Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

Recently, Su Wanning has been putting even more pressure on Su Xiao's studies.

Because there is still a week until the midterm exams.

In order to improve, Su Wan Ning forced Su Xiao to study every day.

It's not just empty talk about "you need to work hard," it's a real commitment of two hours of math, one hour of English, and half an hour of Chinese every night.

Su Wanning's idea is simple: if you want to get good grades, you can't neglect the core subjects.

Therefore, they strictly monitored Su Xiao's major subject grades.

Every evening from 7:30 to 10:30, I must study my main subjects without fail.

To allow him to focus on his studies, Su Wanning even took on all the housework and cleaning duties, just so he could concentrate on his studies.

Everything for Su Xiao, everything for Su Xiao.

Su Xiao was in great distress, but dared not complain.

The consequence of his last complaint was that Su Wan Ning ignored him for three consecutive days.

Three days! Do you know how I got through those three days?

The atmosphere at home was colder than a morgue for those three days. Su Xiao didn't dare to speak loudly, and she almost wore the down jacket that Su Wan Ning had bought for her.

So this time he learned his lesson.

Shut up, do your homework, and live.

As it turns out, this stable playing style proved to be very effective for Su Wanning.

As long as you behave well, your sister will be in a good mood.

Today, Su Wanning gave Su Xiao a mock exam, which had to be completed within a time limit, with very strict time constraints.

Su Xiao lay on the coffee table, her pen scratching on the paper.

Su Wanning sat opposite her, holding a philosophy book and reading it with great interest.

I would occasionally glance up at him to make sure he wasn't slacking off.

Sometimes Su Xiao wanted to look up at the "Story Collection" on the bookshelf, but every time she had that thought, Su Wan Ning's gaze would sweep over her as if she had radar installed.

He could only continue working on his problems with his head down.

The living room was quiet.

The clock ticks on the wall, tick-tock.

The pencil scratches on the paper, making a soft, scratching sound.

The two sounds intertwined, creating an eerie harmony.

After finishing, Su Wan Ning put down her book, picked up a red pen, and began to correct the errors.

Su Xiao sat beside her, nervously watching her expression.

She turned to the first page, glanced at it, and frowned slightly.

Su Xiao's heart sank a little.

She turned to the second page, marked a question, and put an X on it.

It sank a little more.

She turned to the third page and marked it with two comments: one half right and one cross.

Su Xiao's heart felt like it was on a roller coaster, and the kind where you couldn't see the tracks.

After grading the math papers, Su Wanning calculated the scores and wrote them in the upper right corner.

65 points.

Su Xiao glanced at it secretly and breathed a sigh of relief.

Progress!

Then she started grading English.

English is Su Xiao's weak point, even weaker than math.

He got half of the multiple-choice questions wrong, two-thirds of the cloze test wrong, and his essay read like a primary school student's diary.

The question clearly asked him to introduce his country's culture to foreigners, but he started by writing, "Hi, hello, Xiaoming, my name is... my hobbies are...".

Are you just padding the word count here?

Su Wan Ning's brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Su Xiao's breathing became lighter and lighter.

She flipped to the last page, calculated the score, and wrote it in the upper right corner.

58 points.

Su Xiao dared not speak.

Su Wanning put down the red pen and remained silent.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Those few seconds felt like centuries.

"Not bad, that's an improvement over last time."

Su Xiao almost jumped up.

"real?!"

Don't be too happy yet.

Su Wanning opened her English textbook, her voice as calm as if she were saying that the weather was nice today.

"Your English grades are still terrible, and your vocabulary is insufficient."

Su Xiao's smile froze on her face.

Su Wanning pointed to a grammar question in the textbook.

"I've gotten this question wrong three times."

She looked at Su Xiao and said, "I'll explain it again. If you still don't understand, you might as well be stupid."

Su Xiao obediently moved the chair over.

After English, we moved on to math.

When faced with a problem involving simplifying fractions, Su Xiao racked her brains for a long time but couldn't figure it out. She asked, "How do I simplify this fraction?"

Su Wan Ning glanced at it and said, "We can only make an appointment if we're traveling together."

……

I finally finished learning it.

Su Xiao checked the time; it was already 10:30 p.m.

Su Wanning packed up her textbooks, stood up, and went back to her room.

She paused when she reached the door.

"To be continued tomorrow."

"oh."

The door closed.

