Chapter 25

Chapter 25

During Ji Mian's two-day college entrance exams, almost everyone close to him pitched in.

Duan Zhuo's buddies and brothers dropped by to check on him beforehand, but Duan Zhuo shooed them away, saying they'd "mess with the candidate's focus."

Sun Qi was the only one left upstairs.

The night before the exam, Ji Mian tossed and turned a bit, but he woke up surprisingly refreshed the next morning.

Throughout the two days of his exams, the system stayed completely silent, which was exactly what Ji Mian had hoped for.

Once the four exams were done, except for the final math problem, which tripped Ji Mian up a bit, the rest of the subjects went smoothly. Even his weakest subject, science, turned out better than expected.

Those two months of cramming paid off.

At 5 PM on the 8th, Ji Mian stepped out of the exam hall.

The weather was brutal that day; even at 5 PM, the sun was still blazing.

Ji Mian hurried along with the crowd.

As soon as he stepped out of the school gate, he heard someone calling out from under a tree to his right: "Ji Mian!"

"Ji Mian!"

It was Sun Qi's voice.

Ji Mian looked in the direction of the sound and saw two guys standing out under the tree. One sported a head of fiery red hair and a thin scar on his face, while the other was calm and ridiculously good-looking, standing out even in a crowd.

He sped up, nearly jogging as he got closer.

"Brother Sun Qi," he said, greeting him first, then his gaze fell back on Duan Zhuo, who wore a soft smile, his eyes locked on Ji Mian with an unspoken warmth.

Then, a warm, strong hand landed on Ji Mian's head, messing up his soft hair like always.

Ji Mian ducked his head, letting it happen, his heart racing for no apparent reason.

After a while, he softly called out, "Brother." That's good.

Only then did Duan Zhuo let go, turning his head to look at Sun Qi: "Give me the bag."

"Oh, right!" Sun Qi didn't hand over the bag but pulled out a parasol and passed it to Ji Mian.

For a long time now, every time they went out with Ji Mian, Duan Zhuo would always carry a parasol.

Ji Mian obediently took it and asked, "Brother, why do you always make me hold the parasol?"

"You still don't get it?" Sun Qi chuckled, "You're pale, so you need the shade."

"..."

Ji Mian didn't know how to respond to Sun Qi's convoluted logic.

"Besides, girls nowadays like fair and clean guys. Sigh, the standards of beauty are declining."

"..."

Sun Qi glanced at Ji Mian's fair and handsome face, raising an eyebrow suggestively, "Don't take it for granted. Once you're in college, you'll see that with your looks, you'll have no trouble getting girls."

As soon as he said this, the two of them immediately changed expressions. Especially Duan Zhuo—his sudden frown startled Sun Qi.

"Cut the crap," Duan Zhuo said coldly.

Ji Mian's expression was also serious: "I only like Sis Yuman. I’m not interested in other girls."

Duan Zhuo glanced at him, then lowered his eyes calmly, his expression unreadable.

Sun Qi: ...

So I’m the one who’s out of line, huh?

The surrounding crowd gradually began to disperse, taking their kids home after graduation.

Duan Zhuo grabbed Ji Mian by the back of the neck and nudged him forward. "Let’s head out."

"Okay."

*

In late June, when the college entrance exam results came out, Ji Mian was holding Duan Zhuo's phone, while Sun Qi used his smartphone to help him check the scores.

When entering the webpage, the blue progress bar on Ji Mian’s browser was stuck at the very end, and he couldn’t log in for a long time.

"Huh?" Sun Qi suddenly spoke up, squinting at the 'Total Score' column, and uttered a number: "640?"

"Is that six-forty?" He raised his phone and looked at the two of them.

Ji Mian froze, his heart skipping a beat.

Even Duan Zhuo was momentarily speechless, then stepped forward to snatch the phone from Sun Qi's hand, studying the score slip, confirming that the score was indeed 640.

