Happy Children's Day

The next morning, Lin Mo put on his school uniform again.

Although it wasn’t the day for the flag-raising ceremony, the school clearly wasn’t about to let such a good publicity opportunity go to waste.

The moment the bell rang to end second period, the entire school went outside for morning exercises. Shen Zhongping stood on the flag-raising platform with a microphone and, unusually, read out a lengthy speech. He started with bringing honor to the school and winning the Olympiad championship, then eventually turned the subject to Lin Mo.

Class Eight’s applause was the loudest. The other students couldn’t exactly be said to share in the glory. They were simply numb—numb, mentally, to Lin Mo winning another award, and numb, physically, to the weather. After all, standing on the sports field in the middle of winter made everyone eager to get back to the classroom.

The prize money, however, was very real. The principal personally handed over something that looked like a check.

It was one of those oversized checks celebrities used to receive at televised galas.

Of course, it couldn’t actually be cashed at a bank. The money would be transferred privately instead.

On the way back to class, Fang Jun was the first to rush over. He draped an arm around Lin Mo’s shoulders, putting quite a bit of force into it.

“It’s finally over. Life without you was unbearable.”

Xue Zigui, walking beside them, came over too.

“Yeah. Without you, we’d really be missing someone to discuss problems with.”

“You could’ve gone to Tong Dong.”

“You think I didn’t? But I feel like you’re more authoritative.”

So you’re a Mo fan too.

Fang Jun sighed. “It’s good to have you back. With you around, we have someone to anchor us.”

Lin Mo shot him a sideways glance.

Tong Dong was also a top student, but he was introverted by nature. Usually, Xue Zigui was the one who took the initiative to discuss things with him. Fang Jun was afraid of disturbing Tong Dong, so he rarely approached him on his own.

“I can tell you really missed Dad.” Lin Mo patted Fang Jun on the shoulder.

Fang Jun’s face fell. “Can you talk normally for once?”

“This is normal.”

An Yuexin, walking behind them, suddenly cut in. “Right, we agreed to go to Liyin Plaza after you got back from the competition. How about this weekend?”

Lin Mo waved a hand. “I haven’t forgotten. But let’s wait until after the final exams. We need to buy clothes for New Year’s anyway, so we can take care of everything at once.”

An Yuexin thought about it and seemed to agree that it made sense.

Fang Jun twisted the knife. “Study hard. Otherwise, you won’t even have money to go out.”

“You’re talking about me?” An Yuexin pointed at himself.

“Who else? How far did you drop in the last monthly exam? Don’t tell me you don’t know. With your dad’s temper, if you do badly, forget pocket money—he’ll confiscate your phone too. Then you won’t even have money to treat Mai Chuwen to a meal.”

An Yuexin opened his mouth, but couldn’t manage to come up with a retort.

And just like that, the idea of going to Liyin Plaza that weekend was put on hold.

His gaze shifted instead toward the seats by the window.

Cai Junhuang was back.

No one knew when she had returned. She hadn’t been there yesterday, but today she was sitting quietly in her seat, flipping through her textbook, completely out of place amid the surrounding commotion.

He nudged Fang Jun in the ribs and gestured with his eyes for him to look over.

Fang Jun’s expression changed almost visibly.

He didn’t look in that direction—not even the slightest turn of his head.

“All right, class is about to start. I’m heading back to my seat.”

He released Lin Mo’s shoulder and walked away, his steps half a beat faster than usual.

Lin Mo looked at An Yuexin. An Yuexin shrugged helplessly.

“I didn’t say anything. Look how big his reaction was.”

“You didn’t say anything? Your eyes practically had subtitles.”

Lin Mo shook his head. “If you and Mai Chuwen ever break up, Fang Jun will probably use it against you for the rest of your life.”

“Hey, I’m never breaking up with her. Do you even know what a lifelong promise is?”

An Yuexin even made a hand gesture to emphasize his words.

“Get lost. You’re such a wannabe.”

An Yuexin grinned and ran back to his seat.

Lin Mo sat down. Tong Dong took a steamed sponge cake from his desk drawer and pushed it over. The wrapper was slightly crushed, suggesting it had been wedged in there for some time.

“While you were gone, my dad came looking for me.”

Lin Mo took the cake but didn’t open it right away. He looked at Tong Dong.

“But I had the school security guards throw him out.”

Tong Dong’s tone was very calm, but Lin Mo noticed that his hand stopped for a moment as he turned a page in his textbook.

Lin Mo gave him a thumbs-up.

“Not bad. You can handle exorcisms single-handedly now.”

The comparison made the corners of Tong Dong’s mouth twitch.

“I also have you to thank. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the courage. As for that home, I don’t plan on going back. I’ll just hold out until graduation, then go straight to Huaqing.”

“That’s the right decision.”

Lin Mo opened the cake and took a bite. Steamed sponge cake was soft and fluffy. From the first bite, he could tell it came from the school shop. Tong Dong almost never left campus, and he ate all his meals at the teachers’ cafeteria.

As the school’s second-ranked student, he had privileges nearly equal to Lin Mo’s.

For Tong Dong, though, this was already the best option available.

Some problems couldn’t be solved by enduring them. If you couldn’t endure them any longer, then the only choice was to go somewhere far away.

On the other side, Jiang Yunlu tapped the corner of Lin Mo’s desk.

Lin Mo turned his head. “What is it?”

She lowered her voice and glanced toward the window.

“Cai Junhuang’s back. Did you notice? She doesn’t seem to be doing well. She looks so dejected. Did she get eliminated?”

Lin Mo gave a short laugh.

“She wasn’t eliminated.”

Jiang Yunlu froze.

“Then why does she look like that?”

“You haven’t been online lately, have you? The company that organized the competition ran into trouble. The show was canceled halfway through. Quite a few contestants posted statements on Weibo, but it didn’t help. The television station couldn’t keep broadcasting with that kind of risk hanging over it.”

Everything had gone exactly as expected.

Jiang Yunlu opened her mouth.

That meant Cai Junhuang hadn’t been eliminated. She hadn’t even been given the chance to be eliminated.

The platform itself had collapsed, and all the preparation she had put in had gone to waste.

“So that’s what happened? Then Cai Junhuang must be…”

She wanted to say that Cai Junhuang had lost both her money and her opportunity, but somehow the words felt inappropriate.

Xie Yuling tapped the surface of her desk with her pen. Without even raising her head, she said, “I think she regrets it.”

Jiang Yunlu looked over at her.

Xie Yuling turned another page in her workbook, her tone indifferent.

“I’d say she’s looked at Fang Jun at least five or six times today.”

Jiang Yunlu was somewhat surprised, though she knew Xie Yuling could observe the entire classroom.

She could only sigh. “Should we go talk to her?”

“Forget it. Going over there to talk about it would just be rubbing salt in the wound. Besides, she’ll be leaving for training camp soon.”

Lin Mo remembered it clearly. In the second semester of G2, Cai Junhuang would leave to attend a training camp, making her one of the earlier students to do so.

Students pursuing the arts basically all chose to attend training camps.

Although they weren’t a necessary requirement for the arts entrance exams, they were a great help when it came to getting into one’s target university.

It was enough to think of a training camp as a cram school for filling in gaps and strengthening weak areas.

After hearing Lin Mo say this, Jiang Yunlu eventually nodded.

She simply felt it was a shame.

When she turned around, she saw Luo Ruiyu and Fang Jun chatting together.

Yeah. If Cai Junhuang saw that, it would probably hurt quite a bit.

Then she saw Cai Junhuang turn to look toward Fang Jun, briefly pursing his lips when no one else was paying attention.