At Hua Xu’s House
Xu Qing led Zhou Xiu to Hua Xu’s house, navigating the way with ease as if he had done it many times before. This was Zhou Xiu’s first time visiting, and she found herself standing in front of a beautiful, standalone garden villa.
Xu Qing knocked on the door, and Du Feiyang cheerfully poked his head out, waving them in.
As Zhou Xiu stepped inside, she noticed that the others were in the middle of an intense gaming session. Yu Qingyan quickly put down her controller when she saw Zhou Xiu.
“Hey, Xiu Xiu’s here! We were just studying, I swear. We only started playing after getting tired. Really, you can ask Hua Xu,” Yu Qingyan hurriedly explained.
Of course, the part about studying diligently went unnoticed, while their gaming was caught in full swing. Yu Qingyan felt a bit embarrassed.
Zhou Xiu put her bag down. “It’s fine. You guys can continue playing.”
Yu Qingyan looked at her with a somewhat aggrieved expression.
After the current game ended, Hua Xu handed the controller to Zhou Xiu. “Xiu Xiu, stop working on your homework. Come on, let’s play together. Let’s just relax today.”
Hua Xu figured that Zhou Xiu might have bombed the test and wanted to cheer her up.
She gently patted Zhou Xiu’s head.
The three of them had been playing a two-player jungle adventure game, but now that they had five people, they decided to switch to playing “King of Glory.”
Du Feiyang said, “Xiu Xiu probably doesn’t know how to play. Come on, I’ll teach you.”
He lent her his smurf account and patiently showed her the ropes. Xu Qing also chimed in from time to time, explaining the game’s rules to Zhou Xiu.
Zhou Xiu had never played video games before, so her fingers were a bit slow. Her character ended up charging straight into the enemy’s tower, much to everyone’s amusement.
Du Feiyang burst into laughter. “Hahaha! I can’t believe there’s a game Xiu Xiu can’t play. Sorry, I was too far away to save you.”
Even Xu Qing’s mouth curved into a slight smile.
Only Hua Xu, controlling Diao Chan with the agility of a feather, rushed to the top lane to rescue Zhou Xiu. She unleashed her ultimate skill, taking down three enemies in one go.
But even with three top-ranked players on their team, they couldn’t carry a rookie, and their base was mercilessly destroyed.
Zhou Xiu looked around at the others, who were cautiously watching her. Even Xu Qing’s gaze carried a hint of reassurance, causing her to smile.
“Thanks, everyone. I had fun.”
Yu Qingyan excitedly suggested, “Xiu Xiu, you should practice more. We’ll keep playing with you.”
But Du Feiyang immediately shot her down. “No way. Games are addictive. Xiu Xiu should focus on studying.”
Then he turned to Yu Qingyan and said, “Did you forget about finding a math tutor? Have you finished your homework for tonight?”
Yu Qingyan pouted, “Did you finish yours?”
Du Feiyang proudly replied, “I finished my English homework. While you were gaming, Hua Xu and I secretly did some work.”
He rubbed his stomach. “Man, I’m tired and hungry now. Hua Xu, order some takeout. We can do more homework afterward.”
Hua Xu efficiently pulled out a stack of small cards from a drawer and started calling in an order.
As she thought aloud, she listed, “Hmm… pork bone ramen, tuna sushi, matsutake with caviar… what else?”
“Japanese food again?” Du Feiyang looked pained.
“My stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately,” Yu Qingyan explained.
Zhou Xiu leaned over to take a look. What she saw made her quickly press down on the menu cards.
This was a meal that would easily cost four figures—a staggeringly expensive dinner.
Zhou Xiu valued money, even when it wasn’t hers. She glanced at the clock on the wall, then turned to the group and said, “How about I cook? What do you guys want to eat?”
Hua Xu’s eyes lit up.
She knew Zhou Xiu could cook, and her skills were exceptional. Every day, Hua Xu drooled over the breakfast Zhou Xiu brought to school, but she never had the chance to try her lunch.
The others were a bit surprised. Zhou Xiu could cook?
It was rare to find a girl who could cook these days. After all, when girls entered the kitchen, it was usually a recipe for disaster.
Du Feiyang quickly placed his order. “I want rose soy sauce chicken!”
“I’ll just have some baby bok choy,” Yu Qingyan added.
Xu Qing simply said, “I’m fine with anything.”
Hua Xu couldn’t help but get carried away, listing, “I want plum-flavoured spare ribs, crispy roast pork, papaya stew with snow clam, coconut syrup with rock sugar and white fungus, strawberry puffs, snow mousse cake…”
Xu Qing and Du Feiyang silently facepalmed.
Zhou Xiu noted down the menu and shot a glance at Hua Xu, calmly saying, “You can only choose two.”
