Top Student at Their Peak

"Really! That's terrible, your dad is so addicted to smoking, can he hold back?"

"If he can't, he'll just have to quit, so he doesn't get scolded by my mom for smoking at home every day. Sigh..."

"By the way, you came back alone, what about the elderly at home? How are they spending the Spring Festival?"

"They're all back in our hometown! I guess that's why my mom agreed so easily for me to come to Beijing."

Qiao Yu was quite skeptical whether it was the decision to let Xia Keke come to Beijing for the New Year, resulting in sending both sides of the elderly back to their hometown, or if it was the other way around.

But this silly girl has always been so carefree, especially easy to coax, he was already used to it.

"Okay, you guys stop chatting over there, come sit and talk instead."

Qiao Xi patted the sofa beside her, having the two kids nearby made her feel very satisfied, as if she was back in the old house in Star City, or back when Qiao Yu's grandpa was still alive.

Back then, she was also quite young...

...

The three had dinner at Class A Restaurant, and Qiao Yu paid with his card.

Elder Yuan had something come up and couldn't make it, and Xia Keke didn't mind. After all, she came to see Qiao Xi, and it felt more at ease without others around.

Though it was a bit self-deceptive, Keke enjoyed it. A satisfying big meal served as a welcome for Xia Keke.

After dinner, as they reached the restaurant entrance, Xia Keke said, "Qiao Yu, can you take me around Huaqing campus? I didn't get to see it well last time I came."

Qiao Yu glanced at Xia Keke and replied, "What's there to see at night? Aren't you afraid of the cold?"

"How could I be cold wearing this thick?" Xia Keke patted her thick down jacket and said.

Qiao Yu hesitated a little (Note 1), and Qiao Xi from behind said, "Keke hardly comes over, what's wrong with accompanying her for a stroll? The young girl isn't afraid of the cold, what are you afraid of?"

"Oh." Qiao Yu finally agreed, well, he compromised to Qiao Xi.

...

"Wow, Beijing really is cold!" Shortly after the two young people stepped out of the restaurant, Xia Keke rubbed her hands together.

"Hmph, I told you it's cold outside, and we haven't even reached Qiuzhai yet. Do you know how close Qiuzhai was from Class A Restaurant last time you came? Just a few hundred meters!"

Qiao Yu mocked and then cheerfully said, "You should do like me, tuck your hands in the sleeves, then it won't be cold."

Xia Keke tilted her head to look at Qiao Yu and asked, "Really, let me feel if your hand is warm, oh, it really is quite warm."

Qiao Yu realized he was careless, feeling a bit annoyed.

The girl's hands were indeed icy cold, but once she grabbed his hand, she didn't let go.

It's not that he disliked holding the girl's hand. Mainly, he was annoyed that he didn't see through the girl's intentions immediately, making him feel his intelligence had diminished...

Blame it on Qiao Xi for playing those mind-numbing domestic romantic series that afternoon, drastically lowering his intelligence.

Yes, definitely.

So, this young couple held hands, walked along Huaqing's Xichun Road, passed Qiuzhai, Xichun Garden Restaurant, and arrived at the fork in the second floor.

"Uh, I'll take you to see Shuimu Huaqing. It's right to the right." Qiao Yu suggested.

"Oh, what's there?"

"Well, there's a small waterfall, Wen Yiduo's statue, and a small pond."

"Is it far?"

"Not far, I said it's right next to us."

"But I want to walk further with you."

"Ahem, silly girl, I'm telling you, you better talk to me properly, stop being so suggestive!"

"Can you even catch the meaning behind the words?"

"Nonsense, I scored full marks in Chinese! And it was in the high school entrance exam!"

"Oh, then let's go to Shuimu Huaqing, and then to further places?"

"I have a feeling you're teasing me."

"Pfft, I am not!"

...

They reached the small wooden house at Shuimu Huaqing and took a turn around the small pond.

It was quite deserted on this winter night during the holiday, but Xia Keke seemed delighted, bouncing around. She just wouldn't let go of Qiao Yu's hand.

It made it hard for Qiao Yu to pretend to be more mature.

Of course, all this was forgivable. After all, he'd turn seventeen tomorrow, and Xia Keke was over two months younger than him, having her birthday on April 22nd, only turning 17 then, so her being a bit childish was understandable.

Although they say girls mature earlier than boys, that's usually referring to physical development, not mental maturity.

At least according to Qiao Yu's understanding.

On the eve of his seventeenth birthday, Qiao Yu showed Xia Keke around Huaqing University...

Many places he hadn't been to himself; he now accompanied Xia Keke to see, like the Jinchun Garden relic beside Jinchun Road, the observatory opposite to Wu Shunde building...

Having someone with him, the winter night's wind felt a bit less harsh on his face...

Eventually, they arrived at the apartment building, it was already 11:30 p.m., stepping into the building's entrance, Qiao Yu looked up and noticed that Qiao Xi was likely still in the living room with the lights on.

"Had fun?"

Walking into the warm corridor, Qiao Yu casually asked her, then subtly slipped his hand out, patting the girl's shoulder beside him.

Xia Keke didn't answer, she just paused, turned around, and stared at him with her big shiny eyes.

"Uh...don't look at me like that, what are you plotting?" Qiao Yu asked warily.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Xia Keke suddenly asked.

Qiao Yu rolled his eyes, whispering, "I was kissed by a girl!"

His mind drifted to the day Xia Keke rushed into his room, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him.

Hmm, in the half-year they hadn't seen each other, this girl seemed to have grown taller, though fortunately, he had too.

If she wanted to kiss him, she'd still need to get on her tiptoes.

"So you haven't, huh? How about I let you kiss me once?"

The girl whispered, her breath fragrant like orchids.

Qiao Yu felt a thrill, after all, being seventeen, the shameful hormones were stirred into frenzy by her words...

There was no way around it, he seemed obligated to choose between being a beast or worse than a beast.

...

At the same time, in the computing center.

In the middle of the night, only a few lights were still on in the entire building.

The team leader responsible for liaising with Qiao Yu, Qu Junhao, knocked on Liu Zhao Yuan's office door with a stack of reports.

"Come in."

"Academician Liu, the preliminary analysis report is out, take a look, the direction Qiao Yu provided is indeed quite useful! We obtained results in just a week that are similar to what took us half a year before.

Moreover, it wasn't as much or as complex data used. And after verification, using his method for further refinement and calculation, the results are likely to have a higher precision than our previous calculations."

"Oh, let me see the report." Liu Zhao Yuan promptly said.

Qu Junhao quickly handed over the documents.

Liu Zhao Yuan didn't speak and read through carefully, and ten minutes later, after reading the entire report, he finally took off his glasses, lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Looks like the budget will definitely be covered by the computing center...