Chapter 61: CH 61

Warning: There is suicide mentioned in this chapter.

Ying Jiao’s dizziness is not normal.

At the age of twelve, he witnessed his mother’s suicide.

The young boy who had just won a ball game opened the bathroom door and was covered with sweat, and as soon as he looked up, his view was filled with blood.

In the exquisitely decorated and warm bathroom, his mother was lying in the bathtub with her eyes closed and her face pale, with a long and deep cut on her drooping wrist.

The woman who had warned him carefully before going out, just after half a day, no matter how much he shouted or cried, she ignored him.

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After being plagued by depression for several years, Ying Shengjun’s mother Ye Li’s grand arrival became the last straw that overwhelmed her.

(T/n: Ye Li(mistress)- Ying Shengjun(illegitimate son))

After she made a will, she distributed her property, and ensured that her son would have food and clothing for the rest of his life, and chose to leave without looking back.

The bathroom at home used to be Ying Jiao’s favorite place during his childhood.

At that time, he took his little golden retriever and happily played with the water in it.

Every time, he would be accompanied by his mother’s gentle reminders and exhortations.

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When he took care of himself, she would always squat down and touch him, and then touch his little golden retriever, complimenting that he was great, and so was his younger brother(the dog?).

But from that day on, the bathroom became his nightmare.

No matter day or night, the overwhelming red color is always in his mind, lingering.

Later, Ying Jiao found that he could not stand the sight of blood.

He didn’t tell anyone, not even He Zhou, who had played with him during his childhood.

If he had encountered an accident like this today, it didn’t matter how many times, but every time he gritted his teeth and carried it, he was only dizzy for a while, and he didn’t faint.

However, this time was different, the same blood, the same dizziness.

The person he most wanted to protect in the world.

The person who even liked him is the one that forced him to admit it.

(T/n: not sure if that’s correct…)

But for the first time, he reached out and covered his eyes.

Ying Jiao leaned against Jing Ci with his eyes closed and let him help him to the milk tea shop on the roadside.

“A cup of milk tea, oatmeal with whatever. Excuse me, can I have a cup of hot water?”

“Yes, not too hot.”

“Thanks.”

The unique touch of the milk tea cup touched his lips, and Jing Ci’s slightly anxious voice came from his ear: “Ying Jiao? Ying Jiao, drink a little.”

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At that moment, it seemed that even the blood that had plagued him for many years was gone. There is nothing else in my mind or heart except this person.

“I… I’m fine.” Ying Jiao gasped, opened his eyes slightly, and smiled hard: “Don’t worry.”

“Drink some water.” Jing Ci leaned against him and lifted the milk tea cup up, his face full of worry.

Ying Jiao opened his mouth to follow his will.

No more or no less warm water flowed into his mouth little by little, which relieved the cold of his body just right, and even his limbs began to regain consciousness.

Ying Jiao leaned against Jing Ci, and the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably. For the first time, he felt that this feeling of powerlessness was not so bad.

After Ying Jiao fully recovered, the two got up and went back to school.

On the way back, Jing Ci was very energetic, like a small beast who went out for food for the first time, alert to all the factors that might appear around him that might be bad to Ying Jiao.

Seeing him like this, Ying Jiao felt his heart soften.

Is there a Santa Claus out there? Send such a good Jing Ci to him.

Ying Jiao chuckled lightly, and with the cover of his school uniform sleeve, he reached out and hooked Jing Ci’s little finger.

Jing Ci was startled and looked around reflexively. His eyes fell on Ying Jiao’s smiling side face, he pursed his lower lip, did not move, let him hold himself like this, and walked to school step by step.

After the final exam, the whole school relaxed, and even the forums regained their former popularity.

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[Liberated, wait for the results and then go home, and have a good year. 】

[Speaking of which, the finals of the National Mathematics High School Federation will soon be coming. I don’t know what Brother Ci’s results will be. 】

[Wait and see, the finals will be held for a total of five days, and the results will be available on the seventh day. 】

[Brother Ci and the others have been preparing for the finals for a while now, don’t they seem to have studied much? I suddenly have a bold idea… Will I be first this time? 】

[I admire people like the one upstairs who have no self-knowledge. Even if they haven’t studied for a month, he would still be brother Ci, okay? 】

[Not necessarily, what if? 】

[I really don’t expect much for the final results, but now that you said that, you seem to be expecting the grades to come out soon, hahahaha. 】

[It is estimated that Brother Ci no longer cares about his final grades. If he can enter the national training team, it is equivalent to directly being recommended to Tsinghua and Peking University. 】

[Enter the national training team, and then pass two rounds of selection. Will Jingshen(JC) enter the national mathematics reserve team and then represent the country in the International Mathematics Olympiad? 】

[Upstairs you… Forget it, you must be tired at the end of the period, sleep well and continue to dream. 】

Under the attention of the teachers and students of the whole school, Jing Ci and several others finally arrived on the day of departure.

The National Mathematics High School Finals, also known as the National Middle School Students Mathematics Winter Camp, lasted for five days and was hosted by Yangcheng No.1 Middle School this year.

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On the first day, the leaders of the provinces got together for a meeting and learned about the rules of the game.

The next day was to visit Yangcheng No. 1 Middle School to get familiar with the examination room.

The third and fourth days are the exams.

On the fifth day, there is actually nothing to do. Each provincial team can check out and leave directly in the morning.

Two days after the finals, the results will be announced one after another. Some provincial teams will continue to live in hotels until the results come out.

The specific arrangements for the provincial experiment have not been notified to the students, so Jing Ci was not clear.

