Back home, it was dead silence. No sounds of the usual laughter from his younger brother, Qizhi and thankfully no nagging received from his parents. It seemed like Mingjue and Angel had most likely taken Qizhi to the hospital.
He slipped off his shoes at the door, careful despite there being no one to hear. The lights were off, the living room half-swallowed by dusk. For a moment, he just stood there, unsure what to do with the quiet now that it was his alone.
His bag slid from his shoulder and hit the floor with a dull thud.
The kitchen table was cluttered with half-packed medicine and hospital documents they'd forgotten to put away.
He went to his room and closed the door, leaning his forehead against it. The silence pressed in, thick and suffocating.
Teenagers his age usually wish to be left alone by their parents but to Wen Lan it feels suffocating. No one had asked how his day went. No one had told him to rest.
For a fleeting, ugly moment, he wondered what it would take for them to rush him to the hospital too.
Whatever. He shouldn't think much of it. What gives him the right to be jealous about Qizhi? Either way, he had more important things to care about. This year was going to be an important year for him. There were going to be monthly exams (see author's thoughts for more information) the week right after Chinese New Year. mainly made to prepare them for the national exams the following year. It is said that each monthly exam result will push the higher scoring students to the elite classes and it'll continue on like a race throughout the year.
Wen Lan would usually only put in his absolute efforts during the end of year exams rather than the small exams in between. Afterall, end of year exams takes up 80% of the overall results. But this time, it was the race to get into elite class that appealed to him.
They were the first batch of students to go through this too, who knows how hard it could be. Maybe they would even cut them some slack.
Qiangqiu would always be the type to not study and end up acing the exam. But Wen Lan, for some reason, no matter how focused he is during lessons, his brain seems to not be able to function well. It went in one ear and out the other…
He dropped onto his chair. Staring at the stacks of paper on his desk. Coloured coded notes, neatly annotated. But it was as if it was blank… he couldn't remember a single thing inside. Judging by the thickness and complexity. It would take him at least 2 days to fully memorise everything.
He has two weeks till the first monthly exam in March, if he spends 2 days doing just math, excluding practice papers… How could he have enough time to study for chinese, english, biology and chemistry! He should've started earlier…
Why did Mr Chong think that Wen Lan was capable enough to get Qiangqiu to stop fooling around… with his foolish behaviour, he can even get excellent grades! Then what does that make Wen Lan..
It's better to sacrifice the easier subjects… After all, he couldn't improve his language in such a small amount of time. He can just look at English and Chinese phrases before the exam.
That didn't seem like a terrible idea. If he gets at least a B for English and C for Chinese. His overall shouldn't be that bad as long as he scores As for the remaining subjects.
Wen Lan pressed his fingers against his temples, squeezing his eyes shut.
He should start studying before his parents and Qizhi arrive home.
He pulled his chair to close the distance between his desk. Flipping open his math textbook.
The clock ticked slowly on the wall.
It wasn't that long until his head dipped forward, the tip of his pen leaving a ugly streak on the page. He jerked upright. Glancing at the clock. The minute hand hadn't even completed one round yet!
Are you kidding me! It's not even one hour in and I'm already this tired! He thought internally.
Fuckkk he was done for wasn't he. Even if he pushes himself, his brain would've been too tired to even absorb what he was reading. If he sleeps now, he would most likely wake up at 10pm… and then he would have to leave at 6 in the morning for school…
Wen Lan stared at the page for a long moment.
Then he closed the book.
He dragged his 'exhausted' body through the room and plummeted onto his bed. How was he going to survive this year… just 45 minutes of sitting down and looking at math would finish him.
Back then, during end of year exams. He survived solely on coffee and constantly pulling all nighter. At least he only needed to survive that for 1 month. Now with the monthly exams, that routine would become daily! Reach home, barely any time to shower or eat, straight to studying.
He needs to stock up on coffee and maybe even sleeping pills.
Wen Lan rolled onto his side, face pressed onto his pillow. His eyes closed.
Studying wasn't made for him, maybe he really should go back to reading manhuas…
Sleep took him in quickly.
When Wen Lan woke up hours later, the sky room was dark. For a split second, his mind was still so foggy that he couldn't make out where he was. He reached out for his phone on the bedside table. The screen lit up
11:54p.m.
A low sigh slipped out of him, he pushed himself up, his body felt sluggish.
Wen Lan rubbed his eyes and made a beeline towards the kitchen. Upon exiting his room, the living room and kitchen were still dark, just like how he had left it before he fell asleep.
It showed no signs that his parents or his brother had come back. Just what exactly was keeping them away this late. He moved the kitchen top. Grabbing a cup of water gulping it down in one go.
The water did little to clear the mess in his head.
Wen Lan sat the cup down and immediately went back into his room with no time to waste. He slapped his face a few times on the way, hoping to snap himself out.
He flopped back onto his chair. Opening through his textbook again.
It's going to be a long night…