Su Yun said, annoyed, "What’s that supposed to mean? Just because Xiao Jiao is successful, she has to help him? If he never amounts to anything, what good will he ever be to us!"

Qin Jiao, on the other hand, was much more accepting. She pulled her mom down to sit. "Mom, calm down. Now that you put it that way, I get it. At the end of the day, Grandpa and the others still value Xiao Tao the most. What they say is their business. I only have a sister, no brothers. If I ever run into real trouble, I’ll solve it myself."

Her daughter was taking it well, but Su Yun was still fuming. Still, she didn’t want to press the issue and upset her daughter further, so she just turned and shot her husband a glare.

Qin Zhonghui looked sheepish and could only turn away to resume packing.

In truth, they had already packed most of their belongings. Now that Qin Jiao’s acceptance letter had arrived, they were planning to mail some of their things ahead of them. The postal service was slow, so they needed to send it out early.

Then, the family would take the train to North City together.

Meanwhile, acceptance letters for other high school seniors in Ping’an Town were also arriving one by one. Besides prestigious universities, there were also offers from vocational colleges.

Of course, back then, even getting into a vocational college was quite an achievement.

Chen Feng had done pretty well on his last exam, at least better than his previous attempts. He’d broken into the school’s top ten and was accepted into North City Engineering University.

While not as good as North City University, it was still an excellent school.

When Sun Guotao handed him the acceptance letter, he noticed the boy was completely sullen, with no trace of happiness on his face.

He assumed Chen Feng was dejected because of what happened with Lin Nian. "Alright now," Mr. Sun said. "A year will fly by. Don’t dwell on it. Go on home, get packed, and get ready for school."

Chen Feng thought of the banner he had just seen at the school gate, and the bright red color felt like a painful glare. He clenched his fists. "Mr. Sun, what school did Qin Jiao get into?"

"North City University. Oh, Shen Yi as well."

Chen Feng’s fists clenched tighter. His eyes turned ice-cold, but he kept them lowered so Sun Guotao wouldn’t notice.

They exchanged a few more words before Chen Feng left. Watching his retreating figure, Sun Guotao shook his head with a helpless sigh, his eyes filled with pity.

As Chen Feng walked out, teachers and students he knew greeted him. They would ask which school he got into and then congratulate him, but Chen Feng felt no happiness at all.

’That Shen Yi, the one I looked down on, actually did better than me!’

’And Qin Jiao—the girl he’d once had a crush on but also looked down on, the girl who he later couldn’t stop thinking about—she had also done extremely well.’

’Those two tied for top scorer on the college entrance exams and got into North City University together. And him? He could only go to North City Engineering University...’

’They were all schools in North City, and they were all good schools, but North City Engineering University was nowhere near the same league as North City University!’

Chen Feng walked back, completely crestfallen. He suddenly heard a familiar laugh and quickly turned his head, only to realize it wasn’t Qin Jiao. A wave of immense disappointment washed over him.

’He didn’t even know what was wrong with himself.’

By the time Chen Feng got home, his mother, Li Xiaomei, was in the middle of packing. They too would be moving to North City soon.

She was throwing a lot of things out, declaring they weren’t needed anymore.

Li Xiaomei was in high spirits, humming a little folk tune to herself. Looking up and seeing her son, she smiled and asked, "Xiao Feng, you’re back! Quick, let your mom see what an acceptance letter from a prestigious university looks like!"