On the first day of school, the teachers of all subjects handed out the test papers for the monthly exam. The teachers were very efficient in handling their tasks and had already printed out the ranking list of the monthly exam early on. Jiang Yumo compared her scores from the final exam of the second semester of her sophomore year, and while she didn’t do particularly well this time, she still held steady. She even scored more than a dozen points higher than in the final exam, feeling that she had performed at her normal level. After class, she went to the office to find the homeroom teacher with her report card.
After Jiang Yumo explained her purpose, Teacher Wang was very surprised, “Are you saying you want to try the art exam? Why so late? Generally, if you want to go down this path, you should start in your second year at the latest. Now it’s already the first semester of your third year, and the art exam is in December, so there isn’t much time left.”
“I know…” Jiang Yumo admitted a little embarrassedly, “I used to be afraid of hard work and didn’t want to dance while studying. Now I just want to ask, if I can maintain my current grades and pass the art exam, I should be able to get into a better university, right?”
Teacher Wang nodded, “That’s the best case scenario you’re talking about. I know your grades, they’re not bad but not exceptional either, as long as you don’t slack off too much this year, maintaining your current scores shouldn’t be a problem. Look, it’s already October, registration is in November, and the exam is in December or January, so you only have a little over two months left. Can you handle it?”
Jiang Yumo hesitated, “I just want to give it a try…”
She felt that if she couldn’t pass the exam, she could always come back and continue with the regular college entrance examination.
She just didn’t want to miss this opportunity, even though it was very slim, she still wanted to try.
“How about this, I’ll have a good chat with your parents during the next parent-teacher conference. As long as it doesn’t affect your academic performance and you’re willing to give it a try, I’ll support you too,” Teacher Wang was quite pleased, “I knew you were studying dance before, and even participated in competitions. This is definitely a viable path, but you’ve made the decision a little too late.”
Teacher Wang paused for a moment and then joked with her, “You used to be afraid of hardship, but now you’re not. I’m not just saying this, but you need to be mentally prepared if you decide to take the arts entrance exam. These two months will be much harder than you think. Other art students have been juggling both studies since their first year of high school, so they have a much better chance. If you want to stand out from this group of people, it won’t be easier than taking the college entrance exam.”
Jiang Yumo nodded, “I know. A friend of mine has collected a lot of information for me. Anyway, it’s only a little over two months. If Teacher and my parents think it’s okay, I’ll give it a try. I won’t just play around or complain of tiredness. If Teacher and my parents think this path is not viable, then I’ll give up the idea and work hard to get a higher score in the college entrance exam.”
She couldn’t make such a big decision on her own.
She could only seek the help of her teacher and parents. She thought that their life experience was very rich, and they would help her make the right choice.
Teacher Wang smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll contact your parents and ask for the opinion of your former dance teacher. Try to make a decision before the registration deadline.”
After getting approval from her homeroom teacher, Jiang Yumo felt relieved.
She didn’t take a nap at home at noon. After eating, she went out to the bookstore to buy materials and came to the milk tea shop she and her friends usually go to. This shop was about to launch a new product. The owner was recent graduates who had a good relationship with them. The owner invited them to taste the new product, which was a flavor that Jiang Yumo liked. It had mango juice as the base, with glutinous rice balls and tapioca pearls inside, sweet but not cloying.
Duan Ye and the others also came.
They were regulars here.
Duan Ye didn’t like sweet things and gave his share to Jiang Yumo.
From time to time, he even handed her a tissue.
“I almost forgot the important thing.” Guo Shichao took out his report card from his backpack and said, “Do you think our class’ leader’ homeroom teacher is childish or not? We are all in the third year of high school, and we still need parents to sign this kind of thing. It’s ridiculous.”
Zhao Zheng also felt speechless and said, “Among all the homeroom teachers in our third year classes, only he is the most troublesome.”
Duan Ye coughed.
Zhao Zheng realized that he had used the wrong word in front of Jiang Yumo and quickly changed his words, “He just likes to do things like this.”
Yan Qing grabbed Zhao Zheng’s report card and said, “Let me see how many points you got this time!”
Zhao Zheng shrugged and said, “Take a look. These are all my medals. Don’t judge me by the low score. Every point was earned by myself.”
Yan Qing looked at the 28 points in the math column and couldn’t help but feel speechless, “Your total score is only a little over 100 points. Is it still glorious?”
“Of course.” Zhao Zheng sighed, “You don’t know how many people are waiting in line to give me the answers. If I don’t look, who will?”
Yan Qing retorted, “Tsk, should I praise you?”
Guo Shichao took a pen and deliberately imitated his father’s handwriting. After practicing a few times on a piece of scratch paper, he solemnly wrote the name “Zheng Jianhua” on the report card and blew on it, “I have to say, cheating is really boring. I’m too lazy to copy the answers for these exams. There’s no need to cheat in these regular exams.”
Jiang Yumo reached out her hand towards Duan Ye.
Duan Ye looked up at her and casually rummaged through his bag before handing her his report card.
“Wow, is Sister Mo going to sign for Brother Duan?”
Jiang Yumo : “…”
It seemed to have become a habit for her, and she didn’t remember how it started.
