Back home, the family finally breathed a sigh of relief, not expecting everyone to find out so quickly.

Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo sat on the sofa, took a sip of tea, and hurriedly took out their mobile phones to call their relatives and friends.

Li Chunmei said, "Hello, is this big brother? This is Chunmei. Xiaomin got first place in the college entrance examination!"

Xia Jianguo said over there, "Little sister, Xiaomin got the top score in the city's college entrance examination."

Before Xia Minmin went to sleep, they were still making phone calls to relatives and friends, and even notified all the relatives in their hometown. The news of the top scorer in the college entrance examination spread widely.

When Xia Minmin got up, she saw that Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei were already sitting in the living room, looking energetic. She looked at her watch and saw that it was only five o'clock, and the sky was just beginning to lighten. She suspected that the two of them hadn't slept at all.

"Xiaomin, wake up! Dad bought you some red date steamed buns, which you've been liking lately."

"Mom made you some fresh milk."

The couple looked at their daughter with smiles on their faces. There was no sign of fatigue on their faces, and they didn't look like they had only slept for four or five hours.

Breakfast was laid out on the table, with red date steamed buns even garnished on a plate.

Li Chunmei and Xia Jianguo kept watching their daughter eat breakfast, which made Xia Minmin a little embarrassed, and she also slowed down her eating and chewed slowly.

At first I was a little embarrassed, but I gradually got used to it and let them be.

"Xiaomin, go outside and play on your skateboard for a while. Your dad and I will do a thorough cleaning of the house."

Li Chunmei, wearing an apron and medical surgical gloves bought from the pharmacy, came out of the bathroom carrying a bucket and a rag, seemingly ready to get down to work.

"Mom and Dad, I just cleaned yesterday, so you don't need to clean today."

Xia Jianguo was still basking in yesterday's good news. "This is different. A lot of people will definitely come to our house these days. We have to clean every nook and cranny of the house again. You can go and have fun by yourself."

Xia Minmin, who didn't understand her parents' advice, left home with her skateboard. It was still early and there weren't many people in the neighborhood. As she walked out of the neighborhood gate, Xia Minmin made a point of looking at the banner above.

Uh... that's good.

"Xiaomin, congratulations!"

"Thanks!"

"This is the top scorer in the college entrance examination?"

"Yes, we've watched her grow up. Don't let her height fool you, she'll only turn thirteen this fall!"

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Xia Minmin had grown up in the shops at the bottom of the residential complex and knew all the shop owners. On her way to the park, she was constantly being offered various breakfasts by the owners of different breakfast shops. No matter how much she refused, they were still stuffed into her hands.

On the way to the park, you'll pass by No. 1 Middle School. There are indeed a lot of banners there; Xia Minmin suspects that the banners cover the entire fence of No. 1 Middle School.

Carrying eight bags of various breakfasts, Xia Minmin sat on a stone bench in the park, eating vegetarian buns, listening to the elderly singing, and watching them dance and practice Tai Chi. She sat leisurely until the sun was high in the sky and the people doing their morning exercises left the park before Xia Minmin picked up her skateboard and started riding the streets.

At home, Xia Jianguo and Li Chunmei were entertaining teachers from the Peking University admissions office. They were filled with regret, wishing they had taken their daughter's cell phone with her when she went out. It was almost nine o'clock, and she still hadn't returned.

The admissions officer took a sip of tea and said, "Brother and sister-in-law, you've raised a wonderful daughter. She became the top scholar at such a young age. That's truly remarkable. How did you raise her?"

“No, neither her mother nor I really raised her. It all depended on her self-discipline. She never liked watching TV and preferred reading from a young age. Everything else was nurtured by her teachers. From elementary school to high school, her teachers were all very good to her,” Xia Jianguo said.

"That wouldn't have been possible without your guidance. The location of this neighborhood you bought is really great. I've looked into the primary, middle, and high schools here, and they're all very famous in Shenzhen."

"We bought this house in '94 specifically for her education, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a lucky break; our child has also lived up to our expectations..."

The sound of the front door coming from the entrance hall made the four people sitting inside breathe a sigh of relief, finally able to end their awkward conversation.

"Mom and Dad, I'm home!"

Li Chunmei walked to the entrance and took the skateboard from Xia Minmin. Seeing that Xia Minmin was carrying breakfast, she asked, "Didn't you eat enough this morning?"

"No, the owner and his family gave it to me when I passed by the breakfast shop this morning."

Li Chunmei said silently, "The teachers from Peking University's admissions office have arrived."

Xia Minmin changed her shoes and walked into the living room, where two strangers, a man and a woman, were sitting on the sofa.

After exchanging pleasantries, they went straight to the point: "Xia Minmin, you must apply to our school. She is still young and has unlimited potential. We can promise that as long as she completes her major courses, she can audit courses in other departments at will, and we will provide opportunities to earn credits in advance, as well as a scholarship of 100,000 yuan."

The Xia family didn't have much interest in the 100,000 yuan scholarship; it was only 50,000 yuan, and the family wasn't short of that amount of money. The most important thing was the child's wishes.

"If you are worried, you can accompany your child to study at Peking University. Our school will cover all the food and accommodation."

"Because the child is young, only sixteen years old when he graduates from university, we applied to the school for the opportunity to directly pursue a doctoral degree before we came here, as long as the child's academic performance can remain in the top three of his class."

After the professors from Peking University explained the conditions, Xia Minmin and her family were quite satisfied, especially with the direct PhD program, which was very attractive, as it meant they had more opportunities than other students.

The admissions officers were also observing the family of three. The couple looked happy, while the child was deep in thought with a serious expression.

Ring ring...

The phone rang at home, and Li Chunmei went to answer it.

Are you looking for Xiaomin?

Li Chunmei covered the speaker and said, "Xiaomin, your classmate Xi Ang is looking for you."

When the two admissions officers heard Xi Ang's name, their eyes lit up. Wasn't this another top scorer in the college entrance examination? And the two of them were even good friends.

Xia Minmin bowed slightly and ran to answer the phone.

"Sion, what do you want with me?"

The admissions officers were practically begging Xia Minmin to turn the conversation on public so they could hear it too.

"Huaqing University hasn't arrived yet, but the admissions officer from Peking University is at my house now."

"Direct PhD, that's a very tempting offer."

"What about you? Have you made up your mind yet?"

After Xia Minmin asked that question, two teachers from the admissions office got up and walked over to her, asking, "Xia Minmin, could you turn on the speakerphone? We'd like to have a chat with Xi Ang now."

After obtaining Xi Ang's consent, Xia Minmin turned on the public address system. The admissions office teacher repeated the conditions, but Xi Ang did not reply immediately, saying that he would consider it.

Li Chunmei's cell phone rang; it was Luo Yang calling.

"Hey, Sister Yang."

Modern cell phone calls are very loud; you can hear the conversation clearly even if you're sitting next to someone.

"Chunmei, which school does Xiaomin plan to apply to? Today, the admissions office of Tsinghua University picked us up at the hotel for dinner. Mengmeng is planning to apply to the People's Public Security University of China."

"Sister Yang, we haven't decided on a teacher from Peking University yet, right now it's at our home."

"Okay, I'll hang up now. You guys chat first, and I'll call you back later."

The admissions officers at Peking University were frustrated at the prospect of missing out on a student. They had a love-hate relationship with Professor Chen. Every three years, the admissions process was a showdown between them and Tsinghua University. It was extremely rare for a class of thirty students to be admitted to both Peking University and Tsinghua University, and these students all performed very well after entering university.