To avoid troubling Fang Jun, Lin Mo decided to call Chu Lintian and asked her to pick up Chu Miaomiao at the entrance of their neighborhood.
When they returned to the main road outside the urban village, the three of them got out of the taxi.
After all, it wasn’t easy for the cab to drive further in, so walking was more convenient.
"Today was really fun! Let’s hang out again next time. See you!" Fang Jun waved and headed home.
In the end, only Lin Mo and Xie Yuling were left.
Though Xie Yuling hadn’t said much today, it was clear she had enjoyed herself too, cradling the little fox in her arms as it swayed playfully.
"So, did you have fun today?" Lin Mo asked casually.
"Yeah! The dance machine was really fun. There used to be an arcade around here—my dad would secretly take me there behind my mom’s back. But then it closed down..."
She didn’t finish the sentence, but Lin Mo could guess the rest.
Before he could offer any comfort, Xie Yuling gathered her hands and handed Lin Mo a black plastic bag.
"But I’m still really happy I got to play the dance machine again. And thank you for the plushies you won for me. As a thank-you gift, I’m giving you this."
Lin Mo took the bag, pretending not to know what was inside. When he opened it, he found a Strike Freedom model kit.
"Wow! A golden legend!"
With his spiritual sense, how could he not have known what was inside? Still, he was genuinely happy—Xie Yuling loved giving him things.
But what guy doesn’t like receiving gifts?
Even his dad, the family MVP, loved getting presents.
"I exchanged all my tickets for it. Pretty impressive, right?"
"Super impressive!" Lin Mo clapped enthusiastically.
But the most impressive part was that Xie Yuling had gone to Fang Jun’s shooting game booth to collect extra tickets just to redeem this model.
These game tickets were part of the arcade’s promotional plan to boost business.
But because Lin Mo had participated in the shooting game and Xie Yuling was ridiculously good at the dance machine, they ended up with enough tickets to exchange for the model.
The coins they’d spent wouldn’t have been enough to buy it outright.
"Thanks, I really love this gift," Lin Mo said sincerely. Even though he wasn’t a huge Gundam fan, cool mechas would always be every boy’s dream.
"Come on, let’s head up!"
When they were alone, Xie Yuling reverted to her lively, girlish self. She playfully patted Lin Mo’s arm and tugged him lightly toward the stairs.
......
When is National Day the most torturous?
The answer, of course, is the day after it ends—when you have to go back to school.
Everyone looked like sleep-deprived zombies.
Lin Mo watched Fang Jun stumble out of the rice noodle shop like he hadn’t fully woken up and couldn’t resist giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Hey, what’s up with you?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. My parents went on a trip, so I kinda went wild these past few days. Didn’t adjust my sleep schedule back in time."
Didn’t adjust his sleep schedule?
No worries—school would fix that for him.
Back in Class 8, the zombie apocalypse was in full swing, though it mostly affected the boys.
Girls, even during breaks, tended to stick to their usual routines, while boys?
If you don’t pull all-nighters when you’re young, when will you?
After the flag-raising ceremony, everyone seemed slightly more awake.
At least they didn’t look as undead as they had first thing in the morning.
But then Chen Xiaoya dropped a bombshell that sent the class into collective despair.
"Next week, we’ll be having our monthly exams.
All nine subjects will be tested: Chinese, Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, and Politics.
Chinese, Math, and English are worth 150 points each, while the others are 100 points, totaling 1050 points."
Since they hadn’t yet split into arts and sciences streams, they had to take all these subjects.
It was also meant to help everyone figure out which stream suited them better.
But that didn’t stop the groans of misery.
Hearing the complaints, Chen Xiaoya scoffed.
"You guys really don’t know how good you have it. The school originally planned to hold the exams this week but postponed it because they figured most of you wouldn’t be back in ‘school mode’ right after the holiday.
So, which do you prefer—this week or next week?"
Faced with that choice, everyone quickly agreed on next week.
A classic example of the "window-opening theory" Lu Xun once described.
Seeing their reluctant acceptance, Chen Xiaoya continued, "The first monthly exam is crucial—it’ll help guide your stream selection..."
Lin Mo rested his chin on his hand, listening to Chen Xiaoya’s lecture, when a folded note landed on his desk.
Seriously? Passing notes at this age?
Still, he unfolded it.
"Are you picking arts or sciences in senior year?"
Was that even a question?
Of course, sciences.
If he were going for arts, he wouldn’t have bothered with the math Olympiad.
He scribbled "sciences" on the note and discreetly passed it back.
Jiang Yunlu read it and grinned, quickly writing another reply before tossing it over.
"Me too—sciences!"
Just then, Chen Xiaoya’s sharp gaze swept across the room, monitoring every movement.
Lin Mo pocketed the note, deciding to hold off until after class.
Left without a response, Jiang Yunlu pouted and resigned herself to Chen Xiaoya’s motivational speech.
Typical teacher talk—"Work hard now, and university will be a breeze."
As a homeroom teacher, she knew exactly how to soothe and inspire, painting an enticing picture of college life.
After all, university life was… well, great.
Once class ended, everyone huddled together to discuss stream selection.
Lin Jiajun held up his newspaper. "You’re going for sciences, right?"
"Yeah, obviously," Lin Mo replied without hesitation.
"Too bad. I’m picking arts, so we probably won’t be in the same class next year."
"Stream splits are like that. But I’ll probably stay in Class 8."
Chen Xiaoya taught math, so by senior year, Class 8 would naturally become a sciences class.
That much was predictable.
Lin Jiajun looked surprised. "With your grades, you’d at least make it into the advanced class, wouldn’t you?"
"We’ll see. It’s only been a month since school started."
Plenty of others were having similar discussions.
But the excitement was soon drowned out by the next round of classes.
At lunch, Fang Jun suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey, hey! I just heard—Zhou Ming and Wang Zhenji spent the whole holiday in detention!"
That got everyone’s attention.
After all, the story of Lin Mo taking on a dozen thugs single-handedly had spread like wildfire across the class—and even to other grades.
Rumor had it they’d been hauled in on National Day itself.
In reality, Lin Mo had already gotten a follow-up call from the police on the third day of the holiday.
And the seeds he’d planted in their minds were still taking root.