Hopeless Romance (GL) - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The terrain in the mountains was high, and with the clear daylight having passed, the four girls sitting on the slope could easily see the scattering of starlight in the night sky. Although they couldn’t distinguish the constellations, it didn’t stop Jiang Xinwan from calling everyone to make a wish. According to her logic, with so many stars, if you made a wish to all of them, at least one was bound to hear, greatly increasing the odds of it coming true. Having explained her philosophy, Jiang Xinwan took the lead; she balled her hands into fists under her chin, closed her eyes, and began to pray fervently in her heart:

“Hello, stars. My name is Jiang Xinwan. I have a few small wishes—I wonder if I could trouble you to help me realize them? I hope my mom and dad stay healthy, and I hope my grades improve. Thirdly, I hope the anime characters I love get happy endings. And lastly, I hope the person I like stays happy—and yes, that boy is included in this wish.”

After finishing, she felt a momentary hesitation, wondering if she had been too greedy and if the stars would be angry with her. She also worried that since there were so many people with the same name, the gods on the stars might bless the wrong person.

“Pupu, what did you wish for?” Yu Xiao asked. She didn’t really have any wishes, though for now, she hoped her plan would succeed soon, so she mentioned it casually to the stars.

“You can’t say wishes out loud, or they won’t come true,” Chen Pupu said. She was a veteran in the world of wish-making. She made several wishes and even dedicated one to the absent Ye Du, hoping she would always rank first—meanwhile, in her own bed preparing for sleep, Shang Ruixi suddenly let out a sneeze.

“You’re even cuter than you look.” This was the third time today Yu Xiao had called Chen Pupu cute. Initially, Pupu had been quite shy about it, but she was gradually coming to accept the evaluation; after all, there was nothing wrong with being cute.

Chen Pupu gave a bashful smile in response and said, “Should we head back to the dorm? If we’re late, the teachers will scold us.”

Wang Zhu was already exhausted. After making a very perfunctory wish, she could barely sit upright, her head lolling onto Jiang Xinwan’s shoulder. Clinging to her last shred of consciousness, she was the first to stand and agree with Pupu’s suggestion. She desperately wanted to collapse onto a bed, even considering skipping brushing her teeth and washing her face.

By the time they returned to the dormitory, Ye Du was already fast asleep. The three of them moved quietly, packing up and climbing onto the communal bed one by one, terrified of waking her. Chen Pupu’s jacket was spread out next to Ye Du. As she lay down, Pupu took a small yellow flower from her pocket and tucked it behind Ye Du’s ear. The flower had wilted a bit from being in her pocket, but she thought that since Ye Du hadn’t seen the stars, receiving a little flower was the next best thing.

…

The next day, everyone hiked back down the mountain. Having walked the path once, they had a sense of the timing, so the question Jiang Xinwan asked Ye Du most often was “What time is it?” She needed the passage of time to give her the strength to keep moving. Once back at school, students returned to their classrooms. The head teachers gave summaries of the two-day trip, criticizing some and praising others as usual. The teenagers, exhausted from the long trek and the bus ride, couldn’t sit up straight and looked ready to melt into their desks. In addition to the summary, Zhang Jianwei emphasized safety precautions for the upcoming May Day holiday. Even though the information was on the holiday flyers, she felt too embarrassed to let Class 10 be the first class dismissed.

While she was speaking, Huang Yuqin signaled from the front door. After whispering a few words to Zhang Jianwei, Ye Du, Shang Ruixi, and Qin Zibei were called to the office. The sight of the top three students being called away together was rare. Although everyone guessed it wasn’t anything bad, the classroom buzzed with restless energy—especially with a seven-day holiday looming. However, by the time Zhang Jianwei announced the official dismissal, Ye Du had not yet returned from the math teacher’s office.

“I called the three of you here to discuss the Mathematics Competition,” Huang Yuqin began. “The three of you are the top three in both overall ranking and Math. For this year’s competition, the school was only given five slots for the seventh grade. Each class can nominate three people, and those students will go through two rounds of exams to select the final five. The questions will definitely be harder and more flexible than what we study in class. Have any of you studied Mathematical Olympiad?”

Huang Yuqin paused. Unsurprisingly, all three gave affirmative nods. In the current compulsory education system, studying Olympiad math was a trend; those who hadn’t were in the minority.

“Good. The questions are similar to Olympiad types, though with their own variations. Use this holiday to practice. I’ll give you some mock exams in a moment so you can get a feel for it. Don’t get discouraged if you encounter things you can’t solve; that’s normal. The selection exam is set for the Friday afternoon after we return from the May Day break. The two rounds are back-to-back—those who pass the first will take the second immediately that same afternoon. It’s a high volume of questions.”

