Chu Xia put the envelope away, her smile never fading.

Cen Zhengnian, who had been watching them with a smile, reached out to ruffle Cen Huai’an’s hair. “An An, your mom and I are very happy.”

Cen Huai’an was also pleased.

Taking the envelope back to his bedroom, Chu Xia looked at it with an unbroken smile. “So much money. An An gave it to me without hesitation. I still can’t calm down.”

Cen Zhengnian said, “In the future, An An will give you even more money. You’ll need to get used to it.”

Chu Xia replied, “The first time is different from the rest. When I buy the courtyard house, I’ll let An An know. He’ll be very happy.”

Cen Zhengnian adjusted her hair and said, “Use my money too.”

Chu Xia gave him a look. “What money of yours? Didn’t you give all your allowances to me?”

“Yes,” Cen Zhengnian chuckled, “it’s all your money.”

After participating in the “Hongsheng Cup” competition, Cen Huai’an focused on studying at school and didn’t attend the other Go competitions.

Little did he know, every competition after that, Ruan Luoyao participated as well, even hoping to encounter Cen Huai’an on the field.

However, each time she was disappointed, as she didn’t run into the boy who had defeated her twice in a row.

At this moment, Cen Huai’an was facing his first midterm exam of high school.

The exam spanned three days, with ample time allocated for revision in between.

However, Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu both reviewed regularly during their study time, so they only needed to briefly skim their books before the exam.

Subjects like math, physics, and chemistry were such that no matter how much one reviewed, if the basics weren’t strong, it wouldn’t help much during the exam.

By late November, close to December, the weather was already quite cold.

Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu had both put on thin jackets, although it wasn’t yet time for heavier clothing.

At noon, the two went to Yunmengze for a meal.

Their faces and hands were red from the cold.

Zhang Lu rubbed his hands together and said, “I need to bring my gloves and hat back to school this week. It’s too cold every time I go to my uncle’s place.”

Getting a taste of good food was not easy for him.

Cen Huai’an agreed.

Having experienced cold hands and face as a child, he knew how easy it was to get frostbite without proper protection.

In the afternoon, they had their math exam.

Cen Huai’an finished his exam quickly; within forty minutes, he had completed and even checked his paper twice.

Confident there were no issues, he handed in his paper and left the exam room.

The campus was deserted, with everyone still in the exam room.

Cen Huai’an took a walk around the campus and then returned to his dormitory, where their class was also an exam room.

He had barely lain down on his bed when the dormitory door was knocked. “An An! An An!”

Cen Huai’an looked curiously toward the door. “Sister Lu lu?”

“It’s me, open the door quickly!”

“The door isn’t locked.”

Dormitory doors are only locked when everyone leaves or when it’s bedtime.

Zhang Lu pushed the door open, followed by Tang Song.

Seeing Cen Huai’an, Zhang Lu immediately smiled and said, “I knew you’d finish early.”

“The exam was not difficult.”

Zhang Lu nodded in agreement.

Cen Huai’an got up from his bed and asked Zhang Lu if there was a specific reason for coming to the boys’ dormitory.

Speaking of this, Cen Huai’an was curious, “How did the dormitory manager allow you to come in?”

“Hehe.” Zhang Lu patted Tang Song beside him. “He was my cover. I sneaked in. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have found you. I do have a reason for finding you. Want to eat baked sweet potatoes?”

Cen Huai’an remained calm. “Our school doesn’t sell them.”

Although eating baked sweet potatoes on such a day was pleasant—Cen Huai’an often enjoyed them with his parents at home during winter.

“There are vendors outside the school!”

Cen Huai’an looked at Zhang Lu, his eyes questioning if his guess was correct.

When Zhang Lu led him to a nearby wall, Cen Huai’an confirmed his suspicion.

“This wall is quite high,” Cen Huai’an said, looking at it.

Zhang Lu waved her hand nonchalantly. “For us, it’s a piece of cake. Stretch out your hands.”

Cen Huai’an looked at her, and Zhang Lu urged him, “Hurry up. Do you want baked sweet potatoes or not?”

