Chương 30

“Rumble!”

“Lend me your answer to copy, please.” The moment before handing in the papers is when the candidates in the exam room are the most active; they take this chaos as an opportunity to copy a few more questions. “Hurry up… You choose C for this question? Are you sure?”

“I’m not sure either; I just guessed.”

“And what about this one?”

“Even less sure about that one.”

“…”

Just as Xu Sheng had advised him, after referring to the answers of the candidate right before him, Shao Zhan leaned his head on the desk and closed his eyes to rest.

But then, without any apparent reason, a series of thunderclaps sounded in his ears. Following that, his consciousness gradually slipped into chaos, his body feeling incredibly heavy, while another part of his mind began to drift away.

After several more thunderclaps, the previously calm sky began to display phenomena that no one else could see—the sky flashed with dazzling light, and the endless expanse above seemed like a huge light bulb.

---

“Classmate…”

“Classmate, it’s time to hand in your papers.”

Xu Sheng felt as if he had slept for a very long time. The voice of the invigilator was kind, urging him to hand in his paper quickly… Wait? Kind? Weren’t the chief invigilators for Exam Room One female teachers? The combined age of the two invigilators couldn’t be over thirty.

Where did that kindness come from?

However, his rational mind told him that it was indeed a kind and aged voice. After urging him for a while, the voice grew impatient, and Xu Sheng said loudly, “What’s going on? Sleeping during the exam time…”

Xu Sheng vaguely sensed that something was wrong. He moved his fingers and finally managed to break free from the chaos of his consciousness and opened his eyes.

All he saw was his desk. Xu Sheng sat up, feeling an intense headache, and then noticed that the handwriting on the paper under his arm was messy. Clearly, it wasn’t his handwriting; even though it was messy, it was much neater than his own.

Exam Room One wasn’t that noisy at all. In fact, some people seemed to think the invigilators couldn’t hear them as they shouted loudly, “How should I answer this last question? Don’t move yet! If you can copy even one step, do so! Please help me out!”

The invigilator didn’t have the time to deal with them. This candidate, who was sleeping as if no one else was around and couldn’t be awakened, was simply too arrogant. The invigilator, with a scowl, said, “If you like to sleep so much, go home and sleep well. Why come to take an exam at all?”

With that, the invigilator snatched Xu Sheng’s paper away.

In the moment the invigilator took his paper, Xu Sheng caught a glimpse of two words in the candidate’s name section on the paper: Xu Sheng.

Was this his own paper?

Xu Sheng was confused for a moment before he finally lowered his head. He was wearing a black T-shirt.

After the paper was taken away, only a nearly blank sheet of draft paper remained on the desk.

Only then did he notice four words written in the center of the draft paper: “Don’t leave after the exam.”

It was Shao Zhan’s handwriting; due to the haste, it looked even more messy.

Someone else had just finished handing in their paper and, full of enthusiasm, started packing up to welcome a happy weekend. Passing by his desk, they called out, “Brother Sheng!”

“Ah,” Xu Sheng tugged at the collar of his shirt; it had been a long time since he’d heard that nickname again. After a couple of seconds, he replied, “Is there something?”

“As expected of you, to sleep until now… the proctor’s face must be green with envy,” Wang Qiang, a classmate from Xu Sheng’s first year of high school, said. “Do you have any plans for tonight? It’s been a long time since we’ve all gone online together.”

Xu Sheng didn’t say a word.

All he could think about was: “Has the swap really happened? Where is Shao Zhan? Did he make it back?”

“Maybe another time,” Xu Sheng said, picking up his pen and heading towards the exit of the examination room. “I still have some things to do.”

The first examination room finished collecting papers relatively quickly. By the time Xu Sheng arrived, most of the students had already left. He made his way through the crowded crowd and happened to run into Shao Zhan just as he was coming out of the door.

In the corridor, a few students were whispering among themselves, “I heard that the ‘study god’ fell asleep during the exam?”

