Wife, please behave yourself.

Chapter 144 Why is it so hot?

Saturday.

As October approaches, several days of rain have caused a sharp drop in temperature.

Summer has quietly passed by without us even realizing it.

The junior high school section of No. 16 Middle School.

It was early morning, with just over ten minutes left before the exam was scheduled to begin.

The first monthly exam after the start of the semester put most students in a tense atmosphere, and some even lost their appetite for breakfast due to the tension.

Shen Ruzhi was one of them.

He had been working tirelessly day and night these past few days, all for the sake of surpassing Liu Songyan in this exam and fulfilling the promise that belonged only to the two of them.

The monthly exam lasts for three days: full day on Thursday and Friday, and only half a day on Saturday morning.

Since the primary school section needs to be used as the examination venue, the monthly exam will not last for too long.

Listening to the sound of rain outside the teaching building, Shen Ruzhi kept reviewing the knowledge points related to the English subject in her mind until she entered the examination room, with her eyes closed.

The last exam of the month was English, which was one of Shen Ruzhi's relatively strong subjects.

To win her duel with Liu Songyan, she must achieve excellent results in the final English exam.

Shen Ruzhi is well aware of her strengths and weaknesses, which is why she stayed up all night after returning home last night.

All this was to prepare for this final English exam.

Before the invigilator arrived to open the exam room, a large number of students had already gathered outside, waiting to enter the exam room.

Shen Ruzhi was at the very end of the crowd, where a long, orderly line of people stretched along the corridor.

The sounds of silent reading aloud filled the air around her, and Shen Ruzhi continued to memorize and reinforce the last remaining points.

At the very end, another candidate arrived and lined up behind Shen Ruzhi.

His gaze lingered on the girl's face, noticing her tired and less-than-ideal appearance.

Liu Songyan noticed that Shen Ruzhi's hair was a little damp, and saw that she had her eyes closed and was unaware of his presence.

After observing for a while, he suddenly asked a question.

Didn't you bring an umbrella today?

The sudden voice in her ear startled Shen Ruzhi, who was memorizing vocabulary words. She opened her eyes wide and looked behind her in confusion.

Upon seeing Liu Songyan's face, she gradually relaxed her tense shoulders.

"It is you……"

Upon hearing the words coming from Shen Ruzhi in front of him, Liu Songyan's brows furrowed subconsciously.

The muffled voice sounded just like the onset of a cold due to the sudden drop in temperature.

Shen Ruzhi looked at Liu Songyan standing behind her.

"It wasn't raining when I left home, but it suddenly started raining heavily after I got off the bus."

"So you ran all the way here?"

"Just a tiny bit of water."

Shen Ruzhi made a gesture as if to appear relaxed, but she noticed the strange expression on Liu Songyan's face.

The hand that had been hanging in mid-air slowly lowered, and the tired eyes blinked from time to time.

"I'll go home and take a hot shower after the exam. Besides, I think I did pretty well on the exam these past two days, and I should be able to rank higher than you."

"..."

The smile on his face gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

Shen Ruzhi thought that Liu Songyan would refute her as usual after she said those words.

However, after waiting for a long time, all she received was the other party's silence.

Looking at Liu Songyan's strange expression.

Feeling congested, Shen Ruzhi could only breathe normally through her mouth. The line ahead of her was filled with the silent recitation of English words, while the two at the back of the line were having an inappropriate conversation.

Liu Songyan opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and then swallowed back his words of concern.

He then asked in his usual indifferent tone.

"You really want to beat me that badly?"

"Mmm...I really want to."

"I think you are quite ill."

Liu Songyan's cold words no longer have any effect on Shen Ruzhi. After hearing his words, she responded to him provocatively.

"Although my head is a little foggy right now, things might be different once I get into the exam room."

Have you eaten breakfast?

"not yet."

After Shen Ruzhi finished answering, her gaze followed the breakfast that the other person handed her.

Seeing Liu Songyan hand her a rolled pancake, she didn't immediately reach out to take it, but instead looked at him again with a puzzled expression.

"This is……"

"I bought too much, do you want some?"

"..."

"If you don't eat it, I'll throw it away."

Why waste food?

She had originally intended to politely decline, but upon hearing Liu Songyan's words, Shen Ruzhi hurriedly reached out and took it.

Holding the wrap in her hands, she could clearly feel its temperature even through the plastic bag.

It's a little hot to the touch, and doesn't look like leftovers.

After working hard all this time, plus staying up all night last night, and thinking about the last exam this morning, Shen Ruzhi had no appetite for breakfast at all.

That's why she didn't bring breakfast with her when she arrived at the exam hall.

Now, having received the still-hot rolled pancakes from Liu Songyan, Shen Ruzhi, despite having little appetite, carefully untied the bag and took a small bite.

The taste was quite good; the pancake was filled with shredded potatoes and bean sprouts. Although there was no meat in it, Shen Ruzhi couldn't help but feel happy knowing that Liu Songyan had bought it for her breakfast.

Standing behind her, Liu Songyan quietly watched the scene before him, observing Shen Ruzhi eating a rolled pancake in front of her.

He seemed to have underestimated her persistence, and even more so, her stubbornness. What was supposed to be just a casual agreement for him had become something that Shen Ruzhi had upheld with 100% effort.

During this period, Liu Songyan had witnessed Shen Ruzhi's hard work.

