Chapter Eight: The Storm on the Report Card, and Exclusive Terms Beneath the Sunset First Act: Silent Understanding in the Exam Room, and Anxious Waiting After the Test
Thursday morning, the atmosphere of the midterms hung over the entire sophomore year. The teaching building was utterly silent, save for the proctors' soft footsteps in the hallways and the rapid swish of pen tips across exam papers in the classrooms.
In the first exam room, Xia Zhifeng sat in the front row, answering the questions with calm composure and effortless fluency.
Meanwhile, in the last row of the final exam room by the stairwell, Zhou Huai'an sat with his back ramrod straight.
During past midterms, most of the students in this room would start nodding off twenty minutes after the exam began or turn in blank papers and leave. But today, Zhou Huai'an was completely different. His dark eyes were fixed on the math problems before him, while his mind was filled with the different question types and formula variations Xia Zhifeng had explained to him at the sunset dessert shop and while they sat together at their desks.
“This problem uses the second definition of an ellipse. Find the range of the eccentricity directly...” “When you run into this kind of linked-function problem, write out the domain first. Don't lose easy points on the basics.”
The corners of the boy's lips lifted slightly. His long fingers gripped his black gel pen tightly as he worked through the calculations on his scratch paper, his pen flying across the page.
Two tense days of exams passed in the blink of an eye. When the bell rang to signal the end of the final English exam, cheers of relief erupted throughout the entire teaching building.
Xia Zhifeng finished packing her pencil case and walked out of the exam room. As soon as she reached the stairwell, she saw Zhou Huai'an waiting for her against the wall, holding his backpack in one hand.
The black hair over his forehead was slightly mussed, and the afterglow of the sunset spilled over his deep, defined features. When he saw Xia Zhifeng approaching, Zhou Huai'an raised an eyebrow. Their eyes met amid the noisy crowd, and they smiled at each other. Everything was understood without a word.
“Bro Zhou, you finished pretty fast this time. Don't tell me you completed the first page and started guessing again?” a few boys who usually did nothing but fool around teased with big grins as they passed by.
Zhou Huai'an couldn't even be bothered to spare them a glance. He simply took the heavy backpack from Xia Zhifeng's hand with effortless familiarity, pulled a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it directly into her mouth.
The milky sweetness spread across Xia Zhifeng's tongue. She looked at him. “How did you do?”
Zhou Huai'an rubbed his neck, looking smug, though a trace of undisguised, soaring confidence gleamed in his eyes. “Well... I didn't embarrass our team leader.”
By Monday morning, the grading had been completed with remarkable efficiency.
The Academic Affairs Office posted the midterm rankings, printed in bright red letters, on the most conspicuous bulletin board in the lobby of the teaching building.
“The results are out! Hurry up and check the red榜!”
As soon as the news spread, students from every class in the school swarmed over, surrounding the bulletin board so tightly that not even water could pass through. Exclamations and discussions rose one after another.
“Xia Zhifeng is still number one! A total of 712 points—oh my God, she nearly aced math and physics. That's terrifyingly solid!” “Top students really are top students. No one can shake her position at all...”
Everyone had long since grown accustomed to Xia Zhifeng sweeping the rankings, and they began searching downward for their own names. But just as everyone reached the end of the top one hundred, a name so glaring that people wondered whether it had been printed by mistake suddenly leaped into view—
[88th Place: Zhou Huai'an, Total Score: 589 points (Math: 138 points, sixth in the grade)]
In that instant, the entire lobby fell into deathly silence.
Then a tidal wave of shocked cries and sharp gasps exploded!
“What the hell?! Am I seeing this right? Eighty-eighth place... Zhou Huai'an?!” “That Zhou Huai'an who got into fights and broke school rules every day, and used to rank dead last no matter what?!” “138 in math?! This test was insanely hard. I only got an 80, and he got 138? Is this someone else with the same name?!” “Same name, my ass. The student ID is our Bro Zhou's! He shot straight from dead last in the grade to eighty-eighth place. Is this a movie or something?!”
Those who had mocked Zhou Huai'an before now stood around the edge of the crowd with expressions as ugly as if they had swallowed a fly, staring in stunned disbelief.
At that moment, Old Zhang, the math teacher, happened to walk by carrying a teacup. The folds in his smile ran deep enough to trap a fly. When he entered Class 3, he actually slapped the lectern and loudly praised them for once:
“Special praise must go to Zhou Huai'an for this midterm! His improvement is enormous! What does this prove? It proves that as long as you're willing to put in the work, there is no obstacle you can't overcome! And of course, we must also praise Xia Zhifeng. This one-on-one academic support group is a model for the entire school!”
In the back row, Zhou Huai'an listened to the class's enthusiastic applause and cries of amazement. Leaning back in his chair, he wore an utterly unrestrained, arrogant smile.
He turned his head toward Xia Zhifeng, who was smiling at him, and silently mouthed, “Team leader, I did it.”
By the time school let out on Monday, the bustle on campus had gradually faded.
Zhou Huai'an sat at his desk packing his backpack when the phone on the tabletop suddenly began vibrating violently.
The screen showed a number that was both familiar and strange—Zhou's father.
In his past life and this one, every appearance of this number had brought Zhou Huai'an nothing but cold reprimands, endless suspicion, and favoritism. He watched the screen for several seconds before finally pressing the answer button without expression and turning on speakerphone.
