Reborn in 2006, I met Mr. Zhou from the past.

Su Fengnan turned her head at the sound and saw Ye Hua staring intently at her. She was slightly surprised, "Um... excuse me, what did you just say? I didn't hear you clearly."

Ye Hua patiently repeated himself. Su Fengnan thought for a moment and replied, "Universities in the north, I guess! Have you thought about it?"

"I don't know, maybe I won't pass the exam! With my current grades, I can probably only get into a vocational college. Sigh, if I get stressed during the college entrance exam, I might not even get into a vocational college," Ye Hua said casually, his expression even showing a hint of indifference.

Su Fengnan: "..."

If Su Fengnan from her past life had heard these words, she would have offered kind words of comfort and encouragement. But the current Su Fengnan doesn't want to do that. Because she knows that everyone has a different life path, and studying isn't the only way out. Some people can still live a wonderful life even without taking this path.

Although she didn't know Ye Hua very well, after two years of being classmates, she knew that he was a good person, always willing to help others, never bullied his classmates, and would take the lead in fighting back when someone in her class was bullied by someone from another class. He was also a good helper to the teachers in any school activities.

Aside from his mediocre academic performance, he's probably the type who's naturally averse to books.

Thinking of this, Su Fengnan followed his words and said, "The college entrance examination is a single-plank bridge; it's indeed difficult to break through the encirclement of thousands of troops. Let nature take its course."

Ye Hua didn't respond, because this wasn't what he wanted to hear. He had expected Su Fengnan to encourage him as she always had, but instead, he received such a bland response.

Seeing that Ye Hua was silent, Su Fengnan also stopped thinking and obediently did her own thing. She took out her notebook and started writing; she had almost finished the homework assigned by the teacher that morning.

During evening self-study, Su Fengnan looked at her study guide for a while, then started doing practice problems. She had bought more than a dozen sets of workbooks in Ruicheng, and she couldn't let them go to waste.

Ye Hua sat next to her, but didn't have a chance to say a word to Su Fengnan. He only saw Su Fengnan working on one test paper after another, different subjects, and writing with lightning speed, hardly needing to think at all.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Ye Hua pulled out an English practice sheet and asked Su Fengnan for help. Su Fengnan glanced at it and knew that Ye Hua hadn't remembered the article at all. So she took out her textbook and turned to the corresponding page.

"Here are the answers. Just fill in the words. I've written the meanings in my book, which will help you understand them better."

After saying that, Su Fengnan ignored him and continued to work on her own problems.

Ye Hua was extremely frustrated, and his gaze drifted intentionally or unintentionally towards Su Fengnan. He suddenly realized that he could never catch up with Su Fengnan, who was so focused on her studies.

As soon as the bell rang for evening self-study, Su Fengnan, who had just returned home, went straight into her study without even changing her shoes.

The mobile broadband was installed at her sister Su Fengxia's request, with someone from the service center coming to her home. Now that they have internet and a computer, she can finally say goodbye to the smoky and chaotic internet cafes. Her second story had been on hiatus for three days, but as soon as she went online, she couldn't wait to update twenty chapters in one go. Looking at the fluctuating data in the backend, she pressed on for another two hours, finally washing up and going to bed satisfied.

This was the second night after moving, and unexpectedly, she didn't have trouble sleeping in the new bed; instead, she slept very soundly in her own little world.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Su Fengnan was awakened by a chill. Opening her eyes, she found the window wide open, the cold wind whipping the curtains through the night. She got up to close the window, and saw a light, drizzling rain falling outside. With each breath, a dry, itchy sensation rose deep in her throat, as if a damp cotton ball was stuck there, impossible to cough up or swallow.

"Oh no, it's inflamed," she muttered under her breath, then coughed twice more.

Not daring to delay, she ran to the kitchen, sliced ​​some ginger, and boiled a pot of ginger and brown sugar water. The piping hot ginger soup warmed her stomach gradually. She then filled a thermos and stuffed it into her bag before quickly washing up and leaving.

