Perfect scores on all subjects?
The top scorer in the college entrance exam?
The old couple looked at each other, both understanding the meaning in each other's eyes——
Are they describing our son?
Could they be describing our son?
Are we dreaming?
"..."
Silence.
The surrounding air seemed to be sucked out.
On the other end of the phone, Sun Qing waited for a long time without hearing any response, not knowing what was happening on the other side, so she tentatively asked, "Beichen's mom, um... was there a bad signal just now? Did you hear what I just said?"
Hearing her voice again, Zheng Xia woke up as if from a dream, coming back to her senses, "I'm sorry, Teacher Sun, I was just thinking about something else. I heard everything you said."
"It's okay, it's okay. Then I won't hang up the phone, just let me know directly after you confirm with Lin Beichen."
"This..."
Zheng Xia hesitated for a moment and confirmed, "Teacher Sun, are you sure the top science student in the province this year, and the one with perfect scores on all subjects, is Lin Beichen?"
Even at this moment, she couldn't digest the news she had learned from Sun Qing.
Though...
She wanted to unconditionally trust her son, but she knew his academic performance very well. There was no way he could suddenly become the top scorer with perfect scores.
Unless...
Her son was a genius among geniuses!
And he could achieve such a feat in just over a month!
But that was impossible!
She didn't want to rashly disturb her son to confirm his exam scores, what if it upset him?
"To be completely sure, we still need Lin Beichen to check his scores."
Sun Qing could understand Zheng Xia's disbelief, just as she herself had felt before making the call. She repeated everything she had heard from Director Zhang to Zheng Xia.
After listening, Zheng Xia exchanged a glance with Lin Xiangdong beside her, their eyes filled with increasing disbelief, but her heart had already started to soar, starting to believe that her son was indeed the top scorer with perfect scores!
"Alright, Teacher Sun, please hold on, I will go and get Lin..."
"Ding-dong——!"
Just as Zheng Xia got up to knock on Lin Beichen's door, the doorbell rang.
Zheng Xia made a gesture to Lin Xiangdong to indicate that he should get Lin Beichen, while she walked towards the door, asking, "Who is it?"
"Hello, we are from the provincial TV station. Is this Lin Beichen's home?"
A very gentle female voice came from outside the door.
Upon hearing this, both Zheng Xia and Lin Xiangdong froze.
Before they could react.
Sun Qing's voice came through the phone.
"Oh, right, the Provincial Department of Education mentioned they would send reporters from the Provincial TV station to interview Lin Beichen. I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly."
There are reporters coming for an interview??
Zheng Xia and Lin Xiangdong felt that the situation was escalating.
Zheng Xia quickly called over Lin Xiangdong, who had just gotten up from the couch and then they walked to the door together and opened the door.
Four people stood outside, two men and two women.
The two men were carrying video cameras.
One of the women held a light reflector, and the other woman stood in front, in her thirties, elegantly dressed in a beige casual suit, holding a microphone.
Seeing the door open, the woman in front showed a standard smile and asked again, "Excuse me, are you Lin Beichen's parents?"
Knowing they were reporters from the provincial TV station, Zheng Xia replied politely, "Yes, we are."
"Then you must be Lin Beichen's mother and father, right?"
The woman's smile became even brighter. She took out her credentials from her pocket and introduced herself, "Nice to meet you, I am Lin Qian, a reporter from the provincial TV station. We're here to do an exclusive interview with Lin Beichen. His school should have informed you about this in advance, right?"
"Yes, Lin Beichen's head teacher just mentioned it to us."
"Then do you agree to the interview?"
"This..."
Zheng Xia hesitated.
After all...
This was just the news she had learned when the doorbell rang. It was quite sudden!
And more importantly...
She had only heard about her son's exam score from others. It hadn't been confirmed yet. If they agreed to the interview and the score turned out to be different, wouldn't it be embarrassing?
While she was still hesitating.
Lin Xiangdong's voice sounded.
"Please come in and have a seat. Let's not stand at the door, hahaha."
"Yes, yes, I was so caught up in the conversation that I forgot. Please come in, please come in."
Zheng Xia shot Lin Xiangdong a look that said "Good job" and invited the people from the provincial TV station into the house together with him.
Once everyone was seated, Zheng Xia collected her thoughts and got straight to the point, "Reporter Lin, actually, we haven't confirmed Lin Beichen's scores yet. We only heard it from you and Lin Beichen's head teacher."
As she spoke, she pointed to the phone in her hand and smiled, "I was talking to Lin Beichen's head teacher when you arrived, and I am still on the call, waiting to confirm his scores. I think it would be better to confirm his scores first before proceeding with the interview, don't you think?"
"Of course, no problem."
Lin Qian understood that patience is key.
Zheng Xia got up and went to Lin Beichen's door, and gently knocked, "Chenchen, are you up?"
For a moment, everyone's attention was focused on that bedroom.
"..."
Silence.
No sound came from the bedroom.
"Maybe he's still asleep."
Zheng Xia smiled awkwardly and knocked a little louder, "Chenchen, are you up?"
"..."
Still silence.
There was no response from the bedroom.
Zheng Xia frowned, an inexplicable feeling rising in her heart. Chenchen should have been up by now, and even if he wasn't, he should have woken up with such loud knocking!
Something's wrong!
Zheng Xia knocked hard on the door and shouted, "Chenchen, if you're awake, say something. I'm coming in!"
The reporters from the provincial TV station and Sun Qing on the phone had no idea about Lin Beichen's previous stunts involving a stun gun and high voltage cables.
They could sense Zheng Xia's urgency from her tone, their minds filled with big question marks——
What happened?
Lin Xiangdong understood!
His face changed, and he quickly went to the bedroom.
Just at that moment.
"Click——"
Zheng Xia pushed open the bedroom door.
The room was empty!
The bed was neatly made.
Zheng Xia froze, her expression changed drastically, and she turned to Lin Xiangdong, who had just arrived, "Chenchen is not in the bedroom. He's missing!"
Her voice was panicked and trembling!
At that moment, a faint thunder rumbled outside the window.
"Boom..."
The weather forecast said there would be thunderstorms today, and a storm was brewing.