Gu Xiqiao sat on the carpet in the living hall, teasing the dog as she threw a hoop, letting it dangle on it.

At first, Haha wasn't willing to go along with it, but its instinct kicked in, in the end. Being teased by the toy a few times, it finally started to have fun with it after a few minutes.

She didn't realize that today was the day the results were announced until Xiao Yun called her, as she was having a lot of fun playing with Haha.

"How much did you get?" That was the first sentence that greeted her when she picked up the call from Xiao Yun.

"What?" Gu Xiqiao blinked at the question, their thoughts not on the same wavelength.

Xiao Yun slapped her own forehead in exasperation. "I say, the national finals result, have you checked yours yet?"

"I haven't." Gu Xiqiao replied, snapping out of her daze. She threw the hoop into a random direction and pulled herself up to the sofa, "You've checked yours then? How did you do?"

"Chinese 123 points! A total score of 649 points! That's 98 points higher than the minimum line!" Xiao Yun's voice got more excited as she talked, "I went to an interview at the performing arts faculty in B University three months ago, and I was worried I wouldn't have enough points, but it looks like I'll have enough and more!"

Hearing that Xiao Yun had gone for an interview at the School of Performing Arts in B University, Gu Xiqiao raised a delicate eyebrow. It seems that her original route of going into the film industry had not changed, and her pink lips curved up in a smile. "Congratulations!"

"It was nothing big." Xiao Yun said modestly, knowing inside her heart that she wouldn't be where she was without Gu Xiqiao. "The site for checking the results has yet to close, give me your desk number and ID."

Gu Xiqiao wasn't really bothered about it, and her memory was good, recalling the numbers from the time she had to fill it in over the year. She didn't need to head upstairs to look for it, and she gave it to Xiao Yun right after she had asked for it without much thought.

Xiao Yun didn't hang up the phone, and Gu Xiqiao could hear the keyboard typing on the other side of the call. After a while, Xiao Yun's surprised voice came through. "That's weird, why can't I find your grades?"

"If you can't find it it's fine, maybe it's a system delay. Hurry and tell Grandpa Xiao the news, I'm sure he'll be ecstatic," Gu Xiqiao replied, smiling widely. Xiao Yun hesitated only a moment, knowing that Gu Xiqiao would let her know once she had any news on this.

Gu Xiqiao waited for a while and sure enough, Wu Hongwen's call came as scheduled. He had usually had decent grades in rocket class, but after mixing with Gu Xiqiao and the others for a month, his grades had been raised to a new level. The results he got this time was 721 points, even for someone from Rocket Class, that was amazing and just second to Luo Wenlang!

So the only one left was her?

Finally, even Mrs. Zhang called her to ask about her results. Gu Xiqiao was nonchalant about it, and she also tried to check for her results on the computer, but she couldn't find it.

***

At the same time in the base, Jiang Shuxuan's phone was ringing. He flipped it open to see an unfamiliar number on his personal phone. He paused the meeting, and took the call.

After a while, a complicated look crossed his face.

Hanging up the call, he continued with the meeting. Not long after, another call came in. This time, there was a shocked expression on his face after taking the call.

"Let's end it here for today," he announced directly after that, ending the meeting.

Waiting for everyone to leave, Yin Shaoyuan stood up from his seat with a puzzled expression, "Brother Jiang, it's not easy for you to come to the base, why are you leaving so soon suddenly?"

"Her national finals results have just come out. I received three calls, one each from S University, B University, and A University." Jiang Shuxuan turned and walked out of the room, emotions fleeting through his obsidian eyes. Thin lips lifted slightly, and the lines on his face smoothed out into a more gentle expression on his delicate face.

***

Gu Xiqiao was waiting for the call from her class teacher, since she didn't manage to check her results.

