A perfect score on the college entrance exam? The Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng has astonis

"The entire mathematics community knows about it."

Lin Zhiyuan returned the phone to her.

"Do you know what we said in the group chat?"

"Peking University's Department of Mathematics is about to welcome an undergraduate student who rejected the vice president position of the Chinese Mathematical Sciences Association. We can brag about that for four years."

Teacher Zhang looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Professor Lin, do you think Chen Mo will refuse to teach any courses at Peking University after he comes here?"

Lin Zhiyuan thought about it seriously.

"No, he only refused things he felt were optional. The courses at Peking University weren't optional—his mother made him take them."

Teacher Zhang paused for a second, then burst out laughing, making several people in the cafeteria turn to look at her.

Chen Mo's parents saw the message in the family group chat.

At that moment, Chen's mother was mopping the floor in the living room, and her phone was on the coffee table. The screen lit up briefly.

She put down the mop, went over to take a look, and saw that it was a link posted by Aunt Chen.

The headline reads, "The chairman of the Writers' Association personally invited Chen Mo to join the association, and Chen Mo said he would consider it."

Below is a voice message from Aunt Chen.

When Chen's mother opened the phone, she heard Chen's aunt's voice coming from it.

It was in a tone she had never heard before.

It wasn't showing off or trying to please, but rather an almost reverent astonishment.

"Sister-in-law, have you seen the news? The chairman of the Writers' Association personally called Chen Mo to invite him to join! That's the China Writers' Association! The most prestigious literary organization in the country! The chairman himself called!"

Chen Ma looked at the line of words.

I leaned the mop against the wall and sat down on the sofa.

She stared at her phone screen for a long time.

She picked up her phone and sent a message to Chen Mo.

"Son, I am so proud of you."

After sending the message, she stared at the screen for a while but received no reply.

She sent another message: "Your dad too."

There has still been no reply.

She posted another message: "Your aunt is too."

A few seconds passed.

Chen Mo replied: "Mom, I'm at Leifeng Pagoda, the signal is bad. Did Aunt forward it in the group chat again?"

Chen's mother smiled, but her eyes reddened as she smiled, and she replied, "Call me when you come down."

When Chen Mo received this message, he was standing on the top of Leifeng Pagoda, looking at West Lake side by side with Su Wanci.

He put his phone in his pocket and didn't reply.

He stood on high ground, and the wind blew, making his hair a mess.

Su Wanci turned her head to look at him.

He asked, "Your mother?"

"Okay. Let me go downstairs and make a call."

"Did you call?"

"No, let's enjoy the scenery together first."

Su Wanci looked at him for two seconds, then smiled.

She thought, this is Chen Mo.

He told the whole world he would "think about it," but he told his mother he would "yes."

He told the Mathematical Sciences Association, "I can't join," but he told his mother, "I know."

He is not someone who doesn't know how to cherish things.

The things he cherishes aren't trending on social media.

Not in the news, but in his phone contacts, he's called "Mom".

When we came down from Leifeng Pagoda, the sun was already setting in the west.

The orange-red light spread across West Lake, turning the entire lake into a giant piece of amber.

Su Wanci walked down the steps, jumping down one step at a time, like a cat stepping on stones.

Chen Mo followed behind her, his hands in his pockets, walking at a moderate pace, like a dog that didn't want to go out but had gotten used to being walked.

"Chen Mo, hurry up!" Su Wanci turned around and called to him, her ponytail swinging in the wind in an arc.

"Slow down, the steps are slippery," Chen Mo said.

Su Wanci wouldn't listen.

She jumped two more levels, then slipped and leaned forward.

Chen Mo grabbed her backpack strap from behind and pulled her back.

Su Wanci was pulled backward, her back hitting his chest. She felt like a cat being grabbed by the scruff of its neck; her limbs stiffened for a moment before going limp.

"I told you the steps were slippery." Chen Mo released his grip.

Su Wanci turned around and glared at him. "Were you laughing just now?"

"no."

Your lips moved.

My lips didn't move.

"It moved! I saw it!"

Su Wanci tiptoed closer to his face and stared at the corner of his mouth for two seconds.

Chen Mo took a half step back because of her gaze, while Su Wanci took a half step forward.

The two people were like two fighting cats, one retreating and the other advancing.

They retreated from the steps all the way down to the flat ground. An old man passing by saw them, smiled, shook his head, and walked away.

Su Wanci finally withdrew.

She turned around, her back to Chen Mo, the tips of her ears turning red.

"Let's go for a walk by the lake."

The two walked south along the lake shore.

The willow trees by the roadside drooped down, their branches drawing ripples on the water's surface.

Su Wanci walked on the side closest to the lake, while Chen Mo walked on the side closest to the road.

He's always on the side facing the road, from high school until now, three years, and he's never changed.

Su Wanci had never noticed this before, but she suddenly did today.

A tiny, tiny voice inside her was saying: He has always been protecting you, but you never felt the need to be protected.

"Chen Mo."

"Um."

"Do you think Bai Suzhen is really imprisoned under Leifeng Pagoda?"

"Didn't you see it inside the tower just now?"

"I saw it, a pile of dirt. The staff said it's an archaeological site."

"Didn't you see it inside the tower just now?"

"I saw it, a pile of dirt. The staff said it's an archaeological site."

Su Wanci's voice carried a hint of disappointment.

"I thought there would be an underground palace, and inside the palace there was a large iron chain with a white snake tied to it."

That's "The Legend of the White Snake," not history.

"I know it's not history, but I hope it is."

Su Wanci lowered her head and kicked a small pebble at her feet.

"Don't you think? If someone can wait for you for a thousand years, even if you end up being trapped under a tower, it's worth it."

Chen Mo did not speak.

Watching her kick the pebbles, he suddenly realized that she was different today than before.

She wouldn't have said such things before.

In the past, Su Wanci would only ask, "How many points did you get on this monthly exam?"

Have you finished your physics homework?

"Don't forget to bring your school uniform tomorrow."

She rarely uses the word "worth it".

Since coming to West Lake, she has said "it's worth it" several times.

She seemed to be moved by something, perhaps the story of the White Snake, perhaps the poem on the Broken Bridge, or perhaps it was when she was crying and reading "Jiang Cheng Zi" alone in her room last night, and suddenly understood some things she had never thought about before.

The two walked for a while.

A guitar melody came from ahead.

It wasn't the noisy sound of a street performer casually playing and singing, but rather someone intently tuning their instrument, occasionally plucking a few notes, as if testing the sound.

The sound came from under the willow trees by the lake, as clear as spring water.

Su Wanci slowed her pace and looked up ahead.

A person was standing under the willow tree.

She was in her early twenties, wearing a white linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her forearms, and her hair was a bit long, fluttering slightly in the wind.