Examination Day

On the way to school Jin Wuxin walked ahead of them, as usual. Backpack snug on both shoulders, earbuds in. But no music playing.

He was listening.

Behind him, Xiao Lele and Jin Wu walked in silence. The air between them still awkward.

He knew. He felt it.

But he also knew it wasn’t his place to fix it anymore.

After class during lunch break Xiao Lele slid into the seat across from him in the nearly empty classroom.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m always okay,” he said with a small smile.

She frowned. “You don’t have to be.”

“I know. But it helps other people when I am.”

She looked down. “I didn’t mean for things to get weird. I just… I thought maybe—”

Wuxin gently cut her off. “You thought I liked you. I get it. A lot of people did.”

She blinked. “Wait… so you knew?”

He nodded. “And I didn’t say anything. Because I didn’t want to embarrass you. Or Jin Wu.”

A pause.

“Lele… you’re important to both of us. But in different ways.”

Her throat tightened. “So what am I to you?”

Wuxin didn’t answer right away. He looked at her—really looked at her.

“You’re someone I trust,” he said finally. “And someone I hope doesn’t carry guilt over things who never meant to break.”

She felt something twist in her chest. “You’re too kind, Wuxin.”

“No. I just know what it feels like to carry weight that’s not yours.”

After that at the roof top Jin Wuxin sat alone, looking out over the schoolyard.

He wasn’t heartbroken. He wasn’t angry.

He was… relieved.

Because he hadn’t lost anything.

He still had his brother, even if things were awkward now.

And Lele? She’d find her way too.

Some people loved quietly. And some people quietly let go—for the sake of love.

In Wuxin’s classroom, focusing on his academic drive toward Chesterbridge University—an elite, near-unreachable university with a reputation that sets it apart from all others.

The sun slanted through the tall windows, casting golden lines across the desks. Most students were packing up. But Jin Wuxin was still scribbling in his mock exam booklet, brow furrowed, lips pressed tight.

His answer sheet looked more like an engineer’s blueprint than a test.

“Jin Wuxin,” the math teacher called from the doorway, “that’s already past the bell.”

“I’ll finish in two minutes,” he replied without looking up.

A few classmates glanced at each other. Not in judgment—but awe.

Everyone in Class 1 knew Wuxin was aiming for Chesterbridge University.

They also knew no one from their school had ever made it.

Lele tapped her pen, watching Wuxin. “He hasn’t looked up once.”

Jin Wu muttered, “That’s normal for him.”

“You’re worried.”

“No.”

She raised a brow.

He sighed. “I just don’t want him to forget… he doesn’t have to do everything alone.”

After Wuxin finishes he placed his pen down, calm and focused.

Mr. He, the teacher, walked over. “You’re pushing hard.”

“I need to. Chesterbridge won’t wait for me to catch up.”

The teacher nodded. “You’re already ahead.”

Wuxin offered a small smile. “Not far enough.”

-------------------------

Moment of truth its Exam Day.

The air was too still. Even the usual morning chatter felt muted.

Wuxin stood in the hallway, staring at the exam room door. His ID tag hung neatly from his collar. His fingers tapped once against the test permit—once, then again. A rhythm to calm his mind.

Behind him, Jin Wu appeared, pulling at his uniform sleeve.

“You ready?” he asked. Wuxin gave a nod. “You?” Jin Wu didn’t answer.

Inside the exam room rows of students. The rustle of papers. The faint scrape of pencils. Time ticking.

Wuxin’s face was unreadable, but his brain was sprinting. He didn’t look around, didn’t glance up once. This wasn’t just about a good score.

This was about getting out. Getting to Chesterbridge. His dream College, his goal.

In another seat over, Jin Wu kept glancing sideways at Wuxin’s back. There was a storm building behind his eyes—equal parts admiration, jealousy, and confusion.

He didn’t hate his twin. He just didn’t know how to be next to him without always feeling beneath him.

After the first subject ends breaks time. Xiao Lele handed Wuxin a bottle of water. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you?” she pressed gently.

Wuxin just gave a tired smile. “You know me. I’ll survive.”

And maybe that was the problem. He always did.

Wuxin sat under the banyan tree, textbook closed but still in his lap. He wasn’t eating. Just drinking from the water bottle Lele gave him.

Across the yard, Jin Wu bought two lunchboxes and walked over. He dropped one on the bench beside Wuxin without saying anything.

Wuxin blinked. “You didn’t have to—”

“I didn’t. Lele asked me to.”

“…Right.”

Wuxin opened the box anyway.

A Beat of Silence Jin Wu sat but didn’t eat.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked suddenly.

Wuxin didn’t look up. “About what?”

“You’re applying to Chesterbridge.”

Wuxin shrugged. “So are you.”

“Yeah, but no one’s betting on me.”

Wuxin looked at him now. “It’s not a race, Wu.”

