Just when Lin Rui thought that the other party was creating some trouble again, she suddenly saw Lin Xiao winking at her.
Old Mrs. Lin said, "Lin Rui, it's good to study hard, but it gets dark early these days. You should come home earlier in the future."
Old Mrs. Lin was a woman with traditional values. Hence, she had a fixed mindset about how girls ought to behave.
In her opinion, Lin Rui would be left on the shelves if she just messed around all day.
Lin Rui paused and remained silent.
On the other hand, Xu Man said gently, "Lin Rui, Lin Xiao said that you came home a bit later because you had been studying in school. Don't do this again next time. You can come home earlier to study and ask for Lin Xiao's help if there's anything you don't understand or need help with."
Lin Xiao, who was beside her, said modestly, "Mother, my grades aren't that great either. I'm only within the top 30 places of the entire cohort."
Old Mrs. Lin said, "There are more than a thousand students in your cohort. Getting a place among the top 30 is already impressive enough! You're doing so much better than your sister. If your sister doesn't understand anything in the future, guide her along."
The three of them had a conversation on their own.
Lin Rui suddenly smiled and said, "I'm going back to my room."
After saying that, she turned around and made her way upstairs.
Lin Xiao immediately whispered to old Mrs. Lin, who was beside her, "Is Sister angry with me?"
Old Mrs. Lin said, "What right does she have to be angry? She's stupid to begin with. She deserves to be criticized for having poor grades!"
Xu Man hurriedly said, "Mother, Lin Rui is actually already working very hard to improve. I think she'll definitely get better and better in the future."
Old Mrs. Lin humphed. "You're just being too nice to her. I don't expect her to get into any prestigious universities in the future. We don't have high expectations of her anyway. I just hope this brat doesn't get into any more trouble and embarrass the Lin Family!"
Clearly, Lin Rui, her eldest granddaughter had been too much of a troublemaker over the years and had never done anything sensible to put their minds at peace.
Hence, even though Lin Rui seemed to have changed for the better the past few days, there was no way she could immediately change old Mrs. Lin's deep-rooted opinion of her.
A tinge of complacency flashed across Xu Man's eyes after hearing that.
The eagle-eyed Lin Rui who had a sharp sense of hearing had heard everything, but she wasn't too bothered by it.
She headed upstairs and knocked on the door of Lin Zikang's study.
Lin Zikang would be leaving for his business trip to America on Wednesday morning. At this moment, he still had a huge pile of documents and contracts to read.
The Lin Family's business was flourishing, but Lin Zikang still had to preside over most of the matters.
Since his late wife's passing, Lin Zikang spent most of his time on work.
He was a little annoyed when he heard a knocking on the door.
However, after hearing his daughter Lin Rui's voice, his frown disappeared, and he immediately asked her to enter.
Lin Rui pushed the door to go in and asked, "Father, are you going overseas on Wednesday?"
"Yes, everything has been booked and arranged before this. I'm going there for a business negotiation. Lin Rui, what's the matter?"
"Can you change the date?"
Lin Zikang was stunned.
...
Xu Man, who had been sitting downstairs and chatting with old Mrs. Lin for a while, was suddenly reminded of the soup that she was cooking in the kitchen.
Lin Zikang had been busy with work and seeing how exhausted he was all the time, she would specially brew him some soup every night.
Over the years, Xu Man had been extremely meticulous, be it in coaxing old Mrs. Lin and keeping her happy or taking care of Lin Zikang's meals and clothing.
Xu Man went upstairs with the hot soup.
When she looked up, she saw Lin Rui walking out from the study.