By the time senior year in high school arrived, teachers and parents shared the same mindset—they didn't pay much attention to the students anymore.
Back in the classroom, Bian Xuedao took a nap with his head resting on the desk. By the time he woke up, it was already the third class of the evening.
The teacher focused on explaining a few difficult question types, then moved a chair and sat next to the podium, allowing the students to freely review, with the option to ask her questions if needed.
The classroom was very quiet, with only the sound of books flipping, papers rustling, and pens scribbling on paper.
Bian Xuedao was like a high-speed photocopier, scanning through his textbooks, page by page.
After reading for a while, he would set down the book, make a few notes on the paper, even draw a few tree diagrams, then continue flipping through the book.
When reading, Bian Xuedao was extremely focused. A strange kind of concentration seemed to even be felt by his deskmate, Guo Dong.
In the class, Guo Dong's grades were higher than Bian Xuedao's by about ten places, and his ranking was much more stable. The stability came from the fact that Guo Dong didn't have any weak subjects, while Bian Xuedao had a serious weakness in mathematics. He vividly remembered that during the mock exam, Bian Xuedao scored only 23 in math, leaving the whole class stunned.
After observing Bian Xuedao for a couple of days, Guo Dong noticed that he seemed to have given up on math, devoting himself to studying subjects like politics, history, and geography, starting from the textbooks in the first year of high school.
Others were aiming for a total score of 750, but he was aiming for 600. Was that even possible?
Bian Xuedao knew that Guo Dong was watching him, but he wasn't worried about it, nor did he have time to manage it.
He only had 46 days left, but there were still many books to go through.
Bian Xuedao clearly remembered that his deskmate during the second half of his senior year had been someone with decent grades, but failed the college entrance exam and only barely passed the second-tier university line by 10 points—30 points lower than Bian Xuedao's score. The most serious issue was that Guo Dong had overestimated his score by 30 points, leading to him choosing a lower-tier second-tier university. After the exam, the two of them lost contact.
Guo Dong was right about one thing: Bian Xuedao had indeed given up on math.
With only 40 days left, the wise choice was to focus on memorization-heavy subjects first, and if there was any time left, he would review basic math and geometry formulas.
As for math, Bian Xuedao planned to pass it using other methods.
Even if it didn't work out, he would use his memory to try to secure a place in a second-tier university.
That night, the light in Bian Xuedao's room stayed on until 2:30 AM.
He slept only for three hours, then got up early.
He arrived at school early, bought two bottles of the best milk available at the time, and two bags of small cakes on the way.
Bian Xuedao didn't have time to waste with Zhou Hang anymore; he needed to quickly become "good friends" with him.
Everything went very smoothly.
In fact, Zhou Hang, the top student in the dormitory, didn't have many friends. As the college entrance exam approached, he too needed friends to pass the time.
Another important factor was that Bian Xuedao had always been a very average student in class—his grades were neither particularly bad nor outstanding. He wasn't boastful, didn't draw attention to himself, and although not particularly good-looking, his smile was bright and cheerful. In short, he wasn't a person with a bad reputation or someone people disliked.
And after spending a few days together, Zhou Hang found Bian Xuedao to be quite thoughtful and socially adept.
Within just one week, Bian Xuedao and Zhou Hang became close enough to walk arm-in-arm and have meals together.
In fact, it wasn't difficult at all.
For an adult who had been navigating society for nearly ten years to befriend a high school student, it was an easy task.
The milk in the morning, the cola, ice cream, and grilled skewers at noon—Bian Xuedao always made sure to spend more than Zhou Hang, carefully controlling his spending.
Whenever Zhou Hang treated him to something worth 20 yuan, Bian Xuedao would treat him to something worth 50 yuan.
Even small favors, accumulated over time, would build a sense of obligation.
Bian Xuedao's goal was to make Zhou Hang owe him a favor, so that when he made his somewhat risky request later, Zhou Hang wouldn't feel like it was unreasonable and would be less likely to reject it outright.
...
...
Bian Xuedao had been studying like crazy lately.
