Chapter 047: First Kiss?

Huang Juan and Chen Ming had come to fully trust Yang Tian’s words. They began to revise with purpose, while An Qi was somewhat tempted but hesitant to act. After all, many of their classmates saw Chen Ming and the others abandon politics and history in favor of focusing on Chinese, math, English, and the sciences, and thought they were just trying to take shortcuts. Even the political and history teachers warned that, until the exam syllabus was officially released, no one should harbor any illusions—otherwise, they would be digging their own graves.

“Which page covers Emperor Wu of Han’s unification?” It was the weekend. Yang Tian and Huang Juan had stayed at school to revise, preparing for the upcoming mock exam the following week.

Yang Tian was lying on a sturdy limb of a large maple tree in the schoolyard, smiling as he asked Huang Juan, who was sitting cross-legged at the tree’s roots below.

“Um, pages 55 to 57!” Huang Juan answered after a thoughtful pause, resting her chin in her hands.

“Very good! And what about the formation of the Three Kingdoms?” Yang Tian continued to quiz her with a smile.

“Pages 87 to 89—no, wait, 89 to 91! ...Which is it?” Huang Juan hesitated, then got up and moved closer to Yang Tian, asking with a helpless smile.

“The latter! Haha!” Yang Tian flipped his textbook open to page 89 and handed it to Huang Juan.

“Oh, right! I even reviewed it this morning. How could I forget so quickly? I’m really hopeless!” Huang Juan patted her own head, mocking herself.

“Don’t worry! Using page numbers like that for open-book exams is a flexible approach. You don’t need to remember the exact page for every point—it would take too much time.” Yang Tian reassured her with a smile.

“But if I don’t remember exactly, how will I know which page to turn to during the exam?” Huang Juan asked, a bit anxious. Half of her final year of middle school had already passed, and the pressure of study was beginning to show in her weary appearance.

“It’s simple. Remember the sequence of key points, and focus on a few major events; then all the exam points connect together! For example, if we know Emperor Wu’s unification is on pages 55 to 57, then if a question is about Qin conquering the six states, we immediately know it’s before page 55—since Qin came before Han! Or, take the Three Kingdoms I just mentioned: since that comes after Han, it’s definitely after page 57. When the time comes, just flip a few more pages and you’ll find it.” Yang Tian explained, smiling as he guided her. After half a year of effort, Huang Juan’s Chinese, math, English, and science had all improved greatly. Now, Yang Tian was teaching her how to handle open-book exams for politics and history.

When spring came next year and the exam syllabus was announced, it was likely they would face daily mock exams. At that point, politics and history would certainly be tested together, and the mocks would also be open-book to build students’ experience under exam conditions.

Many people would surely be thrown off by the sudden change in exam format, leading to confusion and panic. Yang Tian remembered clearly that, in his previous life, he, Chen Ming, Huang Juan, and An Qi had all suffered for this. The habit of closed-book exams was deeply ingrained; they were used to memorizing material and writing it out on the test—a method they’d relied on for years.

Open-book exams, however, had much more scattered questions, and without shifting their way of thinking in advance, they would be at a complete loss during the exam. That was why Yang Tian was so determined to instill the right approach in Huang Juan now.

“Xiao Tian, you’re so clever!” Huang Juan gazed at Yang Tian, her eyes never leaving his face. When he finished speaking, she suddenly blushed and smiled.

Yang Tian was momentarily stunned, then smiled as well. He was fourteen, and Huang Juan was thirteen. The awakening of adolescence was beginning to show in her words and actions, making Yang Tian’s heart race with nervous excitement. He wasn’t used to being looked at like that by a girl; it stirred up a primal impulse inside him.

Suddenly, perhaps out of excitement or embarrassment, Huang Juan slipped from the tree root, missed her step, and twisted her left ankle, falling to the ground in pain.

“Don’t be afraid, you’ll be fine!” Yang Tian hurriedly jumped down from the tree, took off her shoe and sock, and quickly began to massage her ankle.

At first, Huang Juan was a little shy. After all, a young girl’s heart is already tinged with a vague awareness of the differences between boys and girls, and his gaze was as intense as fire, making her feel hot all over.

But since they had grown up together, when Yang Tian gently massaged her ankle, she alternated between shyness and the feeling that she’d gone back to childhood—back when Yang Tian always took care of her whenever she was hurt.

“Is it any better?” Seeing Huang Juan lost in thought, her cheeks flushed, Yang Tian frowned with concern and asked anxiously.

“Ah, much better!” Huang Juan snapped out of her reverie, a bit flustered.

“As long as you’re all right. That’s all that matters!” Yang Tian relaxed. Now was not the time for anything to happen; if her studies were delayed, the dream of acing the high school entrance exam would be over.

“Xiao Tian…” Huang Juan hesitated for a moment, then called to him softly.

“Yeah?” Yang Tian answered instinctively. Just as he was turning his head, Huang Juan suddenly leaned forward and kissed him quickly on his right cheek.

He was stunned. It was probably the first time he’d been kissed, and he could feel her nervousness. Her soft lips lingered only a moment, like a ribbon brushing across his face—ticklish and light.

“Thank you! This is the kiss I owed you. I’m paying it back now,” Huang Juan whispered quickly, then turned and ran off. Her ankle still hadn’t fully healed, so she limped a little, but her lively figure and flowing hair made Yang Tian’s heart flutter.

“A kiss? Isn’t a real kiss supposed to be lip to lip?” Yang Tian chuckled softly. He knew that Huang Juan didn’t really understand these things yet—the difference between a peck and a kiss.

Back when they first started seventh grade, they had made a bet over a mock exam, and Huang Juan had owed him a kiss. Nearly three years had passed, and Yang Tian had long forgotten, but she still remembered.

He understood—girls always cared deeply about such things. She must have spent three years thinking about how to pay him back.

That winter, the final exam for ninth grade turned into a placement test. Yang Tian deliberately held back and came in second in the class. Chen Ming took first, Huang Juan third, and An Qi fourth.

Their rankings didn’t change much, but their scores drew a lot of attention. They did extremely well in Chinese, math, English, and science, but just barely passed politics and history. Huang Juan, in particular, scored only sixty in both subjects and was harshly scolded by the political and history teachers for being too clever for her own good—trusting rumors before the syllabus was released and ending up outsmarting herself.

Yang Tian was afraid Huang Juan would be brought to tears by these old-fashioned, rigid teachers, and that her faith would waver. Such back-and-forth would be terrible for her exam prep and would ruin his own hopes as well.

But to his surprise, the usually tearful Huang Juan didn’t cry at all. She continued to follow Yang Tian’s revision plan without complaint. This moved Yang Tian deeply. Most middle schoolers listened to their teachers above all else, but Huang Juan didn’t—showing how much she trusted him.

Yang Tian and Chen Ming were also called to the office and given a stern lecture about not neglecting any subjects. Yang Tian took it calmly, while Chen Ming, swaggering out of the office, couldn’t help but mutter, “So old-fashioned, what fossils!” The two of them burst out laughing together, feeling completely at ease.

[Weekly recommendations have reached 10,000! Early update as thanks to everyone!]