Mrs. Yan said with gratification, "Qingqing, remember not to take irrelevant people or matters to heart. You are a daughter of the Yan family; your starting point is already far higher than theirs.
"When they graduate, they will have to rack their brains to find a job, but you can intern at our own company anytime. Your father will also give you some company shares, so even if you do nothing in the future, you'll still receive dividends.
"However, the man you are going to marry is the future Family Head of the Gong family. Therefore, you must have an excellent academic background. If you don't get into Tsinghua and Beijing University, how could you be worthy of him?"
Yan Qingqing nodded, but she disagreed in her heart. Gong Yuze truly liked her. Even before she was a Yan family member, he had said he would definitely marry her. He loved her, and what he loved was never her status, education, or anything else—he just loved her for who she was. However, her mother wasn't wrong either. Brother Gong was so outstanding; she had to be excellent enough to match him.
Mr. Ning and Ning's mother's online store business was booming. Ning's mother figured that managing a little more stock wouldn't be much harder than what they were already doing, so she took the initiative to contact suppliers for handmade accessories to sell alongside the clothes. They sold very well. She then brought in a batch of men's clothing, which surprisingly also had great sales. The couple had already bought a new computer for each of them. They were so busy every day that they barely had a moment to rest. This hectic pace continued right up until the day before the Lunar New Year.
When they finally tallied up their accounts, they found that in just over two months, after deducting expenses, the couple had earned over forty thousand yuan. This figure completely exceeded their expectations.
Making money naturally put them in a great mood. The family of three had a joyous New Year. On the eighth day of the lunar new year, the seniors resumed classes.
When Ning Yue entered the classroom, most of her classmates had already arrived. The moment she stepped inside, she was greeted by the stares of the entire class. Being stared at by so many people made Ning Yue somewhat uncomfortable, but she had to maintain a facade of calm and indifference. In reality, her feet were moving at double speed. SWISH, SWISH. In just a few quick strides, she returned to her seat.
Li Danting said excitedly, "Ning Yue, you're amazing! I really couldn't tell that you were secretly a top student. According to the school rules, each class has a quota of two transfer students per semester. With your rank as fifth in the entire grade, you can totally get into Class One."
Ning Yue replied nonchalantly, "It's the second half of our senior year. Who transfers classes now?"
It wasn't that transferring in the second half of senior year was forbidden; it was just that such a thing had never happened before. If she were a freshman, she would definitely switch to the best class. But the college entrance examination was just around the corner. She needed to use these last three months to improve her scores in Comprehensive Science and Chinese. She was not satisfied with a 118 in Chinese and a 288 in Comprehensive Science. The battlefield between her and Yan Qingqing was not at First High School.
No one noticed that a certain classmate, who usually buried their head to sleep the moment class started, was now sitting quietly at their desk and studying.
In the days that followed, Ning Yue buried herself in all kinds of practice papers. Since Class 13 had produced a student who ranked fifth in the entire grade, all the subject teachers showered her with care—mostly by bringing her even more test papers.
Fortunately, Ning Yue lived up to their expectations. Her scores improved with every quiz, most noticeably in Chinese. By the time of the first mock exam, she was scoring 129 in Chinese, and her Comprehensive Science score had increased by five points to 293. With a total score of 722, she leaped to second place in First High School, a mere three points behind the grade's top student.
Yan Qingqing nearly crushed her teeth in anger when she saw these results. For some inexplicable reason, her own ranking had dropped to sixty-second place, and her total score had fallen by seven points. That night, the moment she returned home, she smashed several ornaments in her room to pieces.
Ashamed of her declining grades, she couldn't bring herself to tell Gong Yuze. Instead, she clung to Mrs. Yan's shoulder and cried her eyes out. This enraged Mrs. Yan so much that she wished she could drag Ning Yue over, slap her senseless, and break her legs so she could never attend school again! Of course, this was just wishful thinking. Actually carrying it out was impossible. After all, things hadn't escalated to that point, and it was also highly illegal.
Mrs. Yan spent half the day cursing Ning Yue just to coax her daughter. Yan Qingqing's fragile, glass-like heart was finally soothed. Rolling her eyes slightly, a new scheme sprang to mind. "Mom, you should still show some concern for Sister Ning Yue. She's been away from home for so long, and her parents lost their jobs; who knows how difficult her life is right now. She lived by your side for over a decade, after all. Who knows what she thinks of you in her heart? Once the college entrance exams are over, you should help her pick a good university. She'll definitely be very happy."
Mrs. Yan could catch a hint of her daughter's true intentions. It was nothing more than an attempt to disturb Ning Yue's state of mind and cause her to underperform on the exam. As for helping her choose a school? With a score of over seven hundred points, the only choices were Beijing University and Tsinghua University. Why would she need anyone's help to pick?
As soon as the school term started, Ning Yue entrusted all her available funds to Li Zhengmin to invest in pork-related concept stocks. Additionally, Li Zhengmin had rented several cold storage facilities in advance and imported a large batch of pork from abroad to alleviate domestic supply pressure, which could be considered giving back to society.
Watching the stock prices of pork and agricultural-related shares steadily climb, Li Zhengmin was so thrilled that every day felt like a festival. His most frequent thought these days was that surviving a great disaster truly did bring good fortune.
What made him happiest of all was that his son, Li Mingrui, finally knew how to strive for success. Right after the New Year, the boy had urged him to hire several tutors. According to those tutors, his grades were steadily improving. Ninth graders also had monthly exams. At the start of the semester, his son ranked beyond the top thousand in his grade, but by the monthly exam, he had climbed to the six hundreds. Although his total score was still pitifully low—not even enough to get into a decent high school—Li Zhengmin was overjoyed. His child's hard work wasn't just empty talk; he had put it into action.
After the monthly exams, the seniors had a day off. Li Zhengmin invited her out for a meal, and naturally, Li Mingrui tagged along. In just two short months, Ning Yue felt like the boy had suddenly shot up in height.
"You've grown taller."
Li Mingrui instantly beamed, revealing two little canine teeth. "I listened to your advice, Sister! I jog every day, and I don't take the car to school anymore—I ride my bike. I eat nutritious meals every day, too. My dad says I can definitely grow to be 1.9 meters tall."
Ning Yue glanced at his current height, thinking that it wasn't really necessary. 1.9 meters? How tall of a girlfriend would he need to find?
Li Zhengmin looked at his son and then at Ning Yue, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. "Alright, you two take a seat. Let's order our food first."
Li Mingrui didn't hesitate to wave the waiter over. "My sister loves seafood and hates ginger. No other requirements. Just bring out your best dishes."
Li Zhengmin thought that this brat remembered his sister's preferences perfectly but had completely forgotten about his old father. But he let it go. Even if he were the one ordering, he would still cater to Ning Yue's tastes anyway. He was a grown man; what was there to be picky about? He would just eat whatever was served.