This battle of wits is a bet known only to the eight of them.
To prevent any special circumstances, the most neutral Sun Mengting added an extra point, “What if someone cheats?”
In fact, everyone knew that “someone” referred to Zhou Ji.
After all, they were more familiar with Duan Ye, having known him since junior high school and understanding his character well. Although Duan Ye’s grades were bad, he had never cheated since the first exam in first year, and even if someone tried to please him by throwing a piece of paper with the answers at his feet, he wouldn’t bend down to pick it up.
Guo Shichao and Zhao Zheng were also influenced by him.
Having bad grades was one thing, but cheating was indeed meaningless. You couldn’t deceive the teacher, parents, and most importantly, yourself.
But Zhou Ji…
During this period, although they all bonded well and became a small group of eight, they didn’t really know Zhou Ji very well.
Zhou Ji chuckled when he heard this, or maybe he was laughing out of frustration.
“Cheating?” He pointed to his nose, “I’m sorry, those two words don’t exist in my dictionary. Besides, who am I competing with? If it’s with Lao Duan, then it’s even more impossible for me to resort to such despicable means. Alright, let me add something more: if anyone finds me cheating on the exam, the red envelopes I give will change from 500 to 1000. Deal or not?”
Even Jiang Yumo, who loved to banter with him, had to admit that Zhou Ji had indeed changed a lot during this period.
She has almost forgotten his initial cool and arrogant appearance.
Before, it seemed like he was displeased with everything, always looking like someone owed him millions. When girls confessed to him, he would reject them harshly. But now, he has changed slowly. Even when Mengting says those things, he may get angry, but he won’t be mean to her. He will continue joking with them and even offer higher red envelopes.
Jiang Yumo lowered her eyes—
Does this mean he considers them all as friends now?
In the original story, apart from Ning Zhiyu, Zhou Ji didn’t have any contact with anyone from Ningcheng. His little followers who followed him didn’t have any either.
“Okay!” Zhao Zheng clapped his hands, “Boss Zhou is domineering. I’ll be in the same exam room as Boss Zhou, and I’ll supervise him. ” He pointed to his own eyes, then leaned closer and said sinisterly, “I’ll be watching you, watching you all the time. Don’t fall into my hands.”
“Discrimination, this is discrimination.” Zhou Ji was unhappy, “What about Lao Duan? What if he cheats?”
Jiang Yumo spoke quickly, “He won’t! Don’t talk nonsense!”
“Tsk—” Zhou Ji teased, “You’re really a baby defending your husband.”
Duan Ye chimed in, “If I cheat, I’ll give red envelopes too.”
Zhou Ji replied, “Alright, Guo Shichao, you’ll be in the same exam room as Lao Duan. You can’t go easy on him.”
Guo Shichao rolled his eyes and said, “I vouch for Brother Duan with my head on the line.”
“Why doesn’t anyone vouch for me?” Zhou Ji looked dejected.
Ning Zhiyu spoke up, “I do.”
Zhou Ji looked at him.
Ning Zhiyu said, “Aren’t I your teacher?”
Of course, a teacher must vouch for their students and believe in them.
Zhou Ji’s expression indeed changed after hearing this. Zhao Zheng and Guo Shichao both silently averted their eyes. They really couldn’t bear to watch any longer, or they wouldn’t be able to finish their barbecue rice today.
Indeed, it was puzzling. Clearly, Brother Duan had no bottom line when it came to Sister Mo, as she controlled his emotions completely. But why didn’t he make people feel cheesy?
Why is it that when it comes to Zhou Ji—wait! They still had to eat; they couldn’t think about this anymore.
In the following days, both Zhou Ji and Duan Ye were very concerned about this matter. It showed in their behavior : when the teacher handed out test papers, they no longer just wrote their names and pushed them aside. Instead, they would quickly scan the questions to see which ones they could do and which ones they couldn’t.
Of course, the majority of the questions on the paper were ones they couldn’t answer.
Zhou Ji and Duan Ye were in similar situations; except for primary school, they hadn’t really paid attention in any other classes. Looking at the test questions was like catching flies – they recognized the wording of the questions, but they didn’t recognize the content. Now, even Zhou Ji felt that he had come up with a terrible idea, as he was essentially shooting himself in the foot.
Once you agree to something, you can’t go back on your word.
Ning Zhiyu had a teacher’s demeanor. Every day, during breakfast and dinner after the morning self-study, she would teach Zhou Ji.
Of course, Zhou Ji couldn’t understand, and he couldn’t even finish his meal properly. He looked pitiful.
Occasionally, he would glance at Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo.
His mood became even worse.
Duan Ye and Jiang Yumo sat together. Jiang Yumo explained problems to Duan Ye, and that scheming Duan Ye would get closer to her. He would occasionally hand her milk tea or tissues. Sometimes, they would talk and laugh about things from their past classes, and their laughter was quite irritating.
And there he was.
