Chapter 66: Me and Stories
Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Me and Stories
"Pens, admission ticket, ID, 2B pencils, eraser, ruler... Do you have everything?" Early in the morning, Xia Shanshan had already reminded him several times over.
"I’ve got them, I’ve got them."
"Check again. And bring a few extra pens, just in case."
"I’ve already checked like ten times," Jiang Xia said, a bit exasperated. "Mom, I’m the one taking the exam. How are you more nervous than I am?"
The corner of Xia Shanshan’s eye twitched. ’This is about her son’s future; how could she not be anxious?’
"Alright, as long as you’ve checked. Now, eat this bowl of noodles."
She brought over a bowl of noodles. It was a small portion, but it was topped with a ham sausage and two eggs, a combination meant to symbolize a perfect score of 100 on his exams.
Looking back, he realized that before every single exam, from childhood to now, Xia Shanshan had always prepared these "Guaranteed Pass, Perfect Score Noodles" for him. Jiang Xia couldn’t help but feel touched.
’In his previous life, she probably would have been forwarding tons of superstitious good-luck articles online.’
"Mom... I hate to break it to you, but the maximum score for a single subject in the Gaokao is 150, and 300 for the liberal arts comprehensive. Your mere 100 points isn’t quite auspicious enough, you know?"
Xia Shanshan shot him a glare. "Pah, pah, pah! Don’t say such nonsense. The 100 is symbolic! It means you’ll pass every test."
"I know, Mom. I just saw how nervous you were and wanted to lighten the mood," Jiang Xia said with a chuckle.
"Hurry up and eat. When you’re done, your dad will take you to school. And do well on your exams."
After finishing the bowl of "Perfect Score Noodles," which was filled to the brim with a mother’s love, Jiang Xia patted his stomach contentedly, grabbed his exam bag, and headed out the door with Jiang Wende.
He endured another round of his father’s lecturing on the way there. Upon arriving at the school, he saw that the academic buildings had all been cordoned off with barrier tape.
It wasn’t time for the exam to start yet, so the students could only gather in the open plaza outside. Many of them were clutching study materials, cramming at the last minute.
Jiang Xia scanned the crowd with his phone and found his wife. They were both taking the exam at the same school, just in different testing rooms.
Lin Yanwan’s hair was tied up in a full bun. She was wearing a clean, white graphic tee paired with light-blue, cuffed jeans that made her legs look long and slender.
"You’re looking great today, babe," Jiang Xia said with a smile.
"I went to bed early last night."
Lin Yanwan straightened his hair, then pulled a golden good-luck charm from her pocket and handed it to him.
"Keep this on you for the next couple of days."
Jiang Xia held it in his hand, examining it closely. The words "Pass Every Exam" were embroidered on it in red silk thread. He could tell at a glance that she had embroidered it herself.
"Aww, you’re the best, wifey. Gimme a hug."
"Don’t be a weirdo, everyone’s watching," Lin Yanwan said, rolling her eyes at him. But she still gave him a quick hug.
"Wang Ming told me you were still editing your video these past few days?"
He nodded slightly. "Episode ten is finished. I’m just waiting for you to do the voice-over, but there’s no rush. We can worry about it after the exams are over."
"Just don’t get carried away," Lin Yanwan reminded him.
"Don’t worry, it’s all in my head," Jiang Xia said quietly. "You still remember the essay topic from the Gaokao that year, right?"
"I remember. I even prepared a few drafts specifically for it." She bit her lip. "But, in this parallel world, will the topic be the same as it was then?"
"You never know. It can’t hurt to be prepared." His smile was full of meaning.
At 8:00 AM, a teacher took down the barrier tape, and the students immediately began to file in, each heading to their respective testing rooms.
"Good luck, babe."
"You too."
Jiang Xia winked. "You know, there’s nothing luckier than a good-luck kiss."
"???"
’She knew it. This shameless guy was bound to make some ridiculous request.’
