n, while currently the city's construction bureau chief was about to be dismissed for his dereliction of duty. The top brass were discussing who should take over as the new construction bureau chief w...Chapter 24: Junior High School Entrance Exam Results

In the following days, Mother became more frequent in contacting Aunt Yi. Aunt Yi was not someone accustomed to giving orders; she genuinely cared about Su Chen and wondered if Zeng Kuo's son had caused trouble again due to his strong personality. Besides necessary complaints, she also suggested that Zeng Kuo pay more attention to Su Chen's recent studies and life.

Aunt Yi probably felt that the pressure on Su Chen to get into the third high school after just passing the junior high entrance exam was too great, so he behaved somewhat abnormally. She didn't delve too deeply into it but rather focused her efforts on facilitating the rental of a storefront in front of their house.

The person in charge of renting out storefronts at the municipal government office was Secretary Wang from the secretary's office. He respected old cadres like Zeng Quanming, and Aunt Yi's words carried weight. As such, the two storefronts were rented to her, and there were no procedural issues remaining; it only depended on whether Mother Zeng Kuo or Mei Lan and Jia Zheng would provide more of the funds.

Despite this, Aunt Yi didn't dislike Su Chen because of it. However, Uncle's recent behavior genuinely shocked Mother. It was said that after they left, he got up at five in the morning to water flowers and take a walk, then sat on the living room sofa, staring blankly into space for hours. He seemed somewhat absent-minded at work as well and didn't say much to Aunt Yi.

Mother felt extremely guilty and naturally assumed that Su Chen's smashing of his beloved ashtray had caused Uncle's pain, leading him to lose interest in food and drink. She wanted to make amends for him but found that with their financial situation, there was nothing they could do about such an expensive ashtray; it wasn't feasible to buy a new one and return it to Uncle either. Besides, since everyone was family, even if she did buy a replacement for Uncle, Zeng Kuo knew her brother wouldn't accept it.

This left Zeng Kuo feeling guilty towards her elder brother. Coupled with recent stress from various matters, including the impending release of Junior High School Entrance Exam results, her earlier concerns resurfaced, leading to increased complaints about Su Chen.

Upon hearing about his Uncle's recent behavior, Su Chen felt relieved. He had indeed been rash in smashing the ashtray; however, if he hadn't made such a bold move, how could he possibly sway an uncle who had spent years entrenched in officialdom His suggestions would be impossible to hear otherwise, and even if he were an outstanding student with perfect scores across all subjects or already an adult with his own career, Uncle might take him more seriously.

Given the current circumstances, Su Chen could only accept Uncle's teachings without having any right to offer opinions. Could he honestly tell Uncle that a flood was about to occur, and as someone from the future, he knew that the stock market would be highly volatile in 1998

Su Chen had already decided that if he couldn't influence his uncle this time, he'd wait for the next family gathering to try again. Changing Uncle's mindset wouldn't happen overnight; it required careful thought on how to make him listen.

The news about both of them wanting a storefront also reached Mei Lan and Jia Zheng. On one hand, Eldest Uncle Jia Zheng smiled and said that with the whole family going into business now, they should establish a family enterprise. On the other hand, Mei Lan continuously pressured Big Aunt to find out what exactly her mother wanted to do.

Mei Lan's persistent efforts did raise Big Aunt's suspicions; she wasn't stupid, and she felt that Mei Lan had been overly eager lately, likely trying to figure out what Eldest Aunt Ceng Ke intended to do.

Yin Shuying merely brushed it off by saying something vague about the tobacco and alcohol business. Mei Lan didn't doubt this; running a tobacco and alcohol business under the municipal government would be good, but there were already many stalls selling these items around the government building, so entering the market wouldn't be very profitable.

Without revealing anything concrete, the next issue was who got to use the large storefront and who used the small one.

Eldest Aunt Ceng Ke had initially thought that it would be better for her to take the smaller shop nearby, as she could manage with less upfront capital and a lower initial investment. When she and Su's father discussed this earlier, they were both somewhat inclined towards this idea, but Su Can intervened strongly.

Su Can knew that now was the most critical time in their tug-of-war battle. If Mei Lan and Jia Zheng got the large storefront, history would repeat itself: as their business grew bigger, so too would their true natures be revealed. He therefore persuaded his parents to go all out for the larger shop, even if it meant more upfront investment and less visible inventory at first—yet its potential growth was huge. Su Can knew later on that the municipal government had relocated their offices to the second floor, leaving it empty, and Jia Zheng and Mei Lan ended up renting this entire floor for a large cultural goods supermarket with tremendous future potential.

