Chapter 18: End of Monthly Exam and Start of Holiday

After the exam, Lin Yumo packed her things and returned to the classroom.

When she pushed open the classroom door with her stationery bag in her arms, she saw that the desks which had been moved into the hallway that morning were already neatly back in place.

Her gaze passed over the noisy crowd and landed on Wang Changyu, who was arranging books beside the podium.

The hem of his uniform shirt still had chalk dust on it. When he noticed her looking, he pushed up the silver rims of his glasses and gave her a small smile and a nod.

Lin Yumo’s eyes curved as she smiled back in thanks—only to be suddenly yanked forward by a strong force into someone’s arms.

“Little Jasmine! I’m going to cry!”

Song Xingran’s ponytail brushed against Lin Yumo’s chin.

“I didn’t even finish writing the equations for the last math problem, and for that English reading question—should I have picked D or not?”

The girl’s eyes brimmed with tears, like a small animal caught in the rain.

Lin Yumo patted her back to comfort her, catching sight in her peripheral vision of the boys at the back of the room huddled together, loudly sketching force diagrams for the physics questions on scratch paper—so loud it was as if they were going to blow the roof off.

“Quiet, everyone!”

Mr. Zhang rapped the blackboard eraser on the podium, producing a sharp thock.

His gaze swept over the faces below, each one looking as if they were bearing some great grievance, before he suddenly chuckled.

“I know you all want to complain—the exam was set by the Grade 12 prep team. They said they wanted to give you a ‘surprise.’”

Before he could finish, the room erupted in groans—only to fall silent again when the teacher continued: “But here’s the good news—”

“The results will be sent to your parents during the National Day holiday!”

“Aaah—!” The collective scream was so loud it made the classroom windows rattle.

Lin Yumo saw Song Xingran’s face turn pale instantly and quietly took her cold hand in hers.

But then Mr. Zhang suddenly added, “I’m teasing you! That’s not the good news… though the bad news is that the results will be sent to your parents during the holiday.”

He waved his phone in the air. On the screen, the bold title “Fall Sports Day Registration Form” was clearly visible.

“The good news is—the sports day is coming up! After the break, find Zhang Su to register. If you want to win a prize, you’d better start sneaking in practice now!”

The cheers almost blew the roof off. Song Xingran leapt to her feet, her ponytail swishing across Lin Yumo’s nose.
“Little Jasmine, let’s sign up for jump rope! I won the junior high division championship once!”

Her eyes sparkled like they were dotted with stars, her earlier gloom gone without a trace. “Oh, and I’m going to City C for the holiday—they say there’s so much good food there—”

Lin Yumo gazed out the window at the sun sinking in the west, listening to Song Xingran chatter away about her holiday plans.

At that moment, Mr. Zhang continued, giving a few heartfelt reminders about safety during the holiday. When the school bell rang, he waved a hand and declared, “Alright, everyone—you’re dismissed for the holiday!”

“Yay!”

Lin Yumo began packing her things to head home.

---

The fingerprint lock beeped softly in the entryway. As soon as she stepped inside, the cool breeze from the air conditioning wrapped around her, chasing away the lingering outdoor heat. Lin Yumo slipped off her shoes.

On the dining table, a celadon bowl still steamed with jasmine honey tea. Lin’s mother set down a plate of chilled tomato salad.

“Tired out from the monthly exam? Aunt Wu made your favorite sweet and sour ribs today. Go rest in your room for a bit—we’ll eat in a while.”

Lin Yumo smiled faintly and nodded, heading toward her room.

Outside, the sunlight was still fierce, scattering dappled patches of light through the leaves.

She frowned slightly. In this heat, it felt like being trapped inside a furnace, and during the National Day holiday, everywhere would be crowded. Traveling would be nothing but trouble.

The crisp clink of a porcelain spoon sounded as Lin Yumo picked up a rib.

