A week later, Dou Xunru, in accordance with the wishes of his teacher and parents, obediently packed up his admission ticket and walked into the examination hall for that year's college entrance examination.

No. 6 Middle School is the college entrance examination site, so the entire school started the holiday half a day in advance. Aunt Du went into a neurotic state with full firepower, nagging like a heavy machine gun. She didn't allow people to eat cold or hot food, and even beat up grandma's darling dog Doudou for barking twice.

On the evening before the exam, Aunt Du went out in a mysterious manner and came back with a yellow paper talisman, which she asked Dou Xun to put under his pillow. She claimed that she had taken a half-hour bus ride and had specially prayed for it in the temple.

Xu Xilin thought for a moment and said in confusion, "I heard that place is also called 'Matchmaker Temple' and people go there to pray for marriage. Auntie, did you go to the wrong service window?"

Xu Xilin was also beaten because of his bad mouth. He was beaten with the same broomstick as Doudou... and was asked to stand at the door and chant "Amitabha" ten times.

Xu Xilin shook his head and chanted "Amitabha" to the tune of "A Great River". Dou Xun was squatting on the stairs, looking at him and laughing. He was discovered by Xu Xilin before he knew it, so he jumped up and played with him.

Aunt Du came out and shouted in surprise: "Hey, stop it, stop it! Xiaolin! Be careful! Don't touch his hand!"

Dou Xun has an "inert tickle flesh" that, like an inert gas, can only undergo chemical reactions under special extreme conditions - for example, he will only feel itchy if Xu Xilin is the only person in the world who tickles him.

Xu Xilin's body temperature is relatively high, especially in summer, like a human-shaped stove. The two arms exposed under his short-sleeved T-shirt are like two stick-shaped hand warmers. The heat radiating from them can be felt from a long distance away. They penetrate Dou Xun's thin shirt and burn his waist.

Dou Xun's face flushed red as he huddled up in a ball, hiding as he ran upstairs. Xu Xilin took advantage of the situation and pursued him. The two of them stumbled all the way from downstairs to upstairs. Finally, Xu Xilin pressed Dou Xun down on the sofa and asked, "Are you still laughing?"

Dou Xun's hair was messed up by him and he was a little breathless. He grabbed Xu Xilin's naughty hand with difficulty, his palms were sweaty.

Xu Xilin raised his legs and pressed them on him. He suddenly felt that this posture was very similar to some scenes in TV dramas, so he grinned without thinking: "Hehe, little girl, no one will save you this time even if you scream your throat out. Just obey me obediently, and I will feed you delicious food and drink spicy drinks in the future!"

Dou Xun: “…”

Xu Xilin and he looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly realized from Dou Xun's expression that the line and posture were a bit awkward.

A week had passed since the unexpected contact at the Crescent Moon. Time had passed and it was enough for Xu Xilin to get over it, but Dou Xun obviously couldn't. That almost ambiguous awkwardness would often show up on him regardless of the occasion.

But Xu Xilin was very sensitive to other people's emotions and was easily affected. Once he sensed Dou Xun's discomfort, he would also feel awkward.

Dou Xun's face became redder and redder, and slowly, his fair face and neck became one, as if he was about to be cooked. Xu Xilin suddenly felt something and jumped up from him as if he had stepped on an electric switch.

Dou Xun changed his sitting position in a very embarrassed manner, put his legs together, pulled a pillow in front of him to cover his body in an attempt to cover up his guilt, and lowered his head, not daring to look at anyone.

Xu Xilin blurted out: "I'm... sorry, I... I didn't mean it."

Dou Xun hunched over as if he had a stomachache, poking his chin on the pillow, and said for a long while: "...It's okay."

The two of them were not in the right state of mind for a conversation that sounded like an introduction to "Everyday Chinese Expressions", and each of them felt like an idiot.

Dou Xun stood up suddenly and said, "I'm going back to my room to read."

He spoke so fast that it was hard to hear him. His body turned into a shadow and disappeared at the speed of lightning... Of course, he disappeared while holding the pillow.

At this time, Aunt Du caught up with them and started to talk nonsense: "You little brats are so careless when you make trouble. Dou Xun is going to take the college entrance examination tomorrow. What if you broke his right hand? Hey, where is he?"

"He..." Xu Xilin paused a bit confused and answered nonsense, "Maybe he has a stomachache?"

"Ah?" Aunt Du was horrified. "Oh, look, is it serious? I've told him so many times not to drink ice water from the refrigerator, but he won't listen... Oh, I'll go see if there are any medicines at home. Xiaolin, can you give him some Huoxiang Zhengqi water?"

Xu Xilin laughed dryly twice, and took advantage of Aunt Du's unpreparedness to escape.

"It's all Wu Tao's fault," Xu Xilin thought to himself.

Dou Xun was very unskilled in his job and spent his time in the bathroom of his small bedroom. He worked himself into a sweat and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

He took a handful of cold water and washed his face, which was still flushed.

Dou Xun returned to the bedroom and lay on his back on the bed. His limbs were tired, but his spirit was a little excited.

