dkrc Chapter 86 Exam Week
Chapter 86 Exam Week
The TV was on, but the volume wasn't high. Song Huan leaned back on the sofa, holding the remote control, and casually changed channels.
Zhang Xuejuan poked her head out of the kitchen, a spatula in her hand, "The exams start tomorrow, aren't you going to start studying?"
Song Huan didn't even turn her head, "Okay, okay."
Zhang Xuejuan retreated back into the kitchen, the sound of the spatula hitting the iron pot echoing loudly.
Song Huan changed the channel, and the host was talking about a successful heart transplant case at Nanjiang City Hospital.
In the video, a doctor wearing a white coat stands in front of the operating table with a serious expression.
Song Huan was stunned for a moment, the remote control in her hand stopped in mid-air.
heart.
In his previous life, he also had a heart condition.
Dilated cardiomyopathy.
The doctor said it was from overwork and told him not to stay up late or push himself too hard.
But he didn't take it seriously.
Although there was a family history of heart disease.
His grandfather's father died of heart disease, and his grandfather also had it, but he managed to control it with medication. His early death was mainly due to lung problems, although heart disease also played a role.
At that time, Song Huan had just graduated and was working at a small company. He worked during the day and drove a designated driver at night, sleeping less than five hours a day.
During her senior year of college, Song Huan failed in her business venture with 25 yuan given to her by her parents. In addition, her parents did not support her relationship with Lin Yue, which led to a big fight.
The two sides have almost completely severed all ties, including economic ones.
Song Huan has no choice but to earn money on his own to marry Lin Yue.
If your heart feels uncomfortable, drink some water, rest for a while, and then keep going.
Lin Yue always advised him, "Don't overwork yourself, your health is the most important thing."
He said "It's okay" and then kept running.
She didn't say anything, but every time he came back, there was a glass of warm water on the table, with fruit that the internet said was good for the heart next to it.
Song Huan stared at the TV screen, the images in her mind seeming to be pulled out by something, one after another, unstoppable.
On Lin Yue's birthday, he specially took half a day off.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, he left the company, rode his electric scooter, and went to the cake shop to pick up the cake.
It's strawberry flavored, topped with thinly sliced strawberries arranged in a flower shape.
She loves strawberries the most, and she always takes a second look when she passes by a fruit stand, but she never buys them.
He carried the cake and rode to the restaurant where Lin Yue worked.
The restaurant is small, located on the fourth floor of the mall, and serves Hunan cuisine. It has always been quite popular.
Lin Yue works as a waitress there, earning over five thousand yuan a month, which is almost as much as his salary of eight thousand yuan.
He carried the cake in through the back door, wanting to surprise her.
But there was no one in the restaurant, and no waiters either.
Only the kitchen door was half open, and Song Huan quietly walked over.
He stood at the doorway, looking inside.
Lin Yue was standing by the pool, her apron tied around her waist, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, her hands soaking in the foamy water, washing dishes.
There was a pile of plates next to the pool, tall and short, round and square, stacked in three large piles.
She washed the dishes very carefully, turning each one around in the water, rinsing them in clean water after washing, and then stacking them on the shelf next to her.
The movements were quick and skillful, clearly indicating someone who was used to it.
Song Huan was stunned for a moment.
Isn't she a waitress? Why is she washing dishes?
He stood at the doorway but didn't go in.
There was another person washing dishes nearby. She was a woman in her forties, her apron was covered in grease, and her gloves had a hole in them with her fingers sticking out.
She turned to look at Lin Yue. Her voice wasn't loud, but the kitchen was quiet, and every word was clearly audible.
"Lin Yue, you're doing the work of two people every day, isn't that too tiring?"
Lin Yue didn't look up. She spun the plate in her hand once and put it into the water.
"It's fine, I'm just killing time anyway."
The older woman curled her lip. "Does your boyfriend even know you're working two jobs?"
Lin Yue took the plate out of the water, placed it on the shelf, and shook the water off her hands.
"He knows I go to work, but he doesn't know I do the dishes."
The older sister's voice rose a half octave, "You're hiding it from him?"
