Chapter 26: Lemon Branch

Two days passed in a flash, and it was the last day of September, the eve of the National Day holiday.

At ten o'clock, the Jiang couple sat on their living room sofa watching television. Li Hongmei was absorbed in a soap opera, while Old Jiang fiddled with his phone. It was a rare moment of quiet, leisurely ease for the Jiang household.

*Snap.* Jiang Nian emerged from the bathroom after his evening study session. As he walked along, rubbing his hair, droplets of water flew off like a light rain.

This sight ignited Li Hongmei’s temper. *The little brat! If you don't beat him for three days, he’ll be tearing the roof tiles off!*

"Wait!" Jiang Nian instinctively jumped back, putting distance between himself and his volatile mother, interrupting her spellcasting. "Comrade Li Hongmei, you can't hit me right now."

Li Hongmei sneered, "Three seconds. Give me an explanation."

Old Jiang, feeling interested, turned his head and put down his phone. He rose from the sofa, living up to the principles of a man who loved a good show, and prepared to watch the drama unfold up close.

"Oh ho, you’re done for. You’re not far from a beating."

No sooner had those words left his mouth than Old Jiang stumbled. Losing his footing, he pitched forward violently. *Crash!* The glass water pitcher on the coffee table was knocked to the floor.

*Boom!* It shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, a look of wild joy washed over Jiang Nian's face. He raised his hand in a dramatic gesture. "Now you’re safe."

*Truly, the antidote is always within seven steps,* he thought. *If I had messed up, I’d at most get a lecture, so why did Old Jiang have to risk his life to save me? Oh well, next month's cigarette money is looking shaky.*

Li Hongmei turned and glared at the stunned Old Jiang. Jiang’s father looked embarrassed. He coughed, activated his emergency damage-control protocol, and nonchalantly tried to deflect the trouble elsewhere.

"By the way, Xiaonian, the results for this month’s exams are out, right?"

As expected, his mother’s attention was successfully diverted. She narrowed her eyes at Jiang Nian. "Your father and I have been busy these past few days and almost forgot to ask. What was your score on last week’s monthly exam? If your grades have dropped too much, don't blame me for banning you from your games."

"Oh, Mom, see for yourself."

Jiang Nian took his phone from his pocket, opened his photo album, and found the picture of his class report card. Unhurriedly, he handed it to Li Hongmei, gesturing for her to look at the top line.

"573? It’s that high?" Li Hongmei gasped.

"What?" Old Jiang, no longer concerned with the broken pitcher on the floor, stepped closer for a look. "It really is first place. Did you Photoshop this?"

"Photoshop what? I’ve even been promoted to a higher class; I’m in the Olympiad Fourth Class now." Jiang Nian took his phone back. "Next time there’s a parent-teacher meeting, remember not to go to the wrong classroom."

*He leaves after the deed is done, hiding his merit and fame.*

"Hey! Send the picture to me!" Li Hongmei suddenly snapped out of it and walked to her son’s bedroom door, knocking loudly. "Did you hear me, Nian?"

"Oh."

*Whoosh.* The photo was sent. Li Hongmei immediately forwarded it to her colleagues' group chat.

"That little brat!" Li Hongmei muttered, before her expression instantly transformed into a beaming, joyful smile as she cradled her phone. "Let the people in the office see this."

It was a small unit in the county town, and the group chat was full of aunts and extended relatives. They spent all day at work gossiping about household trifles, and their online chats after work were no different. Even the leaders didn't dare to show their faces, for fear of being swarmed. It was a perfect illustration of the "leader's leader is not my leader, but my husband..." dynamic—in short, people best left alone.

*Buzz!*

In the Jinxiu Tianfu residential complex, Zhang Chunlan, known for her loud voice, pulled out her phone with its large-font display to check the group chat. She saw the photo Li Hongmei had posted, accompanied by a message:

*[Grin] [Smile] Everyone, help me check if this report card is something my son Photoshoped.*

This comment amused Zhang Chunlan. *Someone actually Photoshops report cards?* Although she didn't know the exact meaning of the word, she understood it meant falsification.

She opened the image. Red Plum’s son, was his name Jiang Nian?

He wasn't outside the top thirty, nor the top twenty... He wasn't there either. *This kid is quite bold, trying to fake his way into the top ten when he’s usually in the lower-middle tier? Top ten... Wait?*

*How is he in first place!*

Zhang Chunlan’s eyes widened as she stared at the first-place score. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. *How did Red Plum’s kid dare to do this? How did he dare?*

*He just changed it to first place; isn't that blatantly obvious... wait, let me look closer, so I don't get tricked by these old hags, always finding ways to show off.*

*Like that shameless woman in the office who "accidentally" dropped her gold bracelet into a mirror just to wait for someone to ask if it was broken.*

First place, Jiang Nian, 573 points. Second place, Zhou Yuting, only 527.

*Is this reasonable? A lead of nearly fifty points? It’s too fake! It’s clearly a forged report card. Red Plum’s kid really is daring.*

*My precious son is much more honest; he was only promoted to a higher class yesterday.*

Thinking of this, Zhang Chunlan couldn't help but call out to the room, "Old Yu, come over here and see something funny."

"It's late at night, what kind of nonsense is it?" A balding middle-aged man shuffled out of the room after a moment, holding a cadre-style thermal mug.

"It's Red Plum's boy; he forged a report card. It's hilarious."

"Let me see." The balding man adjusted his glasses and leaned over. The messages in the group chat were scrolling rapidly. "There are the words 'Class Promotion' after the score."

"That makes it even funnier. Didn't our Xiaojie just get promoted to a higher class yesterday?" Zhang Chunlan laughed happily and sent a voice message to the group: "Red Plum, did your son get promoted to a higher class?"

In the group, three-second, ten-second, and twenty-second voice messages were flying everywhere. The women who were home for the holiday had nothing better to do and were all stirred up.

"Red Plum, your son’s score is written way too high. Didn't he always score just over four hundred before?"

A young intern at the unit: "Aunt Li, your son’s report card doesn't look like it was Photoshoped; it looks like it was reprinted."

"Come to think of it, didn't Chunlan’s son also score over five hundred? I heard he was promoted to the Olympiad class. Why don't we just ask her son and find out?"

Behind her screen, Zhang Chunlan watched gleefully and replied with a voice message: "How would I know? There are several Olympiad classes."

The person in question, Li Hongmei, sent a short voice message. Her tone didn't sound angry; instead, it was calm, even carrying a hint of joy.

"They say it’s the Olympiad Fourth Class."

*Fourth Class?*

Zhang Chunlan looked back at her husband on the sofa. "Old Yu, Xiaojie was promoted to the Olympiad Fourth Class, right?"

*Click.* The bedroom door opened, and a boy walked out carrying his clothes, preparing to take a shower.

"Hey, Xiaojie, you’re just in time," Zhang Chunlan asked nervously. "Is there someone named Jiang Nian in your class?"

At these words, Yu Tongjie stopped in his tracks and frowned.

"Yes, there is. His score is higher than mine."

"Higher than yours? Are you sure?" Zhang Chunlan was so surprised she spoke without thinking. "Is it possible he cheated his way up? Look at what his mother posted in the group..."

Yu Tongjie took the phone, listened to the voice messages one by one from start to finish, and handed it back.

"It’s not fake. But I can't rule out that he cheated."

Saying this, Yu Tongjie ignored his mother's stunned expression and turned directly into the bathroom.

He put down his clothes and, frowning, opened QQ. He found [Lemon Branch] in his contact list and chose to add her. He felt it was necessary to give Zhang Ningzhi a heads-up.