Chapter 117: Reached in Time

However, if Wang Yang dared to make troubles for him during middle school exams, do not blame him for being unruly.

He was merely his cousin. Even if it was his biological brother creating troubles for him, he would still bash him to a pulp!

“Alright, it is good that you know what you are doing.” Qiao Nan nodded and did not mention it anymore.

“Don’t just worry about me. I heard that things are not going so well at your house either. Even though it might not escalate to that extent, you have to be careful. Don’t oversleep or be late. Once you are late, you would be forbidden to sit for the exams.” Zhu Baoguo reminded her out of concern.

“You do not need to remind me about this, I know the rules very well.” Qiao Nan felt comforted by his concerned words but a cold sparkle flashed in her eyes.

Wang Yang and Zhu Baoguo were merely cousins, hence he had no qualms about targeting Zhu Baoguo. But her family was definitely one of a kind.

“Nan Nan, have a good rest today. You have been doing your revisions conscientiously, there’s no need to revise tonight. Just have a good night’s sleep.” Qiao Dongliang was especially anxious for the middle school exams this time. As soon as Qiao Nan reached home, he poured her a cup of tea personally.

It was rare for her to have this treatment. Qiao Nan was overwhelmed by the special favor. “I understand, Dad.”

“You make it sound like she is the only one sitting for middle school exams, whereas everyone else is not qualified to sit for the exams.” The more Qiao Dongliang valued Qiao Nan, the more annoyed and frustrated Ding Jiayi was.

When Qiao Zijin had her middle school exams, she was the one who took care of her meals and waited on her. Old Qiao did not even pour her a cup of water, neither did he ask about how she was doing.

“Ignore your Mom.” Qiao Dongliang patted Qiao Nan on the shoulder.

“It is okay, I am used to it.”

“You...” Qiao Dongliang was frustrated and did not know what to say about Qiao Nan’s matter-of-factly attitude. “Have a good rest tonight.”

“Okay.” Qiao Nan took a bath and got ready for bed after dinner.

It was amazing what one could do when they were driven up the wall. Ding Jiayi decided to set herself against Qiao Dongliang. He had reminded Qiao Nan not to revise tonight but to have a good rest for the exams that would start tomorrow instead. Therefore, Ding Jiayi purposely created a din in the middle of the night to make it impossible for Qiao Nan to rest well.

Qiao Nan was awakened by the loud sounds from the room next to her.

After ascertaining that the sounds came from Ding Jiayi’s room, Qiao Nan curled the corner of her lips as she contemplated if she should stuff some cotton in her ears and go back to sleep. Just then, she heard the sounds of someone opening the door.

It seemed like Qiao Nan was not the only one who was awakened by the din that Ding Jiayi created, Qiao Dongliang was awake as well.

Nobody knew what happened thereafter, but Ding Jiayi finally quietened down.

By the time Qiao Nan woke up the next day, she saw Qiao Dongliang walked out of Ding Jiayi’s room. Ding Jiayi’s complexion was not as pale as the past few days. On the contrary, her complexion had a tinge of red.

Most importantly, Ding Jiayi, who always pulled a face when she saw Qiao Nan, did not give the latter the cold shoulder today. She simply gazed at Qiao Dongliang with tenderness. “Shouldn’t you bring your belongings back?”

What did Old Qiao do yesterday? Did they make up?

“We will talk about it later,” Qiao Dongliang said curtly. Qiao Dongliang seemed to be embarrassed in front of Qiao Nan.

Qiao Dongliang felt uneasy, especially when he looked into Qiao Nan’s bright and sparkling dark eyes which seemed to be able to see through one’s mind.

Qiao Dongliang reassured himself that Qiao Nan was still young; she could not have understood the affairs of the adults.

“Nan Nan, have some breakfast. Dad will send you to school before going to work.” This way, Nan Nan could save some time on transport and would have more time to go through her notes at school as she rested.

“Why the need to send her to school? Last night... aren’t you tired?” Ding Jiayi gave Qiao Dongliang a gentle pat on his shoulder. She turned to Qiao Nan, “Is there any problem going to school by yourself?”

“No problem.” Qiao Nan shook her head. Without another word, she took her bag and went to school after she had her breakfast.

“Where is Zhu Baoguo?” Qiao Nan had reached school, but she didn’t see Zhu Baoguo anywhere. She asked around in the class. “Has anyone of you seen Zhu Baoguo? Did he come to school today?”

“No sight of him.”

“No idea.”

“Maybe he went to the washroom?”

Qiao Nan looked at the clock hanging on the wall. There was half an hour left before the exams; there was still some time.

Nevertheless, by the time it was twenty minutes to the exams, Zhu Baoguo still could not be seen anywhere. Qiao Nan could not help but frown. If she had known this would happen, she would have stopped over at Zhu family’s residence to take a look.

Qiao Nan gritted her teeth and ran in the direction of the office to look for Teacher Chen. “Teacher Chen, Zhu Baoguo is not here yet. There are only twenty minutes left until the exams. Can you lend me your bicycle? I want to go to the Zhu family’s residence to have a look.”

If Qiao Nan walked to the Zhu family’s residence and walked back to school, she would not make it in time. She could only ask her teacher to lend her the bicycle.

“Zhu Baoguo is not here yet?” Teacher Chen was alarmed. Zhu family placed a lot of focus on Zhu Baoguo’s studies. Today’s the first day of middle school exams, it’s impossible that the Zhu family would be so late in sending Zhu Baoguo to school. “Lend you the bicycle? No. Tell you what—you will stay in the school, I will make the trip.”

It would be worse if Zhu Baoguo missed the exams and Qiao Nan, the top student, was delayed as well.

“Then I would have to trouble Teacher Chen.” Qiao Nan nodded.

Teacher Chen informed Teacher Lee to arrange for the students of Class One to enter the exam hall, after which Teacher Chen got on the bicycle and went to the Zhu family’s residence with lightning speed.

In general, for middle school exams, one would need to enter the exam hall ten minutes before the start of the exam.

As Qiao Nan was worried about Zhu Baoguo, she stood outside the entrance waiting for him while the rest of the students went into the hall.

“This student here, you can go into the exam hall!” The invigilator arched their eyebrows and shouted at Qiao Nan.

The invigilator was from another school, hence they were stricter with the students.

When they saw students like Qiao Nan who dawdled and refused to enter the exam hall as if they were up to no good particularly, the invigilators would be harsh on them.

“Yes, teacher.” Qiao Nan frowned and walked very slowly toward the teacher.

At the turn of her head, Qiao Nan saw Teacher Chen and Zhu Baoguo arriving in the nick of time. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt more comfortable as she walked into the exam hall.

“?” The invigilator found it strange that minutes ago Qiao Nan was still dawdling outside the exam hall. Now she looked as if she could not wait to go in. The invigilator frowned in confusion.

“Alright, I will give out the exam papers now. Everyone be silent. It would be considered as cheating otherwise.”

At the invigilator’s order, the classroom turned silent; no one dared to make a single sound. One could only hear the “swoosh swoosh” rustling sounds of the exam papers being handed down.

The first subject on the first day of the exams was one that Qiao Nan was good in; it was an exam on modal particles. After half a year of revision, she knew the knowledge inside out. There was no way that she would score zero marks for this segment.