My IQ has been increasing year by year.

Time flies.

Chen Zhuo crossed out each day on the calendar with a red pen.

One day in early May.

late at night.

11:30.

The location was changed to Chen Zhuo's room.

Compared to Zhang Qiang's spacious and luxurious living room, Chen Zhuo's room seemed rather small.

A single bed was placed against the wall.

Beside the bed was a yellow wooden desk with peeling paint.

The desk was piled high with various reference books, draft papers, and an old-fashioned table lamp that emitted a dim yellow light.

There is no air conditioning.

A green floor fan sits in the corner.

The fan is oscillating.

When you turn it to the far left, the base will make a soft click, and then slowly turn back.

The air blowing out of the vent is hot.

A mosquito coil was burning in the room.

The cheapest kind of green incense coils.

It was placed in an iron plate, covered with grayish-white incense ash.

A strong, slightly pungent smell of mugwort filled the room.

Zhang Qiang sat at his desk.

He was wearing a black vest today.

He rested his arms on the table.

He is memorizing Chinese.

Sixth-grade students are required to memorize texts.

"...The swallows have gone, but they will return; the willows have withered, but they will turn green again; the peach blossoms have faded, but they will bloom again..."

Zhang Qiang's voice sounded like he was sleepwalking.

He mumbled incoherently.

His eyelids were constantly drooping.

It nods its head little by little, like a chick pecking at rice.

Several times, my chin almost hit the worn-out Chinese textbook on the table.

But he still forced himself to stay awake, shaking his head and straining to open his eyes wide.

"But tell me, wise one, why do our days never return...?"

Chen Zhuo did not sit at his desk.

He sat on the single bed next to him.

Leaning against the wall.

A black backpack was placed on her lap.

He was stuffing several thick physics competition experiment guides into his bag.

In two days, he will be going to the provincial capital to participate in the closed training camp of the provincial physics team.

The training camp will be held at the High School Affiliated to the Normal University.

Chen Zhuo stuffed a copy of "University Physics Experiments" into the bottom of his bag.

Then I folded the two spare short-sleeved shirts and placed them on top.

The zipper was halfway up.

"...gone and never to return..."

Over at the desk.

Zhang Qiang's recitation stopped completely.

Chen Zhuo turned his head.

Zhang Qiang lay face down on the desk, his face resting on his arm, his eyes closed.

His breathing became even and heavy.

A faint, glistening substance trickled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the page of his Chinese textbook.

He fell asleep.

too tired.

For the past two weeks, Zhang Qiang has been studying diligently at Chen Zhuo's place until midnight every day after school.

A fat guy who used to play Contra and watch cartoons as soon as he got home was forced to become a machine that stays up all night doing homework.

Chen Zhuo looked at him.

Put down your schoolbag.

Stand up.

I walked to the hook behind the door and took down an old autumn long-sleeved school uniform jacket.

He walked to the desk.

He gently draped the coat over Zhang Qiang's broad back.

Although the air from an electric fan is hot, it's easy to catch a cold if you keep it on for too long at night.

Just as Chen Zhuo was about to pull his hand back...

Zhang Qiang suddenly moved.

He didn't open his eyes, but simply turned his face, which was buried in his arms, in another direction.

He muttered something.

The voice was muffled, but Chen Zhuo heard it clearly in the quiet night.

"Xiao Zhuo... slow down..."

"I...I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up..."

Zhang Qiang's brows were furrowed tightly.

His chubby face revealed a fragility and grievance that was completely out of character for his size.

Even in his sleep, he was still gripping the edge of his Chinese textbook tightly with his hand.

The fingernail scratched at the paper.

Chen Zhuo's hand froze in mid-air.

He looked at Zhang Qiang, who was fast asleep.

He knew what Zhang Qiang was afraid of.

He was afraid he wouldn't get into the city's No. 1 High School.

I'm afraid the two of them will no longer be in the same school.

