The woman’s name was Qian Yu. Despite dressing like she was wealthy, her family background was quite ordinary compared to Cheng Suo.

Her family owned a fairly large restaurant, but it was just one establishment. The income was decent, but far from making them very rich.

Peng Cheng and the Audit Bureau were not in the same league as her.

Either one could easily crush her without effort.

Qian Yu stammered, “I haven’t offended them, have I?”

“Sis, with your personality, you’ve probably already offended them. But it should be fine—these two families wouldn’t do anything to you. Look at Teacher Yin, who frequently criticized Gu Xue Jiao before, and nothing happened to her,” the biology teacher reassured her. His sister wasn’t a bad person, but her personality could be quite frustrating at times.

Qian Yu glared at him. “What do you know? Teacher Yin also has powerful connections, plus she’s their teacher, so of course she doesn’t care.”

Suddenly remembering something, she added, “I shouldn’t have offended them. I just found out they’re the parents of the first and second-ranked students in the grade. I was extremely polite, but they just didn’t respond to me. That’s not my fault. They can’t be that petty, right?”

“…”

Even if she had offended them, there was nothing to be done about it now. Qian Yu pushed the matter to the back of her mind and continued questioning, “What’s going on with Jia Xue’s grades? In just one year, she’s fallen from the top ten in the grade to thirtieth. At this rate, can she still get into Tsinghua or Peking University?”

“Sis, you’re putting too much pressure on Jia Xue.”

“When did I ever pressure her?”

“You call that not putting pressure on her?” The biology teacher rolled his eyes.

“Forget it, I won’t argue with you. I’m going to find Jia Xue. That little brat saw her mother arrive but didn’t even come to find me.”

With that, Qian Yu stormed off.

Meanwhile, Cheng Suo was preparing to leave the school with Li Si Tong.

“Aren’t we going to talk with Teacher Yin?” Li Si Tong asked, slightly puzzled.

Shouldn’t they talk with the teacher about academic matters? Why were they leaving directly?

Cheng Suo smiled, “Jiao Jiao’s academic situation is quite good. We just need to ensure her nutritional meals keep up. As for the rest, Jiao Jiao knows what she’s doing, right?”

Xue Jiao nodded. “Yes, Mom, don’t worry about it. Let’s go back—Dad still needs to go to the company.”

Cheng Suo had been quite busy lately. Since they had decided to relocate, he had already started planning and preparing. Look how long it took Lin’s company to relocate.

“All right then.” Li Si Tong nodded reluctantly.

As the two walked out the gate, Cheng Suo said, “Let me take you home first.”

“No, no, you drive to the company. I’ll take a taxi to a market,” Li Si Tong shook her head.

Cheng Suo was surprised. “The market? You want to buy something?”

He was stunned. Li Si Tong had been like a young lady from a wealthy family in the past—she would never do something like shopping at a market.

“Yes, I heard from Sister Li about a market that’s quite remote but has a lot of authentic mountain products. I’m going to buy some walnuts and other brain-boosting foods for Jiao Jiao.”

Cheng Suo said, “Go ahead.”

He felt sorry for Xue Jiao.

After Cheng Suo and Li Si Tong left, Xue Jiao slowly walked back to the classroom, reviewing her lessons along the way.

She could already recite all the Chinese literature required for the college entrance exam, but there was still a year to go before the exam. Memory was a strange thing—without frequent review, one would eventually forget.

This was perfect—walking wasn’t suitable for reading books, and doing nothing felt like a waste of time.

So Xue Jiao used the time to recite texts from her curriculum.

As she was walking, suddenly a hand patted her shoulder. “Bookworm!”

Xue Jiao was startled and took a deep breath.

“Yi Yu.”

“Why are you calling me brother?” Yi Tian Yu’s face broke into a broad smile.

Xue Jiao rolled her eyes, ignored him, and continued walking.

“Hey, hey, hey, bookworm, why are you walking so fast?”

“Bookworm, wait for me!”

“Hey!”

Despite her efforts, Xue Jiao’s legs weren’t as long as Yi Tian Yu’s, and she couldn’t shake him off.

The two entered the classroom almost side by side. At this time, there were only a few students in the classroom; the others were still at the playground, along with the teachers.

