Recently, when he came back on weekends, Meng Xici had obviously been spending more time on his studies.
Sang Miao noticed a little and found out that he was preparing for his final exams.
It was the first semester of his first year of high school, and the first final exam of high school.
That day, while chatting with Uncle Zhou, she heard that Meng Xici had been ranked first in his grade during the midterm exams.
Being ranked first and still working this hard, no wonder he’s the model student.
This made Sang Miao wonder, does Meng Peisheng never have to worry about his studies?
No wonder he’s so confident letting him stay at school or often be home alone.
On Saturday, Ji Zhuoran came to the Meng house in the morning.
Sang Miao wasn’t surprised to see him, but it was rare to see him come this early.
However, Meng Xici clearly didn’t have time to play with him.
Sure enough, when Meng Xici came downstairs and saw him, he said, “I’m busy today.”
He was just coming downstairs to grab a drink and, after saying that, he walked to the dining room.
Ji Zhuoran followed him, “Wait, I came here to study.”
Sang Miao was in the kitchen, wondering what they were making for lunch today, planning to sneak a lesson or two so she could cook something delicious for herself in the future.
Although they usually only had two or three people eating, the chef at the Meng house still put a lot of effort into the food.
It wasn’t just simple home cooking.
Especially with a teenage boy in the house, nutrition and food variety were given great attention.
When Ji Zhuoran saw her in the kitchen, he greeted her obediently, “Hello, Auntie.”
Sang Miao responded, then thought of something and asked, “Are you having lunch here today?”
Meng Xici was about to speak and say he wasn’t eating, but Ji Zhuoran spoke first, “Yes, Auntie, I’ll be studying here the whole day.”
Sang Miao couldn’t help but laugh.
Studying? More like cramming, she thought, since he’d never come here just to study.
Sang Miao said, “Alright, I’ll have the chef prepare your meal.”
Ji Zhuoran replied, “Thanks, Auntie.”
Meng Xici walked upstairs in silence.
His desk faced the window.
When he saw Ji Zhuoran take out some papers from his bag, he moved a chair to the other side of the desk for him.
Ji Zhuoran’s grades weren’t terrible, but he hadn’t put much effort into studying before.
He usually took a laid-back approach.
However, this time, his dad promised him that if he made it into the top ten of his class, he would fulfill one of his requests, so Ji Zhuoran had to push himself.
Since he was serious about studying, he quickly got into the zone.
Without much chit-chat, he studied seriously for two hours.
After finishing one paper, Ji Zhuoran stretched and felt like he had worked hard.
When he looked out the window during his break, he saw Meng Xici’s stepmother playing with the dog in the garden.
He sighed suddenly, “Adults have it so easy, no school, no work being an adult is too good.”
Meng Xici looked up at him in confusion and followed his gaze out the window.
He then realized Ji Zhuoran was talking about Sang Miao.
Ji Zhuoran asked, “Does your stepmother stay home every day?”
Meng Xici wasn’t sure.
He only came home on weekends, so he didn’t know what she did on weekdays.
Ji Zhuoran assumed his stepmother was a full-time housewife.
It made sense since she had married Meng Peisheng.
His own mother didn’t have to work at the company either, but she managed some assets and controlled part of the family’s finances.
She spent her time shopping, getting spa treatments, and playing mahjong.
Her most important task was socializing in various circles, and she was often out, hosting banquets and gatherings when she was home.
Because of that, she was always in the loop, and her mother knew all the gossip.
But Ji Zhuoran had never heard that Meng Peisheng’s wife and his mother had any interactions.
In fact, his mom had once secretly tried to ask him about it because they had never met her, and it seemed like he had met her more often.
He told her he didn’t know any gossip, except for the school incident.
He had just greeted her when they met.
But Ji Zhuoran also knew that there were many people interested in her.
Meng Xici’s gaze lingered on the garden below.
Sang Miao was wearing a light gray sweater and dark, loose jeans very casual.
She hadn’t even worn a coat in the cold weather.
Wouldn’t she catch a cold?
Most of the time, Meng Xici couldn’t connect her casual appearance with being his father’s wife.
She dressed simply, with no makeup, and if he had to describe it, she looked like a white camellia in the garden, with an elegant and unpretentious appearance.
Sometimes, when he caught a glimpse of the girls at his school, some of them were even more maturely dressed than her.
Her figure was slender, and she wasn’t too tall just a little taller than his shoulders.
But Meng Xici never thought of her as fragile.
After all, at the shooting range, she looked like someone who could be recruited into a police academy or the military.
At her age, she was like a recent graduate, still somewhat naive.
If it weren’t for his dad talking to him about the marriage agreement, he wouldn’t have understood why his dad married such a young woman.
When Ji Zhuoran asked, Meng Xici felt a bit curious.
Did she not have any worries?
In his mind, compared to the weight of schoolwork, adults had more responsibilities.
Yuli High School had an elite education system, and its workload was much different from public high schools.
He had never been someone who only focused on studies and ignored everything else.
He knew from a young age what path he would take in the future.
He even knew some things about the company that most people his age didn’t.
Sometimes, his dad didn’t hide important decisions or movements in the company from him.
He had heard that the Sang family was facing a financial crisis, but it seemed like Sang Miao wasn’t anxious about it.
Everyone has desires, even Ji Zhuoran was working hard on his homework because of his dad’s promise.
Meng Xici couldn’t help but wonder did she marry his dad for money?
But she didn’t seem to have any desire to spend money…
…
In the afternoon, Ji Zhuoran, who had planned to stay for dinner, heard that Meng Peisheng was coming home for dinner and quickly left early.
Dinner that night was like usual.
Sure enough, the final exams were next week, and Meng Peisheng didn’t even ask him how his preparations were going.
Sang Miao thought, was this confidence or indifference?
The exam results would be out about a week after the test, and after receiving the report cards, they would officially begin their winter break.
After winter break, Meng Xici couldn’t stay at school all day anymore.
Sang Miao’s “living alone” plan temporarily failed.
For at least a month, she wouldn’t be able to rule her own domain.
Young people, do you have any vacation plans?
How about going to a warm beach, or hiking a snowy mountain?
You need to balance work and rest, don’t just study all day!
The day they got the report cards, Uncle Zhou went with him.
It was clear that Meng Peisheng wasn’t completely indifferent to his grades, probably Uncle Zhou had to talk to the teachers about something.
When they came back around noon, Meng Xici, pulling his suitcase, saw Sang Miao in the living room.
He just nodded at her, as a greeting.
Then, he took his suitcase upstairs by himself, without any servants helping.
Even the Border Collie didn’t react much when it tried to nudge him, lying down quietly in another corner.
Why didn’t he seem relaxed or happy to be on vacation?
Sang Miao felt something was off.
This reaction after getting his report card could only mean one thing
Sang Miao invited Uncle Zhou to sit down for tea, pushing a plate of nuts toward him.
“What’s going on? Did you not do well on the test?”
How bad could the results be to get such a reaction?
Lin Yanzhou took a sip of tea, unsure how to respond.
“Kind of…”
Really?
It seemed like this kid’s winter break wasn’t going to be too pleasant.
She wondered how Meng Peisheng would react when he found out.
Sang Miao quietly asked, “So, what place did he get?”
Lin Yanzhou paused and held up a finger.
“Second.”
“Second in the grade.”
Sang Miao: “…”