MVCFO CH22

Lin Xiangqi was confused again: “What kind of handicraft?”

“Are you sure you want to give up this guaranteed admission opportunity?”

Qin Xiao held the application form and college materials that Lin Xiangqi had returned, his face showing regret as he tried to persuade him again, “It’s not that urgent. You can still reconsider, and submit the application next month if you want.”

“Teacher, I really don’t want it,” Lin Xiangqi scratched his head awkwardly, “Mainly, I thought it over and feel I might not be cut out for the arts path. You may think I’m outgoing, but once I’m in front of a camera, I freeze up. Choosing guaranteed admission just to avoid the college entrance exam feels like taking a shortcut out of laziness. But if you start off going the wrong way, you’ll still end up lost.”

Hearing Lin Xiangqi’s words, Qin Xiao calmed down.

He had advised Lin Xiangqi to go to the film academy mainly because his grades fluctuated a lot and his mood was restless. The guaranteed admission seemed like a good option. Many young people fantasize about film school, thinking it’s better to become a glamorous star than to struggle in society.

But Lin Xiangqi didn’t think that way.

He preferred simple and plain happiness in life, without dreams of standing on a stage under the spotlight.

After Lu Cong comforted him last night, he decided that even if he failed the capital university entrance, he still wouldn’t go to the film academy.

Though he didn’t yet know what he wanted, he knew what he didn’t want.

Qin Xiao sighed deeply, put down Lin Xiangqi’s application form with his name already written on it, and smiled: “Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, I won’t push you.”

Lin Xiangqi smiled sweetly: “Thanks, teacher. I’ll head back now.”

“Stand right there.” Qin Xiao immediately turned stern.

Lin Xiangqi froze in place: “Huh?”

“Since you rejected the guaranteed admission, you must have other plans, right?” Qin Xiao stared at him deeply. “I remember your highest comprehensive exam score was 540 points, and usually you hovered around 500. Last month’s test was only 460… With these scores, don’t even think about a first-tier university, and even some of the better second-tier universities in the alliance will be tough. So tell me, if you’re not going to film school, what other goal do you have?”

Lin Xiangqi could only honestly answer: “I want to go to the capital university.”

Unexpectedly, Qin Xiao didn’t mock or directly discourage him, but frowned thoughtfully and said objectively, “That’s difficult.”

“I know.” Lin Xiangqi fiddled with his sleeve. “Last year the cutoff was around 650.”

“Do you have a preferred major?”

Admission scores differ slightly by major. Qin Xiao was thinking that if Lin Xiangqi liked a certain major, he could consider a second-tier university strong in that field.

But Lin Xiangqi said: “No.”

Since childhood, he had heard his parents talk about the capital university, and the most vivid impression was the university library—said to be the largest campus library in the whole alliance.

As for the school’s majors, he had no idea.

Lin Xiangqi’s father studied archaeology, and his mother studied applied psychology. They had many related books at home, and he had absorbed some of that knowledge growing up.

But Lin Xiangqi himself wasn’t very interested.

Lu Cong told him he still had a year to think it over. Even if he suddenly changed his mind and didn’t want to go to the capital university, it wouldn’t matter.

What Lin Xiangqi really wanted was simple: peace of mind.

Once his heart was settled, everything else could be settled too.

But Qin Xiao clearly didn’t know about the agreement between Lin Xiangqi and Lu Cong. He just found Lin Xiangqi’s current situation frustrating. He rubbed his temples and took a big sip of tea.

If it were another student, he might have just told them to forget it.

Usually, if a student didn’t have a clear plan for the future, parents would take the initiative to contact teachers for advice.

But Lin Xiangqi’s situation made Qin Xiao reluctant to discourage him.

So he first encouraged him: “Having a goal is good, but your current grades are too far off. You must give it your all in the next year. Don’t be distracted or restless. Ask Lu Cong to help you more when you have time.”

Lin Xiangqi said: “Lu Cong prepared a comprehensive review plan for me, starting today. He said improving by two hundred points this semester isn’t a problem.”

“Two hundred?” Qin Xiao’s brow twitched, and with a bit of reluctance he said, “It’s good that he’s helping you study, but don’t be impatient. Just stabilize your score around 500 first.”

Qin Xiao didn’t really believe Lin Xiangqi could suddenly improve by two hundred points, but if Lu Cong could tutor him, maybe with effort he could reach the first-tier university cutoff.

…

The news about Lin Xiangqi giving up guaranteed admission somehow leaked out.

When he returned to class, everyone swarmed around him. Some asked why he wouldn’t become a star; others admired him for daring to give up such an easy opportunity.

Lin Xiangqi felt lighter and smiled cheekily: “I’m going to take the exam for the capital university.”

The reaction was: “Brother, you better take your application form back.”

No one really thought Lin Xiangqi could get into the capital university, just like Qin Xiao thought it was unrealistic.

To many, Lin Xiangqi’s reason for aiming at the capital university was irrational—he only wanted to go because it was his parents’ alma mater. Without a clear idea of what to study, how could he be fully committed?

Only Lu Cong took Lin Xiangqi’s decision seriously.

