Chapter 76 - Graduation (2/2)

Entering the movie theatre, Qin Xu did not necessarily settle down. When the movie had not reached the climax yet, Qin Xu would grab onto Jiang Yang’s hand and gently squeeze it before moving on to playing with his fingers. The then would slowly insert his own fingers between Jiang Yang’s fingers and form an interlocked hand-hold.

Jiang Yang was played around by him until he almost lost his temper. He looked at him with both a helpless and disapproved look but in the end, he didn’t say anything and just allowed him to do as he pleased. It was like when a cat owner constantly tries to grab onto the cat’s paw. After the cat pushed the owner away several times, he still continued to grab for it, so the cat could only give up.

When the movie was over, they also strolled down the street and bought some snacks. Jiang Yang even accompanied Qin Xu to buy earrings.

Seeing the dazzling array of styles, it wasn’t easy for them to pick.

Qin Xu smiled and moved closer to Jiang Yang’s side. He then asked him to pick one for him.

Jiang Yang raised his eyebrow, “You sure?”

Qin Xu nodded his head fervently. His eyes were filled with trust in Jiang Yang.

And so, Jiang Yang very evilly picked out pair of cherry shaped earrings. It was very feminine and pink and it instantly increased Qin Xu’s charm when he wore it.

Qin Xu not only bought that pair of earrings, he also deliberately wore it to their class reunion later. When the others noticed, they were very surprised. In fact, Qin Xu wearing those earrings didn’t make him ugly, it just contradicted with his looks. The key point was————

“Woooow! Xu brother, why are you wearing such a girly earring? Spill it, did your girlfriend buy it?”

Qin Xu deliberately fell silent for a while before solemnly nodding: “That’s right.”

That act of showing off his love could be said to be a very hateful act towards single dogs. He was already able to leave single life, yet he even deliberately showed it off. That is just too much.

His friends pestered him unrelentingly asking him to fess up, but Qin Xu only smiled and kept his mouth shut refusing to tell them anything. Very occasionally, he would look over at Jiang Yang and his gaze would soften considerably.

………………

High school life could be said to pass by both very quickly and very slowly. From their second year, they quickly rose to third year and they officially reached the stage where they frantically prepared for the college entrance examination. Time passed by at a very strange pace. In an instant, they had grown up and turned eighteen. They attended their coming-of-age ceremony and instantly realised that they are adults now.

On this day, everyone wore the formal school uniform as the school wished for them to dress more formally.

In such an atmosphere, the students could tell that something was different. They listened to the speeches said on the stage with sincerity and then it was followed by a meeting about the college entrance examination where they encouraged the students to toughen up and persevere for the next few months.

At the end of May, there were only a few more days left until the college entrance examination. The school held its customary shouting event and every year at this time, the first and second years would shout out their messages to the third years in the opposite building. Every floor was filled with students as they prepared to should out encouragement and blessings to the senior brothers and sisters preparing for the exam.

May your dreams come true. May your future be smooth sailing.

The third years were in a state of heightened anxiety at this stage and it was an event that allowed to them relax a little and have some fun. Their feelings were very complex, after working hard for so long, the exam that would decide their future is now just around the corner. They were excited, expectant, nervous, scared…..all kinds of complicated emotions could be felt.

The junior brothers and sisters not only shouted at them, they also shout back and responded. It was just that the contents would slowly go off topic and at the very end, it made people want to take advantage of it. They were probably not going to see some of the classmates anymore or they would find it difficult catching up in the future, so they prepared themselves to say one last thing to the classmate that they had good feelings for.

Someone started and shouted out ———— “XXX, I want to go the same university as you. I like you!”

In an instant, things turned lively. The students started cheering and whistling.

Next, more and more people started to shout things out as well. Things like professing their love to their loved ones or crushes, making a promise to their future self, making a wish for the upcoming college entrance examination….Many, many cries came from their energetic and youthful hearts.

