Damn it, I'm surrounded by childhood sweethearts

"776 points, third place in the middle school exam?"

"Hahaha, where, where, the score is still not high enough. Didn't she only get 88 in Politics and Law? I think this child's ideological and moral character still isn't up to par!"

"Mmm hmm, yes, yes, yes, thank you for your guidance, Teacher. We'll definitely invite you to come drink at the celebration feast when the time comes."

Yao Jiping hung up the phone with a beam of joy, and before she could speak, Lin Jing's phone also rang at this moment.

"Xiao Fan got 776 points, eh? That's much higher than my own middle school exam score. I am also his class teacher, let me take this call first." Lin Jing smiled and nodded to the two card-playing housewives, quickly picking up the phone.

"It's 777 points, and she's the runner-up, huh? This child has never caused me any worry since she was young. Mhm, I got it."

By the time Lin Jing finished her call, the atmosphere among those present had already turned a bit awkward.

The children of the other two card players were one grade ahead of Xu Qingfan's and had just been boasting about how regular good grades don't guarantee a good performance on the middle school exams, but their children had already been admitted to Licheng Middle School last year.

Even though they were barely above the admission line, heroes don't ask about origins, and on top of that, they bragged about how their children placed in the top three hundred in their final exam grades this semester.

Anyway, they were implying that Xia Xiaoxiao and Xiao Fan might not necessarily get into Licheng Middle School, but their children had already managed to place in the top three hundred in the highly competitive high school division.

"Hehehe~ I guess Yu will be the top scorer. I'm gonna stop here, stop here. I've got to go home and ask that stinky kid why he didn't call Mom about such a big thing."

Yao Jiping turned up the corners of her lips triumphantly as she laid out her winning hand, ending the game with a ghost tile.

"Let's play another day, sorry about this, ha." Lin Jing was pulled away by Yao Jiping, but not before politely turning back to wave at the two women.

"Fine..." The expressions on the faces of the two housewives looked as if they had eaten flies, as they struggled to spit out a single word.

It's one thing to lose money in Mahjong, but to not even win the war of words, what's the point of being alive!

"Heh, just because you do well in middle school exams doesn't mean you'll excel in high school!"

"Exactly, their tails are sticking up in the sky. They are bound to have their own bad luck!"

Seeking comfort in each other's words, the two women were unaware that Lin Jing and Yao Jiping had already driven off in their Chevrolet.

"Those two gossipy women are so annoying, I'm not playing mahjong with them anymore!" Yao Jiping complained sitting in the passenger seat as they got into the car.

Lin Jing, however, took it in stride with a smile and a shake of her head. "They're just in a bad mood because they lost money. What did Xiao Fan say... oh, 'they got defensive!'"

"That's true. The middle school exam results are out, and he didn't even think to call his mom first. He must be chatting with those girls from his class right now." Jinping spoke the truth.

Sure enough, the hands-free phone rang the next second: "The number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later..."

"Hahahah....."

While she spoke with apparent jealousy, deep down, Jinping was quite proud. Her little pig was sure not to have to worry about finding a wife in the future.

[Just don't know which one it will be, so hard to choose...]

...

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Why did you buy so much stuff? Weren't you all playing mahjong?"

Xu Qingfan came downstairs to move things when he saw the trunk full of groceries and asked in confusion.

"Tonight we'll treat our runner-up and third place winner well. Besides, you didn't even think to tell Mom about the results first; it was your class teacher who called me that I found out." Yao Jiping finished speaking and pinched him unhappily.

"Hehe~ It's just a middle school exam, what's there to say? Besides, there were no ranks in the text messages." Xu Qingfan grabbed the bag from his mother's hand with a smile, his hands full of plastic bags as he went upstairs.

"It was your teacher who called to tell us, I remember I only scored a little over six hundred points on my middle school exam. You two kids are really too amazing!" Lin Jing explained cheerily on the side.

"Oh oh oh, it was the teacher who said it! Then with 779, Yu must be the top scorer for the middle school exams." Xu Qingfan nodded in realization.

"Really, it's Yu who's the top scorer! I guessed it'd be Yu. I need to give that child Yu a call later." Yao Jiping beamed, already taking out her phone to dial Wu Lingyu's number.

"How about the other three girls? Are their results okay?" Ignoring Yao Jiping who was left behind, Lin Jing and Xu Qingfan chatted casually.

"Yiyi got 740, Wanning 705, Ruan Wen 707." Qingfan recited as if reading from an account book, "Anyway, getting into Licheng Middle School is definitely not a problem."

"That's pretty good, then. This way, everyone can be together again in high school." Lin Jing said with a grin, although after saying this she deliberately paid attention to the expression on his face.

Qingfan was still fretting over this issue, Wu Lingyu would surely listen to him, but he hadn't yet figured out how to convince the others.

"After splitting into arts and sciences in high school, we'll have to separate, right?" Qingfan mumbled to himself.

"Hmm?"

"Haha, nothing, we're home. I'll take the groceries to the kitchen first." Qingfan shook his head with a laugh and scurried home.

Watching him depart, Lin Jing pondered thoughtfully.

[If they do split up... maybe Xiao Xiao's chances will be better?]

...

Dinner was cooked by the two mothers, but the progress was slow because every so often, neighbors would come to ask: "The middle school exam results are out, how did Xiao Xiao and Xiao Fan do?"

And then came Yao Jiping's feigned humility: "It was okay, just runner-up and third place, there's still room for improvement."

Followed by a flattery fest from the neighbors: "I've always said that kid was promising."

After being viewed like a couple of pandas for a few rounds, the two women were undisturbed and eventually sneaked off to the rooftop of the eighth floor together.