“Hahaha I told you his grades were really good but you just wouldn’t believe me…”
Yang Fan’s laughter could practically pierce through the receiver. Even over the phone, Fu Yuhan could imagine him doubled over with laughter. “Now you’ve seen it, right?”
“…”
Fu Yuhan on this end of the line pressed his lips together and remained silent for a moment: “If you laugh this happily, I won’t want to continue this conversation.”
“Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop.”
The person on the other end was laughing, and from the sounds, it seemed like he had thrown himself onto his bed.
Only when talking to close, relaxed people would one be so uninhibited. Listening to the voice on the phone, Fu Yuhan unconsciously relaxed as well. He walked toward the window, looking at the road outside the hospital where the number of people had suddenly decreased in the evening.
Street lamps lonely illuminated a small circle, and the night wind blew his bangs.
Yang Fan’s voice continued from the phone: “Hey wait, I asked Wen Yu a couple days ago, and he said he gets along pretty well with you. Why are you so unhappy that he got first place in the grade?”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Is that the point?”
Fu Yuhan really wanted to say “yes.”
But when the words reached his lips, he felt it was too direct and couldn’t say it. His lips moved for a moment before he changed his phrasing: “Did he call you?”
“I called him.” Yang Fan knew him too well—he could guess the rest after hearing half a sentence, so he quickly explained: “It’s not that I didn’t call you. A few days ago he told me he hurt his foot, so I called to ask about the situation… Look, as soon as I knew you finished your monthly exam, I proactively called you, right? I still love you, baby.”
Fu Yuhan’s heart skipped a beat.
Wen Yu’s foot injury didn’t stop him from making snide remarks to Fu Yuhan whenever he felt like it. Plus, he was bouncing around again after a couple days, so if Yang Fan hadn’t mentioned it, Fu Yuhan would have almost forgotten.
He was actually a bit curious, but Wen Yu mixed truth and lies when he spoke, and digging deeper would seem pathetic.
After all, he was his love rival, not a good buddy.
To ignore Yang Fan’s last half sentence, he decided to take this opportunity to ask about this matter: “Speaking of which, what’s the deal with his foot?”
“What?” Yang Fan didn’t catch on.
“I mean…” Fu Yuhan thought for a moment, “did he tell you? He injured it himself.”
“Huh? Oh, I know. Didn’t he run too fast going downstairs!” Yang Fan said, “His foot has been like that since he first came in freshman year, spraining it every few days. I heard he injured it as a child and didn’t recover properly, leaving aftereffects. There’s no way to treat it except being careful usually.”
“Running too fast going downstairs.”
“…I see, so he really was careless.” Fu Yuhan pressed his lips together and kindly didn’t expose Wen Yu’s lie, redirecting the conversation back to the monthly exam results.
For this semester’s opening monthly exam, the teachers were merciful and slightly lowered the difficulty when setting the papers. Many people scored higher than usual, but even so, a score of 731 was still somewhat exaggerated.
So exaggerated that during break time, many people gathered outside Class 6’s door to “worship the academic god.”
Usually at most there were a few girls hanging around to look at handsome guys, but this time it was regardless of gender or class—quite a crowd, and noisy too. Even the grade director came to disperse them several times.
Despite such commotion outside the classroom, Wen Yu remained calm and composed in his seat the whole time, either working on test papers or reviewing with his notebook, as if he saw nothing.
“Too pretentious,” Fu Yuhan told Yang Fan.
“Hahaha I can imagine the scene.” Yang Fan laughed so hard on the other end of the phone that he was rolling around.
After laughing, he said: “His grades were already exaggerated in freshman year. We had two clowns in our class who would worship Wen Yu before every exam. Now that he’s transferred, they’re planning to enshrine Wen Yu’s photo.”
Fu Yuhan: “…”
“Before he transferred, the homeroom teacher called him for talks several times, trying to persuade him to stay, but Wen Yu didn’t listen. Our academic affairs director even said this graduation rate was basically being handed over to your Third High for free.”
