Chapter 94: Chapter 93: Hardly an Opponent… Clearly a Teacher

Chen Dong chimed in from the side, “She is on medication. Whenever it’s market day and we have time, we always have Grandma get her blood pressure checked. My dad even said that after we sell this year’s rice harvest, he’ll buy a blood pressure monitor for her so she can check it at home.”

Blood pressure checks at the hospital were free, and a hypertensive crisis could be very dangerous, so the entire family—including Grandma Xu herself—took her condition very seriously.

She wasn’t a stubborn old woman. Rather than end up paralyzed in bed and becoming a burden to her children and grandchildren, she was more than willing to check her blood pressure from time to time and take her pills.

Hearing that they had to wait until they sold the rice harvest just to afford a blood pressure monitor…

Xu Su had an idea of what electronic blood pressure monitors cost these days. She had already looked into it, and they were a little over three hundred yuan. “I’ll pay for it,” she announced magnanimously. “I’ll buy one for Grandma.”

“How much money could you possibly have?” Chen Dong, who was already taller than Xu Su, patted her on the head. “Just save your allowance to buy yourself some extra snacks. You don’t need to worry about family matters yet.”

Watching the two of them interact, Grandma Xu couldn’t stop smiling. “Your brother is right. You just need to focus on your studies. Don’t you worry about things at home.”

“I really do have money! You don’t realize, my school gives out a lot in scholarships. My scholarship for just one semester is enough to cover two months of my dad’s salary.” Xu Su unzipped her backpack, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Grandma Xu.

“It’s a three-thousand-yuan scholarship. I just got it this morning. I’ve already checked—a blood pressure monitor is a little over three hundred, so this is more than enough. Do they sell them in town? If not, we’ll go to the county to buy one.”

She had to buy it for her grandma. ’In my past life, Grandma had a stroke that left her paralyzed on one side, unable to even speak clearly.’ Xu Su refused to see that happen again.

Grandma Xu took the envelope, opened it in astonishment, and glanced inside. Then she glared at Xu Su. “You just came back carrying this much cash? How did a pickpocket on the bus not get to it! Have I taught you nothing? Money goes at the very bottom of your bag.”

Still, she was stunned by the reward. Three thousand yuan!

Chen Dong was stunned too. He stared at the money in the envelope and muttered, “My homeroom teacher always says knowledge is wealth. I guess he’s right.”

This was at a time when an ordinary worker could only earn about twenty or thirty yuan a day. Even the bricklayers in the village, working all day under the blazing sun, made no more than thirty.

“…” Mimicking the way he had just patted her, Xu Su patted him on the head. “Good boy. Now that you know, why aren’t you studying harder?”

Grandma Xu paid no mind to the siblings’ playful bickering. She took the envelope into the inner room where she slept and came back out empty-handed. “I’ve put it away for safekeeping. I’ll give it back when you return to Chang City. You’re just too careless with money, child.”

Xu Su had no objection to her grandmother keeping the money, of course. She smiled and nodded. “Grandma, as long as you let me buy the blood pressure monitor, anything is fine by me.”

The old woman shot her an exasperated glance, then picked up the bag Chen Ni had tossed on the rocking chair.

She led Xu Su into the front room. “I figured you might come home for summer break, so I cleaned your room for you a couple of days ago. How long are you staying this time?”

Xu Su had slept in this room by herself since she was eight. Back then, her grandfather was still alive, and it had become inappropriate for her to keep sharing a bed with the old couple.

Looking at the room she had grown up in, still as neat and tidy as ever, Xu Su smiled and hugged her grandmother. “I’ll stay for half a month and go back when school starts. You’re not allowed to kick me out.”

“When have I ever kicked you out?” Grandma Xu was clearly overjoyed to have Xu Su home. “Stay as long as you like, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of your studies.”

They had dinner at her eldest uncle’s house. Her second uncle, hearing Xu Su was back, brought Chen Dong over for a visit.

Around the lively dinner table, Xu Su’s three-thousand-yuan scholarship was the main topic of conversation.

Her eldest uncle’s wife marveled, “I always said our Susu was smart! She always got first place when she was studying here in the countryside, and who would’ve thought her grades would still be this good after going to the city. She’s no worse than any of those kids who grew up there.”

Chen Ni said, “Susu, your school is loaded! I remember when my brother was in high school, he’d never even heard of a scholarship.”

Chen Le had attended Kang County First Middle School… the same school Xu Su had gone to for junior high. And it was true; there was no such thing as a scholarship there.

Her second uncle asked, “What rank do you have to get to earn a three-thousand-yuan scholarship?”

Xu Su answered honestly, “First place in the grade gets five thousand, and anyone in the top three gets three thousand. I was second in the grade on the final exams.”

Chen Dong asked curiously, “I thought you always got first place? Did you finally meet your match?”

“…” ’He’s hardly my rival… he’s more like a teacher.’

Xu Su was a little embarrassed to admit to her adoring younger cousins that the person who took first place deserved a great deal of credit for her being able to get second.

She said, “He’s an academic god. Do you know what that is? It’s someone so divine they’ve never even placed second. Our grade has twenty-six classes, with seventeen or eighteen hundred students in total. It’s not easy for me to get second place, you know.”

The adults might not have fully grasped the scale of it, but hearing that a single grade had so many students left the two who were still students themselves, Chen Ni and Chen Dong, completely shocked.

’It was one of the city’s top high schools to begin with; anyone who got in had to have excellent grades in middle school. To be second in the grade out of nearly two thousand top students…’

Xu Su was gratified to see the admiration in their eyes. Now it was her turn to do the questioning.

“How did you two do on the high school entrance exam? Have you gotten your acceptance letters? Did you make the cutoff?”

By “the cutoff,” she meant the cutoff for the high schools in Kang County. City No.1 High School was a distant dream. In all the years, looking across the entire Chen Family Village and even Shuinan Town, Xu Su was the only one who had ever tested into a city high school.

Her eldest uncle had been quite pleased with his own daughter’s results, but after seeing the heights his niece had reached, his delight faded. He said, “Nini really outdid herself this time; she can get into Kang County First Middle School. Dongdong also got into a high school… the Third High School.”

’The Third High School…’ Xu Su’s brow furrowed.

’In my past life, I couldn’t remember which high school my cousin had attended. So it was the Third High School?’

’Kang County’s educational resources were already poor. The First High School was the best school in the county, followed by the Second. As for the Third High School… it was practically a vocational school. While its students could take the college entrance exams, the university acceptance rate each year was almost negligible…’

’Ever since they were little, Xu Su had tutored her younger cousins whenever she had the time. Before she left for Chang City, both Chen Dong’s and Chen Ni’s grades had been excellent for the town’s middle school. She never imagined that after just one year away, Chen Dong would fall so far behind that he could only get into the Third High School.’

Xu Su was deeply concerned. She made an executive decision. “Starting tomorrow, I’m tutoring you guys. I have half a month of summer vacation. I’ll take you through a review of all your middle school material and then we’ll go over some key concepts for your first year of high school.”

As soon as she said this, the adults were all delighted—all except for Chen Ni and Chen Dong, who looked utterly miserable.

“See? It takes Susu to teach you two properly. When Susu was here before, I recall both your grades were quite decent.”

The eldest uncle’s wife smiled at Xu Su. “These two listen to you. Susu, you be strict with them. Don’t go easy on them.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep