Chapter 383
Yaoyao bit her spoon in confusion and asked, "Mom, what is a university?"
Si Nian smiled and stroked her hair. "A university is a school just like the one your brothers go to, except the people who go there are all adults."
Yaoyao nodded, half-understanding, and then said, "Mom, then Yaoyao wants to go to a university too!"
Previously, Si Nian took her to the elementary school all day. Yaoyao saw the students having classes and would sometimes join in.
The little kids all liked her, saying she was amazing, and would even share their candy with her.
A hint of yearning flickered in Yaoyao's big, bright eyes.
Second Child grew anxious. Mom was going to university. He had previously said that if Mom couldn't get into a university, then he wouldn't either, so he could stay with her.
But now, hearing that Mom had gotten in and his younger sister saying she wanted to go too, he immediately declared, "Mom, I want to go to university too."
Although Zhou Zedong didn't say anything, his eyes were full of anticipation. He had been instilled with the idea that "education changes one's destiny" since he was a child, so he had always worked very hard.
Getting into a university could change his destiny. Even though his destiny had already been changed, his goal wouldn't waver because of it.
He looked at Si Nian with adoration in his eyes.
There were no college students in their village; he heard that even their homeroom teacher was only a high school graduate.
Yet, at school, he was highly respected, and everyone tried to please him.
In the future, he also wanted to get into a university like Mom, so even if he returned to the village, no one would mock him.
"Mom, which university do you want to go to?"
"Peking University."
Zhou Zedong muttered, "Peking University?"
He made up his mind. He would go to Peking University in the future and attend the same school as Mom.
The family digested the good news and prepared to set off.
Originally, they thought it would be fine just to drop Si Nian off, but the kids followed her wherever she went.
Zhou Yueshen hadn't even said he was taking them along, but seeing Si Nian get into the car, the children familiarly climbed in after her.
Dragging the whole family along, Zhou Yueshen was completely helpless.
Da Huang had been unchained. Seeing the family about to leave, it also stuck its butt up and tried to squeeze in.
But its body was too big now, already the size of an adult Tibetan Mastiff. Although it could squeeze in, the three children would suffer.
Besides, going to a school where there were people everywhere, it wouldn't be good to bring it along. What if it scared someone?
Zhou Yueshen looked at Da Huang, who had already squeezed more than halfway in with its butt up and tail wagging, and the three children, feeling so troubled that his craving for a smoke was acting up.
"Da Huang, get down."
Finally, he called out to it, and taking advantage of the moment Da Huang wagged its tail and hopped down to look at him expectantly, he slammed the car door shut.
Da Huang was tricked into the gate and stood behind the iron bars, wagging its tail.
Zhou Yueshen was just about to drive off when he heard the voice of Jiang Jiu from next door.
"Uncle Zhou, Uncle Zhou."
Jiang Jiu ran over wearing a pair of overalls and a short-sleeved T-shirt.
He first glanced at Second Brother and the others in the car, then looked up expectantly at Zhou Yueshen, calling out sweetly, "Uncle Zhou, Second Brother, where are you going?"
Zhou Yueshen quite liked this little guy from next door.
He was cute, sensible, had a good relationship with his youngest son, and they stuck together every day.
He reached down to pat the little guy's head and said gently, "Uncle is taking your Auntie Si and the others to school."
Jiang Jiu immediately asked expectantly, "To school? Uncle, Uncle, can I go too?"
Zhou Yueshen paused.
Although he quite liked the little guy, he wasn't good at babysitting for others.
Just as he was about to refuse, Jiang Jiu tugged at his hand and whined playfully, "Uncle Zhou, Uncle Zhou, let me go with you. I'll be good and listen to you."
Zhou Yueshen was most afraid of sweet-talking children; none of the three kids at home would act spoiled like this.
A hint of stiffness appeared on his usually stern face.
Si Nian smiled and said, "Let's take him along."
Second Child also leaned halfway out of the car and shouted to him loudly, "Little Jiang, Little Jiang, I'm over here!"
Jiang Jiu's eyes lit up. He immediately dropped Zhou Yueshen's hand and scampered over.
"Second Brother, I want to sit with you."
Second Child immediately scooted over and patted the seat, saying, "Okay, come on up."
Si Nian smiled at Zhou Yueshen, who walked over with a helpless look, and said, "It's fine, kids don't take up much space."
After speaking, she saw Grandma Jiang walk out and greeted her.
And so, the large family set off towards No. 2 Middle School.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
At the Si family home.
The Si family, who were just getting ready to go to the school, received a phone call.
Zhang Cuimei was delighted to hear the homeroom teacher's voice.
"What, Sisi scored 398? Then isn't a university guaranteed?"
"That's wonderful, teacher. Thank you so much, otherwise our Sisi might not have made it to college."
"Adopted daughter? You mean Si Nian? Why are you asking about her?"