“Why did he have to transfer?” Fu Yuhan asked. “There’s not much difference between Third High and First High, right?”
Yang Fan laughed mischievously: “Who was it that complained to me every day about wanting to come to First High?”
“…” Fu Yuhan pressed his lips together and said calmly: “Don’t hit people in the face.”
Fu Yuhan had agreed with Yang Fan to go to First High, so naturally he couldn’t have voluntarily filled in Third High. However, on the deadline day for high school entrance exam applications, his mom got the account and password from his homeroom teacher, logged into his account, and changed his application.
Teaching quality? Indeed there wasn’t much difference.
But He Yan said Third High was closer to their home, saving Fu Yuhan from running back and forth.
It sounded warm at first, but First High clearly had student dormitories.
Applications couldn’t be changed after the deadline. Fu Yuhan held his acceptance letter—he couldn’t go back to repeat the year, so he could only resign himself to coming to Third High.
He came, but his emotions were resistant. In freshman year, he still texted and called Yang Fan every day, mentioning “wanting to go to First High” at least once every three sentences.
All dark history.
“I’m not teasing you, I’m not teasing you, I was wrong.” Yang Fan said. “But I’m not clear on why Wen Yu transferred either. When I asked him before, he said his dad made him transfer, but as far as I know, he’s not someone who listens to his dad that much.”
“They have conflicts?”
“I don’t think so? His dad should be the type who respects his opinions… I just don’t understand.”
Fu Yuhan made an acknowledging sound.
“So how did you do on this exam?” Yang Fan changed the topic.
“Not well.” Fu Yuhan paused. “I didn’t know it was a monthly exam beforehand, and I fell asleep while writing the essay.”
“…That’s pretty cool of you? Staying up all night again?”
“Mm.”
“Tsk,” Yang Fan was somewhat dissatisfied. “Your mom really… you’re already a senior. She doesn’t only have Xiaolu as a child.”
“I generally don’t think about these things,” Fu Yuhan said softly. “Xiaolu is already pitiful enough.”
The more he thought about how biased his mother was, the easier it became to take it out on his sister.
No need for that.
He was almost an adult—why bother competing with an elementary school student over such things?
“But…” Yang Fan hesitated.
“What?”
At this moment, a nurse on duty passed by. Fu Yuhan switched the phone to his other hand and walked toward a more secluded corner. The inpatient department was much quieter than outside. He lowered his voice: “Just say what you want to say. What can’t you tell me?”
“It’s not that… tsk, then I’ll just say it directly.”
“Mm.”
“I’m planning to apply to T University. Chu Lei says he wants to apply to P University. We could visit each other and hang out together in the future, so… do you want to also apply to the capital?”
Fu Yuhan was stunned.
He didn’t seem to be at the level where he could aspire to T University or P University right now.
As for other schools…
“Let me think about it.” Fu Yuhan lowered his eyes, fidgeting with the leaves of a potted plant in the corner of the hallway, saying softly: “I’ll see if I can try to get as close to you guys as possible.”
High school coursework was much more difficult than middle school. Under such circumstances, declining grades could have ten thousand reasons.
Conflicts with family, inability to adapt to unfamiliar environments, rebelliousness… anyone could take a share of the blame.
Fu Yuhan didn’t want to complain, but he couldn’t say “let’s agree on First High” to Yang Fan and the others like he could three years ago. Moreover, Director Yao’s suggestion actually made him quite tempted.
He quite liked drawing. When drawing, he didn’t need to think about anything—he could control everything about the picture.
If he could study art, that would naturally be good.
He wondered if there were other options in the capital.
The two chatted for a few more sentences before Yang Fan hung up.
Fu Yuhan looked up. The evening sky was gradually turning dark. He saw his own reflection in the window and thought that maybe he should go find his dad.
–
Wen Yu was sitting across from his father.