“Have you brought everything? Is there anything left?” Zhao Feng looked more nervous than anyone else, and asked over and over again, “I don’t want you to go halfway, and suddenly remember what you forgot to bring.”

“Take it.” Zhou Chao’s palms were sweating, but after Zhao Feng’s strictness, the tension in his heart disappeared instantly. He leaned over to Jing Ci and whispered: “Teacher Zhao said this sentence four times, and I counted them.”

Jing Ci couldn’t help but laugh.

Zhao Feng also seemed to realize that he was too serious, for fear of causing secondary pressure on the students. He coughed and changed the subject: “Yangcheng is about two hours away from us by high-speed rail, and we can arrive at the hotel in the evening. I paid Xiao Xiao the guest fee. After you arrive, you can meet Xiao Xiao first. I will tell you what to pay attention to in the winter camp.”

Whether it is a contestant or a team teacher, they all need to pay a certain fee to the organizer.

Each person’s camp fee is different, and the average is about 2,000 yuan.

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The Olympiad in the provincial experiment this year was unprecedentedly good, so the school was also generous, and directly paid all the expenses, including camp fees, travel expenses, etc, that were needed in the competition, which greatly relieved Jing Ci’s pressure.

“Also,” Zhao Feng thought for a while and then said, “If you find yourself feeling unwell, don’t be embarrassed, and don’t take medicine indiscriminately, tell me first, do you understand?”

“Understood.”

“That’s it,” Zhao Feng waved his hand: “Let’s go.”

On the way to Yangcheng, because the pressure of the final was right in front of me, even Zhou Chao’s talkativeness was unprecedented.

After getting on the high-speed rail, as soon as a few people found their place, they opened their school bags and prepared to read their books again. No matter if they could read it or not, it was just for psychological comfort.

Jing Ci put his luggage on the luggage rack above, he felt through his schoolbag, and was stunned.

What he touched was not the paper texture of the Olympiad book, but a hard plastic feeling.

He slowly took out what he touched, it was a box of small square cakes with shredded coconut milk.

“Brother Ci, are you so exquisite?” Zhou Chao glanced at the small square cake in his hand, as if he had discovered a new world, and smiled: “You brought desserts when you go out, this wave of operations can be done.”

Jing Ci didn’t answer him, he looked at the box of small square cakes in his hand for a long time, and suddenly smiled.

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This is his and Ying Jiao’s  unique way of cheering, and he knows what he wants to say. He will try his best, no matter what the result is, he will not regret it.

In the classroom at this time, the students in Class 7 who had passed the final exam were all relaxed. Some gathered to chat, some read novels below, and a few couples who were in puppy love secretly changed seats and were holding hands under the table.

After declining He Zhou’s invitation to play cards, Ying Jiao sat quietly in his seat, opened his pencil case, and prepared to take a pen to do a set of math problems.

Unzipping the zipper, he froze for a moment.

A small note was stuffed into his pencil case that was supposed to only contain pens.

The paper strips are folded squarely, and there is not even a hint of asymmetry. There was no need to ask who put it there, Ying Jiao knew that it was Jing Ci.

Is there something he wanted to say to him, because he felt sorry, so he can only express it in this way?

Ying Jiao smiled and opened the note.

Ying Jiao’s chest almost swelled with warmth.

The small piece of paper was filled with his study tasks for the next few days.

Which subject and which exercise book to do on a certain day, were clearly marked. The timing is also just right, neither making him feel too much pressure nor too relaxed.

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His boyfriend, before such an important game, still cares about him in his heart.

Ying Jiao lowered his eyes, rubbed his thumb on the note for a long time, and then put it back into the pencil case and changed it to an exercise book according to what Jing Ci had written.

After Jing Ci and the others arrived in Yangcheng, they took a taxi directly to the hotel designated by the organizer.

Zhao Feng took a few people’s ID cards and checked them in at the front desk, while exhorting: “Later, go to your room to put your luggage, don’t run around just because winter camp starts tomorrow, do you hear?”

“Understood.” Several people responded and retrieved their ID cards and went back to their respective rooms.

Jing Ci and Zhou Chao stayed in a twin room. As soon as the door was opened, Zhou Chao wowed: “The room is so good!”

The organizer picked a good one. Although this hotel is an old business hotel, it has just been renovated. The decoration of the room is beautiful and atmospheric.

Zhou Chao threw his suitcase on the ground, chose a bed and sat down, sighing: “This trip is not in vain, even if we fail to get good results, it’s worth staying in this hotel for five days.”

Jing Ci hummed, put his school bag upright on the head of the bed, and was about to pack up and take out the things he needed, when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

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He took it out and saw that it was a message from Ying Jiao.

[Jiao]: Have you arrived?

Jing Ci glanced at the time, fourth class just ended, no wonder Ying Jiao is using his mobile phone.

【Jing】: Well, we have arrived at the hotel.

Afraid that Ying Jiao would not be at ease, Jing Ci thought about it, raised his mobile phone and took two pictures in the room and sent them to him.

【Jing】: The decoration of the hotel is very beautiful, and the environment is also good.

Ying Jiao replied immediately—

[Jiao]: It looks good.

Jing Ci smiled and was about to ask him if what he was having for dinner, when a new message popped up in the dialog box——

[Jiao]: The most beautiful one is talking to me.

The author has something to say: After wearing the book——

Jing Ci: there are shriveled calves in the dark.

Ying Jiao: there is Santa Claus in the dark.

(T/n: I have no idea what these two are talking about…)