Don't underestimate the poor and elderly; I was thrilled to refuse the class beauty's adva

The exam room setup in the classroom is complete.

The desks had been rearranged, laid out haphazardly to meet the required spacing for the exam, like a game of chess that had been disrupted.

The words "Auspicious Start" written by Fu Kai on the blackboard haven't been erased yet; the four characters hang there quietly. Tomorrow, when the proctor comes, they will be wiped off and replaced with the exam rules.

The students on duty swept up the scraps of paper on the ground, straightened the overturned chairs, and unplugged the multimedia equipment.

Guo Hao was pulled up from the table by Zong Wen. His eyes were still swollen, but he had stopped crying.

He folded his exam admission ticket, which had "Geography" written on it, and put it in his pocket, muttering to himself about "monsoons," "ocean currents," and "karst landforms," ​​like someone who was about to be executed but was still desperately memorizing scriptures.

Someone went over and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Good luck tomorrow!"

But it was as if some incredible switch had been triggered.

Guo Hao scratched his head and said hysterically, "What oil?! If you're going to add anything, add some points to my college entrance exam score! Waa ...

No one dared to speak, fearing that Guo Hao would pounce on them and bite them at any moment.

Fu Kai came back again.

He stood at the door for a moment, watching the students packing up their things to leave.

He didn't say anything, just waved his hand, and then turned and left.

The footsteps in the corridor gradually subsided as boarding students headed towards their dormitories. They could also study in the auditorium at night.

The day students walked towards the school gate, pushing their bicycles and carrying their schoolbags.

Someone stopped at the door, glanced back at the classroom, and then waved gently.

Zhang Yifan slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, and Zong Wen followed behind him as the two walked out of the school gate together.

When they parted, Zongwen said, "Good luck on your exam tomorrow!" and then walked away towards his home without looking back.

After walking a few steps, he turned around and shouted, "Don't go off-topic in your essay!" Zhang Yifan laughed and said, "You're the one who shouldn't go off-topic."

As soon as Zhang Yifan opened the door, the aroma of food wafted out.

It wasn't the usual simple dinner of two dishes and a soup; it was a table full of food.

The braised carp was placed in the center, with a layer of sauce poured over it, giving it a glossy sheen.

Sweet and sour pork ribs, garlic broccoli, cola chicken wings, cucumber salad, and a bowl of winter melon and pork rib soup in the middle, with a few goji berries floating on top of the soup noodles.

There were six dishes on the table, each one of which was one of his favorites.

Zhang Rongshan, still wearing his apron, poked his head out of the kitchen, a spatula in his hand, sweat beading on his forehead, but his mouth kept moving:

"You're back? Go wash your hands quickly."

I simmered this fish for forty minutes today and adjusted the sauce three times. You can taste it and see whose is better, yours or your mom's.

Your mom insists there's too much sugar in the sweet and sour pork ribs. I said, what kind of sweet and sour pork ribs are they if there's no sugar? You be the judge.

Liu Guilan brought out the last dish from the kitchen, wiped her hands with her apron, and said:

"Alright, alright, stop arguing and sit down to eat."

"Yifan, try that fish. Your dad came back around 4 PM this afternoon to start cooking. I've never seen him this attentive to things at the shop before."

"How can that be the same?" Zhang Rongshan took off his apron and draped it over the back of the chair, pulled out a chair and sat down. "Today is to send my son off on his journey. Tomorrow is the college entrance exam. After this meal, may he leap over the dragon gate!"

Liu Guilan, unusually, did not argue with him.

She handed the chopsticks to Zhang Yifan and ladled him a bowl of soup. When she placed the bowl in front of him, her hand paused on the rim of the bowl as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only said, "Eat more."

Zhang Yifan lowered his head and ate.

The sauce from the braised carp, mixed with rice, is the taste he's had since childhood.

He did put too much sugar in the sweet and sour pork ribs, but he didn't say so.

His mom cooked cola chicken wings better than his dad, but he never said anything.

He ate bite by bite, occasionally glancing up to answer his father's questions about "what you want to eat for lunch tomorrow".

After finishing his meal, he returned to his room and did a final check of the things he needed to bring the next day.

Exam admission ticket, ID card, 2B pencils, eraser, black ballpoint pen, ruler, compass, transparent pencil case.

I touched each item to confirm its location, then zipped up the pencil case and placed it on the corner of the table so I could reach for it in the morning.

He lay down on the bed and took out his phone.

Shen Zhiyi's WeChat message has already been sent.

Are you nervous?

He smiled and typed: "Don't be nervous, you're the one who should be nervous, after all, someone challenged me to a duel back then."

Shen Zhiyi unusually posted an emoji.

It's an angry little cat, its fur standing on end, with the words "You'll see" next to it.

Then came another message: "I'll definitely get a higher score than you, just don't try to renege on your promise!"

Zhang Yifan's lips curled up even higher: "If I do better than you on the test, just don't cry. But if you do cry, I can lend you a tissue."

"Who asked you to lend them tissues?"

"Then I take it back."

"You dare?"

A sudden gust of wind picked up outside the window.

It wasn't the kind of wind that blows slowly; it was a sudden gust, like someone had poured a bucket of water from upstairs, and you could hear the whooshing sound even through the glass.

Zhang Yifan sat up in bed and walked to the window.

The trees downstairs were being tossed about by the wind, their branches flailing wildly in the air, leaves flying everywhere. A plastic bag was swept up into the air, tumbled a few times, and then disappeared from sight.

In the distance, lightning flashed through the clouds, flashing brightly and then dimming.

Then came the faint rumble of thunder, muffled and dull, like someone beating a broken drum from a great distance.

He picked up his phone and glanced at the weather forecast.

A red alert popped up on the screen: Heavy rain red alert for the next 24 hours. Citizens are advised to reduce outdoor activities and take precautions against urban flooding and lightning disasters.

He texted Shen Zhiyi: "It looks like it's going to rain heavily. Be careful on the road tomorrow."

On Shen Zhiyi's end, it showed "typing" for a long time.

Then she replied with a message: "You too."

Shen Zhiyi pressed the phone screen to her chest, turned over, and buried her face in the pillow.

He cares about her.

It wasn't a physics question, nor a score question, nor a question about where she should apply to universities; it was a reminder to be careful on the road tomorrow.

This piece of wood actually cares about people.

She flipped her phone back over, looked at the words on the screen, her lips curled up, then down, then up again.

She thought for a moment, then sent another message: "Go to bed early, don't be late tomorrow."

Zhang Yifan replied, "You too."

Sure enough, it started raining very quickly.

It wasn't a light drizzle, but a torrential downpour, the raindrops pounding against the window with a loud pattering sound, like someone constantly knocking on the door outside.

The wind, carrying rain, swept in gusts, and the howling wind could be heard throughout the entire building.

The streetlights outside the window turned into a blurry yellow glow in the rain, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

Zhang Yifan drew the curtains and lay back down on the bed.

He mentally reviewed what he needed to bring tomorrow one last time.

He closed his eyes, listened to the sound of the wind and rain outside the window, and quickly fell asleep.