E-Scum Gong Chapter 25
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 25
After a brief flurry of activity, life settled back into its usual rhythm. The senior students soon faced their second mock exam, marking another step closer to the college entrance exam.
"Good luck on the exam. I'll do my best to keep my top spot too," Yue Shan said to her deskmate as she moved her chair to make space for the test.
Her tone was light and full of determination. Influenced by Lin Xu, she had set aside her previous distractions and was now focused solely on the upcoming college entrance exam.
As for Lin Xu, he had far exceeded her expectations. Ever since she had nervously taken the first step to ask for help, Yue Shan realized that Lin Xu was not constrained by the limitations of their average Class 9.
Compared to her initial feelings of imbalance, she now fully understood the gap between them. She had decided to wait until after the college entrance exam to express her thoughts, leaving no regrets behind.
"You too, good luck," Lin Xu nodded, offering her encouragement as well.
With that, the students hurriedly scattered to their respective exam rooms. Lin Xu’s exam room was in a middle-ranking class this time, as his first mock exam results had placed him in the middle tier.
This time, the atmosphere was completely different from the relaxed and playful one before. All the students were diligently reviewing their materials, making use of every second. Though some occasionally glanced at Lin Xu, they didn’t react much beyond that.
Lin Xu found his seat and sat down. He should have been calm, as the exam itself didn't put any pressure on him. However, he was feeling a little elated at the moment, for a different reason. This morning, while looking in the mirror, he had been thrilled to discover his abs were now clearly defined — firm, tight, and impressively toned.
He finally didn’t need to go to the gym for a while. He planned to resume his workouts after the college entrance exam. It wasn’t the time spent exercising that bothered him but the psychological pressure of stepping into the gym every day.
Lin Xu had managed to make another one of his little lies into truth.
However, he didn't bring it up with Gu Jinzhi immediately. It was too embarrassing. At least now, if Gu Jinzhi ever wanted to see, Lin Xu wouldn’t have to awkwardly evade or hide it anymore.
The exam process was no different from the first mock exam. The two days of testing passed in a flash.
However, there were no longer any knowledge points on this exam paper that Lin Xu hadn't reviewed. Therefore, the embarrassing moment of failing to answer simple questions wouldn’t happen again.
As they left the exam hall, everyone was complaining about how difficult the exam was, much harder than the last one.
Lin Xu couldn’t relate. For him, it was just a matter of deriving the answers from slightly less straightforward conditions.
"Lin Xu, can we compare answers?" As soon as he returned to his classroom, several classmates approached him, eager to check their answers. Many top students, stressed by the exams, didn’t want to compare answers right away.
"Sure," he agreed.
Yue Shan stood quietly nearby, listening. She hadn’t been able to solve many of the problems this time. The questions were not only varied but also required extensive calculations.
Lin Xu took out his exam paper and showed it to them. He had already marked all the answers on his paper, as he had anticipated this scenario, so he wouldn’t have to explain over and over again.
"You solved everything?" Yue Shan couldn't believe it after looking over his exam paper. How was it possible that he had reached the final answer for every question?
"Mhm."
"How did you solve that proof question?" This time, the proof question had been particularly strange, and she hadn’t been able to find a way to approach it despite thinking about it for a long time.
"As long as you realize that this angle is 30 degrees, it becomes easy," Lin Xu explained, walking her through the solution.
After hearing his explanation, Yue Shan couldn't help but exclaim, "Deskmate, I have a feeling you're going to shine this time." She was convinced that his performance would surpass everyone's expectations.
She thought Lin Xu was the most brilliant and explosive student she had ever met. What she didn’t know was that his foundation of diligence and serious study habits had been established since kindergarten. Lin Xu undoubtedly had great intelligence, but he believed that his success was more about habit and perseverance.
Lin Xu just smiled at her comment and didn’t respond. He didn’t feel inflated by the praise. Everything was proceeding just as they should.
The pace of senior year was hectic. That afternoon, the homeroom teacher organized the students to take their ID photos, which would accompany their exam admission tickets and university enrollment records.
Some of the girls complained that the teacher hadn’t informed them in advance. They hurriedly fixed their hair and borrowed BB cream to touch up their faces.
In Lin Xu's future exam admission photo, he was captured with a neat haircut, a slight smile, a long neck, and a fully buttoned school uniform.
Soon, this photo appeared on the school’s honor roll. Among the hundred students displayed, Lin Xu, who had initially gained attention for his looks and speech and had been dismissed by some as just a pretty face, had jumped to the top of the honor roll in the second mock exam.
Lin Xu scored 706 points, ranking first in the entire school and being the only student from Class 9 to make it onto the school's honor roll.
This exam had been very difficult, and the affiliated high school was known for its strict grading, often marking several points lower than the actual exam. Under such conditions, Lin Xu was the only student in the whole school to score over 700 points.
"Senior is really handsome!"
"Isn't it more important that he's amazing? I heard he transferred from the international class just two months ago."
"What's even more important is that he was ranked in the five or six hundreds last time. But, he is really handsome."
Lin Xu didn't even know that the school had such a bulletin board. He only noticed a crowd gathering as he left the school building. Not one to enjoy such scenes and finding the crowd overwhelming, he quickly headed home.
Unlike his relaxed mood, Gu Jinzhi was falling into a state of agitation.
His older brother had discovered his online relationship.
"Why are you playing with your phone while eating?" During a group meal, Gu Qi rudely tapped his younger brother’s hand, warning him not to be disrespectful.
