Don't be So Proud

Chapter 10.3 — To Like Two People (3)

With the conclusion of the school’s anniversary celebration, final examinations were fast coming upon them. Now that Shen Xi’s wallet was nice and bulging, she even was motivated to study, and every day, she felt as if she had taken some Sanle Jiang [health supplement drink based on traditional Chinese medicine that is supposed to boost energy levels and immunity] and was filled with energy.

The examinations for dance students were divided into two types: the first type was to test basic dance skills, and the other were traditional written examinations. The skills examinations consisted of assessing basic ballet training and abilities, skill in traditional and classic Chinese dance, impromptu performance, etc., etc. These did not pose much of a problem for her, and she did not need to purposely practice and prepare.

The written examinations, though, were a pain, with stuff like “College-level English,” “Introduction to Art,” and “History of Foreign Dance and the Appreciation of the Art.” She got a headache from simply looking at her textbooks, and furthermore, all her written examinations were the last to take place. The school had already given notice that these examinations would be treated seriously and strictly. Last semester, some subjects had still had open-book examinations, but now, the school was placing focus on teaching quality, so no examinations were allowed to be open-book.

How were they supposed to take the exam if it wasn’t open-book? And anyway, even when they were open-book, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to find the answer. In dorm room 636, only Chen Han was slightly calmer about this. The remaining three were all preparing cheat sheets.

Final examinations for He Zhi Zhou and the rest in that group were slightly later, by two days. Dorm room 921 had shifted into a state of disorder and busyness. However, in comparison to other dormitory rooms, at least dorm room 921 had two godlike figures there to hold down the fort and provide stability to morale.

One dormitory room with two top students in it—that did invoke such jealousy, envy, and hate in people. When Brawny walked down the path, people from other classes would come up to him and greet him warmly. “Chen Chen, are you able to get a copy of He Zhi Zhou and Lin Yu Tang’s focus points in their studying?”

Brawny gave a shake of his head, answering straight up, “No.”

“Why? You’re all such good friends.”

Brawny patted that person’s shoulder. “When have you ever heard of a top student having study focus points? Do you think they need to have ‘focus points’?”

Random person A: “……”

He Zhi Zhou and Lin Yu Tang truly did not have anything they were focusing on in their studying. In fact, the only notes that He Zhi Zhou had for this semester were the ones that Shen Xi had taken down when she went to class for him. As for Lin Yu Tang, his notes were directly written into his textbooks, so there was no way at all to organize them. And plus, the notes of godly top students were only understandable to godly top students. Since when were they ever as obvious and vividly written out as the notes of flunky students?

The one thing that Brawny and Monkey were better off in than everyone else was that it was more convenient for them to ask questions and answers to problems, but this was basically useless to Monkey and Brawny. Still, in order to be able to successfully graduate next year, they also began their desperate last-minute cramming.

After exams were finished, it would be the two-month-long summer break.

Shen Xi was in the library writing out her cheat sheet while He Zhi Zhou sat across from her, reading a book. After leafing through a few pages, he looked up. Shen Xi was still writing furiously. Never had He Zhi Zhou seen her do something so earnestly, copying things down while, at the same time, calculating something out on her fingers, like a little child in kindergarten who was doing her homework.

He tossed a crumpled wad of paper at her, very shamelessly and unkindly disturbing her in her work.

The paper wad hit Shen Xi in the nose, right in the center of its bridge. Displeased, Shen Xi threw him a glower. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, He Zhi Zhou motioned to her to look at that little wad of paper in front of her. Picking up that crumpled ball, Shen Xi unfolded it. Contained inside was a line of beautifully written words:

Are you going home straight after exams are done?

Ugh… It would seem that this truly was a rather big problem. Shen Xi lifted her head and took a look at He Zhi Zhou. He Zhi Zhou picked up his book and began reading again, his manner entirely as if that note had nothing to do with him. All right, keep pretending, just keep pretending—pretend as hard as you can. Sprawling her upper body on the table, she wrote out her reply to that note, then threw it back to He Zhi Zhou. She had originally wanted to copy him and smack him in the nose with it, but in the end, it did not even touch his face.