This kind of unorganised, large-scaled event naturally isn’t supported by the school. The teachers would usually just turn a blind eye to it and just make sure the students don’t get hurt from getting trampled over. They would ask the teachers o patrol around and encourage the students to go back to class.

The usually stern director heard the students confess and his expression instantly changed. He warned then in advance while shouting at the students to return to class: “If you have time to do these useless things, you should use it to complete a few more questions. It is the most crucial time for you now and every second counts!”

“Director Wang! I love you!”

This confession that came out of nowhere surprised the director as he was scolding the students. He stood there stunned and didn’t know what expression to have. He even forgot to continue scolding the students.

All the third-year students looked over at the director and suddenly had a non-verbal tacit understanding. They revealed a bright smile and used their hands to project their voice: “Director Wang, thank you!”

Director Wang: “………”

The usual stern face was suddenly filled with discomfort. He quickly said that they should focus on getting good grades in the exam before revealing a serious expression that no longer looked imposing and asked the students to return to class.

On June 7th, the college entrance examinations had begun.

The weather was starting to warm up but, to provide the students with a good examining environment, every test room had air conditioners. Like this, they ensured that the heat would not affect the student’s performance and those who are afraid of the cold would bring along a thin jacket just in case.

Perhaps it was because they had done so many mini exams prior to the actual examination, they had grown slightly numb to it and was no longer feeling panicked. They just treated it like their usual exams and completed each subject one by one.

When they were done with the final subject and walked out the examination centre, they had a sense of unreality…….. Just like that, it’s over?

Although the college entrance examination was over, there were still many things that had to be done including collecting their student reports, participating in the farewell parties and the like.

The students remained at school and filled their papers out with all sorts of trivial details. Someone suggested something, and they started secretly conspiring a small surprise.

At that moment, the class teacher stood on the podium explaining what they should do after the exam and what they should look out for. Suddenly, several knocks on the door were heard.

The class teacher stopped talking and thought that it was another teacher looking for him. Without thinking, he walked over to open to the door, but he was surprised to see a giant brown bear mascot hiding behind the door. It suddenly jumped out and excitedly waved its hand in greeting.

The class teacher……was so surprised he took a step back.

The classmates warmly applauded, and the entire classroom was filled with joyful and mischevious laughter.

The brown bear stood in front of the teacher and started dancing freely. With its bulky body, it leapt and jumped and looked surprisingly cute. In the middle, the bear even threw out little pink flower petals over the class teacher. It ended its performance with a bow that was intended to look gentlemanly, but it looked cute instead with it’s plushie-like appearance. The brown bear then handed the class teacher a stalk of rose.

The class teacher was stunned. He hesitantly accepted the rose but just as he reached out, the brown bear mischievously retracted its hands. It even arrogantly placed a hand on its waist and reached out wanting to shake hands with the teacher.

The teacher couldn’t help but laugh. He reached out and cooperated.

This time, the brown bear really did deliver the rose into the teacher’s hands. With wide spread arms, it warmly hugged the teacher. The teacher laughed very gently and hugged the bear back. He even patted it a few times on the head.

When the hug was over, the naughty bear again started to jump around, attracting the student’s applause.  When the little surprise event ended, the brown bear could no longer stand the heat, so it took off the head and revealed a handsome face inside. On his forehead was a fine layer of sweat but he smiled very splendidly.

It was just what you would expect from a teenager, lively and refreshing.

The class teacher stood at the podium and looked over at the familiar faces below. He smiled slightly: “Once you’re out of this door, you will be prospective university students. Over these three years, I have watched you slowly grow up. Every single one of you are amazing in your own ways and you are the best student’s that I have ever hand. I wish you all the best in the future and may your dreams come true!”

They applauded enthusiastically, and many students’ eyes reddened.

Over the three years the teacher said many times – You are the worst students I have ever had.

But when they graduated, the teacher was left with reluctance and grief – You are the best students I’ve ever taught.