Whether the students wanted it or not, midterms arrived right on schedule.

Since they had to take nine subjects, the schedule was incredibly tight. Even evening study hall became exam time, and they could barely finish all nine subjects in two days.

For many students, though, they only needed to review six. Once the humanities and sciences split next semester, the remaining three subjects wouldn’t matter much anyway.

Still, this exam was exhausting. On average, they had to take four and a half tests each day. For students whose foundations weren’t particularly solid, it was practically a nightmare.

By evening, their brains had grown hazy and sluggish. Some of them simply couldn’t think anymore.

As the saying went, they’d been tested dizzy.

Of course, this wasn’t much of a problem for Feng Yijiu. In fact, science exams sometimes felt like a way for her to relax.

People often said that science relied on logic, while the humanities relied on memory.

But once you aimed for truly high scores, science relied on memory too. More precisely, it relied on what people called “problem sense.”

Imagine being able to link almost every question to three or four similar questions and their solutions. In that case, scoring low would be difficult even if you tried.

Feng Yijiu was feeling exactly that way now. Compared with the previous diagnostic test, she was being much more careful and serious this time.

After all, she’d already bought her girl’s clothes. If she lost everything through carelessness, she really wouldn’t know where to cry.

Meanwhile, in another examination room, Li Hao was writing furiously. He’d prepared thoroughly, and he had an approach to the final problem.

He should be able to solve it…

Faster. A little faster…

Li Hao stared at the clock as it neared the end. A faint sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Ring-ring-ring!

Li Hao flung down his pen and barely managed to write the answer before the bell finished ringing.

The papers were collected, and the math exam was over.

For many people, only English and two minor subjects remained. Their exams were basically finished.

Now, in the hallway, they carried their bags while comparing answers.

“The final problem was so hard. I didn’t have a clue…”

“Question five…”

Li Hao listened to them, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

But soon, something someone beside him said made his whole body stiffen.

“Wait, question eleven is actually B? I spent forever choosing between B and C…”

“If you chose C, did you miss this tiny condition?”

Cold sweat broke out across Li Hao’s back. He lowered his head and looked at his own paper.

Then he stared at that tiny condition.

Slowly, his hand loosened.

He’d made a mistake.

“It’s fine. I can make up the points in my other subjects.” Li Hao consoled himself inwardly.

…

There were plenty of students comparing answers in Feng Yijiu’s examination room too.

But as an experienced player, Feng Yijiu knew that comparing answers was a major exam taboo. Getting them right brought no real benefit, while getting them wrong could affect your mindset.

There was no point in doing it.

“Feng Yijiu, can I borrow your paper for a moment?”

Even so, her paper was borrowed by several classmates. Before long, a few cheers and sighs rose from the room.

Feng Yijiu paid them no attention. She slung her bag over her shoulder and prepared to leave, only to run into Qingqing and Zhou Wenyao.

“How do you think you did?” Zhou Wenyao asked, blinking at Feng Yijiu.

“About as usual.” Feng Yijiu curled her lips. “We’re competing across all nine subjects, after all.”

“Math won’t create much of a gap this time.” Zhou Wenyao smiled brightly. “Your Chinese is a little weak, Yijiu.”

The two girls burst out laughing.

“Good luck!”

They still had exams that afternoon, so the three of them quickly parted ways. They prepared to face the final three subjects in their best condition.

Li Hao, however, had grown somewhat restless.

For subjects like Chinese and English, which emphasized talent and accumulated knowledge, he couldn’t raise his score much in a short time.

What’s more, his plan to defeat Feng Yijiu had always been to turn many small victories into one major victory.

But now that math had gone disastrously wrong, he had to fight for enough points in the remaining subjects to recover what he’d lost.

Most of the time, though, those forced to go all-in were the ones who lost.

The exams continued.

When the bell rang for the final history exam, Feng Yijiu finally smiled. She slowly capped her pen, then stretched her stiff body.

There was no homework tonight, so Feng Yijiu walked with a spring in her step. She looked unusually light and carefree.

When Li Hao left the examination room, however, his gaze was somewhat vacant.

He’d rushed through the English exam. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like a problem, but now that he thought back on it, he felt that something had gone wrong in many places.

He just couldn’t say exactly where.

His confidence had become increasingly uneasy.

“Maybe Feng Yijiu made mistakes too…” Li Hao consoled himself inwardly.

“Rat, let’s go play ball.” His best friend, Lin Zheng, came over and threw an arm around his shoulders. “Come on, the exams are over. Let’s go. We don’t have homework tonight!”

Li Hao did go play basketball that day, but his condition was honestly terrible. Even the wide-open two-pointers he could normally count on slipped away from him again and again.

“I’m done for today. I’m not really feeling it.”

After saying that, Li Hao slowly walked home, his mood slightly depressed.

I had a chance… I really had a chance…

Li Hao felt deeply unwilling to accept it. It was like forgetting to use Smite while soloing the Baron, only to get killed by the Baron when it had barely any health left.

In a daze, Li Hao pedaled his bicycle home.

“You’re back?” Dong Shu saw his dejected expression and asked with concern, “Gougou, what’s wrong? Why do you look like this?”

“Nothing.” Li Hao smiled at his mother.

“What happened? Did the exam go badly?” Dong Shu put down the work she’d brought home and asked him.

“It’s fine. It was only a small test. As long as you tried your best, that’s what matters, Gougou.”

Seeing his mother like this, Li Hao could only smile. “Mom, I’m really fine.”

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay?” Dong Shu gently patted him on the back.

Li Hao slowly entered his room and sat down at his desk.

He looked at the name beneath the large red X on the desktop and gave a bitter smile.

Whoosh—

He picked up his phone. At first, he’d intended to ask Feng Yijiu how she’d done.

But after the message was sent, the words had changed.

Muzi: Wanna play?

Feng Yijiu replied almost instantly.

Feng: I’m already in-game. Log on.