Chapter 12: The Exam

    The day before the weekend, exams would begin right after that. Li Yifei's answer notebooks continued to sell well.

    This brought a satisfied smile to her face.

    If she scored well in the exams, she was sure that selling her notebooks would only get better. She couldn't wait for the weekend to be over.

    She was eager for everyone at school—and at home—to see that she was no longer at the bottom of the class and wouldn't need remedial classes over the break.

    After school that evening, Li Yifei took her younger brother to buy the roast duck she had been eyeing. The shopkeeper, showing some kindness towards the siblings, gave them a slight discount.   

    Both siblings looked at the box of roast duck that had been handed to them. Li Yifeng took the box and smiled broadly at his sister.

“Grandma is going to be so surprised,” he said.

“I can’t wait to see her reaction,” Yifei replied.

    When they got home, they set the box of roast duck down and opened the lid. While the two sat studying for their upcoming exams, they could only focus on their study and at the same time inhale the delicious aroma of the 70-yuan roast duck and swallow their saliva.

    Yifei thought to herself that she should have bought some fried chicken to snack on first because the smell of the roast duck was making it impossible to concentrate. Closing the box wasn’t an option either, as she feared condensation might drip onto the beautifully roasted duck.

    When Grandma Li opened the iron door and entered the house, the aroma immediately hit her. She could already tell it was roasted duck. As she walked past the kitchen, she saw her two grandchildren looking at the roast duck.

    “Today is roasted duck? That’s not cheap, you know,” Grandma Li couldn't help but remark.

“It’s only once in a while,” Yifei replied.          

    “If you’ve got the money, it’s better to buy a phone for emergencies,” Grandma Li suggested.

“You’re right,” both siblings said in unison.

    Yifei had completely forgotten about that. Her old phone had been destroyed in the car accident, and unlike most teenagers, she no longer had a phone attached to her like an essential body part.     

    With her new environment that warmed her heart, the support from her younger brother, and two close friends by her side, after finishing her classes, she would go straight home to be with her family.

    She no longer felt the need to use a phone.

    It might be that at the moment, she only spent her time preparing for exams, so it hadn’t crossed her mind. With the money she had, she could likely buy her a basic phone—not a well-known brand, but one with enough functions to suit her needs.

    The problem was that she didn’t know which lesser-known brands had good functionality. But she had her brother, so she figured they could get matching phones.

“After the exams, you’ll take me to find one, okay?”

Yifei asked her brother.

“Sure,” Li Yifeng replied.

    With the roast duck in the house, Grandma Li decided to change her plans from making a vegetable stew to stir-frying a big dish of vegetables. Even though some of the leaves had started turning yellow, they were still edible.

    When their parents returned home, they were just as surprised as Grandma Li to see the roast duck. They looked at their children with gratitude, impressed that they had used their money to buy good food for the family instead of wasting it frivolously. The parents turned to each other and said,

    “Our daughter has really changed since the accident.”

    “Yes, she really has. We need to try harder too, so we don’t fall behind the kids,” the mother replied.

“Absolutely.”

    Even though their words were full of enthusiasm, Grandma Li knew they were mostly just comforting themselves. As long as the company where they worked continued to employ them, and they managed to pay off the house, that would be enough.

    Progress in life seemed unlikely, but compared to many other families, the Li family was doing relatively well. Sometimes, to keep their spirits up, people had to look at those less fortunate than themselves. That was the best way to stay motivated.

    They needed strength to keep going. As long as they were alive, and there were mouths to feed, they had to keep struggling.

    The roast duck dinner that night was devoured down to the bones.

    Although Li Yifei had eaten better roast duck before, the atmosphere of the meal made this one even more delicious than the fancy restaurant versions she used to enjoy.

It was the people that made a meal truly special.

    That Saturday, Li Yifei had arranged with Li Ying to study at her house. Li Ying offered to pick her up.

    She didn’t come alone, Her father drove her over, so there was no need to take public transport.

    Upon arrival, they were greeted by Li Ying’s mother, who smiled politely, though her eyes didn’t quite reflect that warmth.

"I thought I misheard. You two are actually going to study together?"

    "Yes, Mom. And this time, you’ll definitely have to reward me. If I don’t need remedial classes during the break, you can brag to the relatives about it."

"Well, let’s see if you can do it first before you start boasting."

    "Just wait and see," Li Ying said, then grabbed Li Yifei and led her away, saying, "Come on, Yifei, let’s see if I’ve memorized everything correctly."

    Li Ying's memorization went smoothly, which put Li Yifei at ease. She also added some math problems that she thought might come up in the exam.

    Li Ying diligently followed along.

    Next, they moved on to English, where Li Ying did equally well. If she could grasp the English grammar structures, even without knowing all the vocabulary, she could deduce the sentence patterns.

    By noon, Li Ying’s mother called them for lunch. The food at her friend's house was quite different from what Li Yifei was used to, and the building they lived in wasn’t as run-down as her own.