Whatever Lin Xiangqi wanted or planned to do, Lu Cong would help him.

Even if Lin Xiangqi said he wanted the moon, Lu Cong would build a rocket to take them both there.

To create a tailored review plan, Lu Cong first had Lin Xiangqi take a test to gauge his level.

Lin Xiangqi cooperated obediently, doing whatever was asked.

Whether he did well was another matter.

During breaks and lunch, Lin Xiangqi did all the problems Lu Cong picked out and submitted them diligently.

Lu Cong glanced over the math section and frowned: “Even if you don’t know how to do it, you have to try seriously. That’s how you find your problems.”

Lin Xiangqi looked pitiful: “I was serious!”

Lu Cong: “…”

Lu Cong: “All wrong.”

Lin Xiangqi: “?”

Lin Xiangqi was very uneven in subjects. He could score 130 or 140 in subjects he liked, but only 34 in subjects he disliked.

Right now, his biggest weakness was math, and the room for improvement was huge.

Lu Cong planned to start repairing his foundation from the basics.

Lin Xiangqi was supposed to be smart and quick to learn formulas and laws, but for some reason, when he got a problem, he just couldn’t solve it.

Teachers suggested doing more problems in his situation, so Lu Cong decided to assign more practice to train his problem-solving mindset.

But Lin Xiangqi soon got lazy, staring at the questions for a long time, claiming he didn’t understand them.

Actually, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand—it was lack of focus.

When Lu Cong analyzed his mistakes, Lin Xiangqi just stared at his eyes blankly.

Lu Cong asked: “Do you know why this question’s answer is A?”

He said: “No.”

Of course he didn’t know. For all geometry problems, his eyes just followed Lu Cong’s eyeballs. No wonder he didn’t get it.

Lu Cong helplessly rubbed his hair.

Looks like the first thing to fix isn’t his logical thinking, but his attention problem.

“Yo, still doing problems?”

A group of boys came back from the bathroom after changing clothes, and just saw Lin Xiangqi staring blankly at the workbook. They urged him, “Tomorrow’s sports meet, hurry up and practice some! Let’s go, Zhang Kebo said our class will compete with class 8 in the relay!”

Lin Xiangqi had long since lost interest in doing problems. Hearing this, he jumped up from his seat: “Let’s go!”

Lu Cong sat beside him, looking up.

Lin Xiangqiang proudly straightened his chest and said, “I’m bringing honor to the class. I’ll finish the homework at home tonight.”

Lu Cong raised an eyebrow, stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”

Lin Xiangqiang was curious, “You’re coming too?”

The relay race was a team event, but unlike tug-of-war where everyone had to participate, Lu Cong didn’t join the relay because he already had too many individual events. However, he still followed Lin Xiangqiang and the others downstairs, saying, “I’ll watch you all practice.”

“Oh, then can you hold my jacket later?” Lin Xiangqiang just thought Lu Cong wanted to get some fresh air downstairs, so he didn’t think much of it.

When they reached the track, Lin suddenly remembered that last time he encountered Shen Qiaolan here, so he nervously looked around suspiciously.

He definitely didn’t want to be pushed into the equipment room again by Shen Qiaolan’s pheromones.

Lu Cong stood not far from him, holding Lin’s school jacket that he had taken off, and gave him a faint smile. “Focus on running.”

Although Lu Cong didn’t say more, Lin Xiangqiang heard a certain comforting tone in these simple words.

Only then did he realize why Lu Cong had come along.

Feeling reassured, Lin flashed Lu a bright smile. “Alright!”

They first ran a lap themselves, then competed a bit with classmates from Class 8. Although their class didn’t have any sports students, the few people selected ran quite well. In the end, winning two out of three rounds made Class 8 stomp their feet in frustration.

After running, Lin Xiangqiang was sweating profusely and wanted to take off another layer of clothing, but his vision suddenly darkened—Lu Cong wrapped his jacket around him.

“I don’t want to wear it, it’s too hot,” Lin pushed it away.

“Behave,” Lu zipped up the jacket for him, wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck with a tissue, and then opened the bottle cap to offer him some water. “Drink some.”

Though reluctant, Lin obeyed, putting on the jacket and taking a sip of the warm water Lu handed him.

They didn’t return to the classroom for the first class.

Qin Xiao gave up his two class periods to train them well for tomorrow’s sports meet. After a brief celebration, everyone dispersed to practice their own events.

Watching the classmates sweating heavily, Qin Xiao was touched and spent his own money to buy snacks for everyone to sit down and rest.

Lin Xiangqiang, however, wasn’t tired. He ran another 400 meters lap timed himself and felt confident he wouldn’t be among the slowest. Then he gasped for air and returned to the group.

He noticed boys and girls were separated and wondered why, thinking maybe they would train separately by gender. So he grabbed a snack and started eating, casually asking the person beside him, “Are you practicing anything?”

“No, we’re resting now,” the classmate said, “Just chatting.”

“Oh, okay.”

After eating a bit, Lin finally caught what they had been talking about.

