June 7th, the day of the Gaokao.

Xue Xiaying woke Xue Rui up, and the three of them sat down for a meal at the dining table in Lin Ruoxi’s house.

Xue Rui was taking this seriously. ’After studying my ass off for two years,’ he thought, ’I’d be damned if I score lower than I did last time...’

The girl, however, was acting just like any other day, as if the Gaokao was no big deal, and had woken up early to make him breakfast.

’Right. For someone who could get into Qingbei even if she messed up, was there any reason to be nervous about the Gaokao?’

"What do you want for lunch?" Lin Ruoxi asked.

"Lin Ruoxi, you can’t hand in your test early today," Xue Xiaying suddenly reminded her.

During normal exams, especially for science subjects, Lin Ruoxi would finish and leave at the speed of light.

But the Gaokao had restrictions.

Lin Ruoxi froze. ’Can’t hand it in early? Am I supposed to just sit there, then?’

Xue Rui thought, ’Your expression is the definition of a humblebrag. Why do you look disappointed?’

He said helplessly, "If you’re bored, just memorize the exam paper. After the test, you can write it all out for me so I can estimate my score."

Xue Xiaying looked baffled. ’Isn’t that a waste of Lin Ruoxi’s energy?’ she thought.

The exam was massive; many students couldn’t even finish all the questions within the time limit. They had to rely on test-taking strategies their teachers taught them, strategically grabbing points where they could. And you’re actually telling her to memorize the questions in the exam hall?

’And write it out from memory? Isn’t that just sabotage?’

"Okay," Lin Ruoxi said, nodding with a smile.

Seeing Xue Xiaying’s confused expression, Xue Rui sighed. "You’ll never understand how I feel."

Only he knew just how vast the difference between people could be.

For science questions, especially the long-form problems, he couldn’t even read the question as fast as Lin Ruoxi could solve it.

Often, before he had even finished comprehending the problem, Lin Ruoxi was already turning the page.

Honestly, he couldn’t even copy the answers that fast.

As for multiple-choice questions? She’d just glance at them and write down the answer.

Xue Rui had never seen someone who was basically cheating at life. This was also why he didn’t like studying with Lin Ruoxi—it was just too damn demoralizing.

It was as if when fate made Lin Ruoxi, it took away her complexity, but in exchange, it raised her IQ to a terrifying level.

Memorizing the exam paper sounded like a tall tale, but for the young girl, it was actually no trouble at all.

To this day, Xue Rui still hadn’t managed to figure out where Lin Ruoxi’s upper limit was.

"Come here, let me see how your head is put together." Xue Rui held Lin Ruoxi’s head, looking it over and feeling it from all sides.

Xue Rui knocked on the girl’s head with his knuckle. "It doesn’t feel any different. What’s inside?"

"Um, it should be the same as everyone else’s," Lin Ruoxi said.

The young girl knew she was smart, because Xue Rui also said she was smart.

"It’s not the same. A teacher once said my head was half a bottle of water and half a bag of flour. One shake and it all turns to paste," Xue Rui joked.

"Paste?"

...

Xue Xiaying couldn’t help but smile. The two of them seemed quite relaxed.

"Lin Ruoxi, just focus on doing your best. Don’t listen to Xue Rui’s nonsense," Xue Xiaying said with a laugh.

’Memorize the exam paper? He must be joking, right?’

After breakfast, the group headed to the exam site.

Some roads near the exam site were closed or had restricted traffic, and with the morning rush hour in full swing, the streets were packed with cars and completely congested.

Fortunately, they had left fairly early. Besides, the exam site wasn’t too far from Lin Ruoxi’s house—only about a half-hour walk.

Xue Rui was reminded of his past life. Xue Xiaying had also taken him to the exam site then. They had left early in the morning, but still got stuck in traffic for a full hour.

Luckily, things were going smoothly this time.

