Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 51: 51: The Siblings Who Excel in Different Subjects and the Kitchen Killer (Part 1)

An hour had passed, and the siblings still hadn’t finished the test papers. ”Alright, if you can’t do it, there’s no point in pushing yourselves. Speed and quality must coexist; that’s the hard truth. Go have some snacks, and later we’ll call on Xiao Yu for the next subject’s test.” Elder Zhang packed up the papers without intending to look at them now, neatly placed them on the desk.

”Hurry up and eat, maybe there’s nothing left.” Luo Qianqian dragged her frowning brother, who was slow to react, out of the study.

Watching his sister’s lively manner, Luo Shufan also shook his head and tried not to think about that tricky test paper, thinking that it’s right to eat when you should eat, sleep when you should sleep, and play when you should play, just like his sister.

However, Luo Qianqian just felt that since the test paper was so difficult, it was excusable no matter how it turned out. Moreover, she didn’t believe she wouldn’t be able to solve even a single problem. Why worry about it after the test and spoil the fun? Especially when there was delicious food ahead.

”Qianqian, come on over.” He Wenyu, wearing an apron and holding small biscuits, waved happily at Luo Qianqian, who was all about the food: ”I helped out, and Grandma Zhang said she can teach us how to make cupcakes.”

”Really? Yes, please.”

”That’s great, they taste much better than the ones sold outside.” Luo Shufan stuffed four or five small biscuits into his mouth at once: ”Grandma, aren’t you eating?”

Grandma Zhang, looking at the three happily eating, said with a smile, ”Eat slowly, don’t choke, there’s more. I’ve already eaten, you kids should eat more.” After giving her advice, she entered the study with a tray of biscuits and a cup of fragrant tea: ”Come and eat some too. Having a few more kids around really makes the place feel lively, didn’t realize I made too much.”

”Oh, so you let me eat only because you made too much?” Elder Zhang looked at his wife, a face full of happiness: ”Ever since Zhang Ye grew up, our house hasn’t been this lively in a long time. I was just thinking, it would be great to have grandchildren like these.”

”You’re telling me. Oh right, our son and daughter-in-law called earlier, they agreed to what you suggested, but it will depend on their aptitude.” Grandma Zhang said as she watched Elder Zhang eating biscuits and holding the tea, exuding contentment, and she sighed: ”You could have just found some students, but you insisted on involving our son and daughter-in-law. It’s fine for me, the daughter-in-law isn’t busy anyways, but our son is so busy.”

”You don’t understand, I’m trying to create a miracle.” Elder Zhang put down his tea cup and took Grandma Zhang’s hand: ”Who doesn’t have impulses? We’re getting on in years; if we’re not impulsive, then we’re truly old. You think about those Elders acting high and mighty for nothing, it irks me even more than you, isn’t it just because I married you? They boast over every little achievement on the phone to me. Now that we’re this age, it’s no longer about past glories, it’s about the grandchildren and the achievements of students.”

”How did I fall for an old fool like you? At our age, you’re still trying to compete with others.” Grandma Zhang playfully punched Elder Zhang in the chest.

”Because I’m handsome, smart, loyal and romantic...” Elder Zhang hugged Grandma Zhang, his face beaming with pride.

Grandma Zhang gave Elder Zhang a shove: ”You lose all shame when you grow old, huh?” Looking at the three who were still cheerfully eating outside, she said: ”I don’t care what you’re up to here, but these kids are good kids. Don’t ruin them.”

”Yes, yes, my dear wife, what’s for lunch? How about stewing a soup? Their mom did pay tuition, we can’t let these little ones down.” Elder Zhang took out a stack of money Luo’s Mom had given him in the morning, saying she wasn’t sure how much to give, so she gave what tutoring classes charge, and if it’s not enough, to let her know.

”You dare to take their money, treating their kids like experiments? You really have some nerve.” Grandma Zhang took the money, a face full of resignation: ”Don’t take it anymore in the future; treat them like they’re your own kids at home. We didn’t plan to prepare anything extra.”

”If you don’t accept it, the parents will think you have some ulterior motives towards the kids. Just take it. We, a bunch of professors and experts, are teaching these kids, how could we let them down?” Elder Zhang said: ”Next up, we’ll need to buy books, and print tests; you think that’s free? ...Ah, actually, it’s free, printed at the school.”

