Everyone settled into the living room. The round-faced boy fidgeted on the sofa as if it were covered in thorns, shifting back and forth, utterly refusing to sit still. His bright eyes were fixed on Liang Zhou, looking as if he wanted to pounce on him and give him a lick.
"Sit properly! What kind of behavior is that!" the old man scolded him, then turned his gaze to Liang Zhou. "You wouldn't come without a reason. Speak, what brings you here?"
"I want my younger brother to take the supplementary entrance exam for City No. 2 High School," Liang Zhou stated directly, pointing to Yu Shulin sitting beside him. "He attended junior high in W City."
As the old man's attention shifted to him, Yu Shulin smiled and spoke politely, "Hello, Teacher Gao. My name is Yu Shulin."
"Hmm." The old man nodded, seeming quite satisfied with his manners. "What was your score on the high school entrance exam?"
That exam score was almost a nightmare for him. Yu Shulin bowed his head slightly in shame and reported his score.
Teacher Gao frowned, displeased with the answer he heard.
Liang Zhou also frowned, looking somewhat dissatisfied at his former teacher. He didn't like seeing Yu Shulin like this; his younger brother should be proud and dazzling.
"What kind of look is that!" Teacher Gao said, exasperated.
Hearing the score, the round-faced boy finally shifted his gaze from Liang Zhou, his curiosity landing on Yu Shulin.
Teacher Gao's wife came out of the kitchen wiping her hands. She gave her husband a disapproving look and urged, "You must be hungry. Let's eat first, you can catch up slowly after the meal."
"Hmph." Teacher Gao was the first to get up and head towards the dining table.
During the meal, Teacher Gao inquired about Yu Shulin's situation. Upon learning that his poor performance on the entrance exam was due to his mother's sudden passing, his expression softened considerably, and his gaze held a touch of sympathy.
After dinner, he took out a set of test papers for Yu Shulin to complete, then led Liang Zhou to the study.
The round-faced boy had wanted to strike up a conversation but was dragged away by Teacher Gao's wife.
The living room quieted down. Yu Shlin took a pen and scratch paper from his backpack, spread out the test papers Teacher Gao had given him, picked out the math paper, and buried his head in the work.
A summer of tutoring had been very effective. He had now thoroughly mastered the junior high school material and had even previewed some of the high school textbooks. His learning speed was simply phenomenal.
He worked through the papers quickly. By the time Teacher Gao and Liang Zhou finished their conversation and came out, he only had the final English paper left to complete.
Teacher Gao flipped through the completed papers, glanced at the half-finished English paper in his hand, nodded, sat down on the sofa, took a red pen from his pocket, and began grading.
Liang Zhou sat down beside Yu Shulin. Looking at his neat and elegant handwriting, his eyes softened considerably.
By the time Yu Shulin finished the English paper, Teacher Gao had already finished grading the others. A smile finally appeared on his face. "Not bad, not bad. A very solid foundation, and flexible problem-solving. Good potential."
Yu Shulin breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head to look at Liang Zhou and smiled, his eyes crinkling. Liang Zhou curved his lips into a smile, reached out to ruffle his hair, and handed him the juice by his side.
The English paper was mostly multiple-choice, so grading it was quick. Teacher Gao roughly calculated the score and finally seemed satisfied. "Judging by the subjects tested here, your foundation is quite good. Giving you a spot for the supplementary exam is no problem, but whether you can pass depends entirely on your own ability."
"Thank you, Teacher Gao!" Yu Shulin beamed, the heavy stone in his heart finally lifting—as long as he was given the chance, he was sure he could get into City No. 2 High School on his own merit!
The supplementary entrance exam for City No. 2 High School was quite famous. Applicants came from all over the city districts, and there were even students from other provinces who came hoping to try their luck, to see if they could squeeze into the school's experimental class.
—The experimental class. It was formed by mixing the top fifty students from the supplementary exam with the top fifty students admitted through the regular high school entrance exam. Taught by the school's best teachers, its admission rate to top-tier universities was almost one hundred percent. Getting into the experimental class was almost like having one foot already through the university gate.