"She's not with me. Don't ask me about her affairs. I'm busy, I'm hanging up now."
Zhang Cuimei hung up impatiently. Why was the homeroom teacher inexplicably asking if Si Nian was at home?
Didn't he know that Si Nian had left the Si family a long time ago?
Zhang Cuimei now harbored great hostility towards Si Nian. Just hearing her name mentioned made her frown involuntarily.
Why bring her up on such a good day? Truly bad luck.
When Zhang Cuimei hung up, Lin Sisi and Si's Father both looked over at her.
Zhang Cuimei announced proudly, "The scores are out. Sisi got 398. Getting into a university is definitely no problem!"
Si's Father breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, he had also been worried that Lin Sisi wouldn't pass, as that would be truly embarrassing.
He had always cared about his face, but Lin Sisi was from the countryside. If she passed, everyone would be happy; if she didn't, the whole family would lose face along with her.
Although this score wasn't great and might only get her into an average university, being able to go to a university these days was already very good.
At least it was better than a junior college.
He nodded with satisfaction. "Not bad. For Sisi to get into a university under these circumstances, I am proud of you as a father."
Lin Sisi was a bit disappointed to hear this score.
If she hadn't had an accident with her English exam, she would definitely have scored over 400.
She might have even gotten into a very good undergraduate program.
But now, she could only go to an average school.
Forget it. As long as she could go to a university, that was enough.
Anyway, all she wanted was the diploma.
She was a college student now. It was worth noting that not many people in this family compound could get into a university.
Let alone the fact that she came from the countryside. Being able to surpass them meant she was already amazing.
Happy in her heart, Lin Sisi suddenly thought of something and asked Zhang Cuimei, who was already preparing to call people to celebrate, "Mom, I just heard you mention Sister Si Nian. What happened to Sister Si Nian? Why did the teacher ask about her?"
Zhang Cuimei frowned and said, "Si Nian was also his student before. He probably just wanted to ask how she did on the exam. I don't know, so I ignored him."
Lin Sisi frowned and said worriedly, "I wonder how Sister Si Nian did on the exam. We haven't heard any news from her."
"Should we call and ask her?"
Zhang Cuimei also frowned. That's right, given Si Nian's past personality, if she really did well on the exam, would she not inform them?
Could it be that she did so poorly she didn't have the face to call home?
Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Cuimei surprisingly felt an inexplicable sense of comfort.
"Don't worry about her. She's already busy enough taking care of the kids at home, yet she still wants to take the university entrance exam. What a disgrace."
Si Nian used to be among the top students in the family compound and was quite proud, but no matter how capable she was, she hadn't been to school for a year. Even the No. 1 High School wouldn't accept her, so she had to settle for the ordinary No. 2 High School.
No. 2 High School historically had few good teachers, and its college admission rate was dismally low.
How could Si Nian, being there, possibly compare to Sisi at No. 1 High School?
Not to mention, she had privately paid the homeroom teacher to tutor Lin Sisi.
Si's Father heard the conversation between mother and daughter, but remained silent for a moment before saying with some pity for Si Nian, "Don't say that. The child was also delayed by us."
Zhang Cuimei didn't feel guilty at all. "It's a good thing she was delayed. Otherwise, since she's not our biological daughter, we'd still have to spend money to put her through university."
Si's Father wanted to say something else, but Zhang Cuimei, who now had the confidence of a daughter getting into university, interrupted him, "Let's not talk about her. On such a great day, why do you keep bringing her up?"
"Sisi, later Mom will take you to buy new clothes, and tonight we'll have dinner with the family."
"What are you sitting around for? Aren't you going out to notify the people in the family compound about dinner tonight?"
"Book a nice restaurant. Our Sisi really brought glory to us as a couple today."
Si's Father also felt this made sense. With their daughter's score, getting into a university within the province was definitely not a problem.
Thinking of this, Si's Father couldn't sit still anymore and went straight to the Fu family first.
When Fu Qianqian heard that Lin Sisi scored 398 points, she was so angry she couldn't even eat.
She immediately got up to call Si Nian.
Her heart was pounding, though. By now, the scores were definitely out, yet Si Nian hadn't reported the good news to her.
Did she really do poorly on the exam?
She called, but no one answered.
Fu Qianqian's heart became even more uneasy.
It's over, it's over.
Si Nian really did poorly.
She wasn't even answering the phone.
She must be absolutely devastated.
Although she was very unwilling to accept it, if she told her right now that Lin Sisi scored 398 and could get into university, would Si Nian get so angry she'd jump off a building?
Thinking of this possibility, Fu Qianqian couldn't sit still. She called in sick, claiming she had breast hyperplasia and needed to go to the hospital, then grabbed her bag and left the house.
Si's Father even asked her to go to some restaurant for dinner tonight.
Hah, she was full just from anger, why would she eat?
