Chapter 99: Ye Mei

The first day of the midterm, six in the morning.

When the sky was just hazily bright, Cheng Ming woke up with a start, staring wide-eyed and breaking out in a cold sweat.

Instead of a good dream, it’s a long overdue nightmare – a family breakdown that started with my parents’ divorce, a sharp turn for the worse, and all sorts of assholes.

Cheng Ming turned on the light in horror, worried that it was all just a dream.

Pillowed on his arm was his sister, her childish sleeping face, her unfolded body, the hem of her nightgown lifted to reveal her slim waist and cute little belly button, her legs clamped tightly around his thighs.

Under the dazzling light, Cheng Li blinked and squinted open a small slit to ask, “Eh? Brother? What time is it now?”

“Around six.”

“It’s too early, turn off the light and go back to sleep, what if you don’t get enough sleep and want to sleep during the exam?”

Cheng Li turned over and slept on his back instead, his brain rubbing Cheng Ming’s arm.

Cheng Ming, however, could not sleep again.

The dream just now seemed to be reminding himself that this reborn brave man had not yet fully defeated the Great Demon King Ye Binsong, and could not slack off.

In the past month, Ye Bin Song did settle down and didn’t mess around.

But this was just the appearance, Cheng Ming did not know what he had done behind his back.

Cheng Ming had also previously relied on the clairvoyance that came with rebirth to dismantle the mines that Ye Binsong had planted first, so that he could not detonate them.

And the more Cheng Ming changed, the more the butterfly effect. Even if the general direction of history remained the same, the minor details of the side branches would change, and his clairvoyance would inevitably become less useful as time went on.

However, Cheng Ming also had quite a few backhanders and had prepared for the worst, so there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

Cheng Ming hugged his sister tightly and buried his head between her shoulder and neck, sniffing the milky scent of her body as his mood gradually calmed down.

You have to get past the midterm hurdle at hand first, and if you fall here you have no future to look forward to.

Anyway, take a nap first.

Just as Cheng Ming had a slight drowsiness, a warm sticky wetness came from his fingertips.

His sister was grabbing his index finger and licking it in her mouth, her teeth cutting into the skin and making “barfing” saliva noises… was she treating her finger like a lollipop?

Are you three years old?

Just as Cheng Ming was about to draw back his hand, just as Cheng Ming had feared, his sister’s candy eating habit – licking before chewing – happened.

Bite down hard, as if to chew the whole lollipop.

It didn’t hurt too much, a half-asleep sister couldn’t use much strength.

But thanks to this, Cheng Ming, who already had little sleep, was even more awake, and there was a clear circle of teeth marks on his fingers.

When his sister wakes up, Cheng Ming raises an accusation.

Even if the human evidence and material evidence are all there, Cheng Li is still dead.

“Blah blah blah, dirty, no wonder it’s so unpalatable, so it’s my brother’s finger, it must have been possessed by a gluttonous ghost while sleeping, it’s nothing to do with me, I’m not a three year old kid, I won’t eat my finger.”

Mom didn’t get up early to cook Cheng Ming a good meal at home because of the midterm, she just instructed him, “Just eat what you normally eat, don’t mess around with unclean food.”

“Do better on the test and put a smile on your dad’s face.”

It’s been years, and Dad still has the same rhetoric that hasn’t changed, obviously moving out of the silo and away from the kind of climbing that other people’s kids do.

However, to Cheng Ming, no change was the best.

There was still time to drop my sister off at school and then pick up Jing Jing.

“Brother, cheer up for the exam.” Cheng Li’s hands gripped the shoulder strap of his schoolbag and turned around, “It’s okay if you fail the exam, the big deal is to repeat the grade, I will accompany you to middle school.”

That would be a big deal.

“This kid left her bike at school, I really don’t know what to say about her.” Ren Mei shook her head and said with a bitter smile, pushing Lin Jingyi towards Cheng Ming.

“Xiao Ming, Jing Jing will trouble you.”

“Auntie Ren, I promise to fulfill my mission.” Cheng Ming stood upright and said with a military salute.

Lin Jingyi raised her elbow and knocked it against Cheng Ming’s waist and back, chirping, “Prude.”

“Xiaoming, open the pencil bag for a moment and check that you haven’t forgotten any of your stationery and test utensils, and do you have any spares for your test pass, signing pen, and refills?”

