second-tier university score.

That night, the light in Bian Xuedao's room stayed on until 2:30 AM.

After only three hours of sleep, Bian Xuedao got up. He arrived at school early, bought two bottles of the best milk available at the time, and two small bags of cakes. He didn't have time to waste on Zhou Hang; he needed to quickly become "good friends" with him.

Everything went smoothly. In fact, Zhou Hang, a top student living on campus, didn't have many friends. Moreover, Bian Xuedao was always quite ordinary in the class, neither particularly good nor bad at studies, not showy or arrogant, and not particularly good-looking but with a bright and innocent smile. In short, he wasn't a person with a bad reputation or someone who was disliked. After a few days of interaction, Zhou Hang found that Bian Xuedao was very considerate and knew how to handle things.

A week later, Bian Xuedao and Zhou Hang were already shoulder-to-shoulder, eating together.

In the morning, milk; at noon, cola; in the evening, ice cream and skewers from the street. Bian Xuedao steadily controlled the spending ratio between the two, ensuring that he spent more than Zhou Hang. He wanted Zhou Hang to owe him a favor so that when he made his crucial request, it wouldn't seem excessive and wouldn't be easily rejected.

Bian Xuedao had been studying like a madman recently. Although he knew the scope of some of the big questions, he needed to memorize too many knowledge points. He had to ensure that he could reach the second-tier university line even with a score of 0 in math.

Half a month after his rebirth, the spinning top-like Bian Xuedao missed Xu Shangxiu. He had thought about her before, but the confusion, excitement of his rebirth, and the urgency of the college entrance exam quickly overshadowed those thoughts.

That night, lying on his single bed, Bian Xuedao's thoughts of Xu Shangxiu surged like a tidal wave, unstoppable.

That gentle and graceful woman, that understanding woman, that frugal and thrifty woman. Xu Shangxiu, the woman he would meet 8 years later, the woman who would marry him 9 years later.

Bian Xuedao had recently felt that he had forgotten something, and now he remembered. Xu Shangxiu, who was his age, was his college classmate, but he had previously been admitted to a second-tier university for sociology, while Xu Shangxiu was admitted to a first-tier university for international trade. They were not in the same department or college, and they had studied in the same campus for four years without any interaction, not knowing each other before 2009.

The longing was uncontrollable. What was Xu Shangxiu like in 2001? What was she doing now? Did the girl hundreds of kilometers away know that a man was missing her?

Originally, during his study breaks, Bian Xuedao had thought more than once that he would secretly bring out his answers from this college entrance exam, accurately estimate his score, and fully utilize his knowledge of the admission score to apply to a good university, maximizing the value of his score.

Now, Bian Xuedao was determined. He wouldn't change his university choice; no matter what tier it was, he would choose the university he and Xu Shangxiu had once attended, Dongsen University in Songjiang City.

As long as he could get into Dongsen University, in four months, he would see Xu Shangxiu, the woman who would become his wife in the future. Bian Xuedao swore that he would start pursuing Xu Shangxiu from the moment he saw her, that he would have a passionate romance with Xu Shangxiu in college, that he would give Xu Shangxiu the most beautiful college life, that he would use his knowledge and experiences to earn a lot of money, give Xu Shangxiu an unparalleled wedding, and buy the housing complex she had always liked, giving her the life she had always wanted...

Bian Xuedao wanted to contact Xu Shangxiu now. He knew her phone number, but it was useless; she wouldn't start using that number until ten years later. He knew her email, but she hadn't registered it yet. He knew her QQ number... Yes, her QQ number.

The manual countdown on the classroom blackboard had changed to 28 days.

After studying all morning and having lunch, Bian Xuedao pulled Zhou Hang into a nearby internet cafe called "Big Eyes."

The machines were slow, and the mouse was mediocre, but Bian Xuedao didn't care. He asked the owner to open two machines, let Zhou Hang sit beside him to play, and then opened QQ.

He entered his QQ number and password.

Prompt: Incorrect password.

He entered his QQ number and password again.

Prompt: Incorrect password.

He entered his QQ number and password again.

Prompt: Incorrect password.

"Shit!"

"Boss, boss, why does your machine always say the QQ password is incorrect?"

The young owner walked over, glanced at the screen, and looked at Bian Xuedao with a disdainful expression. "You must have entered the wrong password! Is this your number?"

Sitting back in his chair, Bian Xuedao realized that the number was his, but the password he remembered was from 2014. To log in now, he needed the 2001 password, which had been changed dozens of times over the past 10 years.

Bian Xuedao no longer had the memory of 2001, and even if he did, it would be as vague as his 2014 memory.

Bian Xuedao also realized that in 2001, his QQ number didn't have Xu Shangxiu's QQ number. Logging in wouldn't help. However, since he knew her QQ number, he could search for her using any QQ number.

So, Bian Xuedao started applying for QQ numbers.

The first QQ number he applied for was 8 digits.

The second, 8 digits.

The third, 7 digits.

Bian Xuedao borrowed a pen and paper from the internet cafe owner and wrote down the numbers, passwords, and security information for the QQ numbers he had applied for. He knew that in a few years, 7-digit QQ numbers could be sold for a bit of money.

Bian Xuedao wrote down 8 seven-digit QQ numbers. When he applied for another, he surprisingly got a 6-digit QQ number.

What a treasure! Bian Xuedao felt as if he had found a precious gem.

He carefully wrote down the number and password, filled in the required personal information, checked his watch, and saw that it was almost time for class. He quickly woke up Zhou Hang, who was playing Counter-Strike, and they headed back to school.