Chapter 57.3: The Two Kinds of Smart

"Hey, kid, don’t think I can’t tell—you’re faking that whole ‘childlike innocence’ act!"

Xue Liangliang pounced on Li Zhuiyuan and started tickling him.

Only when Li Zhuiyuan was gasping for mercy did he finally stop.

They chatted a bit more before Xue Liangliang got ready to leave.

"Do your best tomorrow. I’ll be waiting outside the exam hall."

"Okay."

Just then, another knock came at the door.

"Who are you?" Principal Wu hissed again from across the hall.

"I’m here for Xiaoyuan. I’m his older brother."

"Another brother? Just how many brothers does Xiaoyuan have in Jinling?"

Li Zhuiyuan opened the door and saw the visitor.

The man was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Though dressed in plain clothes, he stood there like a sharpened blade.

"Grandpa Principal, he’s my brother."

"Oh, alright then. You brothers go ahead and have your meeting."

Wu Xinhang waved a hand and drifted back to his room.

The visitor didn’t step in but stayed at the doorway, speaking plainly:

"Grandma wants you to return to Beijing."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Not going."

"Your mom filed one of those special requests, the kind that goes straight up the chain. Grandpa said the family can’t interfere, but you can make your own choice."

"This is my choice."

"Even though your parents are divorced, you’re still part of our family."

"I go by Li now."

"No room for discussion?"

"None."

"Alright then."

The man turned crisply and walked away.

Xue Liangliang, a bit puzzled, asked, "Who was that?"

"My dad’s older brother’s son."

Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t being intentionally cold—it was just hard to sort out who's a cousin and who's what.

"Your dad’s side of the family always act like that?"

"Not really. Grandpa up north probably laid down the law."

"Laid down the law? Well, that guy sure did look military."

"He is."

"Still, even with a divorce, it’s weird things are that strained. Did your mom really change your surname?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Huh, no wonder."

"But that’s not the main reason."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his Northern Grandpa was a man of strict principles. When Li Lan used a special application to arrange things for her son, Northern Grandpa had no choice but to acknowledge it and forbade the family from interfering.

Now, Li Zhuiyuan suspected that Li Lan was doing something similar to what Zhu Changyong did—though not at sea.

And for someone to come here looking for him already meant they were defying Grandpa’s will, which was unthinkable up north. If Grandpa found out, he’d break their legs.

That’s why the visitor’s cold attitude wasn’t personal—it was just his way. Li Zhuiyuan mirrored that coldness, so as not to give false hope or make them think he was open to manipulation.

If the man gave Grandma the wrong impression and she acted on it, Grandpa would blow his top.

To Grandpa, Li Lan’s arrangement for him was like fulfilling a “comrade’s dying wish.”

"Oh, by the way—if you get early admission, will you still go to school?"

"I’ll still take the Gaokao."

"Want to come to Mountain City with me then?"

"Umm..."

Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t keen on traveling far, at least not right now.

"Never mind, there’s nothing fun anyway. My work’s not in the city but out in the boondocks—just mountains and water."

"Sure."

"Huh?"

"I’ll go."

Lately, deaths back home had dropped off significantly.

At first, corpses were turning up every few days. Now, a whole month could go by without one. Too much theory and no field practice—problems were bound to crop up.

"Alright, I’ll arrange it then."

"Can I bring a friend?"

"That even a question?"

"Thanks, Liangliang-ge."

"Study hard for your exam, I’m off."

"Bye, Liangliang-ge."

That night, Li Zhuiyuan went to bed early.

In the morning, Wu Xinhang and Teacher Yan brought everyone to the exam site.

By coincidence, Li Zhuiyuan’s seat was once again by the window. He could still see a cluster of ginkgo trees outside.

But this time, when the starting bell rang, he didn’t space out gazing at the scenery. He lowered his head and got to work.

The questions were much harder than the city-level competition. The test setter clearly intended to stump them—you could almost see their sinister smiles behind the numbers and symbols.

Li Zhuiyuan empathized deeply. It reminded him of the time he wrote advanced problems for Tan Wenbin.

After finishing, he turned in his paper early and walked again to the ginkgo trees, staring up at the yellowing leaves.

He wanted to suggest the Principal plant some at school too, but figured there was no point. He likely wouldn’t get many chances to see them anyway.

Exiting the exam room, Wu Xinhang and Teacher Yan rushed over, one with a towel, the other with water.

"How was it, Xiaoyuan?"

"Hard test?"

"I solved everything."