Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What you said was…” Qiao Dongliang found it amusing and angry at the same time. But if spending all the money would ensure that the elder daughter would catch up on her studies, Qiao Dongliang would naturally be happy.
No amount of money could buy a child’s future. The money spent might be all worthwhile.
“Zijin is good. Nan Nan is not bad as well. Both of my daughters are good. Zijin, bear this in mind, continue to keep up the good work, don’t be overly proud of your results.” Qiao Dongliang was not like Ding Jiayi, who praised Qiao Zijin without forgetting to put down Qiao Nan.
But when he heard that Qiao Zijin had made such a tremendous improvement, he was grinning from ear to ear.
“Dad, don’t worry. I will put in more effort to maintain my results and to strive for better grades.” She was overwhelmed to have the recognition of both her father and mother for doing well in her studies.
The atmosphere was really good, to the extent that she almost forgot the truth behind her eighth place in the class. She was placed eighth in her class, but ranked poorly in her overall ranking in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
Qiao Zijin straightened her back, a look of confidence on her face. As expected, as long as she set her sights on it, there wasn’t anything in this world that she would not have.
It was alright if Qiao Nan refused to help her. She bought her dance costume and the performance was a success. She also came in eighth in her exams.
“That’s right. There’s still room for improvement for Zijin. As for Qiao Nan, it’s not that I as her Mom wanted to put her down. It does not matter if she did well in junior high school. She had to do well in her middle school exams to be able to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. Anyway, she should be clear about the situation at home. If she wanted to enroll in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, she would have to rely on herself. We cannot possibly spend all our savings for her again. I have no objections that she wanted to continue her studies. But we cannot afford to have external debts. When she enrols in high school, she would have to be responsible for her own studies.”
Ding Jiayi had no qualms about insulting Qiao Nan. She felt that it was of no use for Qiao Nan to do well in junior high school. It was more important to be able to do well in high school.
Everyone in the family knew that she had spent all the savings to enroll the elder daughter to The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
Ding Jiayi was worried that if Qiao Nan did not do well in a year’s time, and she barely missed the cut off point for enrollment, out of fairness, her husband might resort to borrowing money from outside in order to enroll Qiao Nan into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.
Other people might not do it, but there was a possibility that Qiao Dongliang would.
It did not make sense that they could do so for Qiao Zijin, yet they would have to shortchange Qiao Nan and deprive her of the chance.
Ding Jiayi wanted to give a forewarning to Qiao Dongliang and Qiao Nan.
Qiao Dongliang hesitated for a moment. He really could not come up with a good solution for this problem.
Although Ding Jiayi had started to work, he harbored no hopes that she would earn lots of money. Her pay might be able to cover part of the daily expenses of the two daughters. But he would still have to provide for their school fees.
In the past, he had never dreamed that the elder daughter would do well in her exams. Now that she had made improvements, if she could maintain the standard, she would be able to make it into college.
The school fees for junior high school and high school were not as expensive. It was easy to provide for his daughters. But if the two of them made it into college, they might not have enough money to support them.
What if Nan Nan did not do well for middle school exams and barely missed the cut off point to enroll into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China?
They had depleted all their savings to enroll Zijin into The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China. If Nan Nan wanted to enroll in that high school, should he agree or not? If he disagree, would Nan Nan blame him for being biased?
Qiao Dongliang wanted to treat his two daughters equally, but there wasn’t much money at home.
Though Qiao Dongliang did not pour cold water on Qiao Nan, he agreed with what Ding Jiayi said.
As they advanced in their studies, it would get more and more difficult. It was simple feat for Qiao Nan to have good results in junior high school since the syllabus was relatively easy. But it would be amazing if one continued to do well in high school.
The elder daughter had good prospects, he had to provide for her school fees. But what about the younger daughter?
Qiao Dongliang was stumped for words because of the problems with money. He remained silent for a long while.
The atmosphere stilled because of Ding Jiayi’s comments. Qiao Nan finished her rice in silence, put down her bowl and said calmly, “Don’t worry, Dad. I know my limitations and abilities. I wouldn’t aim for something unachievable. I wanted to study. I give you my promise, when it’s time for middle school exams, I would enroll in whichever school that my results can take me. I won’t make things difficult for you. Regarding sister’s enrollment in the high school, I won’t take it to heart and won’t say that you are biased towards her. I am content as long as I can continue to study.”
She had mentioned this long ago, her father was biased as well, it was just that he was not as biased as her mother. Moreover, Qiao Zijin’s results seemed pretty good this time.
But she remembered that in her previous lifetime Qiao Zijin always did badly in her exams. With that she smirked and shot a meaningful glance at Qiao Zijin.
In her previous lifetime, apart from fooling around and being good at networking, Qiao Zijin was not someone who was good at her studies.
Only Qiao Zijin knew the actual value behind her results (the eighth place in the class) this time.
“By the way, sister, it has been a month since school reopened. I still didn’t know which class you are at The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China.”
“High school year one (8).”
“The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China has a total of eight classes, is that right? You are in High school year one (8)?”
“Yes, there are eight classes in total. What does it matter? We are divided into the classes randomly.” Qiao Zijin had no idea why Qiao Nan had so many questions but could not help but explain in detail, not knowing that her explanation in fact revealed what she was hiding.
“Randomly?” Qiao Nan arched her eyebrows and smiled. She was not as gullible as her parents.
Everyone who knew about the background of The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China would know that there was a special class in the high school. It was to take in people like Qiao Zijin.
To put it bluntly, no one in Qiao Zijin’s class was studious. It was not surprising that she came in eighth in her class.
“Nan Nan, aren’t you going to do some revision? Time is precious, you better start your revision now.”
In the past, Qiao Zijin hated it when Qiao Nan did her studying and would find ways to disturb her. But not today.
It had been years since Qiao Dongliang and Ding Jiayi had graduated from school. They would think that it was considered good to have come in eighth in class. But Qiao Zijin looked guilty in front of Qiao Nan.
She was worried that if Qiao Nan was to probe, the image of the good daughter and good student that she portrayed would shatter to pieces.
“What about the bowl?” Qiao Nan smirked. At least Qiao Zijin knew her own limits and stopped bragging about it. If she continued to boast about it, the cat might just slip out of the bag.
After another two and a half years Qiao Zijin would need to sit for college entrance exams. She could not imagine the expression on her parents’ faces, when they, who had always thought that their daughter was the top student in The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, discovered that she had done badly in her exams.
“I—I will wash the bowl. Nan Nan, hurry along to do your schoolwork.” In order to shut her up, Qiao Zijin volunteered to help with the chores that Qiao Nan was supposed to do.
“You do not need to do the washing, I will wash them. You can go to do your schoolwork as well.” Ding Jiayi was still on cloud nine at the elder daughter’s improvement. It would be good if she could devote all her time in her studies and target to do well for her next exams and do her proud.
