Lin Mo opened the college application system.
The page loaded for a few seconds before the application interface popped up. {Note: In this world, the rules are that candidates pre-apply for universities before the Gaokao.}
School codes, major codes, and batch selections.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He remembered that winter in his first year of high school. After evening self-study, Su Qing had waited for him at the school gate. The white mist she exhaled blurred half of her face, leaving only a pair of bright, sparkling eyes visible. She had tugged on his sleeve and said, “It’s a promise, then. In the future, we’ll go to the same university, and I’ll even bring you food.”
He had said, “Okay.”
He had been sincere at that time. He truly wanted to go to the same university as her, truly wanted to be able to see her every day in the future, and truly believed that “forever” was something that could be achieved.
Now, he stared at the line on the screen: “Provincial Capital University of Technology.” That was the school they had agreed upon. His grades were sufficient for it, and it was close to home. If he clicked it, everything would proceed according to the script they once wrote.
He would attend the same university as Su Qing. She would continue to find him every day to eat. She would continue to “hypnotize” him. She would continue to love him in her paranoid and blazing way.
And he would continue to act.
He would act for a lifetime.
Lin Mo moved the mouse, and the cursor rested on “Provincial Capital University of Technology.”
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Then he clicked on the “Early Admissions” column and entered another string of codes he had looked up long ago.
Federal Haicheng University.
It was 2,300 kilometers away from here. The train would take one day and one night. The flight would also take over three hours.
It was a city by the sea where it snowed heavily in the winter. He had seen photos online; the campus had a very, very long Ginkgo Avenue that turned entirely golden in the autumn.
He didn’t know if he would like it there.
But he knew he needed to go there.
His finger paused over “Confirm Submission” for a long time.
The wind blew in through the window, carrying the slightly warm scent of early summer.
Sunlight fell on the desk, on the back of his hand, and on that small “Confirm” button.
Lin Mo closed his eyes.
He clicked.
The page redirected: [Your application has been successfully submitted].
He sat there, staring at those words for a long time.
Then he closed the window and began to organize his old belongings.
Items related to Su Qing—the birthday card she gave him in the third grade of elementary school, where the yawning small person was still there; a photo of them at the amusement park during middle school, where she had insisted on riding the carousel while he accompanied her with a face full of disdain; the ugly scarf she had started knitting in their first year of high school but gave up on, with uneven yarn and frayed edges.
He didn’t throw them away.
He simply tucked them into a cardboard box, sealed it with tape, and pushed it into the deepest corner under his bed.
It wasn’t discarding; it was sealing it away for now.
In the future… a long, long time from now, perhaps he would be able to open it calmly.
Perhaps.
***
Fifteen days until the Gaokao.
Su Qing had been going to Lin Mo’s house very rarely lately.
Her mom asked her, “Why haven’t you gone to see Lin Mo lately?”
“He needs to review,” she said.
Her tone was calm, like a sensible childhood friend.
Only she knew that every time she passed Lin Mo’s door, she had to clench her fists to stop herself from knocking.
【’You’ve been very well-behaved lately,’】 Demon Su Qing said, her tone vacillating between a compliment and a sneer.
“The Gaokao is important,” Su Qing said, looking down as she flipped through her review materials without raising her head.
【’Once he finishes the exams, he’ll have plenty of time.’】
“Mhm.”
【’You wouldn’t want to mess things up now.’】
“Mhm.”
【’But!’】 Demon Su Qing dragged out her voice, 【’Have you considered whether he’ll still be at home every day like this after he finishes his exams? Will he go out to play? And with whom?’】
The tip of Su Qing’s pen paused.
【’His group, those four people—they’ll definitely have a celebratory dinner after the Gaokao, right?’】 Demon Su Qing continued, 【’Do you want to guess if Shen Qingyue will be there?’】
Su Qing didn’t speak.
But the hand holding her pen trembled slightly.
***
Ten days until the Gaokao.
