Chapter 189: Chapter 186: Exam
When the counselor arrived at the classroom, he noticed the students were in exceptionally high spirits. He smiled, offered a few words of encouragement without thinking much of it, and then called Zhou Lian to the department head’s office. Her exams today would be proctored by the counselor, the department head, the vice-president, and the professors for each subject, with her papers graded on the spot.
Throughout the morning, Zhou Lian took her exams for general and major-specific courses, all of which were graded on the spot. Her elegant script and masterful answers deeply gratified the professors in attendance. As they looked over her excellent exam papers, they kindly reminded her that her elective exams were in the afternoon and encouraged her to keep up the good work.
Stepping out of the office, Zhou Lian was dumbfounded by the crowd of people waiting at the door. Li Xiu was there holding Nuonuo, along with Zhang Hongying, the deputy class president, and most of her other classmates. ’What’s going on?’
"How did it go? Did they grade them on the spot?" Zhang Hongying asked anxiously. Though she knew that with Zhou Lian’s academic prowess, the exams should have been no problem, she was still worried without final confirmation.
Seeing Zhang Hongying’s worried face and her classmates’ eager expressions, Zhou Lian said, feeling rather touched, "Yes, they graded them on the spot. I passed everything."
Li Xiu glanced at Zhou Lian’s classmates, who all looked overjoyed. He felt incredibly happy for his wife. ’This group of college students is pretty endearing,’ he thought with a smile. "Thank you all for caring so much about Zhou Lian," he said. "She has another exam this afternoon, so we’ll head back for now. Why don’t you all come over to our place this weekend!"
Zhou Lian chimed in, "We’ve been classmates for a year but haven’t had a proper get-together. Let’s do it this weekend!"
Loud cheers followed the invitation. Her classmates all urged Zhou Lian to go home and get some rest, since she still had one more exam that afternoon, agreeing to get together on the weekend. Watching the students leave in twos and threes, Zhou Lian smiled warmly. She wasn’t very familiar with most of the people in her class, having only truly befriended Zhang Hongying. She didn’t even know some of their names. She never expected them to care so much about her. This was a kindness she, Zhou Lian, would not forget.
"You’re surprised, aren’t you, Zhou Lian?" Zhang Hongying said with a smile as she walked slowly off campus with Zhou Lian and Li Xiu. "When Li Xiu first came to ask me where your exam was, our classmates overheard. They all insisted on coming to see you. It even threw me for a loop. You’ve never really socialized much with anyone in class, but from the looks of it, they were genuinely concerned about how you did. Our classmates are pretty sweet, it turns out." ’My friend’s charisma is just too powerful,’ she thought. ’She won over this whole arrogant bunch in minutes!’
Zhou Lian smiled. "I am pretty surprised. Our classmates really are quite sweet!"
"PFFT." Zhang Hongying burst out laughing. She looked at Zhou Lian and said softly, "They are sweet. Sweet enough for a girl to sing *Guan Ju* to you!" Because of this incident, almost no one in the Chinese department didn’t know Zhou Lian’s name. As expected, it wouldn’t be long before she was famous throughout Jing University. After all, for one girl to sing *Guan Ju* to another... just how beautiful did that make the other girl?
"*Guan Ju*? Someone sang *Guan Ju* to my darling? And it was a girl?" Li Xiu looked at Zhou Lian in astonishment, but he directed his question to Zhang Hongying. ’What the hell? How could something so weird happen? Is my wife getting too popular for her own good?’ Li Xiu thought, feeling a bit vexed. ’Are women going to start trying to steal my wife from me now, too?’
Zhou Lian shot Zhang Hongying a glare and couldn’t help but sigh. ’What a strange girl, this deputy class president. Singing *Guan Ju* to me... I’m definitely going to be the talk of the school now.’ She couldn’t stop herself from grumbling, "What is this even about? Yingzi, do you know anything about our deputy class president?"
Holding back a laugh, Zhang Hongying said, "She’s a great person, actually. Lively, cheerful, and magnanimous. She just has a... particular quirk. How should I put it? She’s a complete sucker for a pretty face!" Zhang Hongying didn’t know that in a later era, there would be specific slang for people like the deputy class president, essentially meaning someone obsessed with good looks.
Zhou Lian instantly understood. ’So the girl is all about looks.’ She knew she was decent-looking, but surely she wasn’t so beautiful that another girl would sing *Guan Ju* to her in front of everyone!
Zhou Lian’s perception of herself was still stuck in her past life. She didn’t account for how she had been doted on by Li Xiu in this life, nor the overall temperament she now possessed—one refined by time, steeped in poetry and art, an elegant, scholarly aura that was bone-deep. When combined with her own gentle, serene nature, her fair and rosy complexion, and the clothes Li Xiu had selected with his discerning eye, she was, in every sense, a magnificent ink-wash painting come to life.
Having listened for a while, Li Xiu now understood the situation. He smiled nonchalantly. "It’s just a young girl who got a little carried away by her appreciation for a beautiful person. Her reaction was a bit dramatic, that’s all."
Zhou Lian glanced at Li Xiu and said glumly, "I know, but you just wait. This incident is going to cause a stir. I’m afraid I’ll be treated like a national treasure and gawked at for a while!"
At these words, Zhang Hongying pictured the scene Zhou Lian described and found it hilarious. ’My good friend has always been absurdly low-key; being thrown into the spotlight like this must be torture for her. But it just goes to show that her charm is truly irresistible!’
After bidding farewell to Zhang Hongying, Zhou Lian and Li Xiu started the slow walk home. Nuonuo was staring intently at her mother. Zhou Lian smiled and asked curiously, "Nuonuo, why do you keep looking at Mommy? Did you miss me?"
Nuonuo nodded slowly. "Mommy, *Guan Ju* is about liking someone a whole lot. Does the aunty who sang *Guan Ju* to you like you? Is she going to try and steal you from me?"
Zhou Lian and Li Xiu were stunned. ’What is all this nonsense?’ How could Nuonuo, a child not even three years old, know about *Guan Ju* and explain it so clearly? No matter how smart she was, she couldn’t have known unless someone taught her. At the exact same moment, they both thought of one person. Ping’an. ’That little brat,’ they thought. ’It must have been him!’
After lunch, Li Xiu told Zhou Lian to get some rest. He asked Sister Fang to watch Nuonuo and Yanyan, who had just been fed, while he went to the west room to deal with Ping’an. ’That little brat taught a child under three to recite *Guan Ju* and even explained it to her so clearly,’ he fumed. ’The nerve of him!’
As expected, Zhou Lian earned another top mark on her afternoon exam. This sent a thrill through the supervising professors, like hunters spotting rare talent. Here was a promising young scholar, and they all wanted to snatch her up for their own departments. They began asking about her future plans. Zhou Lian answered frankly, "I want to keep studying, until there’s nothing left for me to learn."
"You want to be a scholar?" her major-specific professor asked softly.
Looking at the professor, Zhou Lian said calmly, "Yes. I love it."
The female professor smiled. "And does your family approve? You’re already married with two children. Raising and educating children takes a tremendous amount of energy and money. Will that be an issue?" To pursue scholarship, one had to endure a simple life and withstand loneliness. For a young woman, especially one already married with children, it would surely be a difficult path.
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