He took out the yellow paper talisman that Aunt Du had asked for him, held it in his hand and looked at it over and over again. He could faintly smell the scent of incense and candles coming from the paper. He heard that the temple that Aunt Du went to worship was also called the Matchmaker Temple - it was quite interesting that these people did not go to matchmaking agencies to find a partner, but instead turned to the Buddha for matchmaking.

Dou Xun threw the paper charm into the sky and caught it. He didn't need a blessing for the exam. If he failed, he could just go back to school to be a senior, and spend another year with Xu Xilin, which was exactly what he wanted. He didn't want to fail the exam on purpose. He would just go if he passed. Anyway, his first choice was not to leave the city, so he could come back to be Xu Xilin's tutor when he had nothing to do.

In short, it’s just that simple if you pass the exam, but you’ll be happier if you don’t.

Looking at the entire No. 6 Middle School, there is probably no one who has a calmer exam mentality than him.

Dou Xun leaned on the pillow and closed his eyes for a while, his mind empty and thinking of nothing. Then after a while, he laughed naturally.

No reason, just a silly smile.

He thought this was the happiest year of his life.

Just like that, although there were some twists and turns before the exam, with an extremely calm mentality, Dou Xun performed very normally and was steadily admitted to his first choice.

That summer, a huge amount of warm and humid air came in from the southeast, and the cicadas were chirping so loudly that the power almost went out. Some of the people who got rich first were living a life of luxury in air-conditioned rooms, while those who had not yet gotten rich were sticking out their tongues as much as possible to prevent themselves from dying of heatstroke on the road to equal prosperity that the motherland had unfulfilled ambition of achieving.

Zhu Xiaocheng and Dou Junliang went through a life-and-death struggle, and finally divided the family property into two and went their separate ways.

Zhu Xiaocheng's legal team won with a slight advantage. Not only did they get rid of Dou Junliang's crime, but they also unexpectedly got a small bonus - custody of his son.

Zhu Xiaocheng, who had just taken office, finally made time to come to Xu's house to pick up her son. However, after living in Xu's house for a semester, her son learned Xu Jin's simple and rough manner and drew a line between Zhu Xiaocheng and her.

"I don't lack a guardian, and I know you don't lack a son. Don't worry, I will definitely not disturb you from chanting sutras in the future." Dou Xun said, "I will be going to college soon. If you provide me with the corresponding tuition and living expenses on a regular basis, I will be very grateful to you. I promise to return this money to you at double the rate within five years after graduation - it is much higher than the bank's loan interest rate during the same period. I recommend you consider it. In addition, if you need it in the future, I can take care of your old age and see you to the end of your life. If you don't care about me, I have no objection. I will apply for student loans and scholarships from the school myself, and we will owe each other nothing in the future."

In this way, this young and sharp boy took his first step towards human society.

After hearing this, Zhu Xiaocheng rolled over on the ground and cried with Grandma Xu, as if he had seen the foreshadowing of his miserable old age.

Although the old lady acted like a lady from a wealthy family, she was actually a "monkey with a tail stuck on it" person. She kindly stroked her goddaughter's head and pretended to be confused: "Oh, if you have any grievances, just tell godmother...Alas, but you see, godmother is old too. She will forget what she just said in a while, and she won't understand the matter clearly even if she hears it."

Zhu Xiaocheng's throwing a tantrum failed, and she left the Xu family helplessly. Later, she may have come to her senses, and apart from sending money to Dou Xun every month, she no longer showed up.

Dou Xun spent his longest summer vacation at Xu's house.

He did not use this long vacation to travel and relax as was popular nowadays, because Xu Xilin, a senior student, would not be able to hang out with him. So Dou Xun would rather stay at home and help Xu Xilin memorize words.

On the first day of the freshman's enrollment, Aunt Du helped him pack his luggage. Workaholic Xu Jin took a two-hour leave to go home and give instructions: "Sister Du, you don't need to pack his quilt and pillow... Hey, the school has all those small things, just go there and buy a set. Boys don't need to be so particular - just leave them at home, the child will come back after the military training."

Then she instructed Dou Xun: "Go home if you have nothing to do on weekends. You can also give that kid extra lessons. Then ask him to sign a receipt and deduct the tuition fee from his pocket money based on the market price plus 10%."

Xu Xilin, who had suffered an unexpected disaster, raised his head in shock: "What?"

Xu Jin: "Watch him study for at least three hours a week. If he dares not to cooperate, tell me and I will double his pocket money."

Xu Xilin said angrily, "Mom, you cheated your own son without thinking!"

"Nonsense," Xu Jin gave him a puzzled look, "Do I need to draft a plan to trick you? I'm not a moron."

Xu Xilin: “…”

"No, I have to go back to the company," Xu Jin glanced at his watch and said to Xu Xilin, "I hired a car and it's waiting downstairs. I've already paid for it. Don't worry about it. Xiao Linzi, go and send your teacher Dou off."

Xu Xilin's expression was as if he had just eaten a mouthful of dog shit.