"640? Is this high or low?" Sun Qi muttered, then thought of something and added, "That’s gotta be high, right? My friend’s little brother only got 250 last year."

Duan Zhuo tapped on the screen with his finger and only replied with two words: "It’s really high."

"Six-forty?" Ji Mian finally snapped out of his stiffness, stammering, "I scored... six-forty?"

Suddenly, the phone’s screen blocked his view, and in his ears was Duan Zhuo's laughing voice: "Take a look."

"At least fifty of those points are thanks to me," the system said proudly.

Six hundred and forty points—there was a bit of Ji Mian's overperformance in this, but more was the result of his effective review in the last two months.

Ji Mian held the phone, his face was burning.

"Brother!!" He jumped up excitedly, grabbed Duan Zhuo's neck, and gave him an extremely enthusiastic hug.

He’s going to college!!

The person he hugged was stunned for a moment, his arms were about to tighten to hug him tighter, but Ji Mian had already pulled away and ran towards Sun Qi, giving the latter a hug in the same way.

A real pro at playing fair.

Duan Zhuo: ...

He pressed his tongue against his teeth, annoyed.

Sun Qi pushed Ji Mian away in disgust, "Who wants to hug a dude? He has a girlfriend!"

Pulling Ji Mian's hand away, he asked with envy: "Big bro, do you think I can still take the college entrance exam at twenty-five?"

It’s so hard to find a job these days. Though he runs his own business, he doesn’t plan to keep at it forever. He’s just biding his time, saving up for a stable job to retire on.

If he had a bachelor’s degree back then, he’d definitely be taking the public service exam now.

“…Hmph.”

Duan Zhuo gave a cold laugh in response.

The initial excitement faded, and the dilemma of choosing a school set in.

Ji Mian’s score was high, but it put him in an awkward spot in their province. The local prestigious universities had a severe gap in their admission scores. The top one required a minimum score of 660 or higher, while the other two could be entered with around 600.

Ji Mian’s score was middling—too low for the best, but too high for the others, making it a shame to settle.

After agonizing over the local schools for a while, they still couldn’t make up their minds.

Duan Zhuo smoked a cigarette by the window and finally made the decision.

“Let’s look at schools in other provinces.”

When the university application ended, Ji Mian’s form was successfully filled out.

His first choice was the top school in their province, followed by two universities in other provinces, which his score could almost guarantee. The other two local schools were listed as backups.

As expected, Ji Mian wasn’t lucky enough to get into his first choice. He was admitted to his second choice, a university over a thousand kilometers away.

On the day he received the acceptance letter, the sunlight outside was perfect.

Duan Zhuo was lounging in a recliner, eyes closed, taking a nap, while Ji Mian sat on his small stool next to him, both enjoying the shade.

After the exams, Ji Mian went back to his old job, diligently carving wood at the shop.

His skills had nearly faded over the past two years, and his hands felt clumsy when he picked up the chisel.

Ji Mian was down about this for days.

Duan Zhuo had just wrapped up some orders, and the shop had been quiet. Ji Mian stayed in the shop, carving a crudely carved horse. In the end, he was so disheartened by his work that he tossed the chisel and joined Duan Zhuo outside to enjoy the warm breeze.

The summer heat was brutal, but sitting still in the shade had its own kind of comfort.

Ji Mian was still on his small stool, with Duan Zhuo’s recliner right next to him.

He thought for a moment, then scooted his stool a bit farther away to keep from making his brother too hot. He himself was very heat-tolerant and didn’t mind either way.

Duan Zhuo gave him a faint glance but didn’t say a word.

However, Ji Mian inexplicably felt that his brother’s look seemed to suggest he wanted him to sit closer. He hesitated, unsure if it was just his imagination.

In the end, he didn’t move his stool closer. Holding the ugly horse he’d carved, he felt a twinge of sadness.

