Beyond The Outline

Lin Jiang Sixth’s monthly exams were notoriously difficult. They strictly followed the rules of the college entrance exams. The students had to change the examination rooms according to the previous exam’s results ranking and were strictly checked for mobile phones and electronic devices, which were prohibited from being brought into the examination hall.

Meng Guowei used the ‘monthly exams’ to threaten everyone. Once he finished shouting, the class immediately quietened down. 

The problem of the study god’s account being stolen came to a temporary halt.

Shao Zhan pretended to sleep at the side, one arm pillowed under him and the other arm outstretched, hanging over the side of the table. His hoodie was loose, and after pulling the hood up, only a bit of messy hair could be soon. It covered his slender, long brows, their arches curving sharply.

This person’s eyes were obviously closed, but a threatening aura still came from some unknown origin.

He pretended to sleep because before class had ended, Xu Sheng had pressed his head down and said ‘either go out or lie down, I never read books in class’. 

Previously, the two of them had used the pretense of studying. Xu Sheng’s action was also to cover up the embarrassment of the public execution later.

To his surprise, Shao Zhan didn’t retort.

Although Shao Zhan had lain down, his emotions still didn’t calm down.

He also didn’t know why he came to this morning self-study; he was already standing outside the window of Class Seven by the time he realised, his hand reaching out to knock on the glass window.

With every word that Xu Sheng said, his breathing would stop, and his heart also stopped accordingly. Luckily, after Xu Sheng took in a big breath, he had found an entry point.

“All right.” After the surrounding executioner students dispersed, Xu Sheng let go of the tension in his body and leaned backwards, finally withdrawing from that feeling of suffocation. “I’ve saved your face, you can wake up now.”

If one wasn’t forced to the absolute limit, one wouldn’t know how much potential they had.

If Meng Guowei hadn’t come, he would have had to continue scolding himself. 

There was still five minutes of break time left, he would have had to continue scolding himself for five minutes… Scolding himself really was a one-of-a-kind lifetime experience.

Shao Zhan’s fingers twitched, then he raised his head up and pulled the hood off. When he lifted his face, Xu Sheng then discovered that this person was actually laughing. It wasn’t totally accurate to say he was laughing, because his smile wasn’t very obvious. It was just the slightest lift of his brows.

Shao Zhan commented, “You were scolded quite harshly.”

After that extreme situation just now, Xu Sheng’s emotions had also relaxed. “You’re smiling?” 

“But you were quite right.” Shao Zhan sat up straight. “It’s all true.”

Others didn’t know the truth behind those words. Other than Xu Sheng, Shao Zhan was the only one who knew.

Nervousness was one thing, Xu Sheng talking and making someone smile was another.

Xu Sheng wanted to tell him to get out, but he didn’t manage to say it before he also laughed. He changed the topic and said, “If I hadn’t successfully bullshitted, what were you planning to do?” 

Shao Zhan flipped open a page of the textbook. “I was planning to see which method of suicide you were going to choose.”

“If you really wanted to see me die.” Although Xu Sheng’s studies weren’t all that, he understood the situation and said, “You wouldn’t have knocked on that window.”

Shao Zhan didn’t say anything.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Jjc sbe rwlif wbgf boafc, ktfc sbe wjxf atja ojmf, atbrf ktb vbc’a xcbk wluta atlcx P bkf sbe wbcfs,” We Vtfcu rjlv. 

Vtjb Itjc, “Ljr jcsbcf fnfg abiv sbe atja sbe’gf ogeragjalcu.”

“Cmaejiis, sbe ibbx delaf ubbv ktfc sbe rwlif.” Cr We Vtfcu rqbxf tf ofia ilxf rbwfatlcu kjr kgbcu, jcv mbcrmlberis mbggfmafv, “P wfjc P’w ajixlcu jybea ws ojmf.”

Shao Zhan finally showed a bit of reaction. His eyes curved slightly. “Your eyes like that of peach blossoms?”

Xu Sheng, “… Fuck.” 

After Xu Sheng said that ‘fuck’, he also couldn’t stop from laughing.

His mind had been too overcrowded, which was why he had entered a state of being carried away and had written that little essay.

