48 Hours a Day

Han Lu told Zhang Heng not to worry. He could park his Polo at her place for the time being. After all, she had three parking spaces and he could pick up the car after he received his driver’s license. Nonetheless, he rejected her offer.

Zhang Heng didn’t have a driver’s license, and he could not drive during regular hours. This, however, didn’t mean that he wasn’t allowed to drive during his extra 24 hours.

In fact, public transportation was easily accessible in big cities, and there were many methods of traveling during regular hours, and it wasn’t a big problem if personal transport was nonexistent. On the contrary, when Zhang Heng entered the still world, he would need a means of transportation if he wanted to move to a distant place.

In the end, Han Lu didn’t force the idea on Zhang Heng. She made a phone call and got someone to drive the Polo to a parking lot near Zhang Heng’s School.

“You have my address and contact information. Feel free to come and see me when you are free.” Before they parted ways, Han Lu said to Zhang Heng, “Inform me in advance before you come. I travel far sometimes.”

“Thank you, Auntie Han,” Zhang Heng responded politely.

“Just call me Sister Han. It sounds younger,” Han Lu smiled.

The students who took leave after the seventh day of the new year gradually began to return to school. In Zhang Heng’s dormitory, Chen Huadong came back the earliest. According to him, staying at home was too dull. All he did was eat and sleep, and of course, he was warmly welcomed by his parents during the first few days, but after that, his parents would start nagging and complaining no matter what he did. When Spring Festival was over, he opted to book his tickets and return to school early. At school, he could play all the games and watch all the dramas he wanted.

Wei Jiangyang was the second to return to school. Mainly, it was because he booked drama tickets for the seventh day of the new year and wanted to watch it with his girlfriend. They both had to come back early to watch it. Zhang Heng came back after that, followed by Ma Wei, the last person to return to the dorm. He went back to his hometown late and stayed home for an extra two days. He did, however, manage to make it back right on the day before school restarted.

It was the dawn of a new semester, and the finals were still a long way away. It should be the most relaxing and exciting time for the students. Chen Huadong, however, looked as if he was about to enter a battlefield. In the early hours of the 26th, he sat in front of his computer with a serious expression, and with trembling hands, he entered a URL. When he clicked on the mouse, he quickly covered his eyes with his other hand.

After that, he looked like a girl that was about to get married. He moved his fingers nervously and reluctantly. When he saw the numbers, he couldn’t help but let out an exciting wolf howl. Raising his arms and fists, he exclaimed, “Yes! I passed the test!!!”

“Your score… is kinda low,” Ma Wei groaned. He was standing behind Chen Huadong and saw the eye-catching 426 points on the screen. “It’s one point higher than the passing mark. Anyway, you got about 60 points for your other courses as well.”

“Don’t underestimate me. In our school, I’m the God of Exams. Please call me the Naked Exam Prince in the future!” Chen Huadong exclaimed while patting his chest.

Compared to the excited Chen Huadong, Wei Jiangyang, on the other hand, had a solemn look on his face. As another member of the naked exam team, his English was actually not bad, outperforming himself in the college entrance examination. He got 130 points, which wasn’t too bad actually, and shouldn’t have any problems taking the CET-6 examination. He did not pay much attention to the test, and besides, he needed to accompany his girlfriend as well. As a result, there wasn’t much time for him to do any revising

He did not expect to fall so hard this time. Scoring only 402 points in total, it meant he needed to retake the exam in June this year. The moment Wei Jiangyang discovered his less-than-stellar results, he seemed to be in pain, wailing with his head buried in his arms on the table. At the same time, similar scenes echoed in every corner of every school across the country, where both wails and cheers concurrently resounded. Chen Huadong patted his shoulder and comforted him. “It’s okay, look on the brighter side. At least you got to add the points you earned for some credits. Our friend, Mr. Zhang, will have a headache soon,” he said.

Zhang Heng wasn’t in the dormitory now, but everyone in there knew about his current circumstances. The teacher caught him skipping class before the CET-6 exam, and had gotten so angry that he canceled all the points Zhang Heng earned. According to the 3 to 7 conversion rule, he had to obtain a score of at least 609 in this exam to acquire the English credits. Otherwise, he would have to retake the whole subject with the freshmen next semester.

Zhang Heng’s English proficiency was no secret, scoring a respectable 492 points in the previous CET-4 exam. Although it wasn’t bad, it was just mediocre at best. He needed another 100 points to pass the exam, and besides, the CET-6 exam was significantly more difficult. Supposedly, Zhang Heng was more than capable of passing the CET-6 exam, but it was also unrealistic for someone to get 609 points in one go.

In fact, it was an impossible goal. Zhang Heng was genuinely unlucky. It just happened that the teacher was in a bad mood. After angering him, Zhang Heng was practically begging to retake the exam next semester. Retaking the exam was a small matter. The main point was, it was embarrassing to have to retake the exam with a group of junior girls.

Zhang Heng came back at night. As soon as he entered the door, he saw that a small table had been set up in the middle of the room. On it, there were some cold beef, chicken wings, smoked sausage, pancakes, and several other cold dishes. Chen Huadong even took out a large bucket of Coke.

“Anyone of you celebrating something?” Zhang Heng asked. “No, this is a healing dinner, specially organized by everyone to comfort you and Wei Jiangyang’s injured souls,” Chen Huadong solemnly proclaimed. He stepped forward and pulled Zhang Heng to the main seat.

“Me? Why do I need healing?” Zhang Heng asked.

“We admire your courage for braving through death. They released the CET-6 results today. Have you checked it yet?”

“Oh, I forgot about it.”

It was true that Zhang Heng had forgotten about it. Although it was only two months after the CET-6 exam, Zhang Heng had completed three quests during that period. In other words, his mind convinced him that a few years had passed since the CET-6 exam. The memories of the exam were at the back in his head, and he didn’t remember it until Chen Huadong mentioned it.

Chen Huadong handed him a pair of disposable chopsticks, saying at the same time in relief, “Think on the brighter side, at least you can snuggle up to those cute little junior girls next semester. With your looks and behavior, it’s not a problem for you to get rid of your single status. When that time comes, I might ask you to help me look for a potential partner. By the way, would you like to check your results?” “Okay,” Zhang Heng said.

Chen Huadong turned on his computer and thoughtfully helped Zhang Heng open the results webpage. Zhang Heng entered the account number, paused for a while before entering the password. The page then jumped to the query result. When they saw Zhang Heng’s results, the entire dorm room fell silent.

Chen Huadong’s jaw had fallen to the ground. After a while, he recovered, rubbed his eyes, and said, “That’s a bug in the system. It’s definitely a bug, right?!”