Chapter 1074: Chapter 1076: Missing Zhao Guangran

Gong Ruini knew about Cai Meina resigning, and once it got out, there would definitely be people asking her all kinds of questions about the reason.

Sure enough, Luo Zijun came crowding over, tsk, she was the first to learn that Gong Ruini’s mom had actually quit her job.

Luo Zijun’s first reaction was that this was a good thing; in her eyes, the only reason Gong Ruini had been able to do so well here was because her mom was a teacher at Jing University.

She just didn’t believe that from now on, Gong Ruini would still be able to make everyone’s eyes turn to her again.

Hearing the humming, Gong Ruini got annoyed, but she couldn’t just snap at Luo Zijun to cut it out, otherwise Luo would definitely drag this topic out for ages.

Gong Ruini yawned, planning to go get some water and then get ready to sleep.

Anyway, her sleeping posture was always decent; once they were all asleep, she would go into the space to read.

"Ni Zi, your mom resigned—are they making her principal at your cram school?" Luo Zijun grabbed onto her.

Of course Gong Ruini knew that ever since Cai Meina handed in her resignation, plenty of people had been speculating about what her mom was going to do next.

But the only one who’d ask so bluntly was this idiot.

"What’s it got to do with you?" Gong Ruini used a bit of force and pulled Luo Zijun’s hand off.

"I’m just worried about you." See? With a temper this fierce, she really had no idea how Zhao Xuran could possibly like her.

Worried about her? More like waiting to watch her fall on her face, waiting for the higher-ups to take it out on her.

Maybe that fear existed, but did Gong Ruini care? "My mom has nothing to do with you. She’s going to be just fine."

"But what I do know is, if you don’t put in the effort and study, there’s no way you can get good grades."

"Without good grades, how are you going to stay and work in Beijing?"

Hah. She really thought that just because she ingratiated herself with a few people from influential families, they’d actually step up and speak for her when it mattered.

Back home she even had people tagging along after her—how come she never thought back then, when everyone was revolving around her like stars around the moon, whether she’d ever actually helped any of those followers?

"Relax, I’ll work hard for it." Luo Zijun wasn’t stupid; she knew exactly what Gong Ruini was implying.

For her, if her family would agree to let her study abroad, that would be ideal; she’d definitely put on her best performance and try to make something of herself in the United States.

If her family wouldn’t agree, then she’d have to fight to stay in Beijing.

As for what method she’d use to stay in Beijing—she’d already thought that through. Of course, if possible, she hoped she wouldn’t have to go that far.

Work hard for it? With grades? If it were a few years ago, with excellent marks, the chances of staying in Beijing were pretty high. But now? How many rounds of college entrance exams have there already been, and how many graduates are there every year?

All the good positions are already taken. Either you’ve got a powerful background, or your ability is so outstanding that the old professors at Jing University can’t stop praising you.

Once they decide you’re real talent, they’ll probably mention your name to their disciples and students, and your odds of realizing your wish go way up.

But Luo Zijun simply didn’t get this; buttering up the powerful was nowhere near as useful as leaving a solid impression on the professors.

At worst, if you study well and go back to work in your hometown, with your own strength you can still carve out a path.

Every day, Gong Ruini just quietly went to class and then to the library to read. She didn’t get involved in any of the messy drama outside, watching it all like a bystander.

Some people really looked down on her calm attitude. They felt she didn’t deserve to be anyone’s daughter, that she was cold-blooded.

Some people claimed that it wasn’t that she didn’t want revenge, but that she was just biding her time.

Listening to all these rumors, Gong Ruini could only feel helpless. "My mom resigned. Time will tell whether that move was right or wrong."

"Everyone has a different take on the same thing, so I don’t see any need for revenge."

"My mom asked to resign, and her superior approved it. There’s really nothing wrong with that." The worst is when they deliberately hold you back and won’t let you resign—that’s what truly drives you to despair.

Maybe right now, the person who signed off on Cai Meina’s resignation was regretting it so much his guts had turned green. He’d thought once a spot opened up, he’d be able to curry favor with people.

Who’d have thought that now, never mind currying favor with anyone, he might even get kicked out by those very backers.

Seeing the way things were, and that Liu Yun clearly had something to say to them, Gong Ruini quietly closed the door.

The dorm was already quiet enough that people passing by wouldn’t notice, but this was still better than risking someone eavesdropping.

Smart—she really was quick on the uptake. "If you’ve got time, just use it to study properly."

Uh... weren’t they already studying seriously enough on a daily basis? Gao Jing and the others were baffled; they weren’t like Luo Zijun.

Even if they wanted to throw caution to the wind the way Luo Zijun did, they just didn’t have her family conditions. There was no way they’d have that kind of cash to burn, so all they could do was watch.

"Our professors are all old professors. Some of them are going to retire in a few years. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they’re just old professors at a university—after so many years of teaching, they’ve educated plenty of students."

If you’re in law, barring special circumstances, you just circulate among a few fixed departments, so the chance of running into people from the same school and same major is actually very high.

And if they’re decent people on top of that, you’ll find out you’re both students of the same professor—then the relationship has a good chance to move up a notch.

Gao Jing and the others weren’t stupid. Even though Gong Ruini had only said that one line and didn’t elaborate, they could still put two and two together.

"Thanks, Ni Zi." One after another, they thanked her sincerely.

This was the kind of big secret you absolutely couldn’t spread around. If it leaked, Gao Jing and the rest didn’t even dare imagine how much resistance they’d run into.

"Don’t thank me. As long as you understand, that’s enough."

"Of course, I can’t guarantee it’ll work." Maybe someone else would figure it out on their own too—then it just came down to whose abilities were stronger.

Or maybe some old professor would be so eager to nurture talent that he’d recommend all of them; you never knew.

"But if you take this path, it’s going to be exhausting." Freshman and sophomore years, everyone studied hard. But once they hit junior and senior year, serious students were few and far between.

One by one, people would start slacking off. If your willpower wasn’t strong, you’d get assimilated in no time.

Would they worry about that?

If they didn’t have Gong Ruini around, of course they would. But now that they had her, what was there to worry about?

"Ni Zi, we’ve got you. You’ll be flying in front, and we’ll be running hard to catch up behind you."

To be honest, facing a young Beijing college-entrance-exam top scorer like her, they’d more or less looked down on her a bit at first. So what if she was top scorer? That didn’t mean she’d keep her grades up at Jing University.

But reality had slapped them hard in the face, leaving every one of them feeling pretty embarrassed. Thank goodness they hadn’t been as stupid as Luo Zijun.

"All right, let’s work hard together." Sometimes, working hard alone could get really lonely.

At moments like this, Gong Ruini really missed Zhao Guangran. If he were here, she’d be trying her best every single day.

"We work hard together—when you see the person next to you pushing themselves, you won’t want to slack off either." Sigh. All she could say was that finding someone who could keep pace with her was really not easy.