“It’s not that easy to forget. Once you’ve learned a skill, you can always pick it up again, no matter how long it’s been,” Duan Zhuo comforted him.

He rarely spoke kindly to anyone, but this year, he had almost used up all the nice words he had in his lifetime.

Duan Zhuo’s once aloof and indifferent temper had somehow disappeared in front of Ji Mian.

He took the horse-shaped blank Ji Mian was holding and turned it over in his palm. It was indeed ugly.

Duan Zhuo smiled, "You've come a long way—at least it's not a potato anymore."

Ji Mian was speechless.

"What’s with you two always running around in the summer?"

A gentle and pleasant female voice came from not far away.

Seeing the newcomer, Duan Zhuo called out, "Hey, sis."

At the same time, Ji Mian's cheerful voice appeared, "What brings you here, Sis Yuman?"

Behind Mu Yuman was a young man holding a courier envelope. She said, "I was downstairs, and this young man asked me for directions. The address was your building."

She smiled, "I figured it might be Ji Mian’s admission letter, so I tagged along."

Ji Mian straightened up instantly.

The young man handed the envelope to him, his face beaming with congratulations, "Just sign here, please."

Ji Mian scrawled his signature and handed back the pen and form, then ripped open the envelope.

Inside was a thick, double-layered blue sheet, with the words "Admission Notice" gleaming in gold on the cover.

Ji Mian’s first instinct was to show it to Duan Zhuo, but Mu Yuman's voice sounded at the same moment, "Wow, this is gorgeous!"

He hesitated, then handed it to her first.

Mu Yuman took his notice, as thrilled as if it were her own acceptance letter, and studied it intently.

Seeing the large characters "Ji Mian" on the notice, she was suddenly overcome with emotion.

One night a few years ago, Duan Zhuo knocked on her door, and that was the first time she met Ji Mian.

Opening the door, she first saw her younger brother's cold face, his brow deeply furrowed. Behind him was a boy wearing odd, grubby clothes, his head lolling, unconscious.

The boy's cheek was almost touching Duan Zhuo's neck, and Duan Zhuo tried to pull away, but couldn't due to the way he was carrying him, so he let the boy’s face press against his neck.

Mu Yuman gasped and asked, "What happened?"

"This kid stole something, got beaten up by Sun Qi, and passed out behind my car," the person carrying him said with a grimace as he walked in, "Put something on the bed, this kid is dirty."

At that time, Ji Mian didn't smell very good, a total stinker.

Mu Yuman didn't listen to him, quickly walked to the bed, moved the quilt aside, and gestured for Duan Zhuo to put the boy on the sheet. "Just put him down; I’ll deal with the sheets later."

"Thanks, sis. If it’s not okay, I’ll take him to the hospital."

Mu Yuman had just graduated and was a trainee doctor at the hospital. Although she wasn’t in orthopedics, she knew how to treat minor injuries like this.

"Let me see..."

The boy placed on the bed had several bruises on his face, his body was dirty, and he looked very young.

Now, recalling it, Mu Yuman couldn’t even connect the boy who looked like a ruffian with the well-behaved young man who had just received his admission notice.

She was filled with emotion and quietly sniffed.

"Sis Yuman?"

"I'm fine," Mu Yuman leaned down and gently hugged Ji Mian.

"Congratulations."

Taken aback by her sudden embrace, Ji Mian's body stiffened. The faint scent of fabric and hair from Mu Yuman enveloped him, her tender embrace was both strange and comforting.

His cheeks flushed instantly. It was the first time he had been hugged by a woman, and Ji Mian instinctively felt shy.

Duan Zhuo stared at Ji Mian's reddened ear tips for a couple of seconds, then suddenly stood up and carried the lounge chair back into the shop.

Mu Yuman was taken aback and let go of the hug, which was purely platonic.

"Brother?" Ji Mian also turned around, "You’re not going to soak up the sun anymore?"

The only reply was the clatter of the lounge chair hitting the floor.