Although I was dining alone for the New Year’s Eve dinner, looking at the full table, "Today’s New Year’s Eve dinner is great."
Back then, the original host had already returned to her family. For her first Spring Festival back home, her biological parents took her brother and the adopted daughter out for relaxation, saying she needed to clear her mind after poor final exam results.
The reason they didn’t bring the original host was that her good grades threatened their precious daughter, and on top of that, she didn’t have a passport, so they couldn’t take her with them.
So the original host sat alone at the New Year’s Eve dinner, also spending the New Year by herself, but now she truly didn’t feel lonely.
Yang Xue would come over every day, chatting with her daily, and Yang Xue’s parents even gave her a big red envelope.
"Only half a year left," she had decided that this time during the college entrance exams, she would score perfect marks in both mathematics and physics.
Only then would Harbor City University take notice, granting her the opportunity to study there.
She remembered the physics and math sections of the college entrance exams were extremely difficult, with very few scoring full marks nationwide.
With that thought, Zhang Li quickly finished her New Year’s Eve dinner, cleaned up, and continued to practice problems,
By doing more problems and encountering more types of questions, she would be able to achieve a perfect score.
Yang Xue’s plan for today was to have the New Year’s Eve dinner at her grandparents’ house. After eating, she went home, and remembering to greet Zhang Li for the New Year, she and her parents headed to the Zhang Family’s place.
After exchanging New Year’s greetings, Yang Xue casually asked, "Zhang Li, what are you doing alone at home?"
She noticed that the Zhang Family’s TV wasn’t on, which meant they weren’t watching the New Year’s gala.
"I’m at home practicing problems," Zhang Li replied casually.
"Practicing problems?" Yang Xue suddenly regretted asking the question, wondering why she couldn’t have asked something else.
"You really, you’re working too hard," Yang Xue said helplessly, truly not understanding why there was a need to strive so hard.
Her parents discussed how much Zhang Li’s grades had improved, making it into the top ten. She believed Zhang Li was holding back her full potential and could probably make it into the top three if she went all out.
But these were just her speculations, ones she would never voice, "Xiao Li, I totally forgot to ask which university you’re planning to apply to."
"Don’t tell me you’re just going to attend the provincial city university." In the past, she would have believed it, but now she didn’t believe a single word.
"I, I want to go to Harbor City University." They were comrades in the battle of reviewing together, and after thinking it over, Zhang Li felt if Yang Xue also wanted to attend Harbor City University, they could truly go there together.
What? Go to Harbor City University? Yang Xue was stunned by Zhang Li’s statement, "Aren’t you, aren’t you..."
She remembered Zhang Li once said the reason for staying and attending university in the provincial city was to save money.
And now, the very person who wanted to save money had just delivered a shocker, declaring their intent to study at Harbor City University.
"I just found out that Harbor City University offers scholarships. If I get one, I won’t have to worry about tuition fees and can even receive a stipend for living expenses."
Is that even possible? Even if the Yang Family hadn’t known much about Harbor City University before, they were aware it was an excellent institution.
They had never considered their own child attending Harbor City University, knowing the high tuition fees and the expensive cost of living there.
But to hear Zhang Li mention scholarships, covering tuition and even providing living expenses, it was hard for them not to be moved.
However, they were only momentarily touched, "We don’t know how to apply for it."
They all looked pitifully at Zhang Li, figuring that since she could do this, she must have some connections.
"Harbor City University is also eyeing talent from the Mainland, and they watch for those with outstanding college entrance exam results."
"I’m not sure if I can pass their assessment, but now that I know about it, I just feel like I can’t just give up without trying."
"If we work hard now, it will also benefit the college entrance exam. If we score well on the exam, we’ll have more options."
Anyway, the point is, studying hard is always good. "For us, it’s always worth it."
The Yang Family thought about it, and realized that made a lot of sense. They looked at each other and then waited for Yang Xue’s decision.
Yang Xue considered it for a moment. Although she was still a bit hesitant, she didn’t want to have any regrets, "Mom and Dad, I want to give it a try."
"If I can pass the assessment and study at Harbor City University, that would be great. If I can’t, but achieve a good score, maybe I can look forward to attending B University or Q University."
F University is good, but don’t all students aspire to attend these two universities?
It wasn’t that she lacked the ability, but now that she knew there was a possibility, of course she wanted to give it her all.
B University or Q University? The Yang couple felt like they were struggling to breathe.
"Girl, don’t worry, even if you don’t get a full scholarship, it’s okay," Father Yang thought Zhang Li was a very strategic person.
When it comes to attending university, many people think about which university to go to based on their scores.
But Zhang Li was different, she thought about which university she could attend and worked hard for her future in various ways.
In comparison, Yang Xue really fell short, and Father Yang knew it was wishful thinking for Yang Xue to be as impressive as Zhang Li.
He thought that since Yang Xue couldn’t consider all aspects, she should just follow in Zhang Li’s footsteps.
He was also convinced that Zhang Li must have such a mindset, otherwise why bring up such things? She could have waited for certainty of admission from Harbor City University before informing them, which would have been a stronger position.
"Then we’ll work hard on studying over this winter break."
"We just need to endure the hard work until June."
They were thankful that the college entrance exam happened in June, a month earlier. Otherwise, the thought of enduring the scorching heat in an examination room was truly cruel.
"Let’s go all out," Yang Xue decided not to think too much anymore, "Anyway, from now on we’re going to work as hard as we can."
And so, although their grades were already decent in their grade ranking, they continued to push themselves.
Before the holiday, she had thought about at least catching up on some sleep, but unexpectedly, this winter break turned out to be even more intense than their school days.
Thus, the two of them worked tirelessly, with physics formulas haunting their dreams every night.
Watching her grades improve once again, Yang Xue wasn’t overly excited; she had learned to be modest and didn’t show off all her achievements.
While Yang Xue and her friend were working hard, so were the rest. The pressure on them was immense.
Initially, Yang Xue’s grades were truly average, but now her improvement was so remarkable.
This made those who had left Yang Xue behind wonder, how could they be content? Of course not, they were thinking about overtaking her again.
They had good intentions, thinking that by intensifying their tutoring sessions, there was no way they couldn’t surpass Yang Xue.
What they didn’t expect was that despite their escalated efforts and careful attention to detail, their exam results still fell short of Yang Xue’s.
Especially since the latter was continuously improving, leaving many stunned, not understanding why, even at this stage, she was still rapidly enhancing her abilities.