Fu Qianqian was about to leave with a displeased look on her face.
Fu Yang was rarely at home today. Hearing that Lin Sisi could get into university, he was also a bit stunned.
Then he saw his sister furiously making phone calls one moment, and anxiously asking for leave to rush out the next.
A trace of worry flashed in his eyes.
Could something have happened to Si Nian to make his sister make such an expression?
Lin Sisi's score was out, so Si Nian's must be out too.
Although he never doubted Si Nian's abilities, seeing his sister's behavior right now made him somewhat worried.
Could it be that Si Nian messed up the exam this time too?
Fu Yang sat there frowning, not even hearing a word of what Si's Father was saying.
They were very close to No. 2 High School here. Fu Yang was hesitating whether to go over and take a look when the phone rang.
He got up and answered the phone, only to hear his sister's screaming voice: "Brother, something happened, something huge happened! Help—"
The voice abruptly stopped—
Fu Yang's expression changed. He immediately grabbed his car keys and left the house without looking back.
Si's Father was in the middle of speaking, and the person just left.
His expression was very awkward, and he was a bit annoyed.
He had been talking here for ages, and not only did he not get a friendly response, but the guy actually left without even saying hello.
It was simply too much.
Mrs. Fu was also worried that something might have happened. Although she was a bit surprised to hear that Lin Sisi really got into university, she had long lost hope in Lin Sisi. Seeing her son leave, she figured it was time to discuss the divorce between the two families, so she agreed to the dinner.
While Si Nian, Zhou Yueshen, and their group were in the car, they could hear a loud speaker playing a song from far away, though they didn't know where it was coming from.
"Sweet like honey, you smile so sweet like honey,
Like flowers blooming in the spring breeze,
Blooming in the spring breeze.
Where, oh where have I seen you before?
Your smile is so familiar,
But I can't remember for a moment..."
Although Second Child was tone-deaf, he confidently sang along loudly: "Sweet like honey, you smile so sweet like honey, like flowers blooming in the spring breeze, la la la la..."
"Little sister, come sing with me. One, two, start, sweet like honey..."
Si Nian was so amused by him that she burst out laughing. She was just about to ask whose house was playing music so loudly when she tilted her head and saw that they had arrived at the school.
The singing was coming from inside the school.
From a distance, a red banner was hung at the school gate.
A large crowd was blocking the outside, looking up at the words on the banner.
There were also some people taking pictures with cameras.
Si Nian looked closely, and on it was an eye-catching line of large characters: Congratulations to Si Nian, a student who transferred from No. 1 High School to our Class One, Grade Twelve, for becoming the provincial top scorer in science with 685 points, and succeeding in the exams!
Si Nian's face instantly grew hot.
This, this, this was too huge!
Although she knew they would put up a banner, she didn't expect it to be this big.
Second Child curiously stretched his neck out and read it word by word: "Congratulations to Si Nian, a student who transferred from No. 1 High School to our Class One, Grade Twelve, for becoming the science top scorer with 685 points, succeeding in the... Hey, how come this person's name is the same as Mom's?"
Si Nian blushed and coughed, "Keep a low profile, keep a low profile."
Zhou Yueshen saw it too. He tilted his head to glance at Si Nian and saw that she was actually blushing, which was rare.
It was his first time seeing it, and a trace of a smile flashed in his eyes.
With so many people, it was quite a grand display.
He spent ages just trying to find a parking spot.
Fortunately, none of these people knew who Si Nian was. As they walked past, they could still hear everyone's sighs of envy.
"Si Nian, who is Si Nian?"
"How come I've never heard that our school has such an awesome person?"
"Didn't you see? She transferred from No. 1 High School."
"Pfft, who put up this banner? Won't No. 1 High School start a fight if they see it?"
"But why would a student from No. 1 High School come to our school?"
"Who cares? Anyway, the provincial top scorer belongs to our school now, hahahaha."
Amidst the crowd's discussions, Si Nian and Zhou Yueshen led the kids into the school.
By now, the class was already in an uproar. The homeroom teacher was surrounded. Some students originally hadn't planned to come, but who knew that upon hearing their class produced the provincial science top scorer, they all rushed over.
Since she was from their class, it brought glory to all of them too.
Having the provincial science top scorer in their class was something they could brag about for three years once word got out.
There was even a banner at the classroom door: Old Immortal of the Constellations, With Boundless Magic, Helps Our Top Scorer Sweep Away Thousands.
The homeroom teacher was smiling so hard his eyes were invisible. He was wearing a suit and tie, and his hair was slicked back with pomade, reflecting the sunlight.
Seeing Si Nian arrive, he immediately went up to greet her.
"Make way, make way, don't you see our science top scorer has arrived?"
Passersby stopped in their tracks, and amidst the homeroom teacher's excessively loud shouts of "science top scorer," they all turned to give Si Nian a salute of attention.