Just as he thought that, there was a loud CRUNCH, and he was thrown forward in his seat.

They had been rear-ended.

"Ah?" Xue Xiaying cried out in alarm.

’Why do things always have to go wrong at the most critical moments?’ She felt like she’d been really unlucky lately.

Her wallet had been stolen not long ago, costing her half a month’s salary. Now she’d been rear-ended, and the impact had even pushed them into the car in front.

The driver of the car behind them got out. He glanced at the Audi logo and said sheepishly, "I’m so sorry..."

The owner of the car in front also got out to check the situation and immediately took out his phone to call the police.

Cars behind them started blaring their horns nonstop, and the road descended into chaos.

"What the hell! Not this again," someone cursed.

The already congested road was now at a complete standstill.

...

Xue Rui frowned. ’What a mess.’

"Aunt, Lin Ruoxi and I will just walk," Xue Rui said with a sigh.

If someone had called the police, it would be a huge hassle to sort out. It would be faster for them to walk.

"You two go on ahead. I’ll sort things out with them and catch up as soon as I can," Xue Xiaying said anxiously.

She got out of the car to assess the damage. She was supposed to be supervising her students today; she had no idea how long she’d be stuck here.

"Let’s go." Xue Rui waved his hand. The safest option at this point was to walk. What if they couldn’t get a taxi, or what if the taxi got stuck in traffic too? Wouldn’t that just add more risk?

Lin Ruoxi grabbed Xue Rui’s pencil case and prepared to get out of the car. She always listened to Xue Rui.

Just as they got out, Xue Rui saw a familiar figure walking over.

Chen Tingting’s dad...

"Xiaorui?" Chen Shen called out in surprise.

"I have somewhere to be, can we handle this quickly, please? It’s all my fault," the man who had rear-ended them explained hurriedly.

"Who doesn’t have somewhere to be? Follow standard procedure," a traffic cop said with a frown.

"Officer," Xue Xiaying began anxiously, "I’m a senior-year teacher, and I’m in charge of students for the Gaokao today..." The man was much older than her, so she had subconsciously called him "uncle."

Chen Shen glanced at Xue Rui and, after getting an affirmative nod, said to Xue Xiaying, "Give me the keys and leave a phone number."

He turned and said to another traffic cop, "Xiaoli, drive them to the exam site."

On any other day, he would have chatted with Xue Rui for a bit, but today was special, and Xue Rui himself had to take the exam.

"Captain Chen, who’s that kid?" the young officer asked. He was surprised that Captain Chen was personally handling a minor traffic accident like this, even asking the woman for her keys and phone number.

It was obvious that Chen Shen only knew Xue Rui. The young cop also thought the kid looked a little familiar.

"Mind your own business and hurry up."

...

Xue Xiaying sat in the police car in a daze. She hadn’t expected the problem to be resolved so quickly. Thankfully, they weren’t delayed.

"Xiaorui, who was that police officer?" she asked curiously. The officer had even called Xue Rui by his nickname, as if they were very close.

Xue Rui thought, ’You didn’t even know who he was and you just handed over your keys?’

’Well, unconditional trust in the people’s police... Most people would probably do the same.’

"Chen Tingting’s father," Xue Rui said.

The traffic cop who was driving immediately perked up. "What’s your relationship with Captain Chen’s daughter?"

"..."

The car instantly fell silent.

Xue Rui felt a headache coming on. Xue Xiaying’s was even worse.

As for Lin Ruoxi, she just thought of her as the little girl who liked to hang all over Xue Rui.

In a silent atmosphere, the group arrived at the exam site.

The police car was pretty conspicuous, and many people stared as it pulled up.

Xue Jianfeng saw Xue Rui and shouted, "Xiaorui!"

A warmth spread through Xue Rui’s chest. ’Dad actually came to cheer me on?’ he thought.

But he waited and waited, and the two words "Good luck" never came from Xue Jianfeng’s mouth.

