The second monthly exam arrived abruptly amidst the chaos.
After finishing the Chinese exam, Sheng Xia felt completely drained.
Something felt off about her performance, though she couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly went wrong.
At lunch, she was listless and preoccupied as she returned to the dormitory for her midday rest, only to find someone already inside.
Her roommates were all sophomores who weren’t around on weekends, so running into them now caught both sides by surprise.
As luck would have it, two of them were the sisters who had once asked her for Zhang Shu’s Q.Q.
At the time, she had said she didn’t have it.
But now, Zhang Shu had just escorted her to the dormitory door.
The two underclassmen exchanged glances.
Zhang Shu gave his usual instructions: "If you need anything, call Hou Junqi. Wait for me to pick you up after you wake up."
Hou Junqi was also staying in this dormitory, just next door. The boys' beds were already full, so Zhang Shu lived at home.
Since she still couldn’t go downstairs on her own, he would come from home after the break, carry her downstairs on his back.
As for Hou Junqi—he claimed he had a back injury and couldn’t carry her.
At first, she had been a little awkward about it, but Zhang Shu had simply smiled faintly and said, "I’ve already carried you before..."
That statement was downright embarrassing. Sheng Xia immediately climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, covering his mouth with her hand.
Zhang Shu paused mid-motion as he prepared to stand, and Sheng Xia’s ears suddenly burned red.
She had only meant to shut him up—her hands moved faster than her brain—but she hadn’t realized that covering his mouth felt even more intimate...
The softness of his lips brushed against her palm, and when they parted slightly, an electric tingle shot through her hand, making her pull away instantly.
And him...
He hooked his arms under her knees and stood up, carefully avoiding any contact with her thighs.
The consequence of such "gentlemanly hands" was that she had to cling tightly to his neck to stay steady.
From behind, she could clearly see his cheeks puff out slightly—he was laughing at her for pressing so close.
So infuriating.
Lost in thought, one of the underclassmen suddenly spoke up.
"Senior, are you Zhang Shu’s girlfriend?"
Sheng Xia jolted and quickly shook her head. "No, I’m not."
The two girls exchanged another glance.
"Don’t be shy! We just saw him carrying you—so cool!"
Her grip on her crutches tightened, and she mumbled, "Really, it’s not like that... It’s because..."
She had been about to say it was because he was the one who injured her. But the words died on her tongue—that didn’t sound quite right either.
The girls assumed she was just embarrassed and, with a chuckle, returned to their own beds.
Sigh...
The conversation ended there. They weren’t close, and with the short break time, everyone lay down without another word.
Girlfriend.
Right—only that kind of relationship would allow for such... physical contact, wouldn’t it?
She knew that perfectly well.
But how had things ended up like this, so natural and unforced?
They weren’t even dating!
A hypothetical popped into her head: If someone else had been the one to injure her—say, Hou Junqi, or Yang Linyu, or Lu Youze—could she have accepted them carrying her, holding her like this?
No.
The answer was firm, without hesitation.
Her entire midday break was wasted—Sheng Xia didn’t sleep a wink.
The afternoon math exam was a blur. Surprisingly, her speed wasn’t bad—she finished the first challenging problem and barely managed to write out an equation for the second.
Early the next morning, an autumn rain drizzled down, and the temperature plummeted as cold air swiftly took over the city, famous for its long summers. The English listening test played against the backdrop of the rain, echoing through the senior-year building.
The vibrant, lively summer had come to an end, and another page was flipped on the countdown board.Everyone had changed into their autumn uniforms, bundled up tightly. Sheng Xia could only switch to a pair of wide-legged pants that hung loosely on her.
Because of the rain, walking with crutches became even more difficult for Sheng Xia. The hallway was cluttered with umbrellas, and Hou Junqi moved them aside to clear a path ahead while Zhang Shu stayed close by her side, steadying her crutches whenever they encountered a puddle.
Even passing classmates from Class Six would lend a hand.
Naturally, they drew plenty of curious glances along the way. Sheng Xia was starting to get used to it—though even if she wasn’t, there was nothing she could do. She’d have to be a "cripple" for nearly two more months.
