The Scent of Change and the Road Ahead

“Fragrant? No way!” Huang Xiu looked confused.

He sniffed himself. All he could smell was the Blue Moon laundry detergent on his clothes.

“I always use Safeguard soap! You must be smelling the Blue Moon on my clothes.”

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Shi Lei’s face was serious. “That’s definitely not the smell of laundry detergent or Safeguard.”

“My nose is very sharp.”

With that, he leaned in again to sniff, but Huang Xiu shoved his hand in Shi Lei’s face and pushed him back.

“Dude, I’m really not gay. Don’t come any closer!” Huang Xiu looked disgusted.

“I’m not either!” Shi Lei felt a bit wronged. He really had smelled a faint, natural fragrance that was refreshing and pleasant.

“And I think you’ve gotten whiter!”

“Damn it, just do your homework. You’d better hope Baldy Liu doesn’t catch you tomorrow when he checks it!”

Huang Xiu panicked and quickly stopped the increasingly dangerous Shi Lei.

By threatening him with Baldy Liu, he managed to divert Shi Lei’s attention back to his homework.

A whole day was wasted on homework and idle chatter. Soon it was 10 p.m.

The classroom was getting emptier. Most of the remaining students were top students studying, plus a few who hadn’t finished their homework.

But Huang Xiu, who had already finished his homework, was still there too.

He was reading a book of essay examples, but he couldn’t concentrate. He glanced at the book, then at the window, looking down at the ground floor.

He took a deep breath and made up his mind.

Biting his lip, Huang Xiu walked out of the classroom step by step, as if heading to the execution ground.

The hallway was very quiet. No one was there.

The fluorescent light from the classroom slanted out through the windows. Occasionally, he could hear students talking inside.

Outside the railing, the world was serene. The moon hung high. Occasionally, insects chirped.

Inside and outside felt like two completely different worlds.

He stepped heavily on the staircase, making a clap that woke up the voice-controlled light.

Huang Xiu went down floor by floor. At each floor, he poked his head out to look left and right down the hallway.

Every now and then, he checked the signal on his phone. His right hand, holding the phone, was so tight it turned pale.

He went all the way down to the first floor and came to the spot where the incident had happened. The phone signal was still full.

Huang Xiu wandered around the area for a while, but nothing happened, so he returned to the dormitory.

“It’s good that the pig-head didn’t show up.” He showered quickly, then lay on the bed, burying his head in the blanket.

As long as he was at school, he couldn’t avoid evening self-study. So he might as well test the waters early.

That was the mindset with which Huang Xiu had stepped out of the classroom.

“If only he never showed up again, that would be even better.”

Sometimes you only know how precious something is after losing it. Now he understood.

Compared to a thrilling anime world, he definitely preferred his ordinary high school life.

Just like today… doing homework peacefully, gazing at her back peacefully.

“Ha, ordinary life is great!”

A smile tugged at the corner of Huang Xiu’s mouth. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

*****

April 15th, Monday. Sunny.

In Classroom 4 of the second year, Baldy Liu was making arrangements for today’s medical check-up for the Tiandu University enrollment, it was the school’s top priority today. Everything else had to take a back seat.

“Today is mainly the physical exam. According to the schedule, our second year goes first, the third year second. Our class has 40 people, and we’ll split into two buses.”

Baldy Liu wrote the bus license plates on the blackboard.

“Everyone remember your bus number. Don’t get on the wrong one. Seats are assigned.”

“For easier communication, I won’t collect your phones today. But remember to check the class group chat. Any updates will be posted there.”

This announcement drew cheers from the class. Baldy Liu had to slam his hand on the desk to quiet them down.

“One more thing: the preliminary exam schedule is out. It’s set for tomorrow, right here at our school. I’ll post it in the group chat. Don’t go to the wrong exam room!”

“Oh, and the preliminary exam will be proctored by teachers from the Education Bureau. You’ll need your ID to enter. Don’t forget to bring it. If your ID isn’t at school, come to me to get a temporary ID form.”

“We leave at 9 o’clock. You have half an hour. Rest at your seats for now,” Baldy Liu added.

The students were excited. There had been whispering since the beginning. Was it because there would be no classes today and tomorrow, or because of the upcoming Tiandu University entrance exam?

But Huang Xiu knew the reason for his excitement was most likely the coming medical check-up.

He hoped the check-up would reveal his differences, tell him the nature of his changes, and yet he also hoped it wouldn’t really detect anything different about him.

These two contradictory feelings clashed in his heart, making him agitated, excited, and a little uneasy.

His heart felt like an anthill, numb and itchy.

He glanced at Shi Lei, who sat to his right. Shi Lei looked completely unfazed, secretly playing on his phone without a trace of anxiety.

“As expected, only Melphite can stay so calm,” Huang Xiu sighed.

Looking at the noisy students below the podium, Baldy Liu, for once, didn’t reiterate classroom discipline.

Because he knew that today and tomorrow marked the first major crossroads in their lives.

Maybe some people’s lives would change from now on, maybe not.

But either way, this was a valuable lesson, once they saw who the winners were.

Fang Miaoqing interlaced her fingers on the desk, unconsciously rubbing her thumbs together.

She bit her lower lip repeatedly, tearing at the tender skin.

Skin was torn off piece by piece and swallowed.

Not until her deskmate and best friend Yuan Ting patted her shoulder did she react with a start and turn around.

“It’s nine o’clock. Time to go,” Yuan Ting reminded.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Even though the bus had enough seats for the number of students, Fang Miaoqing rushed downstairs as if she’d be left with no place to sit if she was slow.

Outside the First High School gate, six buses were parked in a row, but only two had people on them, both were from Class 4.

Fang Miaoqing pulled her friend’s hand and chose the less crowded bus. She picked a window seat in the back row.

She sat down securely and fastened her seat belt properly. Just as she turned to say something to Yuan Ting.

Two boys boarded from the rear door, chatting and laughing as they walked along the aisle to the very back, then sat in the seats to her right and behind.

The boy in front had fair skin, and his eyes and brows carried a youthful charm unique to a young man.

Fang Miaoqing couldn’t help but take a second look. ‘Does Xiu Ge have such good skin?’

His skin was actually fairer and softer than hers. Did he use some kind of facial cleanser?

But this doubt was soon forgotten as the bus got closer and closer to the city people’s hospital.

The bus took the last turn, passed under the raised barrier, and slowly drove into the hospital.

Screech!

With the sound of brakes and a jolt, the bus stopped steadily behind the one in front, they had arrived at the hospital.

Everyone rushed out through the front and back doors.

Squinting at the “Outpatient Department” sign on the building, Huang Xiu took a deep breath.

The medical check-up had begun!