Grandfather Zhou’s gaze was sharp, but he was also fair – Xia Xiaolan couldn’t refuse such a request.

Introduce herself?

Zhou Yi and the others weren’t wrong in their points of attack – she was indeed from a rural village in Yunan Province. It’s just that her family’s dire economic situation had changed with her efforts… If Zhou Cheng had brought her home a few months ago, despite her ambitions, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t have had any concrete evidence to prove herself.

That would have been the worst situation.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but look at Zhou Cheng. This was the perfect timing – had he planned this all along?

Zhou Cheng wanted to speak, but Xia Xiaolan shook her head. At a time like this, she should speak for herself!

Beep beep-

Two honks sounded from outside. Guan Hui’e thought this timing was terrible – she was waiting to hear what Xia Xiaolan had to say. Grandfather Zhou had the sharpest eye, and she too felt something different about Xia Xiaolan from what she’d imagined. That sense of incongruity made Guan Hui’e uneasy.

And at this moment, Zhou Guobin was returning from work!

Guan Hui’e ran to open the door as Zhou Guobin returned with his briefcase. Even his driver didn’t understand – their leader had a meeting in Beidaihe today and was supposed to stay overnight, with accommodations already arranged, yet he insisted on returning.

How could Zhou Guobin not return? This was Zhou Cheng’s first time bringing his girlfriend home to meet his parents. If he didn’t show up, it would show too little regard for the girl!

The girl was even younger than Zhou Cheng – it wouldn’t be strange if she took it to heart.

From the entryway, Zhou Guobin could see several people seated in the dimly lit living room.

“Hmm?”

“Your parents are here, along with your two sisters. I’ll explain later.”

Guan Hui’e briefly summarized the situation as Zhou Guobin spotted the girl in red standing by the sofa.

The child was indeed beautiful – no wonder Zhou Cheng liked her. But Zhou Cheng wasn’t someone who only cared about looks. If it were just about appearance, Zhou Cheng might date her but wouldn’t bring her home. Zhou Guobin knew his son’s style well enough – Zhou Cheng must be very confident that this girl would gain the family’s approval to bring her home at this time.

“Xiaolan, this is my father. Dad, this is my girlfriend, Xia Xiaolan.”

“Uncle Zhou.”

Zhou Guobin waved his hand. “Hello, please sit. What were you all discussing? Did I interrupt your conversation?”

Zhou Cheng’s youngest aunt smiled and nodded, “Indeed you did. Father was just asking Xiaolan to introduce herself. Second Brother, you came at the perfect time – join us in listening.”

The youngest aunt and her husband were rather straightforward, or perhaps more clever. Though Grandmother Zhou had called them to see their “future granddaughter-in-law,” they felt that whatever kind of girlfriend Zhou Cheng chose, neither Second Brother nor his wife had objected – what right did she, as an aunt, have to interfere?

Zhou Guobin immediately became interested.

He found a place to sit. All the Zhou family members were watching Xia Xiaolan – some with goodwill like Grandmother Zhou, some neutral like the youngest aunt, and of course, some skeptical.

Zhou Cheng was holding back his anger, but Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t let him express it.

Grandfather Zhou’s attitude was respectful, and Xia Xiaolan didn’t feel humiliated. Introducing herself? She’d treat it like a job interview.

“Since Grandfather Zhou asked me to introduce myself, I’ll share a bit. I was born in a small village in Anqing County in Yunan Province. When I was young, I was ignorant and didn’t know what I wanted, so I quit after middle school. Later, some things happened at home, and I followed my mother to leave our original home and moved to my uncle’s house. Being dependent on others, I couldn’t just waste time like before. With the country’s reform and opening up, I decided to try some small business ventures…”

Zhou Yi’s eyes flickered – what did she mean by “followed my mother to leave their original home”? Could it be what she thought?!

Had Xia Xiaolan lost her mind? Who would bring up their parents’ divorce during their first meeting with their boyfriend’s family?

Xia Xiaolan naturally saw the surprise in the Zhou family members’ eyes. She wasn’t foolish but felt that her family’s true situation was just that – the divorce wasn’t Liu Fen’s fault, so what was there to hide?

Zhou Cheng stood behind Xia Xiaolan, placing his hand on her shoulder in support.

Xia Xiaolan was quite nonchalant and quickly moved to the key point: “While doing business, I encountered some thugs harassing me. Zhou Cheng saved me and helped take them to the police station – that’s how we met. After earning some money in business, I wanted to continue my education, not just for the diploma but to learn new things. Last October, I took the transfer examination for the county high school, prepared for several months, took the college entrance exam in early July, and then-“

Xia Xiaolan paused; saying what came next herself seemed like bragging.

She was hoping Zhou Cheng would continue, when her usually invisible uncle-in-law suddenly exclaimed, “You’re Xia Xiaolan, right? Xia Xiaolan from Yunan Province!”

The youngest aunt pinched her husband – hadn’t they agreed to stay invisible? Why was he getting excited now? Xia Xiaolan had already introduced herself, and her hometown was clearly stated – why did he need to repeat it?

The uncle-in-law was quite excited. He worked in the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Education – a position that didn’t stand out in the Zhou family, and he was used to being invisible. The Development Planning Department was responsible for formulating long-term plans for national education development, collecting basic educational information nationwide, analyzing this information, and drafting enrollment plans for regular higher education institutions… While the annual college entrance examination wasn’t entirely under his department’s jurisdiction, they were still closely involved.

He had thought the name “Xia Xiaolan” sounded familiar but hadn’t made the connection until now. After hearing her detailed introduction, he suddenly remembered.

Not only did he interrupt Xia Xiaolan, but he also excitedly stood up:

“Yunan Province, Fengxian City, Anqing No.1 High School’s Xia Xiaolan – is that you?”

Xia Xiaolan nodded. What was wrong with her uncle-in-law? He was acting like a fan meeting their idol. Xia Xiaolan had a vague guess but thought it couldn’t be such a coincidence.

The uncle-in-law waved his arms and suddenly pointed at Zhou Yi: “Why are you giving her a hard time? Do you know how exceptional she is? Among over a million examinees nationwide, her total score ranked third in the country! She’s the top science student in Yunan Province with 616 points! I remember she applied to Tsinghua University – she’ll be accepted. If not, there must be an error in the admissions process… Xiaolan, you were only 4 points behind the national top scorer.”

His tone carried deep regret.

In this year’s college entrance exam, the national top scorer had 620 points.

Second place had 617 points, and Xia Xiaolan was third with 616 points.

In an exam taken by over a million students, the difficulty was no less than the imperial examinations of old. Xia Xiaolan truly deserved her “third place” ranking. Considering she had only transferred to senior year last year, the uncle-in-law felt that the 4-point gap was infinitesimal – the national top scorer wasn’t even a current-year student and had more time for review than Xia Xiaolan!

This revelation stunned all the Zhou family members except Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Yi stammered, “…Uncle, are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?”