This temptation drove students and parents into greater fervor year after year. The number of students applying for the supplementary exam kept increasing. In the end, City No. 2 High School had no choice but to add a very strict condition to the application requirements—the high school entrance exam score must exceed the school's regular admission cutoff by twenty points!
When this condition was first announced, parents made quite a fuss. But the school was determined and held firm. Unable to change it, the parents had no choice but to accept it. However, precisely because of this, City No. 2 High School's reputation climbed even higher—selecting the best from among the elite. The school's experimental class was truly no ordinary class.
Given Yu Shulin's high school entrance exam score, obtaining a spot for such an exam... this was walking through the back door quite brazenly.
On the day of the exam, Liang Zhou dropped him off at the school gate. After getting out of the car, he stood nervously among the crowd of waiting examinees, his palms sweating. He hadn't touched a textbook in six or seven years before his rebirth, and after rebirthing, he had only had one-on-one tutoring with a private teacher. Although Teacher Gao said his foundation was good, he had never actually compared himself with others, so he couldn't help but worry.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He wiped the sweat from his palms, took it out, and pressed to open the message.
"Don't be nervous. You are good."
It was from Liang Zhou. He looked back towards where the car was parked, grinned at the half-open car window, and felt a bit more settled in his heart.
Half an hour before the exam began, the gates of City No. 2 High School finally opened. He turned back and waved towards where the car was parked, then walked in with the flow of people.
Liang Zhou watched him enter, only withdrawing his gaze when his slender figure completely disappeared from sight. He rolled up the car window and drove towards his company.
The exams lasted two days, and Liang Zhou picked him up and dropped him off both days. Once, they were almost recognized by a young fan, but fortunately, they ran fast, or things could have gotten quite lively.
On August 29th, the exam results were released. Yu Shulin, feeling somewhat anxious, rushed to City No. 2 High School. Squeezing into the crowd, he started scanning the admission list from the very last name, slowly moving his eyes forward in search of his own.
The last row... not there. His palms began to sweat.
The second-to-last row... still not there. He swallowed hard.
The third-to-last row... still not there. He felt his heartbeat quicken.
The fourth-to-last row... he was starting to feel desperate.
His gaze carefully shifted to the very top row. He pressed his lips together and read word by word. Then, finally, in the third position, he saw his name.
Third? So high up?! He rubbed his eyes, hardly able to believe it. Worried there might be another examinee with the same name, he hurriedly bent down, pulled his exam admission ticket from his backpack, and checked the exam number next to the name. Instantly, he was flooded with wild joy.
It really was him. Third place! He got in! Not bought with money, nor forced in through connections. He got in on his own! He got in on his own merit! His hand holding the admission ticket trembled with force. He took several deep breaths before barely managing to calm down.
It was really different. Completely, utterly different from his last life!
For the first time since his rebirth, he cast aside all reservations. With a foolish grin, he turned and sprinted toward the school gate, his emotions laid completely bare on his face.
Liang Zhou's car was still parked in the same spot. He rushed over and excitedly patted the window. Before it was fully rolled down, he shouted loudly, "Brother, brother, I got in! I'm third on the list!"
Overwhelmed and unsure how to express his excitement, he scratched his cheek, feeling the window was descending unusually slowly today. He simply reached out, pulled the car door open, and threw himself at the person inside, hugging him and bumping his head against his shoulder. "I got in. It's different this time. I got in on my own merit. Thank you. All of this is because of you. Thank you."
The person who was hugged stiffened for a moment, then returned the embrace, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Congratulations."
The space inside the car was cramped. Liang Zhou was pressed back against the seat, his posture a bit awkward. The boy's soft hair brushed against his neck, a ticklish and somewhat strange sensation.
He wasn't accustomed to such intimacy, nor did he like people approaching him so impulsively. But at this moment, listening to the boy's excited, rambling words and smelling his clean, fresh scent, he found himself drawing the body that had flung itself at him a little closer into his arms.
Hmm. Being fawned over by a little brother... wasn't so bad after all.
