Chapter 16 Part 3

She couldn’t—not the Welfare Institute’s door, nor the one at home.

In this era, there were no cram schools or crushing study pressure. Kids on break ran wild like little bandits, hollering as they dashed off into the cold, vanishing from sight.

Chen Nian, preoccupied with sorting things out for Fang Zhizhu, hadn’t played with the neighborhood kids or her classmates in ages.

Whenever she had a free moment, she bolted to the Welfare Institute to see Fang Zhizhu. She was happy no matter what they ended up doing.

She spent a whole week like that, buzzing with joy, until report card day arrived.

Chen Nian brimmed with confidence, strutting in arrogantly. The teacher had asked for parents, so she brought both Mom and Dad.

As the three of them entered the school, Chen Nian paced with her hands clasped behind her back. “I did so well. So, what’s my reward?”

Chen Junjie laughed at her. “The scores aren’t out yet, and you already know you aced it?”

Chen Nian scoffed. “How could I not? The questions were a total breeze.”

She turned to Mom. “What was the deal again? Double perfect scores mean a big reward.”

Liu Chunhua: “I’ll make you two fried eggs.”

Chen Nian scrunched up her eyes and nose together, nearly rolling on the ground. “Dad, look at my mom, wuwuwuwu…”

Chen Junjie just laughed. “Anyway, Dad has a reward for double perfect scores. As for whether Mom has one or not, you’ll have to ask Mom.”

Chen Nian grabbed her mom’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mom…”

Liu Chunhua was annoyed beyond endurance. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…”

Once the reward was confirmed, Chen Nian stopped her nagging and bounced inside happily.

Her twin ponytails were incredibly eye-catching when she jumped like that. She felt like pretending to be a kid for so long had caused her mental age to plummet straight down, and now she could genuinely find joy in this state.

They arrived in the classroom and sat down according to the teacher’s arrangements.

Every end-of-term report card pickup was like a mini parent-teacher conference. Families with high-achieving kids brimmed with joy, while those with poor performers looked dejected and downcast.

Chen Nian’s grades had always been average to above-average in the past, and her parents didn’t have high expectations for her, so she had no particularly strong memories of these events.

Now, sitting inside and observing again stirred up a lot of emotions in her. For instance, some parents wore ill-fitting suits and sat awkwardly; others sported thick gold chains, tucked their bags under their arms, and forced a boisterous and bold air with their rough voices.

Every family had its own style, and every child was subtly influenced by it.

Take Lin Tianyi, for example—he was timid and meek on ordinary days, just like his mother, who was an extremely gentle and submissive woman.

Chen Nian and Lin Tianyi were deskmates, so their parents squeezed onto the tiny stools together. Compared to her own rough-and-tumble mom, Mother Lin seemed even more delicate and frail.

Liu Chunhua was tough herself and loved making friends with soft types like this. She started the conversation, Mother Lin naturally picked it up, and the two of them began chatting away.

With nothing else to do, Chen Junjie started teasing Lin Tianyi, asking if they had a lot of homework, and whether Chen Nian usually bullied him.

Lin Tianyi glanced at Chen Nian and stammered nervously, “No, no, Chen Nian is really awesome.”

Chen Nian clenched her fist and shook it at him.

Of course, she hadn’t bullied the little fatty. She was an adult at heart—why would she bother picking on a kid?

It was just that school was so boring on regular days, and Lin Tianyi was her deskmate, so she occasionally teased him for fun.

For example, she’d spread fake news that the next class required a dictation of characters, or pretend to slack off during cleaning duty.

Lin Tianyi would always get scared and anxious every time, but that fear and tension often sparked his inspiration, making him suddenly sharp.

For instance, he’d memorize those characters in record time, secretly dictate them during class, and then excitedly tell Chen Nian after class, “I got it, I got it! Chen Nian, you’re amazing!”

Chen Nian: “…”

And just like that, “Chen Nian is awesome” had practically become his catchphrase.

