Chapter 368

Chapter 368

◎Becoming the Top Scholar◎

Morning light broke through the darkness, silencing its stillness as flocks of early-rising pigeons traced their familiar routes between the buildings. While high school seniors, already on summer break after finishing their exams, could sleep in, younger students still trudged to school, weighed down by heavy backpacks, preparing for their final exams.

The sun rose from the east, bathing Sheng Siyuan’s home in light. Morning rays spilled into the living room, warm and golden.

A few dumplings remained uneaten on the table, and the soy-braised pork knuckle still held a trace of warmth. By the door stood a garbage bag filled with expired items, while the freezer, now cleared of old meat, was packed with last night’s freshly wrapped dumplings.

Since her mother’s passing, Sheng Siyuan had never eaten dumplings again—even the sight of them sent her into distress. If not for bringing her dumplings that day, her mother wouldn’t have boarded that bus.

But last night, under her mother’s patient guidance, she found herself able to accept them once more.

Yet the night was far too short. They couldn’t possibly say everything they wanted to in just one evening. Still, Sheng Siyuan knew that seeing her mother again four years after her death was nothing short of a dreamlike miracle.

The living room was spotless, newly tidied. The kitchenware was neatly arranged, and the fridge was plastered with her mother’s recipe notes.

Her mother was gone. This time, they’d said their farewells properly—no more sudden, jarring separation that left her reeling for years. Now, it was time for her to begin a new life.

Downstairs in the residential complex, Ji Nanxing stifled a yawn before turning toward the car. Xiao Ye quickly opened the door for him. “Is it all settled? Has Sheng Siyuan’s mother moved on?”

Ji Nanxing nodded. “She’s been laid to rest.”

Xiao Ye sighed. “You must be exhausted after staying up all night. I even brought the camera, ready to keep watch and make sure no lingering spirit escaped. And you still didn’t trust me?”

Ji Nanxing glanced at him, “I really didn’t.”

Xiao Ye, who had only meant to whine playfully, widened his eyes in exaggerated offense. “You actually don’t trust me? When have I ever dropped the ball? Naonao (Little Troublemaker)! You’ve broken my heart!”

Ji Nanxing snorted. "Can you guarantee you won’t keep staring at me after I fall asleep?"

Xiao Ye, so bold a second ago, instantly shrank back, his ears turning red with embarrassment. "N—not really, no."

Ji Nanxing chuckled again. The laugh prickled Xiao Ye’s heart—maddening but just out of reach. Playing it cool, he fastened his seatbelt and said straight-faced, “Since we’re done here, let’s head home. What do you want for breakfast? I’ll throw something together. Then we can both catch some sleep. Even though we’re young, staying up all night still takes a toll. We should make up for it.”

Ji Nanxing went, “Oh,” then asked, “So, who sleeps first when we get back—you or me?”

Xiao Ye looked confused. “Not together?”

Ji Nanxing: “I’m afraid if I fall asleep first, you’ll peek at me.”

Xiao Ye dropped the act completely. With a dramatic yelp, he tackled Ji Naonao. “Ji Naonao! What’s wrong with looking at my own boyfriend? My boyfriend’s this handsome—shouldn’t I be allowed to look?”

As he spoke, he reached out to tickle Ji Nanxing, but unfortunately, Ji Nanxing wasn’t ticklish. Before Xiao Ye could pounce, Ji Nanxing had already grabbed his waist.

Xiao Ye wheezed between laughs and fake pleas, squirming and laughing uncontrollably. Their roughhousing shook the car.

A nearby sanitation worker passed by, tutting in disgust at the two young men fooling around inside.

Rhino horn incense was valuable, but Sheng Siyuan hadn’t known how to store it properly before—she’d left it unsealed, leaving the incense damp. Though Ji Nanxing knew a bit about blending fragrances, he didn’t know how to work with rhino horn incense, a type nearly extinct on the market. So he found someone experienced to reprocess it, ensuring it would last longer.