“Yes, the proctor called out to him several times before he finally woke up.”

“How could he fall asleep? The study god is always so serious during exams…”

“Maybe this exam was too easy for him; after checking his answers, he had nothing else to do,” they made excuses for Shao Zhan. It was a clear case of double standards. They also added, “But it’s really cool that he managed to sleep during the exam!”

The subject of their conversation, the handsome guy who slept in the exam room, was walking out of the first examination room with a piece of draft paper in his hand, one hand tucked into the pocket of his school uniform pants. He looked just like the last time Xu Sheng saw him: dressed neatly in his school uniform, exuding a cold demeanor.

But now, that seemingly effortless coldness from Shao Zhan didn’t affect Xu Sheng at all. “Deskmate, how about we agree on a secret signal?”

Shao Zhan replied, “What secret signal?”

“You know, there are those strange stories sometimes,” Xu Sheng said. “About someone disappearing for a while, only to come back and find that they’re no longer the same person as before…”

Shao Zhan handed him the messy draft paper he was working on: “If you have the time to read such chaotic stories, you’d better memorize a few more formulas; otherwise, you won’t get a single question right on the fill-in-the-blank section.”

“…” It seemed that the person inside Shao Zhan’s body was indeed the same one as before.

Shao Zhan only had time to take a quick look at his answer sheet, which was a sight to behold: there wasn’t a single correct answer to the fill-in-the-blank questions. He couldn’t even imagine how Xu Sheng must have done on the other subjects.

“So, has the swap really happened?… Why does it have to be right after the mid-term exams?” Xu Sheng thought of that inexplicable thunderstorm and asked again, “Did you hear the thunder?”

“Yes, I did.”

Could thunder be the key?

This time, there was no need to climb over a wall; in fact, the swap happened without any physical contact between them at all.

But what does that have to do with the mid-term exams?

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

In Class 7’s classroom…

Hou Jun and a few others were around the classroom computer, selecting songs: “Classmates, let’s listen to some music to relax the atmosphere. The class monitor wishes everyone a happy weekend and enjoys these last moments of happiness before the results are announced.”

Hou Jun nói đến đây, bất chợt nhìn thấy Shao Zhan và Xu Sheng bước vào, ánh mắt anh sáng lên: “Anh Zhan! Kết quả thi thế nào rồi? Cần gọi bài hát không? Muốn nghe bài gì không?”

Trước đây, Shao Zhan luôn đi một mình; sau khi Hou Jun nói xong, anh ấy phải mất vài giây mới nhận ra mình đang được nói chuyện với mình: “Các cậu cứ gọi bài hát đi.”

Hou Jun chưa kịp chờ Shao Zhan gọi bài hát thì ngay lập tức, kẻ bắt nạt trong lớp theo sau Shao Zhan đã nói: “Gọi cho tôi một bài hát đi, ‘Xin Ru Si Hui Huai’.”

“À?”

Xu Sheng kéo chiếc ghế lại, ngồi xuống rồi nói: “Hoặc là ‘Xin Hui Yi Leng’, không có gì tốt hơn ‘Xin Ru Si Hui Huai’ cả… Bất cứ bài hát nào cũng được.”

Giọng nói của Xu Sheng rất quen thuộc; Hou Jun không biết mình đã quen với kẻ bắt nạt đó từ khi nào: “Bạn Xu Sheng, hôm nay… tâm trạng bạn tốt phải không?”

Xu Sheng nhớ lại vai diễn của mình lúc này, cố gắng sửa lại tình hình: “Ừm, tôi luôn muốn hòa nhập với tập thể lớp mà.”

“Tôi là người khá chậm trong việc hòa nhập,” Xu Sheng nói một cách nghiêm túc, “Trước đây tôi quá nhút nhát mà.”

Hou Jun tỏ vẻ như vừa hiểu ra điều gì đó.

“…” Shao Zhan nói khẽ: “Đừng nói nữa.”