Lin Yue smiled. "He loves me very much. If he knew, he definitely wouldn't let me do the dishes. But I feel even more sorry for him. He has a heart condition and still has to stay up all night driving. If I earn a little more, he can earn a little less."
Standing at the door, Song Huan finally understood why Lin Yue could earn five thousand yuan a month as a waitress.
It turns out she had been working two jobs.
Song Huan gripped the cake bag tightly in her hand.
The older sister asked again, "What are you doing earning so much money? Be careful not to ruin your health."
Lin Yue picked up another plate, squeezed some dish soap on it, scrubbed it twice with a sponge, and then put it in clean water.
The movements were slow, as if the person was thinking about something.
After a while, she finally spoke.
"Make more money and save it up so he can marry me."
The older woman paused, "What?"
Lin Yue lowered her head, took the plate out of the water, looked at it under the light, and put it back.
"Marriage is a matter for two people. I can't let him shoulder everything. He's just a young man in his twenties. He's already too tired and suffering too much. I don't want him to work so hard, so I have to do more."
Her voice was soft and calm, as if she were talking about something very ordinary.
Song Huan stood at the door, and upon hearing this, she almost forgot to breathe.
The older sister put down the bowl, shook the water off her hands, and turned to look at Lin Yue.
"Lin Yue, is it worth it for you to be so good to a man? Listen to your aunt, men these days are all cunning and shrewd. He won't remember any of the kindness you show him."
Lin Yue smiled, a very slight smile, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.
She put the plate she was holding on the shelf and shook the water off her hands.
"He's not smart at all. He's a bit slow, Auntie, do you know that...?"
She paused for a moment, "When I first met him, he couldn't even cook. I can't believe he was already a sophomore in college."
She laughed as she spoke, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "I taught him to cook little by little. I started by teaching him how to stir-fry ribs. The ribs he stir-fried were already burnt, a big clump stuck to the bottom of the pan, and I couldn't even scrape them off with a spatula. But I still smiled and told him it was delicious."
The older woman asked, "How long did you teach?"
"I taught him for a long time. He's slow to learn, so it took him about a month to learn, but later he did better than me. It's just that he's been getting off work late lately, and I haven't had him cook for a long time."
Lin Yue lowered her head, her voice very gentle, "He's so silly and clumsy, I'm really worried about whether he'll be able to live well on his own if I'm not around one day."
The older sister looked at her, opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
He paused for a few seconds, then spoke again, his tone a little harsher.
"Come on, there aren't any good men these days. If you're gone, he'll just turn around and find another woman."
Lin Yue wasn't angry at all and nodded.
She took her hands out of the sink and wiped them on her apron.
"Hmm, that's good too, as long as we don't bully him."
She looked up at her older sister and smiled. "He has a soft personality, so he's too easily bullied."
……
The doctor's voice was still playing on TV.
Song Huan then came to her senses, still clutching the remote control in her hand.
He impatiently pressed the power button, and the screen went black.
Zhang Xuejuan was standing on him at some point. "Why did you turn off the TV? The doctor is talking about heart health issues."
Song Huan stood up and placed the remote control on the coffee table.
"Then you can see for yourself. I'm going back to my room."
Zhang Xuejuan called from behind, "I told you to study for a little while and then go to sleep, this child..."
……
Monday's sunshine peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the playground.
The national flag was raised to the top, fluttering loudly in the wind.
No. 1 High School is a super large school.
The school has three grades, with 25 classes in each grade and 50 students in each class.
More than three thousand people stood on the playground, their blue and white school uniforms forming a continuous expanse, like a quiet sea.
Wang Feng, the chief instructor, stood on the platform with a microphone in front of him, his hands resting on either side of the platform. His gaze swept from the first row to the last row and back again.
He wasn't tall, but standing on the stage, he exuded an aura like a mountain.
"Today is the first monthly exam for the first-year high school students."
The sound burst from the speakers, echoing across the playground. There was no teleprompter, no script; the words came out of his mouth like nails hammered into a wooden board.
"This exam is a test of your learning outcomes over the past month. Those who did well, keep it up. Those who did poorly, reflect on your mistakes. I don't care if you were first in your grade or first in the whole school in junior high; once you get to No. 1 Middle School, it's all starting from scratch."
