The school changed when exam season arrived.
It was no longer loud in the mornings.
No one ran in the hallways.
Even Zhao Ming stopped talking so much during class.
The teachers stopped joking.
The students stopped relaxing.
Everyone suddenly looked like they were carrying invisible backpacks full of pressure.
On the classroom board, someone had written in big letters:
FINAL EXAMS – 14 DAYS LEFT
Zhao Ming stared at the board like it had personally insulted him.
"Fourteen days is not enough to become a genius," he said.
"You should have started earlier," Jiang Chen replied.
"I did start earlier," Zhao Ming said.
"When?" Su Ran asked.
"In my imagination."
---
The Library Days
For the next two weeks, their lives became very simple:
School → Library → Home → Repeat
They studied at the same table every day.
Su Ran revised English and history.
Jiang Chen studied math and science.
Zhao Ming studied… sometimes.
One afternoon, Su Ran fell asleep while reading her notes. Her head slowly dropped forward until it almost hit the table.
Jiang Chen quietly moved his notebook under her head so she wouldn't hit the table.
Zhao Ming saw this and whispered,
"You are like an old married couple already."
Jiang Chen ignored him.
Su Ran woke up a few minutes later and realized her head was on his notebook.
"Oh. Sorry," she said quickly, sitting up.
"It's fine," he replied.
Zhao Ming whispered again,
"I saw everything."
"Be quiet and study," Jiang Chen said.
"I am studying human relationships," Zhao Ming replied.
---
The Night Before Exams
The night before the first exam, the class group chat was full of messages.
"Did anyone study chapter 5?"
"What will come in the exam?"
"I am not ready."
"I am going to fail."
Zhao Ming sent:
If we fail, we fail together. Friendship never fails.
Su Ran replied:
You will fail alone if you don't study.
Jiang Chen sent a photo of summarized notes.
Everyone in the group chat immediately started thanking him.
Zhao Ming wrote:
Top student saves the world again.
---
Exam Days
The exam days felt strange.
The classroom was completely silent except for pages turning and pens writing.
Su Ran was nervous before the first exam.
Zhao Ming told her,
"If you don't know the answer, just look confident."
"That does not help," she said.
Jiang Chen said quietly,
"You studied. You'll be fine."
She nodded.
During the exam, she looked up once and saw Jiang Chen writing calmly, like he already knew every answer.
She looked to the side and saw Zhao Ming staring at the ceiling like he was searching for answers from the universe.
After the exam ended, everyone rushed out of the classroom.
"How was it?" Su Ran asked immediately.
"Acceptable," Jiang Chen said.
"I fought bravely," Zhao Ming said.
"That means you didn't know anything," she replied.
"That is correct," he said.
---
Last Exam
After the last exam finished, the entire school felt like a balloon that suddenly lost all its air.
Students were laughing, shouting, running in the hallways again.
"It's over," Su Ran said, almost not believing it.
"It's finally over," Zhao Ming said, looking like he had survived a war.
Jiang Chen didn't say anything, but he looked relieved.
They walked out of school together that day feeling strangely empty.
For months, everything was about exams.
Now suddenly, there was nothing to worry about.
"What do we do now?" Zhao Ming asked.
"Wait for results," Su Ran said.
"That is even more stressful," he replied.
---
Results Day
Two weeks later, the results were posted on the school notice board.
The hallway was crowded with students trying to find their names and scores.
"I don't want to look," Zhao Ming said.
"You have to," Su Ran said.
"You look first and tell me gently," he replied.
They pushed through the crowd and finally found the list.
Su Ran looked for her name first.
She found it.
She stared for a few seconds.
"Well?" Zhao Ming asked nervously.
She turned around slowly and smiled.
"I did really well."
"See?" Jiang Chen said quietly.
"I told you."
Then they looked for Jiang Chen's name.
Of course, he was near the top.
"First in grade," Su Ran said.
Zhao Ming shook his head.
"I knew it. I am friends with a genius. This is my greatest achievement."
Then they looked for Zhao Ming's name.
They found it somewhere in the middle.
He stared at it for a long time.
"I passed," he said slowly.
"Yes, you passed," Su Ran said, smiling.
He suddenly raised his arms dramatically.
"I PASSED! I AM ACADEMICALLY ALIVE!"
Some students turned to look at him, but he didn't care.
Su Ran laughed.
Jiang Chen smiled slightly.
---
After Seeing the Results
They walked out of school and stopped near the gate like always.
"So," Zhao Ming said,
"Top student, good student, and barely alive student."
"That is a very accurate description," Su Ran said.
Jiang Chen looked at both of them and said,
"We all did well."
Zhao Ming put his arms around both of their shoulders.
"We survived high school exams together. That means we can survive anything."
Su Ran smiled.
They didn't know yet what would happen after graduation.
Different universities, different futures, different lives.
But at that moment, standing outside the school gate with exam results in their hands,
they felt like everything was still the same.
Like tomorrow morning, they would still walk into class,
sit in the last row together,
and complain about homework again.
But deep down, they all knew
the end of high school was very, very close now.