Later, Sheng Siyuan even called Ji Nanxing to ask if her mother had truly moved on. After receiving confirmation, she asked about eternal lights and blessing rites.

The Ghost Month was approaching again. In the past, she thought burning joss paper was just to make the living feel better—after all, there was an old saying: death is like a lamp going out. Once gone, nothing remains.

But after seeing her mother’s spirit, Sheng Siyuan couldn’t stop worrying that her mother might struggle in the other world—without money, she might be mistreated. The spirit money sold in stores were just printed things; even ghost bus drivers only accepted gold foil.

She wanted to ask a professional how she could ensure the offerings reached her mother, and whether there was anything she could do to help her mother find a better rebirth in her next life.

Ji Nanxing directly forwarded the paper shop owner's WeChat contact to her and told her not to believe in all the random nonsense out there—if she truly wanted blessings or everlasting lamps, she should just go straight to Yuchun Temple.

Not long after, the paper offerings shop owner sent Ji Nanxing a red envelope, laughing that he always referred big-spending clients. The girl who had just come in had ordered so much—a grand mansion, full set of furniture, various paper offerings, and even gold-leaf spirit money by weight—she was quite extravagant.

Ji Nanxing smiled and accepted the red envelope.

Back then, Sheng Siyuan worked so hard to earn money because she wanted to buy a house early so she and her mom wouldn’t have to keep moving from rental to rental. Now that her mom was gone, she had bought the house, and money could always be earned later. So now, she didn't hesitate at all to spend on her mother, hoping she would have a better afterlife.

As for that phantom bus, without the lure of rhino horn incense, it never reappeared. The Bureau kept tabs on it for some time but found no trace, so they stopped monitoring it. As long as it didn’t disrupt the balance between yin and yang or harm the living, they weren’t determined to eliminate every single yin entity or ghost.

They just hoped the lingering ghosts on that phantom bus could, like Sheng Siyuan’s mom, let go of their attachments and move on to reincarnation soon.

After days of cleaning up, their new home was finally settled. Coincidentally, the college entrance exam results were released. Xiao Ye checked his score—the total was 750, and he scored 691, making Lanzhou University a lock with any major he wanted.

Ji Nanxing’s score couldn’t be viewed—it was clearly blocked from view. Seeing the screen, Xiao Ye jumped up excitedly: “You’re definitely the top student! Naonao, do you think many schools will fight to recruit you?”

He had seen news reports before—top universities went all out to compete for students.

Ji Nanxing: “They won’t get me. I’ve already decided on Lanzhou University, and the contact number I left is the home phone. Without my location, how can they track me down?”

He didn’t have just one fixed address—if they wanted to find him, they’d need to know where he was first.

Once the results came out, the scramble began, with schools sweet-talking and even tricking students into choosing them. The Ji family had an assistant specifically handling Ji Nanxing’s private affairs, and all the school registration forms listed the assistant’s number. As soon as the scores dropped, the assistant’s phone was flooded.

When other schools learned Ji Nanxing actually preferred Lanzhou University, they tried everything—pleading, persuading, luring with benefits—but nothing worked.

Lanzhou University, thrilled to land the top student, was ready to hand-deliver the admission letter immediately, fearing he might change his mind. A talent like this usually aimed for the very top—when did they ever get such a chance? With those scores, most targets were aiming for No. 1.

The outside chaos didn’t affect Ji Nanxing, but Xiao Ye caught some flak. After the results came out, his grandpa called first, followed by his brother, then his sister-in-law, and even his parents.

Each call started with congratulations on his great result, followed by teasing, and ended with a red packet containing different amounts.

His brother gave the least—only twenty thousand yuan—and said since their parents would surely give more, he didn’t want to overdo it. His grandpa gave the most—one hundred thousand yuan—saying now that he was in university, he was an adult and needed spending money to feel confident outside. He gave him a small private fund and reminded him not to waste it.

