This Friday wasn’t for regular classes; it was for the monthly exams.
—The closer we get to graduation, the more frequent these various exams become.
However, these monthly exams are held in our own classrooms. There’s no separate testing hall arrangement; at most, they just spread the desks apart so they’re not too close together.
The morning used one class period for the Chinese exam (no essay) and another for the English exam (with an essay), followed immediately by two consecutive periods for the math exam.
The continuous, high-intensity mental exertion left An Jing feeling utterly drained the moment she handed in her paper—hungry and exhausted as if she hadn’t eaten for three days and three nights.
The classroom was also filled with yawns. Some were tired from overusing their brains, while others had just woken up after sleeping all morning.
That’s right. Even with junior high graduation imminent, there are still many who don’t plan to take the high school entrance exam, or rather, who know they can’t get into high school and have already prepared to muddle through at vocational or technical schools.
Those who usually sit in the back rows of the classroom are often like this. There are also a few sitting in the front rows who still scribble nonsense on their papers before flopping down to sleep—like Sun Wei.
The teachers generally don’t bother them, as long as they don’t make a huge racket and disturb others.
“While doing the math paper, English words kept popping into my head…” Zhu Ying tapped her forehead. “I couldn’t solve the last few big problems at all; what I wrote later was a complete mess.”
“Well, the actual high school entrance exam won’t be scheduled this tightly anyway. Just treat it as training with added weight.” An Jing stretched and fished a spoon from her backpack. “The weather is so nice today. Once we finish the three science subjects this afternoon, we can go home.”
“Xiao Jing, is there anywhere you want to go play today?” Zhu Ying tilted her head slightly.
“I’d like to go for a bike ride, but I don’t have a motorcycle. And even if I did, I probably couldn’t afford the gas.” An Jing tilted her head to look at Fang Qiang, who was still passed out on his desk. Their group leader was struggling to pull the slightly damp (from sweat) test paper out from under his face.
“Should we ask to borrow Fang Qiang’s?”
“He’ll need it today, won’t he? It is Friday.”
“What if he doesn’t plan to go back today?”
“I think… that’s unlikely.” An Jing scratched her head.
“Where are you guys going to play this afternoon?” Zhang Qiqi had somehow appeared beside them, twirling a pair of chopsticks in one hand while her other hand, seemingly unable to stay idle, insistently ruffled An Jing’s head like petting a puppy.
“What’s it to you?” An Jing widened her eyes. “What evil scheme are you hatching now, you nasty woman?”
“The little pretty boy’s got quite the mouth on him lately!” Zhang Qiqi pushed An Jing’s head down a bit. “Let’s find a place to study together after school. Don’t always think about playing during this final stretch.”
“We can study on the weekend. A rare Friday should be for relaxing.” An Jing pouted, turning her head toward Zhu Ying. “Right, Xiao Ying? Xiao Ying…?”
“Mhm! Qiqi is right, we should spend more time reviewing our weak areas!”
“I don’t think I have any weak areas at the moment…”
“Who says? Xiao Jing’s handwriting is terrible!” Zhu Ying seemed to remember something and pinched An Jing’s cheek. “Right, that’s it! Xiao Jing, you should practice your handwriting! Neatness matters for exam scores, you know. Didn’t the Chinese teacher tell you last time that your essay handwriting looked like chicken scratch?”
“That was because I was rushing…” An Jing scratched her cheek awkwardly. “If I didn’t write fast, I wouldn’t have finished…”
“So you need to practice! Write both fast and neatly!”
“Have mercy!”
“Your girlfriend has spoken, Little An Jing. Looks like you can’t escape~” Zhang Qiqi wore a look of sheer schadenfreude.
“My nice relaxation time turned into studying… I don’t want this—”
“Think about it carefully, have you been studying very hard lately?” Zhu Ying suddenly tilted her head to look at An Jing. “Xiao Jing still plays games every day when she gets home.”
“Cough!”
“So, whether we’re hanging out shopping or studying together, it’s basically the same, right?” She then smiled, her expression as bright as spring sunshine. “Xiao Jing, how about it? You practice handwriting, I’ll review math, and ask you if I don’t understand?”
“…But where would we go? At Zhang Qiqi’s family’s kindergarten?”
“I actually have a good spot in mind. Are you interested?” Zhang Qiqi smiled and sat on Zhu Ying’s desk.
“You should tell us first.”
“On a bus.”
“Huh—? How the heck can you do homework on a bus?”
“On a bus shell in the fields.”
An Jing blinked, utterly confused. Even though Zhang Qiqi was speaking Chinese, the words strung together made no sense to her.
“It’s something my dad got his hands on. The shell of a bus, parked in the fields. He said he wants to renovate it into a special-style farmhouse for tourists… but it’s been sitting there for half a year with no progress—because, well.” Zhang Qiqi paused slightly, then suddenly flicked the forehead of Zhou Chao, who had somehow sidled up next to them. “The kindergarten is already busy enough; there’s simply no time to work on anything else.”
“Ow.” Zhou Chao covered his forehead, taking half a step back. “How did you know I was here?”
