Early the next morning, Evan Lin headed to school.
On the way, he ran into Mr. Jack Yuan. But when Yuan saw Evan, his face was ugly and gloomy.
Yesterday's events had utterly humiliated Mr. Yuan, and to make matters worse, this was Capitalview First High School—neither the principal nor the academic director would intervene, leaving Yuan with no options in the end.
At nine in the morning, the comprehensive science exam began.
The proctor had been switched out, but as soon as Evan got the test paper, his pen flew across the page as always.
He finished the entire exam in about an hour. When Evan packed up his bag and left the classroom, he caught the attention of the teacher from Pearl Academy.
As for the other students in the exam room, all battered and exhausted by the test, they'd long since grown numb to Evan's inhuman speed.
"Evan Lin?"
Evan walked out of the exam room into an empty corridor. As he went downstairs, he heard someone call his name from behind.
"What's up?"
Evan turned his head and saw Autumn Zheng standing behind him, frowning slightly.
Yesterday, Autumn had basically watched Evan from start to finish as he completed the entire math exam. Evan had sensed someone behind him but didn't give it much thought.
"You did really well on the math paper yesterday." Autumn had only called out subconsciously, and now that Evan turned to look at her, she suddenly didn't know what to say.
"Thanks."
Evan nodded, then went straight downstairs without a moment's hesitation.
Autumn watched Evan's back for a long while, sighing inwardly. This student really did give her a cold impression.
"But that's only natural. Any student who catches a teacher's eye is bound to have a bit of an edge." Autumn shook her head slightly.
Last night, Professor Gordon Gu even called Autumn specifically to ask about the situation. When he heard Autumn describe Evan's problem-solving process, he was thrilled on the other end and kept asking for more details.
Autumn had never seen Professor Gu care so much about any student before.
In the afternoon, it was the English exam. Evan handed in his paper an hour early, then spent another hour wandering around the playground after the test.
After the Hundred-School Joint Exam, Capitalview First High School officially started winter vacation. The school had originally planned to hold make-up classes, but had to cancel them when the Education Bureau issued a strict ban.
Class 12's classroom.
After the exam, students trickled back to their seats one after another.
"This round of the Hundred-School Joint Exam is over. Whether you did well or not, it's all in the past."
Byron Yang stood at the podium, looking at the students below—some happy, some disappointed—and said seriously, "After school today, winter vacation officially begins. You need to keep a positive mindset during the break and absolutely must not slack off."
"You should all focus on the college entrance exam a few months from now! The college entrance exam is the one that can truly change your future! I hope that in June next year, every one of you gets into your dream school!"
Byron Yang tried to pep up Class 12, but the response from below was pretty lukewarm.
After that, Byron quickly went over some basic holiday safety reminders and emphasized the homework for each subject, then finally announced the official end of class.
As soon as the announcement was made, the Class 12 students cheered, thrilled to finally be on winter break.
After school, Byron had wanted to talk to Evan alone, but he was a step too late and missed him.
As soon as the exams were over, Evan went home and started packing up his things.
Stella Huang was busy writing her graduation thesis when she looked up and saw Evan packing. She paused, a little stunned. "Are you heading out again?"
"Yeah, the exams are done and vacation's started, so I'm getting ready to go home," Evan nodded.
"Will you still be living here next term?" Seeing Evan about to leave, Stella suddenly felt a strange, sour sadness she couldn't quite name.
The feeling caught Stella off guard, making her a little embarrassed.
During their time living together, Stella had realized that wherever Evan was, she felt grounded and safe—as if no matter what happened, Evan would always have a way to fix it.
"After break, I still have to come back for the college entrance exam."
Evan spoke as he packed.
Stella smiled when she heard that. "That's good. Too bad Yiran's out flying a route right now; otherwise, we could've had a farewell dinner tonight."
"If Yiran comes home and finds you've already left, she'll probably be down for days."
Stella joked.
Evan didn't take the bait.
After finishing his packing, Evan headed out, planning to catch a night train to Minghai, then transfer to a bus to Whitewood early the next morning.
Once outside, Evan called Lucy Lu to say goodbye.
Lucy reminded Evan to stay safe on the road.
After hanging up, Lucy glanced at her daughter Lynn Chen, who was watching TV on the sofa, and said, "Evan's going home tonight. Do you want to go to Whitewood and have some fun?"
Charles Chen was sitting nearby, peeling an apple. When he heard this, he nodded enthusiastically. "That's right, Lynn. You've been studying hard lately—you could go with your mom to visit Aunt Joy Zheng in Whitewood."
"Since Evan's going home, he won't have much to do, so you could spend time together and talk more. Who knows, maybe you'll get even closer."
Charles looked completely on board.
He was one hundred percent in favor of Lynn and Evan getting together.
Evan's potential was beyond question. Charles Chen even felt that even if Evan dropped out of school right now, his future would still be miles ahead of ordinary people.
"Dad!"
Lynn protested, sounding a bit annoyed.
Curled up on the sofa, she buried her head, sounding casual: "I'm not going. He didn't even ask me."
"Last time, I only went because I was with Yolanda Fang. If I go alone now, it'd just be weird."
Lynn's voice was full of shy complaint.
"That's a fair point." Charles nodded. "A boy should take the initiative and invite you. Girls ought to be a bit reserved; boys, on the other hand, should step up."
Charles agreed wholeheartedly.
Just as Lynn was breathing a sigh of relief, Charles turned to Lucy and suggested, "Why don't you call Evan or his mom, Joy Zheng?"
"You could say Lynn's bored at home for winter break, stressed out from school, and wants to go out but doesn't know where—drop a hint so Evan invites her himself."
"Boys should take the lead. Besides, Evan's mom already likes Lynn a lot, so she wouldn't turn down the idea."
Charles looked very pleased with himself.