The Scorching Sun - 55
That morning, the homeroom teacher strode into the classroom and, with unusual force, wrote a number across the blackboard at the back. Amid a soft shower of chalk dust, she announced that today was their final class of high school.
The silence that followed lasted a long time. Fang Zhuo stood there, unable to fully process it.
Standing at the front of the room, she said solemnly, "Every one of you is an outstanding student. After more than a decade of hard work, you've finally arrived at this turning point in your lives. As your teacher, I'm sincerely proud of you, and I hope the road ahead will be wide open, so you can race forward without ever looking back..."
She'd probably given some version of the same speech more than a dozen times already. Her cadence rose and fell with practiced ease, smooth and polished, almost like she was reciting from memory rather than speaking from the heart. After ten minutes of reading through her prepared remarks, she let out a long breath, pulled out her lesson plan, and said with ruthless practicality, "One last review of the points people tend to get wrong. I have a feeling this one is definitely going to be on the exam. If it does come up and anyone gets it wrong, I'll pin their name up on the notice board as a warning to the second-years!"
The threat had lost all power over students on the eve of graduation. Everyone simply grinned up at her, wearing expressions that were practically begging to be smacked.
After dinner, several parents came to pick their children up, since the students would make their own way to the examination venue the next day.
The homeroom teacher carefully handed the admission cards to the parents, reminding them again and again to keep them safe, leave early, and watch out for traffic. Yet even as she handed each card over, she seemed reluctant to let go, gripping it tightly between her fingers as though she didn't quite trust the parents to take proper care of it. The parents themselves couldn't help feeling nervous.
Yan Chengli drove to the school to pick Yan Lie up and take him home as well. Yan Lie hesitated for a moment. Seeing that his father had already taken his admission card from the homeroom teacher, he packed up his schoolbag and followed him.
Their final evening study session was anything but peaceful. One teacher after another came to the classroom to go over whatever exam points had suddenly occurred to them.
The math teacher was the most straightforward of them all. He went up to the front, told two jokes that had everyone doubled over with laughter, then paid for two pieces of chocolate for each student and told them to go into the exam the next day without a care in the world.
Around nine, the homeroom teacher came to the classroom and shooed everyone out, ordering them to go back and get some rest.
Only two people remained in the dorm room. Fang Zhuo lay quietly on her bed reading. A little after eleven, her roommate said she wanted to turn off the lights and sleep, so Fang Zhuo placed her book beside her pillow and lay down as well.
The curtains on the little balcony were still open, pale moonlight spilled through the glass doors. Fang Zhuo tilted her head back, staring at a scattering of lights glowing across the way, as well as the hazy silhouettes of buildings layered one behind another.
She turned onto her side to face the wall and closed her eyes.
The darkness did nothing to summon sleep. Instead, it brought forth a parade of obscure exam points and formulas she wasn't entirely sure about.
Ye Yuncheng had given her his phone so she could contact a teacher immediately if anything unexpected happened. Fang Zhuo didn't want to get out of bed and rummage through her books, she took out the phone and wrote down every question that came to mind in the notes app, planning to go over them and fill in the gaps the next day.
The same process repeated countless times. Learning had left Fang Zhuo's mind unnaturally alert, when she checked the time again, she found that the numbers on the screen had already jumped to one. In just a few more hours, dawn would be breaking.
Fang Zhuo covered her face with one hand and let out a resigned sigh. Giving up on sleep, she switched to another app and typed into the search bar: #CanYouDieFromNotSleepingForTwoDays?#, #HowToStayMentallyClearAfterTwoDaysWithoutSleep?#
She hadn't even managed to find a reassuring answer among the various pages that looked suspiciously like advertisements when a notification suddenly appeared at the top of the screen. A text from Yan Lie had come through.
Yan Lie: Good night.
Fang Zhuo blinked, momentarily confused, then sent back a simple "Good night." Before long, a QQ message popped up.
They Call Me Lie: [Link - Ten Ways Parents Should Know to Deal with Insomnia]
They Call Me Lie: [Link - Three Most Effective Ways to Overcome Pre-Exam Anxiety]
Fang Zhuo turned over.
Little Sun: Are you nervous?
They Call Me Lie: Of course.
Little Sun: Your grades are so good. What are you nervous about?
They Call Me Lie: I'm afraid I won't get into A University and won't be able to go to college with Zhuo Zhuo. You always hear about students messing up their exams, don't you? If I mess up, I don't want to repeat the year. So I'm so nervous I can't sleep. I keep checking the time, playing on my phone, and doing completely useless revision in my head.
Fang Zhuo: "..."
Did this guy seriously have a skylight installed in her head? He could pop it open and take a look whenever he felt like it?
Little Sun: I'm not that nervous.