Xu Sheng discovered that Shao Zhan wasn’t actually that difficult to get along with. Although his face was always cold and he seemed aloof and unfriendly, everything else was okay. The best proof of this was the fact that he could currently still sit in the classroom and breathe in fresh air.

In the afternoon, the news that “study god’s account was hacked” quickly spread through the entire school. But with things like rumours, once people believed them, they would choose to ignore the supposed hacker even if they appeared in front of their faces. 

The entire school had been force-fed food last night on the forum. There were still many people who believed that Zhan Without a Sheng was real.

6989th comment: Do you believe it? Anyway I just feel that this matter is not that simple.

6990th comment: Upvote the comment on top, I also think it’s not simple.

6991st comment: Where’s the girl from yesterday who saw the school tyrant at the convenience store in the building, come out and tell us again the love story of a school tyrant and exam prodigy at the convenience store. Consolidate your knowledge for everyone. 

6992nd comment: I’m coming I’m coming, that day my friend and I stayed behind for classroom duties. It was a romantic and unbelievable night. I pushed open the door of the convenience store. It seemed like school tyrant had just finished a fight and the corner of his mouth was bleeding. His entire being was so cold as he sat in the corner of the dining area…

What was jumping into the Yellow River wouldn’t wash you clean?

What was cursing oneself wouldn’t even have any effect?

Xu Sheng had read PR crisis examples all night but didn’t follow-up with what happened to the celebrities afterwards. This was the firm heart of ”melon-eaters”: You can deny it even if you’re beaten to death, but we also have the right to not believe it even if we’re beaten to death! 

It was a good thing that this result was something both Xu Sheng and Shao Zhan did not notice.

Xu Sheng remembered the final point of the PR relations cases: Time quells everything.

Xu Sheng and Shao Zhan took advantage of their lunch break to simply change their dorms. School had just started and they didn’t actually have that many possessions. Switching was easy.

“Wait a moment.” Xu Sheng wanted to walk forward, but Shao Zhan called for him to halt. 

Xu Sheng stopped his steps at the doorway. “What else do you have? Right, if you don’t want the poster on the wall then you can just take it off.”

Shao Zhan put down the things in his hand, took off the key that was hung around his neck, and handed it to him. “This.” He held that fine, black string and added, “I forgot to give it to you earlier.”

To say that the key was merely an accessory was obviously false. The black string was clearly strung by himself. Xu Sheng hadn’t mentioned it before, and Shao Zhan hadn’t asked.

“Ah,” Xu Sheng said blankly, “This, ah.” 

Xu Sheng only realised something didn’t seem quite right after he took the key back into his hands. It turned out that his neck had been feeling bare.

Xu Sheng went back with his key, threw the blanket onto Shao Zhan’s bed, and looked around this “new dorm room”.

After everything was organised, he sat in his chair, his long legs stretched out over the desk. He leaned his head back until the entire room was “inverted” in his eyes.

Too many things had happened recently, to the point that he didn’t have any time to ponder about other things. 

Just wondering how to survive without incidents every day was already difficult enough.

This key was like a key that could open up a magic box; its cold light broke out in a few rays.

Along with the shadows came the repressed voice of a woman. “You want to anger me to death, don’t you—”

“I’ve never required you to do anything your entire life.” 

“I try my best to give you the best life possible. I hope you can live safely and have a stable, secure job. I won’t control what you do in your free time, I’ll support all your interests and hobbies.”

“…”

Xu Sheng couldn’t clearly hear the words that came after; the woman’s voice wasn’t very pitched and her voice carried a strong sense of oppression, clashing with the spring thunderstorm.

Boom! 

Xu Sheng only remembered that the rain outside the window that day had gotten worse and worse. The heavy rain poured down, smashing ripples against the glass windows.

The black string was entwined between Xu Sheng’s fingertips. Xu Sheng’s gaze drifted away as he stared, falling upon that hand that wasn’t his. Shao Zhan’s hands really were superior…his bone structure was strong, his skin cold and pale, his fingers long.

He untwisted the string from his fingers and finally pulled open the drawer in his desk,  dropping the key inside.

The first class of the afternoon was language class. 

Before Meng Guowei entered the classroom, the language representative Shen Wenhao led everyone in reading an ancient poem. “Students, please turn to page 35 of the textbook, let us fill ourselves with deep emotion and recite this poem.”

