Chapter 13: The College Entrance Exam Top Scorer's Task

By the time the skewers were finished, they had just arrived outside the residential complex where Xia Nuannuan lived.

Even though Qin Tian reassured her repeatedly that eating a few skewers wouldn't matter, Xia Nuannuan still only ate a few pieces of lotus root and vegetables.

The rest, naturally, all went into Qin Tian's stomach.

"I'm here..."

Influenced by his words, Xia Nuannuan seemed much more cheerful.

The timidity and inferiority in her eyes as she looked directly at him had diminished, replaced by a bit more courage and confidence.

"Mm, go on in, I should head back too."

Qin Tian smiled with satisfaction.

The current Xia Nuannuan could be considered to have taken a step toward the peerless and brilliant Xia Nuannuan of his memories.

Xia Nuannuan's eyes showed reluctance, and she waved gently, saying, "Then... bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye!"

Qin Tian nodded with a smile.

After watching Xia Nuannuan enter the complex, Qin Tian was just about to turn and leave when Xia Nuannuan's voice suddenly came from behind:

"Qin Tian!"

"Hm?"

Qin Tian cast a puzzled look toward her.

"Are you still going to that internet cafe tomorrow?"

Xia Nuannuan gathered her courage and asked loudly.

"I probably will!"

"Then... can I go?"

"Of course you can, I'll call you when I go."

Qin Tian said, unable to hold back a smile.

On the way back after dropping Xia Nuannuan off, he had already noted down her mobile number.

"Okay, don't forget!"

Xia Nuannuan urged him with a charming, naive air.

"Rest assured, I won't."

"Mm, bye-bye!"

Xia Nuannuan waved goodbye once more.

"I'm off."

Qin Tian smiled, turned, and walked away with a carefree air.

Xia Nuannuan watched him until he was far away, then turned and headed toward the building where she lived.

Neither of them knew that while they were lingering in their farewells, Xia Nuannuan's mother, Su Xia, had seen everything from the corner of a building not far away.

After receiving the text message from her daughter saying "I'll be back soon," she had come downstairs to wait here.

It was for no other reason than to see what the boy who was eyeing her family's precious cabbage looked like, and to vet him for her darling daughter.

She didn't oppose her daughter dating; in fact, she was quite supportive.

But she also knew her daughter's personality was too simple and easily deceived by boys with ulterior motives.

"Hiss... that brat, coming back so late, I'm frozen to death."

Seeing her daughter walking over, Su Xia tightened her pajamas and turned to walk away quickly.

She had to get home before her daughter and then pretend she hadn't seen anything.

"Her taste isn't bad, that boy seems pretty good, but... what about Lao Xia!"

Thinking of this, Su Xia suddenly felt a bit of a headache.

If that doting father found out the news of his daughter dating, he would surely kick up a huge fuss.

……………………………………

When Qin Tian returned home, it was already ten o'clock at night.

His home was located in a relatively remote old district of Yucheng, in a self-built three-story house.

In his previous life, after he started university, this old house was designated as part of a demolition zone.

However, news of the demolition had been circulating for a long time, but until his rebirth, the dream of becoming a "demolition household" had never been realized.

Of course, Yucheng was only an eighteenth-tier small city; even with demolition, it was impossible to get rich overnight.

Qin Tian took out his keys and opened the door; the lights were on inside.

In the room, the television was playing a commercial for a milk brand.

The middle-aged woman who had fallen asleep leaning on the sofa woke up immediately upon hearing the sound of the door opening.

"Xiao Tian, you're back!"

Tang Xiuxia sat up straight while yawning and spoke to her son, who had appeared at the room's entrance.

"Mm, Mom, why didn't you go to sleep first?"

Qin Tian said with a concerned tone.

Tang Xiuxia was stunned upon hearing this and stared at her son with a look of surprise.

A mother knows her own child best.

She vaguely sensed that there was something a little different about her son, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I was just watching that TV series and don't know how I fell asleep."

Tang Xiuxia smiled gently, stood up, and said, "Have you eaten? There's still food in the pot, should Mom cook you a bowl of noodles?"

"Please go rest, I can just cook it myself."

Qin Tian said hurriedly.

Those few fried skewers weren't enough to fill his stomach.

He was indeed hungry, but cooking a bowl of noodles for himself was no problem.

"When have you ever stepped into the kitchen? Can what you cook even be eaten? Better let me do it!"

Tang Xiuxia smiled and went straight to the kitchen.

Qin Tian didn't say anything more; he entered his room, sat down on the sofa, and his gaze fell upon a photo frame placed on the coffee table.

That was a photo taken with his mother when he had just started primary school.

In the photo, he was five or six years old, his immature little face full of reluctance.

Beside him, his mother, who was crouching down to hug him and pressing her cheek against his, had a gentle and radiant smile.

He remembered that back then, he was ignorant and going through a rebellious phase.

Because other children had fathers, but he had never seen that person since birth, he was mocked by the little brats in his class, calling him a wild child without a dad.

Because of this, he got into many fights and took his anger out on his mother.

Later, as he grew older, he began to feel sorry for his mother and never asked who his father was again, simply acting as if that person didn't exist.

"Where did you go to play today?"

His mother's voice came from the kitchen behind him, interrupting his drifting thoughts.

"I went to the internet cafe to play some games with Zhang Peng."

Qin Tian answered loudly, without hiding anything.

"The college entrance exam is coming up soon, so play fewer games. If you're tired, you can go play ball or something."

"Got it."

In his impression, his mother had always been quite open-minded; she wouldn't be like many parents who expected their children to become successful and constantly force him to study, only hoping he could get into a university if possible.

In his past life, he had unsurprisingly gotten into a third-rate university.

Originally, he hadn't wanted to attend because the tuition for a third-rate school was too expensive.

However, his mother insisted he go to university, and for that, she didn't hesitate to take on odd jobs at a supermarket every day after getting off work at the garment factory.

During his four years at university, the living expenses she sent him regularly weren't much, but they were always enough to spend.

Living this life again, he would absolutely not let his mother be that tired ever again.

As for the college entrance exam results, he would also give his mother a surprise.

【System Task triggered: Please have the host secure the Provincial Top Scholar title in the college entrance exam; task reward unknown】

In his mind, the system suddenly popped up again, giving him a task that was exactly what he wanted.

With a thought, the system's page appeared before his eyes.

His gaze fell directly on the Wealth Value column at the bottom.

【Wealth Value: 4502】

He had twenty-seven yuan in change before, spent twenty-five on grilled skewers, and added the four thousand five hundred he earned from power-leveling today; it was exactly this amount.

He glanced at the top right corner again.

【Points: 100】

"System, exchange for five points!"

He pondered for a moment and attempted the exchange.

When he looked at the points again, he found they had increased by five, while his Wealth Value had decreased by five hundred.

Qin Tian touched the paper money in his pocket and sure enough, felt it was a bit thinner; five one-hundred-yuan bills must have disappeared.

"Tsk, five hundred yuan only bought five points, which is just five hours of life. The speed of making money is still too slow!"

He thought to himself, and remembered Xu Hao, whom he met at the internet cafe today.

This person had a decent background in Yucheng, and judging by how he helped him collect the deposit today, he should have some ability.

After getting more familiar for a few days, if the person was reliable, he could cooperate with him to make the power-leveling business a bit bigger.