The boy looked at the girl in unconscious surprise. "I was afraid to have the same answers as you. I didn’t want to make the tutor suspicious, so I changed my last answer to C."
Well, the guy might get a higher score than his girlfriend after all.
Qin Guan shared the secret with them and left in satisfaction. The girl suddenly squeezed her boyfriend and shouted, "He is Qin Guan!"
"Qin Guan?" The boy was confused. "Is he famous or something?"
The girl glanced at him unhappily, and said with a pout, "You should go to cla.s.s more often. You have skipped so many cla.s.ses that you don’t even recognize the most renowned student in our university."
"Qin Guan is a straight-A student with a full scholars.h.i.+p in the Department of Accounting. My roommate, who went to the college ball, found his dancing skills quite good."
"Plus, the most fas.h.i.+onable girl in my neighbourhood has a s.h.i.+rt poster of him somewhere. Her roommates fought over that poster furiously. They decided to hang it up on the wall facing the door of their dormitory."
"Actually, he’s pretty legendary," the girl went on.
She got more and more excited, while the boy got more and more uncomfortable. I think my girlfriend would follow Qin Guan if he so much as whistled at her. I should attend more cla.s.ses to protect my love.
Qin Guan didn't know that he had unconsciously saved a strong-willed young man. He called Huang Jiajia's mother when he returned his dormitory. Huang Jiajia was his student, so he had to keep an eye on her score in the general student examination.
Huang Jiajia's mother sounded happy on the phone. She discussed her daughter's status with Qin Guan. According to her, Huang Jiajia was quite happy after finis.h.i.+ng the exam, which rea.s.sured Qin Guan.
At the time, arranging his vacation was his first priority. First, I should buy a sleeper ticket for my girlfriend. It would be too tiring to sit on the train.
Qin Guan had a lot of spare time before summer vacation. He had bought two student sleeper tickets from a scalper, which had cost him an extra 100 yuan in total. Anyway, I have a 10,000-yuan income now. I can make better arrangements for my girlfriend so she can have a more comfortable journey home.
Summer vacation came in July, and it was a golden time for college students. Qin Guan carried Cong Nianwei’s luggage off the train, treating her like a queen. They had finally reached the end of their trip, which was city of Y, their hometown.
Neither of their parents had come to the station to pick them up. It seemed that after meeting each other, they had become friends.
In such a small city, a short chat was enough to clear one’s public relations.h.i.+p. Most people had common friends or relatives, which connected them in a way.
Their parents had soon gotten familiar with each other over some common interests. When they knew that their son and daughter would return home together again, they had automatically chosen not to show up at the station.
Qin Guan is a quite reliable young man. Parents can express their love for their children by making breakfast at home.
Qin Guan pulled their luggage along and stopped a taxi. He took Cong Nianwei home first.
When she got out of the taxi, Qin Guan remembered to hold her hand. "Do give me a call," he urged her. "I have so many plans for summer vacation."
Cong Nianwei looked at the smiling driver in the front seat shyly before pulling her hand away. "I know. Wait for my call." Then she took her suitcase and ran into the building.
When her back was out of sight, Qin Guan told his address to the driver.
A warm, sweet breakfast was ready when he got there. It was take-away breakfast from the Blue-White Group. It was the first new project after his mother's bread factory had been absorbed by the Blue-White Group.
That year, staple food retail stores with that symbolic blue roof and white walls could be seen everywhere in the urban area. Every day there would be trucks carrying supplies to retail stores.
The food-processing plants subordinated to the China Administration of Grain had retreated from the stands in the farmer's market, and Blue-White Group staple food appeared on the dining tables of the residents of Y city in a more convenient manner.
That day, Qin Guan had his first Blue-White Group breakfast after returning to Y city.
It included newly-ground, aromatic soybean milk and big crispy, fried bread sticks. (The sticks were really big. They were actually longer than a laptop.) Qin Guan’s mother had bought two steamed stuffed buns with braised pork and soy sauce as well, for fear that it wouldn’t be enough for her son.
There were also homemade radish pickles, which were slightly sweet.
After breakfast, Qin Guan thought for a while before asking his parents, who were about to go out, "Are we doing anything today?"
"No, do you have any arrangements?" they answered.
Qin Guan waved his hand. "I want to have a good day’s sleep. I’ll turn off my cell phone. Don't worry about me, I’ll stay at home."
His parents nodded in understanding and left for work. Qin Guan rubbed his hands together, pulled the phone line out, turned off his cell phone, and collapsed on his bed.
It was getting hot, so his quilt had been replaced by a thinner one. Qin Guan arranged his pillow, which was filled with buckwheat hulls, into the most comfortable shape and fell asleep.
He had just fallen asleep when there was a knock on the door. Burying his head under the covers, Qin Guan pretended to hear nothing. The people outside were quite stubborn though. They kept knocking and shouting, "Qinnnnnn… Guannnnnn!"
Grinding his teeth, Qin Guan jumped out of bed in a roll. He opened the door and found Zhou Jing and Li Jian there. They entered one by one, changing into slippers at the shoe case without any shame.
They were both complaining, "You’re not a loyal friend, Qin Guan. One of my remote relatives saw you get off a taxi and come home. You had decided not to tell us that you returned, is that right?"
Qin Guan was quite angry. Those evil friends won’t leave me alone, even when I pull the line out. There goes my sleep.
Sitting on the couch in the living room, Qin Guan asked helplessly, "Tell me then. What's the matter?"
Zhou Jing answered matter-of-factly, "Did you forget? We have to make money. My pocket money for summer vacation depends on you!"
Qin Guan got even angrier. "Why are you here again?" he said helplessly, "Can't you find some other way to make money yourselves? I’ll return to college in August."
Li Jian took a frozen lollipop from Qin Guan's fridge before he asked in confusion, "Why are you returning so early? Aren’t you going to enjoy your summer vacation?"
"I’ll partic.i.p.ate in the Chinese New Model Compet.i.tion, which will take place between August 20th and 30th. I have to prepare in advance."
Zhou Jing and Li Jian were really surprised by the news. Their mouths opened so wide that one could have jammed an egg in them. With a particularly regretful expression, they said, "So you decided to quit your studies and make a living off your looks. Congratulations! You took a shortcut to life!"