Chapter 558: Xixi Doesn

In Classroom 8, Grade 3, Fuyi High School.

After the parent meeting began, Kong Junxiang first gave a brief greeting, then quickly got to the point, introducing the results of this midterm exam and the recently concluded elective subject exams.

By the time students reached Grade 3, Kong Junxiang had met most parents at least twice, so they weren't strangers.

Some parents who cared deeply about their children's school performance often contacted Kong Junxiang privately for updates.

So Kong Junxiang didn't beat around the bush—he delivered a straightforward summary of Class 8, Grade 3's academic performance.

Among them, Ying Chanxi and Li Luo, the top two students in the grade, were routinely praised.

In addition, he called out students who had shown noticeable improvement.

Among them, Xu Yinghuan, who had made the most obvious progress over the past two years, received special praise from Kong Junxiang.

In this midterm exam, Xu Yinghuan successfully entered the school's top 120.

This was because the elective subject results had not yet been incorporated into the midterm scores.

Just after the elective scores were released, Xu Yinghuan achieved a perfect score in one subject and 97 in each of the other two.

If this midterm's three elective subjects had used these new scores, Xu Yinghuan would have just crossed the threshold into the school's top 100.

In other words, if Xu Yinghuan pushed a little harder, she might actually have a chance at entering Qianjiang University in next year's college entrance exam.

Hearing the homeroom teacher praise his daughter, Xu Yinghuan's father—who had specifically taken time off to attend the meeting—adjusted his glasses and turned to Zhao Rongjun's mother, saying softly:

"My daughter told me she and your child, along with a few others, formed a study group."

"Her rapid progress over the past two years owes a lot to your child's help."

"I'd like to thank you on her behalf."

Zhao Rongjun's mother was actually quite nervous, because Xu Yinghuan's father had come to the meeting dressed in a crisp suit, his hair neatly styled.

Looking at the expensive watch on his wrist—even though Zhao Rongjun's mother couldn't identify the brand—she could tell at a glance it was costly.

That kind of refined, affluent aura couldn't be faked by ordinary people.

Hearing this thanks, Zhao Rongjun's mother grew even more nervous, speaking slightly stammered as she forced a smile: "Oh no, no, my child didn't contribute much—he still relies mostly on Ying Chanxi and Li Luo."

"How could that be," Xu Yinghuan's father chuckled gently, "my daughter says when they go over problems, your son is the most focused—Li Luo just teases her for being slow."

He complimented Zhao Rongjun, then added a small joke.

This slightly relaxed Zhao Rongjun's mother.

After a few more casual exchanges, they turned back to listen to the homeroom teacher on stage.

"After this round of elective exams, 32 students in our class have already taken the elective exams twice—their scores are now finalized," Kong Junxiang said. "Another eight students will take the final elective exam in April next year."

"So far, the only two students in our class with perfect scores in all three elective subjects are still Ying Chanxi and Li Luo."

"In addition, six students have two perfect scores and one score of 97."

Kong Junxiang mentioned that among these six were Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan.

For this, Qiao Xinyan's father specifically thanked Li Guohong, as well as later Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing.

Clearly, he understood how beneficial their children's study group had been.

Previously, Qiao Xinyan's grades had hovered around 20th to 30th in the entire grade.

Since joining the study group, her rank has stabilized around the top ten.

In this midterm, she even entered the school's top ten.

Although in terms of ranking improvement, it wasn't as dramatic as Xu Yinghuan's.

But every step forward within the top fifty is increasingly difficult.

Still, Qiao Xinyan's family was very pleased with her entering the school's top ten.

As for Li Guohong, he was no longer as unrestrained as he had been when he first felt the shock of his son's academic performance.

After two years of parent meetings in Grade 1 and Grade 2, hearing Kong Junxiang's routine praise and noticing the envious glances from other parents, he now wore a calm, indifferent expression—nothing special.

He had simply grown accustomed to Li Luo's excellence and become desensitized.

Other parents mostly felt admiration, not jealousy.