At a large round table meant for twelve people, he stubbornly sat directly opposite his father, while there were only three people at the dining table. The woman who had come to his residence to cook for him last time looked somewhat at a loss—sitting on either side felt wrong, so she finally sat awkwardly near the middle-aged man with one seat between them.
“I heard you just took an exam,” the middle-aged man spoke.
Wen Yu nodded, his brows and eyes carrying pride: “Yes, the first monthly exam.”
“Are the results out?”
“They’re out,” Wen Yu said. “First place.”
The man nodded: “It seems you haven’t had any problems adapting to the new school.”
Wen Yu smiled and didn’t respond.
“…Ziming!” The woman urgently called out, then smiled apologetically at Wen Yu. “Xiao Yu, you’ve been at the new school for several days now. Are you getting along well with your classmates?”
“Pretty good, Mom.” Wen Yu smiled warmly. “The teachers all like me, and I get along well with my classmates too.”
“I heard your homeroom teacher arranged for you to sit next to a not-so-motivated student?” Wen Ziming suddenly said. “Wanjing, find time to go to the school and talk to the homeroom teacher about getting Xiao Yu a better desk mate, so it won’t affect his studies.”
“Oh… okay.”
Fang Wanjing glanced across the table and smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Women were generally more sensitive. Although Wen Yu was smiling, she could sense that he didn’t seem very happy.
However, this child Wen Yu had grown up in some way where he rarely expressed whether he was happy or not, completely impervious to persuasion. Sometimes when Fang Wanjing wanted to accommodate him, he never made additional requests.
Her gaze fell on the exquisite porcelain bowl in front of her. The hotel’s yellow spotlights cast light spots on the bowl’s rim. Fang Wanjing silently sighed.
Just when she thought today’s rare “family reunion dinner” for the three of them would end gloomily like before, Wen Yu suddenly spoke.
“No need, Dad. I’m quite satisfied with my desk mate.”
His seemingly eternal 30-degree smile slightly restrained, Wen Yu lifted his eyelids, his eyes carrying coldness. “Unmotivated people won’t constantly bother me with questions and waste my time. Isn’t that quite good?”
“But I’m very worried that unmotivated people will lead you astray.”
“Oh.” Wen Yu smiled. “But if I change desk mates, I might become even worse.”
Wen Ziming frowned.
“Anyway, I don’t want to change desk mates.” Wen Yu lowered his eyes and picked up his chopsticks.
“Might become even worse” wasn’t discussing possibilities. Wen Ziming could tell this was a threat.
“I haven’t pursued the matter of your transfer, what more do you want?” Wen Ziming asked irritably.
“I don’t want anything. I haven’t made any demands. I’d be grateful if you could just interfere less in my affairs.” Wen Yu lowered his head to eat. “We clearly agreed on this originally. I kept my promise and got first place in the grade. I hope you can honor the agreement.”
“Wen! Yu!”
Wen Yu turned a deaf ear.
“Alright, Ziming. It’s rare for Xiao Yu to have dinner with us. Don’t slam the table.” Fang Wanjing moved over to pat his back and calm him down. “Let’s eat, let’s eat.”
After comforting one, she had to comfort the second: “Xiao Yu, why don’t you come home with us tonight?”
“No need. I still have evening self-study later, need to go back to school.” Wen Yu didn’t look up. “It’s more convenient to go back to my own place after class.”
“What about Friday then? You can come home on weekends, right?”
“We’ll see. It’s senior year, there are supplementary classes on weekends too.”
His refusal was obvious. Fang Wanjing wanted to persuade him more but was stopped by Wen Ziming.
“Enough.” The man was obviously still angry. “If he doesn’t want to, don’t bother with him.”
“Ziming…”
Fang Wanjing looked at Wen Yu with difficulty, sighed, and lowered her gaze.
Tonight was indeed another dinner that ended unpleasantly.
Wen Yu didn’t think it was anything special—he had anticipated this before coming. After dinner, the driver first sent him back to school. Wen Yu curled up in the back seat and let out a soft snort.