His parents seemed to have coordinated—each gave fifty thousand as a summer travel fund, with tuition and living expenses covered separately once school started. College wasn’t like high school; social activities would increase, so his allowance would be increased accordingly.

As for the teasing—

His brother: “Scoring over 600 isn’t easy for a blockhead like you. But daring to chase the top scorer? Admirable courage. Here’s some dating money—if you fail, at least you can drink away your sorrows.”

His grandpa: “The Jis are sharp cookies—all their kids do well. I won’t say much about you and Xingxing. If their family looks down on you, just come back home. Grandpa doesn’t mind.”

His parents: “We heard from your brother—we don’t oppose you liking Xingxing. But that kid is so outstanding, and you… well, just try your best. We can’t help much. It’s our fault we didn’t give you a sharper brain.”

His sister-in-law was the only kind one—no teasing at all.

After each call, Xiao Ye wore a look of exasperation. Sure, he didn’t hit 700, but he was only nine points short. He wasn’t the brainiac that Ji Nanxing was, but he wasn’t an idiot either—his IQ surpassed plenty of people’s.

Every time he answered a call, he put it on speaker because his hands were busy doing something else, so Ji Nanxing heard every word, watching Xiao Ye’s resigned expressions.

“If they knew we’re already together, they’d think I must’ve hit some insane luck. How could I possibly deserve this? What did I do to be so blessed?”

Ji Nanxing chuckled from the couch. Xiao Ye finished packing the shrimp dumplings into the fridge, then launched himself onto the couch and pulled him into a hug: “Naonao, did you choose Lanzhou University for me? My score could get me into top schools—I checked. The departments I want would take me.”

He was smart enough but preferred having fun. With a wealthy background and an older brother as the family’s rock, he never had to work hard—just coasted through, keeping his grades decent without much effort.

His foundation wasn’t solid, and his final year was definitely distracted. With the person he liked right beside him, if he could still study with complete focus, he’d practically be a saint. Scoring like this was already the result of a last-ditch effort.

But Ji Nanxing, who could’ve gone to better schools, chose Lanzhou University for him. Xiao Ye felt regretful and blamed himself, thinking he had made Naonao settle.

Ji Nanxing didn't deny that choosing Lanzhou University was partly because of Xiao Ye, but it was also a well-considered decision: "Going to college is just going through a necessary life routine. Whether I attend or not doesn’t really matter to me. I chose Lanzhou University mostly because this is my home base—should anything happen, one call to the local administration can handle everything for me. If I were somewhere else, I wouldn’t be familiar with the people from the Capital Administration, and there, power is everything—connections go all the way to the top, and higher-ups can make life miserable for those below them. Even my master avoids dealing with them; I have even less interest in going."

Xiao Ye pulled Ji Nanxing closer into his arms: "Naonao, how are you this amazing?"

Ji Nanxing rubbed his head gently: "Don’t worry about it. I only make choices if they ultimately benefit me in the end."

Ordinary people would naturally choose the best available option. College is the last step before entering society—the final place where people from all walks of life can interact as equals. Building strong university connections can set you up for half your future success.

But neither he nor Xiao Ye needed any of that, because they *were* the connections others tried to cultivate.

So when making decisions, they only needed to pick what they liked, what they wanted most at the moment—everything else was irrelevant.

Trapped in Xiao Ye’s embrace, Ji Nanxing lightly pushed him away: "Zhang Yuan and the others will be here soon. Shouldn’t you start getting things ready in the kitchen?"

They had originally said they’d treat their friends to a big meal, and while that part stayed, now that their exam results were out and the house was finally sorted, they decided to invite everyone over for a housewarming. Having it at home would be more fun.

When his boyfriend spoke, Xiao Ye didn’t dare to argue. He kissed Ji Nanxing’s cheek and said, "You got it! On it right away."

One kiss wasn’t enough, so he added another on the opposite cheek before hopping off the couch and cheerfully heading to the kitchen, tying on his favorite apron.