Liu Jia Xue, Xue Jiao’s desk mate, was lying on her desk.

“Jia Xue, you’re here too?” Xue Jiao approached.

Liu Jia Xue quickly stood up to make room, her eyes red as she struggled to hold back tears. “You guys are back.”

Xue Jiao went in and sat down.

She then turned her head to look at Liu Jia Xue and tentatively asked, “What’s wrong?”

Liu Jia Xue didn’t speak.

“Are you sick?” Concern showed on Xue Jiao’s face.

Liu Jia Xue bit her lower lip and shook her head, her eyes red-rimmed. She didn’t dare lower her head for fear her tears would fall.

“Jia Xue,” as soon as these two words left Xue Jiao’s lips, Liu Jia Xue suddenly hugged her tightly.

“Waaah!” She burst into loud sobs.

Xue Jiao was stunned, feeling the warm tears falling on her shoulder, her eyes wide with surprise.

Yi Tian Yu was also shocked, watching as Liu Jia Xue hugged Xue Jiao, resting her head on Xue Jiao’s shoulder, and holding on tight.

Damn, this works?

This is how you get to hug Xue Jiao?

Yi Tian Yu felt like he had discovered a whole new world.

Xue Jiao was frightened too. In her previous life, she had been busy working and studying, with hardly any time to make friends.

In this life, due to the influence of Gu Xue Jiao’s past, she didn’t have any friends either.

This female classmate hugging her and crying—

For Xue Jiao, it was like a bride’s first ride in a wedding sedan chair—a completely new experience.

After a long while, she stiffly extended her hand and gently patted Liu Jia Xue’s back, her voice as gentle as could be.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well, or did someone bully you?”

Liu Jia Xue said nothing, just hugged Xue Jiao, and cried desperately.

Seeing her like this, Xue Jiao guessed she must have suffered some grievance that she couldn’t express.

She relaxed slightly—at least it wasn’t a physical health issue.

Liu Jia Xue cried for quite some time before releasing Xue Jiao. Looking at her shoulder, she sniffled, feeling embarrassed.

“I’m sorry.”

Xue Jiao smiled gently. “It’s okay.”

Liu Jia Xue looked at her clean, beautiful face. Xue Jiao was showing a light yet warm smile.

Suddenly, Liu Jia Xue felt a warmth in her heart.

Before becoming Xue Jiao’s desk mate, she had been like all the other girls in the class—hearing about Xue Jiao’s past stories and watching her study without ever raising her head.

She had always felt Xue Jiao was aloof and unapproachable, barely daring to speak to her.

Being good-looking makes it easier for people to develop affection, but being too good-looking creates a sense of distance.

Additionally, Xue Jiao wasn’t a boarding student—she arrived in the morning and left in the evening.

So even after being in the same class for a year, Liu Jia Xue had barely spoken to Xue Jiao.

When she was first assigned to be Xue Jiao’s deskmate, Liu Jia Xue was disappointed.

She was afraid they wouldn’t get along and also feared Xue Jiao would look down on her.

But after actually sitting together, she gradually felt that Xue Jiao’s personality wasn’t as aloof and reclusive as she had thought.

They would occasionally exchange a few words. She would watch from the corner of her eye as Xue Jiao studied diligently with her beautiful face.

She would envy the teachers’ fondness for her and the admiration of other boys. When handing out assignments, the class representative would be gentler with her, and when fetching water, classmates would instinctively make way for her.

She would also envy how Yi Tian Yu constantly tried to make her happy.

This person was so outstanding that even after being desk mates for some time, there was still a sense of distance between them.

But at this moment, Liu Jia Xue suddenly felt that they weren’t so distant after all.

Xue Jiao was even better than she had imagined.

Liu Jia Xue hurriedly took out a tissue and handed it to Xue Jiao.

“Wipe, wipe, wipe.”

Xue Jiao took out two sheets but handed one back to her.

“You wipe too. If you have any grievances, you can tell me. I won’t tell anyone else.”

Her gaze was sincere and concerned.

Liu Jia Xue held the tissue, still unable to speak.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to say, but if someone is bullying you, or if you’re not feeling well somewhere, you must speak up.” Xue Jiao was still worried. Counting her previous life, she was older. She was very concerned about girls this age who might suffer grievances but not dare to speak up.

