MNL Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Competition. Your tastes are quite… strong.

Chapter 65: Competition. Your tastes are quite… strong.

In the blink of an eye, the National College Entrance Examination was over, and the first and second year of high school also ushered in the final exam. These days, everyone was straining their faces and striving to prepare for the exam. The school was lifeless, without a single sound of playing and making noise. This continued for three days. Finally, when the last math exam ended, everything recovered, and everyone jumped and ran out of the classroom, cheers rising one after another.

All around, people were discussing where to travel during the holidays, or making plans to play games together and rank up. The laughter reached the ears of young master Xu, who was still sitting at his seat memorizing English vocabulary, sounding particularly harsh.

Shen Yan propped his head up with one hand, looking like he wasn’t worried about watching the fun, and smiled, “Envious?”

“…” Xu Jing endured the urge to throw the book on Shen Yan’s face and mumbled, “Get lost.”

Shen Yan’s smile deepened after hearing this.

The Comprehensive Competition was of great importance. To avoid accidents, all candidates had to bring their study materials to the preparation base five days before the exam. There, they would undergo five days of closed management. Having received the notice, they prepared to pack their things and set off today.

No.1 High School valued the Comprehensive Competition the most. Every year, the principal personally drove the students to the preparation base. Among the six people who went this time, there were exactly three boys and three girls. The other boy was named Lin Hai, who was also as talkative as Cha Fei’ang, but he was very tactful. Seeing that Shen Yan and Xu Jing were taciturn, he only greeted them and didn’t say a word of other nonsense.

The principal of No.1 High School was not as scary as the rumors said, but rather humorous and talkative. He also knew a lot about the school’s gossip, and the car was filled with laughter all the way. Half an hour later, they arrived at their destination. Before getting out of the car, Lin Hai couldn’t help but gasp. The base was imposing and strict. A pair of very spectacular bronze lions were placed at the entrance, and a red banner was hung high, which read: “Heaven rewards diligence, tranquility leads to far-reaching, accumulate knowledge, aim to win.” In addition, two rows of majestic police officers stood at the entrance, each with a serious expression, staring intently at the people coming and going. Although there were many people on the scene, the order was surprisingly good.

The principal helped take down the luggage and didn’t put any pressure on them, only saying, “Children, don’t be nervous, just do your best.”

Since childhood, these people had been outstanding students, and they were always in a good state of mind during exams. At this time, they didn’t feel nervous at all, but to give the principal face, they nodded, and dragged their suitcases into the examination base.

The base was much larger than they had imagined. After entering, the six of them walked for more than ten minutes according to the road signs before finding the hall. At this time, it was almost full of students. Xu Jing went to the bathroom in the middle, and Shen Yan stayed to wait for him. The two of them walked into the hall unhurriedly from the back door, and even so, it caused a lot of commotion.

The two of them were used to such scenes. They walked to the corner, and gazes were still cast in their direction one after another. Shen Yan seemed to remember something and was about to talk to Xu Jing when he heard the other person suddenly click his tongue.

Sounded a bit dangerous.

Xu Jing’s gaze swept down from Shen Yan’s protruding Adam’s apple. This person never dressed properly, always unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt. The collar was slightly messy, making his face even more beautiful in a wild way.

“Button it up.” Xu Jing frowned, his tone revealing dissatisfaction. It was clearly an ordinary school uniform, how could he wear it like this?

“Huh?” Shen Yan didn’t react at first, and looked down along Xu Jing’s gaze, wanting to laugh a little. He looked innocent and said, “Hot.”

“Button it up even if you’re hot.”

“Then you button it for me.”

Xu Jing raised his eyebrows, “Are you sure?”

Shen Yan knew what Xu Jing was thinking, and only said this to tease him, so he smiled and buttoned up his shirt casually.

