TSIBAMS Chapter 122
by VolareAfter more than half a month of hard study, Qi Guang finally lived up to expectations and surpassed the top student in the grade during the third diagnostic exam.
When he showed his report card to Ye Xing, Ye Xing’s heart was calm. Like many others, he felt this was inevitable. But to avoid dampening Qi Guang’s spirits, he still expressed unusual excitement and enthusiasm.
To make it feel even more ceremonial, he even made a phone call.
“Brother Qi, you’re amazing!”
“Classmate Ye Xing is finally willing to call me.”
“It’s not that I’m afraid of affecting your studies. Your husband can only silently endure the pain of lovesickness until he’s gravely ill…”
“Alright, Film Emperor Ye, report your results to your Brother Qi…”
“Okay, hugs!”
“I said report your exam scores! Can you focus on studying a little more?”
Ye Xing clicked his tongue and, flipping out his test paper, reported his scores, reluctantly accepting the academic expert’s analysis and summary of his weaknesses in each subject…
This once-every-two-weeks phone call opportunity was wasted just like that. For the next month or so, the daily communication between Qi Guang and him returned to simple good mornings, good afternoons, and good nights.
This primitive way of communication was simply the ultimate contempt for the current information explosion era.
Ye Xing, with one foot already in university, looked at the college entrance exam countdown on the blackboard and felt that the days were dragging on endlessly, filled with boredom.
The weather was getting hotter. It felt like just a short while ago when spring had sprung and catkins were flying all over the sky, but in the blink of an eye, cicadas had begun their summer serenade.
The day before the college entrance exam, the school dismissed the senior high department early. The senior students, holding onto their last breath, didn’t dare to relax. They carried thick stacks of books, their steps heavy, and with blank expressions, said goodbye to each other before scattering.
Time was a butcher knife, and the last few months of senior year were even more brutal. Even Zhou Tian’s semi-permanent goofy smile had been replaced by melancholy.
After Qi Guang helped him put the books on the tricycle, he flagged down another ride for himself.
Bouncing in the vehicle, he realized he was feeling somewhat annoyed.
To be precise, he was experiencing a mix of annoyance and the excitement of being about to be freed—his chest felt like there was a balloon about to burst, and he had to carefully go through every routine, as if a little force would risk sudden death.
He couldn’t describe his mood at the moment, but he found it quite magical that he was also becoming one of these people.
Once he got home, the first thing he did was pull out his phone from the drawer. He slowly pressed each digit of a number and dialed.
“Hello there, do you need pre-exam psychological counseling?” Ye Xing’s tone was light. “Fifty cents for half an hour, ten dollars for the whole day, one-on-one service, guaranteed satisfaction.”
“Can I get a refund if I’m not satisfied?” Qi Guang asked.
“Honey! This is a small business, have some understanding!”
“Then I’ll do a two-minute trial.”
“A trial?” Ye Xing was caught off guard. To maintain his so-called professionalism, he quickly grabbed the calendar next to him and started reading, “Young man, your responsibility is to smooth the land, not to worry about time. If you do the work in March and April, you will find the answers in August and September.”
Qi Guang was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: “Still quite cultured.”
“Who are you looking down on?” Ye Xing flipped through the calendar and realized that it wasn’t an ordinary calendar. Each page was printed with different poems or famous quotes. “There’s also this one, it’s quite interesting—excluding sleep, a person only has a little over ten thousand days in their life. The difference between people lies in: are you truly living over ten thousand days, or are you only living one day and repeating it more than ten thousand times.”
“Kind of interesting,” Qi Guang commented and then savored it for a moment. Suddenly, he became serious, “Before I met you, I was probably really just repeating the same days. It was after you appeared that things became different.”
Ye Xing put the calendar back in place and changed into a comfortable position on the sofa, “Don’t think you can get away with sweet talk, pay up!”
“Here’s four hundred, keep the change!” Brother Qi clicked his tongue. “Don’t do anything else this year but call me every day.”
Ye Xing chuckled twice, finally getting to the point, “Brother Qi, how’s your review going?”
“If I perform normally, I’ll save enough for the next four years of boarding fees. If I exceed expectations…” Qi Guang paused mysteriously, even clearing his throat with exaggerated seriousness, “Ahem, maybe we’ll even have a long-distance relationship.”
Ye Xing originally thought Qi Guang’s final goal was the university next to their new home in S City. He didn’t expect there to be a scenario for exceeding expectations, and he immediately couldn’t help but speak up for the vast number of underachievers.
“Please, no more long distance. Go even further, leave the solar system. It would be best if we could be in love across the Milky Way.”
Qi Guang immediately noticed something was off about his tone and couldn’t help but tease, “Yo, what happened to Classmate Ye Xing?”
“Why do I hate chatting with academic experts so much!” Ye Xing rolled his eyes.
“I love chatting with you, pay attention to me!” Qi Guang said.
Ye Xing was amused at how naturally he was getting at being spoiled.
“Laughing your ass off,” Qi Guang said, “How’s your review going?”
“Not bad, the last few practice exams have exceeded my expectations.”
“Come, come, let me give you some applause!” Qi Guang said, making the sound of clapping.