"Look at her, acting like a princess. As if she’s completely helpless," Zhou Xuanxuan muttered as she and Chen Mengyao walked several dozen meters behind.
Zhou Xuanxuan had been having a rough time in class these past few days, and it was even worse in the dorm. No one outright scolded or ignored her, but they kept their distance. Whether it was chatting or sharing snacks, people deliberately—or perhaps unconsciously—avoided her.
This slowly wore away what little guilt she had left. Seeing Sheng Xia being treated like the center of attention only fueled her resentment.
She couldn’t understand it. Was all this really necessary?
Chen Mengyao remained silent.
Desperate for an ally to share her indignation, Zhou Xuanxuan burst out, "Zhang Shu brings her breakfast every morning, fetches water for her between classes—he might as well follow her into the bathroom at this point! The way he’s acting makes it seem like I’m the villain who hasn’t shown any remorse. But I—I didn’t do it on purpose!"
"Then go apologize to her."
Zhou Xuanxuan was stunned. "Mengyao, what did you just say?"
Chen Mengyao stopped walking and said flatly, "If you won’t, then shut up. I’m sick of this."
Zhou Xuanxuan: "…?"
...
The results of the monthly exams were released the same night they finished, bringing joy to some and despair to others.
"Ha! You said you bombed the test, but look at this score—are you kidding me?"
"You too! Didn’t you say you didn’t even finish the last problem?"
"I didn’t!"
"And you still got 120? Stop humblebragging!"
"But my science scores are terrible?"
"Terrible? Don’t lie to me—I saw your physics score. Seriously, you call that terrible?"
"Ugh, I was so careless on this one. I already did all the calculations right up to the end…"
The chatter around them was all about grades—everyone claiming they’d done poorly, only to reveal impressive scores upon closer inspection.
Sheng Xia stared at her math paper: 89 points.
How could this happen? She’d felt much more confident while solving the problems this time, with noticeably better speed and intuition than before.
How… could it be this low?
She couldn’t even calm down enough to figure out which questions she’d missed due to carelessness and which ones she genuinely didn’t know. During the test, she’d felt like she understood everything.
Even though her leg injury had slowed her down recently, she’d been putting in extra hours to study. Her focus during lectures had also improved significantly. Since they’d started their first round of review, she’d even begun multitasking—listening to the teacher while working on problems.
Her leg would occasionally throb with pain, but the discomfort kept her alert, sharpening her concentration in class more than ever.
So how could the results turn out like this?
She’d heard her overall ranking was even lower than Hou Junqi’s.
Keep in mind, Hou Junqi slept through two out of every three classes.
Back at her second-tier high school, she’d consistently scored around 100 points—never once failing, even at her worst.
Sheng Xia felt like she was sinking into quicksand, unable to calmly accept reality yet too afraid to struggle futilely and drown in despair.
She sat motionless, her composed demeanor unchanged from usual—but the stark contrast between her silence and the noisy crowd around her was impossible to miss.
Those with minor complaints made the most noise, while those truly suffering stayed quiet.
A chill ran down her spine, unnoticed even by herself.Wang Wei stood at the podium and asked softly, "Everyone has their test papers now, right?"
"Great, this opening line means he's commandeering our evening self-study session," Xin Xiaohe muttered under her breath with a pout.
True enough, Wang Wei proceeded to bring in a chair and settled at the podium, pretending he'd moved indoors because it was cold outside—a ruse to avoid administrative oversight.
"Let's go over the chemistry test now..."
For Sheng Xia, this temporarily distracted her from the blow dealt by her math results, though her chemistry performance hadn't been stellar either.
Her attention soon drifted—
Wang Lianhua would probably bring up after-school tutoring again. Sheng Xia had been too afraid to mention it before. Every time they hired a tutor, it took her ages to adjust. She'd always been somewhat socially anxious—for the first two weeks with any new tutor, she could barely absorb anything. Things went slightly better when the tutor was one of her current teachers, but instructors from the affiliated high school never took private students.
At this stage, extra tutoring would completely disrupt her revision schedule.
