Zhong Yuan softly hummed a sound of acknowledgment.
After school in the evening, Zhong Yuan and Tian Wei walked home together.
"Zhong Yuan, are you in a bad mood today? Why are you so distracted?" Tian Wei asked, puzzled.
"Tian Wei, Jiang Mianmian is going to skip a grade; she has finished all the courses of the second semester of eighth grade," Zhong Yuan said simply.
"What? How can she be so fast? I’ve just finished last semester," Tian Wei said, also very surprised.
"Yes, I was also surprised at first, but it’s true. Tian Wei, we both need to work harder, or Jiang Mianmian will soon leave us behind," Zhong Yuan said as much to himself as to Tian Wei.
He wasn’t going to admit defeat like that; when the final exams were over, he was determined to work harder this summer than ever before to catch up with Jiang Mianmian’s progress!
Tian Wei was also stimulated by Jiang Mianmian. Clenching her fist, she cheered herself on, "Right, Zhong Yuan. You’re right, we really need to work harder."
The two friends encouraged each other as they walked home.
In the evening when Su Wanyu got off work and returned home, she happened to meet Li Lan’s Mother heading out to buy groceries.
"Sis, heading out?" Su Wanyu greeted her warmly.
"Yes, Xiao Su, where have you been these last few days? You’ve been leaving early and returning late," Li Lan’s Mother inquired curiously.
"Sis, I got a job as a translator at the town government office a few days ago," Su Wanyu tried to keep her tone casual.
"Working as a translator at the town government? Xiao Su, how are you so impressive? You even know foreign languages?"
Li Lan’s Mother had a very good impression of Jiang Changhai’s family. Now that she heard Su Wanyu had such a good job, she was genuinely happy for her.
"It’s okay; I learned it years ago and hadn’t completely forgotten. I’ve picked it back up recently," Su Wanyu said modestly.
"Xiao Su, you’re too modest. You don’t know how hard it is to get into our town government. If you can get in, it means your abilities are definitely strong. I’ve been wondering why you’ve looked more spirited these days. Having a job is so much better than just staying at home," Li Lan’s Mother said, holding Su Wanyu’s hand and praising her endlessly.
"Yes, sitting at home all day is just wasting time; having a job gives me something to strive for." The words of Li Lan’s Mother struck a chord with Su Wanyu, and the two stood chatting at the door for quite a while.
Finally, it was Li Lan’s Mother, busy with her grocery shopping, and the two parted ways.
Ever since Su Wanyu started working, Jiang Mianmian became the person who always got home first each day, and Wang Li and Li Lan, as usual, did their homework together at her house.
When Su Wanyu got home, the children had just finished their homework and were tidying up their things.
"Auntie, we’ve finished our homework and are heading home," Li Lan said, standing at the door with her little backpack, talking to Su Wanyu.
"Auntie, I’m leaving too," Wang Li also called out.
"Hey, come over and play again tomorrow," Su Wanyu said with a smile as she watched the two kids.
After the kids left, Su Wanyu went back inside to change into home clothes and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
While she was preparing dinner, she asked Jiang Mianmian in English how the teacher had reacted to her skipping a grade today.
Since Su Wanyu had started working at the town government, they often spoke in a foreign language at home when they had nothing else to do, sometimes even mixing several languages.
If there was a word Su Wanyu didn’t know or made a grammatical mistake, Jiang Mianmian would correct her immediately and tell her the correct usage.