His gaze lingered on the last row of the first-year high school students.
Those freshmen who were laughing and joking when school started are now standing ramrod straight, and no one dares to move.
Some people had their heads down, some were staring at the back of the heads in front of them, and some were holding their breath, afraid of being called on.
Wang Feng's gaze swept over like a searchlight, and no one dared to meet his eyes. Even the senior students standing at the front lowered their heads.
Zhao Qihang stood next to Song Huan, his lips not moving, but his voice squeezed out from between his teeth, "This Wang Feng is our school's notoriously strict dean of students."
Song Huan stood in the queue, looking ahead. Upon hearing the name, her mind raced for a moment.
Wang Feng, that name sounds familiar.
He remembered a song, and the lyrics went through his mind.
A life in full bloom.
Chen Xu stood to the side, tilting his head slightly. "What 'Three Strict Measures'?"
Zhao Qihang lowered his voice even further, "Strictly enforce academic discipline, strictly enforce early romantic relationships, and strictly enforce rules. Do you understand the three strict rules?"
Lu Ciyuan, who was chewing his nails on the other side, frowned upon hearing this. "Isn't it said that third-rate schools crack down on puppy love, second-rate schools focus on discipline, and first-rate schools focus on academics? Why is he cracking down on everything?"
Zhao Qihang glanced at him. "What do you think? The senior students all hate him. I heard he broke up a lot of couples, and some were even expelled."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu's expression changed. He lowered his head and whispered, "Then I probably can't date."
Zhao Qihang and Lu Ciyuan turned to look at him at the same time, their eyes conveying the same meaning.
It seems you never really had that ability.
Chen Xu didn't understand that look in his eyes, and continued to keep his head down, his expression serious as if he were thinking about some important life matter.
Song Huan stood to the side, listening to their conversation, and thought to herself, "This school really has a lot to do."
We must focus on academics, discipline, and even early romantic relationships.
It works all three ways, like opening a gym, giving you a full-body workout.
He glanced at Xiao Yunqing beside him; she was standing in the girls' row, a few people away from him.
Her ponytail was tied high, she stood straight, looking straight ahead with a serious expression, as if she was listening to Wang Feng speak, or as if she was reciting some formula.
Wang Feng spoke for ten minutes before finally finishing. "Everyone, do your best on the test. Meeting adjourned."
The people on the playground began to move, like sand scattered by the wind.
The first-year high school students were the first to disperse; some walked towards the teaching building, some ran towards the restrooms, and some stood there in a daze.
Song Huan stepped out of the queue and stretched her neck.
The exams last two days, with two subjects in the morning and two in the afternoon. After each subject, you will be moved to a different exam room, and the seats will be randomly assigned.
He and Xiao Yunqing were not in the same examination room.
The hallway was filled with piles of books.
People were packed together; some were looking down at their notes, while others were comparing answers with the person next to them.
That's right! They were checking the answers before the exam even started and talking about inside information, which naturally earned them a glare from a passing teacher.
Xiao Yunqing squeezed through the crowd, holding a transparent file bag containing a pen, an admission ticket, and an eraser.
She walked up to Song Huan and stopped.
Which exam room are you in?
"Third floor."
"I'm on the fourth floor." She glanced down at her exam admission ticket, then looked up again. "Where shall we meet after the exam?"
Song Huan thought for a moment, "The windowsill on the third floor corner."
Xiao Yunqing nodded, hugged the file bag to her chest, and said, "Then I'm leaving."
"Um."
She turned and took two steps, then turned back and said, "Do your best on the exam."
Song Huan looked at her, "You too."
Song Huan could tell she was very nervous.
She turned back, her ponytail swung, and she disappeared into the crowd at the stairwell.
The days of exams felt like they were on fast-forward.
After Chinese, it's math; after math, it's English; and after English, it's science.
One subject after another, with only a twenty-minute break in between, enough time to go to the toilet, drink some water, and go over two multiple-choice questions with the person next to you.
After comparing their answers, they discovered they were different, and both of them panicked.
Song Huan sat by the window in the examination room. Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the exam paper and dazzling her eyes.
He moved his hand to block the light and continued writing.
The questions are not difficult; they are all from the textbook. As long as you have listened attentively in class and done your homework, you should be able to solve them.
