Chapter 51: Lu Wei, Let's Work Hard Together

On the rooftop, Lu Wei’s exceptionally long ponytail trailed on the ground. Unwilling to let it get dirty, Zhai Da simply picked it up and held it in his hand.

The hair felt dry and soft against his palm.

"I brought you up to the rooftop to talk things through once and for all. There are only three days left for the registration deadline of the compulsory and elective subject level tests; we don't have time for you to hesitate and drag your feet anymore."

"Your physics, chemistry, and biology are all well above the baseline. In my opinion, under the new 2008 regulations, getting all A's won't be difficult. Not to mention mathematics—with a full score of 160 plus 40 bonus points, I think you can easily score at least 190."

Seemingly to add persuasiveness, Zhai Da lifted Lu Wei's ponytail and gave it a gentle shake.

"English and Chinese, we'll study together. I can at least guarantee that those two subjects won't drag you down anymore. Do you know what this means? It is an absolute certainty that you'll get three A's and a total score of over 400. You'll take off directly."

Lu Wei still didn't speak, but she buried her head even lower.

She didn't ask Zhai Da "Why are you helping me?"; that didn't matter to her.

As long as Zhai Da wanted it, she was willing.

She simply hadn't gotten past her own mental barrier.

"I'm no longer a student."

Zhai Da said indifferently:

"That doesn't matter. I said this has nothing to do with student status. My grandfather didn't take the university entrance exam from the factory until his thirties... Although he didn't end up going, everyone is eligible for the gaokao, and being a student is just the most convenient status."

"You don't need to worry about what comes next either. Under the current rules, fresh graduates, repeat students, and social candidates all enjoy completely identical rights in admissions, and must be treated equally. This policy will change in a few years."

"You don't even have to worry about tuition. As long as you get into a prestigious university, given your special circumstances, applying for a national student loan combined with scholarships will be more than enough. I can lend you some too, and you can pay me back with interest."

Having said a lot, his arms felt a bit tired from propping himself up, so Zhai Da simply lay back. Anyway, in this crappy school uniform, getting dirty was the norm.

Dongyang's air quality wasn't particularly good, but after all, there wasn't much light pollution at night, so quite a few stars were visible.

He just waited quietly for Lu Wei's reply.

Although Zhai Da knew that if he were to say "This is a mission" or "I want you to do this" right now, Lu Wei might nod immediately.

Just like when Yu Xiaoli first persuaded her to move into that storage room.

Some things had to be decided by Lu Wei herself to have any meaning.

Some paths had to be stepped on by oneself to be called a journey.

He could be a person with empathy and compassion, but he couldn't be a bleeding heart with a savior complex.

A do-gooder plus a lecturing busybody.

After a long time, instead of giving an answer, Lu Wei lay back as well, lying down right beside Zhai Da.

The two weren't close, and certainly didn't embrace.

They just maintained a half-meter distance and looked at the stars.

"Zhai Da, what do you think is the meaning of human existence?"

Zhai Da rolled his eyes: "Chatting about this with me on a rooftop? What's wrong? In a rush to jump off?"

Lu Wei shook her head: "No, I just genuinely don't understand."

"Then your question needs to be more specific."

"What is the meaning... of me taking the gaokao?"

"Nonsense, so you can go to college!"

"After... going to college?"

"You can get rid of that animal of a father."

Zhai Da didn't hold back at all, directly defining Lu Benqing's nature while he was in the detention center.

"And then?"

"Stop right there, you don't want me to outline your entire life for you, do you? I don't have that kind of ability."

Zhai Da said word by word, earnest and sincere:

"If you can't figure it out, it's just because you're too young; if you can't see through it, it's just because you haven't seen enough of the world. All that crap like 'What is the meaning of human existence'..."

"Classmate Lu, once you live a good life, grow up, put some meat on your bones, and learn to smile... you'll understand it yourself. How old are you anyway? In the eyes of Chairman Mao, you're just the sun at eight or nine in the morning!"

Lu Wei stopped looking at the stars, propped herself up on her side, and looked at Zhai Da.

Her long hair was driven by the evening breeze, gently brushing across the boy's chest.

A delicate and clean little face, less than ten centimeters away from Zhai Da.

There was nothing else in sight, only him all around.

Lu Wei also spoke word by word: "I am too stupid, but you are smart."

"I believe you... I will take the gaokao."

Her gaze was so firm, a look extremely rare to see in Lu Wei.

