Chapter 29: Hoping to Break the Ice Between Him and Lu Liu…

On the afternoon of June 6th, Lin Zhi went to Yao Wenjing’s house with an important mission in mind.

He hadn’t given Yao Wenjing a heads-up in advance, so when Yao Wenjing opened the door and saw him, he was completely shocked.

“Xiao Zhi!” Yao Wenjing’s eyes widened, and he stood frozen in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“Let me in first,” Lin Zhi’s hair was stuck to his forehead, and he waved his cap in his hand, “It’s so hot!”

“Oh!” Yao Wenjing hurriedly stepped aside and opened the door wide for Lin Zhi to come in, then shut it behind him.

On the yellowing tea table lay a problem-solving workbook, Yao Wenjing had been studying here earlier.

“The exam’s tomorrow,” Lin Zhi casually flipped through the pages. “You can still study now?”

“What if I end up getting a similar question in the exam?” Yao Wenjing turned on an old fan next to the sofa and adjusted it to blow directly at Lin Zhi’s face.

“Ah,” Lin Zhi’s hair stood on end as the fan blew it backward, and he leaned in closer. “Feels good! You’ve got this thing, huh?”

“I sneaked it out of my dad’s room at noon.”

“A broken fan, and you’re the only one using it,” Lin Zhi scoffed. “Your dad’s so selfish.”

Yao Wenjing smiled helplessly and said, “It really is a broken fan, the ‘creak, creak’ noise kept me from focusing on studying, so I turned it off after a while.”

The room wasn’t too hot at the moment, and the heat on Lin Zhi’s body was quickly blown away. He leaned back and sat on the sofa. “Alright, you’d better return it to your dad before he sees it and makes a fuss.”

“It’s fine,” Yao Wenjing said, “My dad didn’t come home last night.”

“Really?” Lin Zhi raised an eyebrow, and his bad premonition grew stronger.

The last time he and Yao Wenjing were in contact in the previous life was today. At that time, Yao Wenjing hadn’t shown any signs of abnormality. The day before, they had wished each other good luck, and then Lin Zhi lost contact with Yao Wenjing.

At first, for the next two days, Lin Zhi thought Yao Wenjing had turned off his phone to avoid being disturbed during the exams. But after the exams, when he called Yao Wenjing again, it still didn’t go through, and when he went to his house, no one was there. He had to find one of Yao Wenjing’s roommates through other means to inquire.

It wasn’t until their class’s graduation gathering that Lin Zhi received a reply from one of Yao Wenjing’s roommates, stating that Yao Wenjing hadn’t even attended the exams, and the class teacher couldn’t get in touch with him or his guardian.

Lin Zhi realized how serious the situation was and left the graduation gathering midway. After several days of not being able to contact Yao Wenjing, he reported it to the police, but they couldn’t find either Yao Wenjing or his father in J City.

A while later, when Lin Zhi went to Yao Wenjing’s house again, it had already been rented out to other tenants, and the landlord who signed the contract wasn’t named Yao.

As he thought about this, Lin Zhi furrowed his brows, clenched his teeth, and said, “Xiao Jing, you should stay at my place for the next few days.”

At this point, Lin Zhi had no way of knowing what had happened to Yao Wenjing during the college entrance exams in his past life, especially since he hadn’t even gone to take the exams. He only hoped that nothing like that would happen again this time. Keeping Yao Wenjing close to him seemed like the safest option.

“Ah?” Yao Wenjing looked confused. “Why?”

“Because…” Lin Zhi thought about what reason would be most convincing.

“Are you really that anxious?” Yao Wenjing came up with an excuse for him.

“Yes!” Lin Zhi nodded emphatically. “I’m so nervous. Would you stay with me? Please?”

“Will it help if I go?” Yao Wenjing was doubtful.

“Of course it will,” Lin Zhi exaggerated, “Just talking to me will help calm me down.”

Yao Wenjing hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. “Alright, I’ll pack my things and go back with you in a bit.”

“Not later, right now,” Lin Zhi urged. “Take the workbook to my house, what else do you need to pack? I’ll help you.”

