Chapter 13: Huge Surprise

Very, very, very good?

What level is this score?

Could it be much higher than the regular high school cutoff?

Lin Xiuhong opened her eyes, filled with anticipation and doubt, and looked at her phone screen.

When she saw those absurdly high scores and the final total of 555, she froze completely.

Her mind buzzed, as if the world spun wildly, leaving her mind blank.

Then, immense joy exploded in Lin Xiuhong's mind like fireworks bursting in the sky, one wave after another.

Li Guohong, standing beside Li Luo and with poor eyesight, could barely make out the content on the phone.

But he had to maintain his composure as a father, so he asked with anxious inner thoughts but a calm face: "Well? Did he do well? Did he hit the regular high school cutoff?"

"It's not just the regular high school cutoff," Zhao Rongjun leaned half his body over the counter, viewing the scores upside down, mouth wide open, unable to hold back: "Li Luo's score is more than enough for Fuyi High."

"What?" Li Guohong's face stiffened at Zhao Rongjun's words, thinking he'd misheard, "Little Jun, what did you say? Fuyi High? Are you sure???"

Saying this, Li Guohong yanked Li Luo aside, abandoning all his calm composure, and leaned right up to the phone, scrutinizing every score.

"Five hundred fifty-five… five hundred fifty-five… five hundred fifty-five…"

Li Guohong muttered to himself, then sharply turned to his wife, tense and excited: "Xiuhong, do you remember how many points Li Luo used to get? I can't quite recall."

"He used to get barely four hundred! How could he ever score this high?!" Lin Xiuhong scolded even as she laughed, snatching the phone from Li Guohong's hands and yanking the exam admission ticket from Li Luo's grip: "Let me check if this is a mistake."

Saying this, she counted the admission number on the ticket against the SMS number over and over again, finally confirming this was truly her son's actual score.

Ying Chanxi also stared at the scores on the phone, then turned her gaze to the calm Li Luo beside her.

Noticing his childhood friend's joyful yet puzzled look, Li Luo coughed twice and smiled: "I owe this to you helping me review—otherwise I'd never have scored this high."

"Yes, yes! We really owe it to Xixi!" Lin Xiuhong now realized, gripping Ying Chanxi's small hand and thanking her repeatedly, then turning to Li Guohong: "We're closing for lunch today! Let's cook something special!"

"Alright!" Li Guohong grinned and agreed instantly: "We've got plenty of ingredients at the shop—let's go buy more at the market and make a full table! We'll properly thank Xixi."

"This…" Ying Chanxi, seeing the genuine gratitude on Uncle and Auntie's faces, felt unworthy and waved her hands in protest: "Actually, it's not really my doing."

"Uncle and Auntie, you don't know—Li Luo had Zhao Rongjun helping him review long before. What I did those two days before the exam was just icing on the cake."

"If helping someone review for two days could raise their score from four hundred to 555, I could apply for 'Outstanding Teacher' at school."

"So if you want to thank someone, you should really thank Zhao Rongjun."

At these words, Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong both froze.

They looked at Li Luo, then at Zhao Rongjun, and slowly began to understand.

No wonder this kid had been so confident after the exam, insisting he'd get into Fuyi High—he'd planned this all along!

"You little rascal…" Lin Xiuhong stared at Li Luo, torn between anger, helplessness, and joy—complex emotions tangled together, leaving her speechless.

Li Guohong, unable to contain himself, reached out and grabbed Li Luo's head, rubbing it vigorously as he laughed heartily: "Good, good! Trying to surprise your mom and dad, huh? Kept it so well hidden."

Then Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong turned to Zhao Rongjun, their voices warm and kind: "Little Jun, what do you want to eat? Name it—Uncle and Auntie will treat you well today!"

"Ah, this…" Zhao Rongjun was overwhelmed by this barrage of attention, wondering if playing basketball with Li Luo every day really counted as helping him review.

How did he not know that?

But then he recalled Ying Chanxi's earlier question, and a faint realization dawned on him.

Could it be that after every basketball game with him, Li Luo secretly went off to study seriously?

Thinking this, Zhao Rongjun looked at Li Luo with suspicion.

Seeing Li Luo's casual, unruffled expression, Zhao Rongjun's heart tightened, and a quiet respect arose within him.

Who would've thought—the one hiding the deepest was you!

"Uncle, Auntie," Zhao Rongjun straightened his expression, feeling Li Luo's quiet efforts shouldn't be overlooked: "Actually, this is all Li Luo's own hard work—nothing to do with me."

"Enough, enough," Li Luo had already walked over to Zhao Rongjun, grabbing his shoulder: "Stop being modest—just say what you want to eat."

"I remember you like eel? And pig's ears, right?"

"I'll get Dad to make it all for you!"

"Alright, noted," Li Guohong patted his chest and grinned. "You all sit down and rest—I'll go with your aunt to buy some groceries."

Zhao Rongjun stared blankly at the retreating backs of Uncle and Auntie, then turned to Li Luo, speechless.

But Ying Chanxi was still here, and seeing Li Luo's desire to keep quiet, Zhao Rongjun decided to say nothing—fine, he'd just pretend he'd tutored Li Luo.

After seeing off the last customers, Li Luo hung a "Closed for Lunch" sign on the door and picked up a cloth to tidy the shop.