”You’ve got a point, hmph, I told Xiao Yu that I would teach the two girls how to bake cakes, so make sure you free up some time for me, got that?” Grandma Zhang, looking at the empty tea cup, took it and the tray, ignoring Elder Zhang’s hand still reaching for biscuits, and waved it off, leaving Elder Zhang with a look of resentment.

”Grandpa Zhang is calling you in.” Grandma Zhang, seeing the three still playing with their ’dog son,’ had to raise her voice.

”We’re coming.” The three dropped their ball and dashed into the study, leaving the Golden Retriever sitting obediently with its tail wagging.

”English test, no listening component,” Elder Zhang had just finished speaking when he saw the siblings show the same look of despair.

Never studied it.

Can’t understand it.

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What’s this?

That was the first thought that He Wenyu, Luo Qianqian, and Luo Shufan had when they received the test paper.

The English test was not only extremely enjoyable but also completed in less than five minutes, leaving the pages uniformly blank without exception.

”...” Elder Zhang twitched the corner of his mouth as he looked at the brand-new-like papers, feeling sorry for their future English teacher who had yet to meet these kids, his own second son.

”For Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, since you haven’t studied them yet, let’s skip those tests. For Chinese, write an essay. The topic will be...”

”Let dreams fly!!!” Luo Shufan suddenly shouted, startling Elder Zhang, who was speaking, as well as his sister and He Wenyu. Luo Shufan, seeing the three of them with their eyes widened, sheepishly stuck out his tongue: ”It’s a good topic; I’ve seen it before in essay books.”

”Then let’s go with that one, write freely, however many words you feel like,” Elder Zhang nodded, agreeing to Luo Shufan’s suggestion.

Yes! Luo Shufan silently celebrated with two fingers in his mind, forming the ’Y’ gesture. This topic was actually one he had forgotten about, the subject for the summer vacation essay contest—he would have forgotten about it if Elder Zhang hadn’t mentioned essay writing, probably all the way to Nanshan Gully.

Luo Qianqian looked up at the smug expression on her brother’s face and rolled her eyes. She had long seen through his little schemes but just couldn’t be bothered calling him out.

While thinking about her brother’s smug look, Luo Qianqian still started to write seriously.

”Grandpa Zhang, do you have a dictionary? There are some words I don’t know how to write.” As soon as He Wenyu started writing, she ran into trouble. Although Luo Shufan had told her it was like writing a diary, the problem was she had never written a diary before.

”Yes, I do.” Elder Zhang took out a huge dictionary from beneath the desk.

”How do you use a dictionary...” He Wenyu looked at the dictionary, bigger than her head, with a mournful expression. Although Qianqian said she could look up the words she didn’t know how to write, however, how was she to search in such a large dictionary...

Luo Shufan immediately dropped his composition paper, which only had the title written on it, and started teaching He Wenyu how to use the dictionary, squatting on the ground. In the end, only Luo Qianqian was left actively writing the essay.

In a mere ten minutes, Luo Qianqian was done with her pretense, a four- to five-hundred-word essay was no big deal for someone who could knock out a thousand words in half an hour during her high school days. She conservatively chose the clichéd dream of ’teacher’ for her brother, writing about all the efforts that would be made to fulfill this dream.

Although she felt that if her brother were to become a teacher, he would definitely be a PE teacher—I mean, you can’t write it that way.

”Finished? Then let’s start practicing calligraphy.” The Elder, seeing Luo Qianqian put down her pen and looking at Luo Shufan and He Wenyu hiding under the table, had no choice but to bring out the calligraphy practice book: ”You two, come out, it’s time to practice calligraphy.”

”Aren’t you going to look at it, Grandpa Zhang?” Luo Qianqian, looking at the freshly bluffed essay on the table, asked.

”I just want to see your level. These two haven’t written a word, and you’ve written half a page—do I even need to look at the content?” Elder Zhang pursed his lips.

”True...” Luo Qianqian handed the paper to Luo Shufan, then, feeling that it wasn’t quite right, quickly added, ”Here, take it as a reference. This is the virgin work of a future literary giant.”

”Such a big face...” Luo Shufan treasured the paper as if it were a gem, but still put on a show of disdain on the surface.

”Xiao Yu, go ask Grandma Zhang if she needs any help.”

”Alright.”

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