Chapter 387

After visiting Teacher Lu's home with Zaizai, the two envied the serenity of Teacher Lu's married life on their way back. Though their combined age was over 130, their affection for each other still seemed strong.

Zaizai's parents had a good relationship, and despite being poor, Xiao Qi's parents also shared a rare bond.

The elders guided the two to believe that staying together for a lifetime would be ideal.

Initially, their attraction was based on looks.

Zaizai was drawn to Xiao Qi's dashing charm, while Xiao Qi craved Zaizai's handsome appearance.

As they spent more time together, Zaizai admired Xiao Qi's diligence, and Xiao Qi was touched by Zaizai's sincerity.

Now, Zaizai revered Xiao Qi's excellence and decisiveness, while Xiao Qi had grown accustomed to Zaizai's attentiveness.

The two studied together daily, and their feelings only grew more intimate, never waning.

Zaizai became more diligent, determined to keep up with Xiao Qi's pace, study hard, complete the required credits, and attend graduate school at the same university as Xiao Qi.

Before, he didn't have to worry about anything, yet he was never happy.

Now, despite the busyness of his studies, he felt fulfilled and joyful each day.

Previously, Xiao Qi had to worry about everything, but she never accomplished anything well.

Now, she rarely worried, seeing current issues as trivial matters that would seem insignificant ten years later.

Hence, studying was her top priority, and everything else was just an obstacle on her path.

Even for the wildly popular Walk and Earn Money APP, after setting the rules and regulations, Xiao Qi no longer interfered with its operations.

Despite the operational team's desires to add savings, investment, and audiobook features, they were all rejected, as Xiao Qi firmly remembered the APP's original purpose: a simple progress tracking system. It aimed to change people's lifestyles by encouraging them to walk every day.

She had considered adding rewards or buffs for reaching certain milestones, but she planned to implement that after being admitted to graduate school.

For now, her focus remained on graduate school preparation.

Xiao Qi began preparing for the graduate school entrance exam in the second semester of her freshman year.

The most challenging aspects were mathematics and English, which formed the foundation of the exam.

While Xiao Qi was a diligent student but not a genius, her efforts exceeded those of others.

With her plan to attend graduate school, Xiao Qi created a detailed schedule for herself.

She reviewed her previous semester's plan, having already accomplished part of it.

She had passed the English proficiency test (√), but hadn't taken the musical instrument exam yet, though she expected to do well in the erhu (pending).

Completing all required credits was in progress and posed no major issues (pending).

For the graduation project (√), Xiao Qi not only finished her own but also completed those of her roommates and Zaizai, as it allowed for group collaboration. Using the Walk and Earn Money APP as their graduation project was more than sufficient.

Her plan to travel abroad during the summer slightly conflicted with her graduate school preparation, but Xiao Qi believed she could manage it (pending).

As for the language subplan within the travel plan, she found that the more languages she learned, the easier it became to pick up new ones (√). She planned to take additional language proficiency exams in the next semester.

Taekwondo (×) had been replaced with wielding a brick, as Xiao Qi felt her strength made wielding a brick more practical.

Shooting practice (pending) was something she hadn't tried yet, as legal shooting ranges were scarce.

With half of the semester gone, Xiao Qi had completed most of her previous plan.

She enjoyed this planned lifestyle, finding it orderly and goal-oriented.

Now, she added new plans.

Her goal was to attend graduate school at Tsinghua or Peking University.

She created detailed rules, believing that with proper planning, even seemingly impossible tasks become manageable when broken down into smaller steps. Of course, Xiao Qi's graduate school preparation plan wasn't based solely on her own thoughts. She researched online and tailored the plan to her specific situation.

She divided the preparation into three stages:

Stage 1: Building the foundation (March - June) Stage 2: Improvement (July - September)

Stage 3: Sprint (October - December)

In total, she had nearly a year's time.

Xiao Qi began her preparation in the second semester of her freshman year, focusing on English and mathematics during the foundation-building stage. While she felt confident in her English abilities, she considered Zaizai might struggle, so she planned to review the basics with him.

For mathematics, Teacher Lu provided her with a comprehensive set of graduate school materials, which she intended to study thoroughly to solidify her foundation.

During the summer break, Xiao Qi planned to focus on improving and reviewing what she had previously learned through practice questions and mock exams.

In the next semester, she would prepare for the sprint stage, covering political studies and specialized subjects while continuing to practice English and mathematics through practice tests and exams.

This process would span around ten months.

When broken down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks, the workload seemed manageable if she followed the plan diligently.

Xiao Qi considered Zaizai when creating this detailed plan, intending for them to support and encourage each other in completing it.

Xiao Qi devoted herself to studying and maintained a low profile, no longer concerning herself with external matters.

News about the founder of the Walk and Earn Money APP had briefly sparked interest but was quickly replaced by newer stories.

Time flew by during their studies.

By the first semester of their sophomore year, Xiao Qi had applied for the mathematics graduate program at Tsinghua and Peking University, while Zaizai had applied for the information management graduate program at the same universities.

The two took the entrance exams together.

Xiao Qi achieved the top score on the written exam, while Zaizai narrowly passed the cutoff score.

However, the admission process also included an interview.

With Xiao Qi's impressive resume and outstanding interview performance, the faculty immediately approved her admission.

As for Zaizai, his father's donation of a building to the university helped him narrowly gain admission.

Children who can't study well tend to be expensive.