Everyone—students and parents alike—was happily chatting away until the homeroom teacher came in holding the report cards.

The red report booklets contained scores for every subject, along with teacher comments. Just seeing one made people instinctively straighten their backs.

Chen Nian felt a wave of nostalgia.

She rubbed her fists in anticipation as she listened to the teacher call names. When “Chen Nian” was announced, she shot to her feet, chin held high, and strode proudly to the podium.

Teacher Wen handed her the report card and smiled at her. “You did great. Keep it up.”

Chen Nian: “！！！！”

She’d gotten special praise! This proved she was truly awesome!

Chen Nian clutched the report card and descended from the podium with her head held high.

It wasn’t until she sat back down, with her mom and dad practically dying of impatience as they craned to peek at it, that she slowly opened the booklet.

The other subjects didn’t matter much—it was mainly Chinese and math.

Math: 100. Chinese: 98.

Chen Nian: “………………”

Chinese: 98?

She, a forty-year-old adult, had scored 98 on a second-grade first-semester final Chinese exam?

She, a graduate of a top 211/985 university and a successful independent photographer who’d started her own business, had scored 98 on a second-grade first-semester final Chinese exam?

If she claimed she’d specially reviewed for this exam and had been diligently doing homework ever since crossing over, would anyone believe her?

Would anyone believe her now?

She didn’t even believe herself.

Chen Nian sank into confusion, bewilderment, and profound self-doubt about her intelligence.

She even racked her brain trying to recall her actual second-grade scores from back then. She suspected she’d once gotten double perfects, and yet here she was with only a 98…

Chen Nian fell silent.

No more smugness, no more puffed-up pride, no more fist-waving at Lin Tianyi.

She stared at the score sheet in her hand for a long time, then suddenly snapped the report card shut.

Chen Junjie watched his daughter, never imagining a single set of grades could hit her this hard.

Lin Tianyi’s father had recently read a book on child psychology. At that moment, he sounded every bit the model parent. “Niannian’s amazing! Niannian makes Daddy so proud.”

Chen Nian stared at her father, her face full of doubt. She couldn’t help wondering if her intelligence—reflected in that 98—was truly genetic.

Liu Chunhua, on the other hand, wasted no time with flattery. She snatched the report card from Chen Nian’s hands and scrutinized the score. “Not bad,” she said. “At least you’ll get a sunny-side-up egg for dinner.”

Chen Nian: “………………”

Liu Chunhua read the teacher’s comments aloud in a low voice: “Student Chen Nian is clever and quick-witted, quirky and full of mischief. She has her own unique approach to learning in class and her own distinctive way of getting along with classmates afterward. Plus, she’s excellent at sports…”

Chen Nian promptly buried her face in her hands.

She clutched her head, torn between laughter and tears.

But actually crying over something like this? Impossible. She still had some pride left.

Wahhh… she’d already lost all her dignity.

Liu Chunhua stopped reading. She closed the report card and watched her daughter shrink into an ostrich, head firmly in the sand.

Lin Tianyi had received his own report card: 98 in Chinese, 96 in math. Mother Lin beamed with delight.

Chen Nian sneaked a glance. Wahhh… even Lin Tianyi had scored 98 in Chinese…

She barely paid attention to the homeroom teacher’s passionate speech that followed.

Her plan had been perfect. With perfect scores across the board, she would blackmail her parents into taking her to see Zhizhu. Then they could all enjoy some precious family time together—the four of them, happy as could be.

But now? Chen Nian had no leverage left. All she wanted was to flee straight into Zhizhu’s arms and bawl her eyes out.

Once the general address wrapped up, it was time for individual parent-teacher conferences.

Chen Nian rose listlessly. “Let’s go,” she told her parents. “Time to head home.”

Her mother hadn’t even finished saying goodbye to Mother Lin when Teacher Wen approached with a warm smile. “Hello there, Chen Nian’s mom.”

Liu Chunhua blinked in surprise. She shot Chen Nian a glance. “Hello, Teacher Wen.”