“Mm.” Liu Jia Xue nodded, biting her lower lip.

Xue Jiao didn’t say anything more.

Yi Tian Yu patted her shoulder, and Xue Jiao turned around.

She saw a pair of reddened eyes filled with tears and a face contorted with pain.

Xue Jiao: “…”

Yi Tian Yu extended his hand, his voice hoarse, “Bookworm, I’m in pain. I can’t control my tears.”

Xue Jiao looked at him expressionlessly.

Yi Tian Yu leaned forward, trying to hug her, and put his head on her shoulder.

“I’m in so much pain, but a man’s tears don’t fall easily, I—”

Xue Jiao reached out her hand, pressing it against his forehead to stop his movement.

Yi Tian Yu was taken aback.

Xue Jiao looked at him and said expressionlessly:

“Yi Yu, the smell of the essential balm you applied is too strong.”

Yi Tian Yu: “…”

After the oath-taking ceremony, it was essentially the first month of the senior year.

The first mock exam was approaching, and combined with the influence of the oath-taking ceremony, students during this period were full of determination to work hard.

Although it was unclear how long this determination would last, the competition was indeed fierce at the current stage.

The subject teachers began to review knowledge with the students, starting from the first year of high school. Everyone listened very attentively.

Xue Jiao had already begun her third round of detailed review. The first round was her review, and the second round was reviewing with Teacher Zheng during the summer vacation.

Now it was the third round, where she needed to break down and thoroughly digest all the knowledge points.

Therefore, during each class when the teachers were reviewing, among all the students who were listening with their heads up, Xue Jiao was the only one with her head down.

The teachers didn’t say anything. Early in the semester, Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng had already spoken with them.

After class.

Yi Tian Yu stretched his neck to watch Xue Jiao reviewing.

“Bookworm, why are you and Chu Sheng allowed to not listen in class, but I have to? We all took classes with Teacher Zheng together.”

Xue Jiao didn’t raise her head, turning a page.

“You were in the first round, we were in the second round, and also—”

“And also what?” Yi Tian Yu blinked.

Xue Jiao smiled sarcastically, “And also, don’t say you were in the same classes with us under Teacher Zheng. We were also in the same classroom classes before, but our grades—”

“Don’t say anymore, don’t say anymore,” Yi Tian Yu made a pleading gesture.

Xue Jiao lifted her chin, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as she withdrew her gaze.

Beside them, Liu Jia Xue watched them talk with eager eyes. When Yi Tian Yu was speaking, she never dared to interrupt.

After they finished, she enviously said to Xue Jiao, “You’re so brave. I wouldn’t dare tell the teachers that I also attended tutoring during the summer vacation.”

Xue Jiao looked at her seriously, “Learning is your own business. If you have a good rhythm, there’s no need to follow the teacher. There’s nothing to be afraid of. But following the teacher’s guidance also has its benefits. You must understand your situation to know what works best for you. Only you know what’s best for yourself.”

When she finished speaking, Liu Jia Xue had a moment of confusion.

Xue Jiao continued to explain, “For example, this semester, the teachers bought two sets of review materials for each subject. But these were bought by the teachers based on the general situation, to help more people strengthen their foundations. My foundation is already quite good for now, so I need materials with higher difficulty, which is why I added two more guidebooks myself. This might not be suitable for others, but it’s suitable for me.”

Xue Jiao ended her explanation there and resumed her previous pace.

After a while, Liu Jia Xue finally said, “I’ll still follow the teacher’s class.”

She didn’t know whether she should follow the teacher or not. It seemed that not following the teacher might make her worry about not learning well or missing knowledge points.

Following the teacher—

Yet she noticed that top students like Gu Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng weren’t following the teacher.

She was momentarily confused, but quickly realized she didn’t dare to tell the teacher, so she contentedly listened to the teacher’s lectures.

In just over a month, No. 7 Middle School completed the first round of review.

The first mock exam officially began.

“This time, it’s a full simulation of the college entrance exam. Students, treat it as if you were fighting the real college entrance exam. Give it your all. The total scores will be sent to your parents and will be categorized according to score lines. Students who perform well will be rewarded, while for those who don’t perform well, the school will have a chat with their parents.”

“Ah!” When this news came out, the entire classroom erupted in wails.

