An illusion, perhaps...

Xu Jingjie couldn't fathom where a child could have such an aura. She smiled and waved off Jiang Che's suggestion to order for the two of them, then left with Su Rongyin.

After returning home, Xu Jingjie continued to be her daughter's strategist, analyzing the situation.

Jiang Che's words likely indicated a lack of confidence in his own scores. As long as Su Rongyin scored well, surpassing Jiang Che, applying to the same school would be a certainty.

As for which school Jiang Che would apply to... there was no need to worry. Once the scores were out and it was time to fill in the applications, she would simply call Chen Feirong and ask...

"Don't worry about it," she reassured.

"Thanks, Mom!" Su Rongyin threw herself into her mother's arms.

Xu Jingjie patted her daughter's back and let out a long sigh. Letting Su Rongyin follow this path to the end—whether the outcome would be good or bad—she couldn't predict. But she couldn't persuade Su Rongyin to turn back. From the start, there was no way.

Her daughter's nature was such that the more you tried to stop her, the more counterproductive it would be. And now, it seemed that Su Rongyin's psychological dependence on Jiang Che had reached its peak. Trying to persuade her to give up was absolutely impossible.

So, regardless of the outcome, Xu Jingjie planned to quietly support Su Rongyin all the way.

"Keep going. If you and Little Che really end up together, it wouldn't be a bad result!"

Hearing her words, Su Rongyin immediately jumped up to deny it, "Mom, what are you talking about? I just want to mend my friendship with Jiang Che, not end up together..."

"Yes, yes, I misunderstood!" Xu Jingjie said with a smile.

...

"Hello? Who is this? Is this Jiang Che's home... Are you from Peking University's admissions office?"

One early morning, Chen Feirong received a strange call. Having just attended a fraud prevention seminar at work the day before, she immediately lashed out at the caller:

"You say you're from Peking University? Well, I'm from Tsinghua! Do you scammers have any humanity? The college entrance exam is the most critical stage in a child's life, and you're trying to scam them now? Do you know what kind of shadow this could cast on their lives, what indelible scars it could leave?"

"You're not a scammer? If you're not a scammer, then I am? I know my own son! If he could really get into Peking University, and you say you're from Peking University, I would know you're a scammer!"

"I'm also puzzled, how do you know our information before the exam results are even out? Who leaked it to you? You..."

Peking University Admissions Office: "..."

Jiang Liyun came out of the bathroom: "What's going on? Who are you arguing with?"

Chen Feirong: "A scammer. Said they were from Peking University's admissions office, claiming they want to pre-admit our son."

Jiang Liyun: "Yes, they deserve a scolding!"

Jiang Che, just waking up: "..."

"I'm just saying, is there a possibility that they really are from Peking University and genuinely want to admit me?"

Chen Feirong looked at Old Jiang: "Don't eat breakfast, go back to our hometown."

"Why go back to the hometown?" Jiang Liyun was puzzled.

"Didn't you hear what your son said? Go back and see if there's smoke rising from our ancestral grave," Chen Feirong said.

"Ring ring ring..."

As soon as she finished speaking, the phone rang again.

"I told you we shouldn't keep this damn landline, always getting spam calls..."

Chen Feirong picked up: "Is it still Peking University?"

"Did Peking University call you?" The other party was surprised.

"So does that mean you're from Tsinghua?" Chen Feirong asked.

"That's right, ma'am, I'm from Tsinghua's admissions office..." Before the introduction was finished, Chen Feirong hung up.

Having just scolded the one from Peking University, she hadn't yet come up with new lines.

Jiang Che was stunned.

Question: How can you convince your parents that this call is real and not a scam?

At this moment, the standard answer arrived.

The phone rang for the third time.

Impatiently, Mrs. Chen picked it up, taking a deep breath, ready to rap out a scolding, but then her expression suddenly turned into a smile: "Teacher Gu, please go ahead... Ah? Tsinghua and Peking University called us?"

Mrs. Chen was momentarily dumbfounded.

So the previous calls weren't from scammers?

"Yes, they said your awareness of fraud prevention is quite good, but they are indeed looking for Jiang Che. If Tsinghua and Peking University are calling to recruit, it's likely Jiang Che did very well," Gu Dafei said happily.

Jiang Che did well.

As his teacher, Gu Dafei was also proud!

"Old Jiang, did you hear that?"

"Tsinghua and Peking University called for your son!"

"I need to call them back immediately..."

When you're just trying to make great content at pawread.com .

Mrs. Chen, extremely excited, told Jiang Liyun, quickly searching for the call records to call back.

Jiang Che stepped forward, taking the phone from Chen Feirong's hand: "Mom, let me handle it."

"You handle it, apologize for me... brat, put it on speaker!"

Chen Feirong kicked Jiang Che, her smile almost reaching her ears.

Jiang Che took the phone, called back, and turned on the speaker.

"Hello, this is Jiang Che."

"Hello, Jiang Che, I'm from Tsinghua's admissions office, my surname is Li."

"My mother accidentally hung up the call just now," Jiang Che explained, "Why did you call?"

"The main purpose of my call today is for recruitment. Your exam paper happened to be graded by one of our teachers, who believes you have great potential and will become a pillar of society. Therefore, we've given you a spot for internal admission this year."

"So now, I'm sincerely inviting you, Jiang Che, to become a member of Tsinghua University!"

"However, you need to fill out your application before the results are out to secure your place. Otherwise, once the results are released, internal admission will no longer be possible..."

Hearing this, Old Chen and Old Jiang, who had come closer, couldn't stop smiling.

"I don't like internal admissions," Jiang Che said.

Their smiles froze.

Chen Feirong almost smacked Jiang Che on the back of the head, but before she could, Jiang Che spoke again: "Why use internal admissions when I can rely on my own abilities?"

"I'll fill out my application after the results are out. I could apply to any school... But since you're trying to trick me, don't blame me for treating this as a business negotiation."

"..."

On the other end, Director Li of the admissions office almost jumped up.

Jiang Che already knew his results? How could he already know?

It must be Peking University!

Damn it, we're all competing fairly, and you just come in and break the rules?