"This time, the Hundred-School Joint Exam covers over a hundred high schools across Jinnan, Seacrest Prefecture, and Oceanport. Originally, Oceanport schools weren't going to participate, but since one of the setters is the famous Huaqing University math professor, Professor Gordon Gu, a few Oceanport schools joined in too. The competition will be even fiercer now."
"You all need to give it your absolute best for this exam. Go all out and aim for an extraordinary result!"
Byron Yang gave Class 12 one last pep talk before the exam.
Evan Lin had basically been in the classroom every day lately, which made Byron Yang feel especially at ease.
When he heard the name Gordon Gu, Evan Lin's eyes showed a bit of amusement. The last Seacrest Math Olympiad was set by this guy too. He didn't expect that even after coming to Jinnan for the Hundred-School Exam, he'd still be doing Gu's problems.
After school, Evan Lin walked out the gate and immediately saw Lucy Lu's car parked at the entrance. When she saw Evan, Lucy quickly waved him over. "Evan! Over here!"
Evan paused, walked over, and nodded slightly at Lucy Lu. "Auntie Lu."
Lucy Lu looked Evan up and down, then smiled. "You don't have anything going on tonight, right? The Hundred-School Exam is tomorrow, and it's really important. But don't stress yourself out too much."
"Come on, get in the car. Auntie Lu bought a ton of seafood today—just for you to 'replenish' yourself!"
Lucy Lu didn't give Evan a chance to refuse and helped open the car door for him.
Evan got into the car. Lynn Chen was already sitting inside, wearing headphones like she was listening to music. When Evan got in, she turned her head to glance at him.
Lucy Lu drove, occasionally glancing at Evan through the rearview mirror.
"Evan, you haven't run into any trouble lately, have you? If anything comes up, just tell Auntie Lu—I can help you think of a solution."
Lucy Lu's voice was soft, and she sounded genuinely concerned.
"No trouble at all. These days, hardly anyone would dare come looking for trouble with me." Evan Lin shook his head.
That was the truth.
In Jinnan, with the Moore family, Su family, and even the Southriver Sword Sect backing Evan Lin, you could say he could 'walk sideways' and nobody would dare mess with him.
Most people still didn't know what exactly had happened inside the Southriver Sword Sect, but they did know one thing: ever since the sect sent a war post to Master Lin from Seacrest on behalf of the Su family months ago, they hadn't troubled the Su family since. It was clear the sect and Master Lin had reached some sort of understanding—the result just wasn't public.
As for the upcoming duel between Master Mo Yang and Master Lin from Seacrest, that was attracting a ton of attention.
Hearing this, Lynn Chen glanced sideways at Evan Lin's profile. Before, she would've started snarking already, but now she'd learned her lesson and just kept quiet.
"You kid..." Lucy Lu smiled, feeling a bit helpless about Evan Lin.
The car stopped at the apartment complex. They got out and went inside.
To Evan's surprise, Charles Chen was inside, wearing an apron and busy at the stove with a spatula in hand.
"Evan, you're here! Go sit over there for a bit and watch TV with Lynn. Dinner will be ready soon."
Charles Chen grinned when he saw Evan. "There's Coke, Sprite, and juice in the fridge. Help yourself to whatever you want."
"Tonight, your Uncle Chen is personally cooking. You two are in for a treat!"
Charles Chen worked the spatula in one hand and quickly handled various seasonings with the other, looking quite pleased with himself.
Back in Seacrest, Charles Chen used to earn a million a year and lived comfortably, but he never really had the time or mood to cook. Now in Capitalview, his company project had officially started, and the future looked bright, so he was in a great mood and finally had the leisure for it.
"Your Uncle Chen used to be a chef for a while, so what he cooks won't be too bad." Lucy Lu said this to reassure Evan, in case he was worried.
The food was served.
Charles Chen rubbed his hands together. "Everything on the table tonight is seafood. I was going to take you all out, but restaurants just aren't that clean."
"Come on, try this king crab!"
Charles Chen picked up a king crab and stuffed it into Evan's bowl.
The dishes were plentiful. Evan tried a bite—it was decent, though not as good as Lucy Lu's cooking.
"So, Evan, did Lynn ever ask you which university you want to go to?" Charles Chen asked, smiling as he bit into a crab leg.
"Dad!"
Lynn Chen, who had been quietly focused on eating, suddenly spoke up.
Ever since Wendy Wen talked to her last time, Lynn Chen's feelings about Evan had gotten a lot more complicated.
Before, Lynn was always one hundred percent confident and lively around Evan Lin, but now, every time she faced him, she couldn't help feeling a strange sense of loss—like a proud little chick that had lost its swagger.
Suddenly hearing Charles Chen say that, Lynn blushed, a little annoyed, and her heart raced.
"That's right, Lynn asked me last time where you wanted to apply, but I kept forgetting to ask you." Lucy Lu covered her mouth and laughed, then nudged Lynn under the table and gave her a 'your parents are helping you out' look.
That look made Lynn feel helpless—she wished she could crawl under the table.
Lucy Lu understood Lynn's proud personality well. She knew there were things Lynn would never say herself.
Lucy Lu brought up these topics just to give Lynn a little push. Last time Evan invited Lynn to dinner, Lucy helped her pick an outfit and do her hair, but forgot to spray on that bottle of Chanel Coco perfume. Lucy had been annoyed about it, worried that missing the perfume would make Lynn lose out to Evan's two female roommates.
And whenever Lucy Lu and Charles Chen mentioned this, it was always framed as Lynn wanting to ask, which was a subtle hint for Evan.
"I haven't really decided which university to apply to yet," Evan said after thinking for a moment. "I'll probably discuss it with my mom when I get home."
For most people, college is about starting off well, networking, and finding a good job. But for Evan Lin, all that seemed unnecessary.
It didn't matter where he went. He'd just ask Joy Zheng's opinion—ideally, he'd pick a school that would make his mother happy.
"I see..." Lucy Lu nodded thoughtfully.
She started to say a school name, but suddenly remembered something and closed her mouth.
The school she wanted to mention was in Beijing.
But what worried Lucy Lu most was that Joy Zheng might not want Evan to set foot in Beijing at all.
After all, that place held memories Joy Zheng would rather forget.