Chapter 536: Chapter 181: The ’80s Prima Donna is Forced to Become a Top Student (16)

However, Sheng Leyun recalled the look on Xiao Xuezhen’s face—one of such hatred it was as if he wanted to devour her alive. She knew him all too well.

She had a feeling that Xiao Xuezhen, while targeting her, would very likely go after Grandma Guo as well.

After all, Xiao Xuezhen reveled in tormenting people, prioritizing psychological warfare above all else. It seemed he could only achieve some kind of ecstatic satisfaction by utterly breaking a person from the inside out.

Just like how he’d dealt with Sheng Xibao. Even in a situation where death was certain, he still had to twist the knife in one last time.

Sheng Leyun’s eyes narrowed slightly. She gave up on sleeping. As soon as the old woman left, she scrambled out of bed, packed her books into her bag, quickly ate the meal that had been saved for her in the pot, and then started jogging, tailing her from a distance.

Gong Zicheng’s tutoring was comprehensive. On top of the elementary school curriculum of Language Arts, Math, and Science, he had also added a foreign language.

Children have excellent memories, so having them memorize more material was a sound strategy. He even structured their daily recitations according to the principles of the memory curve, ensuring that what they learned would be firmly imprinted in their minds, rather than crammed and immediately forgotten.

Sheng Leyun had a great memory, but she still dutifully completed her assignments. All the while, her eyes were like little radars, constantly scanning the area around Grandma Guo.

Logically, after the pain he’d been in last night, Xiao Xuezhen should have just been focused on recovering. He shouldn’t have had the energy to be scheming anything.

But Sheng Leyun preferred to consider every possibility rather than reacting passively. Even if the probability of an incident was low, she didn’t dare get complacent and ignore it.

A truck slowly rolled into view. Sheng Leyun shot to her feet, tossed her things aside, and bolted out like a little cannonball.

Her hiding spot was well-concealed on the second floor of an office building. From a corridor with an ornate railing, she had a clear view of the entire street Grandma Guo was assigned to.

She didn’t have time to take the stairs. She just vaulted over the railing, landed in the bushes below, and rolled with the impact.

Sheng Leyun ignored the pain in her hands and feet—a result of her untrained body being pushed too hard. Crouching low, she sprinted with all her might along the far side of a row of thick, ancient trees.

The old woman woke up early every day. Even in May, she would be out with her broom while the stars still lingered in the sky, long before the birds began their disruptive chirping.

Her son had been killed in action, and with no other relatives and her advanced age to consider, the people at the Armed Forces Department had consulted with her. They changed her one-time survivor’s pension into monthly payments.

This ensured she would never be short on money, while also preventing her from becoming a target for those with greedy intentions.

The monthly sum was more than enough for her to live comfortably.

But she refused to touch the money her son had paid for with his life. So, the old woman applied to the local subdistrict office and took the job as a street cleaner.

The work was far from easy, and it came with the disdainful glares of others and a low salary, but it gave the old woman peace of mind.

Besides, the old woman couldn’t stand being idle. When she wasn’t sweeping, she would take on odd jobs like pasting paper medicine bags or assembling matchboxes. If there was nothing else, she would sew shoe insoles to sell at the market.

It seemed that every extra cent she earned became one of the few, countable joys in her otherwise monotonous life.

As she swept, she smiled, calculating the money she had saved over the years. She thought about buying the little girl a couple of pretty new outfits.

’Little girls love to look pretty, after all. I can’t have my good granddaughter fall short of anyone else. Oh, right. I think there are dance classes and piano classes, too. I’ll have to ask around, make sure my sweet girl doesn’t fall behind the others right from the start.’

In that moment, she was immensely grateful that she hadn’t wasted her days away after her son’s death, succumbing to idle comfort or wallowing in despair.

Otherwise, she never would have been able to build up a small nest egg to provide the very best for her granddaughter.

Having family had filled the old woman with vigor. Her sweeping was much faster than usual. But just then, a pair of dazzling headlights blazed toward her.

The old woman instinctively raised an arm to shield her eyes from the light. The roar of the engine grew closer, and a terrible premonition instantly seized her.

Street cleaners always worked in the early morning when the roads were empty. Even if you heard a vehicle, there was always time to step aside.

And drivers, with their headlights on, would always steer away from pedestrians well in advance.

A vehicle losing control and barreling straight for someone was an extremely rare occurrence.

Faced with this, the old woman’s legs felt as if they were rooted to the spot, completely unable to move. She couldn’t even scream. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide, a silent testament to her terror, her attachment to the world, and her unwillingness to leave it.

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