Chapter 138
When Chen Mengyan heard Yang Ming say “It is not what you think”, she was relieved.
“Mengyan, are you looking for me…?” Yang Ming was embarrassed, but he couldn’t keep a girl standing in front of him, could he?
“Yang Ming, I heard you went to Yunnan with Zhang Bing. When did you come back?” Chen Mengyan was trying her best to stay calm.
“I’ve been back for half a month already.” Yang Ming scratched his head.
Zhang Bing noticed Chen Mengyan came over. He quickly got a chair for her to sit next to Yang Ming. Yang Ming was in the last row, and he sat alone without any neighbor. That was convenient for Chen Mengyan to be seated next to him.
“Why you didn’t contact me once you came back?” Chen Mengyan said as her heart tightened. “Didn’t you know I was looking for you?”
“I didn’t go online…” Yang Ming replied with a hollow laugh.
“Eh? How do you know I looked for you on the internet?” Chen Mengyan intended to say it calmly as though she was smiling, but sadness surged deeply into her heart.
Yang Ming had certainly realized he said something wrong. It wasn’t an easy task to lie in front of a smart girl. Hence, he changed the topic. “Recently, I was at a driving school with Zhang Bing. It was quite busy…”
“Alright, I’m not complaining…” Chen Mengyan’s tone right now was akin to a resentful daughter-in-law.
In the past, he would have gone wild with his thoughts, however, now his heart sank.
“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore.” Chen Mengyan noticed Yang Ming’s mood was quite low. She took the initiative and changed the topic. “Which university are you enrolling in?”
“You don’t know which university I am enrolling in?” Yang Ming gritted his teeth and put down the cuffs holding his heart. The east wind blows; war drum beats [1]. I have never been afraid of anything since I was young! It’s just a voodoo, f*** it. Flirting with girls is the enjoyment of life. If I lose something like this, there’s no point in life!
Chen Mengyan noticed that Yang Ming reverted to his previous self with his smooth tongue. She couldn’t help but be happy deep inside. “How do I know? You have a 697.5 score in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. That’s ten points higher than me! Your score allows you to enter Beijing University!”
“You know my score?” Yang Ming was caught by surprise. It seemed that Chen Mengyan was concerned about me. He was excited. “Isn’t your score good enough to enter Beijing University as well?”
“I have already mentioned that I don’t want to be too far from home. Hence, I’m enrolling in Song Jiang Industry University!” Chen Mengyan shrugged her shoulders. “For you, a grade like that will be in the top ten of the school. Rumor says the highest score of Song Jiang City is 709!”
“Heh, you are saying these to dig for the answer. I have already decided with Zhang Bing to go to Song Jiang Industry University together!” Yang Ming laughed. “We are in the same school again.”
“Zhang Bing? He is enrolling in Song Jiang Industry University?” Chen Mengyan was shocked. She knew about Zhang Bing’s result which was usually at the back of the class. His grade was quite similar to the old Yang Ming. She immediately added, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t misunderstand it…”
Chen Mengyan didn’t want Zhang Bing to think poorly of her hence she immediately clarified.
“Hey, based on his results, it is natural if he cannot make it. But, the university he enrolled into was the joint university XX with Song Jiang Industry University. They would have classes together. There are minor differences in the graduation certificates.” Yang Ming explained.
“I understand what you mean.” Chen Mengyan nodded. “That will be great. We are schoolmates again.”
Not long after, the classroom soon filled up. The class teacher, Teacher Li, arrived in class. Most of the students were seated where they liked. The students formed small groups after all. Since today wasn’t part of high school anymore, there was no need to be bound so much. Chen Mengyan didn’t return to her seat but stayed beside Yang Ming.
Chen Mengyan had thought it through during these few days. Since she had decided to be together with Yang Ming, she wouldn’t hide it anymore.
Teacher Li glanced around the students in the classroom who weren’t seated in order. She didn’t say much since the National Higher Education Entrance Examination had ended. Teacher Li didn’t mind so much about such a small matter.
“I think most of you already know your grade in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. In this information age, it is unlike before where you needed to attend school so that you can obtain your results.” Teacher Li smiled. “Right now, there are various channels to know about your exam results, including phone query and online verification. I don’t need to say much more. Firstly, I want to congratulate those who managed to obtain excellent results. For those who didn’t obtain their ideal results, don’t give up. The education right now is much more open. Each popular university has a lot of joint university programs. If you really can’t make it, you can still repeat. As a teacher, I hope that you can find your path! I have a stack of university admissions guides with me. It includes not only the public university but also private university and joint university programs. I hope everyone can refer to it as you fill in the form for your university application. I will pass the application form to each of you. You should bring it home and discuss with your parents. Send it to me after you have filled it out.”