“Are you heading out already?” Teacher Wen asked. “Let me walk you to the door.”

Liu Chunhua looked flattered. “Of course.”

They stepped outside. Chen Nian darted her eyes around, fidgeting like a caged bird desperate for freedom.

Teacher Wen had seen this behavior from her plenty of times before and didn’t bat an eye. Instead, she turned to Chen Nian’s parents to discuss the matter at hand.

She started by mentioning how Chen Nian always bolted out of school the moment the bell rang. Then she brought up Chen Nian’s habit of reading extracurricular books—even sneaking peeks at them during class.

The parents tensed up immediately, but Teacher Wen was quick to reassure them. She’d tested Chen Nian herself, she explained, and believed the current curriculum simply wasn’t challenging enough for her. She recommended they consider having Chen Nian skip a grade.

Chen Nian: “！！！！”

Teacher Wen pulled a flyer from her pocket and handed it to Liu Chunhua. “This is for the citywide Math Olympiad, coming up after the New Year. Chen Nian should give it a try.”

Chen Nian: “！！！！！”

Liu Chunhua and Chen Junjie lit up with joy. Who wouldn’t be thrilled by such high praise, even if indirect?

They chatted amiably with the teacher for a while longer. Then Chen Nian piped up. “Teacher Wen,” she asked, “can you tell me where I lost those two points?”

They only released scores at this stage—no test papers yet. Those would come after school reopened, once the questions had been reviewed, parents had signed off, and everything was handed back in.

That way, no one lost them prematurely.

Fortunately, Teacher Wen was her Chinese teacher, so she might have the details. Sure enough, after a moment’s thought, Teacher Wen replied, “It was probably a stroke-count question.”

Chen Nian: “………………”

Teacher Wen smiled and ruffled her hair. “Don’t get discouraged. You’re very bright—it was just a careless slip.”

Chen Nian: “Oh.”

One wrong stroke in a character, and her dream of family harmony had gone poof.

Once their talk with the teacher wrapped up, the family of three headed toward the school gates. Liu Chunhua and Chen Junjie were all smiles, while Chen Nian trailed behind in gloomy silence, shoulders slumped.

They reached the bus stop just as their ride home pulled up. Chen Nian lifted a foot to board, only for her mother to yank her back.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Liu Chunhua asked.

Chen Nian: “Home?”

Liu Chunhua arched a brow. “What, no visit for your Zhizhi?”

Chen Nian froze. She glanced at her dad, then back at her mom.

Chen Junjie chuckled. “It’s true you didn’t hit perfect scores, Niannian. But we can see you’ve been studying hard—and so can your teacher. That’s why she’s recommending you for the Math Olympiad…”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Chen Nian blurted out, nodding frantically like an eager puppy. “Does that mean… you’ll all come with me to see Zhizhi?”

Chen Junjie nodded. Liu Chunhua did too.

“Yay!!!” Chen Nian leaped into the air. “Zhizhi belongs to you! To me! To everyone!”

Chen Nian felt that today had been another fulfilling day—until their family of three arrived at the Welfare Institute and learned that Fang Zhi wasn’t there.

Fang Zhi was rarely permitted to leave the Welfare Institute on her own, so Liu Chunhua found it odd. She asked, “Where did Fang Zhi go? Where’s Dean Su?”

“It was Dean Su who took her out,” Auntie Zhang replied with a smile. “Some fellow with a DSLR camera slung around his neck said Fang Zhi was a born little model, so they whisked her away for a photo shoot.”

Chen Nian’s face turned as black as coal.

Auntie Zhang kept chattering on happily. “Fang Zhi really is such a beauty. That child could become a star someday. She refuses to see other people, but she was more than willing to do this…”

Chen Nian couldn’t bear to listen any longer. She clutched her mother’s hand and gazed at her pleadingly.

Liu Chunhua didn’t even wait for her to speak a word. She furrowed her brow, her expression turning grave as she said to Auntie Zhang, “Please contact Dean Su for us. We have some very important matters to discuss with her.”