What's even more frightening is that Chen Zhuo, who skipped a grade at the age of nine, won first place in the province at the age of ten, and was about to go to the national competition to compete against those geniuses and monsters, will fly away like a rocket to a world that he can never reach.

As for Zhang Qiang, he could only stand on the ground, not even qualified to shield him from the wind or grab a seat in the cafeteria.

Chen Zhuo withdrew his hand.

He looked at Zhang Qiang's fingers gripping the book pages.

Silent for a long time.

then.

Chen Zhuo turned around.

She didn't go back to bed to continue packing her luggage.

He walked to the other end of the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

He took out a brand new grid-style diary from the bottom of the drawer.

The cover is dark blue.

He bought it yesterday afternoon when he passed by a stationery store on his way home from school.

He picked up the ballpoint pen on the table.

Turn the lamp to the second setting to make the light brighter.

I opened the first page of my diary.

The pen fell onto the paper.

It made an extremely faint rustling sound.

Chen Zhuo didn't write any profound formulas.

He knows Zhang Qiang too well.

He knew where Zhang Qiang's mind would easily get stuck, and he knew what bad habits Zhang Qiang had that he couldn't shake when doing problems.

At the very top of the first page, he wrote a line:

[A Guide to Avoiding Common Math Pitfalls in the Entrance Exam for the No.1 Middle School in the City (Zhang Qiang's Special Edition)]

Each and every one of them was tailor-made for Zhang Qiang.

1. For the last two multiple-choice questions, if you still have no idea after looking at them for two minutes, just choose C. Don't waste time calculating; your luck is more reliable than your calculation ability.

2. For word problems, the diagram must be drawn with a ruler. A diagram drawn by hand is incomprehensible even to yourself. After drawing the diagram, mark all the known conditions on it.

3. For travel problems, if you get confused, draw a line segment diagram. Make sure you understand the directions of car A and car B. Don't draw cars going in opposite directions as going in the same direction. Are you a pig brain?

4. For geometry problems, if you really can't draw auxiliary lines, use a protractor and ruler to measure! Write down the measurements. For the more complex problems, the first step is to write down the reasons and conditions, and then copy down the given conditions. You can get two points for free.

5. Double-check the units for fill-in-the-blank questions! Units! Units! Every time you calculate a value correctly but forget to write the unit, you lose a point, and I feel the pain.

……

Chen Zhuo wrote very quickly.

They were also very focused.

The electric fan swayed, blowing the corners of the diary.

He pressed down on the paper and continued writing.

Finished writing math.

Turn a new page and start writing about Chinese language.

When writing Chinese compositions, write your characters larger. If your handwriting is already bad, writing it too small will make it difficult for the examiner to read and will result in a low score. It's better to fill the grid completely than to write your characters too big.

If you encounter an idiom you don't know how to write, use plain language instead; don't make up your own words.

For reading comprehension, find the keywords in the questions in the original sentences of the article, and copy them down. Don't make your own summaries; your summaries are usually wrong.

One by one.

Densely packed.

In the dead of night, filled with the smell of mosquito coils.

Chen Zhuo used that ballpoint pen to write down all the techniques he could think of that could help Zhang Qiang get even one more point in the exam in this diary.

This is not a study resource.

This is a walkthrough guide that Chen Zhuo tailored for his childhood friend and best friend.

The night was deeper.

The streetlights outside flickered on and off.

Zhang Qiang was still fast asleep, slumped over the table, his breathing heavy.

Chen Zhuo finished writing the last page.

Put the ballpoint pen down.

He rubbed his slightly sore wrists.

He pushed up his glasses, which had slipped down to the tip of his nose.

Looking at the densely packed words in the diary.

He closed his diary.

Chen Zhuo stood up.

Turn off the table lamp to its second setting, leaving only a faint light.

He walked back to the bedside and lay down fully clothed.

Looking at the ceiling, the wall plaster was somewhat mottled due to its age.

"Don't worry about not being able to catch up."

Chen Zhuo silently said to himself.

"I'm waiting for you."