Teacher Li separated the university admissions guide (National Higher Education Entrance Examination University Admissions Guide) and the university application form into different stacks for the students to pass it down.
Most of the students had already chosen the university where they wanted to apply. Most of them were the students who had either an excellent grade or a bad grade. Those with excellent grades had their target already. Those who performed badly had used their connections to find a slot for themselves. Only those who were mediocre hesitated.
Yang Ming and Chen Mengyan belonged to the excellent grade category. Zhang Bing already had everything prepared. Hence, the university admission guides that they received were akin to waste papers.
Of course, these things were valuable to those who were undecided between their options. Teacher Li spoke about a few things to look out for in the application form. Those were important for everyone to pay attention to, so Yang Bing and Chen Mengyan made notes of it.
After Teacher Li explained the important points, she said, “The nerve-wracking National Higher Education Entrance Examination has come to an end. The Grade 12 teachers had discussed this and organized a camping activity. Everyone can take part if you wish to. Wang Zhitao will collect names of the participants. Certainly, each of you shouldn’t stray too far away from the group during the trip. Our campsite will be the West Star Mountain in the Litong County of Song Jiang City. The round trip fare is twenty yuan. We will set the rest of the itinerary when we arrive at our destination.”
As soon as Teacher Li finished her sentence, the classroom was filled with discussion! In fact, everyone desired to have such activity. In the past, in Grade 10 and Grade 11, they had picnics between April and May. Since they became busier in Grade 12, as everyone prepared for the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, their picnic plans got canceled.
Before Teacher Li arrived, some students who were close to each other had already planned for a trip. But, they lacked a single person to group everyone!
Wang Zhitao as the class monitor was a good candidate to do so. But, he felt disgraced by his failure in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. So, he lost the mood to organize it. Right now, Teacher Li mentioned it, and it suited everyone’s wish!
After all, they were classmates who spent three years with each other. Everyone was close to one another. Hence, the last group activity was important to them. Not long after, everyone would leave each other. Some might want to study abroad. It was impossible to have a gathering with so many in attendance!
Wang Zhitao wasn’t in the mood, but he had a place to go to at least. Hence, he nodded his head and accepted the task.
“Yang Ming, are you going?” Zhang Bing turned his head around and asked. Zhang Bing and Yang Ming belonged to the group of underachiever students. Song Jiang No. 4 High School was a provincial key high school. Students in this category weren’t many. There would be two to three of them in a class. Hence, they didn’t get along well with the others.
Initially, Yang Ming didn’t want to go as he didn’t have much connection with the others. But, he noticed Chen Mengyan had an eager gaze. Yang Ming nodded and said, “I’m going. Why not? I have been spending a lot of time learning how to drive. Let’s take it as an opportunity to relax!”
“Then, I will be going as well!” Zhang Bing always followed Yang Ming’s lead.
“Sister-in-law, are you going?” Zhang Bing suddenly added.
“Heh?” Chen Mengyan was caught by surprise. She didn’t hear Zhang Bing address her that way in a long time. The last time was when they were in the cinema. At that time, Chen Mengyan was slightly annoyed when Zhang Bing called her that. But, she found it quite sweet now.
“I’m part of the study commissary. Of course, I need to go.” Chen Mengyan also said “Since Yang Ming is going. I’m going for sure!” Luckily, she reacted fast enough. As she finished her sentence, she glared at Zhang Bing secretly. It is your fault. Why did you call me sister-in-law and confuse my thoughts?
After Teacher Li covered the official business, she asked Wang Zhitao to begin putting together the participant list for camp. Aside from the students who had already booked a trip from a tourism company, those who were left over had signed up for camp.
Nowadays which student in school wouldn’t have an extra twenty yuan in their pocket? Therefore, Wang Zhitao just collected the transportation fee on the spot. When he had walked to Yang Ming, he frowned as he saw how Chen Mengyan sat beside Yang Ming and the both of them appeared to have a pretty good relationship. He felt rather p*ssed from the other time when he attempted to set Yang Ming up. Not only did he not caused any trouble for Yang Ming, he also almost locked himself in jail.