Lu Xuexi felt much better listening to Jiang Han's words. However, she maintained a supportive facade for Jiang Xuxu.
"Since it's a state-certified Academy of Taoism, it's bound to be different from ordinary schools. Besides, Xuxu really does have talent. Look at what happened with Uncle Song's family..."
She trailed off halfway. The people around her, their curiosity piqued, wouldn't let it go and pressed for details.
Lu Xuexi took the opportunity to briefly mention how Jiang Xuxu had gone to Song Yongming's house and claimed to have cured his daughter.
The bystanders looked surprised. "So she actually has real skills? No wonder she was scouted by that Academy of Taoism."
Before Lu Xuexi could respond, Jiang Han scoffed. "People say she cured her, but that might not be the case."
Another guest who knew the inside story chimed in. "My mother visited the Song family recently. I heard Song Yuli is still the same as before. She wasn't cured at all."
"So what? If they say she's cured, who are you to argue with them?"
The "they" clearly referred to Jiang Xuxu.
Xuxu wasn't far from them. With her exceptional hearing, she caught their sarcastic remarks. But she didn't bother to respond. Whether the girl was cured or not wasn't for them to decide; it was for the Song family to say.
As if on cue, the Song couple arrived. They walked toward Jiang Xuxu carrying gifts, but this time, Song Yuli was with them.
Everyone knew that since Song Yuli had suffered a head injury from a fall off a horse, leaving her intellectually disabled, the Song couple almost never brought her to such events. This was a first.
Lowering their gazes to the girl, they remembered the rumors of Jiang Xuxu curing her.
Song Yuli was dressed in her favorite puffy princess dress. At sixteen, she still looked like a little princess, her eyes full of curiosity and innocence. It wasn't the typical romantic innocence of a teenager, but rather the wide-eyed confusion of a child.
She didn't look any different from before. Still simple.
Some guests who had initially been impressed by the Yin Jiabao incident felt a surge of disappointment. As expected, the rumors were exaggerated. How could they expect a girl who hadn't even started school yet to have such extraordinary abilities?
As they whispered, Song Yongming and his wife walked straight to Jiang Xuxu, as warm and enthusiastic as ever.
"Xuxu, congratulations on becoming the city's Gaokao Top Scorer. Your aunt and I prepared a special gift for your graduation."
They opened the gift to reveal a silver, diamond-encrusted women's watch.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell it was a new release from the M Brand, valued at eight million RMB. It was a limited edition only available to M Brand's elite members.
The Song family's generosity was staggering.
In addition to Jiang Xuxu's gift, Song Yongming had prepared separate gifts for the other three children. They were also watches from the M Brand, but their value and collection tier were far below the one given to Xuxu.
As a gesture from an elder, they were decent giftsunless they were compared to Xuxu's.
Lu Xuexi and An Xing both smiled and thanked them. Jiang Han didn't show it outwardly, but his displeasure was palpable. No one likes being treated with such obvious disparity.
Normally, such blatant favoritism would be considered very rude at a shared celebration. After all, while Jiang Xuxu was the Gaokao Top Scorer, there were four guests of honor today.
Mrs. Song was very straightforward, explaining warmly, "Please don't take offense. The gift for Xuxu is different mainly to thank her for curing our daughter."
In front of all the guests, Mrs. Song naturally wouldn't say her daughter's wit had been stolen; she used the term "illness" instead.
"Xuxu went through a lot of trouble for our Yuli, but the child refused any payment. That's why we're using this occasion to show our gratitude."
With a few sentences, she justified the limited edition watch and left no room for fault. Even the Jiang family didn't feel the other children were being slighted.
Because of the Song family matter, Xuxu had saved the relationship between the two families.
When Jiang Xuxu had initially performed the ritual, she had waived the fee in the Jiang family's name, which prevented the Songs from harboring any resentment toward the Jiangs.
However, Jiang Yucheng and the rest of the family hadn't known about this beforehand. It wasn't until Song Yongming called Jiang Yucheng to discuss it that they realized Jiang Xuxu had framed the ten million RMB her father gave her as "payment" for her work, effectively using her own compensation to mend the family's ties.
Consequently, Jiang Yucheng had given her another ten million as compensation and explained the situation to the entire clan.
Only then did everyone realize that the Song family was still willing to associate with themeven after learning that a Jiang family sister-in-law had caused their daughter's eight years of sufferingall thanks to Jiang Xuxu.
For this reason alone, even Jiang Han or Jiang Cheng, who usually disliked Jiang Xuxu, couldn't say a word. The Jiang family at least possessed that much sense of right and wrong.
Now that Mrs. Song had clarified everything, Jiang Han's slight annoyance vanished.
Mrs. Song had another reason for bringing this up. The couple had arrived late, but seeing the online discussions about the Academy of Taoism, they guessed someone would gossip about Jiang Xuxu choosing it over Peking University or Tsinghua University.
They wanted to prove to everyone that Jiang Xuxu had a good reason for her choice. Because she truly had real talent!
To further convince the crowd, Mrs. Song smiled and added, "On such a lively day, my Yuli also wants to congratulate her sister. Yuli, come here."
The girl stepped forward obediently, her dark, bright eyes filled with affection for Jiang Xuxu. She spoke in a sweet, clear voice. "Sister, I prepared a song for you. Can I play it for you?"
Her voice was crisp. Although it still held a childish quality that didn't match her age, the "imbecility" from before was gone.
And she said she wanted to play a song?
Could a simpleton play the piano? The answer was a definite no.
The guests were skeptical, their gazes becoming more scrutinizing. But no matter how they looked at her, the girl's eyes reflected an innocence that didn't fit her physical age.
So, was she actually cured?
The doubt lingered until Elder Jiang had a piano brought out.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Song Yuli sat down properly at the piano. Her aura shifted immediately.
She raised her hands, and a melodious, lively piano piece began to dance from her fingertips...
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