Chapter 64: The Flower That Belonged to Her Was Pinned to Lu Yuanqiu's Mother's Dress

“Yes, that’s right. The reason I improved this time is all thanks to your help with my studies,” Lu Yuanqiu said with a smile to her.

Bai Qingxia returned the smile, then quietly shouldered her backpack and said, “I’ll head out first…”

“Going to the supermarket?”

“No, just finding somewhere… to wait for a bit.” As Bai Qingxia spoke, she pushed in her chair and added, “After the parent-teacher meeting is over, I’ll come find you at the classroom door, and then we can go to the supermarket together.”

There were no evening study sessions today.

Lu Yuanqiu had already told her he would stay outside the classroom to watch the entire parent-teacher meeting unfold.

Just like suspects in a crime often return to the scene to admire their handiwork, students who have made progress in their exams also linger outside the classroom, grinning mischievously.

Lu Yuanqiu nodded.

He watched the girl’s lonely figure as she left the classroom, lowering his head in silence, unsure what to say.

What was really going on in Bai Qingxia’s family? He desperately wanted to know.

Was there a way to learn about her family circumstances without hurting her pride, and to offer help if needed?

Lu Yuanqiu let out a breath, folding the slip of paper with his name on it into a triangle and standing it on his desk.

He reminded himself: Don’t rush. If you rush, you’ll mess up. I don’t get a second chance at life.

At that moment, everyone had placed their triangular name cards on their desks, and by now, the parents should have entered the campus.

Liu Wei walked into the classroom again, clapping her hands and saying, “If you’re ready, step outside. The parents are coming in.”

Lu Yuanqiu noticed that Liu Wei was wearing light makeup today.

She was taking this seriously—which made sense, since this was the first major exam of the final year.

Not only that, she was carrying a cardboard box. As Lu Yuanqiu passed by, he glanced inside and saw a pile of small red flowers made from red construction paper.

Was she really going to use the kindergarten-style red flower reward system?

Well, well! He was genuinely excited.

Lu Yuanqiu slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped outside. Although most students had already left, a significant number still lingered outside the classroom.

These students fell into a few categories: those who feared their parents wouldn’t find their seats; those who wanted to witness the meeting after making progress in the exams; and those planning to show their parents around the school and have dinner afterward.

Lu Yuanqiu belonged to the second group.

But this time, several of his more familiar classmates—Zhong Jincheng, Hu Caiwei, Wu Qiang, Zheng Yifeng, Wang Haoran—had also decided to stay.

Did they always stick around for the whole thing? Lu Yuanqiu, who used to sprint off to the basketball court at moments like this, now felt a strange sense of displacement standing here.

Perhaps the other students thought the same.

Before the parent-teacher meeting, no one’s scores or class rankings had been announced yet. All anyone had done was compare answers.

So, hardly anyone knew how Lu Yuanqiu had performed this time.

Soon, the sound of bustling voices came from the stairwell—the parents had arrived.

“Dad, over here!”

“Mom! Mom, over here!”

Students in the corridor waved eagerly, melting into the crowd of parents. From a distance, Lu Yuanqiu spotted Su Xiaoya among them.

Thank goodness she hadn’t dressed too flamboyantly. After all, she was a pediatric director; that sort of thing wouldn’t suit her.

Wait—

Lu Yuanqiu froze where he stood.

After squeezing through the crowd, Su Xiaoya emerged, struggling under the weight of an enormous shopping bag and wearing a pained expression.

It was obvious the bag was packed with food.

Lu Yuanqiu grimaced. “Mom… don’t worry, I’m not about to starve to death after the meeting. I didn’t do that badly on the exams.”

Placing the bag on the ground, Su Xiaoya furtively scanned the girls nearby, then whispered to her son, “This is for Xiao Xia—which one is she?”

“None of them are as pretty as her,” Lu Yuanqiu replied, grinning like a sunflower.

He was glad he wasn’t the only one who cared about Bai Qingxia. His mother’s kindness warmed his heart.

“She’s not here yet. After the meeting, I’ll take you to her. Go on inside for now.”

“Alright, alright,” Su Xiaoya replied, finally ceasing her search. She’d only come today to meet her pretty daughter-in-law.

After the parents had sat down, Su Xiaoya set her bag aside and glanced at the empty desk beside her, momentarily puzzled.

She remembered that Xiao Xia shared a desk with her son.

Had Xiao Xia’s parents not come?

Su Xiaoya sighed, various possibilities coming to mind—and she couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy. As a woman herself, she could easily imagine what this stage of life was like.

Lu Yuanqiu, still carrying the bag of snacks, walked over to the window. Zhong Jincheng, seeing him, reached out. “That’s a lot of food—give me some.”

Lu Yuanqiu slapped his hand away.

“Stingy,” Zhong muttered.

Standing at the podium, Liu Wei smiled. “Parents, you see the red flowers in this box? That’s right—today, we’ll be using them to reward students who performed exceptionally well in this month’s exams.”

“In my view, it’s a childish approach—but it works.”

“We’ll reward only two students per subject.”

“One is the top scorer in the subject, the other is the student who made the most improvement, as determined by the teachers.”

At this, the students outside the classroom noticed all the subject teachers lining up at the door. Clearly, the awards ceremony would kick off the meeting.

Liu Wei was right.

Red flower rewards may be childish for high schoolers—but they were effective.

The students outside the classroom were tense, because those flowers represented not just stickers, but a mark of honor in the eyes of all.

Liu Wei picked up a red flower. “First up: Chinese. The top scorer is Bai Qingxia, with 139 points.”

Applause from the parents broke out in the classroom, everyone waiting for Bai Qingxia’s parents to come forward and accept the award.

But after a long moment, no one stepped up.

Liu Wei didn’t seem to mind. She simply set the red flower aside.

Just then, a voice called from the back, “If no one’s here for Bai Qingxia, I’ll take it for her. My son is good friends with her.”

It was Su Xiaoya.

Lu Yuanqiu, watching from outside the window, smiled approvingly at his mother’s gesture.

Liu Wei paused, then nodded with a smile, “Alright, Lu Yuanqiu’s mom.”

Su Xiaoya walked to the podium, beaming. Liu Wei didn’t hand the flower to her, but instead peeled the double-sided tape off the back, a touch of melancholy in her expression. “Why don’t I just stick it on you? Consider it as you accepting the honor on her mother’s behalf.”

“Sure! That child won’t mind. She and my son are very close,” Su Xiaoya replied cheerfully.

With great care, Liu Wei pressed Bai Qingxia’s red flower onto Lu Yuanqiu’s mother’s chest.