Chapter 87: Chapter 86: But You Really Do Matter

Inside the internet café, Li Yang finally fed the patrons in the chat group a taste of their money’s worth; without his instruction, no one dared to make a move.

He didn’t let Xue Ning come along, after all, he wanted to indulge himself a bit.

Shed of his previous shackles, he basked in the ultimate comfort of his new identity.

After spending an hour settling things with those patrons, he called Wu Tianqi to play basketball together.

While playing basketball, Wu Tianqi said, “Fellow Daoist Li, you’re about to enter the two Holy Lands, and yet you still come back to see me, a lower-class Immortal Sect disciple. I’m truly touched.”

“Since that’s the case, why don’t you come over this afternoon to serve me tea and water, for this Holy Land’s true disciple is going to preach the dao.”

“Preach what dao?”

“Of course, it’s the Way of Learning.”

“Damn!”

…

Li Yang had lunch in the cafeteria, taking several calls from his parents.

Their parents had already returned, as per Li Yang’s previous request, driving their car with a banner, going for a spin around their hometown town.

At the same time, a commendation ceremony was held for him and Jiang Banxia at their high school. First, the school leaders praised them, then both of them gave speeches to encourage the first and second-year students.

After the meeting concluded, Jiang Banxia walked alongside Li Yang.

Today she didn’t ask Li Yang which school he applied to but instead asked, “Did you really work hard in secret like you said at the meeting?”

“That’s something I said for others to hear. I can’t very well claim that I have high talent, barely study, and still manage to make a comeback in the month before exams, right? That would misguide others.”

Jiang Banxia was baffled. She had read many reports about Li Yang recently, all praising hard work and attitude, never mentioning talent.

In reality, Li Yang was quite the talent!

However, with many questions in mind, Jiang Banxia seized the rare chance after the exams to meet up and asked, “What made you decide to start studying? Before the fourth simulation exam, I could feel you weren’t putting any effort into studying. Most of the time in the classroom, you were either sleeping or distracted, skipping self-study at night when it wasn’t strictly supervised.”

“???, Slander! That’s absolute slander!”

“Haha…”

Li Yang was confused: “Why are you so focused on me? We hardly intersect, do we?”

Jiang Banxia laughed.

The two of them walked to the ping-pong court, which had few people since the students were making a beeline for the cafeteria after the forced assembly.

For 90% of students, the damn meeting held no interest whatsoever. The only two reasons they stayed for two and a half hours were:

First, the teacher took attendance.

Second, it was better than having classes.

The ping-pong court was closer to the other side of the sports field, and Li Yang found a ping-pong table to sit on and said, “After the fourth simulation exam, I suddenly had the whim to do some exercises, then encountered a classical Chinese passage where my memory was quite vague. I looked it up online and was captivated by that article. It was a classical Chinese text required for full memorization in middle school, something I should’ve remembered, but I found I couldn’t recall it.”

Jiang Banxia also sat nearby and asked, “And then?”

“Then I got scared. How could I have fallen to such a state? In middle school, I was the shining star, acing the entrance to our high school from the town middle school with top grades.”

“Did you suddenly wake up?”

“Not exactly, my awakening had nothing to do with what I just said.”

Jiang Banxia: “???”

“I just simply found playing basketball with Wu Tianqi too dull. Think about it, hanging out with a horse face all day, others might not say it, but they must think I’m blind. But playing with you is different, whoever sees us together thinks I’m loaded, even if I can’t pull out a thousand bucks from my pocket.”

Jiang Banxia: “How does walking with me make you look rich?”

“Because you’re pretty, and most people harbor the greatest malice towards things they can’t have. With so many boys in school liking you, why is it only I can hang out with you? To them, they see themselves as the most attractive, but only their wallet knows their true worth. So they’ll think, ’Isn’t Li Yang just some guy with a bit of dirty money? What’s the big deal!’”

“Pfft…”

Jiang Banxia couldn’t hold back and laughed without any poise, then asked, “Do you know why I’m willing to study with you?”

“Why?”

“Because generally, people harbor the greatest malice towards things they can’t have. You’re so handsome, with so many girls in school liking you, and in their eyes, they see themselves as the most beautiful. Only the test scores can make them face reality, so they think, ’Isn’t Jiang Banxia just relying on her good grades? What’s the big deal…’”

“Hahaha…”

The two waited for a while longer until more students gathered before leaving.

They might return to this campus in the future, but the chances of them both coming back together were very small, unless intentionally planned.

But that would ruin the feeling.

If you can make plans, why not just book a hotel? Why bother with all this fuss.

As they reached the school gate, Li Yang saw that familiar car.

“Your ride’s here.”