At ten o’clock, an extremely oppressive female voice came from the entrance of the hall, “Come, students, quiet down.” Immediately, a tall woman walked in, wearing black glasses, with a stern expression and a very strong aura. “My surname is Ye, my given name is Rui, and I am the managing teacher here. I will keep it short and not delay your study time. You will be here for the next five days to prepare for the exam. If you encounter any problems, come to me as soon as possible. I won’t emphasize too much on discipline, just like in your own schools. In a moment, I will post the dormitory list and schedule at the back. You find the corresponding dormitory and bed, pack your things, and we will start studying on our own at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

It was said that the teachers here were all excellent teachers at the provincial level. Seeing her today, her aura was indeed very strong, and the students present secretly sweated for themselves.

Dormitories were assigned randomly. Shen Yan and Xu Jing were not in the same room, but fortunately they were across the hall from each other, and close by.

If it wasn’t for the mandatory regulations, Xu Jing would never want to live under the same roof with strangers. Fortunately, it was just a double room, and when he entered, the other person had already packed up and was reading a book. When he saw Xu Jing coming in, he just looked up and greeted him, then lowered his head to read again. Xu Jing glanced at him. This person wore a pair of iconic black-rimmed glasses, had a straight buzz cut and several days of unshaven beard. When he spoke, there was no expression on his face, and he seemed a bit dull and taciturn. He looked like a scholar who knew nothing about the world outside his window.

Fortunately, he wasn’t as noisy as Cha Fei’ang. Xu Jing breathed a sigh of relief, packed up simply, and went to find Shen Yan across the hall.

At this moment, Shen Yan had just finished packing. After the two walked out of the dormitory building, Shen Yan asked, “How is that person?”

“Not bad, not noisy.”

“Actually, it’s good not living together.” Shen Yan suddenly said this.

Xu Jing frowned, “Why?”

“What if I get horny one night and can’t help but come to your bed, wouldn’t it be bad if something happens and we get discovered.”

What a load of nonsense.

Xu Jing looked at the person next to him speechlessly and said, “…Your tastes are quite… strong.”

After saying that, he couldn’t help but imagine the scene. With a scream entering his ears, the person who came in would be full of shock and contempt, either covering their mouth and staring at them, or pointing at them, and at that time, Shen Yan would pull the quilt over him and cover him, and then put on his clothes and pants to face the group of people alone. This scene seemed quite familiar. Xu Jing thought about it all the way and realized that it was last year’s New Year’s Eve, when Qin Xin insisted on dragging him and Xu Huaiyang to watch a night of dog-blood dramas, and there was such a plot in it.

The people who came here were all top students in the city, and everyone attached great importance to this exam. Although it was stipulated that self-study would start at two o’clock, more than half of the people were already sitting in the classroom before one o’clock. Xu Jing didn’t worry about other subjects, but he had no confidence in English. Although he had worked very hard to study, his competitors this time were terribly strong. According to previous rankings, if he performed normally in other subjects, he would have to score at least 125 points or more in English to enter the next round of re-examination.

125 points.

English.

What did that mean?

In the past, it was no less than Yan Zhe getting the first place in the class.

But Xu Jing had always been one to either not do something, or once he decided to do it, even if it was impossible, he would do his best. However, compared to his hard work, Shen Yan’s performance was really hateful, because this person actually slept all afternoon, and only woke up when Xu Jing called him at mealtime.

Shen Yan looked around in a daze, then looked out the window, and asked in confusion, “Why is it dark?”

“What do you think?”

“I feel like I only slept for an hour.”

“…”

It must be said that Xu Jing really admired Shen Yan sometimes. Which of the people who came here for the exam wasn’t racing against time with a serious face buried in their books? Only this person slept peacefully for an afternoon. People who didn’t know would think he was here to accompany the exam.

“Go eat?”

“Let’s go.” Xu Jing decisively closed the densely packed English materials. He felt that he was about to vomit if he continued to study.