Picking up the note from the table, He Zhi Zhou unhurriedly spread it open. Shen Xi’s reply was:

Of course. I don’t have anywhere to go, so besides home, where else could I go?

He set down the note, not replying to her anymore.

She was being ignored! Shen Xi fixed her stare on He Zhi Zhou. Hey, hurry and give her a reply! Hurry up and reply!

But He Zhi Zhou just would not reply. Standing, he headed to the bathroom, his manner screaming suaveness. There in the library, Shen Xi checked the contents of her cheat sheet, while in her mind, she seriously contemplated the issue that they would be apart during the summer break. She was already beginning to feel sad for herself.

They hadn’t even gotten to the passionately-in-love stage of their dating and now they already had to separate. Just thinking about it made her sad!

The library had a vending machine for chilled drinks. After He Zhi Zhou came out from the bathroom, he in passing bought a bottle of mineral water and also a bottle of the vitamin C water that Shen Xi liked to drink.

Before handing it to Shen Xi, he had first twisted open the cap for her.

Shen Xi happened to be thirsty right then, but it turned out that vitamin C water’s lid came right off when she went to open it. Noticing the problem, she pouted, “Someone’s already drank from this bottle.”

He Zhi Zhou kneaded his forehead. “I drank it!”

“Oh, okay.” Not repulsed by this, Shen Xi began drinking with sounds of gulp, gulp.

Walking up beside her, He Zhi Zhou picked up her cheat sheet, glanced it over, and then reminded her, “If you already know that these topics are going to be on the exam, can’t you just memorize them a bit?”

Wha? Memorize them? What kind of suggestion was that? Finding it difficult to comprehend him, Shen Xi declared with firm justification, “If I was able to memorize it, why would I need to copy it down?”

The corner of He Zhi Zhou’s lips twitched. He really wanted to tear up that little cheat sheet that was in his hands. As she gazed up at him, though, the look in her eyes was already declaring, “If you rip it up, you and I are breaking up immediately.”

He handed the cheat sheet back to her. “Be careful.”

Shen Xi yielded. After all, making a cheat sheet was not some glorious thing to do. She flashed an “okay” sign to He Zhi Zhou with her fingers so that he could set his mind at ease.

He Zhi Zhou leaned into the back of his seat. Since meeting Shen Xi, it was as if he had stepped foot onto a journey of worry. Before they had swapped back into their own bodies, he had worried about what would happen if they were not able to swap back, worried over whether Shen Xi would act impetuously, and even worried about whether his period was regular or not. After they swapped back, he worried about Shen Xi’s moodiness, worried over whether she had enough money to handle her costs of living, and even needed to worry whether she would be caught cheating during her exams.

He Zhi Zhou glanced at Shen Xi, his action showing that he had resigned himself to this fate.

Shen Xi had already finished her skills examinations. All that remained now were the written ones. Tomorrow, those exams would begin and would carry on for two days in a row. Once they were done, she would be on summer break. After coming out from the library, He Zhi Zhou accompanied her back to her dormitory.

When Shen Xi was about to go upstairs, he pulled her back. Downstairs of the girls’ dormitory building, there were simply too many girls and boys like them, and even if they were snug tight in each other’s arms, nobody would pay any attention to them.

“You’re really going straight home after your exams?” He Zhi Zhou asked this question again.

A smile sparkled in Shen Xi’s eyes. She had known that He Zhi Zhou would ask her again. Sure enough! She deliberately answered, “Of course. Otherwise, where else could I go? It’s not like there are people I know well in S City.”

He Zhi Zhou coolly questioned, “I’m not someone you know well?”

Oh right! He Zhi Zhou really was from S City, and moreover, he was a person she “knew well.” Sliding her arms his waist, Shen Xi’s tone was cutely pouty as she replied, “But it’s not like I can go home with you.”

He Zhi Zhou ruffled her hair slightly and then, while he was at it, touched her cheek before stating the important part of his message. “How about this? You don’t leave the school until a couple of days later, and when I’m done my exams, I’ll take you straight back to your home.”

