The second trial’s test center was set at No. 9 Middle School. After dinner the night before the exam, Zhao Wenying drove Xie Lan and Dou Sheng to see the venue in advance.

The buildings at No. 9 Middle School were much newer than those at English High, but the desks and chairs were quite antiquated, and the desks were a bit low. Xie Lan glanced through the door glass and said to Dou Sheng, “I probably won’t be able to stretch my legs.”

Dou Sheng sighed helplessly. “I took an English exam here once. The edge of the desk digs into your legs, it’s incredibly annoying. Plus, the space is narrow, so you can’t even sit at an angle to place your legs.”

“What should we do then?” Zhao Wenying became anxious instantly and reached out to stroke Xie Lan’s back. “Lan Lan, you absolutely mustn’t let this affect you tomorrow.”

Xie Lan smiled. “I’ll be fine, Auntie Zhao. Once I really start doing the problems, I won’t even notice it.”

Zhao Wenying’s complexion wasn’t great; her lips were pale. Xie Lan looked at her and couldn’t help but say, “Now that we’ve seen it, let’s go back. You’re going to the hospital tomorrow, right?”

“I’m fine,” Zhao Wenying sighed, waving her hand. “People are just like that; when you’re busy, you’re perfectly fine, but once you idle, illness finds you easily.”

Zhao Wenying had taken a long leave after her last business trip, staying at home to tend to plants, cook, and bake. She was quite comfortable at first, but in the last two days, she suddenly complained of dizziness. This morning, when Xie Lan and Dou Sheng called her for a morning run, she sat up from the bed only to fall back down. It took her a long time to steady herself, and she said her heart was racing.

As the three of them walked downstairs, Dou Sheng frowned and asked, “Did you book a chief physician?”

“An associate chief. I just booked whoever was available; a small check-up doesn’t require being picky.” Zhao Wenying rested her hand on his shoulder for support. “My appointment is at 10:00 AM tomorrow. After I drop you guys off, I’ll go straight to the hospital. You guys take a taxi home yourselves after the exam.”

Xie Lan quickly said, “We’ll go to the hospital after we’re done.”

“Don’t you dare,” Zhao Wenying immediately waved them off. “Hospital check-ups are irritating; I won’t have the energy to look after you. Just stay at home properly. Lan Lan, is your luggage packed? Is the hotel booked?”

The T University written exam was the day after tomorrow, with the interview the day after that. He Xiu had said he’d give notice as early as possible, but the specific arrangements only came out the day before yesterday. Xie Lan had only had time to hurriedly book flights for himself and Zhao Wenying. Because the interview fell exactly on the first day of the senior year semester, Dou Sheng couldn’t find a reason to follow along. Xie Lan took it quite well; it was just a small exam, and it wasn’t strictly necessary for his boyfriend to follow.

“I’ll book the hotel tomorrow after the exam.” Xie Lan hesitated. “Let’s see what the doctor says tomorrow first. I’m thinking of going to the exam by myself so you don’t have to scramble around.”

Hearing this, Zhao Wenying pressed her other hand onto his shoulder. “It’s fine. Someone should be with you for an exam.”

Standing on a step higher behind them, she had one hand on each of their shoulders. She said with a sigh, “Competitions, recommendations, the Gaokao. Time flies so fast. This time next year, I’ll be sending both of you off to university.”

She paused, suddenly looking at Dou Sheng. “You only had your growth spurt in the last two years, right? I remember you were only 178 cm when you started high school, and in the blink of an eye, you’re almost 185 cm.”

Dou Sheng gave a yawn. “What are you doing, reminiscing about the past and dreaming of the future? Do you suspect you have a terminal illness?”

Zhao Wenying raised her hand and delivered a crisp slap to his back. “You’re asking for it! Is that how you curse your own mother?!”

“I call this ‘not saying it, not breaking it.’ If something really were wrong with you, my saying it early would break the jinx, understand?” Dou Sheng smiled and naturally took Zhao Wenying’s hand to continue down the stairs. He said nonchalantly, “Why think so far ahead? It’s more practical to think about what you’ll do while waiting in line tomorrow.”