Mainly because the child wasn't just academically excellent—he excelled in other areas too.

Parents who communicated more with their children knew that Li Luo, the class monitor of Class 8, had secretly written a novel that became a huge online bestseller.

He even composed songs that Yuan Wanqing produced into an album, helping her win second place on a singing stage.

Many of these parents had watched that singing show.

When they first learned from their children that all the songs Yuan Wanqing sang were written by their class monitor, they were utterly astonished.

It was rumored that recently a TV drama production team had come to Fuyi High School—the original novel was written by Li Luo.

With a teenage prodigy like this, ordinary parents couldn't even think of comparing their own children—they could only feel admiration.

……

The morning parent meeting officially ended at 11 a. m.

Parents with questions stayed behind for deeper discussions with Kong Junxiang.

Parents like Li Guohong, who had no issues, could pack up and leave.

But just as Li Guohong was about to leave with Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing, someone stopped him.

Xu Yinghuan's father politely greeted the group—including Zhao Rongjun's and Qiao Xinyan's parents—and exchanged contact information.

Then, Xu Yinghuan's father suggested that sometime in the future, when everyone had free time, they should all get together with their children for a meal.

Li Guohong and the others naturally agreed.

The six parents walked out together; Li Luo and Ying Chanxi followed behind, went upstairs to find Yan Zhusheng and the others, and then all headed toward the school gate.

"Dad, didn't you say anything bad about me?" Xu Yinghuan leaned close to her father, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm barely done praising you," her father chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I was thinking of inviting everyone over for a meal sometime—what do you think?"

"Yes yes~" Xu Yinghuan immediately nodded happily. "Just come to our house! Ying Chanxi and the others have never been over!"

"Anytime is fine; we can pick a date after we get back."

Six parents, accompanied by six children, chatted and laughed all the way until they reached the school gate, then went their separate ways.

Li Guohong and the other two, along with Li Luo, Ying Chanxi, and Yan Zhusheng, walked toward Bihai Lanting.

Zhao Rongjun and Qiao Xinyan lived in roughly the same direction; after seeing off Xu Yinghuan and her father, the two families slowly walked back along the road.

Li Luo glanced at Zhao Rongjun, who trailed behind his parent without saying a word, and couldn't help sneaking a few quiet laughs.

……

The six returned to Bihai Lanting and happened to meet Xu Rongsheng, who was rushing over for lunch; the seven of them then went upstairs together to Apartment 1502.

As soon as they entered the living room, the aroma of food drifted from the dining table.

Lin Xiuhong and Cui Suling had just finished preparing lunch.

Xu Youyu waited by the kitchen door; as soon as a dish was done, he quietly went in to carry it out.

When Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng returned, changed into slippers, they also went into the kitchen to help.

Soon, a full table of lavish dishes was brought out.

The ten people from four families took their seats one by one, ready to eat lunch.

"It's been over three months since we last got together during summer vacation," Li Guohong raised his cup with a smile. "Today, with the parent-teacher meeting, we've finally gathered again—come on, let's drink!"

The three children drank juice, while the adults—Xu Youyu, the Honorable Xu—poured himself a beer and joined the fathers in drinking.

As they ate, casual conversation flowed around the table.

"Yuan Wanqing's new album is selling very well," said Ying Zhicheng. "Though it hasn't yet surpassed her previous one, it's still among the top three online sales this year."

"Thanks to Li Luo," Yuan Wanqing smiled. "You're always going out of your way for me—I feel bad."

"Then don't ask Li Luo to write songs next time," Yan Zhusheng suddenly whispered. "Let him save them all for me."

Yuan Wanqing: "…"

"You're stealing from your own mom?" Li Luo laughed helplessly, placing a chicken leg in Yan Zhusheng's bowl. "Here, shut your mouth."

"Oh…" Yan Zhusheng obediently lowered her head and stuffed the chicken leg into her mouth.

Silence.

Everyone at the table laughed.

Then Ying Zhicheng brought up the progress of "Little Joy."

