For Xia Nuannuan, the Chinese exam was relatively easy.
About twenty minutes before the exam ended, she finished her final essay. After carefully checking her answer sheet twice, a confident smile appeared on her pretty face.
Putting down her pen, she picked up the half-finished can of coffee on the table and took a contented sip.
This canned coffee wasn't bitter; it was the taste she liked.
Of course, the key was that Qin Tian had given it to her.
"He should have handed in his paper by now. Should I also hand in mine and go find him?"
This thought popped into Xia Nuannuan's mind.
During the last mock exam, Qin Tian had almost always handed in his paper very early.
She then remembered the time Qin Tian handed in his paper early and was hit on by two junior schoolgirls on the basketball court, causing her brows to furrow slightly.
Thus, she tidied up her stationery bag, stood up, and walked towards the invigilator sitting at the front of the lecture hall, holding her exam paper and answer sheet.
The gazes of the two invigilators, as well as many examinees including Su Yan, immediately fell on her.
"Teacher, can I hand in my paper?"
Xia Nuannuan handed her answer sheet to the invigilator with both hands.
The invigilator took the answer sheet and confirmed, "Are you sure you don't need to check again?"
"I've already checked,"
Xia Nuannuan replied hurriedly.
"Alright!"
The invigilator nodded.
Xia Nuannuan bowed slightly to thank him and quickly left the examination room.
After watching her leave the classroom in a hurry, Su Yan propped her face with one hand and continued to space out.
She had also finished and checked her paper, but she wasn't planning to hand it in early.
In any case, she didn't know where to go even if she handed in her paper.
"She's so eager to hand in her paper and leave. She must be going to find her boyfriend, right?"
Su Yan mused absentmindedly.
Was being in love really that good?
She couldn't understand it anyway.
Since middle school, she had received love letters and confessions in various ways from quite a few boys, but none of them managed to pique her interest.
In her opinion, the boys her age were all too childish.
For some reason, several encounters with Qin Tian flashed through her mind.
One time, she was dragged by two girlfriends to find him, and when Tian Jiajia tried to get his contact information in her name and was rejected, this girl boldly declared her claim.
Then there was a chance encounter at the campus supermarket, where she was once again fed dog food by Qin Tian.
Finally, just before entering the examination hall today, she happened to run into them outside the door, and without a doubt, they showed off again.
Recalling this, Su Yan felt that her luck had been quite bad recently. Why had she been mentally abused by them again and again?
Although her defense in this aspect was quite strong, and she didn't envy others' relationships much, this repeated occurrence was truly a bit too much.
However, the campus belle didn't know that compared to the boys and girls in Class Ten, she had experienced being mentally abused very few times.
...
...
Xia Nuannuan looked into the examination hall where Qin Tian was, and indeed, she didn't see Qin Tian. A seat was already empty.
So she went downstairs and headed to the school's sports field to look for Qin Tian.
However, the sports field was empty.
Xia Nuannuan then remembered that the first and second years were still on holiday!
"I'm so stupid!"
She cupped her forehead, her cute face showing a slightly embarrassed wry smile.
She was becoming more and more prone to overthinking. The junior schoolgirls hadn't even arrived yet!
"Nuannuan?"
A familiar voice came from behind her.
Xia Nuannuan's body trembled, and she turned to look. She saw Qin Tian walking towards her with a bottle of water in his hand, his face filled with confusion.
"You handed in your paper early too?"
Qin Tian asked in surprise.
Xia Nuannuan pecked her head slightly, her face blushing.
"What are you doing here?"
Qin Tian looked around but didn't see anyone else.
"Nothing, nothing. I was just feeling stuffy, so I came out for some fresh air after handing in my paper."
Xia Nuannuan hastily explained, then pretended to take deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling.
"Okay!"
Qin Tian, half-believing, walked to her side and asked with a smile, "Since you handed in your paper early, you must have done quite well, right?"
"Well, it should be okay. How about you? Are you confident of getting full marks?"
"That's really hard to say. For Chinese, there are too many subjective questions. It depends on how the grader sees it."
"That's true, hehe..."
"The sun is a bit strong. Let's go for a walk in the woods. We can come back to the classroom after the exam is over."
Qin Tian suggested.
"Mmm-hmm, okay!"
Xia Nuannuan agreed with a sweet smile.
The two of them walked towards the woods on the far side of the sports field.
"Want some water?"
Qin Tian offered the bottle of mineral water in his hand.
Xia Nuannuan was stunned for a moment.
"Ah, sorry, I've already drunk from it. I didn't know you had come out too, so I only bought one bottle."
Qin Tian realized and was about to take it back with an awkward smile.
"No, it's fine!"
Xia Nuannuan suddenly reached out and took it. Blushing, she unscrewed the cap and took a sip.
She had just drunk half a can of coffee and wasn't actually thirsty.
Qin Tian smiled gently, clasped his hands behind his head, and walked leisurely beside her.
When he was with Xia Nuannuan, he had become accustomed to matching her pace.
...
...
The afternoon math exam started at three o'clock.
By twenty past two, many students had already arrived at the examination hall.
Xia Nuannuan sat in her seat, holding the math review outline written by Qin Tian, and browsed it with concentration.
Math and Science Comprehensive were her biggest challenges, so she wanted to learn as much as she could in the remaining time.
At this moment, Su Yan, who was a bit later, also arrived at the examination hall.
As she was about to sit down, she saw Xia Nuannuan in front of her, buried in her studies. A hint of curiosity flickered in her beautiful eyes. She stepped forward and peered at the paper in her hand.
Upon seeing the densely packed examples, formulas, and knowledge points on the review outline, Su Yan's face showed intense surprise.
As a top student who consistently ranked in the top five in the entire grade, she could roughly gauge the value of this review outline.
"Did your math teacher make this?"
Su Yan, unable to suppress her curiosity, suddenly asked.
Xia Nuannuan, who was engrossed in her last-minute cramming, was startled by the sudden voice. She turned and looked at Su Yan with a confused gaze.
"You... are you talking about this?"
She slightly raised the paper in her hand.
Su Yan nodded a little awkwardly and then apologized, "I'm sorry, I disturbed your studies."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Xia Nuannuan shook her head repeatedly and then said with a sweet smile, "This wasn't made by the math teacher. It's a review outline that Qin Tian put together specifically for this exam."
Su Yan was stunned upon hearing this and subconsciously asked again, "He made it specifically for you?"
This was the first time she had felt a sense of "envy" towards someone.
As a top math student, she could imagine how much effort and brainpower it took to create such a review outline.
Even the best math teacher at school would find it difficult to achieve this.