“Oh, right.” Zhao Wenying blinked. “I need to cache the drama I’m watching. Remember to remind me to bring a power bank when we head out tomorrow.”

The topic was diverted, but after Xie Lan packed his exam supplies that night, he still felt uneasy. Before sleeping, he went downstairs to get water and glanced into the master bedroom.

The door wasn’t closed. Zhao Wenying was reclined in her massage chair with her eyes closed. Her face still looked unwell.

It wasn’t just ‘unwell,’ but the way it looked changed from morning to night. In the morning her face was pale, but by night it turned a bit yellowish and flushed; it was hard to describe.

Xie Lan turned around to go back upstairs with a worried heart, only to bump into Dou Sheng coming out of his room with a hairdryer and wet hair.

Dou Sheng was walking on tiptoe, but seeing Xie Lan gave him a start. He whispered, “Not asleep? I was afraid of waking you, so I was going downstairs to dry my hair.”

“Auntie Zhao’s complexion is very dull,” Xie Lan sighed. “Has she been like this before?”

Dou Sheng went silent for a moment and muttered, “Dull complexion is probably the liver. She must have been drinking heavily every day during that last business trip, probably some liver damage… she had that back when my dad had his accident. As for the morning dizziness, I don’t know… well, let’s see what the doctor says tomorrow.”

Xie Lan was about to say more, but Dou Sheng took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s fine. She just had a full physical exam right before you came back to China; she’s healthy. You just focus on securing that T University recommendation. My mom will feel better the moment she’s happy.”

Hearing about the recent physical exam, Xie Lan relaxed slightly and nodded. “Then I’m going to sleep.”

“Go on.” Dou Sheng reached out and ruffled his hair. “I’m going down to dry my hair.”

Dou Sheng went downstairs with the hairdryer. Xie Lan returned to his room alone. Passing Dou Sheng’s room, he saw the door was open, and a half-edited video was on the computer screen.

The frozen frame was in a classroom; the background was entirely blurred, and only Xie Lan, frowning at a Chinese literature paper, was in focus.

Xie Lan stared for a while before remembering this was footage recorded intermittently last semester for the Hardcore High School Survival Log. After he and Dou Sheng got together, he thought Dou Sheng was going to abandon this video, but it turned out he was still editing it bit by bit.

He hesitated, then couldn’t resist stepping inside to take a closer look.

The amount of footage stacked on the timeline was terrifying. There was also a folder on the desktop labeled Hardcore High School Survival Log containing four or five finished cuts of about 60 minutes each, with filenames like [To Be Fine-Cut].

Dou Sheng’s desk was a mess. Headphone wires were tangled around a pile of hard drives and memory cards. There were math competition books, scratch paper with the problems Old Ma had dropped in the group today, and a mug with a layer of coffee stains. Under the mug were a few plane tree leaf bookmarks, and a cosplay wig was even hanging off the corner of the desk.

The only tidy corner held a small calendar, with the dates for the next few days circled.

August 26th: Competition Second Trial; Ms. Zhao hospital check-up

August 27th: Ms. Zhao and Er-Mao fly to B-City, Er-Mao written exam; monthly gaming livestream

August 28th: Er-Mao interview; Senior Year starts

Xie Lan couldn’t help but pick up the calendar and add the words “Er-Mao comes home” to the 29th.

Writing about himself felt inexplicably embarrassing. After a moment, he gave a soft “hiss” and fled back to his room with his water cup.

In the master bedroom, the hairdryer hummed for a long time before finally stopping.

Dou Sheng ran a hand through his fluffy hair and shouted toward the bathroom, “I’m done!”

Zhao Wenying opened the door, her face dotted with unrubbed face cream. She asked curiously, “You ran into my room just to dry your hair?” She looked a bit puzzled. “I thought you had something to say.”

Dou Sheng bent over to unplug the cord. “Xie Lan just said your complexion wasn’t great, so I came down to check.”

“Oho.” Zhao Wenying’s movements paused. She gave him a sly look. “Should I be touched that my son knows how to care for me, or depressed that it takes Xie Lan’s reminder for you to notice?”

