Xia Xiao Lan’s special prize in the English competition caused quite a stir within their small circle.

When she returned with the trophy, the news couldn’t be kept secret, and soon the entire women’s dormitory building knew.

Room 307 lifted Xia Xiao Lan and carried her around the room in celebration. People kept coming to verify the news, and once confirmed, the buzz spread quickly.

Unlike previous negative rumors, this time it was undisputed positive news.

The Foreign Language Department had one student who didn’t make it to the oral finals, and another, Zhong Cai, who only won second prize. For Xia Xiao Lan, a freshman from the Architecture Department, to win the special first prize… brought honor not just to Hua Qing but to the Architecture Department as well!

Winning a special prize in a national competition wasn’t easy. Now when people mentioned “Xia Xiao Lan,” besides being beautiful, they had to add the prefix of being excellent at English.

Xia Xiao Lan didn’t think her English was particularly good.

However, the competition results spoke for themselves. She had become Teacher Lin’s favorite student – no teacher would dislike a gifted student who worked hard and took their studies seriously.

Professor He also thought Xia Xiao Lan showed great potential and wondered if studying architecture was a waste. He even came to the Architecture Department to ask if she would consider transferring.

How could that be possible?

The Department Head firmly pushed Professor He away:

“If Student Xia can excel in English, she can excel in architecture. We must respect her choice.”

Professor He couldn’t argue with the Department Head’s words, and Xia Xiao Lan’s wish was to stay in architecture.

“Never mind, I was too fixated on appearances. The specific major isn’t important.”

Professor He shook his head, realizing that if someone was interested in foreign languages, they could self-study even while in architecture. Forced decisions never work out well, and Xia Xiao Lan had said during the recording that she wanted to show how far a female architect could go.

What was the future female architect doing now?

She had just brought back her trophy, and exam week was approaching – before she could even get used to the feeling of winning, Xia Xiao Lan had to pull herself away from the excitement to face her first college final exams.

The academic calendar was similar across universities, so final exam times were roughly the same.

While Xia Xiao Lan was preparing for final exams, at Beijing Normal University, Xia Zi Yu and Wang Jian Hua remained unsettled.

Wang Jian Hua had thought they shared similar aspirations – after all, on the day of the college entrance exam, they had talked all night, and every word Xia Zi Yu said had resonated with him.

He had once considered Xia Zi Yu a life partner who shared his values.

When did they run out of things to say to each other, when did silence become the dominant feature of their time together?

Like now.

He desperately wanted Xia Zi Yu to say something to break this suffocating silence. However, Xia Zi Yu’s eyes were unfocused, truly struggling to care about her boyfriend’s mood.

Maybe minutes passed.

Or maybe it felt like hours.

Xia Zi Yu barely gathered her remaining strength:

“So, she won the special prize and can be an exchange student next year?”

This wasn’t how Xia Xiao Lan’s life was supposed to go. In Xia Zi Yu’s plan, Xia Xiao Lan should have had her reputation ruined, been despised by the Xia family, and ended up marrying a widower or old bachelor in the countryside. No matter how beautiful she was, after wasting a few years in poor rural areas, she would have become just a slightly prettier village woman.

Meanwhile, she would have found the promising Wang Jian Hua, gotten into university, left their poor hometown far behind, and become an envied city dweller.

And not just any city dweller, but one of the most successful ones.

But her plan had only partially succeeded, and at just over 20 years old, both her and Xia Xiao Lan’s lives were just beginning.

This very thought helped Xia Zi Yu barely maintain her spirits.

This was just the beginning – she was only 22, and Xia Xiao Lan was 20!

Xia Xiao Lan might have the upper hand now, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t turn things around. Xia Zi Yu’s eyes regained their determination. At least one thing was certain – Wang Jian Hua would never choose Xia Xiao Lan again! She had spent almost two years getting Wang Jian Hua on her side, and just look at him now – Xia Xiao Lan’s success brought him pain rather than joy.

“Jian Hua, it’s just an English competition. If she goes abroad as an exchange student, it would be better if she stays there forever, avoiding the awkwardness of meeting us again.”

People nowadays treat studying abroad as something extraordinary, as if going overseas automatically makes you life’s winner and brings glory to your ancestors.

It would be best if Xia Xiao Lan thought that way too, taking her “exchange student” opportunity and never returning. Xia Zi Yu wasn’t admitting defeat; she just felt suffocated by Xia Xiao Lan’s aura. If Xia Xiao Lan was far away, Xia Zi Yu could sort out her affairs.

“Zi Yu, the problem now is that she won the special prize, and my father is in a difficult position.”

Wang Jian Hua spoke with difficulty. Private family discussions were one thing, but openly admitting Wang Guang Ping’s schemes against Xia Xiao Lan still made his ears burn.

Xia Zi Yu remained silent.

The Wang family had excluded her from their discussions, and now that things hadn’t gone well, what was the point of telling her?

Could she possibly solve Wang Guang Ping’s work problems?

Wait, if someone investigated this matter, would the Wang family make her bear Xia Xiao Lan’s revenge as they did with the tutoring school incident?

Xia Zi Yu’s breathing quickened, her face pale as she grabbed Wang Jian Hua’s hand:

“Jian Hua, I suddenly don’t feel well. Can you walk me back to my dorm? I need to rest.”

Seeing her distress, Wang Jian Hua forgot what he was going to say and worried, “Is the dorm okay? Let me take you to the school clinic first!”

Never mind, no need to frighten herself yet. When the Zhou family stands up for Xia Xiao Lan and sees the Wang family in trouble, Zi Yu won’t stand idly by.

Wang Jian Hua thought the Zhou family would confront them.

All the Wang family members thought the same way.

Previously, Wang Jian Hua and Zhou Cheng had grown up in the same compound, and Wang Guang Ping and Zhou Guo Bin were of the same rank. After his reinstatement, Wang Guang Ping misjudged his position, still using old standards to measure himself, believing his family still belonged in the same circle as the Zhou family. He thought that after eight years at the farm, he had just grown distant from this circle, and once he achieved something again, he could reintegrate.

This judgment led him to make a series of hasty, achievement-seeking actions.

This judgment also made the Wang family believe they still had a chance to explain – but Grandmother Zhou didn’t want to hear their explanations, and Old Master Zhou believed Wang Guang Ping’s character was unsuitable for his current position. There was no need to inform Wang Guang Ping personally; Old Master Zhou reported directly to higher authorities.

The leadership took the old comrade’s opinions seriously, though they couldn’t just accept everything Old Master Zhou said. They still needed to investigate the situation with the Higher Education Department head.

Well, well, the Department Director had a belly full of complaints with nowhere to vent and sold out Comrade Wang Guang Ping completely.

The higher-ups weren’t satisfied with just the Director’s word; they needed to consult Wang Guang Ping’s colleagues.

Deputy Director Tang hemmed and hawed, “Comrade Guang Ping is very energetic.”

What kind of evaluation was “energetic”?

In education work, what’s needed isn’t energy, but patience and attention to detail, maturity, and stability!