089: Ascending the Ladder

As he started school again, Xu Lin immediately felt that school was a good place, despite the presence of troubled students. In truth, aside from home, it was the cleanest place one would ever have in their lifetime; once you entered society, you would face all sorts of hardships.

The new week continued as usual: attending classes, exercising in the morning, and writing at night. He occasionally visited Teacher Guan to learn music. To better balance his studies and writing, he spent twenty thousand points to increase his intelligence by one point, successfully reaching 7.2. What seemed like a hefty seventy-five thousand points had dwindled to thirty thousand, but fortunately, Miss Ji Yun’s affection level rose to forty after their heartfelt conversation that night.

She became the third to reach forty affection points, after the Chu sisters, earning him a generous twenty-five thousand points. In other developments, Bai Xiaoxiao’s mother had been discharged from the hospital and went to take care of her father. Bai Xiaoxiao took a day off but soon returned to school. Chu Qingchan spent all her time at Teacher Guan’s place, preparing for her own song recording. Chu Fengyi, due to company affairs, temporarily left Lin Shui but promised to return in a few days. Teacher Su was working as usual, sometimes having a meal with Xu Lin and snapping a photo to appease his parents, occasionally coaxing him to come home for dinner.

On Saturday afternoon, the second year’s classes were replaced by mock exams in the three main subjects: Chinese, Math, and English. Some students were delighted, others distressed. The top students and those who struggled were happy—the former had nothing to fear, the latter always did poorly anyway and preferred the shorter exam hours and early dismissal. The average students, however, were caught in a dilemma: if they performed badly, they’d have to navigate their parents and teachers.

“You all have thirty minutes to prepare,” the homeroom teacher announced from the podium. “This mock exam is held in your usual seats. No cheating; the surveillance cameras are on.” Everyone took out their textbooks, following the adage: sharpening your sword right before battle may not make it sharper, but at least it shines. Of course, if your sword was wooden to begin with, no amount of sharpening would help; failure was inevitable.

Xu Lin, bored, was flipping through his Chinese textbook when Li Bin gently tugged at him.

“What’s up?”

“Xu Lin, Ma Zhiyu didn’t come again today.”

“Yeah, he missed class the day before yesterday. I messaged him but he didn’t say much.” Xu Lin recalled the strong smell of smoke on Ma Zhiyu last time. Ma Zhiyu didn’t smoke; he wasn’t a model student, but he wasn’t a troublemaker either—never fought, never stirred up drama. Yet he had skipped class twice recently. The teacher called his parents, but nothing came of it, and Ma Zhiyu hadn’t sought them out to chat. Xu Lin had planned to have a talk with him, but he was absent again today. Something was off.

“Xu Lin, after the exam, I want to tell you something.”

“Alright.”

Nearby, Ji Yun lowered her head, pretending to read, but her attention was entirely on Xu Lin. She only caught bits about Ma Zhiyu’s absence.

“Ji Yun, are you daydreaming again?”

“Huh? Zhuo Yan, I’m reading, aren’t I?”

“But you’ve been on that page for almost five minutes now, haven’t you?”

Instantly, Ji Yun buried her face in the book, embarrassed.

“No need to be shy. How far have you and Xu Lin gotten?” Zhuo Yan suspected something was going on between those two lately. Previously, Ji Yun had just a bit of affection for Xu Lin, but now things seemed different—closer.

“What do you mean, how far?”

“Don’t play dumb.” Zhuo Yan sneakily reached out, grabbing her desk mate’s waist.

“Haha, that tickles! Zhuo Yan, stop it. We haven’t slept together.”

“...”

Zhuo Yan was stunned by Ji Yun’s blunt response. After a few seconds, she stammered, “You’ve changed, Ji Yun.”

“How so?”

“I meant, have you kissed him, but you went straight to the bed!”

“Zhuo Yan, I thought… oh, stop teasing me.” Ji Yun couldn’t help but laugh, hiding behind her book and pretending to read seriously.

“Alright, alright. But Ji Yun, seriously, at our age, don’t be too impulsive, or you might regret it.”

“I understand. I haven’t dated him yet, and who knows—maybe he doesn’t like me after all?”

“Come on! Xu Lin might be good-looking, but there’s no way he’ll find someone prettier and better than you!”

Since getting to know Ji Yun, Zhuo Yan felt there was no better girl in the world—beauty aside, her character mattered even more.

“Do you think Chu Qingchan is beautiful?”

“You mean the cold goddess?”

“Yeah.”

“She is, but you’re different. You don’t wear makeup. Besides, you have to consider your strengths—smart, great personality. You’d outshine her any day!”

Hearing Zhuo Yan’s praise, Ji Yun couldn’t help but smile, though her thoughts drifted to Chu Qingchan. That night, after talking with Xu Lin, she’d been caught sneaking back; Chu Qingchan hadn’t been asleep. Yet she said nothing about Xu Lin, still speaking gently as always.

Ji Yun wasn’t naive; she sensed that Chu Qingchan liked Xu Lin too, but neither had become a couple. Ji Yun wasn’t the gentle, kind goddess others imagined—she was just an ordinary girl. She wanted to compete, not give up.

She approached Xu Lin not simply because of her parents, but because she sought comfort—shamelessly slipping into his bed. She felt happy, very happy, but she wouldn’t resort to underhanded means to compete with other girls who liked Xu Lin. She didn’t want to confirm a relationship with him yet; her studies and her parents mattered more, but she didn’t want to give up either.

She felt she’d matured emotionally since that night, though Xu Lin needn’t know it. If he ever chose another girl, she would quietly step back. She wouldn’t be overly heartbroken, nor let him know she had been.

The afternoon exam went smoothly: the weak students slept, the strong finished early, and the average scratched their heads. At five o’clock, with the bell, the exam ended at No. 3 Middle School!

Xu Lin greeted Ji Yun, telling her not to wait for him, and left with Li Bin, backpacks slung over their shoulders, heading to the end of the corridor.

“About Ma Zhiyu?” Xu Lin asked directly.

“Yeah. Xu Lin, do you think Ma Zhiyu is a good friend, a real brother?”

“Of course. We’ve been in the same class since junior high—almost five years now.”

“I think Ma Zhiyu might have been threatened.”

“What? Threatened? Tell me what happened.”

“Ma Zhiyu hooked up with someone’s girlfriend. The other guy’s a local thug.”

“Damn! Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“Who would have thought—he always seemed like a game-obsessed recluse, but he ran off with some gangster’s girlfriend!?”

“I’ve got to admit, that takes guts! It’s not some honey trap, right?”

“No, I heard they’ve met up several times…”

“Li Bin, we’re really losing out—he beat us to it!”

“Yeah—wait, Xu Lin, what should we do about this?”

“Well, getting beaten up would be expected, but why skip school?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe we should call the police…”

“No need. Let’s just find him and see what’s really going on.”

“Alright, I’ll call him and ask!”

“Okay.”