“Yeah. The day after tomorrow, we have to choose schools, have you decided where you’re going?”

“Not yet, I’m waiting for my parents’ opinion.”

Li Likun and Wang Cuiping don’t have any opinions; Li Yang can choose whichever he wants to go to. After all, they’re both considered two major Holy Lands, either one is fine.

He just doesn’t want to interfere with Jiang Banxia’s decision. From the current situation, she seems to have a target in mind, but her sensitive personality makes it difficult for her to truly make a choice.

Actually, she has the ability to score 700 points, but her personality is too sensitive.

Sometimes sensitivity can produce side effects.

“Make sure to tell me then.”

“Okay.”

“See you in a few days.”

Jiang Banxia waved her hand and walked toward the car.

As Jiang Banxia opened the car door to get inside, Li Yang suddenly shouted, “Master Jiang, do you know what the title of the classical Chinese essay I can’t remember is?”

“Hmm?”

“Sending Young Master Ma to Dongyang.”

After saying that, Li Yang turned his head and left.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Dou Ying heard it too because Jiang Banxia opened the car door.

Once Jiang Banxia closed the car door and seemed a bit lost, she said, “Xiaxia, Li Yang is letting you make your own choices.”

“Hmm.”

In Jiang Banxia’s view, the first part of the essay was probably the reason for Li Yang’s sudden awakening.

Li Yang used the essay that inspired him to tell her to cherish her talent and not be distracted by unrelated matters.

Back home, Jiang Banxia went to her own room first, while Dou Ying went to busy herself with cooking.

After about half an hour, just as Dou Ying finished cooking, Jiang Yaoting returned home.

Today, he was responsible for putting up the banner at Li Yang’s hometown, where he got surrounded.

Dou Ying gently asked, “Did you meet Li Yang’s parents today?”

“Yes, they’re very sincere people. They insisted on giving me a red envelope when I left, but I didn’t feel right accepting it.”

Dou Ying: “I’m increasingly finding Li Yang interesting. Honestly, if I had understood Li Yang earlier, I really wouldn’t have any major guard against him.”

Jiang Yaoting was surprised; Dou Ying is usually very cautious. After all, what good person works in finance?

From her tone, it seems she trusts Li Yang a lot?

Li Yang isn’t her son, so where’s the trust coming from?

Dou Ying noticed Jiang Yaoting’s puzzlement and said while serving the dishes, “Today, as I went to pick up Xiaxia, before leaving, Li Yang told Xiaxia about an essay that prompted him to study hard.”

“What essay?”

“An essay of persuasion, from the middle school textbook. Can you guess?”

Jiang Yaoting chuckled and began to analyze, “Since you mentioned it’s an essay and it’s from middle school, it’s not difficult to guess. It’s either the persuasion essay or ’Sending Young Master Ma to Dongyang,’ combined with Xiaxia’s current situation, it’s likely the latter.”

Dou Ying nodded, “Actually, Xiaxia had already had her thoughts for a while, but she now relies quite heavily on Li Yang, always wanting to see where Li Yang goes to help her make a choice.”

Jiang Yaoting frowned, not because he disliked it, but because he really wanted to figure out how Li Yang managed this.

In a full month and a half communicating with my daughter, he’s gained more trust than I have in eighteen years.

What’s the logic in this?

On the night the college entrance exam results came out, he had a rare moment of enlightenment and uttered a few shameless words, still unsure if it had any effect.

Thinking back on what he said that night, even now his toes would curl from embarrassment.

“Is Xiaxia still studying? She should relax after the entrance exam. Why don’t you take her out shopping or travel?”

Dou Ying sighed helplessly, “I brought it up to her, but she doesn’t seem interested at the moment. I’ll ask her after she finishes applying. If she agrees, I’ll take a leave right away.”

“I happen to have a holiday coming up too. Let’s take Dongdong and go to the Capital City together. Let Xiaxia get familiar with the university in advance.”

“Go and call Xiaxia for dinner; it’s not decided yet.”

Jiang Yaoting promptly went to Jiang Banxia’s bedroom door and called, “Xiaxia, time to eat.”

At this moment, Jiang Banxia closed her book, a third-year textbook, which had turned slightly yellow over the years.

After all, a middle school textbook left in a corner just gathers dust. It gets damp without sunlight, and under sunlight, if untouched for long, fades and becomes brittle.

Much like life, things unimportant to you, no matter how you preserve them, have no significance.

She thought about her life, whether she should really give up…

She decided not to think about it… Anyway, she’ll soon have the courage to face it. She doesn’t believe she must make a choice.

She had just read through the essay again and was certain Li Yang meant to encourage her to treat her studies with the utmost importance.

“Are other things irrelevant?”

“But you’re relevant…”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep