“Knowing Cicada” recalled a message.
[Luo Sixue]: Smiling face.jpg Your big sister hadn’t even had time to read it. Why did you recall it?
[Knowing Cicada]: It’s nothing important. I’m waiting to check my results.
[Knowing Cicada]: My Gaokao score is the most important thing.
“Who does things like this?” Xiao Yan, who had urged Luo Zhiyu to recall the message, finally breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re dealing with something this major, and you even give them a warning in advance?”
“But if I don’t ask, how am I supposed to know where the household registration booklet is kept?” Luo Zhiyu genuinely had no idea.
“You ask indirectly. Feel your sister out and get her to reveal the information,” Xiao Yan said. “We’ll talk about it later. For now, let’s pretend nothing happened. Don’t go home today. I’ll go back and get mine first.”
“Will it really be all right?” Luo Zhiyu scrolled through their recent chat history. “My sister said she hadn’t even had time to read it.”
“I don’t believe her.” Xiao Yan shook his head.
Originally, nobody was at Luo Zhiyu’s house. But after a single phone call from Luo Sixue, the entire family hurried back. Three blue cats were even blocking the entrance.
“Why haven’t they come back yet?” Luo Sixue kept checking the time.
Luo Zhiyu’s father nervously glanced at the clock and continued waiting.
The household registration booklet was sitting on the coffee table in the living room. The bait was ready. All that remained was to wait for the fish to take it.
But the fish never came home.
“This is so strange. I really did see it. I wasn’t dreaming.” His older sister nervously wiped away a bead of sweat. “What is Luo Zhiyu thinking?”
“What kind of person is he dating that he needs to come home and steal the household registration booklet?”
That afternoon, the portal for checking Gaokao results opened. Director Wu was the first to call their house with the good news.
“He did exceptionally well! He’s brought honor to our No. 1 High School. Getting into U University’s School of Fine Arts is definitely no problem. With his scores, he could even meet the admission requirements for the School of Economics and Management or the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering. But we should still respect Luo Zhiyu’s own choice.” Director Wu let out a long sigh of relief. “I can finally stop worrying.”
“Once Luo Zhiyu leaves No. 1 High School, I won’t be able to keep an eye on him anymore. You’ll have to watch him at home. He and Xiao Yan will both be at U University, so make sure they keep some distance from each other. Actually, both boys are quite sensible, and they fight much less these days. But their pheromone compatibility rate is what it is, so we’d better be careful.”
“Of course, Director. Thank you for your concern,” Luo Sixue replied over the phone. “Luo Zhiyu is too busy dating to even come home. He doesn’t have time to find trouble with that old rival of his and get into fights with his family.”
“That’s good, that’s good.” Director Wu was reassured. “Then I’ll look forward to seeing him at the high school graduation ceremony.”
When Xiao Yan returned home that evening, his parents were chatting.
“I saw the entire Luo family rushing home today.”
“I saw them too. According to the latest gossip, their youngest son announced that he was going home to steal the household registration booklet.”
“Such rebellion?!” Xiao Yu was stunned. “But it’s so sudden! When did Luo Zhiyu get together with some random boy? They’re already thinking about getting engaged!”
“But couldn’t he just ask his family for the household registration booklet? Why does he need to sneak it out? What kind of partner is he dating? Is the guy ugly, or does he have a terrible personality?”
“Whatever the case, he’s definitely the kind of person his family would never approve of at first glance.”
“Isn’t it a pleasure to welcome friends from afar?” the younger parrot greeted Xiao Yan, who had just come through the door and was already preparing to leave again.
“I’m going to campus.” Xiao Yan changed his shoes and headed out, closing the door behind him. “I still have classes tomorrow. I’ve been pretty busy lately. Lots of classes.”
Xiao Yan’s father: “Mm.”
Xiao Yan’s mother: “Mm-hmm.”
The front door closed.
“We should meet Xiao Yan’s little boyfriend sometime. Otherwise, it would be rather impolite,” Xiao Yu suggested. “Though Xiao Yan doesn’t seem particularly willing to arrange it.”
Xiao Yan’s mother said, “We could consider getting them engaged first. I’ll contact the other family’s parents. Let me look for our household registration booklet.”
An hour later—
“Where’s our household registration booklet?”
“Didn’t you put it away?”
Three days after submitting their university applications, Municipal No. 1 High School held its graduation ceremony for the senior students.
The chaotic stretch of time surrounding the Gaokao had finally come to an end. The students attending the ceremony wore expressions of idleness and relief, as though they weren’t quite sure what to do with themselves anymore.
“Did you pass?” Jing Ximing still remembered what had happened that day. The moment he saw Luo Zhiyu, he asked, “Have you two been spending a lot of time together lately because of the compatibility test? You smell strongly of Brother Yan’s pheromones.”
Jing Ximing didn’t really understand what had happened between the two of them. He simply felt that something was a little strange.
“It’s all right,” Luo Zhiyu replied modestly.
He had always been excessively modest when it came to grades and scores. Ask him how he’d done, and he’d say things like average, not bad, or I didn’t even perform to the best of my ability this time.
Other people didn’t believe him, but fence-sitters tended to take him at his word.
“Condolences.” Jing Ximing put an arm around his roommate’s shoulder. “At least you tried your best.”
“Why are you here again?” Director Wu stared at Xiao Yan, who had appeared in the front row of the auditorium. “You even have to attend your archenemy’s graduation ceremony?”
“I’m here to revisit my middle-school memories.” Xiao Yan used the same excuse as before. “Don’t worry, Director. I won’t come next year, but we’ll come back to visit from time to time.”
“We’ll?” Director Wu asked, puzzled.
Students from the first and second years had come to watch the graduation ceremony, and the auditorium was packed.
