Eldest Brother Su finally made his position clear. After saying goodbye to Evan Lin, he drove away.
Evan Lin went back to his room. As usual, Stella Huang was busy rushing her manuscript, and Irene Xu wasn’t home.
Evan Lin greeted her and headed back to his room.
Looks like this second monthly exam is a bust too.
Evan Lin lay on the bed, stretched, and let out a sigh.
If Tiger Fang hadn’t suddenly shown up, Evan Lin wouldn’t have bothered going to the military district to watch the Single-Soldier Showdown.
From First Blade to Fifth Blade, their skills were pretty weak, but at least Evan Lin had given them some pointers. They couldn’t lose too badly.
If I remember right, tomorrow’s exams are integrated science and English.
Evan Lin thought to himself, even if there were only two subjects left, he should at least go through the motions. For integrated science, he could score around 270 out of 300; for English, he was confident about the written part, but the 30-point listening section was tough for him.
Even though Evan Lin’s memory and comprehension had improved a lot, he’d only done a few English practice sets, so his listening skills weren’t great.
Guess I’ll just leave it at that for now.
Evan Lin shook his head and tossed the issue to the back of his mind.
The next day, when Evan Lin arrived at the exam room, nearly every student inside looked over at him with strange expressions.
Most people were just curious about Evan Lin’s sudden appearance. Missing the first day of the monthly exam and only showing up for the second—no normal person would do that.
Evan Lin took his seat, ignoring all the weird looks from his classmates.
At 8:45 in the morning, Byron Yang walked in holding a teacup and a stack of test papers. When he saw Evan Lin sitting at his desk, he was clearly stunned.
Byron Yang stepped onto the podium, cleared his throat, and said, "The exam starts in fifteen minutes. You have five minutes to use the restroom. During the test, put away anything unrelated to the exam. If you’re caught with anything suspicious on your desk, it’ll be treated as cheating."
This time, the test is integrated science.
As soon as Byron Yang finished, a few students quickly got up and rushed out to the restroom.
Every monthly exam at Capitalview First High meant a new round of ranking changes. For the students of every class, this was a big deal.
Byron Yang took advantage of the five-minute break, pulled out a transparent exam pouch from the desk drawer, walked over to Evan Lin's desk, and placed it on the table.
You’ve already missed two exams, so your ranking doesn’t matter anymore. But for these last two, you need to give it your all and aim for a high score.
Byron Yang lowered his head, looked at Evan Lin, and tapped the desk: "This exam pouch was prepared for you by a girl from Class 2. Don’t let her down."
After saying this, Byron Yang gave Evan Lin a deep look, then turned and walked back to the podium.
A girl from Class 2?
Evan Lin opened the pouch. Inside were three gel pens, a 2B pencil, a new eraser, and a roll of clear correction tape.
It was obvious the girl who prepared these had put a lot of thought into it.
Evan Lin spun a gel pen in his hand, his gaze flickering. He didn’t need to guess—he knew the sender was Lynn Chen.
Ever since a small falling-out with Lynn Chen a while ago, she’d basically been pretending not to see Evan Lin.
It seemed she was throwing herself into her studies, and lately Evan Lin had heard quite a few classmates talking about her.
No matter where you are, a pretty, top-student girl like Lynn Chen always becomes the subject of gossip.
But lately, people had started to forget about Evan Lin and instead thought Lynn Chen and Eric Yu made a great pair. Especially since the star Eric Yu, who seemed so above everyone else, shamelessly trailed after Lynn Chen every day. That alone made many girls jealous of her.
In Class 2, Lynn Chen rested her chin on one hand, gazing out the window toward the teaching building across the corridor, lost in thought.
Sometimes Lynn Chen would think of Evan Lin, but she increasingly felt their lives were heading in completely different directions.
Are you even taking this monthly exam?
Lynn Chen wondered, sighing softly, then shook her head and forced herself to focus.
The proctor started handing out test papers. With only two hours for integrated science, there was no time for Lynn Chen to daydream.
The exam rooms all fell silent.
Evan Lin picked up his pen and started answering the questions.
The only sounds were the faint scratch of pen on paper.
Byron Yang occasionally walked up and down the aisles, his eyes sharp, scanning the room like a hawk.
An hour passed.
Evan Lin stopped writing, capped his pen, and stood up.
You’re not allowed to use the restroom during the exam.
Seeing Evan Lin stand up, Byron Yang kindly reminded him.
Handing in my paper.
With everyone watching, Evan Lin walked up and handed in his completely filled answer sheet. Many students stopped writing and glanced at him.
He probably gave up. No way you can finish this paper in an hour.
He definitely didn’t bother writing anything. He skipped Chinese and math, and now with such a hard science paper, it’s normal to just give up.
Trash.
Watching Evan Lin’s back as he left the classroom, everyone had different thoughts running through their minds.
Byron Yang shook his head, not trying to stop him, but deep down he felt disappointed in Evan Lin.
He didn’t even pass the last integrated science quiz, and this monthly exam is much harder. Turning in his paper early—has he just given up on himself?
Byron Yang walked up to the podium, pressed Evan Lin’s answer sheet under the chalk box, and thought of Lynn Chen, who had nervously delivered the exam pouch yesterday. He couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t worth her effort.
At the same moment Evan Lin stepped out of the classroom, in the Jinnan Military District, Ethan Xu boarded a helicopter heading back to Beijing.