“… Nowadays it’s impossible to find good resources, renting DVDs was much more convenient before.”

“That was years ago. Now everyone just searches online.”

“The first time I watched was from a DVD I found in my dad’s drawer. That was true high definition without any censorship. The stuff you find online isn’t even comparable.”

Lin crunching on chips wanted to join in and said, “I have quite a few DVDs at home too.”

His dad used to participate in archaeological expeditions and had recorded many documentary videos, all preserved intact.

Everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward him.

Even Chen Qiutian looked surprised.

“Brother Qi, you’re into the same stuff? We thought you were a pure boy!”

“I never talked about this stuff in front of him, scared I’d freak him out. Didn’t expect he watches too!”

“Well, Brother Qi’s an eighteen-year-old man now. It’s time for some manly trades—”

Lin Xiangqiang was confused, “What trades?”

Others said, “Mutual help, sharing resources.”

“I just bought a T (probably means a hard drive or device) yesterday, I’ll send it to your email. You can bring some DVDs from home next time?”

“Me too, me too!”

“Wait, aren’t you guys going to ask what kind of videos Brother Qi watches?”

Everyone paused briefly, then burst into laughter.

Lin started feeling something was off.

Although he was naive about some things, just the mischievous smiles on their faces made it clear this was definitely not a wholesome topic. So he frowned and asked them, “The videos you’re talking about, are they legit?”

Chen Qiutian snorted and said, “Unfortunately, not only are they illegal, but unhealthy too.”

Lin Xiangqiang curled his lips, “I knew it, you guys are a bunch of animals.”

He was about to stand and leave.

But a group of boys surrounded him, grinning.

“Don’t be like that! Come chat with us!”

“Yeah, we’re all ‘adults’ now. Brother Qi is just shy.”

“Let me guess, you’ve never watched such videos before, right?”

Lin Xiangqiang replied helplessly, “I’m not interested.”

“There’s no such thing as interested or not. This is part of growing up.”

“Come on, someone be Brother Qi’s guide—oh, and Zhou Yang has tons of those, let him share!”

“Yeah, Zhou Yang’s got a hard drive full of that stuff. He’s got all kinds: AABBOOABAOBO — everything!”

Lin was overwhelmed by the string of letters, “Are you chanting spells at me?”

Everyone laughed hard and teased Lin, “If you don’t watch those, how do you do ‘handwork’ purely by imagination?”

Lin was confused again, “What handwork?”

The air fell silent.

Then burst out in louder laughter.

Lin’s face looked rather youthful, always giving the impression he hadn’t grown up. So even if he was late to mature, nobody found it strange. They just couldn’t resist teasing him:

“Oh my god, you haven’t even ‘jerked off’ once at eighteen?”

“Hey, watch your language. Don’t scare our pure little brother.”

“Lin Xiangqiang, do you really not know or are you messing with us? If you keep this up, don’t blame us for corrupting you!”

Even Chen Qiutian couldn’t hold back, squeezing close to Lin and whispered, “Didn’t you tear a few pages from my notebook yesterday? At night when you went back… didn’t the class leader say anything to you?”

Lin Xiangqiang didn’t understand how the topic shifted to Lu Cong, but his ears reddened more and more. He pushed Chen Qiutian hard, stood up, and said, “I’m too tired for this. I’m going for another run.”

Boys in their late teens were restless physically and mentally, always chatting about unhealthy topics when gathered.

Lin Xiangqiang decided that from now on, whenever he saw them hanging out and chatting like this, he would definitely avoid them!

He reached the starting line, ready to sprint another lap, just as Lu Cong walked over after talking to the class teacher.

Lu seemed like he wanted to say something, but Lin felt embarrassed for no reason…

That afternoon’s humiliating scene in the equipment room flashed in his mind, and he jumped up and ran away, shouting “Ah!”

Lu Cong was left stunned.

Sensing Lin’s odd behavior, he didn’t follow but walked toward the boys still chatting.

They were still laughing at Lin’s innocence, and when they saw Lu coming, they became even more lively, chattering excitedly:

“Class leader, do you know how cute Lin Xiangqiang is? He actually asked us ‘what’s handwork’—haha!”

“Honestly, Brother Qi is really well-behaved. I was never as pure as him at ten years old, haha.”

Lu Cong frowned and looked down at the speaker. “You all have too much free time?”

The teasing instantly stopped, and the crowd fell silent as if someone had cut off their tongues.

Lu Cong said, “Two more minutes to prepare for tug-of-war.”

His tone was firm and commanding, so everyone obeyed.

Someone spat to the side, complaining, “It’s all your fault for telling the class leader that stuff. He looks so upright, he must hate dirty jokes the most.”

Others agreed, “Yeah, the class leader really seems like a wholesome person.”

The group sighed and went to pick up the ropes to practice tug-of-war.

Only Chen Qiutian stretched his neck to glance back and saw Lu Cong standing at the finish line waiting for Lin Xiangqiang, his gaze fixed on Lin, the dark eyes flickering with restrained waves.

Chen Qiutian shivered inexplicably and muttered, “… maybe he’s not so wholesome after all.”