Shen Qingyue wrote down the types of questions that might be asked the next day in her notebook.
Comprehensive electromagnetic induction problems. The integrated application of the Law of Conservation of Energy and momentum conservation. The movement of charged particles in composite fields.
These were all topics Lin Mo had asked about recently.
She prepared the analytical steps in advance, marking common mistake points with a red pen and writing thought prompts with a blue pen.
This way, when he asked, she could reply immediately.
She called this “previewing.”
Qiuqiu lay at her feet, his tail swishing back and forth as if saying, ‘Who are you trying to kid?’
Her phone vibrated.
Shen Qingyue picked it up. It was a message from Lin Mo:
“Study Representative, do you have the notes for that final physics problem the teacher explained today? I zoned out and missed a section.”
The corners of Shen Qingyue’s mouth curled up slightly.
She took a photo of the analysis she had already prepared for that problem and sent it over.
She added: “There are similar question types on the third page; you can compare them.”
“Got it! Thanks, Study Representative!”
The conversation ended.
It was very ordinary. Very routine. There was no crossing of boundaries.
But Shen Qingyue pressed the phone to her chest and leaned back gently against the chair.
The moonlight from outside the window fell on her face.
There were only ten days left.
She didn’t know what would happen after the Gaokao.
But she knew that she wanted to leave every “WANAN” to him.
***
Seven days until the Gaokao.
During the break of the evening self-study session, Lin Mo went to the hallway to get some water.
When he came out of the pantry, he ran straight into Su Qing, who was walking from the direction of the Student Union Office.
People were coming and going in the corridor.
Su Qing stood in the crowd. From a few meters away, she looked at him.
She didn’t walk over. She didn’t call his name. She just watched him quietly.
In her eyes, there was fatigue, restraint, an indescribable attachment, and a hint of… vulnerability that Lin Mo couldn’t quite read.
They stood there, making eye contact for three seconds.
Then Su Qing’s lips curved slightly into a smile. She nodded to him, turned around, and walked away.
Lin Mo stood there, gripping his water cup, his throat feeling a bit dry.
He remembered many years ago, on the day of their elementary school graduation, Su Qing had waited a long time at the school gate for her parents to pick her up. She ignored everyone and just stood under that plane tree, clutching her schoolbag and watching the passing traffic with a stubborn and lonely expression.
Later, he had waited with her.
She didn’t speak, and neither did he.
But the evening wind that day had been very quiet.
Lin Mo withdrew from his thoughts and walked back to the classroom.
He looked at the “Escape Plan” application form once more.
Then he closed the window and began to solve problems.
***
Three days until the Gaokao.
Su Qing finally opened the report.
In the photo, Lin Mo and Shen Qingyue were sitting across from each other at a table. Shen Qingyue was looking down, pointing at something, while Lin Mo had his head turned, watching.
It was a very normal scene.
Su Qing stared at it for a long time.
Then she closed the photo and clicked on the recording file.
The recording was from yesterday afternoon. It was recorded by the equipment fixed at the northeast corner of the library’s third floor.
The sound was a bit noisy—the sound of pages turning, low-voiced discussions, and the distant sound of someone moving a chair.
Then she heard Shen Qingyue’s voice:
“Using the Law of Conservation of Energy here would be more concise. Give it a try.”
Then came Lin Mo’s voice:
“Oh—so that’s how it works. Thanks.”
It was a very normal conversation.
Su Qing listened to it once.
Then she listened to it again.
And again.
Then she turned off the recording and threw her phone onto the bed.
【’Satisfied?’】 Demon Su Qing asked.
“I don’t know,” Su Qing said.
She truly didn’t know.
She didn’t know what these reports and recordings could give her.
She didn’t know if she wanted to confirm that “nothing was going on” or if she was trying to find evidence that “something was happening.”
She didn’t know what she would become if she continued like this.
Outside the window, the night was deep.
She lay down and stared at the ceiling.
There were only three days left.
After the exam is over, everything will be fine.
It will be, right?