It could be because today the college entrance exams had ended, and with Yiyi coming over, that by the time they got home, Uncle and Auntie were both there. Not just at home, but they had prepared a lot of delicious food, which made Yiyi, visiting for the first time and coming empty-handed, feel somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, everyone knew her well, so no one blamed her for it.
As Yiyi sat on the couch eating fruit with some discomfort, her attention was drawn to the Zhou Family’s photo of the whole family. When she saw the old couple in the picture, she turned her head in surprise, "Zhou Mo, these two are...?"
Zhou Mo naturally knew what she was referring to, "My grandparents live in Y City, you should have met them."
Yiyi’s eyes widened in shock, "Grandpa Mu and Grandma Mu are actually your grandparents?"
Aunt Mu just happened to walk out of the kitchen with a plate and heard this remark, seldom curling her beautiful red lips.
"Yiyi, in fact, we’ve known you for a long time. It was Zhou Mo who mentioned it; he saw you long ago in Y City, back when you were still middle school students!"
Yiyi couldn’t calm the nervousness and excitement in her heart. She felt uneasy about running a stall for so many years while people knew all about it, but she was thrilled that the kind Grandpa Mu and Grandma Mu were Zhou Mo’s grandparents, especially since he had known her for a long time.
This revelation surprised Yiyi, "You never mentioned it."
"Why bring it up? As long as we know each other, that’s fine." Mentioning her previous street vending? Was that a proper way to start the conversation?
During dinner, Uncle Zhou suddenly took an interest in Yiyi’s calligraphy and even joked about their living room lacking something. He asked if Yiyi could write a calligraphy piece for them to frame and hang, to enhance their home’s prestige.
Yiyi felt a little embarrassed, but since Uncle and Aunt admired her so much, how could she refuse? She hurriedly promised to write something when she had the chance.
Seeing that Yiyi was too shy to take more food, Zhou Mo kept serving her until her bowl was stacked high, which was when Aunt Mu rarely teased her own son.
"You really have no sense, can’t you see Yiyi’s bowl is piled high? At least wait until she finishes eating, right?"
Yiyi’s face turned bright red at once, and Aunt Mu couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked at Uncle Zhou, "Lao Zhou, look at our son. When has he ever served us ?"
As soon as she said this, Yiyi was completely shocked. Aunt Mu rarely smiled and said, "Yiyi, eat up. Auntie isn’t blaming you, just thinking—"
Before she could finish, Zhou Mo snorted, "If you want some food, let your husband serve you. Did I ever say anything when you two were showing off your love?"
Yiyi looked at Zhou Mo’s rare joking stern face, then at Aunt Mu making faces at Uncle Zhou, and suddenly felt a bit superfluous.
What happened to the family that wasn’t good at expressing themselves? They seemed to get along quite well?
After eating too much, Yiyi helped Aunt Mu clean the kitchen, and then Zhou Mo dragged her downstairs for a walk.
As soon as they left, Mu Hui and Zhou Qing stood on the balcony, peering down until they saw them go downstairs. The view of their tall and short figures made Mu Hui feel strangely harmonious.
"Hey, when will our son become sensible? This Yiyi is the girl he’s willingly gotten close to after such a long time and the only one he’s brought home. We know this kid too, and she’s so excellent. If she could become our daughter-in-law, think of how much easier our lives would be!"
Hearing this, Zhou Qing chuckled and pulled his wife back to the sofa to lean in.
"That will have to see if you can win over Lao Ma. He’s been her target for a long time."
Zhao Hui pursed her lips, "No matter how hard she tries, it’s key that her son shows some spirit. But you’ve seen how Yiyi gets along with them like a brother, and she’s only sixteen, too young. It’s not too late for her to come to her senses later."
At the same time, in the downstairs garden, Zhou Mo, after a long silence, asked Yiyi, "Have you decided which school you want to go to?"
Zhou Mo had already picked the Physics Department at Tsinghua, and his exams were merely icing on the cake, unable to change anything. But it was different for Yiyi; although her score hadn’t been estimated yet, there was no problem breaking six hundred points. She had many options, but the acceptance rates in their H province were too low, making competition more brutal than in other provinces. Six to seven hundred points might get you into a 985 or 211 university elsewhere, but in H province, Tsinghua and Beijing University were a bit risky. Of course, this was her knowledge from a future life. As for this year’s cut-off score, that would depend on the final results. Talking about Beijing University and Tsinghua University right now wasn’t realistic.
"The Computer Department is where I’d most like to go. Tsinghua is biased towards science, and Beijing University towards the arts. Besides, the field is so popular, I’m not even sure if my score will be high enough," she smiled at him, "Don’t worry. If I don’t get in, I’ll choose a school in Beijing. That way the three of us can be together again."
Lin Mu had already picked the Beijing Film Academy. Although Yiyi felt the boy was wasting his scores studying acting, everyone has their own aspirations. It wasn’t a pity just because others thought so. Just like how teachers thought she was wasting her talent by not continuing with calligraphy, she didn’t feel the same. Others might regret it, but ultimately, the balance of fate has to be measured by oneself to avoid regret.
Zhou Mo wasn’t as talkative as Lin Mu. He wasn’t good with words, even though he had a lot of questions on his mind. However, when he tried to speak, the words would end up ambiguous. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
After a round walk back to the house, he realized he had again missed many opportunities to speak up.
The next day they took a car to the water park. Lin Mu called many classmates, both boys and girls, and they all had a wild time for two days before coming home.
Yiyi, using the excuse of returning to Y City, left the Zhou Family, and afterwards started the long wait for her scores.
Typically, scores became available between late June and early July. During this period, idle Yiyi bought a notebook and started writing fiction in her free time.
Although there was no internet access, she could write drafts and slowly upload them when she got to university later on. Perhaps due to the many lives she’s lived, her writing improved significantly compared to her first life. She wrote about her own experiences, extracting each story from the Crossed World and turning them into transmigration romances. She didn’t expect to make money; she wrote them as keepsakes.
Unexpectedly, before even looking up her scores, calls from Beijing University and Tsinghua came first.
Yiyi had never experienced such treatment before, nor dared to dream of it.
To be able to freely choose any major from Beijing University and Tsinghua – how bold must one be to make such an offer?
At that moment, her tears just wouldn’t stop flowing.
Because she really did feel that high school had been tough, so tough that there were times when she almost broke down. Just like that girl in the exam room, she didn’t blame her at all. Instead, she was worried that the girl might suffer some lasting effects because, after all, how often does one get the chance to sit there and take those exams?