“I smelled a bad man.” Zhang Qiqi shot him a sidelong glance. “And what were you doing getting so close just now? Planning something naughty?”
“I was just trying to sneak up and scare An Jing from behind, okay?”
“Really? I felt your face was practically in my hair.”
“It smells like traditional medicine. Do you wash your hair with medicated soap?”
“You smelled it, didn’t you?!”
“He totally smelled it!” Sun Wei joined in the fun. “I saw it with my own eyes just now. Zhou Chao took a big, deep sniff.”
“You motherf—”
“Hmph!” Zhang Qiqi crossed her arms, wearing an expression that said she’d seen right through Zhou Chao. “Bad men are all like this.”
“My nose is just sensitive, okay? And this traditional medicine smell is really strong. Can’t the rest of you smell it?”
“I don’t smell anything.” Zhu Ying shook her head.
“I only smell hair oil…”
Thwack!
This time, An Jing’s forehead received a light flick as well. Zhou Chao immediately threw his head back and laughed, seeming pleased that another unlucky soul had been dragged into the mess.
“What are you guys doing this afternoon?” Sun Wei asked with a lewd grin. “Two guys, two girls… tsk tsk tsk, what mischief are you planning?”
“Only someone like you would think that way.”
“Damn, you’re the one with actual experience, and you have the nerve to say that about me?”
“So, are you coming? Study session.”
“No way, I’m not going. I’m going home to play games today.” Sun Wei immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum. “Besides, if I went, wouldn’t I just be the extra? A pure third wheel.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to play games at home later.”
“Cough, anyway, I’m definitely going home to play games today…” Sun Wei seemed somewhat awkward, hesitating to finish his sentence. Zhou Chao had already casually averted his gaze.
An Jing’s eyes drifted between their faces before she subtly looked away.
Though sometimes slow on the uptake, she wasn’t a fool. Ever since Di Jiu Ai came looking for Sun Wei that time, the two of them seemed to often walk home together after school.
Zhou Chao always acted like he didn’t know, but An Jing felt—he probably cared somewhat, deep down.
But there was no need to voice such thoughts. Playing dumb was the best approach.
Actually saying it out loud would not only be awkward but might even make people unsure how to interact afterward.
An Jing got along well with most people precisely because she didn’t like to meddle or dig too deep into things.
“Hey, today’s lunch is here.”
“Everyone sit down, or I won’t hand out the food later.” Zhang Qiqi looked seriously at Zhou Chao.
“We’re in the same group. If you don’t hand out food, you won’t get any either.”
“I can let everyone else get theirs and just not give you yours.”
“Damn, what a vicious woman.”
As the students carrying the food and dishes entered the classroom, the students started clamoring again.
Some were asking what dishes were served today, while others were calling their friends to go to the fence and buy something else to eat from the shopkeepers outside the school gate.
The meals at Small City No.2 Middle School basically rotated through the same few options. Eating them too often definitely got boring.
The worst was probably the monotonously colored preserved meat. That reddish-pink hue really didn’t whet the appetite. More importantly, sometimes when you bit into it, you’d find the meat still half-raw, not fully cooked, which was seriously off-putting.
And today’s lunch featured exactly that kind of preserved meat.
Despite being the only meat dish today, it was widely disliked.
Many girls tried to trade their preserved meat with boys for Mapo Tofu, but few were willing to swap.
That’s right. When eating preserved meat, it was usually paired with that finely minced Mapo Tofu, plus a serving of stir-fried cabbage.
The cabbage was very bland. Sometimes it was practically raw, other times overcooked. In short, the chef’s performance was quite inconsistent.
So, picking the best of a bad lot, the only edible item in this meal was the Mapo Tofu.
At least it was spicy and had a bit of minced meat… However, not everyone disliked the preserved meat. Fang Qiang was an exception.
He traded his tofu for others’ preserved meat—one serving of tofu for two servings of meat—and was now happily devouring the pile on top of his rice.
Carrying her food back, An Jing very naturally paused beside him and simply placed her preserved meat on his rice—without needing to exchange anything for it.
“Oh? Oh, An Jing, you’re not eating the preserved meat again this time?”
“Nope. Last time I got a half-raw piece; it disgusted me.”
“Fang Qiang, do you like preserved meat that much? Then I’ll let you take care of mine too.”
“Oh, oh, thanks.” Fang Qiang looked up at Zhu Ying, giving an exceptionally friendly smile. “Anything else you don’t want? Rice? If you don’t want it, can I have some?”
“You really don’t hold back, do you?” An Jing clicked her tongue, scooping half her rice portion into Fang Qiang’s bowl. “Here, eat it. The side dishes aren’t good today anyway, so I won’t eat much.”
“Xiao Jing, why don’t you just give him the whole box? Then the two of us can share, half and half.”
“That works too…”
“Can you eat all that? That much?” Zhu Ying looked down at the small mountain of preserved meat legs piled in Fang Qiang’s bowl and couldn’t help asking.
“No problem at all! This little bit is nothing!”
“Such a big appetite. In comparison, Xiao Jing eats like a kitten.”
“Hey, hey, have you seen how big this guy is…”