The evening self-study after returning to school was destined to be anything but peaceful due to the bet between Qin Tian and Wu Xin.
Whispers about the matter could be heard throughout the classroom.
The class monitor, Mu Nan, had tried to maintain order several times, but with little success. The quiet lasted only a few minutes before the discussions resumed.
Qin Tian also noticed the glances directed his way from time to time.
However, he paid them no mind, engrossed in a book of top-scoring college entrance examination essays from the past decade, occasionally explaining problems to Xia Nuannuan beside him.
For him, who had completely mastered all subjects in high school, objective questions with fixed answers, such as those in mathematics, were simple to score perfectly, no matter how difficult, as long as they stayed within the high school knowledge scope. All it took was careful answering.
Conversely, subjective questions, which leaned towards free expression, were where he was more likely to lose points.
The Chinese essay, undoubtedly, accounted for the largest proportion of scores among all subjective questions in the science stream examinations.
Therefore, improving his essay writing and other types of subjective question skills was Qin Tian's most significant task before the college entrance examination.
The evening self-study at Yucheng Fourth High School for the senior year typically lasted until nine o'clock.
Furthermore, the school explicitly stipulated that teachers were not allowed to take up students' self-study time.
Consequently, with teachers of all subjects desperately trying to carve out time, this was a rare opportunity for students to freely improve their weak areas.
The majority of students were studying with great concentration.
In these last two months of high school, many who usually preferred to play had also realized they needed to give it their all.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Take Zhang Peng, for instance, who had stayed up all night at internet cafes during the holiday; he essentially slept through this evening self-study session.
The dismissal bell rang.
The quiet classroom immediately became noisy.
"Tomorrow is the seven o'clock morning reading. Set your alarms, don't oversleep."
The class monitor, Mu Nan, loudly reminded everyone.
The students responded with scattered affirmations, quickly packing their belongings.
"Brother Tian, let's go, heading back."
Zhang Peng yawned as he walked over.
He had nothing with him, so naturally, he had nothing to pack.
Qin Tian nodded and looked at Xia Nuannuan beside him, asking, "Is your mom picking you up?"
"Mm!"
Xia Nuannuan nodded with a smile.
Her mother was solely focused on her college entrance examination preparations and picked her up almost every day.
The three of them chatted as they left the school gates with the day-student students from various senior year classes.
"Nuannuan!"
A pleasant voice called out.
Looking in that direction, they saw Su Xia, looking even younger and more beautiful, among the crowd of parents picking up their children across the way.
"Then I'll be going. Bye!"
Xia Nuannuan smiled and bid farewell to the two, her eyes showing a hint of reluctance as she looked at Qin Tian.
"Alright, go ahead, see you tomorrow."
Qin Tian nodded with a smile.
"Mhm, see you tomorrow!"
Xia Nuannuan gave a sweet smile and trotted towards her mother.
Qin Tian offered a hearty smile to his future mother-in-law, acknowledging her.
Su Xia also smiled gently and nodded slightly.
"Let's go, we're heading back too."
Qin Tian turned to Zhang Peng and said.
Zhang Peng nodded and whispered with a playful grin, "Brother Tian, Xia Nuannuan's mom is actually this beautiful, then she..."
"Huh?"
Qin Tian frowned and glared at him.
"Peh, peh, peh, I misspoke, I didn't mean it like that..."
"You're still too young, you don't understand anything!"
Qin Tian interrupted him impatiently.
"What do you mean? Aren't we the same age?"
Zhang Peng was a bit confused.
"In a while, you'll know."
Qin Tian said meaningfully.
Not just Zhang Peng.
When the time came, Xia Nuannuan, having successfully transformed, would amaze everyone.
...
"Nuannuan, did you tell Xiao Qin about the exam?"
On the way home, Su Xia asked her daughter, looking at her side.
"No, but I don't need to."
Xia Nuannuan said with a smile.
"What do you mean?"
Su Xia looked bewildered.
Xia Nuannuan smiled and recounted what had happened during the evening self-study session.
After listening, Su Xia's well-maintained face was filled with shock.
"You're saying... he bet with a classmate who's in the top ten of your grade on who would score better?"
"Yeah!"
Xia Nuannuan beamed.
Su Xia was stunned for a moment, then said with great interest, "From what you're saying, do you really believe he can score better than that Wu Xin?"
"Of course, Qin Tian would never lose."
Xia Nuannuan replied with certainty.
Su Xia rolled her eyes, utterly speechless. "I think even if Xiao Qin said he could fly to the sky, you'd still believe him like an idiot!"
"Mom—"
Xia Nuannuan blushed immediately and hugged her arm, shaking it playfully.
"Believe me, Qin Tian is really amazing. Since he said it, he can definitely do it."
She recalled what Qin Tian had said to encourage her earlier.
"Even if the whole world, including you, doesn't believe me, I will!"
Xia Nuannuan felt the same way now.
Su Xia didn't say anything further but sighed inwardly with some concern.
It had only been a few days, and her precious daughter seemed to have fallen quite deeply.
If everything went smoothly, it would be fine.
But if the two couldn't end up together, knowing her daughter, she would probably have a very hard time moving on.
However, Su Xia had noticed her daughter's changes in the past few days and was happy about it.
She also knew that her daughter didn't have a good relationship with her classmates at school and didn't have any close friends.
Every time she picked her daughter up from school and saw other students walking in groups while her daughter walked out alone, she would always worry.
Even though her daughter always greeted her with a smile, pretending to be happy at school that day.
But she was a mother, how could she not tell if her daughter's smile was genuine or forced?
In just these few days, her daughter seemed to have been reborn, becoming cheerful and lively, with a light in her eyes.
Su Xia knew that all of this was thanks to the boy who had just smiled and greeted her.
She was grateful to Qin Tian from the bottom of her heart.
As long as this boy's character was decent and he was sincere towards her daughter, she would not only not object but would also do her best to support them.
"By the way, Nuannuan, your dad is coming back in a couple of days!"
Su Xia said abruptly.
"Ah?"
Xia Nuannuan exclaimed, her voice filled with a little nervousness. "Didn't Dad say he had to manage a new shop and would be busy for a while?"
"Things over there went smoothly, and he said he'd take some time to come back and see you."
Su Xia replied, somewhat amused.
Her daughter used to look forward to Old Xia's return, but now it was completely different.
She wondered if Old Xia would cry if he knew.
"Is that so..."
Xia Nuannuan nodded absentmindedly. Seeing her mother's playful gaze, her face immediately turned red again.
"If he's coming back, let him! Honestly, why is he suddenly coming back? He should be working and making money, isn't it tiring to travel back and forth!"
"What? Afraid your dad will find out about Xiao Qin?"
"I, what am I afraid of? I already said, Qin Tian is just my classmate and good friend."
"Heh heh! Then should I tell him about Xiao Qin when he gets back?"
"No!"
Xia Nuannuan refused without hesitation. Seeing her mother's teasing expression, she immediately knew she had been tricked again.
"Mom!!!"
"Alright, alright, don't worry, I'm on your side, I won't say anything."
"Mom, you're so great, I'll give you a shoulder rub and a back massage when we get home!"
"You can, let's see your performance!"