“Okay, okay! Brother Qi, do your best tomorrow, get some rest early today.”
“Yeah, let’s do our best together!”
The weather was great for both days of the exam, neither rainy nor too hot. A long and piercing bell announced the end of the exam, and this batch of products of twelve years of education concluded their final selection.
They were finally free.
Even the noisy cicada chirps sounded much more pleasant at this moment.
When Qi Guang walked out of the school gate, he was almost scared to take a detour and climb over the wall because of the black mass of people in front of him. He realized they were all parents, and surprisingly, they were all quiet, holding their breaths, looking even more nervous than the test takers.
This bizarre atmosphere contrasted sharply with the lively, jumping-around scene of the students who had been released from prison behind him.
While thinking about where to squeeze through most easily, he was suddenly grabbed by a hand that reached out from the crowd.
“Qi Guang! This way!” It was Shuai Xiaoyun’s voice.
He could hear her voice but couldn’t see her. Qi Guang squeezed into the crowd of parents, saying “Excuse me” while side-stepping. Shuai Xiaoyun pulled him out of the crowd.
After walking through the maze for a while, they finally got out of the crowd and onto the main road, where she pulled him onto the nearest tricycle.
“To the station!” Shuai Xiaoyun said to the tricycle driver.
“Where are we going?” Qi Guang frowned.
“My classmate’s younger sister is about to take her middle school exam, and they urgently need a tutor!” Shuai Xiaoyun said.
Qi Guang looked at her, his eyes wide with disbelief as if looking at a lunatic, “I just finished the college entrance exam and you’re putting me to work? Sis, do you know what I just went through? Do you remember how carefree and sloppy you were after you finished the exam last year?”
“They’re rich! One hour of tutoring is enough for your living expenses for a whole week! Are you going or not?”
“No!”
Shuai Xiaoyun grabbed his arm tightly to prevent him from jumping off the tricycle.
“Then where are you going to work? Don’t think about coming to my house, my family can’t afford to pay that much!”
“I’m going to find Brother Xu.”
Qi Guang said decisively, then suddenly froze—Although he had been helping out at the 1984 Bar since it opened, he hadn’t been there for months. Furthermore, Brother Xu was giving him a salary out of a desire to help him, and now that he had Xiao Ma, the 1984 bar didn’t really need his help anymore.
He couldn’t possibly be shameless enough to push Xiao Ma out of his position.
He swallowed awkwardly and asked, “Your classmate’s sister…where is she?”
“She’s my college classmate’s younger sister, in S City,” Shuai Xiaoyun said.
Qi Guang took a breath and acted as if he was going to jump off the vehicle, but Shuai Xiaoyun grabbed him tightly again.
“No, regardless of the distance, do you know when her middle school exam is?” Qi Guang held onto the door frame of the vehicle and wouldn’t let go. The two of them were deadlocked like this, “Next week, just a few days. Tutoring? Tutoring what? What was this girl doing before?”
“She was being tutored before, but she is a bit withdrawn. I heard she was bullied at school. I didn’t ask too much. Just pretend you don’t know. She hasn’t been to school at all this year, and hired a special teacher to tutor her one-on-one at home. Anyway, they’ve spent a lot of money. But the teacher got into an accident right before the exam. He was hit by a delivery guy’s scooter while crossing the road, and now he’s got a cast on his leg in the hospital,” Shuai Xiaoyun explained.
Seeing that Qi Guang’s attitude had softened slightly, she seized the opportunity to act spoiled, shaking his arm while slowly pulling his hand away from the door frame, “My dear brother, the kindest, most amazing, most courageous…”
“Stop, stop, stop!” Qi Guang shook her hand off in disgust, “Please call your classmate and tell her – there’s no need for a tutor at this point. The middle school content isn’t difficult, they should just relax for a few days and review on their own.”
“I actually think the same,” Shuai Xiaoyun said with an innocent look, “But her parents don’t think so. They suddenly don’t have a tutor right before the exam, and they’re more anxious than their daughter. They’re looking everywhere for a tutor. I visited my classmate’s home, and her parents know that I have a genius brother, so they called me last night. I just agreed to it on your behalf. After all, it’s a big gig, right? See, I even held it back until now after you finished the test, just so you wouldn’t get too excited.”
Qi Guang tried to find even a hint of cunning in her sincere gaze, but ultimately lost to her rapid blinking method.
“You’re really something,” Qi Guang said from the bottom of his heart.
“There’s no need to thank me, we’re family! I think that teacher won’t be better anytime soon. If you behave well these few days, you can tutor her during the summer vacation, and your tuition for your first semester in college will be taken care of, right? See how good I am to you? You won’t get that kind of easy, quick money if you find some other job there,” Shuai Xiaoyun said, dropping the bag she had on her back on his lap, “You have to think long-term, persevere for another week and then relax. You can sleep for three days and three nights, or go clubbing for three days and three nights if you want.”
Qi Guang frowned, looking at his own bag on his lap, “What is this?”
“Your luggage! I went to your house myself this afternoon to pack it for you.”
Shuai Xiaoyun raised her eyebrows proudly.