Joy Zheng still couldn't bear to spend money on a new bike, so Evan Lin figured he'd just have Big Tank buy her a more effortless one soon.
"Did your Aunt Lu know you were coming home?"
Joy Zheng walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen to start making dinner.
"She knows. I called Aunt Lu before coming back."
Evan Lin nodded.
"Good, that's how it should be. Aunt Lu treats you like half her own son, you know. Back when you left for Minghai, she worried about you all the time."
"Your Aunt Lu and I have known each other for over twenty years. She's a really good person—and so is Lynn. Mom thinks she's a great girl too."
As Joy Zheng chopped vegetables, she kept chattering: "By the way, how's your schoolwork going lately?"
"I know you've been working hard. Your grades shot up so fast, and you even took first place in the math competition. You must've put in a ton of effort. That's great, but you still need to take care of your health."
Evan Lin stood there, watching Joy Zheng's back and listening to her words. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Mom, I've got some good news for you."
"Good news? What good news?" Joy Zheng paused her chopping and turned to Evan Lin with a smile. "Don’t tell me you’ve started dating? I wouldn’t object, but you should still be careful not to let it affect your studies."
"Not that." Evan Lin shook his head and smiled. "My teacher told me earlier that Clearwater University has a special recruitment slot. As long as I did well in this Hundred-School Joint Exam, I can get in without having to take the regular entrance exam."
"Now that the exam’s over, I think I did pretty well."
Clearwater University is one of the top schools in China—a real elite gathering place. Just the words 'Clearwater' are a golden brand.
After he finished speaking, Evan Lin thought Joy Zheng would be really happy to hear it.
After all, deep down, Joy Zheng never cared much about money. What she wanted most was for Evan Lin to get good grades and make it into a good school.
That’s what Joy Zheng had always hoped for Evan Lin. He couldn’t do it before, but now he could get into Clearwater in a strong, confident way—without even taking the entrance exam.
But after Evan Lin finished speaking, he saw Joy Zheng just standing there, her smile frozen on her face.
Clearwater University—isn’t that in Beijing?
Joy Zheng was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered. She looked at Evan Lin and said, "Xiao Yi, I still hope you’ll stay in the South. Beijing is a bit too far."
But if you really want to go to Clearwater University, then Mom will support you too.
Her tone grew a little hesitant toward the end.
She turned back around and kept cooking.
Evan Lin frowned. Joy Zheng’s mood was clearly off, but since she wasn’t saying anything, he didn’t feel it was right to ask right now.
The food was served: three dishes and a soup.
At the table, Joy Zheng chatted with Evan Lin about her students at school, and mentioned a few kids she’d been sponsoring for a while. When she talked about the ones who were doing well, her smile grew much brighter.
Ken Feng and Hank Chu are on break now too. If you’re free tonight, you can go hang out with them.
After dinner, Evan Lin helped clean up the dishes.
Around six thirty, Joy Zheng got a call and said to Evan Lin, "Auntie Cai Hua asked me to come play cards at her place tonight. If you need anything, just call me."
Oh, and don’t stay out too late tonight.
After a few more reminders, Joy Zheng headed out the door.
Auntie Cai Hua used to be Evan Lin’s neighbor. Back when Joy Zheng was struggling, Cai Hua helped them out a lot. Now that the old shantytown has been demolished, they’ve all been moved into resettlement housing, but Cai Hua still makes a living running her mahjong parlor.
Later in the evening, Evan Lin called Hank Chu and arranged to meet near Hank’s house. He planned to see Hank first, then go find Ken Feng.
Evan Lin also wanted to see what the new resettlement housing was like. His own family had a unit there too.
After leaving the house, Evan Lin followed the address and headed over.
The resettlement community was on the edge of the county town. The location wasn’t great, but it was quiet.
Most of the buildings there were six stories tall, painted in shades of gray and yellow. The landscaping inside was actually pretty nice.
"Whoa! When did you get back? I was just telling Ken I should call you sometime, but I was worried you’d be too busy with school in Capitalview and I’d bother you!"
From far away, Hank Chu—wearing basketball gear—spotted Evan Lin and started shouting as he ran over.
He was really excited to see Evan Lin. As soon as he got close, he slapped Evan hard on the shoulder and said, "Nice job, man! If you hadn’t called last time, I wouldn’t even know you were going to school in Capitalview!"
School’s way better over in Capitalview than it is here, huh?
Hank Chu grinned and gave Evan Lin a once-over, clicking his tongue in surprise. "Not bad, man! It’s only been a little while, and you’re almost as tall as me now."
Hank Chu was over 1.8 meters tall. When he and Evan Lin used to meet, Hank was a whole head taller.
Last time Evan Lin came back, he was only about 1.76 meters tall. But after getting the Fire-Spirit Mortal Body, he’d shot up again—now he was 1.78, which really surprised Hank Chu.
'Not bad. How’s the living situation here?' Evan Lin glanced around the community, spotting a few elderly folks strolling nearby.
'It’s great living here—the buildings are solid. And you know what? That new county official actually did a lot of good.'
Hank Chu was full of praise. They’d all lived in the old shantytown before, and now life was a lot better—he was clearly excited.
'Oh right, call Ken.' Hank suddenly remembered and pulled out his phone, dialing as he spoke: "You have no idea—Ken’s basically a rich kid now."
'That guy gets about two thousand a month in allowance. His dad’s resort makes money crazy fast. I’ve been there with him before—there’s all kinds of stuff to do. We’re gonna go live it up tonight.'
Hank Chu grinned as he called Ken Feng.
'Where are you? Evan’s back—aren’t you gonna come welcome him? Tonight we’re going out for barbecue!'
"You’re at the resort? Perfect, we’ll head over now!"
After hanging up, Hank Chu turned to Evan Lin and said, "He’s living it up at the resort—let’s go do an outdoor barbecue in a bit."
Oh, and today’s Ivy Deng’s birthday.