“Can you be any more unreasonable?” Dou Sheng gave a “tsk.” “Honestly, I should have Xie Lan cancel your flight. Stay home and rest for two days; don’t go running around.”

Zhao Wenying continued massaging her face in the mirror. “We’ll see. This is a major event in Xie Lan’s life; I can’t bear to let him face it alone.”

Dou Sheng paused. “What if I go?”

Silence filled the bathroom for a long while. Dou Sheng picked up the hairdryer and put it down again. Though his expression was calm as usual, a trace of anxiety sprouted in his heart for no reason.

It took a full minute before Zhao Wenying spoke slowly from inside, “Are you his parent? Following him everywhere… oh, but I suppose that’s right, you count as his older brother.”

“I don’t count as a brother,” Dou Sheng replied instantly. He paused before adding, “But I count as family regardless. Can I go?”

Zhao Wenying scoffed. “What good would you do? You’re full of mischief; if something really happened, Xie Lan would likely be led astray by you. You settle down and go to school the day after tomorrow. Xie Lan can get recommended, but can you? It’s senior year; focus your mind.”

Dou Sheng didn’t say a word, walking to the bathroom door to look at Zhao Wenying.

Zhao Wenying leaned toward the mirror to inspect her face. Only after a while did she spare a glance for him. “What? Still haven’t given up? Hiss—why do I feel like you and Lan Lan are always so clingy?”

Dou Sheng’s expression remained indifferent. “I just really like Xie Lan, and he likes me back… anyway, let’s not talk about that. I’ll drop Xie Lan home after the exam tomorrow, then go to the hospital to find you.”

“Don’t. Don’t add to my trouble.” Zhao Wenying chuckled. “The thought is enough. Tomorrow morning is just check-ups at most. If anything happens, I’ll call you. Don’t worry, I’ll show you the reports when they come back.”

“Then… fine.” Dou Sheng sighed. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”

The next day, Zhao Wenying drove them to the test center personally. She nagged the whole way, watching Xie Lan and Dou Sheng until they were almost inside the teaching building before waving a final goodbye and turning back to the parking lot.

Xie Lan watched her back and nudged Dou Sheng with his elbow. “Auntie Zhao’s complexion looks a bit better today. Oh, wait—did she put on makeup this morning?”

Dou Sheng gave a “tsk” and pressed a hand onto his head. “Why do you care so much? Bring back a provincial first place, and my mom will show you a glowing face every day.”

The two of them entered the building while talking. There were fewer people for the second trial—only two exam rooms, one on the first floor and one on the second.

Dou Sheng, Che Ziming, and Dai You were in the first-floor room. Xie Lan, Wang Gou, and Yu Fei were on the second. They ran into each other in the lobby, and Old Ma was there too.

Old Ma walked quickly toward them. “You all have your admission tickets and ID cards, right?”

“Got them.”

“Yes.”

Old Ma nodded. “The second trial problems will likely be tricky. Keep your cool, watch your pace, you can all do it.”

Dai You laughed. “Don’t worry, Teacher. We stopped being nervous long ago.”

“Just take it as it is; it’s not the real Gaokao yet.” Yu Fei gave a yawn. “Finally about to finish this. It’s annoying, not having a moment of peace all summer.”

Old Ma laughed and scolded him, “Are you complaining about me throwing problems at you every day? Fine, get into the exam rooms. Oh, right—Dou Sheng, Xie Lan.”

He turned back and grabbed both of their elbows, one in each hand, and gave them a push forward. “Test well, you two. No turning in papers early. Xie Lan, no sleeping.”

Xie Lan nodded repeatedly. Reaching the stairs, Che Ziming and Dai You automatically turned right toward their room, but Dou Sheng continued to follow behind him, clearly wanting to see him off.

Old Ma glanced their way but quickly turned his head, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.

Wang Gou breathed a sigh of relief. “Old Ma probably doesn’t know Dou Sheng is testing on the first floor.”

Yu Fei muttered, “There’s no way he doesn’t know. He probably just didn’t process it. Douzi, you too—could Xie Lan really get lost walking to the room with us? I’m truly fed up with you people in relationships; dating lowers your IQ.”