Hua Xu hesitated for a long time, torn between her choices, before finally making a decision. “Then I’ll have the plum-flavoured spare ribs and the papaya stew with snow clam.”
Zhou Xiu wrote down the ingredients and was about to head to the supermarket, but Hua Xu stopped her. “It’s too late. Don’t bother going out.”
She made a phone call and asked the household staff to deliver the ingredients. In less than half an hour, the groceries were at their doorstep.
Zhou Xiu took out her phone and sent a message to Auntie Niu and the butler at the Xi household, letting them know that she’d be staying at a classmate’s house for dinner and would be home later.
Then she calmly took out the ingredients from the plastic bags and started preparing the fish, ribs, and chicken on the kitchen counter.
She was filleting the fish, intending to make a fish soup. Her movements were smooth and practiced, as if second nature.
Xu Qing watched for a while, unable to suppress a smile. He finally understood why Zhou Xiu had refused to do the fish dissection experiment.
With the way she handled the live fish, she was more skilled than the teacher.
Xu Qing asked around if anyone else knew how to cook, but the others all shook their heads. Hua Xu went so far as to say, “I’ve never even touched a knife.”
Yu Qingyan could only wash the vegetables, and Du Feiyang was even more useless, only capable of watching the stove. As for Hua Xu—
Well, there wasn’t enough room in the kitchen, so she contentedly watched them cook.
In the kitchen, the rhythmic sound of Zhou Xiu’s knife hitting the cutting board, the slicing of vegetables and chicken, the sizzling of food in the pan, the bubbling of the soup, and the whirring of the mixer all blended together into a lively symphony. The once cold and spacious house was finally filled with the warm aroma of home-cooked food.
When the dishes were ready and brought to the table, the “culinary disasters” who had only managed to wash some vegetables and peel some leaves were filled with a deep sense of satisfaction. The smiles on their faces were unstoppable.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I actually helped cook!” Yu Qingyan exclaimed in surprise.
Hua Xu rolled her eyes. “You only washed the baby bok choy. It was Xiu Xiu who did the cooking.”
“Wah, wah, wah! I don’t care. The vegetables I washed taste amazing,” Yu Qingyan said, feeling touched.
She bit into a piece of rib and suddenly had an epiphany. “This is Shaoyuan’s favourite dish. I need to eat more of it.”
“Xiu Xiu’s ribs are the best. They’re even better than what they serve at high-end restaurants. So delicious!”
Hua Xu, eating the sweet papaya stew with snow clam, cupped her face in delight. “Xiu Xiu’s dessert is so comforting.”
After the meal, they laughed and joked as they settled down to do their homework.
At the Xi Household
The sky was completely dark, and it had been a long time since dinner.
After his shower, Xi Shaoyuan asked casually, “Where’s Zhou Xiu?”
The butler replied, “Oh, Young Master, are you asking about Xiu Xiu? She’s eating dinner at a classmate’s house tonight.”
She finally made some new friends at school, which was no small feat. The butler had been worried that a girl from the countryside might feel out of place and have trouble getting along with kids from the city.
Xi Shaoyuan frowned. The Zhou Xiu he remembered was quiet and reserved, seemingly not very good at making friends.
The butler, noticing how late it was, reached for her phone to call Zhou Xiu, but just then, they heard the sound of the door opening.
Zhou Xiu had returned.
She set down her bag and pulled out her phone to dismiss the butler’s call. Glancing at the butler, she caught sight of Xi Shaoyuan’s cold gaze. Puzzled, she asked:
“What’s the matter?”
The butler looked at Young Master’s furrowed brow, then back at Zhou Xiu, and quickly said, “Oh, nothing, nothing. It’s just that Young Master was worried about you.”
Xi Shaoyuan couldn’t be bothered to correct her, shooting a sharp look at the butler as a warning.
Zhou Xiu, on the other hand, filtered out the comment. There was no way Xi Shaoyuan would worry about her when he acted like she didn’t even exist.
“No need to worry. I was safe at Hua Xu’s house. She even gave me a ride home.”
After saying that, Zhou Xiu changed into her workout clothes and quickly began her evening exercise routine. After her run, she took out her homework and got to work.
With the upcoming Olympiad monthly test, Zhou Xiu had been too busy to complete her regular homework.
The work she had completed only covered assignments up to January. The monthly test had taken up a lot of her time, which meant she missed out on opportunities to earn money.
Zhou Xiu felt a pang of regret.
System: [ . . . ]
She hadn’t finished the January assignments yet? Did she actually plan to complete all of her holiday homework in advance?
As it turns out, the system wasn’t mistaken. Zhou Xiu had already asked the teachers for the holiday homework assignments.
There were essays for Chinese, vocabulary and memorization tasks for English, physics worksheets, and chemistry exercises. Zhou Xiu pulled out a brand-new workbook and began tackling the problems.
Time slipped away unnoticed, and before she knew it, it was late at night.
