You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

"Next, we will have the last part of our awards ceremony today."

The principal pushed up his reading glasses and turned to the last page of the list in his hand.

"After each major exam, we select one student who has made the most significant improvement in that exam and award them the 'Special Improvement Award'."

"And this time..."

The principal paused suddenly, and the curve of his lips became somewhat subtle.

"To be honest, this is the first time I've encountered this situation in all the years I've been awarding this prize."

The students in the audience immediately perked up their ears, and many began whispering and speculating among themselves.

"This student ranked around 230th in the grade in the last monthly exam."

"In this mock exam, his ranking was 77th in the grade."

The principal took off his reading glasses, looked around at the students below the stage, and slowly uttered four words.

"incredible."

The Great Hall of the People instantly erupted in chaos.

A jump of over a hundred places... What the hell does that even mean?

It's important to know that for most people, their grades and rankings are pretty much fixed after entering their senior year of high school.

Even if they can improve, it would be quite an achievement to improve by twenty or thirty places in each exam.

An improvement of more than fifty places is basically a low-probability event.

Improving by more than 100 places, especially with a significant score difference, is extremely rare.

And more than 150...

The students in the audience couldn't help but twitch their lips, wondering if they were sure it wasn't some kind of cheat code.

But many people already know who the principal is referring to.

The incident that morning had already caused quite a stir on the school forum. Everyone knew the ins and outs of the matter and that the teacher had personally come forward to prove the innocence of his grades.

So the students could only sigh in their hearts, but they admired his hard work and his terrifying strength.

"This student's name is Jiang Che, with a total score of 612.5 and a ranking of 77th in the grade."

The applause erupted almost the instant the name was pronounced.

And unlike the sparse, perfunctory applause of the past, this time the applause was exceptionally enthusiastic.

Jiang Che sat in the corner, and when he heard his name come out of the principal's mouth, he didn't feel much of a stir in his heart.

Well... he certainly knew he had made great progress this time.

But rather than standing on the stage being stared at by hundreds of people, he actually preferred to hold Su Qinghe's hand a little longer in this corner.

But the principal has already called his name, so he can't just stay away from going up.

So, under the gaze of countless people, Jiang Che slowly stood up from his seat and walked towards the stage.

When he reached the middle of the aisle, he suddenly slowed down.

Then he turned his head slightly and glanced in the direction of his seat.

It wasn't a deep, reserved gaze; it was just a casual, natural glance back.

The corners of her mouth had a very faint curve.

The arc was so small that probably no one except Su Qinghe could understand its meaning, or even see it.

But Su Qinghe understood.

Of course she understood.

The girl sat in the dimly lit corner, holding the certificate she had just received in her hands. Her fingertips unconsciously tightened, pressing a faint fingerprint onto the gold-embossed school badge on the cover.

Her gaze was fixed on Jiang Che from the moment he stood up, and she didn't look away for a second.

Watching the way he walks, watching him turn around, watching the smile on his lips that belongs only to her.

My heart felt a sharp, aching, throbbing sensation; I couldn't tell if it was discomfort or joy.

Probably... both.

"Hey, Su Qinghe."

The girl sitting next to her, who had a ponytail, was someone she got along with fairly well.

Taking advantage of the break while Jiang Che was on stage, the girl turned her head slightly and asked in a gossipy low voice, "Are you and Jiang Che really that close? There are rumors on the forum that you two are dating, is it true?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qinghe slowly lowered her eyes.

Her eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyes, completely concealing the turbulent emotions surging within those clear eyes.

"...No, we're just ordinary friends, we're pretty close."

"Oh, I see..."

The girl nodded. She had originally intended to ask more questions, but seeing that Su Qinghe wasn't very interested, she wisely turned back to continue clapping and didn't ask any more.

Su Qinghe's gaze returned to the tall, slender figure on the stage.

Ordinary friends...

She silently pondered those four words in her heart, trying to suppress the smile on her lips, but ultimately couldn't completely hide it.

Who would believe that?

She herself didn't believe it.

……

On the stage, the principal personally handed Jiang Che a brand-new certificate and then patted him on the shoulder.

"Jiang Che, very good, keep it up."

"Thank you, Principal." Jiang Che nodded politely and accepted the certificate.

The principal wanted to say a few more words of encouragement, but seeing Jiang Che's usual calm demeanor, he opened his mouth, but in the end, he just smiled and shook his head.

Well, he's young, it's good that he can keep his composure.

After a few words of praise, Jiang Che took the certificate and walked off the stage amidst another round of applause from the audience.

As soon as he sat down after returning to his seat, a pair of small hands reached out to him.

Su Qinghe didn't speak, but stubbornly put her hand back into his palm.

Their fingers were intertwined, gripping each other tightly.

Jiang Che glanced at her sideways.

The girl had her head down, so her expression was not very clear.

But Jiang Che could feel her fingertips trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice.

Su Qinghe shook her head, and after several seconds spoke softly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"...Ah Che, you're really amazing."

She paused for a moment, then added two more words—

"mine."

Just seven simple words.

But after listening, Jiang Che suddenly felt that the certificate he received on stage today wasn't such a big deal after all.

The principal's "unbelievable" and the applause from the entire audience couldn't compare to her words.

He didn't reply, but simply held Su Qinghe's hand in his own, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

She made the exact same gesture as when she comforted him before.

……

The commendation ceremony officially concluded with a passionate closing speech from the principal.

Time passed day by day, and the days flew by as if they had been fast-forwarded.

After the college entrance examination registration window opened, Jiang Che and Su Qinghe both checked the science and engineering direction on the system without hesitation.

The two of them had a clear goal—Kyoto University.

In the second mock exam, which came not long after, Jiang Che's score did not improve as much as it had in the first mock exam, but it was still steadily rising.

The score gradually rose from over 610 to 630 or 640.

After careful consideration and discussions with Bai Qing and Jiang Dahai, Jiang Che finally decided not to pursue the special sports admission route.

Ms. Bai Qing told Jiang Che that it would be best if he could raise his score to 680 or 690 and go to Beijing University. If he really couldn't raise it, he could go to Zhejiang University or Shanghai Jiaotong University or something similar.

As for the agreement between Jiang Che and his mother that they would be separated if Jiang Che failed the exam, it had long been null and void.

Bai Qing wasn't blind. After her son got together with the Su family girl, his score jumped from four or five hundred to over six hundred. She was overjoyed.

How could I possibly break them up?

……

Over the next few months, the two devoted almost all available time to the final sprint.

During the day, I attend classes and do practice problems at school, and at night I go home and continue to work hard on my error notebook and mock exams.

When they get tired, they lean on each other and rest for a while, then continue studying when they wake up.

While this kind of life may have a touch of romance like in idol dramas, it is essentially quite dull and boring.

But Jiang Che thought it was a good idea, since their goal now wasn't to date, but to get into a good university.

Besides, the feeling of having someone by your side to work hard is much more reassuring than fighting alone.

It is only natural for people to find joy in what they do.

Time flies, and it's already June 3rd.

There are only four days left until the college entrance examination.