His father's somewhat awkward voice came through, stiffly forcing itself into an authoritative tone. “Huai'an... it's your dad.”
Zhou Huai'an's voice was cold as ice. “What do you want?”
“...I received your school's report card.” Zhou's father cleared his throat. His tone softened by several rare degrees, with even a faint trace of shock and gratification beneath it. “Your Second Uncle and your aunt saw it too. They said you ranked eighty-eighth in the grade this time and scored 138 in math. Even your younger brother Haoyu didn't score higher than you...”
Zhou's father paused, apparently feeling that this was a good opportunity for them both to step down gracefully, then continued, “Since you've finally decided to apply yourself, come back to the estate for dinner tonight. I know about what happened with your Second Uncle too. You were right not to sign that agreement. As long as you keep studying hard from now on, your dad will consider leaving you part of the Zhou family's business...”
Listening to his father's lofty “gifts” and “charity” over the phone, Zhou Huai'an suddenly let out a low laugh.
There was not the slightest joy in it at winning his father's approval. There was only the relief and indifference of someone who had seen through everything.
“Mr. Zhou, have you gotten something wrong?” Zhou Huai'an interrupted him, every word clear and terrifyingly calm.
His father froze. “What did you call me? I'm your dad!”
“First, I got these grades for my own future, not to prove anything to you. And I certainly don't need your pitiful charity.” The boy's eyes were clear and resolute. “Second, the equity and property my mom left me legally belong to me in the first place. I'll take all of it back through my own ability. I won't let anyone else profit from it by even one cent.”
Zhou Huai'an stood up and slipped one hand into his pocket as he looked out at the evening clouds.
“As for the Zhou family estate... I find it filthy. Don't call me again.”
With that, Zhou Huai'an hung up without the slightest hesitation and immediately blacklisted the number.
The boy tossed his phone into his backpack and drew in a deep breath of fresh air.
In that moment, the gloom and inferiority that had weighed on his heart for years completely dispersed. He was no longer the victim who had needed to use violence and impulsiveness to attract attention. He had grown into a true man who could stand on his own and take control of his life.
The rooftop of the teaching building was quiet and still after school.
Golden sunlight dyed the entire sky a dazzling orange-pink. The evening breeze drifted by, carrying waves of refreshing coolness.
Xia Zhifeng stood beside the rooftop's iron railing, the breeze stirring her hair. Steady footsteps sounded behind her. Zhou Huai'an pushed open the rooftop door and walked toward her one step at a time.
The sunset fell across the boy, stretching his shadow long and slender.
Zhou Huai'an stopped in front of Xia Zhifeng, blocking most of the sunlight behind him. He rubbed his ears awkwardly. The school tough who had always been so imposing outside now had ears flushed bright red.
“Ahem... I'm here to fulfill my promise,” Zhou Huai'an said in a low voice.
Xia Zhifeng turned around and leaned back against the railing, one palm braced beside her. She looked at him with a bright smile. “Well, Young Master Zhou, ranked eighty-eighth in the grade, you did very well. You can tell me now, right? What exactly was that ‘term’ you mentioned before?”
Looking into her eyes, clearer and more radiant than the stars, Zhou Huai'an's heart began pounding wildly, as if it were about to burst from his chest.
He took a large step forward, closing the distance between them until they were nearly close enough to feel each other's warm breath.
The usual smugness and concealment had vanished from the boy's eyes. In their place was unprecedented tenderness, seriousness, and the determined resolve of someone staking everything on one chance.
Zhou Huai'an extended his long fingers and gently, tentatively, caught the left cuff of her school uniform. His voice was low and soft, yet every word landed with weight.
“Xia Zhifeng, I made it into the top one hundred.”
“Mm, I know.”
“So... my term is—”
The boy drew a deep breath and stared fixedly into her eyes. His voice carried a hint of barely perceptible tremor and domineering possessiveness.
“From now on, you're responsible for my youth and my future... all the way to the end. You can't change team leaders, you can't tutor anyone else, and you can't give even a little of the way you look at me to anyone else.”
He paused. His eyes reddened slightly, and his voice revealed a persistence that came straight from his heart.
“Xia Zhifeng, in this life... I've chosen only you.”
The wind seemed to stop in that moment.
The sunset on the horizon quietly unfurled behind them like a breathtaking painting.
Xia Zhifeng looked at the boy standing before her, his eyes filled entirely with her as he laid his whole heart bare before her without reservation. Warm tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes, but her lips blossomed into a smile so sweet and radiant it seemed to contain all the sweetness in the world.
After her rebirth, she had crossed the distance of time and its regrets. At last, in this golden seventeenth year, she had completely saved her boy.
Xia Zhifeng did not pull away. Instead, she extended her warm palm, slid it down from his cuff, and took Zhou Huai'an's slightly stiff fingers in her hand, interlocking all five of her fingers with his.
She lifted her head and looked into the boy's eyes, her voice gentle.
“All right, Zhou Huai'an. You said it yourself. I'll be responsible for you to the end—and I won't change my mind for the rest of my life.”
Zhou Huai'an's entire body jolted. Then the corners of his mouth shot up in wild delight! He tightened his grip around Xia Zhifeng's hand, feeling the warmth in her palm. Lowering his head, the boy began to laugh, his smile utterly satisfied and radiant.