Stepping out of the building, she opened her umbrella and turned right. Through the light drizzle, she immediately spotted Zhou Chenyu. He was wearing a black and white tracksuit, also holding an umbrella, and talking on the phone as he walked. Su Fengnan quickened her pace, wanting to go up and greet him, but just as they were a few steps apart, the man's deep voice drifted over on the wind:

"Okay, I understand. Now that the cooperation over there has been finalized, you should head back to China as soon as possible."

"Okay, then let's proceed according to your plan."

"Call me anytime if you need anything."

As Zhou Chenyu spoke, he walked towards the parking area. Su Fengnan abruptly stopped, standing still for a few seconds until that tall figure disappeared into the rain before she turned and headed towards the gate of the residential area.

As Su Fengnan walked to the classroom, her thoughts were still on that figure. She had long suspected that Zhou Chenyu was no ordinary photographer. His exceptional looks, gentle and reserved demeanor, and the occasional air of authority he exuded—all hinted at something extraordinary. As for his background, she dared not speculate, nor did she wish to pry into his privacy. However, in their several encounters, he had never shown the slightest malice; on the contrary, he had repeatedly offered her a helping hand.

The more this happened, the more her curiosity grew. What if he really was a hidden gem? Maybe there would be opportunities to collaborate in the future.

Once his thoughts started wandering, he couldn't stop them. Being a photographer was probably just a side job for him. Judging from his thick northern accent, what was he doing in this remote, impoverished place? That phone call just now was clearly about some project or business.

Could he be some rich kid sent here by his parents to experience life? That would be too melodramatic...

"Ugh—so annoying!" Su Fengnan groaned inwardly. Her overthinking had left her somewhat dazed during morning reading time; her eyes were fixed on the textbook, but her mind was already far away.

Meanwhile, at the county bus station.

An elderly man with a full head of white hair, carrying a backpack, skillfully opened the passenger door and got into Zhou Chenyu's car.

The car started smoothly. Zhou Chenyu turned his head and gently instructed Old Chen in the back seat, "Old Chen, please take a nap. I'll wake you when we arrive."

"I'm not tired," Old Chen waved his hand, smiling broadly. "Young Yu, take me to have breakfast first, I'm still hungry."

"Okay, what would you like to eat? I'll take you there."

"Hmm..." Old Chen pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Let's go eat mutton rice noodles! The place you got takeout from last time, I'm craving their soup."

"No problem," Zhou Chenyu readily agreed.

"Have all the medicinal herbs been settled?" Old Chen's joking expression vanished, and his tone became more serious. Those medicinal herbs were the result of a long and arduous journey they had undertaken to gather, and he was still worried about them.

"They've all been planted in the seed base, so you can rest assured." Zhou Chenyu looked ahead, his tone resolute.

"I have to thank you this time, young fisherman. If it weren't for you finding a fellow villager to help us find the way, we wouldn't have been able to get into those deep mountains at all."

"Haha, Mr. Chen, how could I not contribute to something so meaningful?"

Old Chen was filled with emotion. "Young Yu, if you ever need anything in the future, just ask. This old man will never be polite to you."

"Then I thank you in advance, Mr. Chen."

A short while later, the car came to a smooth stop in front of a mutton rice noodle shop at the entrance of South Gate Old Street. "Old Chen, we've arrived."

The two parked their car and went into the restaurant one after the other. It was past the breakfast rush, and there were few customers inside, but the air was filled with the rich aroma of mutton soup.

Old Chen, who was walking ahead, familiarly approached the kitchen window: "Boss, two bowls of mutton rice noodles, one with extra meat and one with an egg."

"Okay!" the boss readily agreed.

Seeing that Old Chen had ordered the food, Zhou Chenyu found a seat in the back and quietly waited for the steaming rice noodles to be served.