Although he knew the general scope of some major questions, there were still too many knowledge points to memorize. He needed to ensure he could make it into a second-tier university even with a zero in math.
After half a month of intense study, Bian Xuedao, who felt like a spinning top, began to miss Xu Shangxiu.
That night, lying on his single bed, his longing for Xu Shangxiu came rushing at him like a tidal wave, unstoppable.
Xu Shangxiu, that gentle and graceful woman, that understanding woman, that thrifty and family-oriented woman—eight years later, she would meet him, and nine years later, she would become his wife.
Bian Xuedao had always felt like he had forgotten something lately, but now he remembered: Xu Shangxiu, who was the same age as him, was his university classmate. However, she had been admitted to a first-tier program in international trade, while he had enrolled in a second-tier program in sociology. They were not in the same department or college, so despite studying on the same campus for four years, they never met. It wasn't until 2009 that fate would bring them together.
His yearning was overwhelming.
What was Xu Shangxiu like in 2001?
Would she be different from the woman who would later marry him?
Did the girl, living hundreds of kilometers away in Spring Mountain, know that a man was thinking of her?
Initially, Bian Xuedao had planned to secretly bring out his answer after the college entrance exam, estimate his score accurately, and use his knowledge of the cutoff scores to choose a good university, maximizing his score's value.
But now, he had changed his mind.
No matter the tier of the school, he decided to apply to the same university as Xu Shangxiu—Dongshen University in Songjiang City.
As long as he could get into Dongshen University, he would be able to meet Xu Shangxiu four months later, and meet the woman who would become his future wife.
At this moment...
Bian Xuedao made a vow in his heart: from the moment he saw Xu Shangxiu for the first time, he would start pursuing her; he would have a passionate relationship with her in college; he would give Xu Shangxiu the most beautiful and romantic university life; he would make a lot of money to give her an unparalleled wedding, buy her the apartment she always wanted, and provide the life she dreamed of.
Bian Xuedao wanted to contact Xu Shangxiu right now.
But...
He knew her phone number, but it was useless—it would be another ten years before Xu Shangxiu would use that number.
He knew her email address, but it was 2001 now, and Xu Shangxiu probably hadn't registered yet.
What else could he use to contact her?
Oh, right—her QQ number!
...
...
The countdown to the college entrance exam on the class blackboard was now down to 28 days.
After studying in the morning and having lunch, Bian Xuedao and Zhou Hang walked into the nearby "Big Eyes" internet cafe.
They greeted the owner and rented two machines. Zhou Hang went online, while Bian Xuedao opened QQ.
He entered his QQ number and password.
The system prompted: Incorrect password.
He tried again: Incorrect password.
He tried again: Incorrect password.
"D*mn it!"
After confirming that the password he entered was correct, Bian Xuedao angrily shouted, "Boss, boss, why does your computer keep saying my QQ password is wrong?"
The young owner walked over, took a quick look, and gave Bian Xuedao a look as if he were a fool: "You entered the wrong password! Is this your account?"
Bian Xuedao: "..."
Suddenly, Bian Xuedao realized something.
The account was his, but the password in his memory was from 2014.
Now, he needed to use the 2001 password to log in. It had been over ten years, and the password had likely been changed dozens of times.
Bian Xuedao realized something else.
In 2001, he hadn't added Xu Shangxiu's QQ number yet, so even if he logged into his account, it would be useless.
But since he knew Xu Shangxiu's QQ number, he could search for it using any QQ account.
So, Bian Xuedao started applying for new QQ accounts.
The first QQ account was an 8-digit number.
The second one was also 8 digits.
The third one was 7 digits.
Bian Xuedao borrowed a pen and paper from the internet cafe owner and wrote down the account number, password, and security information.
He knew that in more than a decade, a 7-digit QQ number could be worth a little money.
On his 12th attempt, a 6-digit QQ number popped up.
Yes, a 6-digit QQ number. The number was pretty good, with the last three digits being 678.
Bian Xuedao felt like he had struck gold!
He carefully wrote down the number and password, completed the necessary personal details, glanced at his watch, and realized it was almost time for class. He quickly woke up Zhou Hang, who was playing CS, and rushed back to school.