Chapter 530: Rainy Days and Final Exams Are a Better Match
Chapter 530 -230: Rainy Days and Final Exams Are a Better Match
He clutched his chest and gasped dramatically, his voice low but filled with anguish.
“My good man, my good lady! My two masters! I’m still here! I’m alive! I’m breathing!!”
“It’s… it’s a cold day, and right before the big exam… can’t you two do me a favor? Just a little! Just for a tiny moment!”
“For now, could you please spare this weak, pitiful, and helpless single dog?! My heart can’t take it! I’m going to be KIA before I even enter the exam hall! WAAAH…”
Ah Jie’s face was scrunched up in misery.
Shen Yuan and Li Zhi glanced at each other, then both burst out laughing.
Ah Jie’s composure completely crumbled.
When the proctor walked into the exam hall, the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
The rain subsided, and the rustling of pages and hushed whispers in the hallway gradually died down. A sense of anticipation, more taut than silence, filled the air.
The sky outside seemed to have brightened a little, but the cloud cover remained thick and gloomy.
“DRRRING—!!!”
The sharp, urgent ringing of the electric bell instantly drowned out the rain and whispers, piercing the stagnant air of the hallway.
Like an invisible starting gun, the bell struck every waiting student’s heart.
The hallway, which had been struggling to maintain its calm just moments before, was instantly thrown into motion!
The students who had been gathered at the classroom door, as if drawn by a magnet, quickly formed a not-quite-straight line in front of Exam Hall 211.
The sound of pages turning vanished completely, replaced by the frantic rustling of pencil cases and deliberately hushed prompts to hurry.
This sudden sense of urgency made Ah Jie flinch, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his pencil case.
He shot a quick glance at Shen Yuan and Li Zhi, who were standing almost shoulder to shoulder beside him.
The earlier lighthearted banter had vanished from their faces as well.
Shen Yuan took a deep breath of the damp, cold air, his chest rising and falling once.
His gaze fell on Li Zhi’s face, then on Ah Jie’s.
“Good luck!”
“I know, I know!”
With that, Ah Jie strode forward and was the first of them to get in line.
Watching Ah Jie, the smile on Shen Yuan’s lips deepened.
He quickly turned his head, his gaze landing on Li Zhi’s face.
The young woman was watching him quietly, her clear eyes holding a trust and serenity powerful enough to dispel any gloom.
Their eyes met. Nothing more needed to be said.
“Let’s go!”
The next second, he reached out his large, warm hand and firmly grasped Li Zhi’s, and together they went to the back of the line.
Right behind Ah Jie.
Their shoulders unconsciously drew close, creating an intimate sight.
As Ah Jie looked at the two “animals” beside him, who were about to enter the exam hall hand in hand, all his earlier wails and complaints seemed to vanish into thin air with that one gesture.
He suddenly straightened his spine, the sorrowful indignation on his face transforming into all-or-nothing resolve.
“Damn it! I’m going to ace this test and crush you, Shen Yuan, you dog!”
‘Although Ah Jie knew this was impossible; Shen Yuan’s scores had already left him in the dust.’
‘But hey, anyone can talk a big game!’
The three of them followed the crowd into Exam Hall 211, then found their assigned seats according to their numbers.
Li Zhi was in a window seat in the middle section, Shen Yuan was one seat diagonally in front of her, and Ah Jie had been cleverly placed by fate in a corner near the back door, separated from the two of them by a great distance.
In the brief moment after finding his seat, Shen Yuan instinctively looked up to search for her.
His gaze immediately caught the familiar figure behind him.
Li Zhi was already settled in her seat, her head lowered as she organized the stationery in her pencil case.
As if sensing his gaze, she paused for a moment and looked up too.
There were no words, not even a noticeable change in expression.
But Shen Yuan clearly saw a faint yet incredibly resolute smile blossom in the depths of her serene eyes.
A wave of warmth instantly washed over Shen Yuan’s heart, and he immediately returned the gesture, the corners of his lips turning up in a nearly imperceptible smile.
At almost the same time, they both heard a deliberate cough from the corner by the back door.
Turning their gazes in unison, they saw classmate Zhou Shaojie standing resentfully beside his seat.
He had one hand pressed to his heart and the other pointing at the two of them. His gaze strafed with precision between Shen Yuan’s and Li Zhi’s faces as his mouth opened and closed silently, accompanied by a series of dramatic eye-rolls.
Shen Yuan quickly averted his gaze, afraid he’d burst out laughing if he looked for even a second longer.
He pulled out his chair, sat down, and laid out his stationery one by one.
Even though their seats were no longer next to each other, that brief meeting of their eyes and the presence of the clown in the corner served as invisible anchors, helping them immediately find their bearings with each other in this unfamiliar exam hall.
A strange sense of peace settled over them.
The subtle airflow in the exam hall shifted quietly as more students took their seats.
The whispers from outside the door vanished completely, allowing the entire space to settle into a thick, syrupy silence.
As time passed, the proctor began to take out the exam papers and hand them out, one by one.
Next came the answer sheets and scratch paper.
Shen Yuan looked at the language arts exam paper in front of him, straightened his posture, and neatly placed his last pen on the corner of the desk.
Li Zhi also lowered her eyelids, her fingertips tracing the edge of her exam admission ticket.
Their earlier lighthearted smiles were now completely gone, replaced by a quiet state of Concentration.
“RRRING—!!!”
The second bell exploded without any warning!
“The exam has begun. You may start answering now.”
The proctor’s voice followed immediately after, like a final verdict hammered clearly into each student’s mind.
The moment the proctor spoke, it was as if an invisible switch had been flipped for the entire exam hall.