Doug Feng could feel it in the pit of his stomach—the sense of doom, creeping in like an exam he hadn't studied for. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he trudged after Linda, who was walking ahead of him with the poise of an ice queen—and the mood to match.
As they exited the classroom together, the rest of the class looked on like they'd just witnessed a scandal. Yang Shunping, one of Lin Yi's loyal sidekicks, immediately pulled out his phone and sent a text like he was reporting an international incident. Meanwhile, Vice Class Rep Lu Xiqing sat frozen in place, jaw clenched so tight you could hear his teeth grind. Watching Doug casually stroll out beside Linda was like a slap in the face.
"Doug Feng, you bastard…" Lu muttered under his breath. His fist clenched so tightly it trembled, and then—bang!—he slammed it onto the desk. "What do you have that I don't, huh? You think you're some kind of prince charming? Please. You're a damn toad dreaming of a swan!"
Out in the hallway, Doug was already getting grilled.
"Doug Feng!" Linda spun around on her heel, arms crossed, brows furrowed. "Didn't I just tell you yesterday? Take the exams seriously. No nonsense. So why did you hand in your paper early again this afternoon?"
Doug raised his hands innocently. "I finished…"
"You finished?" she cut in, voice rising with disbelief. "I did that same math paper, and it was easily the hardest mock exam we've had so far! Don't try to fool me. You really expect me to believe you breezed through it just like that?"
She exhaled sharply and shook her head. "Doug, I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to stand out, get my attention, maybe even impress me with your little 'look how fast I am' stunt. But this isn't the way. Not when it comes to your future."
Her voice softened just a fraction, enough to make it sting. "The college entrance exam is just around the corner. I can't—we can't—afford distractions right now. You should be using that brain of yours to build your future, not waste it on shortcuts and schemes."
Doug blinked. For a second there, she almost sounded like his mom. Actually—scratch that—she was worse than his mom. She'd been class president since what, primary school? No wonder she was so good at lectures.
"Alright, alright, Class President ma'am." Doug chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head. "I get it, okay? I messed up. I repent."
Linda narrowed her eyes. "I'm serious. Can you promise me you'll give the next exam your full attention? No funny business. No early hand-ins?"
Seeing the concern in her expression, something in Doug's chest shifted. It wasn't just about scolding him—she actually cared. That slight glow of pride in her eyes… was she hoping he'd turn things around?
Doug raised his hand like he was about to take an oath in court. "I swear. No early hand-ins. I'll sit through every miserable minute of it, okay? You win, Madam President."
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "You'd better. Because if you try anything funny again…" She leaned in, her voice dropping to a whisper filled with threat and promise, "Doug Feng, you. Are. Dead."
By then, they'd reached the exam hall. Both found their seats just as the invigilator walked in, carrying a thick stack of test papers that looked like they belonged in a courtroom evidence folder rather than a high school.
Linda glanced down at Doug's desk, then called softly from her seat behind him. "Doug!"
He turned. She gave him a fist pump and whispered, "Good luck!"
Doug's chest warmed. He gave her a fist pump back, grinning. "You too!"
A collective murmur rippled through the room. Was that Linda Feng, the school's untouchable ice goddess, giving Doug Feng—academic bottom-feeder and walking chaos magnet—a pep talk?
The same Doug who had the audacity to hand in not one but two papers early yesterday?
Male students were silently combusting across the room.
"What the hell's going on…?"
"Is she serious? Him?"
"She's got to be trolling us. There's no way."
The test papers were distributed. This was the science combo—biology, chemistry, and physics. All three. Two hours. No calculator. No mercy.
Doug flipped through the questions. Mole ratios, genetics, projectile motion. The holy trinity of teenage despair.
Across the room, students inhaled sharply. The difficulty had been dialed up—again. This was the third and final mock exam before the real deal, and the teachers had clearly decided it was time to separate the sheep from the goats.
While everyone else groaned and dove into equations like they were defusing bombs, Doug… was already writing.
His black gel pen danced across the pages, numbers and diagrams flowing out with the kind of confidence that made it look almost… unfair.
Thirty minutes.
Forty.
Fifty.
Even for someone like him—someone who had "seen things" no other student had thanks to his mysterious system—this paper took effort. But at the fifty-minute mark, his last answer was down. All three papers completed.
He glanced around.
No one else was even close.
Doug looked down at his paper. Then over his shoulder—Linda was still scribbling furiously. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, lips pressed into a thin line.
If he handed this in now, he was done for.
She'll kill me. Actually kill me.
He hesitated, pen frozen in his hand.
But then—BAM. Another image crashed into his mind: Aunt Liang clutching her chest, the panic in Zhu Sis's voice last night, the hospital monitor beeping in the background.
He had promised to check on them.
Time check—9:30 a.m.
City Hospital's just thirty minutes away. If I leave now… I can still make it.
Doug clenched his jaw.
Screw it.
Die later. Save Aunt Liang now.
He raised his hand.
"Finished?" the invigilator asked, raising an eyebrow.
Doug nodded. "Yes, sir."
Again, he was the first. Again, all heads turned. Some glared like he'd just insulted their mothers.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"Three times? Is he trying to get slapped?"
"This guy is a menace. An actual menace."
As he walked out, Doug felt the heat of a hundred laser beams scorching into his back. He didn't dare look back at Linda's face.
Behind him, a pencil snapped.
Linda's.
"Doug Feng!" she hissed under her breath, stabbing her desk with her pen. "You promised. You literally just promised! Wait till this exam is over. Just wait."
Doug was already halfway down the school steps by then.
"Okay… hospital's thirty minutes away. If I walk fast, I can be there by ten."
He didn't even bother with a cab. Slinging his bag higher on his shoulder, Doug broke into a jog. Not just to keep his promise to Aunt Liang—but maybe, just maybe—to outrun the wrath of one very pissed-off class president.
Because make no mistake—
Doug Feng was officially a dead man walking.