A Cold and Aloof Top Student Is Relied Upon - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: The College Entrance Exam

◎The End◎

Senior year always feels like a wound-up clock, rushing forward. Before you know it, most of the time has passed.

The peaceful atmosphere of Senior Year Class 3, which was immersed in studying, was suddenly broken by an “urgent news” announcement. A male student slid into the room, broadcasting like a megaphone:

“The results for the third city-wide mock exam are out!”

“Congratulations to our class’s top student for once again taking the crown! First place in the city-wide joint exam, and also first in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology!”

“This is great! This year’s number one is finally ours again!”

Honor is a magical thing that every group can’t help but feel and be deeply infected by. Even if you aren’t the one who earned the achievement, when you add the word “our,” it feels as though you’ve become a glittering member of the group, too.

Applause and cheers erupted in the classroom. Schools are always comparing themselves to one another, both openly and covertly. Sanhai High School, as a key county high school and a national-level model ordinary high school, has always been the subject of attention for its rankings and college acceptance rates. If it could send a student to a top national institution like Tsinghua or Peking University, its reputation would automatically shine.

In the past two years, Sanhai High School’s acceptance rates have been decent, with a good percentage of students getting into top-tier universities. However, the last student to be admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University was three years ago. So, when these rankings came out, not only were the students thrilled, but the school administration was also very excited.

—This is a living recruitment poster!

As the center of attention, Gu Zhu showed little reaction. She simply stood up when everyone looked at her, gave a slight bow to her classmates who were applauding her, and then sat back down, silently returning to her book.

Having been classmates for two years, they were already used to the top student’s cold and silent demeanor. But they had also seen her when she was not so aloof or reclusive. Any strange thoughts only lingered for a moment. After they clapped and rejoiced, they returned to their own studies.

Time moves forward and doesn’t stop, regardless of who is there or who is gone.

It was already mid-May. The south was entering typhoon season again. The plum rain season had not yet passed, and the air was heavy with the smell of moisture. The honor roll in front of the senior year building had been updated countless times, but only the name and photo of the person at the very top remained consistent. The man-made pond at Koi Pavilion had a rock garden with a carving of the story of Yu the Great controlling the flood. The water on the rock garden flowed into the pond, where half-bloomed water lilies floated and several fat koi swam beneath, having likely been fed by many students.

Further on, there was a forest of kapok trees. In March, a large patch of flowers had bloomed, a fiery red and passionate sight. By April, they began to wither. Now, new buds were sprouting, and sometimes large clumps of cottony fluff would drift from the unfallen fruit, blanketing the damp soil in a layer of white.

It was like the stubborn residual snow of a bitter winter that refused to leave.

But, in a low-latitude southern city, it normally never snows.

Gu Zhu had never seen snow here. She caught a piece of the falling cotton, twisted it, and then gently blew it, letting it fly away from her hand.

Walking toward the small convenience store, the cobblestones on the shaded path were damp, likely from the rain the day before.

“Welcome—”

The automatic glass door slid open. The store owner was the same as ever, wearing an orange floral shirt with a large bow in the front and jeans. Her high ponytail made her look young and beautiful, not at all like a woman with a middle school child, nor like a convenience store owner. She looked more like a high-level white-collar worker at a commercial building.

“I haven’t seen you in a while! Now I’m lucky if I see you two or three times a month. Senior year must be really tough.”

Their “deal” had ended this semester. Gu Zhu only came when she needed something, so their meetings naturally became less frequent. “Mm, thank you.”

She was there to buy new notepads and pens. After paying and packing her things, she was about to leave when she was called back.

“Wait a minute! Don’t run so fast!”

Gu Zhu stopped and turned to look at her. The owner rummaged through a cabinet, pulled out a box, and handed it to her. It was familiar packaging, familiar English letters—the imported chocolate she used to ask the owner to buy for her.

After their transaction ended, Gu Zhu naturally hadn’t had it in a long time.

“This is for you. Take it!” The owner urged. “And this box, too. Your exam is next month. I don’t know when I’ll see you again, so consider this an early well-wishing gift for your college entrance exam. You can’t refuse! There’s a surprise inside.” She winked at Gu Zhu.

Gu Zhu pursed her lips, took the box of dark chocolate, opened it, and put a piece in her mouth before closing it again. Next to her, the owner pushed over the gift box—it was wrapped in plain brown paper, clean and simple, with no clues as to what was inside.

“Go on, take it! Isn’t it time for evening study? Hurry up and go, don’t be late.” The owner urged.

Without further hesitation, Gu Zhu took it. Before she left, she said thank you again. “Thank you. Goodbye.”

