Jumping down from the bed, pushing open the window, the morning breeze brought up the melancholy scent of lilacs from downstairs. The desk was empty, with only a transparent folder on it, inside were a pencil case, exam admission ticket, barcode, and student ID, etc. On top of the folder lay a very large postcard, Zoe Young didn't know how many times she had picked it up to examine it closely. The blue sky, clear water, and massive iceberg on the back formed a gorgeous yet unreal scene. Turning it over, the unfamiliar handwriting looked even more unreal than the iceberg on the back.

"Zoe, I am at Santa Claus Village in Finland. I came to Finland for a conference, but actually spent more time sightseeing.

I don't know if this card can reach you by Christmas. I guess you'll be taking the high school entrance exam next summer, right? I hope this encouragement isn't late.

"I've read all your letters, but didn't want to reply. I think only if I don't reply, you'll feel free to keep writing.

I like reading your letters, but it seems you haven't written for a year now. I hope it's because you no longer need to write.

Be a happy child, that's much more important than Brightstar High School, and you're getting closer and closer to that.

"Wishing you peace and joy. Alan Carter."

On the afternoon three days before the high school entrance exam, as she was preparing to leave school, the student on duty cleaning out the mailbox found this postcard, which had been stuck there for who knows how long, with its corners a bit bent.

Zoe Young didn't feel particularly happy. Maybe because she had long since stopped expecting a reply, or maybe because she no longer "needed" to write to a distant fairy. Still, she was genuinely happy for Alan Carter.

She hoped he would send postcards from all over the world in the future, hoped he could really fly far away, just like he said in that snowy amusement park years ago.

On the morning of the first day of the high school entrance exam, Zoe Young lay on her desk, her heart warm and steady, as if she was certain that happiness and joy would eventually come.

"Zoe? Uncle Quinn is downstairs. After you finish your soy milk, let's go down and do a final check of your admission ticket and 2B pencils. Do you have everything?"

"No problem, let's go."

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15. Maybe, I am too happy

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It seems it's hard to go through an exam without leaving behind some harmless regrets. After the second day's exam, Zoe Young felt uneasy. She just couldn't remember whether she had filled in the exam number section on the answer sheet for the physics exam—maybe she only wrote the number but forgot to shade it in? That shouldn't be, the proctors always check one by one, they wouldn't allow that to happen, it can't be... but what if she missed it?

This worry would pop up from time to time to torment Zoe Young during the period from the end of the exam until the results were released.

This holiday was all about class reunions and having fun. Zoe Young and Mia Waters went to every park and amusement park in the city, and finally, the day for the results came.

When Zoe Young picked up the phone and pressed the first digit of the score inquiry number, she could even hear her own heartbeat, her little heart was about to jump out.

"Want me to help you?" Her mom gently patted her back.

"No," Zoe Young shook her head, "it's fine, no problem."

She lowered her head and pressed the second digit, solemnly.

She got a full score, her score was , more than ten points above Brightstar High School's admission line in previous years. She calmly hung up the phone, looked up, and said with a trembling voice, "Mom, I messed up."

Then she threw herself into her mother's arms, pretending to sob, and while her mom anxiously asked questions, she secretly showed a sly smile.

That afternoon, she put on her favorite light gray short-sleeved shirt and denim overalls, slung her bag over her shoulder, and ran to school to get her report card. As soon as she entered the classroom, Mia Waters grabbed her by the neck and shook her back and forth.

"What are you doing..."

After checking her results, Zoe Young stayed by the phone, wanting to call Mia Waters, but worried that if he didn't do well, getting a call would make him feel worse. So she waited and waited, until finally Mia Waters called.

He did much better than usual, scoring , but it was only enough to get into Brightstar High School as a self-funded student.

These self-funded students at top high schools have to pay at least seven thousand yuan in tuition every year. Zoe Young was silent on the other end of the phone for a long time, until she suddenly heard Mia Waters say, "Idiot, I know what you're thinking. Actually, I signed an agreement with the high school division of the Normal University Affiliated School."

"What?"

"I said I was applying to Brightstar High School just to keep you company. See, now you've gotten in, with such a good score, it's great, we both have good outcomes."

Zoe Young couldn't help but laugh. Mia Waters was the kind of person who would choose the Normal University Affiliated School over being a self-funded student at Brightstar High School. He didn't like to compete, nor did he like exhausting persistence. But in those months before the exam, he still stuck with her through the final sprint.

"Mia Waters..." Zoe Young suddenly remembered that both Michelle Cindy and she had talked about their dreams, but Mia Waters had never said a word. "Mia Waters, what's your dream?"

"What's wrong with you, why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Just tell me!"

"My dream is for someone else to let me live a good life!"

Zoe Young was so mad that her face turned red at having her dream made fun of: "I'm asking you seriously!"

Mia Waters paused for a long time on the other end, as if he wanted to say something but stopped, and finally went back to his joking tone.

"I can't do it, so I'd rather not say."

Zoe Young closed her eyes and sighed softly.

"Zoe, we're best friends, right? Even if we can't see each other in the future, we'll still be best friends, right?"

"Yes."

It felt like a fated farewell over the phone. Zoe Young and Mia Waters couldn't see each other's expressions.

Mia Waters, thank you.

She never expected that their last meeting would start with being shaken by the neck by the other.

"Are you crazy!" Zoe Young finally broke free.

"I'm just happy for you," Mia Waters laughed, "You know what? You finally got first place in the whole school!"

Zoe Young didn't feel the slightest bit of joy. She asked softly, "What about Sean Sherman?"

Mia Waters was stunned: "Oh right, I didn't ask, but anyway Mr. Zack said you were first, seventh in the city, that's amazing."

Without another word, Zoe Young ran toward Class 2, and passing the platform, she saw Sean Sherman's thin back at the window.

"Sean Sherman?"

Only after calling out did Zoe Young realize how much her presence at this moment might hurt Sean Sherman. But the ranking didn't matter that much, scores are just numbers, as long as they're enough, right?

Sean Sherman turned around and smiled, calm and open, which reassured Zoe Young a lot.

"Congratulations."

"...Thank you."

"Do you want to know what my score was?"

Zoe Young shook her head, nodded, then shook her head again.

" , surprised?"

Sean Sherman was still smiling. His calm appearance made Zoe Young feel a pang of sadness.

"You really are easy to envy. But I don't envy you. As long as I can work for something myself, I won't envy others, even if others get it easily and I have to work ten times as hard. I was supposed to save my family money, but in the end, I might have to pay more than twenty thousand yuan to go to Brightstar High School or the branch of the Normal University Affiliated School.

"My family can't afford it. Maybe my damn aunt will have to pay. Every time I see her and her son, who goes to the Normal University Affiliated School, I want to strangle them—I'm serious, really strangle them. They look down on my father, think he embarrasses my grandparents, and look down on us for being so poor. She said she'd sponsor me to get into the Normal University Affiliated School, but I never agreed. I want to go to No. 13 High School with my household registration, and I don't believe I can't get into Brightstar High School from there. I want to show her and her idiot son!"

Sean Sherman's last two sentences came out very fast, and Zoe Young suddenly remembered how Sean Sherman had rattled off answers in class.

"In the end, I still embarrassed my parents in front of them. Actually, her son did terribly, but I have to do really, really well to hold my head high. I didn't.

"All the times I got first place at school were for nothing. At the crucial moment, you were first.

"I really don't envy you. Don't worry.

"I applied to Brightstar High School for key high school, but didn't fill in the self-funded section. I've decided to go to a regular high school."