Ning Zhiyu sat straight across from him.
If he seemed distracted, Ning Zhiyu would sternly tap the table with his pen and say expressionlessly, “If you don’t listen, I’ll stop explaining.”
Zhou Ji hurriedly replied, “No, no, no, I’m listening.”
But he couldn’t understand.
It felt so uncomfortable!
Even when the girl he liked explained the problems, he couldn’t understand, and he felt uncomfortable. The feeling was just the same as when other teachers taught.
No, it was different. When other teachers taught, he could at least fall asleep if his ears couldn’t bear it. But with Teacher Ning, he could only force himself to open his ears wide and endure the painful teaching content.
He went to ask Duan Ye, “Who taught you this? Can you understand?”
Duan Ye glanced at Zhou Ji impatiently, “Do you need something?”
Zhou Ji couldn’t help but laugh; he could tell from Duan Ye’s reaction that Duan Ye didn’t understand either.
“I understand what ‘brothers in difficulties’ means now!”
Finally, the final exams arrived.
Unlike the first and second years, where they could have winter vacation right after the final exams, the third-year students had to attend classes as usual after the exams.
In order to help Duan Ye improve his scores, Jiang Yumo came up with a clever plan. She whispered to Duan Ye, “Teacher Zhiyu is strict and doesn’t allow her student to use his phone. So, Zhou Ji won’t be able to contact Teacher Zhiyu at night, and of course, Teacher Zhiyu won’t let him contact her. So, we have a bit more time than them.”
She sounded regretful as she continued, “There’s no other way; my grades aren’t as good as Teacher Zhiyu’s, so we can only work harder.”
“It’s not true,” Duan Ye comforted her, “I think you teach well. Maybe you’ll become a teacher in the future.”
They were talking on the phone.
Duan Ye made Jiang Yumo laugh, “Me, a teacher? That’s impossible. If that happens, Yan Qing and the others won’t trust me enough to let their children study in my class. Just like I always say, if Mengting becomes a nurse in the future, I wouldn’t dare to let her give me injections.”
Lately, they had been discussing some of their future plans.
Maybe it’s because they are feeling emotions, maybe it’s because they are reaching a certain age, or it could also be that… the college entrance examination is approaching.
Duan Ye would talk to her about some plans for the future, but he wouldn’t go into much detail. This is related to his personality; he would never make big promises without certainty.
He wouldn’t tell her, “I’ll buy you a big house in the future,” before he has earned enough money. He wouldn’t say, “Trust me, I’ll make your life better,” before he achieves significant success. He never says those kinds of things.
It seems that even after knowing each other for so long, the only thing he has said is, “I will like you for a very, very long time.”
Perhaps, in his teenage years, this is the only thing he can be sure of, something he is determined to do.
“I’m also worried about letting her give you injections,” he said with a soft laugh.
Jiang Yumo immediately defended her friend, “It’s not like that. Mengting’s mother is famous in the hospital for being skilled at giving injections. Sometimes, even the interns can’t handle certain cases, but Mengting’s mother takes care of them. She has a great reputation. They say daughters resemble their mothers, so if Mengting becomes a nurse in the future, she’ll be an exceptionally excellent nurse too.”
Duan Ye listened quietly, “If you become a teacher, you will undoubtedly be a very good one.”
“Oh, stop it,” Jiang Yumo suddenly felt embarrassed, “I never said I wanted to become a teacher. I always feel like teaching is a sacred profession, and I’m not cut out for it.”
“No matter what you do in the future,” Duan Ye paused for a moment, “I believe you will excel at it.”
Jiang Yumo buried herself in the soft blanket.
Holding her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making strange sounds, it seemed like this was how she chatted with Duan Ye. No matter how boring or irrelevant the topic was, it always gave her a feeling as if someone had placed a pacemaker on her heart.
And he held the switch to that pacemaker.
“Alright, alright, no more chitchat,” Jiang Yumo said in a sulky tone. “It’s time for a lesson. Today, I’ll read you two pieces of classical Chinese literature.”
She called it “ear-grinding.”
Every time she couldn’t fall asleep, he would tell her stories about ‘The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng.’ After several times, she already knew the plot, so this time she had a new idea. Why not read classical Chinese literature to him, recite ancient poems, and go over English words? This way, she could achieve two goals at once—letting him listen and reviewing herself. Perfect~
“…” On the other end of the phone, Duan Ye pressed his forehead with some helplessness. “Fine.”
What was the question Zhou Ji asked again?
Could he understand or not?
Of course… he couldn’t understand.
But he really liked the way she busied herself for him.
Outside the window, the cold wind howled, and the dry branches creaked.
On this winter night, Duan Ye lay on the bed, listening to Jiang Yumo reading classical Chinese literature on the other end of the phone.
Many, many things were uncertain. He was still so young, so immature, and so insignificant.
But the one thing he could be sure of was that he would truly like her for a very, very long time.
Those two make me teary-eyed.