After hearing Su Can's statement, "If we don't go all out, striving for the best, then there's no point in opening a shop," his mother Eldest Aunt Ceng Ke and father Su Licheng were deeply moved and didn’t back down from the larger storefront.

But as Mei Lan and Jia Zheng insisted on the large storefront while Big Aunt was caught between a rock and a hard place, news emerged that they couldn't raise enough money temporarily for the rent of the large shop. The amount required was quite substantial, forcing them to let go of their grip on the large shop and move to the smaller one, yet maintaining the surface appearance by saying since Eldest Aunt wanted the larger storefront, then they would take the smaller one.

Su Can thought it was fortunate that fate was aiding him. His mother started contacting suppliers for goods, while his father began organizing internal renovations. At this point, his father's company was beginning to show signs of decline, so he had more free time and could focus on setting up the storefront. Since both their home and the municipal government were located on the same street, opening a shop here meant operating right in front of their doorstep, which suited them well.

The only two concerns were whether the store would be profitable once opened, and Su Can's academic performance—if he couldn't get into high school and had to pay for private tutoring, this would be an additional financial burden on top of everything else.

In recent days, Su Cen hadn't been in touch with his two close friends Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang. It was said that both of them had gone to visit relatives and occasionally went to the CD game room where they had gained quite a high status. However, Wang Weiwei, Lin Luoran, and others were reportedly seen there several times after their victory in the previous event; it turned out that those few days coincided with the time when Su Cen and his friends were taking their junior high school graduation exams. Only students who didn't need to take these exams were impressed by the performance of Wang Weiwei's group.

After waiting for several consecutive days, Wang Weiwei left in disappointment without seeing them again. This became a heartache for Liu Rui and Xue Yiyang. Lin Luoran’s charming and alluring eyes filled their teenage dreams halfway.

July 1st.

The day when the junior high school exam results are released, allowing phone inquiries.

After dinner, the TV volume was turned down, as if the family were bracing for a battle. Su Cen's mother placed his admission ticket on hand, while his father sat on the sofa with a remote control in hand but clearly distracted.

The TV reported news from Xihaikou City and also announced that the hotline for exam results inquiries would be open after 7 PM.

It was believed that countless parents of students in Xihaikou City were, like Su Cen's family, watching TV and waiting impatiently for time to pass.

Su Cen felt an oppressive atmosphere as he sat facing a wall clock. Memories flooded his mind just like the tide, recalling the same scene from before—his mother huddled on the sofa when she heard the low score, scolding him while tears flowed down her face. She had recently decided to stay at her current company where pay was lower and savings progress slower; now she would have to spend a large sum of money and ask others for loans. Such disappointment towards life could only be understood by ordinary families.

Su Cen sat in front of the clock, which seemed to be sentencing him—a judgment on his fate since he was reborn.

Su Cen no longer wanted to relive past nightmares. Whenever he felt confident before an exam, the results could disappoint him greatly. He believed that this time his test scores would exceed eighty points for a pass, yet he only scored fifty or sixty out of one hundred twenty points.

He feared that he might have the same feeling now, not because of a lack of confidence in himself, but due to past nightmares that wouldn't go away.

Ding! Ding! Ding!... The clock rang on time at the set hour.

Seven o'clock arrived!

Mother picked up the phone and dialed the grade inquiry hotline; everyone's nerves immediately tensed up.

A while later, mother disappointedly hung up the phone, "Busy line!"

But after a few minutes, she picked up the phone again with slight excitement. The other end of the line was probably overwhelmed with calls and couldn't be connected for the time being.

In this way, they were plagued with anxiety until around 7:30 when Zeng Ke finally got through.

When prompted to enter the admission ticket number, mother's hand holding the piece of paper trembled from excessive nervousness.

She reported the admission ticket number in one breath. Mother warily grabbed a pen and put the phone on speaker.

A cold voice from the other end announced, "Admission ticket number: 21358960; Name of examinee: Su Zhan; Mathematics score: 145 points; Chinese score: 135 points; English score: 140 points; Science Comprehensive score: 105 points; Liberal Arts Comprehensive score: 85 points; Physical Education Achievement Score: 35 points."d his maternal uncle's sighs: "He often says, 'I am quite confident in Xiao Fei's abilities, but... Sigh, with so many past grievances accumulated, it's inevitable that he would harbor resentment...'"...