Su Xiao did not rest immediately.

He took a stack of manuscript paper out of his schoolbag.

The magazine is urging me to submit the manuscript. The editor-in-chief sounded very anxious when he called, saying that the November issue needs to be typed up, and asking if I could submit the manuscript at all.

Su Xiao said yes.

It must be possible.

That's all money.

He sat on the sofa, pen in hand, and thought for a while.

Then he lowered his head and began to write.

He didn't write ordinary manuscripts.

He wrote an article that would have shocked readers in 2005.

Title: What will our lives be like ten years from now?

He wrote very restrainedly at the beginning, not in a boastful way that suggested he came from the future, but in a rational tone that was based on speculation about current technological trends.

He wrote about mobile payment.

"In the future, people won't need to carry wallets when they go out; they can complete all transactions with just a mobile phone."

He wrote about shared bicycles.

"A type of bicycle will appear in the city that can be picked up and returned anywhere. You can use it by scanning a code, and there is no need to return it to its original position when parking."

He writes about online education.

"Students can receive courses from renowned teachers online from home, without having to fight tooth and nail to attend tutoring classes."

He writes about smartphones.

"In the future, there will be a type of large-screen mobile phone that can install various software, and it will be able to do far more than just make calls and send text messages."

He wrote down things that later generations would take for granted in a way that people in 2005 could understand.

This isn't science fiction; it's a prediction.

Each prediction is well-reasoned and supported by evidence, like telling a story that is about to happen.

He wrote very smoothly.

Almost no thinking is required.

He knew those things very well; he had lived in that society for twenty years.

Close your eyes, and those images will appear before you.

He was simply describing his daily life.

While writing, Su Wanning came out of her room to get some water.

As I passed the living room, I saw him still writing something, and I slowed my pace.

She glanced at the words on the manuscript paper.

Knowing he was writing, I didn't disturb him. I poured him a glass of water and placed it next to his desk, then quietly left.

After writing for a while longer, I finally finished.

He straightened the manuscript paper, counted it, and found it to be seven pages with over two thousand words.

I'll put it in my schoolbag and hand it in when I go to school tomorrow.

Just as Su Xiao was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep, Su Wan Ning came out of the kitchen.

She stood at the kitchen doorway, her apron still on, her hands damp with water, as if she had just finished cleaning.

"We're out of soy sauce at home. Remember to remind me to buy some tomorrow."

Su Xiao glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I'll go buy it now."

He stood up, stretched, and said, "My neck hurts anyway, I'll go for a walk."

……

Stepping out of the building, a cool night breeze greeted me, carrying the dry scent unique to autumn.

There are dogs barking in the distance and insects chirping nearby.

There were hardly any people on the streets at this hour. Occasionally, a taxi would drive by, its headlights sweeping across the road before disappearing into the night.

He walked very slowly.

There was a small shop ahead, its incandescent light spilling out from the doorway, standing out conspicuously on the dimly lit street.

A faded sign hung above the store, the words illegible, but he recognized the shop.

When Su Xiao was a child, she often came here to buy popsicles. Back then, the proprietress was an aunt with curly hair, a plump figure, and a gentle smile.

In the past, whenever my sister stared at the boss's wife's miniskirt and black stockings, she would get so angry that she would pull my ear.

But the proprietress must be old by now.

Unfortunately, I arrived at the wrong time of year...

Su Xiao sighed for a moment, realizing how quickly time had passed. Then she went inside, and the wind chimes at the entrance of the convenience store jingled once.

The convenience store is small, with shelves stocked with cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, condiments, and daily necessities.

Su Xiao went straight to the condiment section, picked up a bottle of soy sauce, looked at the brand, and saw that it was the kind his family usually used.

I glanced at the production date again to make sure it was okay, and then walked towards the counter.

There was a person sitting behind the counter.

It wasn't the landlady, but a girl with pigtails, wearing the school uniform of No. 5 Middle School, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

She leaned over the cigarette cabinet, scribbling furiously on her notebook, her brows furrowed as if she were solving a difficult problem.

He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the embers flickering in the dim light, and he was doing his homework with his head down.

Moreover, she didn't seem to smoke very well; she coughed as soon as she took a puff.

Su Xiao was dumbfounded. How could cigarettes and homework coexist?

But when he saw the person clearly, he was even more dumbfounded.

"Wu Mengmeng?"