Chapter 561: Can I Kiss You Now?
The moment Li Zhi clearly announced, “Total score: 665,” Shen Yuan’s pupils dilated. Blood rushed to his head, and his fingers, hidden beneath the table, clenched into a fist so tight his knuckles turned white with excitement.
His Adam’s apple bobbed violently, as if he were trying to swallow a surprise too immense to digest.
The next second, he shot up from his seat as if launched by a spring!
His chair scraped harshly against the desk with a piercing screech, startling the entire class, which had been buzzing over the grade reports.
“Fuck! 665! I got a 665!”
The profanity, mixed with a voice cracking in ecstasy, made everyone in the classroom turn to stare at Shen Yuan.
The classroom fell into a moment of absolute silence.
Then, like a chain reaction, soft gasps and stifled whispers erupted from all corners of the room.
“*Gasp*… How much?! 665?!”
“Holy shit?! Is that for real?!”
“Shen Yuan? He scored 665? Oh my god…”
The stares fixed on Shen Yuan instantly became intense with shock.
A score of 665 on the city-wide joint exam at the end of the first semester of senior year!
If he could maintain this momentum, that score was definitely good enough to get him into a top-tier university.
Even a few of the students who consistently ranked at the top subconsciously pushed up their glasses, their brows furrowing as they glanced toward the posted grade list, as if trying to silently verify the explosive news.
The noisy chatter quieted down strangely in the face of that score, replaced by a ripple of astonished gasps and attempts at confirmation.
Amid the crowd’s stares and whispers, only Ah Jie, next to Yang Ze, seemed out of place.
He was clutching a thermos, the shock on his face still frozen in place.
However, when the number “665” hammered into his ears like a lead weight, his entire body visibly stiffened.
Ah Jie blankly turned his head away from the center of the commotion. He looked down, his gaze fixed on the photo of the grade list he had just taken on his phone.
Next to his familiar name, ranked in the lower-middle section, was a score so jarring it made his breath catch in his throat. It was far, far worse than even his most optimistic prediction.
Sensing his friend’s tension, Yang Ze glanced over and saw Ah Jie suck in a sharp breath, his chest heaving.
His already slightly chubby frame was hunched over in his chair, the back of his neck bowed like a defeated quail.
He clutched the thermos so tightly his knuckles turned white, as if it were his only lifeline in a drowning sea.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, but no sound came out. His shoulders slumped, leaving the sad silhouette of a boy drained of all strength by a sudden, immense sense of loss.
The pale winter afternoon sun fell on him, silently amplifying a loneliness and dejection that felt utterly out of place amid the surrounding cheers of success.
Yang Ze patted Ah Jie’s shoulder. “Listen, how about we stop writing *Silent Reading* for now? There will be plenty of time to work on creative stuff later. Right now, let’s just focus on the final push and get your grades up?”
Just when Yang Ze thought his comforting words had hit home with his friend—Ah Jie’s head snapped up.
His eyes were indeed a little red, but the expression on his face wasn’t the dejection or gratitude Yang Ze had expected. Instead, it was a bizarre mixture of anxiety and grievance.
“Yang Ze, I know you mean well, but…”
Ah Jie thrust the thermos in front of Yang Ze, pointing at a suspicious dark brown stain near the seam of the lid. His voice was filled with genuine anguish.
“My hand shook when I got excited! My extra-bold Americano from Starbucks—that I paid a fortune for this morning! It spilled! It leaked out of the lid and ran down the side of the cup! My heart is bleeding, Yang Ze! This hurts a hundred times more than seeing that stupid score!!”
The hand Yang Ze had on Ah Jie’s shoulder froze.
The look of sincere concern on his face began to crumble at a visible rate.
The corner of his mouth tried to form an understanding smile, but amidst Ah Jie’s anguished cries over his coffee, it twitched, subtly but with immense difficulty.
Yang Ze silently withdrew his hand from Ah Jie’s shoulder, then, with lightning speed, wrapped him in a headlock.
“Get him!!”
“Whoa, whoa! Bro! Let me put my coffee down first!” Ah Jie quickly set his coffee aside, then was contentedly hauled up and dragged toward the back door of the classroom.
Soon after, Ah Jie’s miserable screams were heard.
But Shen Yuan was no longer paying any attention.
The clamor in the classroom receded like the tide. The stares gradually shifted back to individual grade lists, leaving only the rustle of paper and hushed discussions.
Shen Yuan’s racing heart began to calm. As he sat back down, he knocked over the pencil case on his desk. Several pens went rolling, coming to a stop near Li Zhi’s hand.
Li Zhi glanced down, her fingertips gently stopping the rolling highlighter. When she looked up again, she met Shen Yuan’s searing gaze—a look that felt like a hook, snagging right on her lips.
The air suddenly grew thick.
Li Zhi swallowed. Suddenly, she raised her hand and poked his chest, her touch neither light nor heavy. Her voice was pressed low, like a feather brushing past his eardrum. “665. I know.”
She spoke quickly, but the final syllable carried a nearly imperceptible tremor.
Hearing her words, he leaned in slightly.
But before Shen Yuan could speak, the beautiful girl’s warning, sharp and clear despite her embarrassment, cut through the air. The tips of her delicate earlobes were as red as blood.
“Shen Yuan! Don’t you dare get any funny ideas in here! Just try me!”
Shen Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. A wicked, opportunistic grin instantly spread across his face as he let out a low, knowing chuckle.
The boy leaned in slightly again, his warm breath grazing her scorching-hot ear.