Chapter 49

【ps: Thanks to the three readers Yixiao Jimoduochou, Shanghua Pinyu, and Daocong Mixiaoshi for their generous donations~】

As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

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Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

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The exams went smoothly, and during the breaks, Tong Yan could tease Dong Mian and harass the girl in front of him, Ye Qingzhu. After confirming that Ye Qingzhu had no interest in him, Tong Yan felt more at ease when facing her.

Tong Yan's solid foundation allowed him to excel in the exams, but the only thing that bothered him was that sometimes he would suddenly get lost in the world of his novels while answering questions. Recently, he found it increasingly difficult to design the plots he wanted, so he spent much more time on planning. Even in the exam, where every second counted, he couldn't help but get distracted. However, this also indicated that the test papers were too easy for him; if he didn't think about something else during the exam, he would finish the papers quickly and get bored.

The monthly exam lasted for two days, with the last subject being English. After the papers were submitted, most of the grading could be done immediately by the card reader, and then the English teachers would manually grade the word fill-ins and essays. By the time of the evening study session, some of the results were already out.

"What's wrong? Daydreaming?" Dong Mian scanned his nearly perfect chemistry paper and looked at Tong Yan.

"Nothing." Tong Yan felt very embarrassed as he put away the paper. It was embarrassing that he had made mistakes on such simple chemical formulas.

"What's wrong with you?" Dong Mian folded his nearly perfect math paper and asked Tong Yan.

"Nothing." Tong Yan covered his forehead and put the paper in his drawer. The algebra questions that seemed so easy now, what was he thinking at the time? How could he have made such mistakes!

"Why do you have that look again?" Dong Mian put away his nearly perfect physics paper and looked at Tong Yan.

"Forgot to write 'kPa' and 'kWh,' what's wrong with me!" Tong Yan was always meticulous when doing problems, but this time he made many avoidable mistakes. His total score in the three subjects was already far behind Dong Mian's.

When the English papers were handed out, Dong Mian first observed Tong Yan's expression. "Well, not depressed this time?"

Tong Yan waved the English paper. "Damn, only the English score is stable."

Dong Mian comforted Tong Yan. "It's okay, there's still biology and your best subject, Chinese."

The next day, they had a half-day off in the afternoon. In the morning, after the third class, Tong Yan and Luo Xiaoxu went to the office to find Mr. Song. The students were eagerly waiting for the results of the last subject, and as the homeroom teacher, Mr. Song already had the exam results in his hands. Tong Yan was eager to see them first.

"Teacher, are the results out?" Tong Yan asked directly.

Mr. Song looked at Luo Xiaoxu. "Xiaoxu did well this time, a lot of progress."

Mr. Song ignored Tong Yan and handed the results to Luo Xiaoxu.

Luo Xiaoxu felt a bit awkward, thinking that Mr. Song and Tong Yan were having a spat, and he was caught in the middle. He picked up the results and tilted them towards Tong Yan so both could see.

Tong Yan had already anticipated that his scores wouldn't be good this time, as he had made many low-level mistakes in math and science. However, when he saw his ranking on the results sheet, he was still shocked.

8th in the class, 41st in the grade!

He had dropped out of the first exam room!

For the first time, he was outside the top 30 in the grade!

In stark contrast to Tong Yan's shock and bewilderment, Luo Xiaoxu was 17th in the class and 96th in the grade. This was his first time breaking into the top 100, which meant he could sit in the gold exam room next time!

"Go back and distribute the Chinese papers first. I'll bring the results later," Mr. Song said.

Mentioning the Chinese papers, Tong Yan immediately looked at his Chinese score: 98 points. Only 98! He rarely scored below 130 before.

A stack of Chinese papers, the first one was Tong Yan's. Mr. Song had reviewed it several times. Tong Yan only got 18 points out of 60 for the essay, indicating that his writing did not impress the grader, Mr. Song.

On the way back to the classroom, Luo Xiaoxu offered a simple consolation to Tong Yan. "It's okay, exams always have ups and downs. You'll do better next time."

Tong Yan nodded, feeling very down. At that moment, a girl walked towards them.

"Hey, Tong Yan, didn't you see me?" Song Rao stopped Tong Yan, and Luo Xiaoxu tactfully walked ahead.

Tong Yan had been preoccupied with his poor exam results and hadn't noticed the bright girl.

"No, I saw you," he said, realizing that telling the truth would be foolish. "You're so beautiful, I saw you from far away."

Tong Yan inexplicably praised Song Rao's beauty. To his surprise, she blushed, her cheeks turning red.

Tong Yan scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward. "Are you looking for Mr. Song?"

"Uh-huh," Song Rao nodded. "I'm going out with Zhao Ying after school and will be back late. I just wanted to let him know."

"Girls shouldn't stay out too late. It's not safe outside," Tong Yan said instinctively.

"None of your business," Song Rao giggled. "Bye."

"Uh, okay."

Entering her father's office, Song Rao first saw a results sheet on the table. She called out, "Dad," but before she could start her business, she looked at the results.

Top three, no Tong Yan.

Top five, still no Tong Yan.

Tong Yan was... 8th in the class, 41st in the grade!

Having grown up around her father, Song Rao was very familiar with Tong Yan's performance. He had always been in the first exam room, and even if her father gave him a zero for the essay, he never fell out of the top 30 in the grade. But this time, it was different. Could it be because of his promise to her, "Next time I'll do worse to make you happy"? Could that be the reason?

This was an unreliable guess, but it made Song Rao feel a sweet, unfamiliar sensation.

"Dad, why did Tong Yan score so low? Did he write another zero-point essay?"

Mr. Song didn't answer directly, but he "harrumphed." He hated hearing Tong Yan's name from his daughter. What did they have to do with each other, a senior and a junior, a boy and a girl? It was ridiculous!

"You reminded me just in time. If he writes such nonsense again, I