The head teacher of Class 7 in the third year, Chen Zhongmin, recently noticed something strange.
From the papers she collected, the handwriting of a male student named Bian Xuedao suddenly changed dramatically and became very neat.
She discussed it with a few attentive subject teachers, and they suspected that someone else might be writing for him. But no one in the class, or even in the whole grade, had seen a similar handwriting.
Then, Chen Zhongmin took the opportunity to observe Bian Xuedao writing during a self-study class, and she confirmed that it was indeed his own handwriting.
Having been a teacher for 20 years, Chen Zhongmin had encountered students whose handwriting changed, but she had never seen such a sudden and significant change.
With the college entrance exams coming soon, Chen Zhongmin suppressed her curiosity. A more beautiful handwriting was ultimately not a bad thing. At least it could earn a few extra points on the exam paper.
Some information she gathered indicated that Bian Xuedao had recently been acting strangely, especially after becoming good friends with Zhou Hang. It seemed that he had been working harder at his studies.
Thinking about this, Chen Zhongmin felt a little regretful: "There are only a few days left, and if he had worked this hard six months ago, with his previous level of performance, he could have easily made it into a top university. But now, even if he performs well, he's probably only looking at a second-tier school."
But soon, Chen Zhongmin forgot about the handwriting issue, while Zhou Hang never forgot about what had happened at the barbecue shop.
After that incident, Zhou Hang never took Bian Xuedao to the internet café again, which saved Bian Xuedao quite a bit of saliva.
As the college entrance exams approached, the atmosphere in the class grew more restless.
Among the students, there were small gatherings, skipping classes in groups, boys and girls secretly holding hands and hugging in the dimly lit corners during evening self-study sessions, and tearful breakups, all sorts of things happening.
The most common sight was that some of the usually diligent students could no longer focus on their studies and instead started reading various novels.
In the entire Class 7, Bian Xuedao was one of the few who could still keep his focus on his books.
He was also exhausted and had occasionally thought to himself, "I'm done with studying." Sometimes, he even wondered: Is this a dream? Why am I working so hard?
However, these thoughts were quickly dismissed.
First, the dream felt too real, so real that at times he almost forgot he was dreaming.
Second, he didn't want to disappoint his parents.
The last time, he could still get into a second-tier university, which made his parents happy for a few days.
But now, if he were to fail again, it would be too embarrassing. How could his parents hold their heads high in front of relatives?
Third, if he endured just a little longer—only 20 days or so—and got into Dongshen University, he would be able to see Xu Shangxiu, the Xu Shangxiu from 2001, in a few weeks.
Bian Xuedao was a married man. He had experienced women before, and now that he was in the prime of his youth, there were times when he indulged in fantasies about women.
In the classroom.
In the two rows ahead of Bian Xuedao, there was a girl named Dong Xue.
Her academic performance was average, and she wasn't a first-glance beauty. She was very low-key and didn't attract much attention in the class. She wasn't the focus of the boys' attention.
But from Bian Xuedao's perspective, those long legs in her jeans, her well-developed chest, and her pretty shoulders made her figure spectacular—her curves were simply perfect.
He believed that in a few years, this girl would be able to outshine the few girls in the class who were currently being chased by the boys.
Bian Xuedao comforted himself during his mental breaks, thinking that the girls the boys like—like Peng Hong and the others—had decent faces, but when compared to Dong Xue, they fell far short.
What did this mean? It meant she was a hidden gem.
She was the one meant for a bad guy like him in college!
Since that day, Bian Xuedao found himself occasionally glancing at Dong Xue.
After a while, he realized that this girl was very easy on the eyes.
When studying, she was very meticulous. Both her textbooks and exercise books had fixed positions, and she would always be seen entering and leaving the classroom with a few close female friends, maintaining a certain distance from the boys.
In Bian Xuedao's eyes, even the most composed girl was still a little girl.
A few days later, his attention shifted to the class's political teacher.
