Reluctantly, Jiang Wei scanned the breakfast options, finally settling on just an egg and a bean paste bun from the cafeteria's limited selection
"Are you only going to eat this little? I have a lot of money on my card," Zhi Ying said in a confused tone.
Although Zhi Ying didn't have any money on her, her father had already put three years' worth of money on the meal card.
"It's almost time for class. I'll go first." Jiang Wei held the plastic bag and headed towards the classrooms.
"Wait," Zhi Ying said hastily, grabbing a bowl of warm porridge and a handful of crispy fried dough sticks. She intended to savor every bite before class.
Jiang Wei paused and turned around.
"Put the buns in your school bag. Someone in the teaching building checks to see if you bought breakfast!" Zhao Qian instilled countless experiences and lessons in Zhi Ying.
Jiang Wei looked down at his school bag and slowly put the buns and eggs in it.
Jiang Wei thought to himself before walking out of the cafeteria. 'Uncle Li should buy me a new one when I go back in the afternoon.'
Because the war spread between classes, Jiang Wei and Zhi Ying's so-called challenge letter was ignored. Just in line with Jiang Wei's intention, the month passed by in a calm and indifferent manner. Then, the mid-term exams ushered in.
To be honest, without Zhi Ying, the unforeseen event, he could have survived the entire three years of high school as smoothly as ever.
In the study-filled atmosphere of Class One, Jiang Wei maintained a detached demeanor, rarely engaging with classmates, particularly the girls, unless he absolutely had to.
Suddenly, he was startled by an unexpected greeting.
"Long time no see, classmate Jiang Wei." Zhi Ying entered the first examination room with two pens in her hands.
Since the two separated in the cafeteria, they hadn't seen each other for more than a month. Zhi Ying was just very friendly to her good classmates, and it was her usual courtesy to greet them.
Jiang Wei nodded slightly, but he didn't really want to answer. In the past month or so, he deliberately staggered in the time between classes just so that he would not encounter Zhi Ying again. However, Jiang Wei forgot that they would definitely have seats in front of or behind each other during the exam.
"You should pay attention to the steps when answering the questions," Zhi Ying suggested earnestly, leaning closer to Jiang Wei."There are some things you have to write that can't be saved. The teachers at No. 1 High School are strict when grading the exam papers."
It was just a suggestion, so whether he adopted it or not, it didn't matter to her at all!
Instead, she quickly ignored everything else as the first test was language arts. The beginning of the test was objective questions or reading comprehension, so she completed it perfectly. But towards the end of the test, there was the essay, so she started to panic.
Zhi Ying thought her vocabulary was simple and clear, and her logical thinking was smooth. In short, it was good. But the teachers of No. 1 High School didn't like it, and the scores were extremely low.
Before the exam, the language arts teacher of Class 2 specifically talked to her again, asking Zhi Ying not to use her own thinking to write, but to piece it together from the model essay. At the very least, she should pass the composition, and adding on her good scores in the other subjects, it was enough to not hold her back.
However, Zhi Ying was reluctant.
She had a good memory and if she really wanted to put together a few model essays, she didn't even need to flip through the questions. However, the teacher also said that the test was based on scores, and she couldn't care too much about other things.
Watching Zhi Ying, who was constantly fidgeting in the chair in front of him, Jiang Wei tapped her with his slender fingers, whispering, "Stop moving."
Zhi Ying's back instantly stiffened. Knowing that she was disturbing her classmates' exams, she immediately didn't dare to move.
The metallic scent of ink permeated the exam room, mingling with the faint aroma of freshly sharpened pencils. Each rustle of paper and tap of a pen seemed to amplify the tense atmosphere, punctuated by occasional sighs of concentration.
Finally, the teacher came to collect the test papers. Jiang Wei happened to see Zhi Ying's paper and couldn't help but twitch his brows.
Zhi Ying's handwriting of characters seemed to be swept to the left by a gust of wind, skewing her feet. Her name was written decently, though, and the pen mark was sharp and clean.
The teacher had already gone to collect the papers from another group, so Zhi Ying turned her head and apologized, "Sorry about what happened a while ago."
Jiang Wei picked up his bag and stood up, "It's okay."
He didn't really want to stay with Zhi Ying, as he always felt that something bad would happen, especially to him.
A lingering unease settled over Jiang Wei whenever Zhi Ying was near, a subtle apprehension that seemed to warn him of impending trouble, a feeling he just couldn't shake off.
Meanwhile, Han Jiaojiao, ever attentive to gossip, was also in the first exam room and she instantly slipped over to ask, "What did you two talk about? The invigilator had looked at you two specifically a few times before."
"It's nothing. I think my composition is good this time." Zhi Ying was full of confidence, "It's all in accordance with the model of the essay."
"Didn't you say that if an essay is written according to the model essay, it is a composition without a soul?" Han Jiaojiao teased, her laughter echoing softly in the exam room.
There was one time that the teacher had criticized Zhi Ying during class saying that her essay was unreasonable and why she was unwilling to imitate the model essay. Zhi Ying immediately raised her head and said that the model essays were dead, and her composition had a soul.