CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 54: TOP SCORER! TOP SCORER! PROVINCIAL TOP SCORER!

The accomplished student was right in front of him. Although this student was from the class three years ago, Old Chen truly felt a connection.

Even if time had watered down that connection, it didn’t stop him from feeling compassion for the girl Chu River now.

Especially seeing a student who once lived in hardship now having a bright future ahead, about to achieve great things...

Old Chen was so excited he couldn’t contain himself, insisting on opening a bottle of baijiu despite his wife’s objections.

Of course, the liquor wasn’t expensive, nowhere close to the Moutai that Chu River herself had drunk.

At this moment, she even regretted a little—had she known Old Chen liked this drink, she should have brought two bottles.

But on second thought, if Old Chen were willing to accept gifts, he wouldn’t be like this now.

Look at this place, the home style still keeping with designs from 20 years ago, a 7th floor walk-up with no elevator, the kitchen using not a range hood but a cheap ventilation pipe, and an old model television in the house...

Alright then.

If we’re drinking, let’s drink then.

Chu River reached out eagerly, only for Old Chen to push her hand aside.

"You young lady, you shouldn’t touch alcohol outside, it’s not a good thing."

With that, he drained the small wine cup in one gulp, and his face immediately turned red.

The whole person seemed to be out of it.

Swaying side to side, he continued speaking:

"This peanut and drink, the more you drink the more you want. Alas, where are my peanuts? Why aren’t my peanuts being made?"

Old Chen’s wife gave him a helpless glare: "Go take your antibiotics!"

Turning to Chu River, she smiled and said: "See that? Just this capacity, yet he wants to show off every day."

Chu River: "... It’s really too obvious."

...

The two of them chatted on the side while the drunk person didn’t feel drunk, instead pouring himself another glass.

"Little He, seeing you succeed makes me truly happy."

"You don’t know, when I first visited your house, seeing the state of your home, I knew your parents weren’t reliable."

Old Chen’s cheeks were flushed, even his neck was red, speaking with a slurred tongue and blurry eyes.

"...I couldn’t say it, I’m a teacher, how could I criticize a student’s family? I didn’t have money, with so many students... what could I do?"

As he said this, this big man even pouted, sitting on the stool with reddened eyes.

Chu River: "..."

Alas, the yellow-skinned potato turned into a red-skinned potato.

With just that small wine cup, merely a sip!

This is it?

Just as this thought passed, Old Chen finished the drink in his hand.

Now it was off, he didn’t eat the dishes, nor the peanuts, he just sat on the stool and began tearing up.

"It’s tough being a child without a home..."

"Little He, you’ve changed now..."

Old Chen spoke incoherently, rambling with a choking voice.

"I led the class for three years, you were in it from first year, not talkative, stubborn, but soft-hearted. When it came to science division, you were with me again in second year... I thought, she’s a good student, still in my hands, isn’t this fate?"

"Hic!"

"But I didn’t take good care of you..."

"That stingy principal never knew to apply for subsidies, how would the education bureau let him get rich?"

He pulled out a tissue and blew his nose vigorously, clearly appearing sloppy, yet no one there despised him.

Who would disdain a sincere emotion?

"Little He, you weren’t like this before."

"That little girl was so well-behaved back then. I was always worried, being so honest, she’d be bullied, with a stubborn nature she’d suffer..."

"Before I could worry enough, how did you change so suddenly?"

"I was still planning after the college entrance exam to bring her back for a nice meal. To persuade her..."

Speaking of which, Old Chen suddenly burst into loud crying, unclear whether out of grievance or recalling something.

"What are you saying?" Old Chen’s wife said to him: "Just acting drunk."

However, Chu River suddenly fell silent.

She sat properly in the chair, knees aligned, her posture as straight as a pine, exuding an aura of calm yet firmness.

It was a feeling not typical of an ordinary young girl.

Old Chen’s wife looked at her, and for a moment there was a different sensation.

For some reason, she also let go, quietly listening to her husband act drunk, saying things that made no sense.

"Really now, isn’t it better for the child’s personality to become cheerful?"

She sighed.

The drunk person, whether aware or not, was simply unreasonable.

Old Chen’s wife’s voice wasn’t loud, yet Old Chen, who hadn’t been responding to people before, now replied: