After finishing her homework, dinner time quickly arrived.
She voluntarily went downstairs to do some housework, helping Auntie Niu wash rice and vegetables.
These trivial tasks meant little to Zhou Xiu, but they were noticed differently by the two elderly people.
Auntie Niu looked at this silent and shy girl, seeing her calm and peaceful demeanour, and felt that her worries were unnecessary.
As the water flowed down, the girl carefully removed the lotus cores, each grain clean and intact.
Zhou Xiu hesitated for a moment and asked, “Auntie Niu, can I cook some food to bring to school tomorrow?”
The housekeeper nodded, somewhat puzzled, and asked her, “Don’t the meals at the cafeteria suit your taste?”
Of course, she couldn’t tell them the real reason. Zhou Xiu just shook her head and said, “I like eating what I cook myself.”
“Auntie Niu, let me help you with some dishes.”
The system suddenly spoke up: [The purpose of education is to promote diversified development. Learning is diversified. In addition to homework, it’s also necessary to cultivate essential life skills.]
[Please learn to make “Plum Fragrant Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs” for a reward of 5 RMB.]
Zhou Xiu’s gaze fell on the kitchen ingredients, and there happened to be sour plums and spare ribs. The system was quite sharp to find these ingredients among many others.
Zhou Xiu wasn’t afraid of the kitchen. She had learned to cook at a young age in the countryside. Zhou’s father was relatively weak and couldn’t do heavy work in the fields. However, he often went out to cater for banquets in the village to earn extra income.
Zhou Xiu often helped her father, so she was quite skilled in cooking.
Auntie Niu was about to politely decline Zhou Xiu’s offer, but the housekeeper was quite supportive.
“Sure, Xiuxiu, give it a try.”
The system outlined the steps for making the Plum Fragrant Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs. Zhou Xiu followed the instructions carefully, blanching the spare ribs in cold water, stirring evenly, making a red yeast sauce, chopping scallions, ginger, and garlic. Then, she added the green plums, rock sugar, and stir-fried spare ribs, adding seasoning and sauce, and simmered over medium heat.
The housekeeper watched her skilful movements with some surprise. However, he quickly understood. Children from poor families become independent early.
Zhou Xiu made one dish, while Auntie Niu made four dishes and a soup.
The housekeeper said to Zhou Xiu, “Xiuxiu, call the young master down for dinner.”
Zhou Xiu nodded and went upstairs. She knocked on Xi Shaoyuan’s room and found that he wasn’t in the room but was in the study doing homework.
The study door was half open, not fully closed. The room was heated, and the boy was only wearing a thin T-shirt, his muscular arms visible as he rolled up his sleeves.
He was on the phone, his expression indifferent, but a hint of gloom between his eyebrows.
“Oh, it’s fine if you can’t come back. It’s just a birthday.”
“Zhou Xiu, right? Oh, I see.”
Just as Xi Shaoyuan hung up the phone, he opened the door and saw Zhou Xiu about to knock.
He took out a wad of cash from his wallet and said flatly, “My mom asked me to give this to you, it’s for this week’s living expenses.”
This rich kid seemed to have no concept of money. The thick stack of bills was worth at least a few thousand. It felt heavy and warm in Zhou Xiu’s hand.
Zhou Xiu was stunned.
Xi Shaoyuan furrowed his brows. “Not enough?”
His mother gave him a monthly allowance of 100,000 yuan, which wasn’t even the main source of his funds. Since he started high school, his mother had entrusted several funds to him to manage on his own. The dividends from these funds were quite substantial.
Xi Shaoyuan and his friends could easily spend a few thousand yuan on a meal outside.
Zhou Xiu shook her head. “Thank you, but I don’t need it.”
Xi Shaoyuan took out all the money from his wallet and added it to Zhou Xiu’s hand.
Impatiently, he emphasized, “Take it.”
He glanced at the girl in front of him, malnourished and as flat as a washboard. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Xi Shaoyuan wouldn’t have believed that there could be a girl so thin, devoid of any feminine traits.
Girls should be fragrant, sweet, carefree.
Xi Shaoyuan knew that the girl in front of him was deep-minded, used to acting pitiful to gain sympathy.
Zhou Xiu wanted to refuse again, but Xi Shaoyuan impatiently glanced at her, his patience exhausted, and he went downstairs directly.
He couldn’t be bothered to argue over such a small amount of money with Zhou Xiu.
Through Xi Shaoyuan’s gaze, Zhou Xiu seemed to read his intention: ugly people are more prone to mischief.
There might be another interpretation: he thought it was a case of wanting to accept but feeling obliged to refuse.
Zhou Xiu had no choice but to accept the money and decided that she would buy him a birthday gift with it. Then she could return the money to him.
She counted the bills in her hand, a total of 45. She was surprised.
Xi Shaoyuan’s casual attitude just now made it seem like he was handing out paper instead of money.
While Zhou Xiu was struggling over five yuan, others could easily throw money around.
Zhou Xiu now somewhat understood the mindset of “Zhou Xiu.” Faced with such great temptations every day, she couldn’t help but indulge in fantasies. Although the attitude of the Xi family towards her was cold, they had indeed not mistreated her in terms of food and clothing.
【Young lady! Your thoughts are becoming somewhat dangerous now!】
Zhou Xiu smiled and went back to find a cardboard box. She wrote the word “Xi” on it with a ballpoint pen and put the money inside.
【I will study hard.】
The system’s worries finally eased.
The Xi family’s villa was very large, with many rooms that couldn’t be fully occupied. Usually, only the two elders accompanied the young master of the Xi family. It looked deserted.
Until dinner time, Zhou Xiu still saw only two sets of tableware, which intensified the feeling of emptiness.
Zhou Xiu took out her vocabulary book and recited while eating, without looking away.
Xi Shaoyuan picked up a few more pieces of the plum-flavoured ribs, seeming to really enjoy them.
After dinner, Zhou Xiu took the initiative to wash the dishes and prepared the bento for the next day.
She made two coconut buns and used the remaining ingredients to make a plum-flavoured rib. Xi Shaoyuan had picked this dish several times during dinner, so Zhou Xiu didn’t dare to touch it.
The rice cooker beeped, indicating that the ribs were done. Zhou Xiu ate one and couldn’t help but squint. She reached into her pocket and felt the five yuan.
【”Plum-flavoured Sweet and Sour Ribs” reward has been credited.】
Late at night, Zhou Xiu received a call from home.
This time it was her father calling, and Zhou Xiu was studying when the call came in.
Her father said, “Xiuxiu, did your grandmother call you this afternoon?”
“Xiuxiu, I’m sorry, Dad didn’t handle it well. Don’t listen to her. You need to focus on your studies. Dad asked your third uncle to find a job at the construction site. When spring comes, I’ll go to the city to work. This time, Dad will support your education.”
The middle-aged man’s voice on the other end sounded choked up, as if his throat was stuffed with cotton.
Zhou Xiu’s pen, which had been writing homework, stopped, and the howling wind outside seemed to pause.
Zhou Xiu’s heart felt a slight flutter.
She smiled and said, “Okay, Dad, I’ll wait for you.”
Zhou Xiu’s parents were typical rural folks, working hard and eating little, never complaining. Because they couldn’t have a son, they had been oppressed by Zhou’s grandmother for half their lives.
Zhou Xiu resumed writing, filling half a book with chemistry test questions, several exam papers, memorizing two lessons, as well as several dictations and short essays…
At dawn, the first light of day appeared.
The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window as Zhou Xiu stretched lazily and washed her face.
After finishing her morning routine, she quickly made breakfast, ate, and hurried to catch the first bus to school.
On the bus, Zhou Xiu’s mind was filled with notifications.
【Completed homework for 11/20, accuracy rate 95%, reward 15 RMB】
【Completed homework for 11/21, accuracy rate 95%, reward 15 RMB】
【Completed homework for 11/22, accuracy rate 95%, reward 15 RMB】
【Completed homework for November 23rd, achieving an accuracy rate of 95%, reward 15 RMB. 】
【Young one, please don’t push yourself so hard!” 】
…
When Hua Xu arrived in the classroom, she found her usually diligent desk mate, who always sat up straight during class, lying on the desk sleeping for the first time ever.
She had arrived early for self-study and tapped on the table.
“Wake up.”
Zhou Xiu woke up groggily and shifted to let Hua Xu sit down. She handed something over to Hua Xu casually.
Hua Xu: “??? What’s this?”
“Food.” As a gesture of reciprocity, for the she brought for her.
Hua Xu opened the bag and found warm coconut buns inside, and she began eating without hesitation.
“Mm, it’s quite delicious.”
Zhou Xiu had noticed yesterday that Hua Xu liked desserts with coconut flavour, so she ate two buns in one go, watching her happily eat, feeling relieved.
The class bell rang.
Zhou Xiu stared at the face of Mr. Huang, the teacher of the first class, struggling for a long time, and gave up on actively answering questions.
This task had a reward of 30 RMB. Zhou Xiu felt a bit guilty about missing out on this money.
Having previewed the content in advance yesterday and done many homework exercises, Zhou Xiu easily understood today’s new content. She began to frantically complete her assignments.
System: 【…】
【Completed homework for November 22nd, achieving an accuracy rate of 95%, reward 15 RMB. 】
【Completed homework for November 23rd, achieving an accuracy rate of 95%, reward 15 RMB. 】
Zhou Xiu pursed her lips. “I really need the money right now.”
【Alright, darling, if you want to progress, there are plenty of ways to do so here! 】
The system issued new tasks:
【Books are the ladder of human progress. ‘Reading history makes one wise, reading poetry makes one refined, studying mathematics makes one meticulous, and studying science makes one profound.’ Young one, please don’t overlook the importance of utilizing the library! Reading for 2 hours a day earns you a reward of 5 RMB. 】
【’If you have one thought, and I have one thought, and we exchange them, then each of us has two thoughts, or even more than two thoughts.’ It’s not advisable to work in isolation. Young one, please enthusiastically engage in learning through interactions with people around you! Engage in learning interactions 5 times a day to earn 5 RMB. 】
【’Health is the capital of revolution.’ Having a healthy physique is the foundation of learning. Young one, please get moving! Engaging in 1 hour of exercise a day earns you a reward of 5 RMB.” 】
Zhou Xiu was greatly inspired and eagerly picked up the book beside her.
Yesterday, during class, she was glanced at by Mr. Huang, who was giving a lesson full of authority, and she found herself in the corner not paying attention. He loudly proclaimed:
“Some students never pay attention in class and always pretend to be diligent afterward. Is this self-deception useful?”
The sudden increase in volume from the math teacher woke up several students who were dozing off, chatting, or daydreaming.
“Tsk—,” they clicked their tongues. Not paying attention in class, did Mr. Huang just realize this today?
Hua Xu was also awakened by the commotion and lazily yawned. “Zhou Xiu, come up here and solve this problem for me!” Mr. Huang demanded.
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