Chapter 578: Chapter 578

Since she started sharing a desk with Zhou Mo, Zhou Yiyi realized she was miserably outclassed. She would struggle with problems for half a day, while he would solve them in a minute, his methods clear and simple, far superior to her convoluted, inconclusive approaches. Whenever she despondently rested her chin on her hands and asked him, "Were you born just to torture others?" he would simply bow his head and solve a few more problems.

Her notebooks, full of wrong answers, were peppered with his red ink comments. Sometimes, when there wasn’t enough space and things got messy, he would flip to the end and rewrite it for her. Later, when copying problems, she would deliberately leave space for his annotations.

The problems that took her so much effort to copy were now shared by them both. He always asked curiously, "Where did you find this problem?"

"Oh, I just copied it from a bookstore on Sunday."

"Is there anything harder? I want to challenge the top high school physics competition this term."

It seemed he lacked the patience to go to the bookstore, Zhou Yiyi thought. Although harder problems were challenging for her, the effort might be worthwhile.

So she nodded and agreed, "Okay, I’ll look for some for you. Just physics?"

"Chemistry too. I’m entering both subjects this year, aiming for a direct university admission."

Zhou Yiyi twitched at the corner of her mouth, "What’s the rush? Don’t you still have a year left?"

Zhou Mo didn’t reply. When Zhou Yiyi looked down again, he was glancing at her sideways, thinking, "I’ll teach you in the remaining year!"

Zhou Yiyi was totally unaware of Zhou Mo’s thoughts. She just earnestly tried to do well every day. Truly, she was hardworking, but aside from Chinese and English, which didn’t strain her brain as much, physics, mathematics, and chemistry were real tests of her intellect.

After the first term’s monthly test, a three-day National Day holiday arrived. Many people travelled during this period, but Zhou Yiyi, feeling it had been a long time since her last visit, went back to her old home in Y city.

Since the Mid-Autumn Festival was just a few days away and it was also the peak of the harvest season, she first visited the village chief’s house with gifts in hand.

The village chief was delighted to see her. When news had spread through the old TV broadcasts that Zhou Yiyi was admitted to a key high school in L city with top scores in her middle school exam, everyone praised the Zhou family’s ancestors for their blessings in producing such an outstanding daughter. Zhou Yu and Zhao Cailian, who had originally tried to take advantage of her, were criticized by many for their sinister intentions, especially since Zhou Songlin only managed to get into an ordinary, local high school. His future prospects unknown, he was still quite presumptuous.

"Your family’s house was rented out to the local construction team for one thousand yuan a year. Your mother’s funeral didn’t cost much, and we even collected some funeral donations, so the first year’s rent was covered. They just paid the second year’s rent, so take it now that you’re here," the village chief explained.

Zhou Yiyi graciously accepted the money, "Thank you, Uncle. I really need it and won’t be polite."

"There’s no need for politeness. It’s what we should do."

To others, Zhou Yiyi seemed entirely alone in the world, making the money extremely important to her. She had no reason to pretend otherwise, especially since the items she brought as gifts for the village chief summed up to one hundred yuan, indirectly expressing her gratitude.

She didn’t stay for a meal but simply explained her current situation and was delighted to learn that her school fees and accommodation were waived.

Zhou Yiyi kept a low profile and did not mention that her living expenses were also exempted, since just those two costs were enough to make others envious. The matter of winning competitions and receiving prize money was something she dared not even mention.

Leaving the village chief’s house, she coincidentally ran into Zhou Yu and his wife. It almost seemed they knew she’d be there, waiting for her.

"Uncle, Auntie, are you heading to the market?"

Out of politeness, she greeted them. Zhao Cailian, seeing Zhou Yiyi looking even prettier and fairer than before in a sky-blue dress, eagerly grabbed her hand and invited her for a meal at their home, mentioning that Zhou Songlin was also back and they could discuss their studies together.

Zhou Yiyi smiled awkwardly and discreetly extracted her arm, declining their invitation. But the couple, persistent as if determined, kept pulling her along. Finally, Zhou Yiyi just told them the truth.

"Sorry, Uncle and Auntie, I actually returned to visit the village first and now I have to go visit my relatives. I won’t stay long, excuse me."

Eating at their house on unclear intentions? She didn’t want to guess their motives.

In this life, Zhou Yiyi avoided them like snakes, seeing them was enough—eating at their house was out of the question unless she was out of her mind.

Her straightforwardness left the couple looking slightly displeased, but Zhou Yiyi didn’t care, she directly left. She even decided not to check her own house’s condition. It was already rented out, what was the point in seeing it?

Although one thousand yuan a year wasn’t much, it was still better than leaving the property empty. An uninhabited house could develop structural issues due to overgrowth. Renting it out brought life and ensured the house’s stability, killing two birds with one stone.

Leaving the village, she took a bus to the city, bought a basket of fruits, and visited the Calligrapher Association to see her former colleagues. She also brought two bottles of wine for President Yang Kai. After finishing up, it was nearly time off from work, not suitable to visit other places, so she found a secluded spot and entered her "space" to cook and rest. Googlᴇ search novᴇlfire.net

The next day, she carried gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival to visit Mr. Zheng, only to find no one at home. Upon inquiry, she learned that Mr. Zheng had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was hospitalized the day before, leaving Zhou Yiyi utterly shocked. She hurriedly took a taxi to the county hospital, found the Zheng family, but although Mr. Zheng had undergone surgery, he hadn’t regained consciousness and was in the ICU, possibly facing paralysis if he woke up.

Seeing the Master’s wife weeping beside him, Zhou Yiyi felt deeply troubled. She gave her the two thousand yuan she had on her.

"Please take this money for now. I’ll go to the bank and get some more. Don’t worry, Master will be alright. He must be."

She couldn’t just stand by when this couple had supported her during her toughest times.

But both the Master’s wife and his son refused her offer to withdraw more money. They insisted that what she had given was enough and didn’t want her to bring more, worrying that the teacher would feel pained if he knew. After all, they still had some savings, and her money was meant for her college education. They could always ask for more when theirs ran out.