“Why is our first mock exam starting so early?”

“Our province is always like this.”

“Nonsense, in our province, only our school and No. 1 Middle School are the best. The mock exam questions set by our school and No. 1 Middle School are used throughout the province. If our school didn’t schedule the first mock exam at this time, how could the whole province be like this?”

“Why is our school having the first mock exam so early?”

“How would I know? It seems to be the result of the school’s practice—this timing is best for the review process.”

“The school wouldn’t harm us. At worst, we’ll just be a bit more tired.”

“Hmph!”

No matter how much the students sighed and complained, by the end of September, the first mock exam was in full swing.

“Jiao Jiao, come, eat these walnuts.” Li Si Tong brought out a plate of shelled walnuts and placed a glass of milk on the table.

Xue Jiao’s face immediately fell. She said dejectedly, “Mom, can I eat fewer walnuts? I’m turning into a walnut myself.”

“I have scientific evidence for this. I know exactly how many walnuts are appropriate to eat each day, and I’ve shelled them according to that standard. Hurry up and eat, then rush to school. Today is the mock exam—you must maintain your first place.”

Xue Jiao sighed, eating the walnuts with a look of despair.

When Li Si Tong returned to the kitchen, Xue Jiao immediately stood up, grabbing all the walnuts from the plate with one hand.

“Mom, I’ll eat them on the way—no time! Dad, goodbye!”

With that, Xue Jiao quickly changed her shoes, picked up her schoolbag, and ran.

“You come back—” Li Si Tong shouted.

“Si Tong, stop calling her,” Cheng Suo intervened.

Li Si Tong immediately fell silent and looked over with a bit of dissatisfaction. “Sister Wang and I spent so long shelling those, and she’ll throw them away once she’s out.”

Cheng Suo smiled and patted the seat beside him. Li Si Tong sat down, still fuming.

“I should have called her back and made her finish eating before leaving.”

“Jiao Jiao doesn’t like walnuts; you’re forcing her,” Cheng Suo said, putting his arm around Li Si Tong. “But it’s also good. Haven’t you noticed that Xue Jiao has become much closer to us? There’s much less distance. This is how a child should be.”

Li Si Tong was taken aback.

Cheng Suo continued, “If you give her walnuts, she just says ‘thank you’ and calmly eats them all, even if she doesn’t like them. Would you be satisfied with that?”

Li Si Tong instinctively shook her head.

Cheng Suo smiled. “You love her, I know that, but you need to love her correctly. When she’s mischievous like this, you can nag, but don’t get angry.”

“Okay.” Li Si Tong nodded firmly.

Then she reached out and hugged Cheng Suo. “Old Cheng, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t know how to be a mother.”

She had many, many issues and was slowly correcting them.

The process was a bit difficult, but it was something she had to go through.

When Xue Jiao arrived at school, quite a few people were already there. Her seat had always been in Class 1, so she didn’t need to go to another classroom early to wait.

“Bookworm, you’re here!” Yi Tian Yu put down his cup, his eyes brightening.

As Xue Jiao approached, Liu Jia Xue walked over, getting close to Xue Jiao. “You’re here.”

“Mm, you guys are early.”

“No choice, the old man insisted,” Yi Tian Yu shrugged.

Liu Jia Xue didn’t explain, and Xue Jiao didn’t ask further.

“Here, have some walnuts to nourish your brain. I hope our brains are sufficient for today’s exam.” She flipped her hand, revealing a handful of walnut kernels.

“Oh, bookworm, you’re so nice?” Yi Tian Yu said as he took half of them first.

Liu Jia Xue reached out for the remaining half but then hesitated.

Xue Jiao grabbed her hand and gave her all of them.

“You guys eat, eat.”

Liu Jia Xue looked at her with gratitude. “Jiao Jiao, aren’t you going to eat? Let’s eat together.”

“I’ve already eaten. You go ahead,” Xue Jiao said urgently.

Liu Jia Xue was so moved that her eyes reddened. “You’re so nice, Jiao Jiao.”

Jiao Jiao was the best friend she had ever met and the one who was kindest to her.

Xue Jiao awkwardly averted her gaze, looking slightly embarrassed.

She quickly took out her Chinese textbook and began reviewing the texts before the exam started.

