A Bookworm’s New Routine

FINAL EXAM

The bus soon reached the city centre, and Mu Qi took the two of them to the bookstore in front.

There were many people on the street. Today was a Sunday and a sunny day, so many parents took their children out on the streets, and there were also young couples who were out on a date together.

Currently, Hu Ying was eagerly wanting to go to the amusement park, and didn’t have a little bit of interest in going to the library at all. However, she can only go there if she has been to the library, so she can only follow behind Mu Qi and them boringly.

Su Yanxi held a sweet potato in her hand and smiled at Mu Qi as she ate. At the moment, she felt very happy, and had the feeling that she was on a date with Mu Qi.

The light bulb (!) Hu Ying, who was completely ignored, went to buy candied haws.

(!) 电灯泡 (light bulb): Slang for unwanted third guest

The two arrived at the downtown library in no time.

The library was very big. It was five storeys high, and each floor was very wide. At this moment, there were already many people inside.

The three went all the way to the third floor. Compared to the first floor, there were less people on the third floor.

Hu Ying found a seat, and sat down and waited for the two of them.

Mu Qi and Su Yanxi were looking for the materials they needed to buy.

Su Yanxi wanted to get the materials from a higher place, but she wasn't tall enough and could only touch the corner of the book when she stood on her tiptoes.

As soon as she turned around, Mu Qi saw this scene and walked over to help the other party take out the book.

Su Yanxi immediately smiled.

However, Mu Qi lifted the book up high, slightly bent down, and smiled: “Call me sister, call me sister and I’ll give it to you.”

Su Yanxi puffed out her mouth, looked at her, and whispered: “You’re just a month older than me, so definitely not calling you sister.”

“A day older, an hour older, even a second older, you must call sister.” Mu Qi said.

Su Yanxi turned around with a snort, turned her back on her, and said angrily: “Then I don’t want it.”

Mu Qi walked to her side, rubbed her face, and asked softly: “Really don’t want it?”

Su Yanxi snorted again.

The angry little guy shouldn't be provoked, so Mu Qi immediately handed her the material, and added at the same time: “Yes, I’ll give it to you, even if you don’t want to call out sister.”

Su Yanxi hugged the material, smiled at her, and ran away.

Mu Qi clicked her tongue and smiled. As soon as she turned her head, she saw a person staring straight at her. She glanced back, and after making sure that the other person was not looking at others, she walked over and asked: “Who are you?”

Fan Siyu smiled and said: “Hello, I’m Fan Siyu from the class next door.”

“Fan Siyu?” Hearing this name, which sounded a little familiar, Mu Qi immediately thought of Hu Ying, who always mentioned it in her ear before. She seems to be the class flower of the class next door. Thinking of this, she looked at Fan Siyu and thought that the other party was indeed good-looking.

“Hmm.” Fan Siyu smiled and said: “I didn’t expect to see you here by such a coincidence.”

Su Yanxi turned her head and didn’t see Mu Qi. When she walked over, she saw Mu Qi and a girl chatting.

She knew this girl to be Fan Siyu from the class next door. She had seen the other party look at Mu Qi a little wrongly many times. This time, she saw the other party looking closely at Mu Qi, and saw that she and Mu Qi were having a great time. Su Yanxi really wanted to walk away.

But she didn’t want to let the girl have her way. So, she walked over with a smile and pulled Mu Qi’s wrist, her big eyes blinking as they fell on Fan Siyu, and sincerely asked: “Mu Qi, who is she?”

Fan Siyu saw her possessive actions, and the smile on the corner of her mouth suddenly stiffened. However, she quickly raised a smile again, extended her hand, and said: “Hello, I’m Fan Siyu from the class next door. I just happened to see Mu Qi, so I chatted with her.”

Su Yanxi showed a bright smile, and extended her hand to shake hers: “Hello.”

Hu Ying was already waiting on the other side anxiously. Seeing that Mu Qi and Su Yanxi still hadn't come over, she couldn’t help but rush over to them, but she didn’t expect to see Fan Siyu. Her eyes lit up at once, and she walked over, patted her shoulder, and said: “Fan Siyu, what a coincidence to see you here.”

Her actions immediately made Fan Siyu’s brows wrinkle, and then thinking of Mu Qi’s presence, she forcibly hid the contempt in her eyes and smiled at Hu Ying.

Although Mu Qi, like Hu Ying, was a student with very lacking grades, she heard that Mu Qi’s family was well-off, so much so that her father donated a building to the school. Even though Mu Qi’s grades were being checked, when she graduates, she could still inherit her father’s company. 

Although she heard that her parents were divorced, she still asked around. She was the only daughter in her family, so in that case, her father’s large company would certainly be likely to fall into her hands.

Therefore, Fan Siyu had to have a good relationship with Mu Qi somehow.

