Xiao Lan was quite confident.

Before news arrived from the First County Middle School, she continued with her business as usual, studying whenever she had free time.

When delivering eels to Shangdu City again, Fang Zhu wondered, “Xiao Lan, your uncle mentioned the other day that you’re going back to school, so you won’t be doing this business anymore?”

Xiao Lan quickly explained, “That’s the plan, but I’ll continue until November ends. There won’t be any eels available after that anyway.”

Fang Zhu felt conflicted.

For anyone, education was the priority. It wasn’t normal for a young woman like Xiao Lan to support her family, and at her age, there were only three paths: find factory work, continue studying, or get married. Xiao Lan didn’t want to choose marriage. While Fang Zhu admired her ambition, he struggled with the thought of not seeing her after November… The mere thought kept him awake at night, and when Xiao Lan came to deliver goods, he hurriedly asked about her plans.

When Xiao Lan confirmed her intention to continue studying, Fang Zhu felt somewhat dejected.

But he knew she was right – their connection only existed because she delivered eels to the Huanghe Restaurant, and by November, there would be no more eels to catch in the village fields, ending her supply.

Who knew if Xiao Lan would continue supplying the Huanghe Restaurant after that, or what she might trade in instead?

Fang Zhu was gloomy.

His mother noticed as soon as he got home.

When she pressed him, this mama’s boy couldn’t keep his feelings hidden and poured out his concerns: “Why don’t we arrange a job for Xiao Lan? She wants to go to university just to settle in the city, right?”

His mother nearly fainted from anger.

Look at these conditions – a rural household registration, middle school education, and an eel seller! Eels, for heaven’s sake – smelly, wet, and slippery things that most women wouldn’t dare touch. This country girl spent all day handling stinking eels – how could she be easy to deal with?

Her only advantage was her beauty.

A beautiful teenage village girl coming out to make a living, happened to catch Fang Zhu’s eye, bewitching him so thoroughly that he wanted to arrange a job for her – his mother suspected it was a deliberate trap set for her son. Even delivering to the Huanghe Restaurant seemed calculated, one link connecting to another, eventually ensnaring her foolish son.

Fang Zhu’s mother was furious but couldn’t express these thoughts to him.

Fang Zhu wouldn’t believe it anyway!

In his twenties with no marriage plans despite good circumstances – his standards were simply too high. Fang Zhu had taken a liking to Xiao Lan, being openly drawn to beauty. His mother, wanting to meet this rural enchantress, didn’t completely reject the idea, instead baiting Fang Zhu: “She’s beautiful? Isn’t your Huanghe Restaurant hiring waitresses?”

Though the Huanghe Restaurant’s waitresses were prettier than those at the Municipal Guest House, none could compare to Xiao Lan. Her looks would certainly catch the leaders’ attention – which worried Fang Zhu. Besides, being a waitress meant serving others, and he couldn’t bear that thought.

When Fang Zhu pressed his mother further, she, being no pushover, insisted on meeting Xiao Lan before deciding.

But would Xiao Lan meet Fang Zhu’s mother?

Xiao Lan was anxiously awaiting her results!

It was just seven exam papers – why had the First County Middle School taken two days without releasing the scores?

When Xiao Lan submitted her papers, Teacher Sun was immediately called away.

Teacher Sun had wanted to carefully review Xiao Lan’s papers but had to hurriedly hand them to Teacher Qi of the third-year group.

“Sister Qi, I’ve left the papers on your desk.”

Teacher Qi was actually in charge of the third-year group and handled all transfer student matters. Given Xiao Lan’s poor foundation, Teacher Qi held no hope for a middle school student – First County Middle School was already the best high school in An Qing County; they couldn’t accept just anyone. However, since the administration had agreed, Teacher Qi had to arrange the test, though she impatiently delegated the task to the new Teacher Sun.

When young Teacher Sun delivered the papers, Teacher Qi didn’t take them seriously.

The teaching load for third-year classes was heavy, and though the school always wanted more university admissions, First County Middle School, while prestigious in An Qing County, lagged far behind in city, provincial, and national rankings. This year, only eight students from First County Middle School had been admitted to four-year universities – and that count included both current and returning students.

The college entrance exam was that brutal, the competition that fierce. Teacher Qi simply couldn’t believe a middle school student could meet their standards.

She hadn’t prioritized Xiao Lan’s papers.

With many school matters to handle, Teacher Qi took the papers home to grade.

Household chores kept her busy too, and she just tossed the papers onto her desk, forgetting about them. Two days passed without Teacher Qi remembering this task, and while Qing Chen lingered nearby daily, he couldn’t just barge in to ask about the grading progress.

Teacher Qi’s husband also taught at First County Middle School, and their small faculty housing only fit one desk, which they took turns using for work. Three days after Xiao Lan’s exam, Teacher Qi returned home to find her husband grading papers at the desk.

“Your class didn’t have a test today?”

“These aren’t from my class. I helped grade the papers on your desk. They’re quite interesting – I haven’t heard you mention this student before.”

Teacher Qi suddenly remembered she’d forgotten about Xiao Lan’s papers!

“A transfer student applicant who hasn’t attended high school wants to take next year’s college entrance exam. The school is something, agreeing to transfer requests from anyone just hoping to find one more promising candidate – the test results must be terrible, right?”

Her husband shook his head, “They’re quite interesting – her subjects are extremely unbalanced.”

Indeed, the imbalance was severe.

In the Chinese language paper, she failed the recitation questions that were meant to be easy points, did mediocre on reading comprehension, but wrote an essay that was surprisingly impressive. It stayed on topic and showed depth, unlike typical high school writing.

The politics section was disastrous, almost a complete failure.

But the English paper was beautifully done!

English had only been included in the college entrance exam for a couple of years, and many students couldn’t even master the 26 letters. Setting aside the accuracy of this English paper, the handwriting was beautiful – each word written with apparent confidence, flowing without hesitation, the pen strokes revealing the writer’s skill.

Teacher Qi’s husband was an English teacher.

Teacher Qi taught Chinese to third-year students.

The Chinese and English papers showed two extremes, making the student intriguing.

Teacher Qi was displeased seeing the Chinese paper – how could someone not know such basic recitation material? What kind of study attitude was that?

But looking at other questions, Xiao Lan had answered quite seriously.

After Teacher Qi and her husband finished grading the Chinese and English papers, they both found it strange. On the fourth day after Xiao Lan’s exam, Teacher Qi finally gathered other teachers to complete grading all her papers.

Looking at the scores, Teacher Qi was bewildered and called Teacher Sun: “Little Sun, did you really watch that girl closely that day – she didn’t cheat, did she?!”