It was only a five-minute walk from the classroom to the cafeteria, and Shen Yan found several hidden paths the first time he came here. The two secretly held hands while there were not many people on the road, but Shen Yan felt that it wasn’t enough, so he forced the person to the corner of the wall and coaxed and begged for a long time.

Because they went late, there were not many people in the cafeteria. They just sat down after getting their food when they happened to meet Lin Hai, who was holding a Coke and about to leave.

“Hey, why are you two so late?” After all, they were from the same school, and it was inevitable to feel a little intimacy when they were in an unfamiliar place, so Lin Hai turned back halfway and sat opposite the two.

“By the way, let me tell you.” Halfway through his words, Lin Hai’s gaze suddenly stopped on Xu Jing’s lips, and he asked in confusion, “Xu Jing, why are your lips swollen?”

Without thinking, he knew what was going on. The crude behavior of a certain person just now flashed in his mind, and Xu Jing slammed the culprit under the table with his leg.

Shen Yan ate his meal with an unchanged face, and also found a very outrageous reason for him, “He memorized vocabulary.”

Xu Jing “…”

Yeah, what a terrible reason.

“I’m impressed.” Lin Hai actually thought this statement was reasonable, and gave Xu Jing a high thumbs up, and then said, “This afternoon, when I was writing the physics competition questions, I found that the handsome guy sitting next to me was writing the same set of papers as me, so we compared, I always thought my physics was good, but his speed was actually twice as fast as me, and the accuracy rate was ridiculously high. He calculated the most difficult celestial motion question in five minutes. I asked, good fellow, from the Six Seas No.1 High School next door.”

The reputation of Six Seas No.1 High School in the local high schools was no less than that of the Four Heavenly Kings in the 1990s. It had created a miracle of a 98.9% rate of getting into the top universities and occupying the top five in the Comprehensive Competition for three consecutive years. In the past, the level of Linhe No.1 High School could not be compared with it at all, but since the principal changed, the overall strength of the school has soared in recent years, so some people also call Linhe No.1 High School the Little Six Seas.

“I feel like I have no chance. There are people beyond people, and there is heaven beyond heaven. Just take it as a wake-up call.” Although Lin Hai said it frankly, there was still some unwillingness in his expression. After he left, the atmosphere on the dining table was obviously much lower.

Shen Yan touched the back of Xu Jing’s head and said, “Don’t be stressed, this competition can’t decide anything.”

Xu Jing was silent for a while and said, indeed, “Shen Yan, you can do it.”

Shen Yan smiled and asked back, “So believe in me?”

Xu Jing just hummed and didn’t say anything else. Since he was so old, he never thought that anyone was great, and he never had this kind of worshipful feeling for anyone. Shen Yan was the first.

“Then you have to believe in yourself as much as you believe in me,” Shen Yan said.

After a while, Xu Jing replied, “Okay.”

After the two finished eating, they returned to the classroom. Shen Yan no longer lay down to sleep, took out the real competition test papers and started writing. Shen Yan’s efficiency in doing questions was very high. He could know the answer at a glance, and he basically wouldn’t make mistakes during the process. So, in less than three hours, he wrote five sets of test papers, and from time to time he admired Xu Jing’s expression when writing English.

The classroom was very quiet, with only the sound of flipping books and writing. Everyone was racing against time to study. When the class bell rang, almost no one left. It was about half an hour before students left one after another. Shen Yan returned the corrected English composition to Xu Jing. In addition to the circled marks, there were also many advanced synonyms and excellent sentences, densely packed, but the handwriting was very clear, looking like it was printed.

“Memorize these before going to bed.”

“Oh.”

“…” Shen Yan wanted to laugh a little, but he still explained seriously, “What I wrote is more valuable than the reference answers. If you memorize these, you can draw inferences about other cases.”

“Okay.”

If it was normal times, Shen Yan would think this was resistance, but now he knew that Xu Jing was really tired of studying, so he packed up their things, carried his own bag on his shoulder, held Xu Jing’s bag in his hand, and led the war-damaged young master Xu back to the dormitory.