Mr. Du didn’t say much more. After exchanging a few more words, he had Shen Yi help him walk home.

Mr. Du said, "Xiao Yi, I hear our neighbor, Old Li, is moving to his daughter’s place in the provincial capital. What do you think about renting his house to Xiao Jiao’s family?"

The corners of Shen Yi’s lips curved up. He loved his grandfather’s suggestion, but said, "They probably can’t afford such expensive rent."

The house next door was also a two-story building. Although it was a bit smaller than Mr. Du’s house, the rent was definitely more than Qin Zhonghui’s family could afford.

Once the pair got home, Mr. Du sat on the sofa, took a sip of warm water, and finally said, "They definitely can’t afford the rent, but what if I gave them an additional subsidy? You’re usually at school, and I’m home alone. I’m getting old and don’t feel like cooking for myself anymore. I could have the couple help look after me, and I’ll give them a monthly allowance for food."

Shen Yi’s eyes lit up. That was a win-win solution!

After all, he was always worried about his grandfather.

Seeing his grandson’s bright eyes, Mr. Du said with a smile, "Then I’ll leave this to you. Go talk to Xiao Jiao and her family about it."

"Alright."

"Oh, right. She’s still young, and her studies are the priority right now. Don’t you be in too much of a rush."

Shen Yi froze. Looking into his grandfather’s wise eyes, he gave a small smile and said, "Mm, our goal right now is to study hard and make progress every day. I’m thinking... I want to get into the same university as her."

**

After sharing a meal for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the two families grew even closer. For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, Qin Jiao found that she and Shen Yi seemed to be getting closer and closer as well.

When she realized this, she grew pensive, unsure of what to do.

However, the Qin Jiao of today had no time to dwell on such matters. She had too much to do: helping her parents, spending time with her sister, and studying hard.

Fortunately, thanks to the Spiritual Spring Water, the health of their family of four had improved considerably. This was especially true for Qin Jiao; she could now run three or five laps around the track in one go without even getting winded.

One day, just as the evening self-study session ended and the students were preparing to leave, a woman burst in like a whirlwind.

Qin Jiao recognized the woman.

It was Chen Feng’s mother, Li Xiaomei.

’She was also the woman who would later become Shen Yi’s aunt.’

Chen Feng froze the moment he saw his mother, but Li Xiaomei merely shot her son a glance before turning away. She walked right up to Lin Nian’s desk, raised her hand, and slapped her.

All the students were shocked, and someone immediately ran to get Sun Guotao, who hadn’t gone far.

Chen Feng quickly grabbed his mom. "Mom, why did you hit her?"

"Why did I hit this little vixen? Don’t you know why?"

Chen Feng’s expression turned ugly. He started dragging Li Xiaomei toward the door. "Mom, whatever you have to say, let’s talk about it at home!"

Just then, Sun Guotao hurried in and quickly pulled the furious Li Xiaomei away.

Qin Jiao glanced back and saw Lin Nian. Her cheek was red from the slap, but she sat there without saying a word, her eyes frighteningly cold.

She shook her head.

’If Lin Nian had done the same thing as in her past life—just flirted with Chen Feng and waited until they got to college before truly getting together—it would have been fine. After all, Chen Feng would have already been accepted into his dream university by then.’

’But this time, for some reason, Lin Nian seemed to be in a rush. She and Chen Feng had already...’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

’Even though they were both eighteen, something like that was still considered too scandalous in this day and age. More importantly, in Li Xiaomei’s eyes, it could ruin her son’s future!’

’Of course she wouldn’t stand for it!’