Fei Jiayi said this without any guilt at all. When she had first applied to Beining University, even though her aunt had specially tutored her just before the exam, how could she have passed without her own efforts?
"We all got in on our own merit," Liao Jinling emphasized, patting her chest.
"You two should stop arguing; we all got in," Xu Nianhua said, somewhat exasperated by the way Fei Jiayi and Liao Jinling were going back and forth. She changed the subject, "Our studio currently has four orders. Even though our study workload is heavy right now, we can’t fall behind on these orders. We need to work hard and aim to translate all four orders within a week of summer break starting."
"We translated an easy one already; could you check it and see if there’s anything that needs to be changed?" Zhou Wanwan handed the translated document to Xu Nianhua as soon as the conversation turned to business. She was meticulous and conscientious in her work, so she was in charge of handling these matters.
"Alright, I’ll look at it now," Xu Nianhua responded and took a sip of water before carefully examining the documents.
Busy times always seemed to pass quickly. After half a month of adjustments, Xu Nianhua had finally managed to get everything back on track. The weather was also getting hotter. After the Dragon Boat Festival, the sun in Beining had become even more scorching.
This Sunday, Xu Nianhua got up early specifically to go to the market to buy plenty of fresh shrimp and ribs, and she went to Xu Nian’an’s place. She borrowed Sister Wei Hong’s kitchenware and prepared a lavish lunch, which she brought to the boutique.
"Sister Wei Hong, I’ve left a portion of each dish at your place," Xu Nianhua said as she opened the containers one by one: braised ribs, blanched shrimp, stir-fried chili beef, a stir-fried mung bean dish, and a nutritious chicken soup.
The chicken was bought from a neighbor at Wei Hong’s request; it was a home-raised chicken. The chicken soup made from it was extremely delicious.
"Nianhua, you’re really too polite. Every time you come, you leave so much food and snacks," Wei Hong said sincerely. Xu Nianhua would occasionally use the kitchen, but each time, she left a lot of dishes, as well as fruits and snacks, apparently bought especially for Wei Hong’s daughter.
"It’s too much for me and my older brother to eat alone," Xu Nianhua said nonchalantly.
After Wei Hong got off work and Ban Lin went to school to have lunch with Ban Chuan, Xu Nianhua said, "Older brother, I’m going to stop by the School of Architecture; you know where it is, right?"
Xu Nianhua only knew the general area but not the specific route.
"What do you want to do?"
Xu Nian’an was feeling hungry, with the aroma of the delicious meal making him even hungrier. As he devoured his food, he asked, "Are you going to see Yicheng?"
"His injury should be almost healed. I was supposed to bring him some chicken soup last week, but school was just too busy," Xu Nianhua blinked her eyes. She had been busy all morning and now didn’t feel very hungry.
"That’s true, you should go visit him," Xu Nian’an agreed, nodding his head. However, seeing how busy the store was, he didn’t have time to accompany her.
Having missed a week of classes, Xu Nian’an had been just as busy this past half-month and hadn’t found the time to visit Pei Yicheng either.
"Older brother, I can go by myself. We haven’t sorted out the boutique’s finances for half a month. Shouldn’t you take care of that?" Xu Nianhua said with a wry smile. She already had a headache from examining the accounts for the Chili Sauce Factory and the furniture factory last year; she really didn’t want to deal with the boutique’s finances.