Gu Jinzhi reluctantly put his phone down and glanced at his watch. His partner was getting off work at this hour. Couldn’t he check his messages?
Sitting across from the brothers were two other young men, one of whom was Gu Qi's business partner, and the other, his friend. The latter had recently returned from studying at a prestigious university abroad. He came from a scholarly family, and was polite — a complete contrast to Gu Jinzhi.
One time, Gu Qi accidentally heard the phone in his younger brother's bedroom. Since Gu Jinzhi was taking a shower and couldn't answer it, Gu Qi glanced at his phone and saw his younger brother's chat history with a man. There was nothing particularly out of the ordinary in the conversation, just everyday trivialities, but for some reason, it felt off.
Didn’t Gu Jinzhi only have one older brother? Who else could he be calling "gege"?
Under strict questioning, Gu Qi discovered that his younger brother was in an online relationship. He hadn't even met his online partner, which meant he didn't even know if the other person was human or ghost.
This was a serious matter! Gu Qi deeply suspected that someone around Gu Jinzhi was pretending to be someone else to deceive him emotionally.
So, having previously allowed his younger brother freedom in such matters, Gu Qi immediately began arranging blind dates for him. No matter what, personality differences could be worked out later, but there was no way he’d allow a scammer into the family.
"It's okay, I think Jinzhi is quite genuine like this," the blind date said with a smile.
Gu Jinzhi didn’t have any objections to him but had no interest in pursuing anything further. He slumped his head in disinterest. He wasn't single now, Gu Jinzhi hated cheating the most.
"He mentioned racing. Weren’t you really into that? He even took the trouble to learn about your hobbies," Gu Qi said, patting his younger brother.
Gu Jinzhi shook his head lazily. "I don't like it anymore."
In short, this meal was a disaster, and Gu Qi realized this too. After saying goodbye to the others, he privately scolded his younger brother.
"Don't tell me this guy just now doesn't measure up to your online boyfriend. Break it off immediately!" He had rarely made time from work to help solve his younger brother's life problems.
"No." Gu Jinzhi was equally stubborn.
"Have you ever considered that he might know your identity and is deliberately approaching you? Haven't you always said that you're not stupid?" Gu Qi was starting to get frustrated, not expecting his younger brother to fall for a scam so easily.
How could it be such a coincidence that they just happened to hit it off online? Gu Qi knew exactly what his younger brother was like in real life. Could he really be more restrained online?
"He’s not like that." Gu Jinzhi didn't even want to humor his older brother's concerns. He was already considering meeting his online boyfriend in person.
Moreover, after all this time, Amour had never hinted at wanting anything. He wasn't that kind of person.
"Are you an idiot?" Gu Qi rarely lost his temper and used harsh words with his younger brother.
"I’m willing to be an idiot. Just stay out of it, and stop setting me up on blind dates," Gu Jinzhi retorted angrily. He stood up, long legs striding away in irritation.
Not wanting to go home, Gu Jinzhi called Xu Zhou to join him at a bar to blow off some steam.
Unlike others who went to bars to hook up, Gu Jinzhi went straight to the bar, ordered a drink, and downed it in one go, feeling utterly troubled. Now that his older brother knew about this, he would surely be a constant nuisance.
"Your big brother found out?!" Xu Zhou was equally alarmed. He was a bit afraid of Gu Qi.
"Yeah."
"Then why don’t you just break it off?" Xu Zhou didn’t see how chatting online could lead to real feelings.
Gu Jinzhi shook his head, his neck turning red. He was seriously considering meeting Amour in person. He wanted to give it a try, and only if it didn’t work out in real life would he be willing to end it.
"I should just go find him," Gu Jinzhi said suddenly, drunk and irrational.
"What's wrong with you? Stop drinking." Xu Zhou thought this was ridiculous and didn’t take it seriously.
"There’s a project at the company that requires a trip there. I’ll go myself. That way, my big brother won’t bother me," Gu Jinzhi mumbled, his eyes unfocused but his tone serious.
"Enough, stop thinking about it. It’s not going to work. Your big brother’s right. Perhaps he’s just scamming you," Xu Zhou said, believing his friend was idealizing someone from the internet.
In reality, with Gu Jinzhi’s qualifications, finding a high-quality boyfriend would be too easy.
At this, Gu Jinzhi grinned and made a shushing gesture. "I... I lied to him too. Don’t tell anyone, don’t let him know."
"You're acting like a total idiot after drinking. What a mess." Xu Zhou thought Gu Jinzhi was being childish.
After all, who would believe in an online relationship?
"Besides, your partner is ugly as hell. Aren't you always picky?" In Xu Zhou's eyes, any guy who needed to use photo editing to look good was considered ugly.
"It's a feeling! I go with my gut feeling, you know. Our interactions are so amazing. He remembers everything I say. He treats me like a naive college student. He doesn't swear, and he doesn't talk about adult topics. He listens to me ramble about eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom every day," Gu Jinzhi babbled, then suddenly paused. That was why he didn't dare to reveal his real age.
"That’s why he’s a schemer," Xu Zhou scoffed.
Moreover, although Gu Jinzhi had seen much of the world and could handle most situations, he was genuinely naive, even if he didn’t realize it himself.
"You don’t understand..." He was the only one thinking about meeting in person. His online boyfriend hadn’t expressed any desire to meet in real life, let alone get anything from him.
This faint melancholy only surfaced when he was drunk. After all, everything seemed fine between them, and Amour always responded.
