"Zhijing, want to go play ball?"
"I'm not going. I need to go back and study."
His words shocked both Qu Zizhou and Chu Mingyan.
Qu Zizhou felt Gu Zhijing's forehead with his hand. "Are you okay? Has Qi Anlu possessed you?" He was truly bewildered - since when did Gu Zhijing love studying so much?
"Get off!" Gu Zhijing swatted away Qu Zizhou's hand. "Don't you know midterms are coming up? There'll be plenty of time for basketball later."
Qi Anlu had also been returning to the classroom to study right after meals lately, so he chimed in, "Zhijing's not wrong. The exams are just around the corner; we really should be reviewing properly."
Hearing them both say this made Qu Zizhou and Chu Mingyan feel a bit ashamed for not studying, and their desire to play ball vanished.
"Alright, alright, let's head back then."
At this hour, everyone had just finished dinner, and there was still some time before evening self-study. The first-year high school students weren't feeling much pressure yet, so even with midterms approaching, there weren't many people studying in the classroom at this time.
As soon as they sat down, Qu Zizhou wanted to chat with Gu Zhijing, but the latter had already started working on problems.
"Whoa, Zhijing, you're really serious about this?"
"Of course I'm serious. Who's joking around here?"
Gu Zhijing was secretly determined to make it into the top ten this time, not giving his father any chance to get rid of him. He was committed to being the third wheel!
While Gu Zhijing was already studying, Qu Zizhou turned to look at Chu Mingyan, sure that this guy would be like him and not study.
"What the hell? What's gotten into you all? Mingyan's studying too???" Qi Anlu was one thing, but now both Gu Zhijing and Chu Mingyan had started studying seriously. This gave Qu Zizhou a sense of betrayal.
Chu Mingyan initially had the same idea as Qu Zizhou, but as soon as he entered the classroom and saw Xu Yuan reading, he was instantly motivated. Study, he must study! He wouldn't be worthy of the Chu name if he didn't!
Qu Zizhou watched for a while before admitting defeat. He took out his English book and began memorizing vocabulary.
"Abandon - to give up"
"Abandon - to give up"
Gu Zhijing couldn't help but roll his eyes, quietly scooting his chair away. He was afraid he might catch Qu Zizhou's stupidity.
December 2nd, Monday, midterm exams.
For breakfast, Nanny Zhang specially fried a sausage and two eggs for Gu Zhijing.
Gu Zhijing paused, resisting the urge to tell Nanny Zhang that the maximum score for the exam was 150 points. But it didn't matter; 100 was fine. If he could score 100 in Chinese, that would be pretty good.
Wednesday, exams ended. The results and rankings would be out on Friday. The school was clearly not letting anyone have a relaxing weekend.
After finishing the midterms, Gu Zhijing let loose. He had never studied as seriously before any exam as he had this time. He was determined to secure a place in the top ten!
"Dad, I didn't play any games last weekend. I was studying the whole time. Can I have the key today to play for a while?" He hadn't played games for three, four, five, six, seven, eight days, and he was about to burst.
"No. We agreed on Saturdays and Sundays, and that's it. No playing on weekdays."
Gu Zhijing was good at reading the room. He knew when his father's "no" meant absolutely not, and when a "no" might turn into a "yes" with a little wheedling. Today, it was clearly hopeless.
"Dad, you're so heartless."
"Call it what you want."
"Hmph!"
Little Gu stormed off for the 10,086th time.
Nian Suian was unaware of the father-son tug-of-war. She was excitedly shopping for swimwear.
Since they were going to hot springs and not the beach, Nian Suian chose a one-piece spaghetti strap swimsuit. It was more like a short slip dress than a typical swimsuit.
"Knock knock—"
Having chosen her outfit, Nian Suian went to the study to find Gu Junxing.
"Do your friends know about our situation?"
Gu Junxing feigned ignorance: "Our situation—what situation?"
"The fake marriage thing, of course."
"Our marriage is real." Gu Junxing thought to himself, the marriage certificate was genuine, so how could it be fake?
Nian Suian said nothing, just staring at him, thinking: Are you still pretending with me?
"They don't know. Didn't you act it out last time? Loving me to death and back? That's still your character in their eyes."
"I thought you would have explained..." Nian Suian said this without much conviction. She had only focused on the performance, not the aftermath.
Gu Junxing shook his head, "There's nothing to explain. It can't be cleared up in a few words, and explaining would only complicate things further." Only a few people in the family knew about his situation with Nian Suian. Even his parents were unaware.
"Then on this trip, doesn't that mean we'll have to share a room?" After all, a married couple traveling together but staying in separate rooms would raise suspicions.
Gu Junxing had already considered this issue. He was patient and wouldn't use this opportunity to deliberately arrange for them to stay together.
"I've already spoken with Liu Jian. He's preparing a family suite for us. I'll sleep with Zhijing."
Even when he said this, Liu Jian found it odd. Usually, family suites were for couples with young children. Gu Zhijing was old enough to stay on his own.
He told Liu Jian that Gu Zhijing was timid and afraid to stay alone in unfamiliar places.
"Alright, you've thought it through quite thoroughly." Nian Suian hadn't expected Gu Junxing to have arranged everything already. She had even mentally prepared herself, thinking that hotel beds were usually big enough, so it wouldn't be a problem if they had to share. Besides, Nian Suian trusted Gu Junxing. Without her consent, he wouldn't do anything inappropriate.
"By the way, when you're not busy, may I come to the study to read?"
People often have intermittent urges to read, and Nian Suian was no exception. However, after reading e-books for a few days, she realized she still preferred physical books.
"Of course, whenever you want to read, feel free to come in."
"Great. Is there anything here I shouldn't look at?" She didn't want to accidentally stumble upon any confidential information.
Gu Junxing smiled and said, "No, any book is fine. Feel free to read whatever you like. You can sit at my desk or take books out to read elsewhere if you prefer."
Nian Suian wasted no time. The next day after breakfast, she went to the study.
Gu Junxing's study indeed had a rich collection of books, including many classic Chinese and foreign novels. It was enough to keep her occupied for quite some time.
For the next two days, Nian Suian did nothing but read, except for mealtimes.
"What's this?" As Nian Suian was putting away a book she had finished, she accidentally dropped something.
Picking it up, she found a photograph had fallen out, and realized what she was holding wasn't a book, but a photo album.
The photo in her hand appeared to be of Gu Zhijing in elementary school, wearing a school uniform with a red scarf, cockily lifting his chin at the camera.
Although she was curious, she resisted the urge to look further. Unlike books, browsing through someone's photo album without permission didn't seem appropriate.
She placed the album and the fallen photo on Gu Junxing's desk, leaving it for him to put the photo back in place.
Afterwards, she sent Gu Junxing a message to let him know.