Zhai Da smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad, when you're being foolish, hugging the thigh of a smart brother is the right choice."

He immediately began making arrangements: "There are still two days until registration closes, so there's no time to lose. Wake up early tomorrow at five, we need to find a computer."

"Our study schedule will also need to be adjusted. I'll have my mom talk to the school about evening self-study, so that way we can have more than seven hours a day. It's not too much to study a bit, right?"

"You teach me science, and I teach you humanities. You step on my left foot, I step on my right foot, and we'll spiral straight to heaven! Let's work hard together!"

Lu Wei nodded heavily.

She might have been wrong a hundred times.

But she was right this once.

For the problems she couldn't figure out, she would trust Zhai Da, whether it meant moving into a tiny storage room or taking the massive gaokao.

With the serious business settled, both of their moods relaxed a bit, and sitting so close, the atmosphere gradually grew somewhat tender...

Lu Wei's breath was blown away by the evening breeze, but her gaze pierced through the night.

Zhai Da scratched his cheek: "Should we... head back? Otherwise my mom's going to worry."

Don't go thinking the two of them came up here to make babies.

Just as he was speaking, a mosquito, common in this season, landed on Zhai Da's chest.

Lu Wei saw it, and Zhai Da saw it too.

Zhai Da looked at Lu Wei supporting her slender body with her hands occupied, and immediately recalled unpleasant memories.

Unfortunately, it was still a step too late.

"Don't~"

"Thump."

A head-butt had already landed squarely on his chest.

"Hiss~ Are you part turtle? You talk at a snail's pace, but your head is hard!"

"I... was afraid it would bite you..."

"I'm wearing a school uniform! Bite my ass!"

The girl stubbornly refused to raise her head, resting it gently against his chest like that.

The boy stubbornly refused to get up, grumbling and cursing all the while.

————

Ten hours earlier.

In the school cafeteria, the short girl with blunt bangs said:

"Lu Wei was very famous back then. Of course, each grade basically only knows people from their own year; only those of us with... better information networks knew about her across the whole school."

Zhai Da stirred the spoon in his hand: "True, I only know a few things about you guys... I mean you're resourceful. Go on."

"She was pretty, got good grades, and even won prizes in competitions. Although her family background was much worse, her fame wasn't any less than Little Lu of our year. Later, after something happened to her family, her personality reportedly changed a lot..."

"Something happened to her family? What happened?"

"It seems her mother passed away in an accident. Her dad is a gambler, and they had originally gotten a lot of compensation after the mom died. But before the body was even cremated, the house was surrounded by a bunch of debt collectors—relatives, colleagues, and loan sharks alike. In the end, even the mourning hall was smashed up..."

Zhai Da frowned slightly... So that's why she has an aversion to money...

"How do you know about this kind of thing? Were you at the scene?"

The girl said smugly:

"A close girlfriend of mine from another school lives in Sunmazhuang. It was a huge commotion at the time, even several police cars were parked downstairs."

Zhai Da thought to himself, awesome. At such a young age, her network already extended outside the school...

"Then do you know why she didn't repeat a year? With grades that good, the school should have tried to persuade her, right?"

Another chubby girl with blunt bangs immediately chimed in: "I know this! I heard she couldn't get over her mother's death for months. The school wanted her to repeat the year, but her dad came to make trouble at the school for some reason. People like that are terrifying, and the school couldn't do anything either."

"Later, a teacher who knew someone in the police brigade dealt with him, and only then did he quiet down."

Mhm... As expected, it was caused by that animal of a father.

"After that, nobody knows for sure. Rumor has it that Lu Wei could have tested into a 985 university back then, and she even had a chance at being recommended for admission because of some competition. But she didn't end up going to the competition, and there was no news about her taking the gaokao either... So tragic..."

The girl lowered her voice: "Why are you asking about her? Do you know her? How is she doing now?"

Zhai Da brushed it off: "It's not important. I'll treat you guys to grilled sausages every day starting tomorrow, for a whole week. Let's just keep what we talked about today between us, how about that?"

This was old gossip from years ago anyway, and not that thrilling. After a brief hesitation, the few girls nodded in agreement.

Actually, being able to chat about gossip with someone outside their "gossip circle" felt pretty satisfying too.

Zhai Da added one more sentence: "Right, about me making the Sina News headlines... Although it wasn't all leaked by you guys, your firepower is too fierce. Could you stop spreading that around too?"

The few girls exchanged glances.

"That's going to cost extra."