Gu Mansion,

" What did you say? Your father did what?" Grandmother Gu was shocked upon hearing what happened at the meeting from Gu Zhang. Now she understood why Xingren didn't sit with her and went to her room without stopping by.

Something was off!! So this was it.

Gu Zhang nodded and continued, " Father has crossed the line this time. It was a family matter, we could have resolved it after discussing it. Did he have to go this far? Do you know how much embarrassed Xingren and I were in front of the board of directors? I am the President of the company but I don't have any control over what's going on in the company." He said in frustration remembering the embarrassment that he has to face during the meeting.

" What was that Old man thinking when giving 15% of the shares in the company? She doesn't know anything about business, the shares will go waste if stayed with her," Grandmother Gu said, shaking her head in disbelief.

She is easy to fool. What if someone traps her in their honey words and takes the shares from her?

" Xingren must be so upset. She hasn't come out of her room since she came back. I hope she won't take this matter to heart. Although Father announced it like this, she is still our daughter. Mother, she won't get upset and leave us, right?" Lin Ran turned to Grandmother Gu anxiously.

Grandmother Gu shook her head and patted the back of her hand, " She won't. She is not childish like Old Gu. She knows that we love her, she will never leave us. I wonder what made him announce this news this way. He could have at least discuss it with us, did he think that we object to him announcing it?" she was speechless.

" Although we wouldn't have allowed him to announce like this, but we could have found some other alternatives. Xu Nuan is my granddaughter too, does he think only he cares for her? Unlike him, I care for both. Just how important Xu Nuan is for us, we need to think about Xingren as well. Just because she is not our blood, doesn't mean we're supposed to kick her out."

Gu Zhang and Lin Ran didn't say anything but they lowkey agreed to her words. Grandfather Gu is going too far.

-

Xingren pursed her lips in nervousness as she clicked on the link to check her scorecard of the scholarship exam. The exam that she gave two weeks ago, it's finally the result day.

The day she was anticipating the most, has turned into the worst day of her life. Although Grandfather Gu announced Xu Nuan as the real daughter of the Gu family, she can take her position in the family back as long as she proves herself.

Xu Nuan is not capable of taking over the company anyway. If she clears this test, then she will be able to face Grandfather Gu proudly, he was the one who lost the capable person and embraced the empty can.

She was sitting on her study table, with her laptop in front of her. She blinked nervously while waiting for the result anticipatingly as the website was taking its sweet time to load.

"92%?" Her eyes glinted with a bright light as a satisfied smile appeared on her lips seeing the result.

She has already checked previous years' results of this scholarship exam which is the hardest to crack and all the students who have topped the exam have scored around 85% only.

Compared to the previous year's results, her score was already the best so far. Thinking that she must be the first one to top the exam with the maximum marks, a smug smile appeared on her lips.

" Xingren, dinner is ready. Come out and eat. We're waiting for you." As she was wondering how to give this news to everyone, Grandmother Gu called her out for dinner. She pursed her lips as she could feel the anxiousness in her voice.

They all must be worried for her.

" I should tell everyone." Thinking that she should share this news with everyone and not let them worry further, she picked up her phone and closed the laptop before leaving the room.

-

" Mom!" she walked to the dining room where everyone was seated and was waiting for her. However, her steps came to halt seeing Grandfather sitting there with indifferent expressions.

Her expressions darkened seeing him as she remembered the humiliation she faced earlier. It was still hard for her to encounter him and eat with him at the same table. However, remembering her result, she took a deep breath and took a seat beside Grandmother Gu.

The atmosphere turned awkward and heavy as no one was talking. Lin Ran pursed her lips and asked, " Xin Xin, didn't you tell earlier that your result is coming today? Did you check it? How was it?" she asked Xingren while looking at her expectantly.

Grandmother Gu smiled and interrupted, " She will do well, of course. Our Xin Xin is so smart." she caressed Xingren's hair lovingly, pampering her with love.

Hearing their compliments, an embarrassed smile appeared on her lips as she said, " Grandma, I am not that good. You're exaggerating." she pretended to be humble but her lips were stretched till her ears in a smile.

She finally turned to Lin Ran and said, " I did check my score but I didn't check the winner list yet." she stated.

" What is your score? It must be high of course." Gu Zhang glanced at Grandfather Gu and said proudly since Gu Xingren has been a bright student since she was young and has excelled in every single thing she attempted.

"Well...it's not much though. Only 92%," she said with a mild smile on her lips, catching glances at Grandfather Gu in between to see his reaction. However, his expressions were indifferent as usual, he wasn't even turning to look at her.

"92%? Didn't the winning score of Xin Lin university for the scholarship exam was up to 85% in the last few years? I heard that passing that exam is already hard enough, forget about scoring higher." Gu Zhang said in excitement remembering the winning criteria of the scholarship test.

" See, didn't I tell you that only our Xin Xin can make us proud? You have given me another reason to feel proud among my kitty friends." Grandmother Gu said while looking at Xingren with smiling eyes.

" Grandma, it's not much. You guys are reacting too much." Xingren said while trying to be humble, shaking her head in embarrassment.

" Oh My God, it's such happy news. I should go and get something sweet to celebrate Xingren topping the scholarship exam. I know you deserve it, you worked so hard to get it. It's not about the scholarship only but the status, it carries with it. I am so happy for you." Lin Ran congratulated her while looking at her happily.

" Father, will you not congratulate Xingren?" Gu Zhang turned to Grandfather Gu who was eating his dinner in peace.

The old man placed his chopsticks down as he stared at Xingren with his blank expressions, " Xingren, you should check the winner's list. Celebrating before making sure is not good." He said calmly, telling her to not make a celebration before confirming the result.

" Old Man, why are you being like this? Are you saying that she can't make it? She got such a high score, if she doesn't get the scholarship then who will?" Grandmother Gu said in irritation. Why is he being so negative?

~Ring, Ring~

Gu Zhang looked at his ringing phone and his face lit up seeing that the Dean of Xin Lin, Mr. Wen was calling her. He showed his phone screen to Grandfather Gu and bragged, " See, Dean Mr. Wen is calling me. It must be to congratulate about Xingren's result." He said excitedly before picking up the call.

Since he has donated a lot to the university after Xingren was admitted, he was on friendly terms with the Dean of the university. And since they have met each other in other social gatherings as well, it's normal for him to call and congratulate about Xingren's result.

"Mr. Gu, Did you check the scholarship result? You must be on clouds nine since your daughter has made you proud, aren't you?" Gu Zhang's lips stretched into a smug smile upon hearing Mr. Wen's words.

" Yes, Yes. How can I not be happy? My daughter has topped the toughest exam of Xin Lin, it's celebratory news indeed. Ah, by the way, do you want to talk to Xingren and congratulate her yourself? She is sitting in front of me." He said while looking at Xingren, signaling her to take the phone from him.

Mr. Wen, who called him raised his brows in confusion and said, " Ah, Xingren? But why her?" He asked in confusion, not knowing why he wanted him to congratulate her when she didn't even get the scholarship?

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