As for Hu Ying, the other party was only from an ordinary family, so she wouldn’t waste time to have a good relationship with the other party.

Hu Ying didn't see the flash of contempt in Fan Siyu’s eyes, but Mu Qi saw it. Her expression, which was soft just now, was now cold, and without looking at Fan Siyu, she said to Hu Ying and Su Yanxi: “Let’s go.”

"Mu Qi, where are you going, can I go with you?” It was very difficult to see the other party, so how can Fan Siyu let this opportunity slip by.

Just as Hu Ying was about to agree, Mu Qi stepped in first and said coldly: “Sorry, we're not familiar with you.” The deeper meaning was that we are not yet at the point of taking you to shop with us.

It wasn't until they were far away that Fan Siyu came back to her senses and stomped her feet in anger. Seeing the eyes of the people around her, she blushed a little and walked away without looking back.

Walking out of the library, Hu Ying still didn't understand what just happened with Qi-ge, and why she was so indifferent to Fan Siyu.

Mu Qi also didn't explain it to her. She took her by the shoulders and said: “Aren’t you going to the amusement park? Are you still going to go?”

“Go, must go!” As soon as she heard that she was going to go to the amusement park, Hu Ying also left the matter of Fan Siyu behind her.

Su Yanxi, who was on the side, also smiled and echoed: “Let’s go now.”

Regarding Mu Qi’s change of attitude just a moment ago, Su Yanxi naturally understood, but seeing that Mu Qi didn't explain to Hu Ying, she also acted as if she didn’t know.

Seeing the happy figures of the two people ahead, Mu Qi followed with a smile, but regarding Fan Siyu just now, a trace of coldness crossed her eyes.

In junior high school, some students always compared her to Hu Ying, and even secretly said that Hu Ying wasn't worthy of being her friend. This caused Hu Ying to ignore her for a long time, which made her beat up the people who chewed their tongue (!), and bribe Hu Ying with delicious food for a while to make the other party forgive her.

(!) 嚼舌根 (chew one’s tongue): to gossip; to talk nonsense.

So ever since then, when there was anything like that again, she always secretly handled these people before Hu Ying could react.

She has never heard of the saying that it takes like-minded people to be friends.

If you can play together, naturally, you can be friends, so there's no need for those outside things (!).

(!) 外物 (outside things; foreign objects): referring to profit, fame; material desires; outside people.

The three of them soon arrived at the amusement park.

At this moment, the amusement park was packed with people. They needed half an hour to buy a ticket, and after entering, they lined up for more than half an hour.

Mu Qi didn't play, so she let them line up while she went to buy delicious food or stood aside and waited for them while holding their things for them.

The big pendulum hammer, or the roller coaster, however exciting it was, Mu Qi was a little dumbfounded watching from below. She didn't know why the two people were not afraid.

The two people, Su Yanxi and Hu Ying, were not afraid. They came down with excited faces, and even a bit of a look of unfulfillment, but seeing that there were too many people in line, they could only give up and go play something else.

Su Yanxi saw that Mu Qi had been standing at the side all alone and didn’t play anything, so she quietly pulled Hu Ying aside and muttered a few words to the other party. Then, Hu Ying went to line up to buy tickets, and she took Mu Qi for a walk around the park. Not long after, she pulled the other party to the place where the bumper cars were.

“Mu Qi, let’s play bumper cars together.” Su Yanxi took Mu Qi’s hand, gently shook it twice, and said with a smile.

Mu Qi doesn't play. In fact, she was a little afraid of heights, but looking at the bumper cars, she thought it was okay. Seeing the girl's expectant eyes, she smiled, patted her head, and looked at Hu Ying who had already bought three tickets and came over. She knew at once that these two had plotted things behind her back. She pretended to be stern and said: “It’s been long planned, and you’re only asking me now, aren’t you worried that I won’t play?”

Hu Ying and Su Yanxi took a quick look at each other, and the two of them said in unison: "If you don’t play, we’ll tie you up.” After that, they pulled her to the entrance.

Mu Qi looked at the two of them and shook her head helplessly.

A bumper car can sit two people, one for Su Yanxi and Mu Qi, and one for Hu Ying. After choosing a car, they waited for it to depart. 

There were currently many people in the bumper car space. There were parents with their children and there were young couples. In addition to Mu Qi and the others, there were twenty cars.

The venue was big enough and there were enough cars.

When the cars started, Hu Ying called out to Mu Qi and them: “In a moment, I will bump into you, and you won’t be able to tell north from south.”

Mu Qi was also infected by their happy mood, and with her voice slightly raised, she said: “It’s not decided who will make who not be able to tell north from south.”

“Come on!” Hu Ying provocatively said.

“We’re coming!” Su Yanxi also called out with a smile.

