When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 123: Striving for the Same Goal

The pleading voice of Xu Kanfeng behind him was indeed pitiful.

As she walked, Jiang Shuyao looked up curiously and asked the person beside her, "How come you all suddenly became so fond of studying?"

The girl’s tone was tinged with laughter, and carried a hint of teasing.

Pei Yan glanced at her indifferently and said, "Don’t you know why I’ve become like this?"

Alright then.

She puffed her cheeks, actually wanting to ask the other three, but this guy stubbornly turned the conversation back to himself.

"Yaoyao."

"Hmm?"

"There’s only a little over six months left until the university entrance exam, help me," Pei Yan said softly.

Jiang Shuyao stopped in her tracks, gazing at him with a stunned look.

In the decade she had known him, this was the first time she had heard him speak to her in such a powerless tone.

Her eyes grew sore, as if something were about to flow out.

The night wind blew past, bringing a deep chill with it.

She didn’t feel cold, but a warm flame ignited in the pit of her heart.

Jiang Shuyao shifted her gaze forward and continued on, with a soft smile on her lips, she gently replied, "Okay."

The feeling of working together towards the same goal was wonderful.

Yan, I will help you, and I am willing to believe in you.

The cold December passed halfway through, marked by piles upon piles of test papers for the senior year students.

The Yangjin preliminary exam was scheduled for this Saturday, and by Friday evening, Jiang Shuyao finished the last stroke of her pre-examination piece.

Every painter has his or her own unique seal.

After stamping her three-character, regular script name in the lower left corner of the canvas, the girl’s bright eyes quietly observed the work for a while, then slowly exhaled.

It was a Sunrise painting.

Just like she had taken up the brush anew, her life was just beginning and was about to welcome new hopes.

Jiang Shuyao, you must persevere.

On Saturday morning, the exhibition center building stood enveloped in murky fog.

Rong City was once again under an orange haze warning.

The young master beside her had, unconsciously, been influenced by her—knowing what it meant to be frugal and what constituted green travel.

Without much discussion, they both wore face masks from home, met at the doorway, and then, in tacit agreement, walked to the station and took the free bus.

The submission location was on the twenty-third floor of the exhibition center. Today, they happened upon a Lamborghini exhibition, making the elevator entrance crowded with a long queue and the hall jam-packed with visitors.

Jiang Shuyao grew anxious, looking at the obstructed path ahead and wondering what year and month it would be before she could enter the elevator.

With half an hour to spare, she turned to Pei Yan and said, "You wait for me outside, I’ll go directly up the stairs."

Her eyes sparkled, she wasn’t intimidated by the twenty-three floors at all.

Pei Yan wouldn’t let her be so reckless, his tone serious, "Stay here and don’t move, I’m going to the restroom."

"?"

Jiang Shuyao watched him depart with dry eyes, her eyelids twitching.

That guy, going to the restroom at a time like this, was definitely up to no good.

What was he planning to do?

The answer came quickly.

About five minutes later, the people in the hall began to grow restless.

Even standing on the outskirts of the building, she could clearly hear the shrill and urgent sound of the smoke detectors ringing inside.

"..." Jiang Shuyao turned her eyeballs woodenly, watching as security personnel began urgently evacuating the crowd.

She stood outside the floor-to-ceiling glass doors, watching the previously crowded hall empty in just a few minutes.

Then, a man in a suit looking like the building manager approached the front desk.

"Quick, get the master over to check the wiring; the alarms throughout the entire building are going off," he said. "It must be vandalism."

Hearing the words "vandalism," Jiang Shuyao panicked completely.

Before she could react, she was being led by a large hand into the lobby.

That guy popped up out of nowhere, no telling where he came from.

She stiffly followed his pace, guilt-ridden to no end.

The building manager thought he was seeing things, checking again and again, confirming and reconfirming, only to realize it really was Mr. Pei of Zhizhen.

The exhibition center was a real estate project developed years ago through government and corporate collaboration.

The largest funder was none other than Zhizhen.

So to a certain extent, Zhizhen owned the building.

The manager didn’t know what brought the Crown Prince here, but amidst the chaos, he had to muster all his attention to cater to him.

Jiang Shuyao’s palms sweat with nervousness.

The middle-aged man’s smile had barely begun to show when Pei Yan glanced over indifferently, "Twenty-third floor, swipe her card to let her up."

"?"

The manager’s thoughts froze briefly for a second before he nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, yes."

The front desk staff, having received the instructions, cautiously came over with the elevator card.

The young man urged impatiently, "Hurry up."

Even after all this time, the Little Demon King’s temperament was as explosive as ever.

The manager couldn’t help wiping his sweat, turning to chide, "Hurry it up, I keep telling you not to wear such high heels all the time."

The sudden change in the situation left Jiang Shuyao confused, yet it was strangely amusing.

She pursed her lips, glancing involuntarily at Pei Yan before entering the elevator.

The youth’s black hair was neatly cut, his hands casually in his pockets as he stood outside the elevator doors, his face expressionless but with a warmth in his eyes.

His softly lowered voice was comforting.

"I’ll wait for you in the lobby."

Yangjin’s art examination venue did not allow non-examinees inside.

The process was to first submit one’s work, then enter the exam room one by one by number to have a one-on-one interview with the examiner.

The examiner would ask about the candidate’s basic personal information, the inspiration behind their work, and the meaning and value they wished to convey with their piece.

Jiang Shuyao had been learning to paint since she was young, delving into both traditional Chinese ink and watercolor as well as Western oil painting.

When the examiner teacher saw her painting "Sunrise," the flash of admiration in his eyes was unmistakable the moment he looked at the piece.

There were many students applying this year, but only a few works were memorable.

And this one before him could truly be considered a fine piece.

The examiner composed himself, raised his head to look at the little girl sitting across from him, and revealed a gentle smile.

This preliminary exam was smoother than she had expected, and as she left the room, Jiang Shuyao was still pondering the questions the examiner had asked her.

With so many excellent art schools nationwide, why did she choose Yangjin?

Her answer came sincerely from the heart.

She liked Yangjin out of a deep-seated sense of mission, a dream she had held since she was little, and despite the passing of over a decade, that original intention had not changed.

This might sound like a cliché, almost official-style response—probably nine out of ten candidates would say the same.

Yet the examiner’s reaction was unexpected to her.

After a few seconds of silence, he took off his glasses and replied with three words, "An honor indeed."

At that moment, she couldn’t help but smile.

It was as if she had received some form of recognition, albeit implicit and profound.

When she came down, Pei Yan was the only one left standing in front of the electronic screen in the lobby.

He stood sideways, his sharp and cold profile in perfect harmony with the high-end business atmosphere of the building.

Jiang Shuyao couldn’t help but fantasize about what Pei Yan would look like in a suit one day.