Zhao Rongjun watched Li Luo working and felt awkward, so he stood up to help.

"You're the hero here—if Mom and Dad come back and see you helping, they'll scold me to death," Li Luo rolled his eyes, shoving him back down, then tossed a cloth to Ying Chanxi: "You want to help?"

"So I'm not the hero?" Ying Chanxi huffed, but still picked up the cloth and wiped the table.

Her mood was unusually bright today, so she didn't hold a grudge—she happily worked away.

"By the way," Zhao Rongjun sat there, checking his QQ class group on his phone, and asked: "Aren't you going to post your score in the group? Everyone's sharing theirs."

"What's the point?" Li Luo shook his head. "We've got graduation ceremony this afternoon—everyone will find out soon enough."

"Didn't someone just say they wanted to show off?" Ying Chanxi gave him a sidelong glance. "Your score's probably the highest in class, right?"

"Calm down, calm down," Li Luo raised a hand, chuckling. "The more important the moment, the more you must maintain dignity—otherwise you'll be like a nouveau riche: rich but without grace."

"Translate that."

"It's way more satisfying to show off in person."

…

At noon, Li Guohong spent over an hour in the breakfast shop's kitchen, preparing a full table of dishes—all favorites of the three kids.

The couple beamed with smiles, happier than they'd ever been.

Though it wasn't the Gaokao result, if Li Luo got into Fuyi High, given its past 90%+ undergraduate admission rate, Li Luo had already stepped one foot into the threshold of a bachelor's degree.

Such a joyful occasion moved Lin Xiuhong to personally pour Li Guohong a glass of liquor and fill it to the brim.

"Today, drink as much as you want—I won't stop you." Lin Xiuhong said, even pouring herself a small glass.

Then she brought over a large bottle of juice and poured some for all three kids.

"Come on." Li Guohong stood up, raised his cup, and smiled warmly, "Li Luo, and our two little heroes—let's celebrate."

Lin Xiuhong also stood up with a smile, raising her cup, "You'll all be classmates at the same school from now on—make sure you keep in touch, and let Li Luo learn from you."

"You're too kind, Uncle and Auntie," Zhao Rongjun said, knowing he didn't deserve such praise, and immediately stood to raise his cup in response.

Beside him, Ying Chanxi stood up with a faint blush on her cheeks, happily clinking her cup with Uncle and Auntie, then pulled Li Luo up to clink glasses with him: "Congratulations, Li Luo, on getting into Fuyi Middle School!"

Watching the lively scene before him, Li Luo raised his cup and drained it in one gulp—his bold demeanor made anyone unaware think he was drinking alcohol.

Li Luo swirled the juice in his mouth, tasting it, and still felt something was off, so he said to his father, "Dad, give me a glass too."

"What are you talking about?" Lin Xiuhong slapped his outstretched hand away, irritable, "Minors can't drink alcohol—drink your juice."

Li Luo, who had been slightly carried away, was instantly brought back to reality by his mother's slap—he remembered he was still a minor.

"Alright, alright," Li Guohong chuckled, "Let's eat, or the food will get cold."

Although he'd always run a breakfast shop, Li Guohong's cooking was chef-level, and he made excellent dishes.

Especially when cooked in the shop's big wok, the dishes carried a tempting wok hei upon serving, and Li Luo and the others ate heartily.

During dinner, Lin Xiuhong asked, "What was Fuyi Middle School's cutoff score last year?"

"Last year it was 507," Ying Chanxi blurted out instinctively, then added, "Auntie Lin, don't worry—Li Luo ranked 86th in the entire district this year—he's guaranteed to get into Fuyi, no need to even think about the cutoff."

"Right," Zhao Rongjun nodded, "Even excluding our self-admitted students, Fuyi will still admit over four hundred new students—Li Luo's rank is definitely safe."

After confirming once again that her son would truly enter Fuyi Middle School, Lin Xiuhong's heart grew calmer, and she even ate an extra bowl of rice.

After dinner, Li Luo said to his parents, "We're going to school this afternoon for the graduation ceremony—we'll have dinner with classmates and won't be back for it."

"Got it, go ahead," Lin Xiuhong replied, then added, "Do you have enough money? Do you need to pay for the dinner?"

"Didn't you already give me some?" Li Luo waved his hand, "Don't worry—I'm leaving now."

Watching the children's figures disappear past the shop door, Lin Xiuhong wore a satisfied smile.

Leaning against the doorway, a breeze stirred the strands of hair beside her ears; she let out a soft sigh, feeling as if an invisible burden had been temporarily lifted, leaving her light and almost floaty.

Her son's midterm results made her feel unreal, as if she were dreaming.

"What's wrong? They've gone to school, right?" Li Guohong finished cleaning the kitchen and walked to the door to look out, then hugged his wife and smiled, "Happy now?"

"Get off," Lin Xiuhong pushed him lightly, not putting any real force into it—after a token struggle, she leaned into her husband's arms.

"I'm happy—what's wrong with hugging?" Li Guohong hugged her tightly several times, both slowly calming their excited and joyful emotions.

Only when Lin Xiuhong had calmed down did she lean against Li Guohong and suddenly say, "Old Li."

"Hmm?"

"That apartment in your younger uncle's family…"

"Buy it!"

"Mm… that's exactly what I was thinking."

The couple exchanged a smile, their minds already made up.