Shen Wenhao really was a god. Rumours say that he even had the passion of writing novels, and set up a reading corner in the class in the first week.

Meng Guowei entered the class two minutes late. After he walked in, he first continued his announcement from that morning, spurring the students on every now and then. “Never mind the monthly exams, very soon it won’t be very far from the college entrance exams, it’s right in front of you. When that time comes, it will be too late for any plans—”

Shen Wenhao spouted out a poem below him, adding on, “Between the mortal realm and heavens, when a white foal falls through that gap, it is only sudden.” 

Hou Jun applauded. “Well done, Wenhao. This poem is very apt!”

Shen Wenhao, “… I didn’t write this poem.”

“Stop arguing, you two.” Meng Guowei passed the marked quizzes to Shen Wenhao. “Distribute this to everyone. We’ll discuss the papers from last class during this lesson.”

The distributed papers were the practice papers they did in class yesterday. 

During the last class, after Xu Sheng had finished his paper, he had switched it with Shao Zhan’s and handed it in.

Xu Sheng didn’t have to worry about there being any problems with the paper, he merely flipped through the after-class readings in the language textbook in boredom, treating the reading comprehension essays as “stories”, so he didn’t notice Meng Guowei still holding onto two papers after the rest had been distributed.

Until the next moment when Meng Guowei said, “Shao Zhan, Xu Sheng. The two of you, stand up.”

Xu Sheng hadn’t been in class for very long, and had been hurrying to switch dorm rooms and hadn’t slept his afternoon nap, so he was a bit dazed. He glanced furtively at Shao Shan, slowly stood up, and asked quietly, “What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know,” Shao Zhan said. “What did you do again.”

Xu Sheng tried to recall in detail, thinking he should have written his paper flawlessly. “I didn’t do anything, don’t tell me I wrote the wrong name?”

A small detail like writing a name really didn’t leave a deep impression. Right now he was deeply immersed in Shao Zhan’s character, there was no telling if he had accidentally written down Shao Zhan’s name.

Xu Sheng said again, “It shouldn’t be possible.” 

Luckily, Xu Sheng hadn’t actually committed such a small mistake. Meng Guowei held on to their papers and went to the back row. First, he proudly patted Xu Sheng’s shoulder. “Shao Zhan, your quiz was very well written this time. Especially the last question, you were the only one in the whole class who got it right. I want to specially commend it.”

So it was to praise the best student.

Xu Sheng and Shao Zhan both let out a sigh of relief in unison.

However, the next second, Meng Guowei turned towards Shao Zhan. His tone of voice also took a turn, saying with a sense of resentment, “Xu Sheng, tell me, you sit beside Shao Zhan every day but don’t pick up anything useful at all.” 

Shao Zhan, “…”

Meng Guowei was beyond furious. He tossed the paper over. “Look at how you did this question, this is the simplest question to score points. The whole class got it right, you were the only one who got it wrong!”

The thing Meng Guowei was angriest about wasn’t the easy to score question. “You even know Hamlet, let me ask you, what were you thinking.”

What Hamlet. 

From start to finish, there wasn’t a single mention of Shakespeare in the entire paper; where did Hamlet come from.

Shao Zhan hadn’t paid attention to the Xu Sheng sprawled across the table during the previous language class with his eyes narrowed, not looking at what he was writing out for the questions.

Only when Meng Guowei directly slapped the paper on the table, did Shao Zhan lower his gaze and scan it quickly. He saw the creativity of one of the answers for the thinking questions, basically every question was answered unusually.

Question: Explain the meaning of the underlined phrase in the passage. 

Answer: In the eyes of a thousand people, there are a thousand Hamlets.

Meng Guowei deviated from the topic for a couple of seconds, muttering, “… But your handwriting is indeed straighter than last time.” After he finished speaking, he recomposed himself and continued, “That’s not important. Come, tell me your thought process, the question asked you for the meaning of the underlined sentence, what did you write? Let’s talk about it in detail, I really don’t know how you came up with it.”

”—People take exams to score points, what you’re trying to do is to anger the markers to death, right?”“—Others take exams for the sake of scores. You’re trying to piss off the monthly exam scorers, are you?”

Shao Zhan fell into a moment of silence in response to the word “Hamlet”. 

“…”