This was a reason she couldn't possibly voice aloud.
After all, in Wang Lianhua's eyes, her revision plans didn't seem to be helping her grades much anyway—might as well scrap them.
When you're feeling down, it feels like the whole world is against you.
Like the highlighter in Sheng Xia's hand right now.
Whether from sweaty palms or an unusually tight cap, she couldn't pry it open no matter how hard she tried.
She had plenty of other pens—she could easily switch.
But Sheng Xia dug in her heels, channeling her frustration into this stubborn battle. Hidden under the desk, her hands strained with effort, teeth clenched, face flushing red with exertion—she didn't care.
She would open this highlighter!
Suddenly, a sigh came from her right, followed by a slender hand reaching over to pluck the highlighter from her grip.
Sheng Xia turned her head. The boy effortlessly popped off the cap and handed it back. "Are you fighting with it, or with yourself...?"
Zhang Shu was currently seated by the window in the single row, separated by an aisle. His voice carried just enough for nearby students to hear.
Xin Xiaohe and Hou Junqi both glanced over curiously, unaware of what had transpired.
Sheng Xia lowered her gaze and murmured, "Thanks."
She took back the highlighter, only to realize she'd forgotten what she'd meant to mark in the first place.
Even her deskmate Xiaohe hadn't noticed her struggle—how had he spotted it?
......
Next day at lunch.
As usual, Sheng Xia's place was laden with dishes—pork bone congee, steamed fish, a seafood tofu and kelp hotpot...
This was Zhang Sujin's special care, prepared separately for her. Over time, the boarding students had come to recognize that the canteen owner treated this girl like her own daughter.
Soon enough, everyone knew—this was the renowned "Goddess of Class 6" from the school sports day's confession wall, Sheng Xia. The one whose leg got crushed by Zhang Shu...
What had been an accident was now campus legend.
Seated with her was Zhang Shu, the senior year academic prodigy.
Beside them sat a tall, fashionably dressed "bruiser"—most boys recognized Hou Junqi, former tyrant of the city's youth basketball team.
This gathering of three campus celebrities made for an eye-catching combination.
Sheng Xia ate quietly without speaking.
Nothing seemed particularly amiss, except for her unusually slow pace—holding a piece of fish with her chopsticks for ages before finally bringing it to her mouth.
Hou Junqi shot Zhang Shu a glance, mouthing: What's up?
Zhang Shu tilted his head slightly and asked directly, "Not happy?"
Hou Junqi: ...That blunt, huh?
"Hmm?" Sheng Xia looked up at the sound to find both boys had stopped eating to stare at her.She had noticed their concern lately. In truth, she was just tired of the "special meals" and craved something spicy, fried, or flavorful—anything with a punch.
"I'm fine, not very hungry," she said, putting down her chopsticks. "I'll head back for a nap first. You two take your time."
As she stood up, she noticed Zhang Shu about to rise as well and quickly added, "No need to walk me. It's not like I have to climb stairs."
Hou Junqi watched Sheng Xia's retreating figure and remarked, "I noticed Little Sheng Xia ranked lower than me this time. How did that happen?"
Zhang Shu replied seriously, "Actually, her grade ranking improved. She only ranked lower than you because your English scores suddenly skyrocketed like a rocket. She’s been too focused on math."
Hou Junqi frowned. "Then what should we do?"
Zhang Shu shot him a sidelong glance. "You seem pretty worried?"
This guy can even get jealous over this? Hou Junqi shrugged. "She just looks pitiful."
Zhang Shu scoffed. "She doesn’t need your pity. Her brain works better than yours."
Hou Junqi rolled his eyes. "If you want to praise her, just praise her. Why drag me down to lift her up? Fine, I can tell this has nothing to do with me anyway. She didn’t even glance at you—probably because you said or did something wrong again. Whoever caused it should fix it."
Zhang Shu chuckled. Well, well. It hasn’t been long, and already you’re siding with her. Is Sheng Xia your real brother now?
He said, "Haven’t I always been the one fixing things, no matter who caused it?"
Hou Junqi: "...Enough, enough. I’m full."
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