“…” Yao Wenjing was pushed into the room by Lin Zhi, confused as he asked, “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Because I’m really in a hurry,” Lin Zhi, feeling uneasy, stammered, “I’m so nervous. The sooner you’re at my house, the more at ease I’ll be.”

Fortunately, Yao Wenjing had already packed the necessary documents and study materials for the exam in a transparent bag. There wasn’t much left to pack, so in about ten minutes, Yao Wenjing, still a bit dazed, locked the door under Lin Zhi’s urging. The two of them then went downstairs and headed for Lin Zhi’s house.

Just as Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing were leaving the neighborhood, three middle-aged men approached from the opposite direction, following an address on their phones as they entered the neighborhood, speaking in foul language.

Lin Qingye didn’t ask much about Yao Wenjing’s arrival and silently prepared an extra set of things for Lin Zhi.

Later that day, Lin Zhi, finding various ways to “convince” Yao Wenjing, managed to get him to turn off their phones, cutting off any source of bad news.

The next day, Lin Qingye borrowed a car to take them both to their respective exam centers in the morning. At noon, he brought lunch prepared by Aunt Li downstairs to ensure they were eating healthy, and in the afternoon, after the exams, he picked them up and took them home.

This solved all the problems for Lin Zhi and Yao Wenjing, except for the exams.

Thus, after two days, the college entrance exams, which had caused countless senior high students and parents to feel both nervous and hopeful, were finally completed with the setting sun on the afternoon of June 8th.

“Finally finished!” Lin Zhi shouted as he got in the car. “I’m finally free—”

Yao Wenjing’s exam center was closer, so he got into the car first. He leaned against the car window with a smile, adding, “The college entrance exam, which I thought was so far away, is over before I even had time to feel anything.”

“Yeah,” Lin Zhi agreed, “The last two days felt like they went by so fast.”

“Don’t think about it anymore,” Lin Qingye, driving, said. “Don’t worry about how the exams went. You two should relax for a few days.”

“Definitely!” Lin Zhi laughed.

“Mm,” Yao Wenjing, much more reserved than Lin Zhi, said, “Thank you, Uncle. Sorry for troubling you these past few days.”

“It’s no trouble,” Lin Qingye said, turning at a traffic light. “You’re much easier to take care of than Lin Zhi. Come on, I’ll treat you both to a nice meal.”

Many families in J City were preparing for a big meal that night. By the time they finished, it was late, but not too late, and Yao Wenjing seemed to be at the point where it was time to return home.

“Stay another night,” Lin Zhi said, still uneasy. “I’ll take you back tomorrow.”

“No need,” Yao Wenjing said. “I’m not a child. The exams are over, you don’t have to be so nervous.”

“I…” Lin Zhi paused and then said, “I’m too excited right now after finishing the exams. It’s better to have someone to talk to.”

“You can talk to Uncle.”

“No way,” Lin Zhi’s reason was solid, “My dad’s health isn’t good, he can’t stay up late. I’m staying up tonight.”

In the end, Yao Wenjing didn’t leave and ended up playing games with Lin Zhi for half the night.

When they powered up their phones, Lin Zhi kept a close eye on Yao Wenjing’s phone screen, worried that a blackmail call or a threatening text might pop up.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm. Yao Wenjing’s phone was calm, with nothing on it. Yao Kangping hadn’t sent him any messages, probably forgetting he even had a son who just finished the college entrance exam.

On the other hand, Lin Zhi’s phone was full of unread messages, especially in the class group chat.

A lot of students in Lin Zhi’s class didn’t live in downtown J City, so they decided to hold the graduation gathering the day after the exams so that people who lived farther away wouldn’t have to make another trip.

The class group was discussing this, and finally, the class president, Lu Liu, took a headcount to decide on the gathering location.

After seeing the messages, Lin Zhi sent a private message to Lu Liu, telling him he would attend the gathering tomorrow.

Since the day before the holiday, when Lu Liu had seen the notes in Lin Zhi’s notebook, the two hadn’t been in contact.

On June 6th, Lin Zhi had intended to send Lu Liu a message wishing him good luck for the exams, but after composing the message, he never sent it.

This gathering was a chance, he thought. He hoped it would break the subtle and awkward tension between him and Lu Liu.