Luo Zhiyu sat on the stage. When he spotted Xiao Yan below, he remembered the early autumn three years ago, when he and Xiao Yan—the boy he’d been fighting with since childhood—had met here once again because they were both outstanding students.
Behind Luo Zhiyu, the outstanding graduate representative, was a prepared presentation.
“Sharing Study Tips from an Outstanding Student”
That was the title of the first slide.
But—
“I don’t see many parents here today,” the student representative began. “In that case, let’s skip the study tips and talk about something the students actually want to hear.”
The auditorium erupted in cheers. Mixed in with the noise were several particularly swaggering shouts of “Brother Luo!”
Director Wu: “???”
“Forget it. Let them have their fun.” Director Xu, who was usually stern, and the vice principal seemed to have anticipated that Luo Zhiyu wouldn’t stick to the script. “They only get to do this once in three years.”
“I’m actually a rather low-key person…”
The moment Luo Zhiyu opened his mouth, the audience erupted in boos.
“All right, fine. I’m not low-key.” Luo Zhiyu conceded. “I’m arrogant, and I like pretending to be modest. After exams, I like checking my answers, and I like finding people to wail to about how badly I’ve done.”
“Is he really like that?” someone beside Xiao Yan asked.
“Yes,” Xiao Yan answered.
He was probably the only person who could take pleasure in Luo Zhiyu’s behavior. Anyone else would have gone crazy by now.
After waiting for the cheering and heckling to die down, Luo Zhiyu continued.
“My study habits probably aren’t suitable for everyone. I spend the day playing like crazy and the night studying like crazy. In the end, I even found every possible way to sneak off and take the art entrance examinations. I can’t exactly be considered a model student. And I also had a relationship before graduation.”
Yan Zihan: “?”
Everyone in Class Three: “?”
The directors and principal: “?”
“Who was he dating?” Director Wu asked Xiao Yan beside him. “How come I’ve never seen this person?”
Xiao Yan gave the teachers an innocent smile.
“Heh.”
“Brother Yan’s smile is so sarcastic,” someone whispered, nudging Yan Zihan.
After finishing his little display of false modesty and provoking the audience’s indignation, Luo Zhiyu finally began following the graduation ceremony’s official proceedings with a straight face.
“I’d like to thank the principal and teachers for guiding us over the past three years. Thank you to both directors for looking after us. Thank you to the dormitory auntie for carefully keeping our cooking pots safe. And thank you to the dozen or so orange cats that have accompanied us for three years.”
“Thank you to Director Wu for breaking up our fights, and to our homeroom teacher for supervising every single evening study session.”
“Thank you to my roommates and classmates. Many of the people we’ve met during high school will be friends for life. We’ve complained about No. 1 High School’s uniforms countless times, and now that we’re wearing them for the last time, I actually feel a little reluctant to part with them.”
From this day forward, the school’s uniforms, along with every blade of grass and every tree on campus, would become part of the memories of their generation.
“Finally, I’d like to thank one more person.”
“Because of him, I developed a sense of collective honor. Because of him, I’ve looked forward to every stage of my life. I’ve kept moving forward, chasing after his footsteps.”
“Maybe he’s going to thank his secret partner,” Yan Zihan whispered, perking up his ears. “He’s hidden this so well! Why has he never mentioned it before?”
“Now I’m genuinely curious. Luo Zhiyu has turned down so many people. Who did he finally fall for?”
“I heard something about a long-distance relationship,” Jing Ximing said. “I don’t think any of us know the person.”
The auditorium fell silent. Everyone was waiting to hear what Luo Zhiyu would say next.
“When we were in our first year, he ate melon seeds in front of our class during military training, and I chased him for three or four streets with a broom…”
“Everyone, don’t worry. Every action has its consequences. I already got my revenge for that incident—during last year’s summer vacation.”
“I’ve borrowed his school uniform and his little blanket. I’ve even dragged him into trouble with me and gotten both of us deducted points in the school’s conduct evaluation…”
“Wait, that’s not his boyfriend,” Yan Zihan said in disappointment. “He’s graduating and still remembers to thank his old rival.”
“Oh, Xiao Yan.”
“Forget it, forget it,” someone said. “It’s the graduation ceremony, and he still has to bring him up.”
“Everyone, sit properly.” Luo Zhiyu noticed the commotion below the stage. “Put your phones away.”
“What I wanted to say is that, during our second year, we went out to participate in an English competition. There weren’t enough rooms, so everyone told us to make do and share a room. That was because our pheromone compatibility rate was practically zero.”
“But…”
Luo Zhiyu tapped the space bar on his computer and switched to the second slide.
“Let me give the teachers some good news. We’re still as outstanding as ever. Whether it’s our Gaokao scores or our pheromone compatibility rate, we won’t bring shame to the school.”
There was nothing else after the cover slide of Luo Zhiyu’s presentation except a black-and-white diagnostic report showing their pheromone compatibility rate.
Luo Zhiyu, Xiao Yan
Pheromone compatibility rate: 99.999%
Probability of romantic compatibility: 99.999%
Jing Ximing: “???”
This was what he called all right?
He really shouldn’t have believed a word Luo Zhiyu said.
“What the hell?” Yan Zihan was dumbfounded. “Is that real?”
The auditorium erupted. Amid the chaotic noise were several shouts of “Holy shit!” and “Fuck!” along with countless other exclamations expressing sheer disbelief.
“How can it be that high?”
“Oh my god! An ideal match?!”
The lid of Director Wu’s teacup fell to the floor with a loud clatter and rolled several times.
“Director,” Xiao Yan said regretfully from his seat in the front row, “I think you owe us one. A public disciplinary notice.”