The Mathematics Competition was a highly valued project at Yunchuan Middle School, with the annual goal of securing as many first-class prizes as possible. It was divided into junior and senior high divisions, and the school leadership required the strength of the team members to be balanced. The school’s math research department even had a specialized competition group to study the trends of the exam questions. If a student won an award, they could obtain an exemption from the entrance exam for Yunchuan’s senior high school. Many students with a talent for math were eager to seize this chance.

“Mr. Huang, will we be taking the selection exam with the eighth and ninth graders?” Shang Ruixi asked. Though she didn’t necessarily plan to stay at Yunchuan for high school, a medal would certainly bolster her future applications.

“No, each grade has a different exam difficulty. But once selected, you will train and practice alongside the older students, so it will be quite challenging.” Seeing no further questions, Huang Yuqin asked one more time, “So, you all confirm you want to participate?”

Ye Du was actually a bit hesitant. On one hand, she wanted the opportunity to reduce the pressure of high school entrance exams—for her, high school was a choice between Yunchuan No. 1 and Yunchuan Middle School, and if she could secure a spot early, she could focus more on high school subjects. On the other hand, she felt she was already at her limit. Between regular homework, her math tutoring, and her ongoing English classes with a foreign teacher, her schedule was packed. Ye Sangshu had also assigned her extra tasks for classical Chinese and reading comprehension. Managing all this while tutoring Chen Pupu was already difficult; she wasn’t sure if adding a math competition would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Mr. Huang, may I ask if the contestants from the higher grades are refreshed every year? Or do they keep the ones previously selected?” Qin Zibei asked, wondering if he should wait until eighth grade to avoid overextending himself.

“There are assessments once you become a contestant. If you fail to meet the standard three times, you’re advised to leave the team. Of course, a student can also choose to withdraw on their own. So, we select new talent from every grade each year.”

“Okay, Mr. Huang, I’m in,” Qin Zibei agreed. Shang Ruixi followed suit, taking the registration form to fill it out.

“Ye Du, what about you?” Huang Yuqin looked at the only one who hadn’t responded.

“Mr. Huang, when is the registration deadline? I’m still a bit conflicted.”

“Next Wednesday—the day we return from break. How about this: fill out the form now. If you decide to go, call me and I’ll submit it. If not, let me know, and we’ll talk about it next year.” Huang Yuqin secretly hoped Ye Du would go. While the girl’s math wasn’t the absolute “peak,” she was remarkably stable. She never lost her cool and always handled her affairs with a maturity beyond her years. For a competitor, that was vital; for a fourteen-year-old, it was rare.

“Okay, thank you, Mr. Huang.” Ye Du took the papers and walked back to the classroom, thinking about who she should consult. She knew Ye Sangshu would definitely want her to go, but she wanted to hear a different perspective.

When she reached the classroom, only the students on cleaning duty remained. Ye Du blinked, realizing she hadn’t walked home alone in a long time; it felt strange. However, as she packed her bag and headed out, she ran into Jiang Xinwan and Wang Zhu walking back toward the school, each holding half-eaten skewers and fries. Ye Du looked at the snacks, then at her friends, and shook her head with a smile.

The two looked at each other. Jiang Xinwan couldn’t explain because her mouth was full of chicken, so Wang Zhu spoke first: “We waited so long and got so hungry. We didn’t mean to skip you; we just didn’t expect you to be out so soon.”

“Am I that petty in your eyes that you have to explain?” Ye Du joked, reaching into the bag of fries. “Where’s Pupu?”

Wang Zhu went silent and nudged Jiang Xinwan. She didn’t think it was a big deal, but she worried Ye Du might feel slighted. Jiang Xinwan swallowed her meat and frowned at Wang Zhu before speaking.

“When school let out, Yu Xiao from Class 9 was waiting at the door. She said they had an appointment to go do something—I forgot what. Pupu said she wanted to wait for you, but after a while of no movement from the office, she felt bad making Yu Xiao wait. She asked us to tell you she left with Yu Xiao first.”

“I see. Let’s head out then; today was really exhausting.” Ye Du ate two more fries and noted the flavor, planning to buy some from the stall next time.

“You’re not upset, are you?” Jiang Xinwan asked hesitantly. Though the four of them were together every day, there were invisible subgroups; Ye Du and Pupu were clearly closer, while she and Wang Zhu hung out more.

“Why would I be upset? Because Pupu left with a friend?” Wang Zhu and Jiang Xinwan both nodded. “That’s normal, right? She has such a great personality; it’s natural she has many friends. If you guys made other friends, I wouldn’t be mad either.”

Ye Du did feel a slight pang of discomfort, but she recognized it as just a lack of habit rather than true anger. She was indeed used to leaving school, eating, and going to the restroom with Pupu, and she truly viewed Pupu as her most important friend. But that didn’t mean Pupu was her possession, and she had no right to demand otherwise.

Seeing the skeptical looks on Jiang Xinwan and Wang Zhu’s faces, Ye Du felt she should reflect on whether she usually acted too “possessive” regarding Pupu, causing them to worry like this.