The two cars chased each other, but the provocations made before driving soon dissipated because someone else’s car bumped against them .

Hu Ying shouted: “Bump them, bump them!” 

“Okay.” Su Yanxi said.

With a smile on the corner of her mouth, Mu Qi, together with Hu Ying and them, knocked against the couple that had just bumped into them in the front.

The couple saw the two cars knock against each other, and the girl on the side screamed at her boyfriend to run quickly.

The boyfriend calmly avoided Mu Qi’s car, turned a corner, and the front end of the car knocked against the side of their car.

Mu Qi also had the desire to fight and fought a guerilla war with the other party, and managed to corner the couple when the time was about to run out.

The girl hammered her little fists on her boyfriend’s chest, then turned her head and made a face at Mu Qi and them, and said, dissatisfied: “Let’s go again.”

“Okay.” Hu Ying also didn’t have enough fun, and promptly went to buy tickets.

The girl soon followed to go buy a ticket.

Her boyfriend wasn't angry. He smiled and looked at the girl’s leaving figure, then turned around to look at Mu Qi and Su Yanxi, and said: “You guys are very amazing.” 

Su Yanxi smiled and said: “Of course.”

The boy looked around the two of them, and said with a smile: “A couple?” 

Su Yanxi’s face immediately reddened, but Mu Qi smiled and said: “No.” She didn't see Su Yanxi’s mouth pouting and wronged expression.

The boy watched and didn’t say much, rather, he smiled and concentrated on waiting for his girlfriend on the side.

Mu Qi and them played until past four in the afternoon, and had a meal in the park at noon.

After playing for a day,  Su Yanxi and Hu Ying were both tired. On the way back, they took the bus and couldn't help but close their eyes to sleep.

Su Yanxi sat beside Mu Qi. Her head knocked against the glass several times, and Mu Qi helped her block it several times. Finally, she could only helplessly lean the other party’s head on her shoulder.

A young couple behind them watched, and the two looked at each other and suddenly smiled. 

By the time they got home, the sky was dark.

When Su Yanxi got back, her parents asked her a question, and didn’t say much of anything, and let her rest early as she had to go to school tomorrow.

The next morning, Hu Ying once again came over to knock on Mu Qi’s door, full of energy.

Because she had gone to bed early last night, she was now full of energy again.

When Mu Qi came to knock on the door (!), she smiled at once and said: “Good morning, Qi-ge.” 

(!) If you’re just as confused as I am, the original text is: 慕柒过来敲门时, where 敲门 is ‘to knock on a door’, and 慕柒 is ‘Mu Qi’. Maybe the author meant Hu Ying?

“So early?” Mu Qi just now got up, and still had not washed up yet, so she stepped aside to let the other party come in.

“Last night, I slept once I got home.” Hu Ying said while entering.

Mu Qi looked at the time and said: “Wait for me.”

“Okay.”

When the two of them went out, Su Yanxi was standing in front of the community gate, waiting for them.

In this cold weather, Mu Qi looked at the tip of her frozen red nose, helplessly pinched her nose, and said: “Don’t come so early starting tomorrow, we’ll wait for you.”

“Okay.” Su Yanxi smiled and said.

The three of them walked to school together. The final exam is in a week’s time, and after the final exam is a holiday, which everyone was looking forward to. Naturally, everyone was looking forward to it, but at the same time, they were very nervous, as it would be an uncomfortable year if the final exam was no good.

Hu Ying’s parents didn’t know where they knew that recently, their daughter and Mu Qi were making up for their classes together. It was simply gratifying. On the dining table, they had dishes with generous amounts of meat and fish every day, and spoke softly to Hu Ying, making Hu Ying bewildered every time.

Mu Qi stopped, ruthlessly rubbed her hair, and said: "This time, when you take the exam you can get a good grade, and when the Chinese New Year comes, let your parents give you a big red envelope for the Chinese New Year.”

As soon as she heard about the red envelopes, Hu Ying’s eyes lit up at once, then, thinking of her past grades, she was a little unconfident, and said: “Qi-ge, do you think these make-up classes are useful for me?”

“Useful.” Su Yanxi smiled and said: “Your homework error rate is now half less than before.”

“Hear that, it’s generally less, before you scored 30 points on the test, now you can score 60 on the test.” Mu Qi said.

Hu Ying: “...... Qi-ge, foreign language and mathematics will need 90 points to pass.”

Mu Qi: “......”

Su Yanxi covered her mouth and laughed.

“I’m just giving you an example, I’m afraid you won’t understand.” Mu Qi looked at Su Yanxi, who was smiling with her eyebrows and eyes bent up, and said helplessly to Hu Ying.

Hu Ying made an “Oh” sound, then said with resentment: “Qi-ge, do you think I don’t know how to count?” 