The political teacher, surnamed Qian, was in her early 30s, with short hair, and her sharp features made her look very formidable.
Teacher Qian was indeed impressive—she had a sharp tongue when reprimanding people. However, Bian Xuedao noticed one of her advantages: she was very striking.
Ever since he had noticed these two attractive individuals, Bian Xuedao's study sessions had become much less boring.
What he didn't know was that his gaze had become too direct and too bold.
Teacher Qian was fine since, during class, everyone's attention was on her, and it wasn't noticeable. But Dong Xue was different. Her deskmate, Guo Dong, quickly realized that Bian Xuedao seemed to be interested in Dong Xue.
Guo Dong was a little confused by Bian Xuedao's thoughts. Where has he been all this time? Only a few weeks left before the exams, and he's thinking about this? Even if he does pursue her, they'll soon go separate ways. What's the point?
It wasn't just Guo Dong who noticed; Dong Xue also sensed that Bian Xuedao had been paying attention to her recently.
As a young girl, she had the intuition of a woman.
At first, Dong Xue only felt someone watching her from behind.
Later, one day when she entered the classroom and locked eyes with Bian Xuedao, she was sure it was him.
Dong Xue liked boys with big eyes, but Bian Xuedao didn't quite fit her aesthetic. However, that didn't stop her from feeling a sense of joy when she realized someone had a crush on her—especially with the pressure of the upcoming college entrance exams, which made her feel a bit mischievous.
In the following days, whenever she left the classroom with her friends, if Bian Xuedao was in the room, Dong Xue would take the opportunity to sneak a glance at him.
Whenever she returned to the classroom, her gaze would sweep over his seat.
Bian Xuedao, the "old man," could read Dong Xue's eyes.
It was a look of flirtation, even provocation, certainly not one of affection.
So Bian Xuedao quickly withdrew his gaze and buried himself in his books.
After realizing that Bian Xuedao had stopped following her every move, Dong Xue felt a strong sense of loss.
During class, things were fine, but during self-study time, Dong Xue found herself constantly wanting to turn around and check if Bian Xuedao was looking at her, but she tried hard to control herself, afraid of revealing her secret.
Privately, she thought to herself that Bian Xuedao was actually quite handsome.
And if she paid a little more attention, she could see that Bian Xuedao's gaze was very confident, focused, and steady—completely different from the other boys in the class. On several occasions, Dong Xue secretly observed Bian Xuedao in a trance, realizing that his eyes were like a deep ocean, with hidden treasures sparkling beneath.
Bian Xuedao often took his papers to find Zhou Hang, and Dong Xue noticed this.
Seeing Bian Xuedao and Zhou Hang "together," Dong Xue couldn't help but feel a bit irritated.
One evening, during the last self-study class, the class teacher said a few words and then left.
After the teacher left, the back door of the classroom creaked open and closed as more than ten students ran out.
Guo Dong quickly moved to another seat to find the boy good at math to work on problems together. Bian Xuedao stayed at his seat, frowning, struggling with English vocabulary.
At this moment…
Dong Xue, holding a sheet of paper, half-crouched and sneaked over to Guo Dong's seat.
Her deskmate noticed that Dong Xue was leaving, and when she saw that she was sitting next to Bian Xuedao, she was taken aback.
Guo Dong, who was seated a few rows away, also noticed what was happening and thought, Has she hooked up with him already?
Dong Xue asked Bian Xuedao a few questions in a rather fake manner, but didn't leave. She sat there, continuing to do problems.
At this point, Bian Xuedao was stunned.
This situation felt very familiar—wasn't this the same move he used to approach Zhou Hang?
What was this girl trying to do?
Did she like me?
The following minutes were very distracting for Bian Xuedao as he tried to focus on his vocabulary, but his mind kept wandering.
Thinking that the teacher would be back soon, Dong Xue returned to her seat, and Guo Dong also returned.
Once seated, Guo Dong looked at Bian Xuedao like he was a hidden