Gu Xi continued to talk despite being aware of Lin Wenxi's cold attitude toward him. He told Lin Wenxi that there was a newly-opened piano store nearby. As they shared this common interest, they went to the piano store together. It was called Ziyun Piano Store. When Lin Wenxi saw this name, he found it somewhat familiar. The sales girl in the store greeted them cordially and invited Gu Xi to play a tune. Gu Xi shook Lin Wenxi's arm. To his surprise, Lin Wenxi was intrigued and quicky sat on the bench to play a peice of classical music. When enjoying the music, the sales girl noticed that Lin Wenxi's sleeves were too long and it hindered him from playing the piano smoothly. Before the boy realized it, the girl went over to roll the sleeve up for him, revealing some new bruises on his arm. Lin Wenxi was bruised from belt beating. He quickly rolled down his sleeves to cover his bruises and left. Gu Xi grabbed his hand and burst into tears. "Why

Lin Wenxi seemed to have returned to normal, but Zhao Yuan could not be sure whether Lin Wenxi was alright. Lin Wenxi was willing to talk to his roommates now, but every time he spoke, his sentence would contain only 3 to 8 words. He actively answered questions in the classes and he usually answered them exceptionally well. Everybody thought that Lin Wenxi was alright now. He was able to cope with Zhang An'an and Shu Xiaoman's teasing naturally. He somehow restored his relationship with Zheng Kai. They would pat each other's shoulder to great each other every time they met. He even helped Wang Xiang answering a roll call. All the boys in the dorm, except Zhao Yuan, thought that he was alright now. Lin Wenxi always smiled and treated everyone friendly. He treated Zhao Yuan friendly too, but just as an ordinary friend. He did not go to the bathhouse together with Zhao Yuan anymore. Neither did he go to the canteen together with him. Every time

The poem writing contest was considered to be the most challenging competition for liberal arts students, as most of them were not as talented as Cao Zhi. (Cao Zhi was an accomplished poet who lived in the late Han Dynasty in ancient China and was able to make a verse while taking seven steps.) A contestant had to write a poem in classical Chinese within 5 minutes on an assigned topic and then gave it to a hostess, who would read it out for the judges. The topic for the first round of the contest was the wind. Lin Wenxi was the last one to turn in his poem. The hostess read out all the poems one by one. Here was Lin Wenxi's poem: Flowers and bamboo trees danced beside the pavilion. Clouds and wild geese flew away from the land. Full-sail boats embarked on a long voyage. I walked away leaving the changing ocean tides behind. The judges spent 15 minutes reviewing all the poe

Compared to the other universities, Jifu University was unconventional in many ways, except for exam requirements. According to its university calendar, its students had to take many exams during the period between the New Year's Day and the last day of this semester. Lecturers at the university never highlighted or underlined any part of the books and never told the students which parts should they review for the exams. They just informed the students of the examination arrangements and then warned them that they often saw students get 59 in the exams. They said, "As students of this university, you should understand the cruelty of competition in advance." Upon hearing that, Wang Xiang pretended to give dying kicks and said, "My dear lecturer, just show some compassion!" After the lectures, the guys went back to their dorm. Zhao Yuan scanned the pervious examination papers for some time and then he threw them to the ground grumpily while sw

When Lin Wenxi returned home, his father Lin Ziwei did not welcome him. Instead, he scolded him for pushing himself forward during the Freshmen Contests. "I won the first prize with my own ability! Every parent wants his or her child to excel at something, but why do you always get upset when I win a prize?" Lin Wenxi retorted angrily. He went into his room and shut the door. Shortly afterwards, his mother Huang Xiya went into his room and grabbed his hand, trying to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. "Most judges of the poem writing contest know your father. He's worried that they showed partiality to you and deliberately gave you a high score. I've read all the poems. I have to say that you deserve your prize. Your father is just worried that you get too proud and..." "And so-and-so will accuse him of letting his son enjoy some privileges. Is that what you want to say? Why don't you just send me to a university in another city, in anothe