Chapter 31

Zhao Jiu's hand was squeezed heavily again; he turned his head and saw his secretary looking incredibly excited, her eyes filled with smiles. His gaze fell upon her test paper, and he understood.

All correct.

Zhao Jiu held his pen in his left hand, looking at Su Li, a faint smile on his lips. In the past, when she stayed up late to facilitate a collaboration, he had never seen her smile as happily and purely as she did now.

It felt as if money wasn't as important as her getting all the multiple-choice questions right.

He felt helpless for a moment and began to listen to the lecture; he had missed two, so his math score probably wouldn't be very high.

After the teacher finished the multiple-choice questions, they began to read out the fill-in-the-blank questions. This time, the one Su Li had guessed on wasn't correct; the answer was surprisingly complex.

However, she only missed one fill-in-the-blank question, so her math shouldn't be a big problem.

She glanced at Zhao Jiu's paper; he had also missed that same fill-in-the-blank question.

Su Li calculated his score, reached out to tug on his sleeve, and asked, "How many of the long-form questions at the end did you write?"

Zhao Jiu turned to look at her and said calmly, "I can pull my score back up with the comprehensive science section."

Su Li felt slightly relieved; Gouzi usually kept his word.

Although she didn't know the answers to the long-form questions, she had basically secured the points from the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions earlier. Her math grade wouldn't be too low, and the boss had the comprehensive science section.

They weren't worried about English, and even if their Chinese was poor, they could still get an average score, so it was highly likely they would be safely within the top two hundred for this Midterm Exam.

"Let's go, once we finish our homework tomorrow, we'll go out and buy a gift for Chen Xue."

Zhao Jiu looked at his secretary, whose heavy burden had been lifted, with not a trace of worry in her eyes, and spun his pen with his fingertips: "Mm."

The next day, the two of them left the school gate as soon as they finished their homework; since their Midterm Exam scores wouldn't be embarrassing, they stopped worrying about them.

At the same time, the scores for each subject were being released bit by bit.

Zhou Xinxin posted the grade report the teacher had sent her into the group chat.

The group chat exploded.

The math and English scores came out first. While the highest math score among the leading group in their class was 108 and the highest English score was 112, Su Li and Zhao Jiu's scores were far ahead.

Su Li's math score was 135, ranking first in the class and third in the grade level.

Zhao Jiu's math score was 128, ranking second in the class and 35th in the grade level.

"There are forty people in a Key Class; these two have really stepped on the hearts of many Key Class students with their math scores."

"Su Li originally came down from a Key Class, so it's normal for her to get this score."

"What's truly terrifying is Zhao Jiu; it's only been two weeks, and he scored like this in math."

"Isn't the terrifying thing the English scores of these two? Su Li's English is 148, ranking first in the class and first in the grade level."

"Zhao Jiu's English is 146, ranking second in the class and also second in the grade level."

"They've suppressed Jiang Xiangnan."

The people in Class Thirteen realized it; since the start of the school year, Jiang Xiangnan had been first in several individual subjects, especially English.

He had been suppressed?

"I went to ask around; Jiang Xiangnan got 144 this time, which is close to their scores."

"No matter how close, Su Li and Zhao Jiu are still a head above him."

"Su Li is really holding her head high this time."

Over there, Jiang Xiangnan frowned when he saw his English score; he was ranked third.

Su Cheng and a few others were with Jiang Xiangnan; they were shocked when they saw his score.

Someone was higher than him?

But it was normal; people in the high-score bracket usually only differed by a point or two. It could be a multiple-choice question, or perhaps the essays weren't graded by the same person.

Su Cheng didn't take it to heart. Her class's scores were out too, but she had actually managed to rank in the top dozen in her class, and her grade-level ranking for math and English had gone up by fifty or sixty places.

It was better than she had anticipated.

Jiang Xiangnan looked at the scores, a strange feeling lurking in his heart, and Zhao Jiu's unrestrained demeanor surfaced in his mind.

He picked up his phone and made a call: "What was Zhao Jiu's English score in your class?"

The others looked at him in surprise.

He was calling someone from Class Thirteen. That person was flattered; they had met playing basketball, so he quickly said, "Zhao Jiu's English is 146."

Jiang Xiangnan frowned; it was indeed him.

The person added, "Su Li is 148."

Jiang Xiangnan was stunned for a moment, suddenly remembering the person who used to fret over English in front of him. He had ignored her, and she would sit quietly on the sidelines memorizing vocabulary while he played basketball.

Jiang Xiangnan gripped his phone tightly: "Got it."

"What's wrong?" Hu Xiao asked.

Jiang Xiangnan returned to the Basketball Court: "Su Li 148, Zhao Jiu 146."

The group was stunned, and Su Cheng's face turned deathly pale. Su Li was first in the entire school in English?

She quickly picked up her phone, wanting to find out Su Li's other scores, only to see that the comprehensive science scores had also been released.

She opened them and saw that her comprehensive science score was a dozen points lower than she had originally estimated, but her ranking had still gone up.

She bit her lip and entered other group chats. In one, Qian Lei, that gossip, was showing off Zhao Jiu's scores.

"Two weeks, the big boss only reviewed for two weeks."

"To think that when he saw we were almost finished studying, he was completely bewildered."

"And yet, in two weeks he caught up to and surpassed us; it's simply not letting people live. He's actually eighth in the school for comprehensive science."

Su Cheng switched to a secondary account and asked in the group: "What about Su Li?"

He wasn't showing off Su Li's; did Su Li not do very well?

Qian Lei replied: "Su Li? I think her school-wide ranking for comprehensive science is in the thirties?"

"She originally came down from a Key Class, so isn't it normal for her to score like this? What's there to talk about?"