"Student Gu, your total score for the national finals is 747 points, which is three points more than Luo Wenlang." Old Ban's voice was as energetic as ever. "The major universities have all barred your results, fearing that your family's phones would be ringing non-stop. Student Gu, that's incredible!" In the end, he couldn't hide the joy that was in his voice.

"I understand, thank you, Teacher." Gu Xiqiao replied, nodding her head, not really surprised at the result.

As for Old Ban, he had never met a doll who was so calm. "I just called to let you know, in case you're in a panic after not being able to check your results. It's fine then, come to school tomorrow, I think they'll be a lot of people looking for you."

Gu Xiqiao walked downstairs as she talked on the phone, thinking that she would have to fill up forms on information and which university to choose.

Jiang Shuxuan had already entered the house, seeing that she was coming downstairs, he stopped and stood by the door. He stood against the light, all coldness from his expression fading, his lips tilted up in a rare smile and a soft look on his face as he looked at her. "Congratulations."

She had always thought that even if such a cold person like him smiled, it would be stiff and awkward, but with just that small smile, it felt like a spring breeze that could melt the coldest snow.

His smile wasn't hiding anything behind it, a bright light in his eyes as if there were diamonds in his eyes. In this moment, only one word that came to her mindphenomenal.

He really should smile more, Gu Xiqiao thought as she scratched her nose, and forced herself to look away from that radiant smile.

Jiang Shuxuan looked at her fluttering eyes, and chuckled lowly as he ducked down a little, rubbing her head gently. "Top ranker, we'll have a celebration tonight and invite some close friends."

At this time, you should be celebrating such a joyous occasion with family. However, thinking of that bunch of people that was her family, Jiang Shuxuan furrowed his brows, it was like having none at all anyway. At least she still had him.

Thinking about the fact that Gu Xiqiao had filled in the contact information for family with his details, Jiang Shuxuan felt somewhat rueful and glad that she had done so.

It was a good thing that it was his details.

"There's no need." Gu Xiqiao said, waving her hands. "They will definitely be having dinner with their family, it's fine. I still have to go to school tomorrow."

Jiang Shuxuan looked at her. "That's fine, I'll make the arrangements."

Gu Xiqiao: "..."

The news of the top ranker in N City quickly spread through their own classmates, and soon it had spread across the school.

In the afternoon, major newspapers had already obtained first-hand information on the college examination results.

Every year, the top ranker in the national finals was always popular news. Adding on the fact that she wasn't only the top ranker in N City, but also the entire country, this content was far more gold and couldn't be compared to the articles on the previous top rankers that they had published before.

It wasn't only the top ranker that was interesting, but the one who came in second was also outstanding. Just three points less than the top ranker, N City had not only taken the top spot, they had taken the second spot also. As soon as the information on the college entrance examination was out, it wasn't only N Cityeven the other cities were competing to report the matter as soon as they could, and that became the hottest topic among talks right now.

Journalists in N City began to dig for information on Gu Xiqiao and Luo Wenlang, they had sent representatives to meet the two initially, hoping that they would be able to get individual interviews with them. They never expected that these two would be so secretive, one more mysterious than the other, and for the first time had seen a top ranker that was so low-key to this extent.

***

Gu Xiqiao was unaware of all the happenings as she sat in her room to finish painting after dinner lost in her own world as she painted. Up to the point when Jiang Shuxuan knocked on her door, and she placed down her brush, the Haha in her painting seemingly came to life.

"Change your clothes, I'm taking you out." Jiang Shuxuan said as he glanced at her current outfit of T-shirt and jeans.

Gu Xiqiao opened her mouth to ask a few questions, but didn't expect Jiang Shuxuan to close the door suddenly in her face. She smiled in resignation, going to pull open her wardrobe and fished a dress out to change.

It was a tight-fitting dress. The bright yellow color of it made her skin more white against it, and she let down her ebony black hairher red lips and white teeth completing the look. Something flickered in Jiang Shuxuan's eyes when he laid eyes on her, but he just nodded in satisfaction without saying anything.