Xie Lan was speechless at being teased openly by his friend. Dou Sheng curled his lip on the side. “Anyway, we have someone to date and you don’t. Just stay bitter.”

“Bitter my ass,” Yu Fei said irritably. “After the Gaokao, I’ll… forget it, not worth telling you. Gouzi, let’s go.”

He grabbed Wang Gou and strode up the steps, quickly disappearing. Xie Lan watched them leave awkwardly. Turning back, he saw Dou Sheng still lazily following behind him, a faint smile on his lips.

Reaching a corner where no one was around, Dou Sheng pulled him aside.

“Test well, boyfriend,” Dou Sheng said in a low voice. He took the plane tree leaf pendant that had been hanging from his backpack and stuffed it into Xie Lan’s pocket. “This is my essence. Let my essence accompany you during the test.”

Xie Lan put his hand in his pocket, his finger rubbing the veins of the leaf. He said seriously, “Then I’ll take your essence to B-City with me tomorrow and the day after?”

“Take it, take it.” Dou Sheng laughed. “I leave it to you. Just be careful not to throw me away.”

“How could that happen?” Xie Lan cleared his throat. “I’m going in.”

“Good luck.” Dou Sheng turned away stylishly and waved. “Good luck to both of us. See you at the top of the list.”

A proctor with an armband approached from the other direction. Xie Lan reluctantly retracted his gaze from the stairs where his boyfriend had vanished and followed the proctor into the room.

Compared to the first trial, the biggest difference in the second trial was the people around him.

Almost every face in the room was familiar; the vast majority had been seen at the provincial training. Just as Xie Lan was about to walk to the teacher’s desk to check the seating chart, a girl in the front row said, “Great God, you’re in the bottom-left corner by the window.”

Xie Lan couldn’t recall her name, so he only gave a polite smile.

He quickly scanned the seating chart, confirmed the spot, and left his bag at the front, taking only two pens to the back.

By coincidence, the seat was the same as his position in the English High classroom, which made him a little happy.

The proctor stood at the front and asked, “You all saw each other at the provincial training, right?”

Wang Gou laughed. “Pretty much.”

“Then you’re all familiar. Familiarity means no nerves.” The proctor’s tone was gentle. “Everyone check if you have enough scratch paper. If you feel it’s not enough, raise your hand now. I’ll start verifying information; write your name and exam number on the scratch paper.”

Xie Lan sat down and counted the scratch paper. There were five sheets, which was more than enough for him.

He wrote his information on each of the five sheets and looked at the clock. There were still a few minutes before the papers were distributed.

His mind was still a bit scattered, but not because of the exam. One moment he was thinking about the heavy traffic outside, wondering if Auntie Zhao would miss her turn and have to re-queue at the hospital. The next moment, he remembered the touch of Dou Sheng’s fingers on his head earlier. Dou Sheng had lost a lot of weight lately, and his fingers felt a bit cool.

“Xie Lan, 040875…” The proctor walked to his side to verify his info. After reading the number, the proctor paused, finger pointing at the scratch paper.

On the paper was a doodle Xie Lan had made while his mind was wandering.

It was a woman with wavy hair wearing a face mask, and next to her was a half-drawn boy.

Xie Lan stopped his pen awkwardly and whispered, “Teacher, this isn’t a violation…”

“It’s not,” the proctor sighed. “Xie Lan, right? Focus on the exam. Don’t draw.”

A ripple of laughter went through the room. Xie Lan quickly pressed that sheet to the bottom of the stack. Glancing at the proctor who had walked to the front, he still couldn’t resist finishing the other half of his boyfriend’s body.

The bell rang. The papers were distributed. The exam began.

The moment the paper arrived, his stray thoughts were finally cast aside. Xie Lan scanned the paper first. The prompts for the second trial were very short—ridiculously short, even. This often meant the problems were harder and more abstract. People were already starting to sigh just from looking at the paper.

Xie Lan looked at the Number Theory problem first, as it wasn’t his strongest suit. It was indeed difficult; at a glance, he only had a rough idea of the approach, and he wasn’t sure if it would work.

