Longhai No. 1 High School
The morning sun hung low over Longhai No. 1 High School as the car rolled to a stop at the entrance. The area was twice as noisy as usual — students clutching notes, muttering formulas, reciting definitions under their breath like they were trying to squeeze an entire semester into their skulls before the clock struck eight.
Li Feng stepped out of the car first, adjusting his bag strap with a lazy flick of his wrist.
Li Xue followed right behind him, clutching her revision notebook like a lifeline about to snap.
The moment her shoes touched the pavement, she inhaled sharply.
"This is it," she whispered in dread. "This is where I die."
Feng shut the car door behind her. "We're just taking exams."
"You're taking exams. I am fighting for my reputation, my dignity, and possibly my future children."
He paused. "…What?"
"Don't worry about it," she said quickly, waving her notes like a distressed flag.
They joined the flow of frantic students heading toward the main building. Xue flipped open her notebook, eyes darting across highlighted lines as if chasing answers before they escaped.
"Ge, tell me again — how does osmotic pressure work? I know it, but I don't feel like I know it."
"You know it."
She glared up at him. "That does not help."
"You'll do fine."
"GE!"
Feng sighed, leaned slightly closer, and tapped her page. "Just imagine the water moving because it wants to balance things out. Lazy molecules looking for the comfortable spot."
Xue froze. "…Wait. Actually… that makes sense."
"Yes."
"Why didn't the teacher explain it like that?!"
They passed a group of students complaining loudly:
"Bro, if the math paper is like last year, I'm transferring to another school." "I didn't even sleep last night." "Same here." "What if they give inheritance patterns TWICE? Can they legally do that?"
Xue visibly shivered.
"Ge, I'm not joking. I think I'm actually going to faint."
Feng glanced sideways, expression softening a little. "You walked five kilometers with a seven-kilogram backpack last month without blinking."
"That was physical! This is academic psychological warfare!"
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
They reached the point where their paths split — different exam halls for different years.
Xue hugged her notebook tightly. "Good luck, ge."
"You too."
She took two steps before stopping and turning back. "…Ge?"
He paused.
She raised her fist hesitantly. "Victory pose?"
He raised one brow — but gently lifted his fist to tap hers.
The tiny tap seemed to give her new life. Xue inhaled, squared her shoulders, and marched toward her hall like a soldier determined not to betray the empire.
Li Feng watched her go for a beat, then turned toward his own building, steps quiet and unhurried.
Midterms had officially begun.
---
The first exam unfolded exactly how Li Feng expected.
Quiet. Predictable. Almost disappointingly routine.
Students filed into their halls with the energy of condemned prisoners. Chairs scraped, pens clicked aggressively, someone whispered a last-minute prayer to the gods of mathematics.
Feng simply sat down, adjusted his posture, and waited.
When the papers landed on his desk, he scanned the questions once.
Straightforward. The few trick questions stood out like misplaced commas — impossible to miss if you were thinking clearly.
He answered steadily, handwriting sharp and clean, finishing long before the allotted time.
When he stood to submit, two rows of students stiffened like he'd just performed a magic trick.
Already?
He ignored their stares and walked out, hands in his pockets, letting the breeze hit his face.
---
Xue emerged fifteen minutes later from her hall, clutching her paper like it had personally betrayed her.
"Terrifying," she muttered.
"You survived," he said.
"Barely."
And so the week found its rhythm.
---
The second day brought biology for Xue, mathematics for Feng.
Xue studied through every break, muttering strange mnemonic codes only she understood. Feng stayed near her, leaning on a railing, eating a bun, occasionally answering a question when she shot him a desperate look.
She panicked. He remained steady.
Classmates noticed.
"Li Feng walked out of the math exam SMILING. Is that even allowed?" "Does he even study?" "He probably uploads textbooks into his brain at night."
Feng either didn't hear them — or didn't consider them worth processing.
---
By midweek, exhaustion was visible everywhere.
Students half-asleep on benches. Teachers looking like they regretted all their life choices. Vending machines sold out of energy drinks.
Through it all, Li Feng moved with the same calm ease — as if the difficulty curve simply didn't apply to him.
Xue often drifted toward him for moral support, leaning lightly against his arm.