The owner watched her figure disappear from view, propping her chin on the counter. She let out a very soft sigh. “You have to keep working hard.”

For your exam, and for your life.

The convenience store’s automatic “Welcome” was left behind. Gu Zhu returned to her dorm with the chocolate and the gift box. The single dorm room had returned to its original state. The lower bunk was just a bare bed frame, and the other bookcase was empty.

The calendar that used to hang by the bed had long since been taken down once the time had passed.

Only the transparent hook remained, holding the trace of another person’s presence.

Gu Zhu leaned by the window, turning the gift box over and over in her hands. She also shook it gently next to her ear, listening carefully. There was a very soft sound inside. She couldn’t guess what it was.

The box itself had a certain length and weight. After running her fingers over the wrapping paper several times, she finally set it down, deciding to shower first.

She followed her routine of showering, washing clothes, and hanging them up. Her re-cut hair still didn’t reach her shoulders, stopping somewhere around her jawline. The hair on the sides was a little choppy. She had a lot of hair, so it took several wipes to dry. When she bent over to see the world upside down, she felt a little dizzy, and the gift box came back into her sight.

“There’s a surprise inside.” The store owner’s words echoed in her ears.

Standing up, her loose hair covered her face, and only her tightly pursed lips were visible. She hung the towel on the back of the chair, took a utility knife from the pen holder, and carefully cut the wrapping paper. Then she opened the box inside.

It was a glass bottle filled with paper cranes. A few of the paper cranes showed glimpses of color—they were all different. Sometimes there were patterns and numbers in different places, on the belly of the crane, the back, or the wings.

The mouth of the bottle was covered with a piece of paper that looked like a page from a newspaper, and a green woven cord was tied around it. Two tiny crystal stars dangled from the cord.

There was nothing really special about it. The paper used for the cranes looked very thin, as if it had been torn from something, not specialized origami paper.

Gu Zhu held the smooth glass bottle, turning it over and over, but she didn’t find any message. She opened the window, wanting the wind from outside to blow in and clear the stuffy air inside.

Looking down, she saw the pot of jasmine on her windowsill.

She blinked and placed the glass bottle on the desk. She then reached for the pot of jasmine. The small, short plant was really only a few crisscrossing branches that looked like withered vines. But now, those grayish-brown, dead-looking branches had quietly turned green. At the very top, tiny, barely noticeable sprouts were growing.

After a full year, at the tail end of spring, this jasmine plant was finally experiencing its new life.

Gu Zhu gently touched it with her fingertip. Her eyes then fell on the glass bottle filled with paper cranes on her desk. The tiny, five-pointed stars refracted the light.

Her flower was alive again. She had brought a miracle to it.

The college entrance exam soon arrived. The school was emptied. The stacks of completed test papers, the empty pen refills, and the piles of notebooks full of corrected mistakes all felt like the last vestiges of a youth about to be written.

There was no grand fanfare. Just like every other exam, they prepared their supplies, found their test centers, and then waited for the start and end announcements. They had gone through each step countless times, but this time, it wasn’t a practice test—it was the final exam.

Three days passed. Gu Zhu turned in her test on time and left the school gate on time. Some people ran past her hurriedly, like finally free birds spreading their wings.

There were some parents at the gate, but not many. Gu Zhu walked past them and found Gu Baozhi’s moped in a corner. She took the helmet and sat on the back seat. To Gu Baozhi’s question, she only gave a quiet “Mm.” Then the moped moved forward, making its way through the crowded, narrow road with difficulty. Only when they reached a wider street could it finally pick up speed.

When they arrived home, Gu Baozhi prepared to cook. She didn’t ask Gu Zhu how she did on the exam, only what she would like to eat. Gu Zhu shook her head and said anything was fine.

They seemed to have returned to the very beginning, with questions and answers, but separated by a chasm. The distance felt both very close and very far.

…

The day the results came out, Lin Qingmei called herself. The person on the other end of the phone was full of excitement, saying that Gu Zhu was the top student in the province. A golden phoenix had flown out of their eighteenth-tier county. The people in the city’s education system were buzzing with excitement after hearing the results. With her score, admission offices from various universities would likely start calling within the next two days to invite her.

“If you don’t know which school to choose, you can ask me. If you already have a dream university and get accepted, remember to tell me. I’m so incredibly happy for you, Gu Zhu. In three years of high school, your hard work was not in vain. You have a great future ahead of you, so you must keep moving forward!”

You must keep moving forward.

You must constantly move forward.

If you get tired, just rest for a while, until the day I come to pick you up.

But when would that day be?

Gu Zhu reached her hand out the window, and a raindrop fell on her palm.

—It’s raining again.

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