He had hoped all along to be in the same exam room as Jiang Cheng or Gu Fei, saying he'd feel more steady seeing them there, but didn't get his wish. So now he had to say this line at least five times a day - every time he met Jiang Cheng or Gu Fei he'd say it once.

Although Jiang Cheng never voiced it, his hopes were similar to Wang Xu's, except without Captain Wang Xu in the picture, only Gu Fei.

But despite the small city and few high schools, the odds were still too low. So when he found out he and Gu Fei were in the same exam site, same floor, and neighboring rooms, his mood was still very cheerful.

Seeing the exam rooms was like applying a fresh layer of tension over everyone's state of mind. Silent classmates, teachers with stern expressions, proctor teachers standing guard in the rooms, an unfamiliar environment - probably because they had all been living such unchanging lives recently, the sight of a completely unfamiliar battlefield made everyone somewhat flustered inside.

"You have to stick to me like glue tonight," halfway back after seeing the exam room, Jiang Cheng squeezed the brake and said, "I'm a little scared."

"Okay, I'll stay with you," Gu Fei nodded.

"Are you afraid? Panicked?" Jiang Cheng looked at him.  

"Of course I'm afraid," Gu Fei smiled, "So I also want to stick by your side, to feel more settled."

"I've said before, no matter where I am, I can prove myself," Jiang Cheng said, "The way I can prove myself now is to test well, I have to test well."  

"You don't even need to perform extraordinarily, you just need to perform normally," Gu Fei said, "After such a long time, you still don't understand yourself?"

"I don't understand," Jiang Cheng frowned, "Do you understand?"

"Pretty much." Gu Fei smiled.  

"Then that's fine, if you understand, I won't worry about anything else," Jiang Cheng continued riding forward, "It's fine as long as you understand."

"Let's not review tonight, okay?" Gu Fei caught up with him.  

"Okay, no more books tonight," Jiang Cheng said, "Meditate instead."

"Think about what?" Gu Fei asked.

"Just go through everything in my mind," Jiang Cheng said, "Sit cross-legged and visualize everything I've reviewed recently, like watching a movie, so I can access it during the exam tomorrow."

"Then I'll meditate too," Gu Fei said, "Sit cross-legged and visualize you studying all this time, so I can make random guesses during the exam tomorrow."

"Do your best tomorrow, okay?" Jiang Cheng smiled.  

"Okay." Gu Fei nodded.

That night was not much different from usual. Gu Fei went home to see Gu Miao first, played with her for a while, then came over.  

Jiang Cheng had already taken out all the food from the fridge and diligently washed and cut everything.

"What do you think?" Jiang Cheng put one hand on his hip and waved at the ingredients with the other. "Isn't it perfect!"

"Yes, very perfect," Gu Fei hugged him from behind, nuzzling his neck. "Let me ask, celery, cabbage, onions, bell peppers - how do you plan to mix them?"

"Celery stir fried with pork, cabbage stir fried with pork, onions stir fried with pork, bell peppers stir fried with pork," Jiang Cheng answered without hesitation. "And a minced pork soup with cabbage, four dishes with meat and veggies."

"Alright, we'll do as you say. Eating light today works too." Gu Fei let go of him and started busying himself at the countertop.

Jiang Cheng stepped back and leaned against the wall, watching Gu Fei's back.

He hadn't thought too much about tomorrow's exam recently. Rather, he kept remembering what would happen after this summer.  

A new school, new environment, new life, and no Gu Fei by his side - that made him uneasy.

He was not someone who was easily uneasy, but so much had happened this past year. Without Gu Fei, he didn't know what kind of person he would be now. Having Gu Fei by his side was something he had gotten used to - looking up, Gu Fei was there; turning around, Gu Fei was there; reaching out, Gu Fei was there. As long as he opened or closed his eyes, Gu Fei was there.

Once this stability was disrupted, he didn't know how long it would take to adjust.

And at this moment, he didn't want to miss a single second of this warmth.

Gu Fei wasn't a very good cook, and hadn't improved much with practice. His cooking motions still showed his lack of skill. How did he manage to eat Gu Fei's cooking so happily for so long?

It must be the power of love, able to distort his sense of taste.

After dinner, the two of them didn't do anything else. They went into the bedroom, opened the curtains, and sat on the bed meditating while facing the dark night sky.

At first, Gu Fei put his palms together devoutly and glanced at Jiang Cheng before laughing. "Oh, meditating isn't praying!"

