about to close her notebook when she saw, on the last page, a single line of elegant script:Some flowers bloom high up in the trees.Tinglan recognized these characters. They were a line from the poem...After that unintentional touch, the boy's thoughts were thrown into turmoil and could no longer settle. There was a beast within him, gnawing at him, disrupting him.

From then on, he dared not follow her as he used to, nor look at her. He could only avoid her from afar, finding a semblance of peace in not being able to see her. He thought, wait a while longer. Wait until after the college entrance exam, until she is willing to turn her attention away from studies.

His sudden "disappearance" went unnoticed by Tinglan himself, or perhaps he noticed it but didn't mind. After all, the college entrance exam was just around the corner, and all his thoughts were consumed by studying.

On the contrary, Lu Kuo and Cheng Chen felt a little uncomfortable.

One evening, after night study, the three of them went to their usual noodle shop as always. The proprietress was surprised to see them and asked,

“Where’s that boy been lately I haven’t seen him in a while.”

Lu Kuo pulled a chair over while casually replying, "He's busy."

He didn't know what he was busy with, and even found it strange how he had suddenly become a different person. Lu Kuo glanced at Ting Lan, thinking to himself that the guy probably wasn't having feelings for someone else.

Cheng Chen also asked, "What is he busy with Could it be true that he's preparing to study abroad like the teacher said"

"Studying abroad" Lu Kuo was puzzled, he had no idea what that meant.

"I don't know, but I heard from a teacher in the office that their class teacher said he rejected an offer of guaranteed admission to our school. I guess he wants to study abroad."

“I looked back at him.” Lu Kuo really hadn't heard Zhuo Yu'an mention it, but considering Zhuo Yu'an's ambitions and dreams, it seemed very possible.

Ting Lan silently ate the fried egg at the bottom of the congee.

Study abroad

It seems like I heard Mom mention a while ago that Wen Jian was planning to study abroad after graduating from high school.

She thinks this is a good thing, so she said that whether early love will affect study or not depends on the person. Some people, because they are both excellent, get together and achieve each other, 1 1 greater than 2.

After this, even Lu Kuò, who had always been nonchalant, started to take his classes and review seriously. After all, even though his family could arrange for him to go to a good university, his grades would still be a concern if they were too low. So the only requirement his parents had for him was to try his best to improve his scores.

Fortunately, he majored in the humanities. Relatively speaking, cramming could still work for him, and he had a tutor, Zhuo Yu'an, who helped him catch up by highlighting key exam points. He put in some effort to memorize them, and his grades slowly climbed from being at the bottom of the class.

In the last mock exam, his score unexpectedly jumped to 25th place, which was his best result ever. He looked at the report card and said arrogantly,

"I told you, I'm the fastest and most promising learner in the class."

I wish I could carve "I'm the coolest" on my forehead.

Cheng Chen silently rolled his eyes in his heart and sneered, "You don't even look at how many points you got on your math test"

"I did that on purpose, otherwise I would have surpassed you. I'm letting you win a little bit, and I'll keep letting you win from now on."

"Who wants you to yield!"

That time in the mock exam, Cheng Chen ranked 20th. When she compared her scores with Lu Kuo's, he only scored slightly lower than her in math and Chinese. She had to admit that even "academic underachievers" could make a comeback, and there was a lot of room for improvement.

Tinglan came in third place. From the second semester of her senior year, she tried her best but could only maintain third place. At first, she was afraid that her parents would find out, but later she realized she had overthought it. Her parents, who used to care most about her grades, unexpectedly relaxed during this crucial time in her senior year.

Dad is as busy as ever, rarely seen at home. When he does come back, he looks exhausted and has no time to spare for her studies.

And mom, in her own words: “Mom believes your foundation is very good, as long as you don't get nervous during the exam, you can definitely get a good score. So mom won’t put as much pressure on you as she did for the middle school entrance exam. Mom will relax and you should relax too and just take the exam.”

Later, Tinglan thought perhaps she was just oblivious. At that time, the atmosphere at home was already very tense. The three of them were all on edge, like a taut string about to break. But it didn't break because they were all stubbornly enduring, waiting for her college entrance exam to end.

However, she was fortunate that at the time she was oblivious to it all, her mind solely focused on preparing for the college entrance examination. Therefore, when the exam came, she performed normally and felt quite good about herself. Just after finishing the last subject and leaving the exam hall, there was still only her mother waiting for her outside the school, with no sign of her father.

She suddenly remembered the news on TV, many middle-aged couples were living apart in name only. They waited until their children finished the college entrance exam to get a divorce, and some couples had already divorced but were waiting until after the exam to tell their children.

Listening to this, Tinglan's heart suddenly sank. She stopped and asked her mother, "Will you divorce Dad"

Mom, upon being asked this, perhaps thought of those news reports and suddenly laughed, "How could we get a divorce Mom and Dad have a great relationship. Recently, it's just that there are too many things going on at our work units, and the pressure is immense."

Only then did Tinglan feel at ease.

"When your dad has some free time these two days, our family of three will go out for a good meal. You've worked the hardest in these six months."

"Okay."

Listening now has nothing to do, suddenly from the pressure of the college entrance examination liberation, but unexpectedly feels a little empty inside.

As the mother and daughter walked into the residential compound, they saw Wen Lan and Wen Jian also just returning from the exam hall. However, it seemed like they had just had an argument, as their faces were not looking good.

Zhang He went to greet and chat with Wen Lan, while Tinglan and Wen Jian stood aside waiting.

Tinglan lowered her head to look at her shoes, poking the ground with her toes absentmindedly. She didn't want to talk to Wenjian and had nothing to say anyway.

Then Wen Jian asked her, "How did you do on the exam"

Wenjian's attitude towards her has always been up and down, Tinglan was already used to it, simply answering: "It's fine."

The chatter of two mothers beside me could be heard.

Wen Lan couldn't quite control her temper and complained, "We had always planned to go out after Xiao Jian finished high school, but now she's starting to hesitate about whether to stay in China for university or go abroad."

Hearing this, Tinglan glanced at Wenjian, knowing that she was a girl with her own opinions. There must be her reasons for choosing this way.

The two mothers chatted for a while and said goodbye.

Wen Lan and Wen Jian's voices faintly echoed behind them.

Wen Jian complained: "Why do you tell everything outside"

Wenlan: “You think Mom doesn’t know, you’re waiting for that boy to decide if he goes abroad or not. You want to go abroad with him, and if he stays in China, you stay in China too. Xiao Jian, don't forget, you are different from others…”

"She glanced back at Tinglan and her daughter, suppressing the rest of what she wanted to say. In the past, she had let Xiaojian make her own decisions, but now, given the circumstances, they needed to leave just in case. Her brother had already made all the arrangements for them abroad, and it would be another month at most."tood what was going on. 。Gu Ruandong sent her a video request as soon as he saw the message. She answered and just looked at him without speaking, waiting for him to speak first. Her eyes were red. 。...