In addition, Huayue Film and Television had another TV drama in development, scheduled for release next spring—several months earlier than "Little Joy."

According to director Wang Jun, the editing of "Little Joy" would be finished by the end of this month, after which the final cut would be ready.

Li Luo immediately expressed his desire to see the finished product as soon as possible.

Ying Zhicheng naturally had no objection and assured him it was no problem.

After that, Lin Xiuhong asked Xu Youyu about his new book: "I remember you wrote a new one, right? I read a few chapters, but didn't quite get it—how's the performance now?"

"Not bad," Xu Youyu replied softly.

Though she was used to her family knowing she wrote novels, discussing it openly at the dinner table with so many people still made her a little shy.

Fortunately, this new book wasn't as overtly romantic as her last one.

Especially since the male and female leads were still at the "spiritual companion" stage, not yet advanced to "soulmates"—even if she wanted to drive, she had to hold back, so Xu Youyu didn't feel as awkward as last time.

"I read it—I found it fresh," Xu Rongsheng immediately opened up when the topic turned to this. "Your concept of spiritual energy revival is quite interesting; it can easily blend with folk legends and ancient myths."

"If you run into any issues with this, I can recommend a professor who specializes in the history and literature of this subject."

"You could take one of her elective courses—I remember she teaches one on this exact topic."

"Great," Xu Youyu nodded happily. "But the idea of spiritual energy revival isn't mine—it's all Li Luo's."

"Oh?" Xu Rongsheng raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to Li Luo.

"Ahem." Li Luo hadn't expected the conversation to turn to him; meeting Xu Rongsheng's gaze, he knew his future father-in-law's curiosity had been sparked again.

He gathered his thoughts, then carefully explained:

"Simply put, it's a different kind of apocalyptic mindset."

"You know the 2012 apocalypse prophecy—the one from the Maya, right, Uncle Xu?"

"A few years ago, that concept was hugely popular—even Hollywood made movies based on it."

"Meanwhile, online novels saw a surge in apocalyptic stories."

"But those are all foreign, Western cultural imports. In comparison, I think the spiritual energy revival model better fits our domestic apocalyptic culture."

"Apocalypse doesn't mean the end of the world—it means the end of the old world order."

"So you introduce a powerful variable that violently disrupts the existing order in a short time, instantly shattering societal structure."

"As long as you achieve that effect, it counts as an apocalyptic story."

"Spiritual energy revival just slows the change down a bit, making it gentler—but the essence is the same."

Hearing Li Luo's analysis, Xu Rongsheng gained a deeper understanding and nodded slowly: "That's true—if developed in depth, there's still much to explore."

Still, Li Luo would never recommend Xu Youyu delve deeper into this subject.

First, there was a review risk.

Second, it was hard work with little reward—readers might not even like it.

After finishing this topic, Xu Youyu steered the conversation toward Li Luo's new book, which he had been preparing recently.

Li Luo then discussed his current ideas with Xu Rongsheng and Ying Zhicheng.

Ying Zhicheng offered market advice on historical costume dramas from a TV perspective.

Xu Rongsheng recommended historical reference materials from an alternate-history standpoint.

The dinner conversation was very pleasant.

Soon, the meal was nearly finished, but the fathers continued drinking, chatting as they sipped.

And just then, Ying Zhicheng casually mentioned the New Year, as if speaking offhandedly: "Didn't Wanqing and Zhusheng come to our place for the New Year last year?"

"I thought since they'd be staying somewhere anyway, why not just come here together this year too?"

"What do you think?"

As he said this, Ying Zhicheng looked toward Li Guohong and asked.

Li Guohong naturally had no objection and nodded happily: "Sure, everyone in our family really likes Wanqing; last time she came, everyone got along well."

Lin Xiuhong also smiled in agreement beside him, taking Yan Zhusheng's small hand and chatting cheerfully.

But Ying Chanxi, hearing this, immediately changed expression, then silently stood up and went to the bathroom.

(End of Chapter)