Shen Li stared at this line of words.

[ Only seven theaters? ]

The other party obviously understood what she meant by this question and immediately replied.

[ Yes. There are a total of thirty theaters in the country. These seven theaters may not seem like many, but they are actually quite rare. Some theaters already have scheduled collaborations with other movies, so they won’t change these easily. In addition, today is the first day of screening, so many theaters are still keeping a wait-and-see attitude. Once the box office and word-of-mouth increased later, they would naturally follow. ]

There had to be a gradual process.

[ Yes. ]

Shen Li held her breath, picked up her backpack, and went home.

…

“Hibiscus” grossed 13 million at the box office on its first day.

Compared to the other films, this box office was very inconspicuous and very humble.

However, it had the highest attendance and the highest rating.

On its first day of screening, “Hibiscus” received a lot of praise.

Many people began to spontaneously watch it, even going for a second and third time.

After the increase in the number of screenings, the box office of “Hibiscus” broke through 50 million on the second day.

On the third day, it broke through 100 million.

At just this box office alone, investors could already cover the cost.

Anything above that was almost pure profit.

As time passed, more and more people recommended “Hibiscus”. Some people called it the purest and sincerest love movie in a decade.

Word of mouth spread, and the box office sales of “Hibiscus” began to rise.

On the fifth day, the single-day box office sales smoothly exceeded 100 million.

At this point, everyone knew that Hibiscus would definitely be the final winner of this box office battle.

…

The Internet was full of reports about “Hibiscus” which could be seen almost everywhere.

Also, in their private lives, many people were discussing the movie enthusiastically.

Sometimes when Shen Li walked on campus, she could hear many people talking about it from time to time.

However, she did not care much about it. From the moment the earnings at the box office for “Hibiscus” had successfully covered the cost, she did not bother much about it anymore.

At the end of December, exams for her various courses arrived, one after another.

Shen Li had 13 courses to complete in a week, so her schedule was quite tight.

The afternoon of December 31st was the day of Shen Li’s last exam– theoretical mechanics.

The exam started at 2:30 pm. At 2:10 pm, Shen Li came to the classroom.

Her seat was in the second-to-last position in the middle row.

Some people had already come to the classroom, while some of them were still doing some last-minute revision.

Shen Li went to her seat and pulled out her chair to sit down.

She only had her student ID and pencil case in her hand.

Compared to the nervousness of the others, her expression was exceptionally calm.

Outside the classroom, two invigilators walked over with papers in their hands.

Just as they raised their heads, they saw a tall and straight figure standing outside the examination hall.

The two invigilators exchanged glances before walking over together to the person with a respectful and polite attitude.

“Dean Shen–”

Shen Zhijin turned his head and said calmly, “You guys go ahead with the exams. I’m just here to take a look.”

Hearing what he said, the two invigilators looked into the classroom and smiled.

It looked like he was here because of Shen Li again.

In the past few days, there had been private rumors among the teachers in the academy that Shen Zhijin had gone to every exam that Shen Li took.

He was not patrolling, nor was he invigilating.

Every time he went over, he was extremely low-key. He would arrive a few minutes before the start of the exam and leave before the end of the exam.

Not to mention the students, even many teachers did not know that he would wait for such a long time outside the exam hall.

–Shen Li had already taken a few exams, and he had gone to accompany her on every one of them.

It was clear as to why he had come today.

When the two teachers heard what he said, they did not say anything. They merely nodded slightly in agreement and entered the exam hall one after the other.

When the students saw the invigilator arrive, the atmosphere in the entire classroom instantly changed subtly.

One of the invigilators clapped his hands.

“Alright, now everyone, pack up your things and prepare for the exam.”

The students rustled around and placed their phones, books, and other things on the podium one by one.

Through the glass window, Shen Zhijin looked at the examination hall.

Many people were going back and forth as they tidied up their things. Their expressions were either worried or nervous.

Shen Li was the only one who remained in her seat.

When she entered the classroom, she had already handed over her phone to the front, so at this moment, she had nothing to put away at all.

She only leaned against the back of the chair with her head tilted slightly, looking a little lazy.

From this angle, Shen Zhijin could only see the side of her face.

Even so, it was not difficult to imagine the expression on her face at this time.

After observing her during so many exams, Shen Zhijin could already feel her current state of mind.

She was feeling bored as she waited for the exam to start.

It was pretty similar to how he had used to be, except for one difference.

Whether it was while reading, sitting for exams, or handling work, he had always remained straight-shouldered, rigorous, and upright.

On the other hand, Yin Yin had never been able to sit still. Whenever she felt bored, she would not sit properly. She was always looking for something to do as her whole body exuded a lazy energy.

However, it was also in those moments that the more bored she felt, the heavier she would seem to become.

Shen Li was resting her chin on one hand as half of her body was almost leaning on the table. She picked up a pen and held it between her slender, white fingers to rotate.

Shen Zhijin could not help but laugh.

The bell rang and the invigilator finally began to hand out the papers.

Only then did she sit up again and accept the papers from the front. She took one for herself and handed the rest to the person in the seat behind her.

The examination room became quiet.

She lowered her head and began to answer the questions.

The only sound in her ears was the rustling sound of the tip of the pen brushing across the paper.

Shen Zhijin watched quietly with a focused expression.

He had looked at Shen Li’s transcripts over the years. At the beginning of the first and second grades, she had gotten full marks for every class. However, the column for the teacher’s notes contained comments of criticism and admonishment.

It was about her fighting, causing trouble, and so on.

Later on, as she had gotten older, her grades had gradually fallen and eventually settled in the middle and lower grades.

The teachers also seemed to know that no matter what they said, they could not control her. So, they simply said nothing and wrote nothing further.

People like that were the most easily ignored invisible people in every class.

That was until she had transferred to Yunzhou.

In less than a year, so many things had happened to her there.

Shen Zhijin took a light breath, and the cold wind entered his lungs.

Just then, Shen Li closed the pen cover, folded the papers, and lay on the table to go to sleep.

The examination papers for the specialized courses were not allowed to be handed in early.

At this time, the exam had only just started twenty-seven minutes ago.

She still had a lot of time left.

She pressed her arm down, revealing half of her face.

Shen Zhijin stood in the empty and quiet corridor, quietly watching.

After more than an hour, the bell rang. She finally got up and handed in her papers with the others.

This time, Shen Zhijin did not leave early.

Just as Shen Li walked out of the classroom, she heard the person in front of her call “Dean Shen.”

She looked up and indeed saw Shen Zhijin standing not far away.

She walked over.

“Dad, why are you here?”

Before Shen Zhijin could speak, Shen Li’s phone rang.

She glanced at it and looked at Shen Zhijin.

“Grandfather is calling.”