Xu Sheng im lặng lại.

Hou Jun cảm thấy có điều gì đó kỳ lạ, nhưng chưa kịp suy nghĩ thêm, Meng Guowei bước vào lớp để phân công bài tập và nhắc mọi người cẩn thận khi về nhà cuối tuần: “Kỳ kiểm tra đã kết thúc rồi, các bạn không cần lo về điểm số nữa – trong mắt tôi, tất cả các bạn đều là những người giỏi nhất! Hãy cẩn thận với xe cộ trên đường về nhé.”

Xu Sheng không có thói quen ghi chép bài tập; việc phải ghi lại lần này khiến anh cảm thấy hơi lạ, cảm thấy có điều gì đó không ổn, một cảm giác kỳ lạ khó tả. Rõ ràng đó là cơ thể của chính mình…

“Cậu không thấy kỳ lạ sao?” Xu Sheng nằm sấp trên bàn học, quay đầu nhìn Shao Zhan: “Tại sao lại cảm thấy thoải mái hơn khi ở trong cơ thể anh vậy?”

Shao Zhan ghi xong bài tập, buông bút, nhìn thẳng vào mắt Xu Sheng; sau khi trở lại cơ thể mình, vẻ ngoài hung hãn của anh ấy mới phát huy hết tác dụng: khuôn mặt thanh niên với chiếc mũi cao vút, đôi lông mày và đôi mắt lạnh lùng như băng giá. Anh ấy hạ mắt xuống và nói khẽ: “Tôi không muốn phải vào cơ thể cậu lần nữa đâu.”

Cả hai chỉ nói qua loa, sau đó im lặng cùng nhau.

Cuộc trò chuyện này thật là…

“Vào cơ thể cậu…” Câu nói đó nghe có vẻ quá…

Shao Zhan quay mặt đi.

Tai Xu Sheng bỗng nhiên nóng bừng lên.

Anh ta giả vờ “ho” một tiếng, sau đó lấy điện thoại ra, mở ứng dụng WeChat một cách vô mục đích, cố gắng chuyển hướng sự chú ý, nhưng quên mất rằng anh ta và Shao Zhan đã thay đổi cơ thể cho nhau.

“Society, you, Brother Lang…”

“Chao…”

“Big brother?”

“What a huge amount of information…”

Is the interpersonal relationship network of that genius sitting next to him really that complicated?

Xu Sheng didn’t dare to read the rest of the conversation; he quickly slid the dialog box to the right, returning to the contact list.

“Your account, switch it off for a moment,” Xu Sheng handed over his phone, “and… I accidentally clicked on something just now.”

Shao Zhan took it, paused slightly with his finger, and then logged out of that account.

Before he could say anything, Xu Sheng naturally changed the subject. He had already sat up, leaning back slightly, causing the legs of his chair to also tilt backward. He said, “Which bus do you take to get home? Maybe our routes coincide.”

“No, they don’t.”

Xu Sheng was about to speak again.

“Nanping,” Shao Zhan tugged at the collar of his shirt before letting go and said, “Try that route.”

Xu Sheng immediately associated this Nanping with the one he saw on Shao Zhan’s WeChat during their first phone exchange. Nanping is several districts away; indeed, it’s quite remote, so their routes couldn’t possibly coincide.

Xu Sheng asked that question just to ease the awkwardness, so as to avoid the other person having to come up with a sufficient excuse for using the term “big brother.” He didn’t continue the conversation and logged into his own WeChat account.

Three unread messages.

Zhang Feng: After the exams, shall we go play ball? Playing ball’s okay, right? You can’t reject me this time, can you?

Zhang Feng: Boss, no matter how much you love studying, you still need to exercise. Only by doing that can you develop your studies in the long term and achieve even greater success.

Xu Sheng’s reply: “Chao… What time is it?”

The other unread message was from “Mom.”

Mom: I’ll be back this weekend; I’ve prepared dinner waiting for you.