I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 105: Cheating?

"I heard from your brother that you’re taking the college entrance exam this year," Archer Rhys said. "He asked me to come and see you off." He gazed at her, the woman before him gradually merging with the memory of the sweet, lovely girl he once knew.

It seemed time hadn’t washed away any of Grace Winslow’s vibrant spirit. She looked just as she had at seventeen or eighteen—ardent and expressive, brimming with youthful energy.

His heart began to pound uncontrollably, his gaze so intense it could have melted steel.

Grace didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about Archer. She hesitated. "Won’t it be too much trouble for you?"

"I heard from my brother that you’re still in the military. Don’t you have to go back?"

Archer shook his head gently. "My grandfather is gravely ill, so I was granted a three-month leave. I have to go back in a few days, which is just enough time to see you through the exam."

"Besides, I already promised your brother. If I don’t follow through, he’ll chew me out the next time we meet."

Seeing that Grace seemed ready to refuse, Archer quickly played the Nolan Winslow card.

Grace felt a little resigned.

She knew her big brother was definitely capable of it.

Nolan and Brandon Winslow were both good friends with Archer. After all, they had grown up together, roughhousing and getting into trouble.

Grace hesitated for only a moment before nodding in agreement.

The temperature in Prospera Town had dropped considerably by December.

Grace woke up bright and early on the day of the college entrance exam.

She mentally reviewed everything she had studied one last time, then checked her bag. ID card, exam admission ticket, pens, and scratch paper—everything was there. Nothing was missing. Only after confirming it all did she slowly exhale.

She was still a bit nervous.

Still, it was much better than before.

This nervousness was an instinctive reaction to an unknown future.

When she went downstairs, she found Archer already waiting for her.

He broke into a smile the moment he saw her, a smile even more dazzling than the morning sun.

Grace was momentarily stunned.

She only snapped out of it when Archer greeted her, her cheeks flushing red.

"I bought you some breakfast. I’m not sure if you’ll like it." Archer handed her the bag he was carrying.

"Where did you get this?" Grace asked, taking it from him naturally.

"There’s a little stall set up downstairs from the hospital that sells breakfast every day. I just picked it up on my way over," Archer answered casually, as if it had truly been no trouble at all.

’But Grace knew it wasn’t really on his way.’

’Archer’s grandfather had already been discharged; he wasn’t staying at the hospital anymore. To get from his place to the textile factory to pick me up, he wouldn’t have passed the hospital at all.’

’He must have gone there specifically to buy it for me.’

Grace didn’t call him out on it, simply settling onto the rack on the back of Archer’s bicycle.

The breakfast was still warm in her hands. ’He probably tucked it inside his coat on the way here to keep it warm.’

Grace took a bite. It was delicious.

Prospera Town only had one testing center, and it was quite a distance from the textile factory. The roads were crowded with people and vehicles. They rushed as fast as they could and barely made it to the center before the exam started.

Grace hastily waved goodbye to Archer and rushed into the testing center.

A middle-aged man standing nearby was rubbing his hands together. Seeing Archer staring intently at Grace’s retreating back, he glanced after her, then turned to Archer with a smile. "Brought your wife for her exam, brother?"

The word "wife" made the tips of Archer’s ears turn red. He replied in a very low voice, "Yeah."

"You’re real good to your wife. Aren’t you afraid she’ll dump you once she gets into college?" The man rubbed his hands together and stomped his feet. He wasn’t dressed warmly, and his clothes were patched. The morning air was cold enough to turn the tip of his nose red.

Archer frowned at his words and shot the man a look. "How can you hold a woman back for her entire life just because you love her?"

"Even if she marries me, she’s still her own person. I’ll support anything she wants to do. And if she does decide to leave me, it would only mean I wasn’t good enough to make her stay."

The middle-aged man hadn’t expected such a reply.

He gave Archer a complicated look, at a loss for words.

Archer had no desire to engage with him further. He pushed his bicycle to a quiet, secluded corner and waited peacefully for Grace to finish her exam.

Grace, meanwhile, had no idea that Archer had just been in a small dispute on her behalf.

She entered the exam hall, found her assigned seat, and sat down, her heart still beating a little fast.

She rubbed her cheeks to clear her head, and then immersed herself in the exam.

Since the college entrance exam had only recently been reinstated, the only subjects tested were Language Arts and Mathematics.

The questions weren’t exceptionally difficult, but they weren’t simple either.

For most of the test-takers, who had been away from their studies for years, trying to recall all that knowledge was a challenge.

The exam hall was filled mostly with young men and women in their twenties, along with some in their early thirties. Many were "sent-down youth" from years past, now hoping this exam would be their ticket back to the city—or a chance to completely change their destiny.

Grace paid no attention to the others. The moment she received her test paper, her mind settled completely, and all her earlier nervousness vanished without a trace.

Her pen flew across the paper as if guided by an unseen hand, and she answered the questions with incredible speed.

All her hard work over the past few weeks had clearly paid off.

Most of the questions were in formats she had reviewed, so she progressed smoothly.

In just one hour, she had filled every last blank on the test paper.

Grace let out a breath and reviewed her answers.

Just as she was thinking she might wait a little longer before turning in her paper early, someone kicked her chair.

Communication between examinees was forbidden, so Grace ignored it.

But the person behind her kicked again, this time harder.

Grace had glanced at him when she first came in. The examinee behind her was a world-weary-looking man in his early thirties, likely one of the sent-down youth who had been assigned to the area around Prospera Town years ago.

’I can’t believe he’s so brazen about breaking the rules.’

When Grace continued to ignore him, he delivered a forceful kick.

Having reached her limit, Grace raised her hand. "Excuse me, Proctor. I’m not sure if the student behind me is feeling unwell—perhaps he has a leg cramp—but he keeps kicking my chair. I’d like to request permission to turn in my paper early and leave."

There was one proctor at the front of the room and another at the back.

Hearing Grace’s report, both of them froze for a second before their expressions turned grim.

They walked over to Grace’s desk and glanced at the man behind her.

The man’s face was livid, and the veins bulged on the hand gripping his pen. He looked like he was about to fly into a rage and attack someone at any second.

One of the proctors looked down and spotted a crumpled ball of paper on the floor.

He bent down, picked it up, and unfolded it. A single line was scrawled across it: *Pass me the answers.*

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. The man behind her had tried to pass a note to Grace, demanding her answers.

The proctor tapped on the man’s desk. "You can leave now."

"On what grounds? I didn’t do anything! That bitch framed me! She just wants me out of the exam so she has one less competitor!" the man roared, his eyes bloodshot with rage.

He had worked so hard for this one chance to leave this godforsaken place and go back to the city. He wasn’t going to give it up for anything.