Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 20 - 19 Control Results (Extra update for clinching the bestseller list title)

Chapter 20: Chapter 19 Control Results (Extra update for clinching the bestseller list title)

"I didn’t even know my mom had talked to you. How did you confirm it with me?" Qi Yi knew his memory couldn’t possibly be mistaken about something like this.

"Anyway, you mentioned a long time ago that you wanted to major in mathematics in college.

I remember asking you back then if you were considering Qinghua.

You said, between Peking University and Qinghua, if you had to choose one, you’d choose Peking University.

I always thought Qinghua’s engineering and science programs were stronger than Peking University’s, and someone as academically gifted as you would definitely choose Qinghua.

So, when your mom told me that you were set on Peking University from the start, I thought that couldn’t have been your true intention.

I should have asked you about it.

But your answer to me that day was that Qinghua’s traditional strength lay in engineering, whereas for arts and sciences, Peking University had a deeper heritage.

You also said that mathematics falls under pure science, and comparing Peking University and Qinghua, the former is in no way inferior.

See, I remember every single word you said very clearly," Yan Yan had always thought she had asked Qi Yi.

"But those words of mine were just a simple comparison of the mathematics departments of the two universities. Which one said I wanted to go to Peking University?" Qi Yi couldn’t comprehend Yan Yan’s logic at all.

"Every single one, if you didn’t want to go, how could you know so much about the background of both mathematics departments?" Yan Yan asked, puzzled.

"Then don’t you know that the institution I researched most seriously was Zhu Kezhen College at Zhejiang University?" Qi Yi asked Yan Yan.

"That was just to accommodate me, the ’underachiever’, wasn’t it? With my grades not as good as yours, neither Peking University nor Qinghua - I wouldn’t be able to get into either?" Yan Yan recalled before they broke up, Qi Yi had said he planned to attend the same university as her.

"Of course, I hoped we could go to the same university.

But at Zhu Kezhen College at Zhejiang University, you could study mathematics as if in a mathematics department, and physics as in a physics department.

If you find something you like, or feel Zhu Kezhen College is not the right fit, you’re free to choose any major you like within the entire university.

No matter how much you understand, without being there, nobody knows what college life is really like, or where their true interests lie.

At the time, I genuinely thought Zhu Kezhen College at Zhejiang University was the right fit for me.

Plus, if you remember every word I said very clearly, don’t you remember when I also said ’I don’t care about Peking University, I only care about you’?" Qi Yi’s question took on an accusatory tone at the end; he was genuinely a little angry at Yan Yan’s presumptuousness back then.

"Speaking of which, I feel even more guilty. Back then, you gave up the debate team, forfeited the opportunity for a guaranteed spot at Peking University because of me." At this moment, Yan Yan was still somewhat out of sync with Qi Yi.

"Is your guilt made out of tofu?

How many among our school’s nearly 700-point scorers were willing to be recommended?

Those recommended are usually for the relatively less popular majors at Peking University and Qinghua, where’s the freedom you get from being accepted on your own merits?

Even with a recommendation, plenty end up forfeiting it.

In our class, Chen Jian wanted a recommendation but didn’t get it; your ’little brother’ Jiao Zhifei got it in the end but also gave it up, didn’t he?"

Qi Yi replied, a bit vexed.

Yan Yan didn’t know why Qi Yi compared her guilt to tofu - was it because it was too cheap, or too commonplace?

"But in the end, you went to Peking University," Yan Yan said, uncertain of her own feelings now.

"That’s because you broke up with me," Qi Yi replied, annoyed.

"What kind of logic is that?" Yan Yan grew more confused the more she listened.

"Do you remember Liu Siyan and Lu Ying?" Qi Yi asked Yan Yan.

"Of course, I remember. Other than us, they were the second couple in our class to be in an early relationship." Yan Yan said the words "early relationship" with a bit of pride.

After feeling proud, Yan Yan suddenly remembered something: "Oh, right, I told you - they are getting married at the end of this year after graduation."

"Getting married?" Qi Yi hadn’t received this news; he had really been "out of touch" for a long time.

"Yeah, you’re not in the class group chat, so you wouldn’t know. They said they want to invite all the classmates to come back, planning to turn their wedding into a class reunion. Everyone has been asking for your contact information." What Yan Yan said about everyone asking was true, but the person they were asking was only her.

But indeed, Yan Yan didn’t know the contact information for Qi Yi, who had vanished from their lives long ago.

No matter how she explained, few of her high school classmates would believe her; most suspected Yan Yan wanted to keep Qi Yi to herself.

Yan Yan felt helpless; it had been so long since they’d broken up, what reason could she possibly have to hide him? Plus, at the high school class reunion, her favorite group of classmates’ gathering - if she knew about it, why would she stop Qi Yi from going?

"This is their agreed-upon result," Qi Yi concluded with a seemingly random remark.

"Agreed-upon what?" Yan Yan was confused.

"In sophomore year, Liu Siyan scored higher than me on two mock exams, right?" Qi Yi asked Yan Yan.

"Right." Yan Yan knew; that was the result of Qi Yi’s lack of motivation for his own sake.

"Actually, his college entrance exam score could have made him the fourth person in our class to get into Qinghua or Peking University.

For the sake of attending Zhejiang University with Lu Ying, Liu Siyan skipped the third part of the last major question in the math section. He scored 682 points, and Lu Ying scored 651 points—both suitable for Zhejiang University," Qi Yi told Yan Yan about another couple from their class who got into the same university.

"Wow, I can’t believe you know such private gossip!" Yan Yan was taken aback.

"Of course, Liu Siyan and I even discussed controlling our scores to make sure we’d get into Zhu Kezhen College at Zhejiang University. We agreed it would be between 680 and 685 points," Qi Yi replied nonchalantly.

Controlling their college entrance exam scores, such an against-human-nature thing to do, could only be discussed between Qi Yi and Liu Siyan.

As an ordinary person, Yan Yan still couldn’t understand. If Qi Yi truly wanted to go to Zhu Kezhen College at Zhejiang University, as he claimed, he could have applied there even after scoring 700 points.

Yan Yan thought so and asked accordingly: "Then why didn’t you go to Zhu Kezhen in the end? If you really wanted to go to Zhejiang University, even if we broke up, it wouldn’t have affected your decision to apply to Zhu Kezhen. Inside, you must have really wanted Peking University."

"It was precisely because we broke up that I lost the motivation to strictly control my exam scores during the college entrance exam. All I could do was to take the test in peace, without thinking of you," Qi Yi said, his voice growing strained.

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