Cen Huai’an extended his hands, crossing them forward.

Zhang Lu took a running jump, stepped on Cen Huai’an’s hands, and with his help, quickly climbed to the top of the wall.

Tang Song’s pupils widened.

He knew Zhang Lu practiced martial arts, but only now did he truly feel the difference in physical ability between martial artists and ordinary people.

He couldn’t climb a wall as smoothly and powerfully as Zhang Lu did.

“You go first,” Cen Huai’an said, pulling Tang Song back to reality.

Tang Song did as instructed, using Cen Huai’an’s support to climb up with Zhang Lu’s help.

Cen Huai’an patted his hands, took a few steps back, ran, placed his foot on the wall, and climbed up with Zhang Lu and Tang Song’s help.

The three successfully scaled the wall and sneaked out of the school.

Not far from the school gate, there was a vendor selling baked sweet potatoes.

After school, students would flock there to buy them.

The three of them bought baked sweet potatoes and stood by the roadside, eating and enduring the heat, thoroughly enjoying the delicious treat.

Baked sweet potatoes bought after climbing the wall tasted even better than usual.

Zhang Lu ate one and then bought a candied hawthorn, while Cen Huai’an and Tang Song followed suit.

Being adolescents in their growth phase, they weren’t worried about overeating.

After they had eaten and drank their fill, they checked the time and saw that the math exam would soon be ending.

They returned to the wall where they had climbed out and climbed back up in the same order.

As soon as Cen Huai’an climbed up, he heard a stern, familiar male voice: “Those three! What are you doing?”

Zhang Lu, Cen Huai’an, and Tang Song exchanged glances and jumped down from the wall.

“Run!”

The three immediately split up and fled in different directions.

“You three really have some nerve! Where do you think you’re running? Can a monk escape the temple?”

Teacher Jiang looked at the three of them with a half-smile, half-serious expression.

Sitting in his chair, it was hard to tell if he was truly angry, but an inexplicable sense of unease filled the air.

Cen Huai’an and the others lowered their heads, standing before Teacher Jiang like obedient little kittens, completely unlike the students who had just jumped the wall, been spotted escaping, and caught by the teacher.

“Zhang Lu, as the class monitor(president), can you recite the student code?”

Zhang Lu cautiously looked up at the class teacher. “The first rule of the student code…”

“Stop.” Teacher Jiang interrupted her. “Since you remember the student code, did you forget that it forbids students from jumping the wall during class time?”

Zhang Lu shook her head. “Teacher, we didn’t jump the wall during class. We went out after finishing the exam.”

“Isn’t an exam part of class?” Teacher Jiang shot her a glare.

Zhang Lu nodded confidently. “No, it’s an exam.”

Teacher Jiang was so exasperated that the smile on his face nearly faded. “Zhang Lu, shut your mouth! If you say one more word, your punishment doubles!”

Zhang Lu immediately closed her mouth tightly.

Teacher Jiang turned to Cen Huai’an and Tang Song, his expression one of disappointment. “I thought you two were more sensible students in class, but what a surprise! Especially you, Cen Huai’an—since you have a study permit, where can’t you go? Why did you have to climb the wall and sneak out?”

Cen Huai’an replied honestly, “To buy roasted sweet potatoes.”

Teacher Jiang was speechless for a moment, looking at these students, one more talented than the last.

After several deep breaths, he managed to calm his emotions and looked at the three students still standing before him with obedient expressions. “You will each write a thousand-word reflection and read it in front of the whole school during the flag-raising ceremony. If you hadn’t run away, you could have just reflected in class, but this is the consequence of your evasion! Furthermore, from now on, after class, you three will patrol the area by the school wall. You can end your patrol only when you catch the next person trying to climb the wall.”

Cen Huai’an asked, “Teacher, can I write two thousand words and skip the patrol?”

Zhang Lu added, “Teacher, I can patrol indefinitely; can I skip the reflection?”

They both spoke simultaneously, and Teacher Jiang snorted, “No way.”

