Chapter 4: Is He Worthy?

At six o'clock in the evening, Lin Xiuhong called the two to the living room for dinner.

Li Luo put down the pen with a look of reluctance on his face, and after confirming that he had figured out the answers to the dozen or so questions, he gradually felt at ease.

After dinner, continue to work hard in the evening, and I should be able to get scores on most of the questions on tomorrow's Chinese and math tests.

Thinking of this, Li Luo followed Ying Chanxi and walked out of the bedroom. He saw Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong coming out of the kitchen with plates of food.

Suddenly seeing his parents who looked 20 years younger, Li Luo subconsciously stopped where he was, staring at them in a daze.

Although he already possesses the ability of the memory palace, Li Luo did not deliberately recall what his parents looked like when they were young.

When I compared myself at this moment, I suddenly realized that even though my parents are almost 40 years old, they look quite young.

At least, compared to his memory, the appearance of him with gray hair and wrinkles on his face twenty years later was completely different from the world.

This made him take a deep breath, and he tried hard to suppress the burning heat in his chest and prevent it from completely surging to his eyebrows.

Ying Chanxi, who was standing by, had already come forward and helped bring out the other dishes from the kitchen.

"Xixi has come to help, but you don't even know how to lend a hand." Lin Xiuhong patted her son's shoulder and urged him, "Go get the dishes and chopsticks."

"...Yeah." Li Luo struggled to control his sobs, nodded, swallowed down the strong emotions and joy, and hurried into the kitchen.

He pretended to wash his hands and wiped his eyes, then took out clean dishes from the cupboard and brought them to the living room dining table.

"Xixi, isn't your dad coming back these days for the high school entrance exam?" Li Guohong took a bottle of white wine from the counter and asked casually to Ying Chanxi who was standing aside obediently.

"Dad said he's very busy lately, and I've already been admitted through independent enrollment, so he didn't let him come back." Ying Chanxi responded in a low voice, looking completely different from the way he had just pulled Li Luo's ears in the bedroom.

"Oh, that's right." Li Guohong nodded, and then Lin Xiuhong slapped his hand holding the white wine. He hissed helplessly and said, "Just drink a small glass."

"Li Luo will take the high school entrance exam tomorrow. Will you die if you wait for two days?" Lin Xiuhong glared at him with her eyebrows raised. "Take care of him to get good grades and then you can drink as much as you want at the celebration party."

"Ahem, this is not important." Li Guohong retracted his hand in dismay, then winked at his wife and said to Li Luo, "The high school entrance exam is certainly important, but you don't have to put too much pressure on yourself. Just perform normally."

"I know." Li Luo rarely argued with his parents. He sat quietly at the dinner table and nodded in response.

This surprised Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong. They glanced at their son uncomfortably, and then looked at each other.

Lin Xiuhong, who was originally planning to say a few more words, swallowed the words that were just on the tip of her tongue, sat down at the table and said softly:

"Li Luo, you don't have to be too nervous. Your parents don't have high expectations of you. Just perform at your usual level and don't think about anything else."

According to the usual script, 15-year-old Li Luo would have choked back long ago.

Then Lin Xiuhong would bring up Ying Chanxi and ask him to learn from Xixi. Our family doesn't ask you to get into a provincial key school like the No. 1 Affiliated High School, but at least you have to go to a regular high school, right?
But seeing Li Luo's calm expression, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong didn't dare to provoke this boy.

"I'm not nervous." Li Luo looked at his mother with a puzzled look and couldn't help but look at her a few more times.

Lin Xiuhong felt a little strange being stared at by him, and touched her face: "It's best not to be nervous, but why are you staring at me? Is there something stuck on my face?"

"No." Li Luo shook his head, "I just suddenly felt that you are so beautiful, mom."

"You little brat..." Lin Xiuhong was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up a little, but she still suppressed her slightly raised voice, "I'm almost 40 years old, what's the point of being pretty or not, just eat and eat."

"Haha, of course your mother is beautiful." Li Guohong picked up the chopsticks with a smile and was the first to eat. He did not forget to praise his wife, "If I could drink some wine, she would be even more beautiful."

"Get out of the way." Lin Xiuhong rolled her eyes at him.

Ying Chanxi, who was standing by, also picked up the chopsticks obediently, a smile appeared on his face, and he said from the bottom of his heart: "Auntie Lin is the most beautiful. When we go out shopping, others will think she is my sister and can't tell her age."

"Stop praising me." Lin Xiuhong waved her hands repeatedly, "Let's eat quickly."

Although she said this, Lin Xiuhong couldn't suppress the smile on her face.

The family ate happily, chatting occasionally at the table, mostly giving instructions and encouragement.

Li Luo and Ying Chanxi quietly picked up their dishes and only responded with a few words when their elders asked them questions.

Li Guohong chatted with Lin Xiuhong about the high school entrance exam for a while. After confirming that Li Luo would also continue reviewing later, he nodded with satisfaction and continued eating.

Even though Li Luo had always been a weird kid, he was able to turn back before the high school entrance exam and seemed to have become much more sensible, which was better than just giving up on himself.

However, the couple did not think much about it, and their thoughts were very simple.

With my son's level, as long as his score is above the general high school entrance line, everything will be fine.

If he fails in the end, I will spend tens of thousands of dollars and grit my teeth to send him to a regular high school.

As long as he can maintain the same attitude as today, the money will be worth it.

