She said softly, her voice firm and clear, "I always believe that knowledge can change destiny, and hard work will eventually bear fruit."

Inside the house, applause broke out like a tide;

Outside the house, Meng Shuang'er dug her nails deep into her palms, leaving messy footprints on the snow, which gradually disappeared in the vast snow.

The moment the spotlight came on, Lin Zhiyue subconsciously turned her head, and the ends of her hair brushed against the flickering flame of the charcoal basin.

The reporter's hand holding the camera froze in mid-air, the shutter click stuck in his throat and he didn't dare press it.

The girl lowered her eyes and stared at the celadon teacup. Her eyelashes cast butterfly-wing-like shadows under her eyes. Her fingers unconsciously stroked the red string wrapped around the rim of the cup. It was the peace knot that her grandmother had quietly tied.

"Can I take a picture of you, please?"

The reporter's voice was particularly clear in the warm main room.

Lin Zhiyue's brows frowned into a tiny arc, like ripples that were disturbed, and silence slowly fermented in the air.

"Is there a problem?"

The reporter asked tentatively, turning the camera cap in a circle in his palm.

Lin Weidong put down the enamel pot, and the bottom of the cup hit the wooden table with a dull sound. The shoulder straps on his military coat swayed slightly with his movements: "My granddaughter has other jobs, so it is not convenient for her to show her face in the newspaper."

His tone was straightforward, typical of a soldier, and his eyes swept across the reporter's ID card.

Mu Siwen pushed the fruit plate towards the reporter at the right time. The amber rock sugar jingled in the porcelain bowl: "It is indeed inconvenient for her to appear in the newspaper..."

He tapped the table with his fingertips, his voice carrying just the right amount of apology.

The reporter suddenly remembered what he had just done during the interview and suddenly realized something. He raised his camera tentatively and said, "Then... can I take a picture of your back? Just take a picture of you flipping through the notice."

Lin Zhiyue looked at the gold-embossed school name on the notification letter, thought of the dream hidden on the draft paper under the grape trellis, and finally nodded slightly.

When the shutter sounded, her silhouette was frozen as she lowered her head and flipped through papers. The scattered hair was coated with gold edges in the backlight, and the snow outside the window had stopped at some point, and the icicles on the branches reflected fine light.