However, his mindset remained steady. He proceeded problem by problem from the beginning as usual. Following Old Ma’s instructions, he avoided mental math as much as possible, writing down the core formulas on the scratch paper for every problem before filling in the answer, slowing his pace compared to before.

By the time he reached the second-to-last problem, the proctor at the front announced, “Twenty minutes remaining.”

As the words fell, the quiet room was suddenly filled with the sound of rapid paper flipping. The competition paper was only a single-sided sheet and an answer card; there wasn’t much to flip. Flipping back and forth was simply a sign of a restless mind.

Being reminded of the time often triggers a change in state, especially since the difficulty of the second trial exceeded expectations; even Xie Lan still had two major problems empty.

However, he didn’t feel like his mindset was crumbling. He just suddenly felt that the desk digging into his legs had become more obvious. He hadn’t realized earlier that the strip of his thigh touching the desk edge was stinging. He moved his legs to a different position.

Two major problems in twenty minutes. Xie Lan had timed himself with Old Ma’s problems before; if his mindset stayed steady, he could finish.

So, he tried his best to block out the sounds of flipping paper. He lowered his head to read the problems carefully, deconstructing the steps, and then setting the equations onto the paper.

When the sharp bell rang, Xie Lan had just finished writing the last result on the answer card.

Almost at the same time, the proctor slammed the desk loudly. “Everyone, put down your pens! Anything written further is void!”

Xie Lan immediately put down his pen and breathed a long sigh of relief. Looking up, he saw Wang Gou in front and to the side. Wang Gou had been halfway through transferring a formula from the scratch paper to the answer card and slammed his hand against his leg in frustration.

One proctor collected the answer cards while the other collected the scratch paper. When the proctor reached Xie Lan, they glanced at his filled answer card.

The second trial’s difficulty was absurd; no one had finished it all. The stronger students usually had to choose one of the last two major problems. In the entire room, only Xie Lan’s answer card was full.

The proctor let out a quick “Hmph” and moved on. The other proctor took Xie Lan’s scratch paper and joked, “The drawing was for nothing; we have to take these away too.”

“Take it, Teacher,” Xie Lan gave a final glance at his doodle. “I just drew it casually.”

While waiting for the teachers to count the papers, everyone began complaining.

Yu Fei turned back to ask Wang Gou, “How was it?”

Wang Gou sighed deeply. “I’m so mad. I had the first part of the last problem calculated but didn’t have time to finish writing it. You?”

Yu Fei’s face was long. “Don’t even ask. I didn’t even touch the last problem. I barely finished the second-to-last one, and I couldn’t do three of the fill-in-the-blanks earlier.”

Xie Lan lowered his head and carefully moved his desk.

The boy in front of him was quite bulky. Toward the end of the exam, he had been moving around, his chair pushing Xie Lan’s desk further back. Xie Lan’s right foot had been caught between the desk leg and the chair leg, and his calf was cramping from being pinched.

But that guy clearly felt desperate about the exam; Xie Lan didn’t want to start an unnecessary conversation, so he just moved the desk back silently.

After a moment, he finally managed to pull his foot out. He bent over to tuck a loose shoelace into his shoe. Just as he reached out, the boy in front moved, and Xie Lan’s finger brushed sharply against the desk leg.

Xie Lan couldn’t help but let out a “Hiss—”

Yu Fei, who was talking about the problems with Wang Gou, looked over. “What happened?”

“Ah? Oh! Sorry!” The guy in front realized what happened, quickly moved forward, and turned back. “Are you okay?”

“No, no, no.” Xie Lan waved them off quickly and glanced at his fingertip. “It’s fine. Just bumped my hand, nothing’s wrong.”

Indeed, nothing seemed wrong. The skin on his fingertip was smooth, with no crushing or scrape.

Except for a slight, faint stinging pain.

Finally, they were allowed to leave. Xie Lan went downstairs and met up with Dou Sheng. Old Ma and the others were there too.

Dai You was pestering Old Ma with questions, and Wang Gou and Yu Fei joined in upon seeing them.

Old Ma waved at Xie Lan from a few meters away. “Over here!”