The sky had darkened, and the lit streetlights flickered on his face as the car moved.
At this moment, he had no smile on his face at all, as cold as if possessed by Fu Yuhan.
Even children understand that forced melons aren’t sweet. He didn’t understand what Fang Wanjing was still persisting in.
Being able to call her “Mom” was already Wen Yu’s limit. Did she really fantasize that the three of them could become a family?
The phone in his pants pocket suddenly vibrated.
Wen Yu picked it up, and the moment he saw the caller ID, he naturally smiled: “Hello, Yang Fan? What’s up?”
“Can’t I call you if there’s nothing wrong?” Yang Fan’s voice was lazy. “I just called Xiao Han and suddenly remembered I should tell you about this.”
“What?”
“I’m planning to apply to T University, and Chu Lei wants to apply to P University. T University and P University are just across the street from each other, so it’d be convenient to hang out together.” He said, “What do you think? Want to join us?”
Wen Yu was stunned.
His pause made Yang Fan think it was a refusal, so he quickly asked: “You’re not planning to go abroad directly, are you? Of course, with your grades and family background, it wouldn’t be difficult…”
“No, I don’t have plans to go abroad right now.” Wen Yu came back to his senses. “I haven’t thought about what school to apply to—just you and Chu Lei are planning to apply to the capital?”
“Bamboo Pole says he’s not going. Ball’s grades are a bit lacking, says he’ll try his best. Then there’s Zhang Si, Zhao Meng, Sun Pengwei…” Yang Fan listed a string of classmates’ names.
As the city’s TOP2 high school, First High wouldn’t have few people daring to set their goals on T University and P University.
After listening, Wen Yu made an acknowledging sound.
He seemed friendly to everyone, but actually there weren’t many people he’d keep in his heart. He didn’t remember any of these names, focusing instead on watching the small shops rapidly retreating on the roadside.
There was a bubble tea shop with very good business, with the queue extending to the curb. Watching it, Wen Yu inexplicably thought of Fu Yuhan.
His dark eyes turned.
“What does Fu Yuhan say? He can’t get into T or P University, right?”
“I just asked if he wanted to apply to the capital. He said he’d think about it.” Yang Fan said. “If not T or P, there are many other schools in the capital to choose from. Honestly, I’m not comfortable letting him stay in this city alone. It’d be best if we could go to the capital together. If not, I hope he at least gets out of here.”
“Hmm?”
“It’s a long story.” Yang Fan seemed reluctant to elaborate and quickly returned to the previous topic. “So if you don’t have plans, why not apply to T University together?”
“How much did T University pay you in advertising fees?” Wen Yu smiled. “P University will pay double.”
“Engineering at T University isn’t a loss, okay? My good brother, if we’re really bros, let’s apply to T University together, okay?”
“Why exactly are you so actively selling this?”
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Wen Yu reasonably suspected Yang Fan had ulterior motives.
“Alright,” Yang Fan sighed. “Actually, it’s because right now in our class, the people applying to T and P Universities are 3 to 5, with over ten fence-sitters. If I can win you over, I can at least secure a large group of girls…”
“Why fight for that? Why don’t you fight for your goddess?” Wen Yu asked.
“…”
“Hmm?”
“She’s also your fan ahhhhh—”
Through the phone, Yang Fan let out a frantic cry, mixed with strange scratching sounds, as if he was scratching his head.
The gloom from dinner finally dissipated. Wen Yu burst out laughing.
“Fine then, T University it is.” Wen Yu thought for a moment. “If I have other ideas later, I’ll tell you. If not, I’ll apply to T University.”
“Love! You!”
“Go fight for your goddess,” Wen Yu laughed. “I’ve arrived at school. Evening self-study, gotta go.”
**Author’s Note:** Happy National Day =w=
I originally wanted to update this morning, but ended up watching the military parade instead (covers face)
—
Updates haven’t been very punctual lately. If you’re waiting, you can follow my Weibo—I’ll notify about updates.
Love you all, mwah~
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