“Really?” Shen Xi blinked, an overjoyed expression on her face. In the past, she and Tang Tang would go back to their home city together, but this summer break, Tang Tang would not be going home until the middle of August. If no one from her family came to pick her up, she would for sure have to go home by herself.

He Zhi Zhou nodded. “When have I ever lied to you?”

So awesome! Tilting her face upward, Shen Xi gave a peck on He Zhi Zhou’s cheek, then happily ran back to her dormitory.

He Zhi Zhou brought his hand up to touch his cheek that had received a kiss. Then, turning the corners of his lips up, he straddled his bicycle and rode back to S University.

At noon the following day, Shen Xi had finished her first examination and was eating lunch with everyone from dorm room 921. When Lin Yu Tang asked her how the test had went, she pulled out her little cheat sheet from her pocket and handed it to him. “I’m done. I still don’t want to throw it away yet. Who knows? Maybe next time when I take the makeup exam, I can use it again.”

“Was it that bad?” Lin Yu Tang gazed at her.

“Just kidding!” Shen Xi patted Lin Yu Tang’s back. She had deliberately said that to tease Lin Yu Tang.

With a light slap to Shen Xi’s head, Lin Yu Tang chastised, “Making trouble!”

He Zhi Zhou did not want to keep watching this. Picking up some food with his chopsticks, he plopped it in Shen Xi’s bowl. “Eat!”

Like a good girl, Shen Xi shoveled her rice into her mouth with her chopsticks. Now that they had mentioned it, personally, she felt that she had done quite well on this morning’s exam. When other people wrote exams, they relied on their own abilities and judgment, but she basically depended upon her imagination. Anyway, she had scribbled this and written that, plus with the “inspiration” given to her from her little cheat sheet, she had almost performed better than her usual abilities.

Monkey and Brawny, however, were in dire straits, for in only two days, they would be having their final examinations. S University was much stricter and more rigorous than the normal college. If you failed, you would need to retake the course. There was not even the slightest room for negotiation. At lunch, Brawny could not even muster himself to eat his food, and worriedly, he asked He Zhi Zhou, “Leader, do you think I’ll end up becoming your junior fellow schoolmate?”

He Zhi Zhou: “Quite possible.”

Shen Xi looked adorably over at Brawny, adding salt to the wound, “You might even end up graduating with me.”

Dammit! He was two years ahead of her! Turning a glower on Shen Xi, Brawny was about to snap at her, but then, he spotted a shadow of “former Leader” in her eyes that were begging for mercy. Instantly, he was unable to say any words of rebuke. In fact, as he thought about it, he actually felt that the idea was pretty good. With a couple of “hee-hees,” he said, “When I think about being able to be a student for a couple more years, I instantly feel I’d be just too adorable! Xi Xi, how about we just graduate together?!”

Shen Xi felt caught in a bit of a hard place, and awkwardly, she answered, “That won’t work. What if I graduate, but you still haven’t?”

Brawny: “……”

Monkey broke out into guffaws, and both He Zhi Zhou’s and Lin Yu Tang’s lips twitched upwards.

Brawny threw his head back. Oh, the hatred he was feeling!

Inside dorm room 636, everybody was busy packing their things, except for Chen Han and Shen Xi. Chen Han’s hometown was the farthest from S City, and Xia Wei Ye asked her, “You’re not going home?”

Chen Han shook her head. “No, I’m not. There’s nothing interesting for me when I go home anyway. I found a summer job where I’ll be teaching a class in a dance training institution. It’s fifty yuan a class, and in one day, I can teach two to three classes.”

One second ago, Shen Xi had been lying flat on her back on the bed, but the next second, she had propped herself up and was asking, “Wow. Can I go there?”

With a glance at Shen Xi, who had suddenly snapped awake from her afternoon-napping state, Chen Han offhandedly answered, “It’s not like your family needs that little bit of money.”