"If you’re too shy, I can kiss you instead."
While his wifey was distracted, Jiang Xia suddenly leaned in, planted a kiss on her cheek, and bolted.
Watching his retreating back, Lin Yanwan gritted her teeth in frustration. A moment later, she raised her hand to touch the spot he had just kissed. A shy blush slowly crept onto her face as she turned and headed toward the other side of the academic building.
◇
At 9:00 AM, the first exam, Chinese Language, began. The proctor announced the rules, including the strict prohibition against cheating, then opened the sealed envelope and distributed the exam papers.
Jiang Xia sat in a seat near the window in the middle of the room. As soon as he received his paper, he immediately glanced at the essay prompt and found that it was, indeed, the same topic from the Gaokao of his previous life.
Although he had no memory of the other questions, he had spent a long time preparing for this particular essay.
He began answering the questions with complete confidence. The accumulated knowledge of two lifetimes flowed from his pen onto the paper as correct answers. He worked through the sections with hardly a pause, and in less than an hour, only the essay remained.
Jiang Xia paused and looked out the window. The June sun was already scorching. Sunlight streamed through the panes, casting long shadows across half of the students in the room.
He couldn’t help but think of his wifey’s seat number. ’If she were in this classroom, she’d probably be right next to me.’
’She’s probably almost finished by now, too, right?’
A faint smile touched Jiang Xia’s eyes. He pulled his thoughts back to the present, picked up his pen again, and looked at the final essay prompt.
—*Life is full of stories. Perhaps you experience them firsthand, perhaps you listen to them, or perhaps you comment on them... Stories move you, stories enlighten you; you reflect in stories, you grow in stories. Please write an essay on the topic "Stories and I."*
He had lived two lives. He had experienced falling in love and getting divorced, starting a business and watching it fail, the accidental death of a close friend, and the sorrow of a child burying their parents. And finally, a miraculous rebirth.
He had enough stories to fill ten days and ten nights.
He glanced at the good-luck charm Lin Yanwan had embroidered, which lay on his desk. After a moment of reflection, Jiang Xia began to write. He used no overly ornate words, only a straightforward outpouring of genuine emotion, with every word a precious gem.
Centering his entire essay around the single pronoun "she," he wrote about his twelve-year relationship with Lin Yanwan. But it didn’t read like the story of a complete marriage; instead, it was the story of a naive boy’s journey to maturity.
At 11:30 AM, the bell signaling the end of the exam rang. Jiang Xia packed up his things, walked out of the classroom, and happened to run into Lin Yanwan in the stairwell at the corner.
"How’d it go?"
"It was fine."
They looked at each other and smiled, both seeing a familiar confidence reflected in the other’s eyes. The exam hadn’t posed much of a challenge for either of them.
It was less an exam and more a profound summation of their past lives.
They walked toward the school gate hand in hand. A moment later, Jiang Xia’s phone rang. It was Wang Ming.
"Holy shit, holy shit! Old Jiang, you’re a fucking god! The essay prompt was actually about stories! I prepared two versions in advance, so I wrote the whole thing without even pausing."
Jiang Xia chuckled. "I told you that you’d be working for me for free. Guess this means your ’salary’ is safe now."
"Damn! Is that all you can think about?"
Hearing Wang Ming curse as he hung up, Jiang Xia just shrugged helplessly.
"You told him?" Lin Yanwan asked curiously.
"I just mentioned what the essay prompt might be. I wasn’t that sure myself, but hey, at least I guessed right."
Lin Yanwan nodded. ’The advantage of being reborn is simply too massive compared to what ordinary people have.’
"Want to get lunch together?"
"I can’t. My mom is definitely coming to pick me up."
"Then can I at least mooch a meal off you guys?"
With that, he called Xia Shanshan.
"Mom, I’m not coming home for lunch today. Uh-huh, I’m eating with a classmate. Bye, Mom."