Jin Wu gave a dry laugh. “It always is. With you, it always is.”

Before Wuxin could answer, Lele appeared, holding three cartons of soy milk. She handed one to each of them with a small smile—pretending not to notice the weight in the air.

After their lunch the bell rings Wuxin stood first. “Two more subjects.”

Lele nodded. “Math and Science.”

Jin Wu stood slower. “I’ll see you in the next room.” He paused before leaving, voice quieter this time.

“Good luck, ge.”

Wuxin froze just slightly. It was the first time in months Jin Wu had called him that.

“…You too.”

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Jin Family Home – Dinner Time

The lights buzzed faintly overhead. A cracked ceramic bowl sat at each seat, steam rising in slow curls.

Jin Wuxin sat across from Jin Wu, their father at the head of the table, their mother moving between kitchen and dining room like a quiet storm.

She laid a bowl of soup in front of Jin Wu, then reached to refill his cup.

Wuxin’s remained half-empty. He noticed. Of course he did but he kept to himself.

When Mother Jin starts to talk.“Did you fix the leak in the stall today?” Lu Tianling asked.

“Yeah,” Jin Yulin muttered. “Took all morning.”

“You should’ve had Wu help you.”

“He was busy,” the father said. “Next time.”

Neither parent looked at Wuxin as if he was there—but not really.

At a peak moment he decided to start a conversation. “Why do you never ask me to help?” Wuxin’s voice came out quiet. Even.

That made them pause.

Lu Tianling blinked, surprised. “You always look so tired. And you never say anything.”

“Maybe I got tired of talking.”

Jin Wu glanced between them, chewing slower. Watching.

Wuxin looked directly at his mother. “Is there something wrong with me?”

She set the ladle down. “Why would you ask that?”

“You treat me like I’m not yours.”

The room went still.

Even the ceiling fan seemed to stop spinning.

Lu Tianling pressed her lips into a line. “Don’t start with that nonsense at the table.”

“I’m not starting anything. I’m just... tired of pretending I don’t notice.”

Sensing out of ordinary the father spoke quickly. “Enough,” Jin Yulin said. Low, heavy. “It’s been a long day.”

He didn’t defend Wuxin.

After the meal dishes clinked in the sink.

Jin Wu stepped outside onto the back steps where Wuxin sat alone in the dark, elbows on his knees.

“You okay?”

Wuxin didn’t answer.

Jin Wu sat beside him, silent. The silence between them was different than the one at the table. Heavier, but more honest.

“…I don’t think you’re crazy for feeling that way,” Jin Wu finally said. “I notice it too.”

Wuxin looked over, startled.

But Jin Wu didn’t look back.

At midnight the TV was off. The lights dimmed. Jin Yulin sat alone, that photo clenched in his hand. He’d found it in a small envelope under Lu Tianling’s old box. It was old, yellowed at the corners. But the child and the woman in the picture...

That wasn’t Jin Wu.

That wasn’t their baby.

That was Jin Wuxin.

Only... the photo wasn’t taken by them. It didn’t belong in their house.

And now, everything started unraveling.

Doubt creeps in Jin Yulin stared at the hallway that led to the boys’ room. Wuxin had always felt... different. Quiet. Distant. But maybe it wasn’t just personality.

Maybe he’d sensed it. Known it on some level.

Was he even mine?

The thought hit him like a blow. A kind of betrayal that made his stomach turn.

He tried to reason through it. Maybe Lu had helped someone at the clinic. Maybe she kept the photo for another reason. But that didn’t explain the way she looked at Wuxin. The way she didn’t look at him.

Flashback – 17 Years Ago

Their child Jin Wu’s eldest twin brother—then just 8 months old—fell sick with fever. He took him to a nearby clinic, rainy and stormy season.

Lu Tianling the only nurse shift that time. He brought the baby to her.

She came back hours later, eyes red, baby asleep. She told him everything was fine.

He never asked more.

Present tim, he waited until she came to bed.

Held up the photo with no words.

Lu Tianling froze.

“…Where did you find that?”

“In your box. Buried under old scarves. Lu, who is this child?”

Her lips parted. She didn’t speak.

He pressed on, voice rough: “Is Wuxin really ours?”

Tears welled in her eyes—not the fragile kind, but the kind that came from years of silence breaking. “He’s mine,” she whispered. “But not ours.”

Jin Yulin’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”

Lu Tianling sat down, trembling. “There were two babies that day. One was ours. One was a patient’s. Both sick. I was the only one on shift. I was too tired at that time. I gave the wrong dose. Our son… died.”

She broke down. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t face it. I saw that child, still breathing, abandoned in panic. I— I couldn’t let both mothers lose a child. So I kept him. And I lied.”

Jin Yulin stood back. Breath stolen.

All this time… he had raised another man’s son.

And Wuxin didn’t know any of it.

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