It seemed to have started from the second semester of their second year. At that time, he had just been assigned to Class 10, and each homeroom teacher had their own way of doing things. For example, the homeroom teacher of Class 10 liked to have students bring their report cards home for their parents to sign after every exam.
That time, they were sitting in a shop, drinking and listening to music.
She was flipping through a comic book that Yan Qing had given her when he suddenly reached out and handed her a pen, his eyes full of amusement. “Can you sign for me?”
Jiang Yumo still remembers her feelings at that moment.
For a moment, it felt like she had just drunk a carbonated drink. Those bubbles were filled with joy and flowed through her entire body.
At that time, she was also a little afraid and asked him, “Is this okay? Won’t we get caught?”
He chuckled softly and said, “No.”
“Well then, what’s your Mom’s name? And what is her handwriting like?”
“Wu Meiyun. Wu as in Zhou-Wu-Zheng-Wang, Meiyun as in beautiful beauty and clouds. Just write with a random handwriting.”
Jiang Yumo wrote down several versions of Wu Meiyun on a scrap of paper before finally signing that name on his report card.
Jiang Yumo pulled out a pen from her pencil case.
Then, she skillfully signed Duan Ye’s mother’s name in the upper right corner of the report card.
Watching her sign, Duan Ye thought, for the last exam before the college entrance exam, he should coax her into signing her own name on the report card.
She would sign the three characters of “Jiang Yumo” on his report card.
After signing his mother’s name, Jiang Yumo looked at Duan Ye’s grades and rankings. It came as no surprise that he had always been at the bottom. However, she had heard that in his first year of high school, he often skipped monthly exams and only took them when he felt like it. But since she started signing his mother’s name in the second year, he had never skipped an exam or scored zero on any test.
Perhaps this was Duan Ye’s pride?
Jiang Yumo pursed her lips and smiled.
Her gaze moved down from his name and stopped at the last name on the list, which turned out to be Zhou Ji.
She carefully examined his scores in each subject and found that Zhou Ji had missed exams in all subjects except for math and English.
Since his scores in math and English were very low, he naturally became the last one in the class. She couldn’t help but fall into contemplation: Ning Zhiyu was a well-known top scorer who almost always ranked first in the entire grade, while Zhou Ji was the first from the bottom in the Class 10. Looking at his pitiful scores, it was possible that he was the last one in the entire grade.
Sometimes she was curious about the progress between Ning Zhiyu and Zhou Ji.
However, curious as she was, she wouldn’t ask Ning Zhiyu.
It was only when she saw Zhou Ji’s scores and ranking that Jiang Yumo truly felt a fact: even if Zhou Ji’s grades were bad, his future would be better than everyone else’s. She had heard the phrase “some are born in Rome, and some spend their whole lives on the road to Rome” before, but she didn’t have a deep understanding of it because the socioeconomic differences among her classmates and friends were not significant. It wasn’t until she learned about the original plot and Zhou Ji’s family background that she vaguely understood the meaning of that phrase.
Zhou Ji was the one born in Rome.
Lost in thought, Jiang Yumo didn’t notice that Duan Ye had been looking at her all along. Whenever she was around, Duan Ye would only look at her and notice her.
Sometimes, the little emotions she thought she was hiding well were caught by him in his eyes. So, naturally, Duan Ye also noticed that she was lost in thought and staring fixedly at the last name on the ranking list, Zhou Ji.
It was a strange feeling. Even though she could have been looking at the second-to-last or even third-to-last name, after seeing the way she looked at Zhou Ji in the cafeteria, Duan Ye felt that she was looking at Zhou Ji’s score.
Duan Ye lowered his eyes, seemingly looking at the scar on his wrist.
Only he knew that he had tasted that long-lost feeling again.
Jiang Yumo had good relationships with everyone. In the first year of high school, her class leader had a crush on her and would help her take out the trash during cleaning, as well as help her carry things on the stairs. Once, when she was making milk tea at the hot water station, she didn’t pay attention and scalded the back of her hand with the boiling water. When Duan Ye heard about it, he didn’t care about anything else and rushed to the infirmary, where he saw her talking and laughing with the class leader, who even offered to apply ointment for her, but she refused.
At that time, he didn’t know how to conceal his emotions and kicked a chair beside him, making a loud noise.
He almost hit that unknown class leader.
She was scared by him and exclaimed, “Duan Ye, what are you doing?”
Only then did he snap out of it and stopped moving.
Jiang Yumo didn’t look at Duan Ye’s report card anymore. She was afraid that if she looked at it a few more times, remembered how wealthy Zhou Ji’s family was, and how much brighter his future looked, she would inevitably develop a resentment towards the rich.
She neatly folded the report card and looked towards Duan Ye, only to find him bowing his head and lost in thought.
“Are you really not going to eat?” Jiang Yumo used a spoon to stir the glutinous rice balls in her bowl and took a bite. The sweet and sticky taste spread on her tongue, making her feel extremely good, and she smiled at him.
Duan Ye raised his head and casually glanced at the report card on the table. “Should I pack a portion to take to school?” he asked.
Jiang Yumo shook her head. “No need. I feel like after eating these two portions, I won’t need to eat anything at dinner. I couldn’t possibly eat anymore.”
I fell ML has a little bit of low self esteem