Shen Xi rubbed her nose. It wasn’t about the money. The only reason she wanted to stay in S City and work a summer job was so she could be with He Zhi Zhou. Of course, if she could earn some cash, it would be even better. Pulling out her mobile phone, she began calculating out the amount of money she could earn. Assuming one hundred a day, a two-month summer job would make her six thousand. Six thousand big ones! She had never, ever earned so much money before! Plus, not only would she be able to pay off her debts with the money she earned, she could even buy gifts for her family and for Tang Tang and He Zhi Zhou.

Shen Xi was somewhat itching to give this a try. Scrambling up from her bed, she asked, “Chen Han, I want to go there too. Would you be able to ask for me?”

Chen Han was not one to directly refuse Shen Xi. Tidying up her things, she turned around and said, “How about this? I’ll go ask for you first, but whether things work out is another question.”

Nodding forcefully, Shen Xi crawled out of her bed to respectfully offer up an apple to Chen Han, carefully washing it nice and clean before presenting her offering.

The next day was her last final exam, “History of Foreign Dance.” Shen Xi’s greatest fears were history this and commentary on that, so the cheat sheet she made this time was especially big—an entire A4 sheet, completely filled up.

That morning when He Zhi Zhou was having breakfast with her, he had scorned her, which painfully stabbed at her sore point as a school flunky. However, when she stepped into the examination room and saw that nearly everyone had brought a cheat sheet, she could not help grinning inwardly. Pulling out her mobile phone, she took a photograph of this sight and sent it over for He Zhi Zhou to see.

He Zhi Zhou was in the midst of explaining an exercise problem to Brawny when he received the picture. Tapping open the alert and seeing the message that Shen Xi had sent, his lips turned up in a smile and the look on his face immediately became ridiculously tender. And then, he put away his phone again.

Lifting his head up dazedly from amid the ocean of profound and abstruse exercise problems, Brawny happened to catch sight of this display of gentleness on He Zhi Zhou’s face. Seriously, it charmed a person’s heart and made it flutter, aaaah! Blinking his eyes, he asked, “Leader, why are you smiling at me like that?”

Why are you smiling at me like that?!!

He Zhi Zhou gave a cold smirk of disbelief, the look in his eyes turning chilly and penetrating, and he closed up the textbook. “Go ask Lin Yu Tang for help.”

But Monkey was already completely occupying Lin Yu Tang! Brawny grabbed He Zhi Zhou’s hand. “Leader, I was wrong. Could you finish explaining this problem to me? How can you bear it in your heart to keep me hanging like this?”

Standing, He Zhi Zhou threw back an indifferent sentence. “There’s no such thing as being unable to bear anything here. Here’s my welcome to you as you become my junior schoolmate.”

Don’t be so heartless, okay? So cold. Not even the tiniest ounce of love in you. Brawny felt as injured as a little wife and decided in fury to run away from home. Stomping his feet, he left dorm room 921!

Inside the examination room, Shen Xi’s was writing furiously and rapidly. Basically everyone had brought a cheat sheet, and the teacher who was monitoring the exam was also turning a blind eye, pretending not to see. As long as none of the higher-level leadership and administrators who were patrolling around saw them, she would just let it be.

But it turned out that halfway through the exam, the higher-ups really did come. Everybody hastily put away all the little papers. Shen Xi also put hers away, but alas, her cheat sheet was too big, and she was not as quick as the other students to stuff it away. Immediately, the leader spotted her.

Outside, that administrator was about to stride in and catch her in the act, but someone grabbed him from behind. “Class Monitor, have mercy. That’s… my daughter, Shen Xi.”

Turning around, the administrator let out a “ha ha.” “The girl’s a chip off the old block, eh!”

Shen Jian Guo smiled. “Yes, oh yes, yes…”

Shen Xi stuffed her cheat sheet underneath her exam paper and surreptitiously peeked out the window. Aside from the school administrator, there was also Shen Jian Guo. This particular administrator had only been transferred here this year and was well known for being strict. As she gripped her pencil, she had already lost all mood to continue writing the exam.

And why was Shen Jian Guo here? Wasn’t that a bit too fast to call in the parents for a meeting already? …

Shen Jian Guo had not expected that he would run into his former class monitor in his daughter’s school. After they had had a quick little catch-up, Class Monitor had quickly asked for Shen Xi’s examination room details from one of the school assistants and then brought him along to check things out at the exam room—where he ended up seeing his own daughter cheating. Sure enough, she was a chip off the old block!

