Xia Xiaolan always rushed through her school visits.

Her routine at County No. 1 Middle School usually involved discussing difficult problems with teachers, collecting test papers, and participating in school assessments. But this time was different – the teachers seemed more pleasant towards her. During a break between lessons, someone spotted Xia Xiaolan and several students deliberately passed by the office window to greet her:

“Classmate Xia, you’re back at school?”

“Classmate Xia, I have some notes, would you like them?”

“Classmate Xia…”

Xia Xiaolan was bewildered.

She didn’t recognize any of these people.

Teacher Wang laughed and enlightened her: “They’re all from Class 3. You probably don’t know them well, but everyone’s grateful to you for bringing those test papers.”

Xia Xiaolan had brought another batch of practice papers.

The exam candidates at County No. 1 Middle School had more papers to work on, but no one complained. In these times, having practice papers was a blessing – nobody complained about having too many, and no one called for reducing students’ workload. Without these papers and repeated practice, how could they compete with students nationwide?

Xia Xiaolan found it surprising, “Just because of some test papers?”

“It’s not just about the papers.”

Teacher Wang’s expression turned serious. Every point mattered for their future, and people as selfless as Xia Xiaolan in sharing resources were rare. Putting themselves in her shoes, the students wanted to share their notes with her in return. She had simply given the collected practice papers to the school on a whim, unaware that she had cast a stone into still waters, creating ripples that calmed the anxiety among exam candidates.

Everyone had different subject strengths, and study methods were like precious manuals – if they could exchange these, wouldn’t the entire school’s performance improve?

Xia Xiaolan hadn’t realized the impact of her actions. When she left the office, she met Chen Qing who was waiting outside.

“Xiaolan, I’d like to discuss something with you.”

Since Xia Xiaolan’s family had moved to Shangdu, Chen Qing had no reason to visit Qijing Village. His only chance to see her was when she came to school, which helped him control his youthful romantic feelings and focus temporarily on his studies.

However, being near Xia Xiaolan still made Chen Qing blush secretly.

He tried to keep his voice steady: “…Would it be alright if I shared your study methods with my classmates?”

Xia Xiaolan’s methods had been incredibly effective.

In a short time, Chen Qing’s English vocabulary had expanded significantly.

His English scores had improved in several small tests. Just as Xia Xiaolan had said, with enough vocabulary, he could understand the test questions and multiple-choice questions were no longer pure guesswork.

Chen Qing could now score around 40 points on his own. Though still short of the 60-point passing mark, nationwide only a small percentage of students could pass English anyway.

Xia Xiaolan’s expression softened. Even when angry, her face carried a trace of charm, and when she showed gentleness, Chen Qing could hardly look directly at her.

“Of course you can. What I told you, you can share with others. It’s good if everyone can improve their grades.”

She hadn’t misjudged – Chen Qing was truly a good person. She had given him the study methods to repay his family’s kindness; how he used them was his choice.

Xia Xiaolan wasn’t a saint, but she wasn’t a villain either.

Even villains preferred having kind people around them – it gave them a sense of security!

The friendliness of Class 3 students and Chen Qing’s behavior made Xia Xiaolan feel surrounded by the world’s goodness, putting her in a relaxed mood. If Zhang Cui hadn’t been waiting at the school gate when she left, her pleasant mood might have lasted longer.

Zhang Cui held several steamed buns, “Xiaolan, have you eaten? Try these buns.”

Anyone watching would have thought she was Xia Xiaolan’s real mother.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t be bothered to play along with Zhang Cui’s act. “No thanks, I’m afraid you might have poisoned them.”

Zhang Cui wanted to strangle her. “Xiaolan, don’t joke with your aunt like that. I care about you so much, why would I poison you…”

Xia Xiaolan replied lazily, “Maybe because you’re jealous of my looks. Who knows what you’re thinking?”

It was amusing watching Zhang Cui’s face change colors as she held back her anger, constrained by her chosen persona. If Third Aunt Wang Jingui were here, she would have gotten into a shouting match with Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan suddenly stepped forward, “Your family has connections with Principal Sun? What, trying to get him to kick me out of County No. 1 Middle School?”

Zhang Cui couldn’t hide her shock.

How did Xia Xiaolan know about this?

Zhang Cui couldn’t read Xia Xiaolan anymore. She felt she couldn’t delay any longer – she had to tell Xia Ziyu about the situation here.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must still resent the family, ah!”

Zhang Cui looked particularly dejected.

Xia Xiaolan had been seventy percent sure, but now she was certain. Principal Sun was indeed Xia Ziyu’s family’s backing, but with Xia Ziyu gone, this support had likely weakened, which explained why she could still stay at County No. 1 Middle School.

Zhang Cui might act well in front of the Xia family, but Xia Xiaolan, who had been a senior executive in her previous life, had climbed from the bottom and seen plenty of troublemakers in the workplace. Those people were at least educated white-collar and gold-collar workers – Zhang Cui, a village woman, was no match for Xia Xiaolan.

A simple probe had confirmed Old Zhao the guard’s warning.

Watching Zhang Cui hurry back to Zhang’s restaurant, Xia Xiaolan smirked.

As she had told Old Zhao, having just one restaurant like Zhang’s in the area wasn’t enough – people needed options.

Xia Xiaolan went to Aunt Huang’s noodle stand for a meal. After a few words, she had Aunt Huang’s heart burning with excitement.

Aunt Huang had been thinking about opening a shop, and Xia Xiaolan’s encouragement fanned those flames higher. Since their last conversation, Aunt Huang had been investigating what it would take to open a shop.

Unlike Zhang Cui who was a village woman, Aunt Huang was from Anqing County. Though she didn’t have particularly influential relatives, she had built useful connections during her years in the county town.

Getting a shop wasn’t easy, but with enough investment, what storefront couldn’t be obtained?

Aunt Huang topped Xia Xiaolan’s bone soup noodles with two fried eggs:

“It’s on your aunt. You’re such a clever girl – tell me, if I open a shop, where should it be and what should I sell?”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Auntie, you’re the clever one – buying my advice with just a bowl of noodles and two eggs?

Xia Xiaolan didn’t mind whether she got the better deal. She just wanted to give Zhang Cui something else to worry about, so she wouldn’t focus solely on her. Having a competitor would be good – let Zhang Cui worry about her own business first!

“Open right across from Zhang’s restaurant! They already have established foot traffic, and customers going there will see your new shop and want to try it out of curiosity. Aunt, you don’t need to sell other things – with your skill at making noodle soup, just prepare several different toppings. Two people could run the shop.”

Xia Xiaolan slowly explained to Aunt Huang, who listened with growing delight.

Three-delicacy noodles, spare rib noodles, beef noodles.

Serve only noodles for breakfast, then add fried rice and rice with toppings for lunch.

Too simple?

Noodle toppings, fried rice, and rice dishes could have endless variations. Many future fast-food restaurants operate this way. Being different from Zhang’s restaurant would give them a competitive edge, Xia Xiaolan thought.

Aunt Huang understood fried rice but wasn’t familiar with rice with toppings.

“I’m not much of a cook either. Why don’t you come to Shangdu tomorrow? I’ll have someone make it for you to try?”