"Aran, time to go to school!"
It was still dark, but Su Ming was already shouting downstairs at Shen Ruoyan’s house. The neighbors were annoyed at first, but considering it was a matter of a child’s education, they eventually got used to it.
In this day and age, a university degree was truly valuable. Especially for a promising talent like Shen Ruoyan; provided she didn’t make any mistakes, she was a shoo-in for a key university. Su Ming was slightly less fortunate—he was excellent at math, physics, and chemistry, mediocre at Chinese, and almost hopeless at English.
The city they lived in was called Jinhai City. The college entrance exam format required testing in Chinese, mathematics, and English, plus two elective subjects chosen from physics, chemistry, politics, history, biology, or geography. In total, there were five subjects with a maximum score of 750. The cutoff line for undergraduate admission hovered around 470, fluctuating slightly every year. It was a difficult hurdle, and the competition was fierce for every graduating class.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Mhm."
Shen Ruoyan had had a very sweet dream. In the dream, Su Ming took her hiking, and they leaned on each other the whole way. Halfway up, she twisted her ankle, so Su Ming carried her on his back to the summit. At the very peak, Shen Ruoyan saw the vast, magnificent landscape of the world. They even took photos and ate delicious food… In short, had she not needed to get up for school, Shen Ruoyan wouldn’t have wanted to wake up at all.
"Look at that smile—you look like a complete dork."
"My mom says dreams are the opposite of reality. Do you think that’s true?"
"If it’s a nightmare, then yes. But if it’s a beautiful dream, it’s bound to come true."
"Oh, ho! Su, that was quite the high-EQ remark!"
"It’s a must!"
The two chatted as they cycled to a breakfast shop they frequented often.
"Uncle Wang, the usual, please. Two orders of bean curd sheets and fried dough sticks, extra sauce, and two cartons of milk."
Note that milk was the key to breakfast. Su Ming’s impressive height was definitely related to this.
"I’ll let you have both cartons of milk later. Little potato, you need to grow tall!"
Su Ming gave a sly smile, and Shen Ruoyan immediately pouted. "I am not that short, okay!"
Shen Ruoyan was definitely not a "little potato." She had reached 165 centimeters by the time she turned eighteen, which was taller than most of her peers. Suddenly remembering something, her tone turned snide.
"Yeah, compared to others, I’m not short. But compared to Liu Rumeng, I guess I’m still lacking a bit."
"Ugh, it’s early in the morning—can we not mention that person? She’s bad luck."
"I don't think so. When she first transferred here, you were the one gushing about how great her height was and how elegant her style was..."
"My mistake! I’m a terrible person!"
There was no helping it; he had to pay for his past stupidity.
"Just saying you’re wrong isn’t enough. You have to let me have a bite of your portion first."
"Here, take it."
"Ah... om nom!"
Shen Ruoyan tried her best to open her mouth wide, looking incredibly cute.
"You little glutton, you always find a way to steal my food. Does it really taste any different?"
He reached out and pulled out an exquisite handkerchief. It was actually the one Shen Ruoyan had given him a long time ago. Since he was a boy, he rarely found a use for it, so he mostly let Shen Ruoyan use it.
"Mmm, I feel like when I mooch off you, I’m extra happy!"
"What are you saying? Don't choke. Let's go. Goodbye, Uncle Wang!"
The first rays of dawn shone upon the boy and the girl. It was warm and filled with hope.
"Drive carefully!"
"Honey, look at those two kids—don't they look just like us when we were young?"
"They do, but they’re much more promising than we ever were."
"Haha, each generation produces its own talents. We’re getting old!"
...
The first period was English, and Su Ming listened with unusual intensity. However, his "skill points" had all been dumped into the sciences; it was truly hard for him to understand a word of English.
"How are you?"
"I’m fine, thanks, and you?"
That was essentially the extent of Su Ming’s current level.
"Brother Ming, why bother? You’d be better off taking a nice nap and trying hard in the next period." Zhang Wei was already feeling sleepy; the moment he heard English words, he started seeing stars.
"No sleeping!" Su Ming hit Zhang Wei on the head with a piece of chalk and gave him the middle finger.
"What is your problem? You don't want to sleep, so you won't let me sleep either?"
"It’s not that. The college entrance exam is coming up soon—you really need to put in some effort. Forget about the top-tier schools; you at least need to get into a university."
Su Ming wasn't worried about Shen Ruoyan’s grades at all. But as for his "brother from another mother," Zhang Wei, that was an entirely different story. Out of all his subjects, his greatest specialty was napping.
"Why? Is college really that great? Why is everyone fighting to get in?"
"Because college life is wonderful."
"Uh, that was a strange place to pause."
"Forget the nonsense and start studying. I don’t want to look around my university campus and not see my 'son' there."
Despite saying that, Zhang Wei slumped over and fell asleep anyway. Some people just weren't cut out for studying—there was really no helping it! However, don't let his thin build fool you; Zhang Wei was actually in excellent physical shape. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to take down Hóuzi so easily.
"Ge, why don't you try the athletic route?"
...
"Ge? Ge?"
"Damn! How is he already snoring?"
...
The whole morning passed like that. Su Ming had memorized a few dozen more words, but the specific grammar and reading comprehension remained a daunting challenge.
"Grrr..."
He was hungry, and the morning classes were almost over. Closing his textbook, Su Ming assumed a sprinting stance.
"Brother Ming, are you trying to race me after I’ve spent the whole morning sleeping?" Zhang Wei looked at him with utter disdain and confidence.
"I’ll give it a shot."
"Heh, you’re overestimating yourself."
*Rrrring!*
As the final bell rang, Zhang Wei acted as if struck by a sudden illness, leaping into action instantly.
"I am lightning!!!"
With his hands clasped behind his back and his body leaning forward, he sprinted out of the classroom in a very strange posture. Well, he won...
In the cafeteria, since they had rushed out so early, Su Ming and Zhang Wei managed to snag seats.
"There are chicken drumsticks today! Miss, give me three, please."
In the school cafeteria, as long as you called the server "Miss," the lady’s hand wouldn’t shake when dishing out the food. Furthermore, she would even pick out the biggest ones for you.
"Ge, hold these for me. I’m going to get the soup."
"You got it."
They naturally saved one seat for Shen Ruoyan. A delicate girl like her wouldn't fight for a seat; that was a job for shameless guys.
"Over here!"
Su Ming was able to pinpoint Shen Ruoyan in the crowd instantly. After his rebirth, this skill had reached perfection.
"I’m here!"
"Wow! The food looks pretty rich today!"
(⌒o⌒)!
Su Ming had already prepared the chopsticks and soup for Shen Ruoyan; the young lady just had to eat.
"Damn! It’s the classic egg soup without the egg!"
"It’s fine, at least there’s seaweed."
Zhang Wei sat on the far left, Su Ming in the middle, and Shen Ruoyan to his right. Thanks to Su Ming, the school beauty, Shen Ruoyan, had a pretty good relationship with Zhang Wei.
But just as the three of them were busy eating, an unpleasant voice cut in.
"Yo! Isn't this Su Ming?"
"The line is too long. Go get me some food, right now."