"You can pray if you want," Jiang Cheng laughed. "I just said that. Really I'm just closing my eyes and calming my mind to review what I've studied recently."

"Okay." Gu Fei put his hands on his legs and closed his eyes.

Jiang Cheng continued going through each knowledge point in his mind by subject.  

The mind could turn very quickly. To review an entire subject still took a fair amount of time.

Jiang Cheng had just started on history when there was a thud next to him, shaking the mattress violently.  

When he turned to look, he found Gu Fei had fallen asleep next to him, one leg still crossed.

"Oh my god." Jiang Cheng laughed at Gu Fei while taking out his phone to snap several pictures.

Even laughing like this didn't wake Gu Fei up. He was sleeping very deeply.

Jiang Cheng put down his phone and sighed softly, going over to stuff a pillow under Gu Fei's head and cover him with a towel blanket.

"Good work, boyfriend," he kissed Gu Fei's lips.

Although Gu Fei hadn't put too much effort into reviewing himself recently, he had spent quite a bit of effort taking care of Jiang Cheng's review needs. Now that the exam was finally tomorrow, Gu Fei had probably let go of the last bit of tension he was holding onto.

This was the first time Jiang Cheng had seen him fall straight asleep like this. He stared for a very long time.

So handsome, tsk tsk.

That night Jiang Cheng also slept very deeply, with the satisfying feeling of finally getting to slay his enemy after sharpening his blade for a thousand days.

And because he was overly relaxed, he didn't even hear his phone alarm in the morning. It wasn't until Gu Fei gave him a push and flipped him over that he suddenly woke up with a start, jumping directly out of bed and onto his feet.

"Nice moves, young hero?" Gu Fei was startled by his reaction, sitting stunned on the edge of the bed.

"Are we late?" Jiang Cheng glared at him.

"No, darling," Gu Fei stood up and pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back for a good while. "After washing up and eating breakfast, we'll have plenty of time to walk to the exam site."

"Oh," Jiang Cheng relaxed, slumping against him. "You scared me."

Gu Fei had already bought breakfast - buns, fried dough sticks, soy milk and tofu pudding, all their regular items to avoid any accidents.

Just as they were about to leave after eating, Jiang Cheng got a call from Old Xu: "Don't rush, I'm already waiting for you at the exam site entrance. Don't forget your ID. Don't eat too much for breakfast or anything cold..."

"Got it," Jiang Cheng said. "Teacher Xu, are you calling everyone individually?"

"Yes," Old Xu said. "Teacher Lu is also calling everyone over at that exam site. There's always some who lose things or leave stuff behind every year."

He wouldn't lose or leave anything behind. Jiang Cheng had checked his and Gu Fei's things at least three times yesterday, even though it was just their IDs and a small unwrapped bottle of water.

"Bring a book to read on the way?" Gu Fei asked him before leaving.

"Won't bring one," Jiang Cheng bounced out the door. "Can't absorb anything now, will just get more confused."

"Alright," Gu Fei locked the door. "Let's get a taxi."

As they strolled to the intersection, Jiang Cheng was about to look for any oncoming cars when he heard someone call his name from behind. "Jiang Cheng?"

He was startled. The voice was unfamiliar yet seemed to have heard it before. When he turned around, he was surprised to see Li Qian standing a few meters away behind him.

"How are you here?" Jiang Cheng said.

"I've been wandering around here. I don't have your number anymore after you changed phones," Li Qian smiled. "I came around the past two days but didn't run into you. Didn't want to ask Dayin either."

"Something happened?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Nothing happened," Li Qian held a bag in her hand and hesitated before holding it out. "I heard you have an exam today, so I came by to cheer you on."

Jiang Cheng was quite surprised and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Thanks." Gu Fei took the bag from her.  

"Thanks," Jiang Cheng finally reacted.

"Go on to the exam site," Li Qian said. "Xiao Cheng, do your best on the exam, okay?"

"Mm." Jiang Cheng responded.

After getting into the taxi, he opened Li Qian's bag. Inside was a box of ginseng supplements.

"Take one to perk you up," Gu Fei said.

Jiang Cheng smiled and put one in his mouth, then gave one to Gu Fei as well. "I really didn't expect Li Qian to come looking for me."

"Li Qian never went to high school. Old Man Li only cares about Li Hui," Gu Fei said. "Back then she still wanted to go to a vocational school to get away from here, but Old Man Li didn't agree... Seeing you test out must be quite comforting for her."

"Mm." Jiang Cheng didn't say anything more, just held Gu Fei's hand very tightly.