Su Cheng's brain buzzed; was this the grade Su Li could get to return to the Key Class?

The group chat exploded; after Su Li and Zhao Jiu finished eating outside, they went to buy a birthday gift for Chen Xue.

Su Li took Gouzi to the largest shopping mall; girls generally like things like bracelets.

Considering that Chen Xue was still a student and they couldn't give anything too expensive, Su Li picked a shop that sold gold and went in.

A shop assistant saw two students enter and was slightly stunned, but still went over to ask what they wanted to buy.

Su Li said, "Can you let me see the bracelets?"

"For yourself? Student, walk this way." The shop assistant led her to the bracelet section.

Su Li looked slowly; Zhao Jiu watched Su Li, who was focused on picking a gift, wandering around the counter in the shop by himself, and after a circle, he returned to Su Li's side.

He leaned against the side, simply watching her try them on one by one, then shaking her head.

Whenever she gave anyone anything, she would consider every detail like this.

Next to the bracelets were necklaces.

Zhao Jiu saw a necklace out of the corner of his eye; he rested one hand on the glass and tapped his fingertips twice.

At the bottom of the necklace was a small and cute cat.

At this time, Su Li was gradually walking toward the more expensive side.

He remembered that she had wanted to raise a cat and a dog before.

The shop assistant saw at a glance that Zhao Jiu was interested in that necklace and said, "Student, this necklace is very suitable for your friend."

"And this one isn't expensive, just over two thousand."

Another shop assistant saw this and pulled her, wanting to remind her that two thousand was not cheap for a student.

That person realized and hurriedly shut her mouth.

Zhao Jiu took out a bank card: "Wrap it up."

The two of them looked at her in unison.

Do parents nowadays give their children this much money!

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Not far away, Su Li picked up a bracelet and gestured with it on her own hand; it was quite pretty, Chen Xue should li...

She was stunned for a moment; wait, over a thousand seemed to be too expensive for a student?

It was easy to cause psychological pressure on Chen Xue, especially since she didn't have much money in Chen Xue's eyes.

Besides, if she gave something at this price, what if it made Liu Jiajia feel awkward?

After all, the two of them had the best relationship.

"Sorry, I don't want it anymore." Su Li said apologetically to the clerk, turning around to find Zhao Jiu to take him away.

She saw that Gouzi had already taken the bag from the other clerk.

Su Li was stunned: "You bought it?"

Zhao Jiu carried the bag, met her surprised gaze, and said: "Mm, bought it."

Seeing it suited her, he bought it on a whim; was there a problem?

Zhao Jiu lifted his feet and walked out; Su Li hurriedly followed, and after they left the shop, she asked: "What did you buy?"

Zhao Jiu took the necklace out of the bag and handed it over: "A necklace."

Su Li: "..."

"I'll pick for you." Su Li took the necklace, "It's not appropriate for you to give this to Chen Xue."

It was hard on Gouzi to pick a gift; this guy probably hadn't picked one for anyone himself since he grew up.

Zhao Jiu was just about to say this wasn't for Chen Xue; he knew Su Li would have the gift for Chen Xue prepared for him, so he hadn't thought about it at all.

Su Li took the necklace and wanted to stuff it into her schoolbag to keep it for him, but halfway through, she remembered that although they hadn't successfully returned, if they suddenly returned during High School, this necklace would remain in little Su Li's hands, and it might be impossible to return it to little Zhao Jiu then.

"No, you keep it." Su Li put the necklace back into the bag in Zhao Jiu's hand.

Zhao Jiu looked at her actions, puzzled: "What do I keep it for?"

"Put it with me; what if we go back, and little Su Li and little Zhao Jiu don't have the memories of our time here?"

"She might not even know who to return the necklace to."

Zhao Jiu looked at the necklace in his hand: "If little Zhao Jiu sees he has a women's necklace, won't he be scared to death?"

Su Li: "You can check the purchase record; you won't be scared to death."

Zhao Jiu: "Is it normal for a boy like me to have a necklace hidden in his bag?"

Su Li was stunned for a moment; there was a piece of gossip she had been curious about for a long time, and she looked up: "Did you really not have any girl you had a crush on in High School?"

Zhao Jiu turned his head and walked away.

Su Li: "..."

He was angry.

She had a headache, hurriedly followed, and coaxed: "Boss, if possible, can you give this necklace to me?"

Zhao Jiu stopped, one hand in his pocket, looked back, and then threw the bag to her.

Su Li took it: "Thank you, Boss."

She took it out of the box and put it on while walking; she wouldn't put it on in front of Gouzi, or he would suspect her of returning the necklace every day when he looked back.

In Gouzi's world, things like returning something he bought himself were not allowed to happen.

Zhao Jiu looked through the glass window on the side and saw the girl behind holding her hands up behind her, struggling to put it on.

He raised his hand, grabbed her wrist with one hand, and pulled her over: "Let me."

Su Li, who was about to put it on: "..."

The dog paw reached out at just the right time.

Pink, delicate fingertips pinched the two ends of the necklace, and Zhao Jiu carefully reached to take them; as their fingertips touched, Zhao Jiu's fingertips instinctively curled back.

Su Li let go completely and stood there honestly.

Zhao Jiu pinched the necklace, lowered his head to look at Su Li's neck, and the two ends of the necklace slowly drew closer.

He had given Su Li jewelry before; he used to see that almost all the other female executives at the company had some expensive jewelry, but Su Li's entire outfit was provided by the company, maintained at a level that was neither overly conspicuous nor inappropriate.

Therefore, he would occasionally buy things for her when he saw them, but it seemed this was the first time he had put a necklace on Su Li.

He lowered his eyes; her neck was slender and fair, and at this moment, a few strands of hair fell down.