After hearing Lao Xie's story, Xia Minmin felt upset for several days and couldn't muster any energy to do anything.

On the evening of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, before Xia Minmin went to bed.

Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei sat snuggled together on the sofa watching TV, occasionally offering their comments. The atmosphere was warm and cozy. However, Xia Minmin's mischievous side stirred, and she wanted to ruin the pleasant atmosphere.

Xia Xiaomei and Xiao Wu have moved downstairs to sleep today, leaving the entire fifth floor empty except for the three of them.

Before going back to her room, Xia Minmin said to her father, "Dad, all the supermarket staff will be here tomorrow, so you don't need to go down and help. Let's have our exams tomorrow, the first semester of seventh grade."

Xia Jianguo felt a chill run down his spine looking at his daughter's smile. "Huh? Why so suddenly? Why weren't you notified beforehand?"

Xia Minmin looked at Xia Jianguo innocently, "I said I was going to take the exam the day I was packing my luggage at Dudu Garden. I originally planned to take the exam before the New Year, but I've been too busy every day since I came here, so I put it off until after the New Year. If I keep putting it off, I'll have to go back to Dudu Garden."

Xia Jianguo was somewhat reluctant, "This is too sudden, I'm not prepared! How about we reschedule?"

Where Xia Jianguo couldn't see, Li Chunmei was secretly laughing. Serves him right! Now someone can finally deal with him. She remembered what Xia Jianguo often said to her.

Li Chunmei shook her head, like an old scholar, saying, "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, how many tomorrows are there?"

As expected, neither of them, mother and daughter, was easy to mess with. Never offend a woman, especially a mother and daughter.

Xia Jianguo accepted reality expressionlessly, stopped watching TV, and went to his study alone to close the door.

The sound of Li Chunmei and Xia Minmin bursting into laughter came from the living room. Xia Jianguo, in the study, nodded with relief. His daughter had finally recovered. Her condition these past few days had worried the couple a lot.

Xia Jianguo stroked his chin with his right hand, wondering if he had sacrificed himself for the greater good. He then quickly shook his head, wanting to hurry up and study.

That night, Xia Minmin finally got a good night's sleep, while Xia Jianguo, who lived just a wall away, tossed and turned, making Li Chunmei so angry that she wanted to kick him out of bed.

In the darkness, Li Chunmei spoke in a hoarse, broken voice with her eyes closed, "It's just an exam, is it really that big of a deal?"

Xia Jianguo immediately replied, "This is no ordinary exam; it concerns my dignity as a father!"

"You didn't do well on the last test either, did you? Don't think about those things, go to bed early."

Li Chunmei fell asleep immediately after speaking. Xia Jianguo tucked her in and drifted off to sleep listening to her soft snores.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, when people welcome the God of Wealth, the weather was exceptionally good. Xia Minmin got up at five o'clock, before the sun had fully risen, and ran around the terrace. The hardy chrysanthemums on the terrace were blooming in twos and threes. The factory area had not yet officially started work, and the air nearby was still quite good.

After exercising and washing up, Xia Minmin returned to her room and found the Chinese, math, and English test papers that her father had prepared earlier, placing them on the table.

Humming a little tune, I took out my physics textbook and leisurely started previewing it, feeling incredibly happy.

The alarm clock on the desk rang at 7:30. Xia Minmin glanced at it, closed her book, and went to the living room.

Sunlight streamed warmly through the living room windows. Xia Minmin opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of fresh milk without heating it, and gulped it down. The icy-cold milk felt incredibly refreshing as it went down her throat and into her stomach. But if her mother found out, she would definitely get a scolding.

Xia Minmin rinsed the glass with water after drinking the milk, thus destroying the evidence and preventing any problems from being detected.

Xia Jianguo appeared in the living room, yawning.

"Good morning, my dear dad. Are you ready for the exam?" Xia Minmin's voice came from behind.

"Xia Minmin, you unlucky girl, why were you so quiet in the living room? You almost scared me to death! Are you so eager to get a new dad?" Xia Jianguo's tone was extremely aggrieved.

Li Chunmei gathered her long hair, still biting a hair tie in her mouth, and mumbled, "What kind of trouble are you two up to so early in the morning? From now on, I might as well build a stage for you two at home, and you can put on a show every day!"

Xia Minmin made faces at Xia Jianguo behind Li Chunmei's back.

Li Chunmei asked, "Noodles for breakfast? And a fried egg for everyone?"

After breakfast, Xia Jianguo dawdled over washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen, which made Li Chunmei laugh.

Avoidance won't work. This is what Comrade Xia Jianguo and Comrade Li Chunmei, the chief invigilator, strongly requested: they were sitting at their desks with exam papers in hand.

Xia Minmin sat by the window reading Mr. Wang Zengqi's "A Collection of Essays on Short People". She liked the warm words and would feel happy whenever she was feeling down.

jingle……

Xia Minmin put the bookmark in the book; it was time to go and collect the exam papers.

"Dad, it's time."

Li Chunmei stood aside, smiling smugly, looking like a tiger fallen into the plains, bullied by dogs.

Xia Minmin had done the test paper before; she knew the questions by heart and could find the answers with just a quick glance.

Xia Minmin was grading the exam papers, while Xia Jianguo stood watching and grading them, his expression shifting between anger and unease. He only felt better after the total scores were tallied.

Li Chunmei also came over to look at the test paper scores. She stood on tiptoe and patted Xia Jianguo on the shoulder, "Tsk tsk, Comrade Xia, the revolution has not yet succeeded. Comrades still need to work hard, keep up the good work and achieve even better results. I have high hopes for you."

Seeing Xia Jianguo staring at her with a threatening look in his eyes, she immediately slipped away. "It's getting late, I'm going to cook! You two have a good talk."

Xia Jianguo moved a chair and sat down next to his daughter, listening to her answer the questions she got wrong. He really had no idea how to do Chinese and English, especially composition. He really couldn't understand how she managed to put together an 800-word essay.

He used high school math formulas to solve some of the problems, which Xia Minmin hadn't learned yet, but she knew the answers were wrong and points would be deducted. She used formulas she had learned in junior high to solve the problems for Xia Jianguo.

Knock knock…

Li Chunmei opened the study door. "Wash your hands, dinner's ready!"

As soon as the study door opened, Xia Minmin smelled a delicious aroma. "Did you make old duck soup today? And cola chicken wings too."

Xia Jianguo tidied up his test paper and drafts, saying, "You have such a keen sense of smell! It's a shame you're not a police dog!"

Li Chunmei glared at her, "How dare you talk like that! She's a dog, and what are you?"

Xia Minmin followed Li Chunmei out, and at the door she turned to her elderly father and asked, "What are you?"

When Li Chunmei heard this, she turned around and flicked Xia Minmin on the forehead as a warning.

Xia Minmin covered her forehead, looking aggrieved.

The braising pot in the kitchen was bubbling and gurgling, the sound loud and enthusiastic, as if saying, "I'm cooked, come and eat me!"

Xia Minmin walked quickly to the kitchen and was about to reach out to lift the lid of the braising pot when Li Chunmei tapped the back of Xia Minmin's hand with chopsticks.

Xia Minmin immediately withdrew her hand in pain.

"Your aunt's family is going back to Shenzhen this afternoon, and they'll be coming to our house for New Year's greetings and dinner tonight. This braised dish is for dinner, so you'd better bear with it this afternoon."

Xia Minmin swallowed hard and reluctantly left the kitchen. Li Chunmei's braised dishes and homemade dipping sauces were even tastier than those in stores. Everyone who had tried them loved them, but unfortunately, she didn't make them often.