"How are you not tired?" she groaned.
"I slept."
"For how long?"
"Long enough."
Every single time, she groaned louder.
---
Last Day of the Midterms
The campus buzzed with a strange mix of terror and relief. One last exam. One final hurdle.
Li Feng and Li Xue walked together, though her steps were tense and careful, like a rabbit approaching a predator's den.
"Ge…" she whispered.
"Hm?"
"I think my brain left my skull overnight."
"It didn't."
"How do you know?"
"You're still talking."
She stared at him. "…Comfort me properly."
He paused — then said gently, "You've studied enough. Just write what you know at the start. Don't second-guess yourself."
Xue blinked… and her shoulders eased.
"…That helps. Thank you."
They separated at the same junction as before.
Before stepping inside, Xue turned around again, raised her fist.
Feng met it lightly.
"Victory," she whispered.
"Victory," he echoed.
---
Inside his own hall, Li Feng took his seat without hurry.
Students around him flipped frantically through dictionaries, muttering grammar rules, trying last-minute rewrites that only made their handwriting worse.
The invigilator entered. Papers were distributed. Silence descended.
Feng scanned the questions — comprehension, writing prompts, analysis.
Clean, structured, familiar.
He wrote efficiently, reviewed once, then rested his chin on his hand, waiting for the bell.
---
When the exam ended, relief exploded across campus.
Xue practically ran down the steps toward him.
"GE! I think I actually did okay!"
He lifted a brow. "Good."
"I didn't faint once!"
"That's very good."
She swatted his arm. "Praise me properly!"
Feng let a rare warmth slip into his expression as he ruffled her hair. "…You did well," he said gently.
Xue's smile was instantaneous, bright, and utterly satisfied.
They flowed out with the crowd, Xue animated and glowing, Feng quiet and satisfied in his own way.
Midterms were officially over.
---
School gate
The afternoon sun was warm as waves of students poured toward the gate, voices bubbling with post-exam relief.
Xue stretched beside him like someone returning from a war.
"I'm free," she whispered dramatically. "Ge, I lived."
"You did," Feng replied.
"And I deserve milk tea."
"Yes."
She blinked. "…Wait. Really?"
"You earned it."
Her entire face brightened.
They walked toward the pickup zone.
Then Xue slowed.
"…Ge…"
She didn't need to point.
Feng had noticed the moment they turned the corner.
Where their modest sedan should have been, there were:
Three black Li Family motorcade vehicles.
Two armored SUVs flanking a sleek escort car marked with the Li crest.
Bodyguards in formal posture. Silent. Unmoving. Waiting.
Li Xue froze.
Li Feng didn't.
His expression didn't shift — only the faintest exhale, like someone checking off an item on a list.
As expected.
A bodyguard stepped forward, bowing slightly.
"Young Master Feng, Young Miss Xue. The Patriarch requests your presence at the main estate. Immediately."
Xue tensed beside him.
Feng simply nodded — steady, unbothered.
"After Xue gets her milk tea."
The guard hesitated, clearly troubled.
"…Young Master, the Patriarch instructed—"
"I heard you," Feng said, voice calm. "After Xue gets her milk tea. Five minutes."
The guard drew a slow breath, about to object.
Then Feng looked at him.
Not harsh. Not threatening.
Just a quiet certainty — the kind that left no room for negotiation.
The guard's posture stiffened.
"…Understood."
Xue stared at him, stunned.
"Ge… you really…"
"You finished your exams," Feng said simply. "You deserve your milk tea."
Her throat tightened. "Ge…"
"Come on."
So, with three imposing Li Family vehicles and an entire security squad waiting behind them like statues, Li Feng calmly walked his sister across the street to the tiny milk tea stand she loved.
She ordered the sweetest drink on the menu. Feng waited beside her, hands in his pockets, quietly present.
Five minutes later, Xue emerged with her cup, smiling timidly behind the straw.
The bodyguards pretended not to look like they were dying inside.
Feng nodded. "Let's go."
Xue's fingers curled around his sleeve for a moment — not out of fear, but gratitude.
They walked toward the open door of the patriarch's car together.
The world after midterms was waiting.
---
Hello, Author here,
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