This time, Su Yanxi’s whole body trembled as she laughed, her stomach hurting as she laughed (!), and fell sideways on Mu Qi. 

(!) 笑的肚子不行: belly hurting from laughing, cant stop laughing, laughing her stomach off

Mu Qi was also infected by her, so she couldn’t help but laugh as well. She stared at Hu Ying and scolded her with a smile: “If you don’t talk, no one will take you as a fool.”

Hu Yin felt wronged and withdrew her gaze with an expression of ‘you’ve forgotten your old love when you have a new one’, which made Mu Qi look at her and couldn’t help but want to hit her a little.

Fan Siyu saw this scene as she passed by outside the door. She bit down her lip in jealousy and glared at Su Yanxi, and turned around and walked away.

Mu Qi, seeming to have sensed something, looked out the window, but didn’t see anything, so she didn’t take it seriously and withdrew her gaze.

The following week, everyone went into revision mode, and after class, everyone stopped making trouble, and even the last row of the class, who usually slept and skipped class, became nervous.

After all, all parents in the world are the same, and if this exam is no good, not only will there be no red envelopes for the Chinese New Year, but they might also suffer a beating.

They also wanted to shamelessly ask Su Yanxi to give them make up lessons, but Su Yanxi was usually busy enough giving Mu Qi and Hu Ying make up lessons, and had no spare time to give them make up lessons.

Mu Qi couldn’t possibly make Su Yanxi make up lessons for them, so she told them to find the class president.

The class president, who looked like a little old man, pushed his black-rimmed glasses, looked at the exercise book handed over in front of him, and raised his head to look at the other person.

The person who came smiled and said: “Class president, can you help me make up the lessons?”

Xiao Nan looked at his blank page, lifted his head to look at the bright smile on the other person’s face, and said: "You finish first.”

The person was a little bit dazed until a person on the side pulled on his sleeve and told him that the class president had agreed to help him make up the lesson. Then, he happily looked towards the class president, and said happily: “Thank you, class monitor.” And ran away after he finished speaking.

“Hmm.” Xiao Nan answered in a barely audible voice.

Seeing the tense learning atmosphere in the class recently, Xiao Nan nodded slightly, feeling very satisfied.

When the head teacher heard the class president’s report, he was a little taken aback. He looked up from the newspaper to see Xiao Nan’s serious expression, and asked: “Really?”

Xiao Nan nodded his head.

The head teacher, Li Wei, immediately stood up with a smile, and said with his hands behind his back: “Let’s go, I’ll take a look.”

The head teacher and the class president quietly appeared at the back door of the classroom. Usually, by this time, someone would have already discovered the head teacher coming, but today, the class was quiet and everyone was studying with their heads down.

Although the students in the last row were anxiously scratching their heads and flipping through their books, they could also see that they were studying. The head teacher was very happy, and his always stern face was now showing a smile. He patted the class president on the shoulder and said: “You go in first.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Li Wei returned to the office upright, with his hands behind his back. When he met students who greeted him on the way, he nodded his head and greet them. However, after he returned to his office, he was once again smug.

“How is it hard to imagine, that group of little monkeys in our class are all studying seriously.”

“Lao (!) Li, you've come here to show off to us again.” The teacher at the next table said.

(!) 老 (Lao): Old; Used to refer to someone who is old and as an honorific title towards someone old

Li Wei laughed and said: “Of course, I always listen to you guys showing off in front of me. Now, it’s not easy to have this chance, how can I miss it.”

“When the time comes, don’t have an empty happy moment (!).” Another teacher said a little sourly.

(!) 别到时候空欢喜一场: Not sure how to translate it, but someone on NU Forums suggested 'Don’t give yourself false hope'
空欢喜: rejoice too soon

Li Wei paid no attention to them, and smiled: “Empty happiness is empty happiness, I am satisfied seeing them try so hard.” He felt that this group of children had invested a great effort, and no matter what the final result is, he will still be very happy for them.

Soon, a week passed.

Those who made up classes later had swallowed too much in one gulp (!), and were unsure of what to expect when they went into the exam room.

(!) 囫囵吞枣 (swallow the dates whole; to swallow in one gulp): Metaphor for doing things without analysing and thinking (I think in this case, they’re saying that they learned things without digesting any of it)

However, while taking the test, they saw that they can do some of the questions, and they had a sense of accomplishment.

In the past, when they looked at the exam papers, it was the exam papers that recognized them, but they didn't recognize the exam papers. Now that they could do several of them, they naturally felt a sense of achievement from making up classes the past few days. 

And Hu Ying was also happy that she was able to do the questions on the exam paper, and her writing was even faster.

On the other hand, Mu Qi was doing the exam paper properly, making the proctoring teacher repeatedly look at her several times.

​

Naemjyu's note: Sigh... school just started for me again this week >.<