When she heard her mother bring up the idea of a trip, Lin Yumo’s hand suddenly paused mid-movement.

“Let’s just stay home,” she set down her chopsticks. “There’ll be fewer people during the winter or summer holidays, we can take our time then.”

Her mother listened, smiled, and nodded in understanding, her eyes full of love.
“Alright, Little Jasmine, it’s up to you. Just let me know if you need anything from me.”

Lin Yumo responded sweetly, “Okay.”

After dinner, she drank a cup of warm tea to soothe her throat.

Back in her room, she sat at her desk under the soft, warm light of her lamp.

Opening an empty notebook, she let the tip of her pen hover over the page, hesitating before it touched down. She began to seriously think about her plans for the National Day holiday.

Outside, the night gradually settled in, and the lights of the city flickered on one by one like a scattering of stars.

Looking out the window, she came to a decision.

She would go to the library. There was one right near the school—quiet and comfortable, the perfect place to study.

The exam had made her deeply aware that physics and chemistry were her weak spots.

Unlike liberal arts subjects, these couldn’t be conquered by memory alone—especially physics, with its tangled mess of formulas and principles.

Chemistry was slightly better, but still had plenty of tough problems that made her head ache.

Biting her lip, her eyes took on a determined glint.

She decided to use the seven-day holiday: the first six days for intense study at the library to patch her weaknesses, and the last day for a complete break and relaxation.

Tonight, right after the exam, she planned to unwind with a movie.

Turning on the projector, she picked a favorite English film, curled up in her chair, and immersed herself in the plot.

The scenes on the screen were vivid, the actors’ performances lifelike, and bit by bit, she forgot the stress and worries of studying.

But halfway through, her phone suddenly chimed—ding-dong.

The cold glow of the screen lit the slight furrow in her brow. When she opened the photo sent by Song Xingran, her breath caught for a moment—

In the picture, Chi Ling was like an unsheathed sword cutting through the twilight.

The black cotton T-shirt was molded by the wind to his lean frame. As he leapt, the hem of his shirt lifted, revealing a strip of skin at his waist, smooth and pale as jade.

The sunlight hit from the side, outlining the tense lines of his abs as if sculpted. Beads of sweat slid along the grooves of his muscles, disappearing into the shadow of his waistband.

His arm stretched into a perfect shooting arc; his jawline was taut with exertion. A drop of sweat glistened on his Adam’s apple, catching the light and standing out in his upturned posture.

Most arresting of all were his eyes—still as clear as glacial ice even through the camera lens, yet lit with a smoldering heat from the exertion.

Her fingertips hovered above the screen. The jasmine pattern on her left arm suddenly grew warm.

In the corner of the photo, the basketball hoop cast a slanted shadow, neatly dividing Chi Ling’s profile into light and dark—just like that moment in the cafeteria when he’d stood in the dusk, looking at her.

【Ssshhhhaa】 read the message in the chat, followed by an exaggerated drooling emoji.

Lin Yumo’s lashes trembled, casting a small shadow on the bridge of her nose.

She pressed her lips together, letting out a barely audible sigh, thinking that her best friend must be the reincarnation of an obsessed fangirl—how else could she manage to get such a perfect, stolen shot?

More messages popped up from Song Xingran:
【I knew it! I’ve been a virtuous vegetarian all my life, so this midnight blessing is exactly what I deserve.】

【I have to share my god with you—if I get to eat meat, I’ll at least let you drink some soup. But the other photos? Not giving those to you. I’m off to drool over my screen now, bye!】

When she read the phrase “eat meat, drink soup,” the tips of her ears suddenly grew hot. She quickly flipped her phone face-down on the desk.

The movie dialogue became meaningless background noise. All she could think about was the fleeting glimpse of Chi Ling’s waistline beneath his shirt as he leapt.

By the time she came back to herself, that photo was already tucked away in her hidden album, sitting neatly alongside the ones she had saved before.