In July, Xia Xiaolan and You Li accompanied Tang Youru to America for medical treatment.
It was also time for the annual college entrance examination.
This matter somewhat concerned Xia Xiaolan, as Liang Huan and Tang Ruojia became examinees of the same year.
This was Liang Huan’s third attempt at the college entrance exam.
For Tang Ruojia, it was her first try.
Tang Ruojia, who aimed for Huaqing University, not only failed to reconcile with her second uncle, the high-ranking official, before the exam, but her life had become completely chaotic. Shi Surong was sentenced to prison, and Tang Xianzhong, who had already been buried, was dug up from the Tang family’s ancestral grave by his son and relocated to a public cemetery.
When Shi Surong learned of this in prison, she cursed all day and refused to cooperate with the guards, naturally facing consequences for her behavior.
She also learned that Tang Youru had been found, which shocked her so much that she became somewhat deranged.
Tang Chunlei initially visited her in prison, but each time Shi Surong would curse and rant. Tang Chunlei became exhausted:
“You’re just hurting others without benefiting yourself. It’s not like we were starving, so why did you sell Little Aunt? If I were Second Uncle, I wouldn’t forgive you either! I’m begging you, you’re already in prison, so please just stay quiet. You’ve already affected my prospects, and now you’re affecting my little sister’s college entrance exam… I’m starting to wonder if you’re our mother or our enemy!”
Tang Chunlei still felt wrong.
He truly didn’t know that his Little Aunt Tang Youru had been sold by his parents. If he had known, he wouldn’t have dared to bring up the matter even with a hundred times more courage.
Although Tang Chunlei was somewhat opportunistic, he wasn’t inherently evil, and even he couldn’t understand why Shi Surong would do such a thing.
With such major upheavals in her family, how could Tang Ruojia maintain the peace of mind needed for the college entrance exam?
If she had performed normally, without trying to rely on connections for shortcuts, getting into an undergraduate program wouldn’t have been a problem.
But now—
After finishing the first subject on July 7th, Tang Ruojia was in a daze throughout the entire exam. Walking out of the examination room, she knew she had failed this year. Forget Huaqing University, even getting into a vocational college might be difficult!
These matters were too distant for Xia Xiaolan and You Li to follow from America. One could only say that Shi Surong’s evil deeds not only landed her in prison but ultimately affected her children as well.
Whether evil people regret their actions, Xia Xiaolan didn’t know. She had always believed in taking care of herself first – rather than waiting for heaven to punish evil people, she believed more in relying on herself.
Though Tang Youru’s first half of life had been incredibly difficult, she still had the second half ahead.
In this second half of her life, she had reunited with her siblings and had her daughter’s future success to look forward to. These were the beautiful things in Tang Youru’s life that motivated her to actively participate in her treatment.
Tang Youru needed multiple surgeries.
And a long rehabilitation process.
The initial estimate was that she would need at least two years of treatment in America.
During this time, Xia Xiaolan couldn’t stay there continuously, so they would have to rely on You Li.
“Why don’t you continue your studies? You can take care of Little Aunt while working toward a degree in America.”
You Li hesitated.
Study?
Of course, she wanted such an opportunity, but this was America – she hadn’t completely mastered the language barrier, and she had been away from academics for too long… Her starting point was very low.
“Sister Xiaolan, I—”
“What, you’re not afraid of taking on huge debt, but you’re afraid of studying? What are you afraid of? Among all the young women I’ve met, you’re definitely among the smartest. People less clever than you are still studying.”
The one less clever than You Li was, of course, Zhou Yi.
After being deceived by that scoundrel, Zhou Yi learned from her painful experience and devoted all her energy to studying after returning to America.
Though she hadn’t achieved any breakthrough enlightenment, when someone truly dedicates themselves to something, the results are quite noticeable. At least Zhou Yi had overcome the language barrier, and now her spoken English was quite fluent.
Unfortunately, law school wasn’t easy to get into. Qi Wei still hadn’t been admitted, let alone Zhou Yi. Now both of them worked as junior assistants at Wen Manni’s law firm. Although their salary was far less than formal lawyers, it was enough to maintain Zhou Yi’s life in America.
At least she didn’t need money from home and could even save some to send back to China.
In Zhou Yi’s own words, that money was for raising her daughter Zhou Ke. She had already burdened her parents enough and couldn’t slack off in supporting Zhou Ke.
This troublemaker had reformed and learned to appreciate her parents’ sacrifices.
Xia Xiaolan felt that Zhou Yi’s change in mentality and psychological maturity was more important than getting into a prestigious school.
Academic credentials could be earned through persistence.
If you don’t get in after one year, try for two.
If law school doesn’t work out, you can switch to other majors.
Once a person matures and knows they need to work hard, understand what they want, and have support for making changes, their future can’t be too bad!
With Zhou Yi as an example, You Li couldn’t say she wasn’t capable.
Zhou Yi’s parents and daughter were both in China, and she had gone through that entanglement with that scoundrel. Compared to Zhou Yi, You Li was traveling light – the mother she worried about most was right here in America for treatment.
“Sister Xiaolan, I’ll listen to you!”
“Study hard, I’m waiting for you to come back to work at the company and call me President Xia again.”
Grandmother Yu was happy about Xia Xiaolan coming to America.
The old lady was truly remarkable. Tina had initially been awkward, but after Grandmother Yu stayed in America for a while, Tina became completely dependent on her. Tina had grown up sheltered, with a very poor ability to handle setbacks, always wanting to avoid them. But Grandmother Yu didn’t coddle her, and gradually, Tina got used to the old lady’s style.
Because Grandmother Yu was always right!
This old lady wouldn’t stay home making soup and cooking for Tina.
But she could give Tina many useful suggestions and correct her immature thoughts.
Whatever Tina knew, Grandmother Yu knew better.
All those things an American socialite should know – Grandmother Yu had mastered them long ago.
When Tina brought classmates home, the old lady would discuss philosophy with them. One male classmate later began pursuing Tina frantically… Tina was confused until the male classmate told her honestly:
“A wise grandmother will raise clever granddaughters. Talking with your grandmother is enjoyable, and of course, you’re very lovely too!”
“…”
What kind of confession was this – so was he interested in her or her grandmother?
Tina even suspected that if the old lady were twenty years younger, this male classmate would have boldly pursued her despite the age difference!
She didn’t accept this confession.
She called Xu Changle to complain, and he told her:
“The Xu family museum is about to be completed. Grandmother will return then. Would you like to come too?”
To attend the museum’s opening ceremony together.
That would mean accepting her identity as a member of the Xu family.
“Of course, if you’re too busy with your studies, it’s fine if you don’t come back.”
Tina caught the aroma wafting from the kitchen.
The legendary delicious buns that she had never tasted – the old lady was still playing favorites, making steamed buns today because Xia Xiaolan was coming.
Tina wrinkled her nose:
“No, I will come back, brother… I miss you too.”
After saying this, Tina felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She felt she could now make peace with the whole world.