Orange Storm chapter 50
Don’t Force Me to Slap You
Fang Xing hesitated for a moment but decided not to call Jiang Zhijin back immediately.
Originally, he planned to go find him early the next day. However, he was called to help by the teacher as soon as he woke up and wasn’t released until almost 11 o’clock. When he finally sent a message to Jiang Zhijin, he learned that Jiang Zhijin was already on his way back to Shaojiang, almost home.
Actually, due to the phone call last night, Jiang Zhijin didn’t want to meet Fang Xing immediately either. Although neither of them had directly revealed what was going on, they were both clear in their hearts that it would be awkward to meet.
So, until the end of the competition, the two returned to a state of minimal communication.
The rules of the provincial physics competition had changed this year. After the exam, the papers were graded immediately, and the results were announced within two days. This conveniently coincided with the closing ceremony and award presentation, preventing unnecessary doubts from arising due to delays in score release. The closing ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Provincial University of Science and Technology. All participating students sat neatly in the auditorium. Teachers and leaders took turns to give speeches on stage, expressing the significance of the competition, thanking the cooperation of various schools, and hoping that the students would study hard and get into good universities.
Many students had become bored and were sneakily playing with their phones.
Next to Fang Xing sat Jiang Xinxin. She glanced around, then lowered her voice to speak to him.
“After the speeches, they’ll announce the results and present awards, right?”
“Yeah,” Fang Xing replied.
Jiang Xinxin stuck out her tongue. “Anyway, I won’t get anything. Participation is what matters.”
There were many schools participating this time, including several affiliated high schools of universities, the provincial key schools, and a few legendary academic geniuses. Fang Xing and Jiang Xinxin belonged to the category of those who had some hope but were not considered at the top.
“Being able to come here is quite lucky. Just consider it an experience of the atmosphere of the provincial competition,” Jiang Xinxin sighed, then turned to Fang Xing. “But you might have a chance.”
Fang Xing smiled.
Among nearly three hundred participating students, there were only five first prizes available. Both the written and practical exams were scored out of one hundred points. Fang Xing did well in the practical part, but it was challenging to estimate scores for practical exams. As for the two written exams, based on his own estimation… he should be doing quite well.
He felt that he should do more than just have a chance; he should be able to make it.
Sure enough, after the long speeches ended, the announcement of the winners’ names and scores began. Fifteen third prizes, ten second prizes… Jiang Xinxin received a third prize, which was quite satisfying considering there were only thirty participants.
Finally, the first prizes were announced.
The first name was unfamiliar, probably from a provincial key school, with a score of 282. The second name was also unfamiliar, with a score of 279… The third, as the person above called out, “Shaojiang High School, Fang Xing, 275 points.”
Third place.
All eyes around him looked over, but Fang Xing remained expressionless on the surface, feeling a slight sigh of relief in his heart.
Not bad, the score was similar to his own estimate. His efforts were not in vain, and he didn’t embarrass…
Hopefully, he didn’t disappoint Jiang Zhijin.
After the award presentation, Shaojiang High School received one first prize, one second prize, and one third prize. In this extremely difficult competition, it was already considered a good result. Surprisingly, Tan Zhuo did not receive an award.
On the way back to the hotel, Fang Xing glanced at Tan Zhuo. His face was pale, and he hadn’t said a word.
Actually, Tan Zhuo was good at physics. Fang Xing remembered that when he analyzed the grades of the whole grade for the first time, Tan Zhuo’s physics scores were quite high. This time, he didn’t know if it was due to a mindset issue, but unexpectedly, Tan Zhuo didn’t win any awards.
But that wasn’t Fang Xing’s concern.
After the closing ceremony, the entire competition officially concluded. After having lunch, the group returned to Shaojiang. It was Saturday, and when they returned to Shaojiang City, it was already past 5 o’clock. The teacher reminded them a few times, then let them disband and go home.
Fang Xing opened the door, but there was no sign of Jiang Zhijin. Tang Yuan was scratching the slippers on the floor. When he heard the door opening, he got scared and rushed under the sofa. After seeing that it was Fang Xing, he crawled out slowly.
Fang Xing patted him a few times, circled the room twice to confirm that Jiang Zhijin was probably not there. He put down his suitcase, changed into a new set of clothes, and went out to take a taxi straight to Cloud Seven.
In winter, the sky darkened early. By the time he arrived at Cloud Seven, it was almost dark outside. There weren’t many customers in the bar; Zhou Hong and Gu Xun were chatting at the bar. When they heard the door opening, they both looked toward the entrance.
“Hey, didn’t Jiang ge say you went to the competition?” Zhou Hong, as usual, spoke loudly. “Back already?”
“Yeah. Is Jiang—Is he here?” Fang Xing originally wanted to call Jiang Zhijin directly, but in front of Zhou Hong and Gu Xun, he felt it was inappropriate. He wanted to call Jiang ge, but for some reason, he couldn’t say it, hesitated for a moment, and changed his wording.
Gu Xun probably noticed it and chuckled for a while before saying, “Second-floor storage room, taking a break. You can go up and take a look.”
“Oh.” Fang Xing nodded and headed upstairs.
Although it was called the second floor, it was actually just seven or eight steps. It was a small room temporarily used for storing some alcohol, converted from an attic. There was a folding bed in it, and sometimes Zhou Hong or Gu Xun, when too lazy to go home, would spend the night there.
The door was unlocked. Fang Xing turned the doorknob, and on both sides were boxes of stacked alcohol. Right in front was the small folding bed.
Jiang Zhijin was lying on the bed, facing upward. His right hand was resting on his forehead, eyes closed, appearing to be asleep. He wasn’t covered by a blanket, just casually draped with a coat, half-covered and half-slipped off.
The attic didn’t have heating, so the temperature wasn’t high. Fang Xing glanced around, gently closed the door, took a few steps forward, and stood by Jiang Zhijin’s bed.
His footsteps were very light, and Jiang Zhijin didn’t move at all. His breathing was steady, seemingly still asleep. Fang Xing carefully lifted the clothes that covered Jiang Zhijin, revealing a bit of his body, and reached into the bed to try and pull up the neatly folded blanket to cover him.
Jiang Zhijin wasn’t in a restless sleep, but his posture was quite dominant, with almost half of his body pressing against the edge of the blanket. Fang Xing gently pulled it a couple of times but couldn’t uncover it. He sighed silently in his heart.
He moved a bit closer to the bed, bent his right leg, rested it on the edge of the bed, and reached down to pull a corner of the blanket. This time, he finally managed to pull open half of the blanket and covered Jiang Zhijin with it.
After covering Jiang Zhijin with the blanket, he lowered his head and noticed that something was off.
In order to pull the blanket inside the bed, Fang Xing had leaned almost entirely into the bed, with one leg pressing against the edge of the bed. It looked like he was lying on top of Jiang Zhijin. Especially now, as he lowered his head to look at Jiang Zhijin, their faces were directly facing each other.
Jiang Zhijin still had his eyes closed, seemingly undisturbed. Fang Xing looked at him and suddenly noticed that Jiang Zhijin’s eyelashes were quite dense.
Thick and long, resembling a small fan. There was actually a mole on his eyelid, small and light-colored, almost invisible unless looked at closely…
Fang Xing lowered his head slightly, trying to get a clearer view of Jiang Zhijin.
At that moment, he heard a faint sigh from Jiang Zhijin beneath him.
“That’s about enough, don’t force me to slap you,” Jiang Zhijin said.