Chapter 80: In Need of Discipline!

Qin Hongfei fell into deep thought.

An exam, scoring above ninety?

Actually, it's reasonable for the old lady to set such a demand. She herself had dropped out in the second year of middle school for several months, and after September, she never went back for the third year. Calculating it this way, if she returned, she would jump straight into the third year, and ordinarily, her grades would surely plummet. Yet her situation was somewhat unique; there were seven subjects in the third year, and some had a full score of at least one hundred and forty or one hundred and twenty. She couldn't guarantee a perfect score, but ninety? It felt as if a champion were playing in a bronze-level game—wasn't that a bit unfair?

Grandma Qin noticed her silence and snorted inwardly.

Well, now she's stumped, isn't she?!

So confident before, huh? To be honest, she never liked how the two sisters from the main branch always spoke with their heads lowered and voices soft. But now, Qin Hongfei had changed a lot. The child had become very different—not only did she speak up, she dared to challenge others, her eyes full of confidence. Confidence is good, but without matching ability, it's arrogance. That's why the old lady deliberately set ninety as a bar, to dampen her spirits.

So young, yet so arrogant. Needs a lesson!

Can you score that high?

If not, then keep a low profile, mind your manners, and don’t strut around like a peacock—looks like someone begging for a feather duster.

A thousand thoughts churned in her mind, but she kept her expression coolly mocking. “What’s wrong, have I stumped you? Your school’s papers, some subjects have a full score of one hundred and thirty. I’m only asking for ninety—do you not even have that much confidence? And you dare talk about opening an internet café?!”

Qin Hongfei felt it necessary to clarify, “Grandma, it’s not that I lack confidence. I just think ninety might…”

Grandma Qin cut her off sharply. “Might what? Too high? Your cousin scored one hundred and twenty-five. I’m not comparing you to her, just asking for ninety. If you can’t even get ninety, what’s the point of studying? If you can’t do it, you can give up, but don’t talk to me about opening an internet café!”

Qin Hongfei immediately saw through the old lady’s intentions—she was deliberately provoking her. But ninety truly wasn’t difficult. She thought, if she explained further, would it be seen as quibbling or arrogance?

Probably.

Then ninety it is.

She had finally won the elders’ approval; any more fuss and she might lose it. “Alright, Grandma, I agree to your first condition. Is there more?”

Grandma Qin said there was, lifted her tea to drink… She’d argued with this girl so long that she’d forgotten what the second condition was. She needed to think.

Qin Hongfei watched as her grandma sipped her small cup for ages, suspicion rising in her heart. “Grandma, did you forget what you wanted to say?”

Grandma Qin set the tea down, frowned, “I’m not senile yet, so young and impatient—what’s the rush? The second condition: the internet café can only run for three months. If it doesn’t work, you must close it. And it was your idea to open it, so if it fails, your sister will have to go work as a maid for the fifth branch to pay your debts. Don’t look at me like that—you’re so confident, aren’t you? Since you’re confident, my demand isn’t unreasonable.”

She spoke sternly, “If you can’t get the business going in three months, I won’t even mention the losses. But the debt you promised to repay—how will you do it? In the end, you’ll still have to rely on the fifth branch to pay it off for you!”

She paused, then said, “If you’re not confident, you don’t have to agree. I won’t force you. Think it over…”

“Alright,” Qin Hongfei agreed at once.

“If you think Grandma is being unreasonable, that’s fine too…” Grandma Qin lifted her tea to her lips, suddenly paused, looked at Qin Hongfei with suspicion, then frowned and turned to snap at Grandpa Qin, “You old man, why do you keep banging the table for no reason—so noisy.” Then she turned back to Qin Hongfei, “What did you just say?”