Seeing her like this, Yi Tian Yu and Liu Jia Xue also took out their books and started flipping through them.

As soon as the two-day exam ended, the seven-day National Day holiday began.

This might be the longest vacation for the senior year, since this year’s winter break would only be seven days long.

As soon as the exam was over, students compared answers while cheering wildly, creating a lively atmosphere.

“Quiet!” Yin Fang walked in, shouting.

Immediately, everyone fell silent.

“The grading model for this exam follows the college entrance exam. Your rankings will be determined across the entire city. You absolutely cannot waste your minds on play during this holiday. I will send messages to your parents tonight with all your assignments. Your parents will supervise your study at home.”

She paused, then added, “Class representatives, come with me to get the assignments.”

By the afternoon, when all the assignments had been distributed, Yi Tian Yu was plunged into an extreme state of questioning his life choices.

“Bookworm.”

“What?” Xue Jiao turned her head.

“How many days are we off for National Day?”

“Seven days.” Xue Jiao replied, puzzled.

Yi Tian Yu’s hand holding a stack of papers trembled slightly. After a while, he choked out:

“This is a month’s worth of assignments, isn’t it?”

Xue Jiao: “…”

This time, the assignments were indeed numerous. Each teacher thought, “I’ll just assign a little more, it’s fine. At worst, students will just work a bit harder.”

But clearly, all the teachers had thought this way.

To the extent that these assignments would require students to do much more than just “work a bit harder.”

Xue Jiao returned home with her heavy schoolbag. Li Si Tong was packing things.

She looked at Li Si Tong with confusion as she changed her shoes.

“Jiao Jiao, you’re back!”

“Yes, what are you doing?”

“Pack your things too. We’re leaving early tomorrow to see your brother.”

“Ah?” Xue Jiao was momentarily confused.

“Your brother has a project and only gets one day off, so he won’t be coming back. Your dad and I discussed it—we’ll go see him and take a trip to Beijing City. It’s perfect timing since you’ve just finished your exams and can relax a bit.” Li Si Tong said casually.

Xue Jiao sighed and lifted her schoolbag.

“Mom, these are assignments.”

“So many?” Li Si Tong’s eyes widened.

Xue Jiao nodded. “Yes, the teacher will send them to you tonight. You’ll see then. So even if I go with you, when you’re out sightseeing, I’ll probably be in the library or hotel working on assignments.”

Li Si Tong’s brows furrowed. After a long while, she choked out, “But we can’t leave you alone at home while we go out. Besides, if we don’t see your brother now, we probably won’t see him until the New Year.”

Both of them immediately got headaches, not knowing what to do.

In the evening, Cheng Suo returned home.

“Old Cheng, what do we do about this situation? Jiao Jiao’s teachers are something—assigning so many assignments even during the holiday.” Li Si Tong looked conflicted.

Cheng Suo smiled. “What can we do? It’s the senior year—if there were too few assignments, we’d be worried.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Jiao Jiao definitely can’t stay home alone. Our family reunion can’t be missed. Since Ming Ze only has one day off, we’ll have a meal together, see Ming Ze’s school, and then your mom and I will go sightseeing for the next two days while Jiao Jiao does her assignments in the library. Then we’ll come back, and Jiao Jiao will do her assignments at home for the remaining four days. How’s that?” Cheng Suo looked at Xue Jiao.

Xue Jiao nodded. “That works.”

That night, lying in bed, Xue Jiao told Lin Zhi Hua about this.

On the other end of the phone, Lin Zhi Hua smiled as he stood up, and moved his feet, his eyes delighted.

Jiao Jiao is coming!

His fingers tapped as he replied:

Just come over, I have a solution for the assignment problem.

Xue Jiao was taken aback and asked further:

What solution do you have?

Lin Zhi Hua: I’ll tell you when you arrive. Don’t worry, the assignments won’t be a problem.

Xue Jiao: “…”

What solution could he have?

But Lin Zhi Hua had never lied to her—he either spoke or didn’t, but never told lies.

Does he have a solution?

While Xue Jiao was puzzled, on the other end of the phone, Lin Zhi Hua was calling Chen Yan.

“Chen Yan, clear my schedule for the day after tomorrow and the day after that.”

Chen Yan: “Yes.”