When the examination ended, Shen Xi followed Shen Jian Guo out of the teaching building. She opened her mouth and asked, “Why did you come here?”

“Am I not allowed to come here?!” Carrying a briefcase with him, Shen Jian Guo spoke with a tone filled with griping. “If I hadn’t called the supervising teacher of your class, I wouldn’t have even known that you’re going to be on break. What? Think you’re all grown up now?”

Shen Xi retorted, “Obviously it’s more because you don’t care enough about me.”

“Oh, you’ve got a way with words!” Shen Jian Guo gave a couple of chuckles, and then his tone shifted. “Daddy just got back into the country yesterday, and then today I specially came to pick you up and take you home. And here you’re saying I don’t care enough!”

Shen Xi walked with her head down. She didn’t want to go home. But she did not know how to tell Shen Jian Guo either. At the same time, Shen Jian Guo was telling her about the things at home, stuff like [paternal] Granddad had come over, too, just to see her.

Shen Xi genuinely did miss her granddad a little bit. Besides knowing how to dance Gangnam Style, her granddad was also a chef who had taken cooking classes and made delicious Hunan dishes.

Sob, sob. She was in such a difficult position!

Dorm room 636 was very lively and exciting. Not only had Shen Jian Guo come, Dou Dou’s dad and Xia Wei Ye’s mom were here as well. The parents gathered together and chatted idly about their own daughters’ studies and also the question of work after graduation. They were all concerned.

Shen Xi dawdlingly packed her bags, but halfway through, she turned around and told Shen Jian Guo, “I’m not going back. I’m staying here to work a summer job.”

Shen Jian Guo was taken aback for a moment, and then his brows twisted together. “Shen Xi, you be careful that I don’t beat you!”

Instantly, Shen Xi sat her rear end onto the chair. She was quite afraid of Shen Jian Guo when he threw a temper tantrum. After putting up a slight resistance, she went back to continue packing her bags. Shen Jian Guo asked about Lin Yu Tang. “What about Tang Tang? Will he want to leave with us?”

Listlessly, Shen Xi shook her head. “No. He still needs to stay here for his internship.”

Shen Jian Guo roughly knew what was going on—and the reason why Shen Xi did not want to go back home.

On the car ride back, Shen Jian Guo was talking to Shen Xi the entire time. Shen Xi, though, could not muster up any enthusiasm, and was musing over how she could send a text message to He Zhi Zhou to explain this sudden situation of going back home. After being ignored several times, Shen Jian Guo’s imposing airs as the head of the household finally came surging up. “Shen Xi, you go try acting cool one more time and let’s see what will happen!”

Shen Xi soothingly patted her ol’ pop’s hand. Then, turning her back to him, she sent off a text message to He Zhi Zhou. The content of the message was very simple:

My dad came to pick me up and take me home, so I could only go with him. He Zhi Zhou, bye…

Such a sad message that stirred the heart. After sending the message, Shen Xi turned her head toward Shen Jian Guo, and the look she gave him was as if he was the Huang Shi Ren [tyrant landlord in the Chinese opera, The White Haired Girl] trying to break up her and Big Brother He.

Shen Jian Guo gave a couple of hmphs. “That dress that you sent a picture of to your mom last time, she wasn’t willing to buy it for you. I brought it back for you from abroad.”

What? Shen Xi’s eyes instantly lit up. “Dad, drive faster!”

“Why?”

Shen Xi: “To get home and try the dress.”

He Zhi Zhou, who had been tossed aside because of a dress, was in the library when he received Shen Xi’s text message. As he sat in a seat beside the window, there were dark, dense clouds above his head, and the sky seemed to press down oppressively.

And then, rain began to pour down in torrents.

What is the most annoying thing for students who are in a dating relationship? They have no freedom at all. He had freedom, but no matter what, he needed to be considerate and properly take care of things on Shen Xi’s end. He sent a text back to her:

Go back first with your dad. I’ll see you soon.