Chapter 44: The Sound of Your Heartbeat is So Loud

“You’re heartbeat is so loud,” Jiang Mingzhi mumbled, her head buried in Guan Jingxu’s chest.

The boy’s chest vibrated. “Did it bother you?”

Heaven knows, he had been trying his best to control his heartbeat to keep it from racing too fast.

Jiang Mingzhi let out a light laugh and pulled away from him. “What would you do if I said it bothered me?”

She patted his not-yet-muscular chest. “Alright, really, thank you so much today.”

Guan Jingxu’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his amber eyes were filled with sincerity. “I’m happy I could help.”

The two of them came down from the complex building, where Meng Yuanyuan and Zhuang Heyang were searching for them everywhere.

As soon as Meng Yuanyuan saw Jiang Mingzhi, she ran over to her, looking her up and down. “Where did you go? I heard you had a fight with Pei Jinyang earlier. Are you alright?”

“It’s fine, he couldn’t argue with me. Don’t worry.”

Meng Yuanyuan: “…”

Was she concerned about whether or not he could argue with her?

Zhuang Heyang bumped his shoulder against Guan Jingxu’s, laughing mischievously. “Good job, bro.”

He had heard the rumors—Guan Jingxu was fiercely protective of Jiang Mingzhi.

Tsk, tsk, it made people’s teeth ache. It was so sweet.

“Hey, why are your ears so red?”

Guan Jingxu instinctively touched his ears. He hadn’t noticed before, but now that Zhuang Heyang mentioned it, it felt like his ears were on fire.

“Got bitten by a bug.”

Zhuang Heyang: “Mhm, there are plenty of bugs around this season.”

That day, Jiang Mingzhi took a bus home alone. Pei Jinyang had said in WeChat that he wasn’t at school anymore.

The chat window was filled with his one-sided messages, but Jiang Mingzhi didn’t respond with a single symbol.

Sometimes she didn’t even bother to check, sometimes she glanced at them.

On the last day of the school sports meet, none of them had events in the morning, and by the time Jiang Mingzhi arrived at school, the competitions were already underway.

She found Meng Yuanyuan and waved the camera she had brought with her. “I brought my camera. Let’s take some photos.”

You have to capture memories of youth.

Even if you smile so much your eyes disappear, even if your features are squished together in your smile, when you look back, you’ll only think, “This is youth.”

The school had plenty of spots perfect for photos, each one a potential backdrop for a campus photo shoot.

At first, Jiang Mingzhi was just helping Meng Yuanyuan take pictures on the sports field, but somehow, her camera ended up capturing more and more of her classmates’ smiling faces.

Other girls had brought Polaroid cameras, and the classmates who didn’t have events gathered around. The group photos slowly brought them closer together.

Jiang Mingzhi was busy taking photos for her classmates, as well as taking photos with them.

She didn’t notice that in the distance, a phone had been recording her the entire time—her smiling face, her profile, and her back were all being captured.

“Let’s go to the stairs of the experimental building. It looks great for photos there.”

A large group of boys gathered and followed her.

Jiang Mingzhi stood on the right side of the stairs, and the boys stood in a line, unevenly, but in perfect harmony.

White school uniforms, budding green leaves, and the vibrant sunlight gave off the essence of youth.

Yang Hui waved at her from above. “Jiang, come up here! Stop always taking pictures of us. Let me take a few of you too.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Jiang Mingzhi was about to lift her foot to climb when Yang Hui had already snapped a few pictures.

As she stepped up the stairs, a pair of white sneakers and long legs came into view. Jiang Mingzhi looked up and met Guan Jingxu’s eyes. They smiled at each other, a unique tacit understanding passing between them.

Guan Jingxu’s mind flashed with a poem: “A rosy face with two red dimples, a smile as sweet as the spring breeze.”

“Unbelievable!” Yang Hui shouted while taking photos.

Jiang Mingzhi checked the camera, reviewing the pictures. In the clear frames, the boy stood on the higher step, gazing down at the girl who was smiling up at him.

One had long, gentle eyelashes, and the other’s smile was radiant and free-spirited.

Yang Hui shouted from the side, “Wow, I never realized I have a talent for photography. I’ll be a photographer from now on.”

A girl beside him sneered. “Pfft, it’s because the model’s great. No matter how you shoot, the pictures will turn out well. Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Exactly. Guan Jingxu and Jiang Mingzhi have such great chemistry. Just standing there together gives off a strong CP vibe.”

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Spring turned to summer. Whether it was sunny or rainy, the days passed by in flashes, with the sun rising and setting day after day.

The final exams arrived as expected, and this time it was a joint exam with three schools.

The exams disrupted the class for three days, and after two days off, everyone returned to school. The teacher went over the test papers and assigned homework for the summer, officially ending the semester.

Everyone looked relaxed, making plans for where they’d travel or what summer camp they’d attend.

But there was no smile on Guan Jingxu’s face.

Summer break meant he wouldn’t see Jiang Mingzhi for two months.

No, they would start school a week earlier, meaning they wouldn’t see each other for 40 days.

Jiang Mingzhi wasn’t excited for the upcoming break either. She felt uneasy because the results of this exam would determine whether or not she could skip a grade.

If she didn’t do well, she’d have to repeat the grade when school started again!

During the exam, she was terrified of missing a mark or filling in the wrong bubble, checking multiple times.

The physics and chemistry papers were handed out first in the morning. The teacher called each name individually.

Guan Jingxu was the first to receive his, which meant he had the highest score in physics for the class. Jiang Mingzhi was the 11th to get hers.

She glanced at the score: 88.

Out of 100, it was within her expected range.

Next were biology with 94 and chemistry with 86, both as expected, though a few extra points after grading were a nice surprise.

In the afternoon, the math papers were graded.

The full score was 150, and she got 121.5. The test wasn’t difficult, but this score wasn’t considered outstanding in the science class, and there was room for improvement.

The next day, the English results came in at 134, and the biggest surprise for Jiang Mingzhi was her Chinese score. She came second in the class, with a perfect score on the essay.

The Chinese teacher read her essay aloud before giving feedback.

“Jiang Mingzhi’s writing has spirit. You can tell she is expressing heartfelt insights, and her foundation is solid, not just using idioms in a forced way.”

Guan Jingxu lightly tapped her back from behind, genuinely praising her: “Well done, Jiang.”

With a total of 651 points, Jiang Mingzhi was satisfied, though she still had a gap to reach her goal. But she had one more year to improve.

After all the subject papers were reviewed, everyone was handed a huge stack of summer homework.

But no amount of homework could dampen the excitement for the coming summer.

One by one, students eagerly threw on their backpacks and rushed out of the classroom.

Jiang Mingzhi packed her bag at a leisurely pace, feeling a nudge on her right shoulder. Turning, she saw that Guan Jingxu hadn’t left yet.

“What’s up?”

Guan Jingxu asked, “What are your plans for the summer holiday?”