As for provincial key high schools like Yuhang No. 1 High School?
Li Luo dared to think.

The couple didn't dare to think about it.

It's just a bold dream when you are dreaming.

After talking about Li Luo's high school entrance exam, Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong talked about their breakfast shop.

"We have the high school entrance exams these two days, so we'll just have to close the store for now." Li Guohong took a bite of his rice and said in a muffled voice, "It doesn't matter if these two days are gone."

"The examination venue is inside the school. I can go there by myself. Don't delay the breakfast shop's business." Li Luo looked up at his parents and then interrupted.

"It's only been two days, what's the delay?" Lin Xiuhong glanced at him, "We will take you home for dinner after the exam. Your father and I will cook for you in the next two days to ensure your nutrition. Just do well in the exam." "Yes." Li Guohong also nodded, "Don't worry about these things, just prepare for the exam."

"...I understand." Li Luo lowered his head and continued eating silently.

What his parents didn’t know was that Li Luo’s heart was in turmoil at this moment.

In his memory, the day before the high school entrance examination in his previous life, he dragged Zhao Rongjun to play basketball and returned home very late.

The table full of dishes prepared by Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong were all cold.

The two sides had a big fight, and my dad went to the store to sell breakfast as usual early the next morning.

Although his mother sent him to the examination room and prepared lunch and dinner for him during the two days of the high school entrance examination, she would still run back to the store to help when she had time.

Now that I'm reborn, there's only one minor change: I go home early to review and have a normal dinner. My parents have naturally decided to stop the business for two days.

Everything is normal.

But Li Luo's heart was really hard to calm down at this moment.

His parents at that time were probably extremely disappointed with their son.

"I am full."

Li Luo quickly finished his rice and swallowed all the guilt and regret he felt. After he stood up, he regrouped and said, "I'll go back to my room to review first."

"Then I..." Ying Chanxi hadn't finished eating yet, but he put down his bowl and chopsticks and was about to get up.

Li Luo slapped her shoulder and said, "Eat slowly and come back after you finish. There's no rush."

"Yes, Xixi, take your time eating." Lin Xiuhong also said, "Li Luo, you go first."

"Oh..." Ying Chanxi blinked, picked up the bowl and chopsticks again, and ate a little faster.

At the dinner table, seeing Li Luo enter the bedroom, Lin Xiuhong confirmed that he could not hear any noise outside, then lowered her voice and quietly asked Ying Chanxi:
"Xixi, auntie wants to ask you something."

"Ok?"

"Li Luo, do you think he still has a chance to get into a regular high school? Can he reach the passing score?"

"It was hard to say before." Ying Chanxi stopped eating and thinking for a while, then analyzed seriously, "Aunt Lin, you also know that Li Luo only scored higher than the general high school score line in the third mock exam last year."

"The questions in the third mock exam are relatively simple, and the purpose is to boost everyone's confidence."

"So if Li Luo plays the same as before, he may not be able to reach the passing line."

"but……"

Ying Chanxi immediately added, "He reviewed very seriously today."

"I helped him sort out all the mock exam papers for Chinese and math."

"If he really learns it and gets a few more points, he still has a chance of getting into a regular high school."

After hearing what Ying Chanxi said, Lin Xiuhong breathed a sigh of relief, then picked up her chopsticks and picked up a piece of her favorite cola chicken wing for Ying Chanxi: "Xixi, eat more. Li Luo is really going to trouble you today."

"Thank you Auntie Lin~" Ying Chanxi took a bite of the chicken wing and then said sweetly, "Auntie Lin has taken care of me since I was a child. This is just a small thing that she should do."

"Alas... I'd be thankful if Li Luo was half as obedient as you."

Lin Xiuhong looked at Ying Chanxi, feeling somewhat envious, yet also quite relieved.

Ying Chanxi's mother passed away very early, and her father was busy with work. He usually worked in the center of Yuhang City and only had time to come back on weekends.

So Ying Chanxi usually lives alone.

As a childhood friend of Ying Chanxi's father, Li Guohong and his wife usually take good care of Ying Chanxi and often invite her to their home for dinner.

After a long time, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she is half their daughter.

Therefore, they are very happy that Ying Chanxi is so outstanding now.

It’s a pity. It would be much better if my son could be as outstanding as Ying Chanxi.

"I'm full too." After finishing his meal, Ying Chanxi carefully swept the leftover bones in front of him into the bowl, stood up and cleaned up Li Luo's mess, took it to the kitchen sink, and then walked towards Li Luo's bedroom, "Aunt Lin, I'll go in first."

"Well, go ahead." Lin Xiuhong responded, "Thank you for your hard work today."

"It's not hard." Ying Chanxi shook his head, then pushed the door and walked into Li Luo's bedroom.

"It would be great if I had a daughter like Xixi." Lin Xiuhong couldn't help but sigh in a low voice as she watched Ying Chanxi's disappearing back.

Li Guohong on the opposite side glanced at her, then chuckled and said, "You can ask your son to work hard. If your daughter can't do it, your daughter-in-law can still do it."

"..." Lin Xiuhong glanced at him, then laughed, "Is Li Luo worthy of her?"

If you don't know, you might think that Ying Chanxi is her biological daughter and Li Luo is her son-in-law.

But after listening to this, Li Guohong remained silent for a moment, and finally sighed: "...Indeed."

(End of this chapter)