Exhausted, Zhou Xiu eventually fell asleep at her desk.
In the middle of the night, Xi Shaoyuan got up to get some water and noticed that the light in Zhou Xiu’s room was still on.
He casually glanced inside and frowned slightly.
Zhou Xiu’s behaviour in recent days didn’t quite match the Zhou Xiu he thought he knew.
Thursday Morning
The Rocket Class students were all eagerly anticipating the results of the Olympiad monthly test.
Originally, they were just expecting Zhou Xiu to be kicked out of the competition class, but after yesterday’s test, many of them started feeling anxious.
The difficulty level had suddenly spiked, and a lot of students struggled to adapt. Many of them admitted that they had bombed the test, leading to the possibility that more than one person might be eliminated by Mr. Wang.
Faced with this reality, those who had done poorly were left feeling as if a huge weight had been placed on their chests, sapping their energy and leaving them dejected.
They were desperate to know the results but were also terrified. They were caught in a state of constant worry, plagued by post-exam anxiety.
This was a downside of the competition class system. If a student wasn’t suited for the competition track, it was better for them to exit early. After all, the path to success wasn’t limited to competitions—college entrance exams were the real deal.
The school relied on these top students to boost its success rate.
For top students, getting kicked out of the competition class meant they’d have to work hard to regain their rank, which was the only way to get back in.
But Qi Yaguang wasn’t worried. Her math was consistently strong, and she usually ranked among the top in tests. Xu Haobo, Li Simiao, and a few other top students didn’t have much to worry about either.
The difficulty of the test wasn’t a problem for truly top-tier students because real gold doesn’t fear the fire.
So, after an exam, some students were happy while others were downcast.
The second class for the Rocket Class on Thursday was Mr. Wang’s math class. Mr. Wang was known for grading quickly, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he announced the results in class.
He probably would, actually.
During the break before math class, Qi Yaguang sat next to Lu Lingshan, excitedly saying:
“Lingshan, we can go home together on Wednesday afternoons from now on.”
“I’m sure you’ll get into the competition class this time. I bet someone will definitely fail this test. I’ve been waiting for you to join for so long!”
The “someone” Qi Yaguang was referring to was Zhou Xiu, specifically. However, her comment came off as particularly harsh to the other students who overheard it.
The results hadn’t even been announced, and she was already certain that someone would give up their spot to Lu Lingshan?
Those students who had guessed they failed felt even more uncomfortable.
Qi Yaguang continued cracking sunflower seeds, saying, “So what if you’re hardworking? It’s not like it’s going to result in great scores—”
The students who had been hoping to get by through sheer hard work fell silent.
“Sorry, but as someone in the Rocket Class, I know that my scores come from effort. If I didn’t put in the effort, I’d have been moved to an ordinary class ages ago.”
Finally, someone couldn’t take it anymore and retorted, “I don’t see what Zhou Xiu did wrong.”
Why was Qi Yaguang so eager to see Zhou Xiu fail? And what if Zhou Xiu actually scored better than her?
A female student chimed in, “I think Zhou Xiu will do well. When I handed in my test, I noticed she had finished all the questions.”
Qi Yaguang’s first reaction was disbelief. “She… she couldn’t have finished!”
Zhou Xiu had only scored sixty on a much easier test and had been cramming last-minute before this one. Finishing even two of the proofs would have been impressive for her.
Lu Lingshan smiled, pulling Qi Yaguang back to keep her from saying more.
Finally, the math class that everyone had been anxiously waiting for began.
Mr. Wang entered the classroom, holding a stack of graded tests, and dropped them onto the podium with a thud.
His face, bronze as usual, was red with anger, resembling a furious deity. “Not a single one of you got a perfect score this time. I’m extremely disappointed!”
Without Xie Shen to lean on, how could anyone have hoped to get a perfect score?
The top students were silently suffering.
“I need to call out the student who regressed the most.”
“Qi Yaguang, come up here. Take a look at what kind of garbage you wrote. Were you even paying attention in class? You couldn’t even score higher than a student from a parallel class!”
Hold on—what did they just hear?
It wasn’t unusual for Mr. Wang to scold students, and his choice of words was pretty consistent. But normally, he’d say, “You couldn’t even score higher than a student from Winner Class.”
But this time… did he say “parallel class”?
No mistake about it—he said parallel class. They had just learned something very shocking.
The top students straightened up in their seats. Normally, when Mr. Wang scolded students, they let it go in one ear and out the other. But now, their eyes widened in surprise as they listened attentively.
Author’s Note:
Mini-Theatre:
Later on—
Mr. Wang’s catchphrase was permanently set.
The Rocket Class students were haunted by this phrase until the day they graduated. The phrase was: Mr. Wang: “How did you do so poorly? You couldn’t even score higher than a student from a parallel class!”
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