Not only did she study diligently at school, but she also studied until the early hours of the morning when she got home, averaging only a few hours of sleep.

In contrast, Liu Songyan had a relatively easier time.

When I got home, I only did a few practice tests. If it was past 11 o'clock, I would immediately stop, wash up, and rest.

Because he had promised his father that he would study hard, Liu Songyan changed his lazy personality.

He's finally taking his studies seriously.

However, his seriousness was nowhere near the same level as that of the girl in front of him.

Looking at Shen Ruzhi, who had little appetite but still forced herself to finish the wrap.

Watching the other person carefully put away the plastic bag containing the burritos, first putting it in their pocket and planning to throw it away after the exam.

Liu Songyan's gaze toward Shen Ruzhi grew increasingly gentle.

Judging from her less-than-ideal complexion.

With the arrival of the invigilator, the tightly closed examination room door was opened.

Many candidates entered the examination room one after another, and Liu Songyan also went to the seat with his examination number.

The exam venues for this monthly exam were arranged according to the students' scores from the previous semester.

Therefore, each candidate must find their seat according to their ranking in the previous semester's exams.

In the second semester of the second year of junior high school, Liu Songyan's grades were slightly lower than Shen Ruzhi's, so the two of them were separated by three candidates when they entered the examination room.

After the bell rings, the proctor will distribute the exam papers for the final exam.

Upon receiving the exam paper, Liu Songyan, who was in the examination room, did not immediately begin writing. Instead, contrary to his usual behavior, he looked up and stared at the figure in front of him.

I watched until the broadcast started playing the listening comprehension questions, then I picked up my pen and began answering the questions on the test.

Once the listening comprehension questions finished, the only sounds in the exam room were the sounds of answering questions, except for the rustling of noses across paper.

The invigilators were located in the examination room and patrolled the aisles from time to time.

As I passed by Liu Songyan, I subconsciously glanced at his test paper. When I saw that apart from the listening comprehension questions, most of the paper was blank, I couldn't help but shake my head in disappointment.

It seems that, in the eyes of the proctor, this is another candidate who is just giving up, because the exam room is distributed according to the ranking of the previous exam.

It is not uncommon for students to appear in exam rooms that do not belong to their assigned section due to cheating.

While the other candidates were writing away, Liu Songyan stared blankly at the large blank pages of the exam paper.

To ensure the authenticity of the exam, the proctors simply stayed close to Liu Songyan and kept a close watch on him.

Shen Ruzhi, who was in the front row, was of course unaware of what was happening in the back row.

Her attention was completely focused on the exam paper at that moment.

As time passed, she felt her head getting heavier and heavier, and perhaps because of her stuffy nose, her breathing became much louder than usual.

I forced myself to cheer up and concentrate on the exam.

After finishing the last English essay, Shen Ruzhi did not forget to check it from beginning to end.

Only after the bell rang to signal the end of the exam did I hand in my test paper.

I stepped out of the examination room.

Shen Ruzhi originally intended to wait for Liu Songyan outside the examination hall.

However, having just gone through a highly focused exam, my body, which was already feeling unwell due to the overcast weather, suddenly became weak.

I don't know what I tripped over, but I stumbled and fell forward instantly.

Shen Ruzhi's dazed mind didn't allow her to react much, and she couldn't even think of anything when she hurriedly steadied herself by holding onto the wall.

She thought she would fall in public, but her arm was firmly held by a strong hand from behind.

With a forceful pull from that hand, she was pulled back up.

A few seconds later, Shen Ruzhi slowly turned her head to look behind her and saw the figure that had pulled her up from behind.

I saw Liu Songyan's calm expression.

"It's just an exam, why are you so scared that your legs are weak?"

"..."

Shen Ruzhi did not respond. Normally, even if she didn't argue with her, she would have said something else in response.

However, after the exam, she simply didn't have the strength to argue.

She felt better while sitting in the exam room, but after leaving the exam room, her already throbbing head felt even worse.

Even Liu Songyan, who was standing in front of her now, appeared somewhat shaky in Shen Ruzhi's view at this moment.

It was as if I had lost my center of gravity; even with my feet on the ground, I still felt unsteady.

"not comfortable?"

When Shen Ruzhi, who was standing in front of him, did not answer him, Liu Songyan also gave up his desire to argue with her.

He tightened his grip on her wrist slightly and took a step closer to her, looking at her more intimately.

Because her nose was blocked, Shen Ruzhi could only breathe through her mouth.

With each breath, warm breath escaped from her slightly open mouth.

After observing Shen Ruzhi, who seemed a bit off, for a while, Liu Songyan quickly realized something and raised his hand to place his free hand on her forehead.

Just touching him revealed a body temperature far exceeding that of a normal person.

"Why is it so hot?"

"Ok?"

Shen Ruzhi was too exhausted to give any other response, and only gave a disjointed reply after hearing Liu Songyan's question.

She was so weak she could barely stand; if Liu Songyan hadn't been holding her up, she probably would have knelt down against the wall in the next second.

My eyelids were blinking so frequently they felt like they were filled with lead.

Seeing the girl's serious illness, Liu Songyan remained silent for a long time before finally taking action.

He released the hand that was holding the girl and bent down to pick up the umbrella that was placed at the entrance of the examination room.

He turned around, his back to her.

(End of this chapter)