Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Future Daughter-in-law
Rona Langdon waited downstairs for three seconds, but Cara Preston didnât come down. She hadnât believed Vera Xavierâs words initially, but Caraâs delay lent them some credibility. She shrieked again, "Cara Preston, get down here!"
Cara Preston quickly called out in acknowledgment and hurried downstairs.
A mocking smile touched Vera Xavierâs lips. She wasnât Rona Langdonâs biological daughter, and neither was Cara Preston. The only difference between them was that Cara had been by Ronaâs side for longer, so Rona treated her slightly better.
In reality, Rona Langdon had other plans. She wanted Cara Preston to become her daughter-in-law, which would save her the money for a bride price.
Vera Xavier understood Rona Langdonâs personality quite well: she was stingy to death, yet loved being praised for her generosity; she was viciously cruel, yet loved being called gentle and virtuous; she was utterly crass, yet loved being complimented on her dignity.
Vera Xavier figured that for a man to marry a woman as thoroughly vicious and hypocritical as Rona Langdon, Zachary Preston must have suffered from eight lifetimes of bad karma to have married her.
She knew that her single comment from just now would be enough to make Rona Langdon lecture Cara Preston for half the day.
But none of that had anything to do with her. She was going back to school tomorrow, and she had to use every available moment to study.
What Rona Langdon didnât know was that it wasnât actually easy to score a zero on a fully completed exam. It required deliberately avoiding the correct answers on many multiple-choice questions; a single lapse in concentration could lead you to pick the right one.
In fact, to score a zero every single time, one needed to have the ability to earn a perfect score.
In her past life, Vera Xavierâs grades had actually been excellent. It was only because of something Cara Preston had said and her own desire to please Rona Langdon that she hadnât dared to score too high, getting a zero every time and finishing last.
Vera Xavier couldnât help but feel a pang of regret as she thought about the foolish things she had done in her past life. Still, she hadnât touched a textbook in a long time, and it would take a while to pick up all that knowledge again.
The college entrance exams were just over a month away. She didnât have much time.
She sorted the books by grade level and subject and stacked them on her nightstand. She had no choice; her room was too small and cramped, with barely any furniture, so she could only pile them there for the time being.
Sheâd had a secret in her past life: she possessed a photographic memory, which was why she learned everything so quickly.
Others had to reread books repeatedly to remember the content. As for understanding and internalizing it, that took even more time.
But that was never a problem for her. She had a superb memory, on top of the life experience and knowledge from her past life. For the humanities, reading the material once was enough. Math was a little more difficult, but it wasnât a major issue. She just had to memorize the formulas and apply them with a little flexibility.
Still, getting through a mountain of books in such a short amount of time would require just that: time.
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Starting now, she needed to make every second count.
She woke up bright and early the next morning to get her things ready for school.
Rona Langdon wasnât kind enough to do that for them. Make them breakfast? Donât even think about it!
If you wanted to eat breakfast, you had to get up and make it yourself!
By the time Vera Xavier had packed her schoolbag and come downstairs, Cara Preston was in the kitchen making noodles. When she saw Vera enter, she said with a look of embarrassment, "I didnât know youâd be up so early, so I didnât make any noodles for you."
"Itâs fine." Vera Xavier knew from Caraâs phony expression that she had done it on purpose.
For the sake of so-called "frugality," Rona Langdon didnât use the gas stove, but rather burned honeycomb coal briquettes. The fire had been banked the previous night and wasnât burning very hot yet; it had just barely managed to bring the little bit of water in the pot to a boil.