It wasn’t the most modern place, but it was much better than where Li Yifei lived.    

    No wonder the original owner of this body loved spending time here—Li Ying even had her own room.         

    "Eat up, Yifei," Li Ying’s mother said, though her words of concern were accompanied by detailed explanations of where the food was bought, how much it cost, and how high-quality everything was.

    If it weren’t for Li Ying’s innocent smile, believing her mother was just being kind, Li Yifei might have said something in response.

    For instance, the ginseng chicken stew her mother praised wasn’t as good as what you’d find at a five-star restaurant, and the shop she mentioned was only a three-star place, yet she talked it up like it was elite.

    Even the apples were just grade-C imports, lacking the distinctive taste they should have for the brand she mentioned.

    On the other hand, though, Yifei realized that perhaps Li Ying’s mother didn’t have anyone else to boast to other than her daughter’s friend. Li Ying’s father ate quietly, while Li Ying herself exclaimed with delight at the high-grade food.

    At least, even though she might not like her daughter’s friend, Li Ying’s mother didn’t interfere with their friendship. She and her husband simply stayed nearby to keep an eye on them.

    The afternoon was spent studying other subjects, like science, for which Yifei had already predicted some exam questions. Then they moved on to social studies, which Li Ying was already good at, so there was little concern there.

    On Sunday, Li Yifei told Li Ying that she would study at home. Despite liking Li Ying’s house, she felt uneasy around Li Ying’s mother. In the end, her exam results would be the true measure of everything.

Li Ying's mother would probably start seeing her in a better light.

    On the morning of the exam, when everyone gathered at the breakfast table, Grandma Li gave her blessings, wishing for a smooth exam.

    When they arrived at the classroom, everyone sat quietly in their seats. Once the bell rang, the teacher walked in and handed out the exam papers, and the students focused intently on their tasks.

    Li Yifei glanced at the exam in front of her and smiled—she knew the answers to everything, it seemed her memory didn’t fail her.

    After the morning exam, during the lunch break, everyone discussed the questions they had answered.

    Xiu Min and Lu Han came in excitedly.

    "Some of the questions were from your notebook!" Lu Han said first.

    "Yeah, I’m glad I studied it so well," Xiu Min added.

    "It wasn’t just Math, but English questions too," Lu Han continued.

    "If your answers are right, we should definitely pass these tough subjects, and there’s hope for the others too."

    Even the boys from another class, who they ran into on the way to the cafeteria, also mentioned it.

    Hearing this made Li Yifei feel proud. Surely, the boys who bought her notebook would pass the exams. She began thinking about the money she could make from her next round of notebooks.

    She remembered the roast duck they all shared with her family that day.

    After eating the ginseng chicken soup at Li Ying’s place, she wondered if, next time, she should order ginseng chicken soup for her family. That would be nice.

    But Grandma Li’s homemade chicken soup was also delicious, especially the broth she had while recovering in the hospital. It still lingered in her memory.

    Buying fresh chicken for her mother or grandmother to cook would be a good idea.

    But first, she needed to wait for the exam results to see if she could afford it. For now, the money she had saved had to go toward a new phone.

    It was necessary since her brother and friends wouldn’t always be around.

A phone was essential.

    From Monday to Friday, Li Yifei’s days were filled with exams. After school, she’d return home to review her notes. Her younger brother was also doing the same.

    Before they knew it, the exams were over, and the children were excited for the break. They would have time to relax, at least until the exam results came out.

    For Li Yifei’s group of admirers, there was talk of this year being a successful one for her.

    Li Yifei hoped they were right because those fans were her goldmine.

    If they passed their exams, ginseng chicken soup wouldn’t be far from her reach, nor would roast duck, fried chicken, and the delicious boba tea she had been craving.

    At dinner the day the exams ended, Grandma Li, her father, and mother asked how the children thought they had done.

    "I think I did okay," Li Yifei answered humbly.

    "I did great," her younger brother replied, without a hint of modesty.

    A memory from the body’s previous owner surfaced once again that Li Yifeng was such a good student that he earned scholarships, meaning the family didn’t have to pay much for his education, unlike Li Yifei.

    This explained why, whenever her younger brother asked for something, it was easier for him to get it.

It was understandable.

    But the younger brother Li Yifei saw now wasn’t arrogant. He genuinely cared about his sister and wished her well.

    If the original Li Yifei had looked closely, she would have seen how endearing her brother really was.

    Grandma Li, their father, and mother were always concerned about her too.

    Maybe the things the original Li Yifei had wanted were simply beyond the family’s budget. After all, they were still eating leftover vegetables that Grandma Li had managed to save from her stall.

    It was rare to have a good meal on the table.

    It was clear that everyone was helping each other save money.

    What could they do? Not everyone was born into the same circumstances. But one thing they shared was the need to keep going, to keep trying.

    And now, that included her. She could only hope that nothing would disrupt the warmth they had.