“Take a straightedge and round rule, 2b pencil and eraser with you as well; the straightedge and round rule will be used for the math test in the afternoon even though it won’t be used for the language test in the morning, so put it in there first so you don’t forget it in the afternoon.”

“Were the 2b pencils bought at a regular stationery store? Have you been greedy and cheap? If you buy counterfeit 2b pencils, you can’t read the grades out, and your efforts will all be wasted.”

It’s just nice to have someone to check and worry about for you.

Cheng Ming handed over a brand new helmet and said, “Jing Jing, this is for you, put it on and see if it fits.”

“Eh, this is …… So you were measuring the size of my head the day before big day? Wouldn’t it have been nice to have said so.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“It’s turning into a shock.”

In front of their parents, Cheng Ming and Lin Jingyi were quite restrained, with a large amount of air separating them clearly.

Once the car was out of Renmei’s sight, it pressed intimately together.

Although Xiao Ming’s intentions were good, Lin Jingyi still liked the feeling of not wearing a helmet, which didn’t even allow her to rub his back to her heart’s content.

Inside the city’s first high school, there was a huge crowd.

More than the day before, the school’s open space had been set up with a couple of red tents for candidate services, and additional water stations had been set up.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding–

The crisp bell rang, and Lin Jingyi nervously held Cheng Ming’s hand and asked, “Xiao Ming, is it time to enter the examination room?”

“Not yet, this must be the bell for the teachers from the exam team to gather for roll call.”

“So, that scared me.”

A girl carrying a pink shoulder bag walked past the two, and Lin Jingyi was slightly startled before waving her hand and shouting, “Ye Mei, Ye Mei!”

The girl looked back in dismay, in the direction of the voice.

“It’s me, Lin Jingyi, remember me?”

Ye Mei said with a sudden realization, “Oh, Jing Jing, the last time we met was when we were in the sixth grade of elementary school.”

“What a coincidence, you’re actually in this exam room too.”

Ye Mei’s gaze landed on Lin Jingyi and Cheng Ming’s holding hands, sizing up Cheng Ming and asking, “Is this one your boyfriend?”

Cheng Ming was similarly sizing her up, with white skin, two strands of braids hanging down her chest, and wearing a long printed dress, she looked like a very quiet good girl.

Although the crime is not as bad as her family, as the daughter of her ‘enemy’, it is hard for Cheng Ming not to hate the house at all, especially after the nightmare she had just had this morning.

Only then did Lin Jingyi notice that the two of them were still holding hands intimately, and hurriedly let go of Cheng Ming’s hand, waving her hand and saying, “No, no, he’s Xiao Ming, have you forgotten?”

“Eh! It’s actually Xiao Ming?” Ye Mei said in shock, “You guys are still so close, do you still live in a silo?”

“Xiao Ming’s family moved out three years ago, I still live there.” Lin Jingyi said as she awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“Didn’t your dads work together on a company? I can’t believe you haven’t met? How strange.”

“No.”

“Indeed not.”

Cheng Ming and Ye Mei replied in unison.

“Ye Mei which exam room are you in?”

“Exam room 13.”

“Then we’re in the same building, not on the same floor.”

Lin Jingyi asked about Ye Mei’s recent situation, which school she was at in middle school, and which school she planned to study at in high school, and Cheng Ming just listened quietly on the side without interrupting, as a way to gather intelligence.

After the second bell rang, the announcement of “Please enter the classroom in an orderly manner” echoed through the campus.

The crowd began to surge, one after another, into the staircase to go up, squeezing into a mass that could only go up, not down.

When you get to the floor of the exam room you have to push your way out of the crowd before the crowd behind you pushes up and goes with the flow to the other floors.

“Go for your exams.”

After Ye Mei finished, her voice and person drowned in the crowd.

“Pay attention to the questions, and don’t be in a hurry to hand in the paper when you’re done, double check it, there’s only one midterm.”

“Got it.”

For Cheng Ming it was the second time, “Remember to hydrate, but don’t drink too much.”

Cheng Ming stuffed the prepared mineral water into Lin Jingyi’s arms.

Lin Jingyi’s pretty face flushed and she nodded slightly.

“Quiet, after the papers are turned in, we’ll meet over at the bull.”

The bull Cheng Ming was talking about was of course the bronze bull statue at the entrance of the school.