Chapter 198: Chapter 198

Zhao Guangran occasionally looked up at Gong Ruini and found that she was either seriously painting or writing, which he found quite unsettling.

He used to think that if each day Gong Ruini didn’t sarcastically jab at him a little, it felt like something was missing.

Zhao Xuran turned a page of his book, noticing Zhao Guangran’s eyes darting around, particularly towards Gong Ruini’s room. Was this kid not able to adapt?

"Focus on your book. If you choose not to attend school but only take exams, you must achieve good grades." At the very least, the teachers and leaders at school should know that you can keep up with your studies at home.

Zhao Guangran replied with an ’oh’, withdrew his gaze, and was about to focus on his book, but the impression Gong Ruini gave him was stronger still, "Bro, don’t you think Ni Zi is acting a bit odd today?"

"Bro, it’s not like I’m being suspicious, but see, Ni Zi hasn’t scolded me even once today."

"I’ve made several mistakes though." Zhao Guangran puzzlingly asked Zhao Xuran, feeling quite threatened, yet no matter how he analyzed it, he couldn’t figure out why Gong Ruini was acting odd today.

The fact that no one criticized him for his mistakes made him feel like there was a problem. How keen is he to be criticized? Zhao Xuran was speechless.

"Probably busy with something." Zhao Xuran wasn’t too sure whether Gong Ruini’s change was permanent or just temporary.

Busy? Please, when isn’t Gong Ruini busy? Zhao Guangran was quite displeased with Zhao Xuran’s explanation, feeling as if he was being treated like a fool.

"Isn’t Ni Zi busy with painting and practicing calligraphy every day?"

"Bro, are you treating me like a fool?" Hmph, Zhao Guangran showed he didn’t care, as since his elder brother thought so lowly of him, why should he care?

"You know you’re a fool, alright, have you finished today’s lessons?" Zhao Xuran didn’t argue, saying Guangran was smart wasn’t convincing; he’d only praise Ni Zi’s cleverness.

555, his brother didn’t like him anymore. In the past, whenever he was called a fool, the elder brother would at least deny it a bit, but now he didn’t even bother.

Zhao Guangran looked mournfully at Zhao Xuran, but the latter was already reviewing his work, "There’s improvement."

"Really?" Hearing his brother say he had improved, Zhao Guangran was overjoyed and didn’t complain to Zhao Xuran about not helping him out.

"Bro, I’ve written a lot today." Being praised by his brother showed his efforts were right; Zhao Guangran wasn’t one to miss a chance to credit himself.

He didn’t mention before because he didn’t know the result. Now that he knew the result was good, of course, he had to say something nice about himself, "Bro, I’ve written over a dozen pages of calligraphy today."

"I also drew more than a dozen pictures." Although Zhao Guangran felt very tired, he had never experienced producing so much homework in a day before, he was really exhausted.

But just thinking about how Gong Ruini consistently completed as much work every day made Zhao Guangran admire her in various ways.

Hmm, no way, is his little brother unexpectedly so diligent today? Zhao Xuran was surprised, knowing that his little brother usually only completed the minimum amount of homework, rarely going over the task.

Even if he did go over, it was just a small portion and only because there was no other choice. Today, he voluntarily increased his workload, worried that Gong Ruini might be in a bad mood and catch his mistakes, arguing with him, so he completed more work?

True, if not worried about such things, his little brother wouldn’t care why Gong Ruini didn’t scold him today.

"Bro, I’ll achieve this much every day in the future, and one day I’ll do more and better than Ni Zi." Zhao Guangran declared his ambitious words.

Uh, is his little brother going crazy, suddenly saying such unrealistic things? Sorry, but Zhao Xuran felt his little brother was speaking nonsense.

Previously, promises of completing various tasks weren’t kept, Zhao Xuran had long stopped thinking about those past promises, but he figured this would again result in just lip service.

If he truly calculated those tasks with Zhao Guangran, it would only cause him to explode from exasperation.

"Bro, this time I’ll definitely walk the talk." Clearly sounding like his elder brother was just humoring him, Zhao Guangran was dissatisfied, but no matter how dissatisfied he was, he couldn’t accuse his brother of bias.

Zhao Guangran knew he had promised many unachievable tasks before, causing his brother to hold no expectations. This time, he wouldn’t give up lightly.

"Today I realized that Ni Zi is always busy with various things, and she was exhausted today, yet still completed her homework with effort." Zhao Guangran whispered about why he was working so hard. Get full chapters from novel⸺fire.net

Could this reason alone have so moved his little brother? Was this a fortunate mistake? Cai Ming’s visit accomplished two good things: potentially altering Gong Ruini’s mindset significantly, and possibly driving his little brother to strive hard in many ways, raising all sorts of expectations.

"Hmm, of course, brother trusts you, you will do well." It’s necessary to give the little brother some confidence, can’t take it lightly, or the boy might get angry and stop executing entirely.

After rounding off the final stroke, Gong Ruini contentedly reviewed her work, then began packing up. She was quite pleased with today’s quantity, having made a bit more progress than yesterday’s drawings.

Gong Ruini was already satisfied, and whether or not she’d receive praise from Hua Miaozhu didn’t concern her anymore.

At least while painting, Gong Ruini felt genuinely happy, and that’s enough.

Gong Ruwen was seriously reading, even though Zhao Xuran said his foundation was solid and passing the transferee exam wouldn’t be a problem, Gong Ruwen still felt quite anxious.

This time he had applied to join the latter half of third grade, uncertain about passing the exam, even though Zhao Xuran assured there was absolutely no problem, and had even given him some practice questions indicating there wasn’t an issue, Gong Ruwen still worried.

Were it not for the fear that a lack of rest today would affect his ability to score well in tomorrow’s exam, Gong Ruwen really wanted to study all night.

Unexpectedly, his sister intended to sleep. Wasn’t she going to read?

Gong Ruwen remembered that today his sister spent time either practicing calligraphy or painting, seemingly without reading, could she take the exam in this state?

"Bro, I’m going to sleep." Gong Ruini yawned and was ready to sleep.

She really couldn’t rest properly yesterday, and if she didn’t sleep early today to regain her energy, she worried whether her petite body could withstand the exam.

Ah, is this his hardworking go-getter sister? Gong Ruwen was shocked to see his sister preparing to sleep just like that.

"Bro, you should sleep early too. Don’t worry, bro, you will definitely pass the exam." Gong Ruini sleepily advised Gong Ruwen who intended to keep reading.

Gong Ruini had inquired about the teachers at the school where she’d soon take the exam, and could only say the teachers weren’t great, leading her to genuinely not worry about such an exam.

Gong Ruwen watched as Gong Ruini began to snore peacefully within moments, feeling powerless in various ways.

"Turns out, even my own sister has a big heart." Gong Ruwen could only remark, feeling embarrassed to speculate if Gong Ruini considered the entrance exam a simple task and thus felt no pressure.

Gong Ruini could sleep and eat on time, but Gong Ruwen couldn’t. He didn’t want to miss this evaluation opportunity, as missing it would make it uncertain what conditions Uncle Zhao and Dad would ask for next time to reopen the opportunity.