Instead, when he walked over, Xue Jianfeng clapped him on the shoulder and said, "It’s no big deal if you bomb the test. You can come home and go into business with me. I recently invested in a winery..."

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. His old man hadn’t changed a bit.

"Dad, did you come all this way just to say that?" Xue Rui frowned.

"Not just for that. I was mainly here to drop off your classmates," Xue Jianfeng said, pointing to a few people in front of the exam site.

Xue Rui remembered now. He had asked his dad a while ago to reserve a few rooms for classmates who lived far away.

And Xue Jianfeng had actually driven his classmates to the exam personally...

He had to admit, when it came to things like this, his dad was impeccable.

"All right, go on," Xue Jianfeng said with a wave.

As Xue Rui walked over, Qiu Mengze slung an arm around his shoulder.

Xue Rui was a true bro, reserving rooms for them in advance. Otherwise, the Gaokao would have been a real pain for him, having to get up at the crack of dawn to rush to the exam site.

Plus, Xue Rui’s dad had driven them here in a BMW. The luxury car gave them a lot of face, and they’d drawn quite a few envious stares when they got out.

But Xue Rui’s arrival was even more special than anyone else’s—he had shown up in a police car.

"Li Fan, Gu Muxue..." a substitute teacher called out.

Gu Muxue walked up to the teacher and said, "Teacher, can I have Xue Rui’s too? He’s here now."

The teacher glanced over, nodded, and gave them to Gu Muxue.

Things like exam identification documents were supposed to be handed directly to the individual. Even a classmate wasn’t allowed to pick them up for someone else.

But she felt that Xue Rui and Gu Muxue had a special relationship, and she was willing to trust a well-behaved student like Gu Muxue.

"Xiaorui, your exam permit and ID card," Gu Muxue said, handing the items to Xue Rui.

"Thanks," Xue Rui said with a smile.

He stared blankly at the exam permit. The black-and-white photo on it felt rather unlucky, and besides, it was ugly as hell.

"Let me see yours," Xue Rui said, craning his neck.

Normally, girls hated boys seeing their exam permits, because it was rare for a photo to turn out so ugly...

"Here." Gu Muxue handed it over without any hesitation.

Xue Rui glanced at it. ’Even with a black-and-white printer, Gu Muxue’s photo is still so stunning,’ he thought. ’Good-looking people look good no matter what...’

Gu Muxue was just so photogenic.

Looking at the permit, Xue Rui was reminded of many things. Every year on the day of the Gaokao, there would be all sorts of news stories.

Students getting stuck in traffic, forgetting their exam permits, forgetting their ID cards...

And then a city-wide emergency rescue would commence...

Xue Rui had never really understood it. When he took the Gaokao, the school would collect everyone’s documents beforehand. After each subject, the teachers would collect them again, and then hand them back out before the next exam began.

There were always school teachers outside the exam site to assist the students.

It was a bit of a hassle, but with the school’s dedicated management process, no student ever lost their documents.

And yet, ten years later, people were still losing their exam permits...

’Can’t they even copy a good idea when they see one?’

"Relax," Gu Muxue said, gently squeezing Xue Rui’s arm.

Qiu Mengze sighed and consciously took a few steps back. He was truly envious.

Xue Rui felt a prickle of unease. "You being like this is making me uncomfortable."

Gu Muxue paused, then stomped on Xue Rui’s foot. "How about now?"

"Much better," Xue Rui said with a laugh.

The gentler Gu Muxue was with him, the more guilty he felt.

Xue Jianfeng sat on the opposite side of the road, watching them for a long time. It reminded him of when he was young...

So similar, just so similar...

Lin Ruoxi stood next to Director Wang, watching Xue Rui get his foot stepped on again.

’But why does Xue Rui look so happy about it?’

’Are all good friends like this?’

She remembered that when she stepped on Da Huang, Da Huang seemed pretty happy too...