“I’m not coming over!” Xie Lan was terrified. Grabbing his backpack in one hand and his boyfriend in the other, he ran. “I have a written exam tomorrow. Now that the test is over, it’s over. I’m not checking answers!”

Old Ma laughed and scolded behind him, “I won’t check answers with you, you kid!” Seeing him head off blindly, Old Ma shouted, “Be safe tomorrow! Remember to contact He Xiu when you get to T University!”

“Got it!” Xie Lan held onto Dou Sheng and trotted out. Only after bursting out of the teaching building and standing under the bright sun did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Old Ma was too enthusiastic—enthusiastic to the point of being overwhelming.

Every time he said he wouldn’t check answers, but if you actually went over, he’d immediately ask if there were any problems you didn’t understand.

Dou Sheng chuckled softly. “You finished the paper, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Xie Lan sighed.

He didn’t actually care whether he checked the answers or not; he just didn’t want to explain too much to everyone. Wang Gou and the others likely hadn’t finished, so there was no need for him to add to their pressure.

Dou Sheng hummed. “I knew it. Our Er-Mao is so excellent.”

The sunlight was brilliant. Xie Lan looked at him, squinting in the light. “What about you?”

“I just barely finished. My heart was racing, and I’m unsure about one of the small problems.” Dou Sheng casually took the backpack off Xie Lan’s shoulder and carried it himself. He laughed and sighed, “Whatever. As long as you did well, it’s fine. I don’t care.”

Xie Lan didn’t actually know how he’d performed. There were many difficult problems earlier; he could only guarantee he’d made calculations he felt were correct at the time, but he hadn’t had time to double-check them.

“Well, the exam is over anyway.” He felt a bit restless from the sun as he walked out with Dou Sheng. “Where’s Auntie Zhao?”

“I just sent a message and she didn’t reply. She’s probably furious from waiting in line.” Dou Sheng waved his phone. “Let’s go home and eat. I’ll go to the hospital this afternoon while you prepare for your written exam. Don’t come with me; otherwise, she’ll be even more uneasy.”

Xie Lan had to nod and agree.

Having finished the second trial, he finally felt a bit relaxed. On the way home, Xie Lan stared out the window into the distance. As he zoned out, he rubbed his right thumb against his index fingertip; it felt prickly and painful, yet he couldn’t feel a break in the skin.

Reaching their building, Zhao Wenying still hadn’t replied on WeChat. Dou Sheng used his key to open the garage and took a look. “The car isn’t back. She’s likely in line for tests and isn’t looking at her phone.”

Xie Lan gave an “um” and followed him into the elevator, lifting his fingertip to inspect it against the light.

“What’s wrong?” Dou Sheng asked.

Xie Lan sucked on his fingertip. “It feels like a splinter, but I can’t see it.”

“Huh?” Dou Sheng became anxious as soon as he heard Xie Lan’s hand was hurt. Reaching the front door, he pulled out his keys with one hand and grabbed Xie Lan’s finger with the other. “I’ll find a needle and get it out for you. Does it hurt?”

The door opened. Xie Lan glanced at the shoe rack; Zhao Wenying’s shoes weren’t there.

“It hurts a bit, just prickly.” He sighed. “Dig it out with a needle? That sounds scary.”

Dou Sheng lifted his finger to his lips and brushed it against them. “I’ll just scrape the surface, it won’t hurt.”

Xie Lan lowered his head to reach for his slippers with one hand and hummed, “I feel like you’re lying to me.”

“My boyfriend’s hand is a treasure,” Dou Sheng sighed. “How could I possibly lie…”

His words came to a dead stop.

Xie Lan had just stepped into his slippers. Hearing this, he looked up and walked to Dou Sheng’s side to look into the living room. He froze.

Zhao Wenying still had her high heels on. She sat up slowly from the sofa, looking extremely exhausted.

“You’re back,” Zhao Wenying said.

Xie Lan’s brain buzzed. He instinctively tried to pull away from Dou Sheng. Dou Sheng let go of his finger, but before Xie Lan could pull his hand back, Dou Sheng gripped his wrist. He held it for a long while before letting go.

“Mom.”

Dou Sheng’s tone was relatively calm. “Why are you back so early?”