Cen Huai’an and Zhang Lu exchanged glances, obediently accepting their punishment as they left Teacher Jiang’s office.

Tang Song was about to say something, but Zhang Lu grabbed Cen Huai’an’s arm. “I’ll help you patrol if you help me write the reflection.”

“Deal.” Cen Huai’an agreed without hesitation.

Tang Song shut his mouth.

During the class period, Cen Huai’an finished both his and Zhang Lu’s reflections, each in a distinct style.

As soon as the bell rang, Zhang Lu dragged Tang Song to the school wall, confidently striding along as if she were the dean.

When she spotted students approaching, she shouted, “Hey, you there! Step away from the school wall! Otherwise, you’ll be caught trying to skip class!”

The students nearby saw Zhang Lu’s red armband and fled like rabbits.

As ten minutes passed, they hadn’t caught anyone.

“Should I have reminded them?” Zhang Lu pondered aloud to Tang Song.

Tang Song nodded. “Once you remind them, no one will try to climb the wall.”

Zhang Lu waved her hand dismissively. “Forget it, I can’t help being this kind-hearted.”

Tang Song looked at her, suppressing a smile. He knew Zhang Lu enjoyed patrolling and catching people, which was why she wasn’t too eager to catch anyone.

Every class period, Zhang Lu and Tang Song would patrol, and when the class bell rang, they would excitedly rush back in, turning their patrol into a fun game rather than a punishment.

Cen Huai’an had learned about the essay on “Chrysanthemums” assigned by the Chinese teacher.

He fiddled with the chrysanthemums Zhang Lu had brought from Yunmengze, their orange petals flaring open as if shouting, “Look at me! Look at me!”

After observing the flowers for a moment, he returned to his seat to write the essay. Shortly after he left, Tang Song approached with a watering can, giving the chrysanthemums a drink.

On the following Monday morning, which was the scheduled flag-raising ceremony, after the ceremony, there would be speeches from the leaders and students who had made mistakes would go on stage to reflect.

Unlike other students who covered their faces, fearing recognition for their mistakes, Cen Huai’an, Zhang Lu, and Tang Song stood on stage as if they were receiving an award.

“I’ve never read a reflection in front of the whole school before; this feels quite special,” Zhang Lu remarked as she held her reflection, her eyes fixed downward, wishing she could hide her face like the other students who had erred.

Cen Huai’an turned to her. “Sis, we’re here to reflect, not to have fun.”

“I know! I will make a very profound reflection,” Zhang Lu replied.

Cen Huai’an felt even less reassured.

Next up was Zhang Lu.

With her head held high and a smile on her face, she stepped forward.

“Hello, fellow students. I’m Zhang Lu from Class 1 of Year 1. Today, I need to reflect on a very serious mistake I made last week—jumping the wall to go out. The cause was simply a sweet roasted sweet potato. Its aroma was everywhere, enticing me wildly outside the campus…”

Her reflection, which was supposed to be a thousand words, turned into eight hundred about how delicious roasted sweet potatoes were.

The students below were salivating, while Teacher Jiang nearly burst out from the crowd to pull her off the stage.

Finally, Zhang Lu wrapped up her description of the sweet potato’s deliciousness.

“In conclusion, no matter how delicious roasted sweet potatoes are, we should wait until after school to eat them. We absolutely cannot jump the wall to buy them. I have deeply recognized my mistake, and I hope everyone can learn from my experience and avoid making similar mistakes.”

Cen Huai’an buried his face in his hands, knowing his reflection was nothing like hers.

Other than the opening and closing lines, everything in between was completely different.

Tang Song watched Zhang Lu, unable to hide the amusement in his eyes.

After Zhang Lu finished, she was taken away by Teacher Jiang, and next it was Cen Huai’an’s turn.

He read his reflection like a speech, quoting texts and making references, exuding confidence and poise.

What was supposed to be a reflection ended up sounding like an outstanding exemplary essay, leaving the students below stunned.

“Is he really reflecting, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, he’s amazing! My essays can’t even compare to his reflection!”