Chapter Fifty-Five: Fish with Pickled Mustard Greens

Provincial No. 1 High School is the top school in Sichuan Province.

To be precise, it’s the best among the ten key high schools of Sichuan. Whether it’s the campus environment, the faculty, or the results in the national college entrance exams, it always ranks first.

In her previous life, Yu Qian had heard a piece of gossip: the teachers at Provincial No. 1 would tell their students, “If you don’t study hard, you’ll end up at Sichuan University across the street.”

Sichuan University is a prestigious national university in China, hardly a bad choice. Yet in the eyes of the teachers at Provincial No. 1, it was where the less diligent students went.

For this reason, Provincial No. 1 has always been strict with admissions.

They couldn’t afford to tarnish their reputation.

For students within the school district, enrollment was easy—the school had to accept them if their household registration was there. But for those outside the district, either their grades had to be outstanding, or their families had to pay hefty sums to buy a place.

Yu Qian’s family initially thought owning a house in the district would suffice, but later discovered they also needed to transfer their household registration, which was impossible for them.

Paying for a spot was out of the question—they weren’t billionaires, and sinking a fortune just for admission felt wasteful.

So, the whole family, including Zhou Jingchen, pinned their hopes on this entrance exam.

Yu Qian herself appeared quite relaxed, knowing her own abilities. No matter how difficult Provincial No. 1’s tests were, they couldn’t be harder than the college entrance exam. She’d already scored highly on several sets of those, so she felt confident.

Wenxiu understood her situation and wasn’t worried either.

For Yu Wen and his wife, who were so nervous they kept calling to remind her, the two even offered some words of comfort.

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The questions at Provincial No. 1 were indeed tough—this was only an entrance exam, but anyone who saw it would think it was a high school exam.

Not only did the test cover elementary school material, but also a fair amount of middle school content.

Unlike other schools that tested only Chinese, Math, and English, Provincial No. 1 included six subjects: Chinese, Math, English, Science, and Social Studies. Only once she began working through the papers did Yu Qian understand why the teachers joked about less diligent students ending up at Sichuan University.

The first day was Chinese in the morning, Math in the afternoon; the second day, English in the morning, Science in the afternoon; the third day, Social Studies in the morning.

Results would be released a week after the exam.

Yu Qian entered the exam room relaxed, and came out just as calm.

After the math exam that afternoon, Zhou Jingchen was waiting for her at the security office.

“Sweetheart,” he smiled as soon as he saw her.

Yu Qian turned her head away and ignored him. “Hmph.”

She greeted the security guard, and Zhou Jingchen caught up and took her hand. “Still angry?”

“Hmph!” Unable to shake off his hand, she simply stopped moving.

“Alright, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done something you dislike without your permission.” His voice softened in apology.

Yu Qian had always been unable to resist when Zhou Jingchen softened his tone. As soon as his voice changed, she couldn’t keep up her stern expression.

Seeing her mood improve, Zhou Jingchen’s voice grew even gentler. “What do you want to eat? I’ll take you.”

“Sour Fish Soup.”

“Okay, is it alright if we go to Zeng’s?”

After thinking it over, Yu Qian agreed, “Let me tell Xiu first.”

“No need, I’ve already told her.” Zhou Jingchen smiled.

She stared at him in surprise—Wenxiu actually agreed?

It was well known that Wenxiu was among those who had issues with Zhou Jingchen, yet he was taking her out to eat alone, and Wenxiu had given her blessing.

She was utterly astonished.

Hand in hand, they hailed a cab to dinner, then returned to the neighborhood for a walk. When Yu Qian was dropped off at home, Wenxiu’s expression soured, annoyed that he’d kept her out too long.

“See you on a cloudy day—I’ll pick you up in the afternoon,” Zhou Jingchen said, making plans for another meal before heading home.

As soon as he left, Wenxiu pulled Yu Qian aside. “Another date on a cloudy day? He must be dreaming!”

“You could just come with us,” Yu Qian replied with a smile.

“That’s a great idea!”

Wenxiu’s eyes lit up, and she decided to be a five-hundred-watt third wheel next time, tagging along for a free meal.