They Call Me Lie: You're not that nervous, yet you're still awake in the middle of the night?
Little Sun: How do you know? Maybe you woke me up.
They Call Me Lie: You don't turn on Sleep Mode?
They Call Me Lie: Then you definitely wouldn't just reply with a "Good night." A [Go away] is worth ten cents.
Fang Zhuo was completely stumped.
She had to admit, Yan Lie could be remarkably perceptive sometimes.
Little Sun: So why are you still awake this late?
They Call Me Lie: My dad is in call in the middle of the night. His study is right next to my room, so he woke me up.
Little Sun: ?
They Call Me Lie: The time difference overseas. A shipment of containers is about to arrive, he's contacting the warehouse managers over there to arrange for the goods to be collected.
Fang Zhuo sat up.
Little Sun: You get to be selfish tonight! Tell him to go to bed!
They Call Me Lie: No!
Little Sun: Can one night really make that much difference? Is he going to make tens or hundreds of thousands more if he stays up? How can he interrupt you when you've got the gaokao tomorrow?
Yan Lie suddenly went silent.
Fang Zhuo noticed something about him. Whenever it came to Yan Chengli, Yan Lie was always especially stubborn. He hated showing weakness and even went out of his way to avoid conversations that might lead to conflict.
He needed someone to relay the message for him.
And she was the person he'd been waiting for all along.
Little Sun: Give me your dad's number.
They Call Me Lie: Wow!
They Call Me Lie: XXX... You're going to stand up for me? Isn't that a little inappropriate? [holding hands shyly]
They Call Me Lie: What are you going to say? Do you understand what I mean?
They Call Me Lie: Whatever you do, don't mention money. This isn't about money.
Little Sun: Then send me a reaction image I can use.
They Call Me Lie: [Hug]
Little Sun: [Hug]
Yan Chengli was going over the tax filing documents with his phone on speaker when a text suddenly arrived from an unfamiliar number.
Unknown Number: [Link - Ten Major Dangers of Staying Up Late!]
Unknown Number: [Link - How to Maintain the Right Mindset During the Exam!]
Yan Chengli stared at the number in bewilderment for a moment. He was about to reply when several more messages came through.
Unknown Number: Today is Thursday, June 7. The sky is clear, with a light breeze.
Unknown Number: Of course, none of that matters. What's important is that today's the day of the National College Entrance Examination, and it's currently 1:17 a.m.
Unknown Number: Hello, Uncle. Sorry to bother you so late at night. Since the gaokao is tomorrow, both Yan Lie and I are especially nervous.
Unknown Number: I was the only one who was nervous at first, but after Yan Lie was woken up by your phone call in the middle of the night, he became restless too.
Unknown Number: Of course, I'm not blaming you or saying you've done anything wrong. We all know how hard you work. Your schedule is upside down and you're constantly busy because you're trying to provide better financial circumstances for him. Yan Lie just discussed some of the negative states students commonly experience with me, and he's worried that not getting enough sleep will affect his exam performance.
Unknown Number: If I may, I'd like to make one small suggestion. I hope you can get some sleep a little earlier. There's less than five hours left before six in the morning, when the sky will start to brighten. Would that be possible?
Yan Chengli immediately turned off the speaker and glanced toward the door of the room next door. Sure enough, a faint sliver of light showed beneath it.
He crept over, placed a hand on the doorknob, and gently called, "Lie Lie."
The door was locked from the inside. There was no response.
Awkwardly, Yan Chengli said, "Dad's going to bed. You should get some rest too."
A little while later, Fang Zhuo sent another message.
Little Sun: How did it go?
They Call Me Lie: He's gone to bed.
Little Sun: Come to me next time something like this happens. It's a new service, but I'm good at it.
They Call Me Lie: Thanks, Zhuo-jie! So what did you say? Did he ask what our relationship is?
Fang Zhuo sent him a screenshot of the conversation, letting him witness the art of her eloquence for himself.
Yan Lie was silent for a long time before finally sending a single period. Then there was nothing more.
Fang Zhuo guessed he'd probably fallen asleep. Being distracted by his little crisis had taken her mind off her own worries, she was finally beginning to feel sleepy too. She lay back down, tucked the covers neatly around herself, and was about to put the phone away when she saw a new text message.
Yan Chengli: Hello, Teacher. Could we have a chat tomorrow morning?
Fang Zhuo: "??"
She scrolled back through the conversation and concluded that the two words "Uncle" at the very beginning had made her identity perfectly clear. She had no idea why Yan Chengli had gotten the wrong idea.
Unknown Number: Hello, Uncle. I'm Yan Lie's deskmate.
A few minutes passed without a reply, and Fang Zhuo fell asleep too.
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