Surrounded by the Billionaire's Deep Doting

Chapter 1099 - 725: Twin Trees Are Not a Forest, a Heart Under the Field (End of Volume 4)

The next morning, before seven as usual, Su Xiaomeng forced her eyes open, dragged herself out of bed, did a quick wash, toasted two slices of bread, heated up a cup of milk, then hugged her book and sat in the dining room, reading while eating breakfast.After she’d read for an hour, Claire arrived.

In the more than half a year they’d been away from London, Claire had been hired to work in another household, but as soon as she heard that Mrs. Yin’s family were coming back to London, she immediately asked to return to the Yin Family to help out.

Of course Xiao Meng felt grateful, and before long, Lily also returned.

"Sue? It’s Christmas today, you’ve got a day off anyway—wouldn’t it be nice to relax a bit?"

Su Xiaomeng looked pitifully at Claire.

"Once term starts it’s straight into exams, and if I don’t pass I’ll have to repeat a year. I really can’t afford to waste this time."

"You’re so smart, how could you possibly fail? Just take it easy."

Su Xiaomeng only smiled.

Claire’s comforting words did make Her feel better, but with the University of Bath’s strict progression requirements right in front of Her, She honestly didn’t have a single second to feel at ease.

Before, it wasn’t so bad—She once scored 13 and didn’t feel much pressure. But now...

Let’s put it this way: Su Xiaomeng was a somewhat well‑known figure. You couldn’t say everyone knew Her, but anyone with a bit of curiosity could dig up some news about Her.

If She were to fail, repeat the year, or even end up with an E—an unqualified grade...

She wouldn’t even know where to hide Her face.

Most of Her classmates were also Chinese; if they paid even a little attention to news back home, they’d more or less have some impression of Su Xiaomeng.

Thank you, it’s just that when it comes to my studies... I really don’t dare indulge in even the tiniest bit of wishful thinking. Being smart honestly can’t count as an advantage for anyone... and I don’t even qualify as smart..."

Su Xiaomeng pressed a hand to Her forehead.

"Ma’am, you really are far too modest."

"I’m telling the truth. These days the last thing we lack is smart people. If you think you’re smart and let down your guard, you’ll definitely end up at the bottom of the heap."

"Haha!"

"And you’re still laughing... Aaron and Haley will be up soon too. Go get breakfast ready first."

"Okay."

Claire agreed and headed into the kitchen, no longer disturbing Su Xiaomeng.

Su Xiaomeng kept gnawing away at Her books.

After nearly another hour of "gnawing," Su Xiaomeng got up to stretch Her limbs, then stood in front of the floor‑to‑ceiling windows, looking out at the high‑rise view beyond...

People’s mentality really can change easily.

Thinking back to how much She used to hate studying—getting Her up early to cram for two hours would’ve been harder than killing Her.

But She also knew that when it was time to study, you still had to study. Otherwise, if you turned out to be good‑for‑nothing in the future, you’d have no choice but to leech off your parents.

Leeching off your parents was one of the things She despised most.

Yet even just muddling along, She’d "muddled" Her way into Beijing A University.

Later She met Yin Shixiu, and after that... the level of "just getting by" and "scraping a pass" was nowhere near enough to support the confidence She needed to be with Yin Shixiu.

So, She applied to Bath.

Studying is really bitter, really exhausting, really despair‑inducing...

She finally got into Bath and came here, only to find that every student on campus seemed so smart and formidable; that smug little self who’d been proud of getting into Bath instantly shrank to the size of dust floating in the air.

Every day felt hard, every day felt tiring...

But now?

Compared to managing the Yin Family’s business, compared to staying on high alert at every moment to deal with emergencies, to face other people’s doubts and accusations...

Compared to the difficulties in life, compared to the unpredictability and complexity of human nature...

Studying really isn’t all that hard.

Waking up every morning and being able to open a book without having to think about anything else—how wonderful is that?

"It’s all your fault! Big Brother, you fell asleep first, then I followed you and fell asleep! If... if that hadn’t happened, I definitely would’ve seen Santa Claus... hmph!"

"You were the one who fell asleep first!"

"Liar! I clearly heard you snoring!"

"You’re lying—you’re the one who snores!"

Little Mengxin listened to the two little ones behind Her bickering away, their voices coming closer and closer, and couldn’t help finding it all very funny.

The two of them were only how old, and they were talking about who snores in their sleep...

"Mom, Brother bullied me again!"

As soon as Shuangshuang saw Su Xiaomeng, She ran over and threw Her arms around Her, putting on a thoroughly wronged expression and whining.

"All you do all day is tattletale."

Huang Huang muttered with deep contempt, not taking Shuangshuang’s dash over to complain to Su Xiaomeng seriously at all.

He climbed up onto a dining chair, and Claire came over carrying breakfast.