He wrote smoothly, filling in the blanks one by one, using the elimination method skillfully in the multiple-choice questions, and writing out the steps for the essay questions slowly but steadily.
When I came out after finishing one exam, the corridor was already full of people.
Some people were marking key points on their palms with pens, some were squatting on the ground flipping through textbooks, and some were leaning against the wall with their eyes closed, muttering to themselves.
Song Huan walked to the window sill at the corner of the third floor and leaned against the wall to wait.
After waiting for two minutes, Xiao Yunqing came down the stairs.
She walked slowly but steadily, still carrying that transparent file folder in her hand.
I walked up to him, stopped, and leaned against the other side of the windowsill.
"How did the exam go?"
"It's alright," Song Huan said. "How about you?"
"I couldn't solve the second part of the last big math problem." She frowned. "I thought about it for ten minutes, but I still couldn't figure it out."
"It's alright, others might not be able to do it either."
How did you know?
"Because I couldn't make it either."
Xiao Yunqing was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
Her eyes crinkled with laughter, and her slight annoyance vanished. "Since you couldn't do it, I'm relieved."
Song Huan looked at her gloating expression and didn't say anything.
Actually, he did it...
The two people leaned against the windowsill on either side, with a potted green ivy between them.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on her face and making her eyelashes shine.
She looked down and rummaged through her file folder, checking what she needed to bring for her next exam.
Two pens are enough.
An eraser, a new one.
The printed exam slips were folded neatly.
What's the next exam?
"English." She closed the file folder and hugged it to her chest.
"Your strength."
"What if I fail the exam?"
No, it won't.
Xiao Yunqing looked up at him. "How can you be so sure?"
Song Huan thought for a moment, "Because you are Xiao Yunqing."
She paused for a moment, then lowered her head and stared at the file folder.
Two seconds later, a smile appeared on his lips. "Let's go, to the exam hall."
She turned and left quickly, her ponytail swinging high in the air.
After taking a few steps, Xiao Yunqing turned back and said, "See you in the cafeteria after the exam."
"it is good."
She turned back and disappeared at the top of the stairs.
The number of people in the corridor dwindled as they all entered the examination hall.
Song Huan stood by the window, finished the last sip of water, threw the bottle into the trash can, and walked towards the classroom.
As I passed by an exam room, I looked through the window and saw that it was already full of people. Some were writing on their papers with their heads down, some were biting their pen caps and staring blankly out the window.
Outside the window is the playground, but it's completely empty.
That's what high school life is like.
Classes, exams, rankings, parent-teacher meetings.
Once a month, and it repeats continuously.
So busy that I don't have time to think about anything else, so busy that I fall asleep as soon as I get home every day, so busy that I don't have time to notice those small, tender, and memorable moments.
When you suddenly stop one day, you realize that a long time has passed, so long that you can't remember what color the sunlight was on a certain day, or what curve someone's eyes were when they smiled.
Song Huan walked into the examination room, sat down, and placed her pen on the table.
The light from the window shone in, casting a bright, shiny square on the table.
He stared at the square for a while, then lowered his head and waited for the hair curler to ring.
By the time the last exam of the afternoon was over, the sun was already setting.
When Song Huan came out of the examination room and walked to the corner on the third floor, Xiao Yunqing was already standing by the window.
She leaned against the wall, holding a file folder in one hand and her other hand on the windowsill, her fingers tapping lightly on the table, once, twice, three times.
Her fingers stopped when she saw him walking over.
"The exam is over."
"Um."
"Are you tired?"
"good."
The two people leaned against the windowsill on either side, with the potted green ivy between them.
The sunlight slanted in, casting an orange-red glow that softened her profile.
She looked outside, her expression quiet, as if she were in a daze, or perhaps thinking about something.
"Song Huan".
"Um?"
"Do you think all three years of high school are this busy?"
Song Huan thought for a moment, "Maybe."
She nodded without saying anything.
After a while, her innermost thoughts drifted over, softly, as if afraid of being overheard.
[I'm busy, so be it.]
[Anyway, I see him every day.]
Everyone says things will be better once I get into university.
[The present is good, and the future will be even better.]