Stockpiling for an Exiled General Through My Store's Back Door

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Quick on the Uptake

Hua Buwan stared at Feng Chengde suspiciously. ”Are you sure I can pass just by studying for one night?”

Weren’t there nearly eighteen hundred questions in that bank? How could she finish reading them in a single night? Even if she rolled her face across the screen, she wouldn’t be able to get through them all!

”Why would I lie to you? Of course it’s true,” Feng Chengde said with certainty. ”Just go through them once, and then review the ones you got wrong. It’s a piece of cake.”

Grandma Wen glared fiercely at Feng Chengde, prompting him to shut his mouth immediately. She took Hua Buwan’s hand and gently comforted her. ”Don’t listen to Grandpa Feng pressuring you. Just follow your own schedule. Go take the test whenever you finish reading; don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

Feng Chengde couldn’t help but mutter softly, ”If you don’t register and just read, you’ll never finish.”

This time, Grandma Wen didn’t even care that Hua Buwan was present. She reached out and pinched Mr. Feng’s waist. ”You just have to run your mouth! Can’t you say a few words less? Why are you putting so much pressure on the child? You did this to the kids at home, and now you’re doing it to others. Just push yourself if you want to be competitive; stop pushing the kids.”

”OW!” Feng Chengde yelped in pain, but he didn’t fight back or retort. He merely raised his hands in surrender and said, ”I was wrong, I was wrong.”

Watching their playful bantering, Hua Buwan relaxed significantly, no longer as nervous as before. She could tell that Mr. Feng truly loved Grandma Wen, and the two of them had likely bickered quite a bit in their youth. On the outside, Mr. Feng was stern, acting like a serious veteran cadre, but in private, he was just an overgrown child. Grandma Wen appeared gentle, elegant, and possessed an extraordinary aura in public, but around acquaintances, she was quite lively. They were both incredibly endearing and approachable people.

Shortly after, the two elders sat back in their seats and tidied their clothes and hair. Passing strangers who didn’t know better might have thought they had been fooling around in the car.

”Alright, it’s getting late. Buckle up, I’ll drive you to the venue. Then I have to go see an old friend,” Mr. Feng said, clearing his throat as he sat up straight in a split second.

Grandma Wen also adjusted her posture. Once Hua Buwan buckled her seatbelt, the car set off toward their destination!

A short while later at the venue.

This wasn’t a large-scale auction. Those in attendance were all familiar faces, or rather, people from the upper echelons of society. Because of this, the security was extremely strict. Entry required identity verification and passing through a security check.

Hua Buwan secretly peeked at the perimeter of guards, feeling as though they were all retired military personnel. Their gazes and stances commanded immediate respect.

She had only ever seen such people on TV before, or read fanciful descriptions of them in novels. Characters like these appeared most often in period romance novels—featuring tropes like the domineering lover grabbing the heroine’s waist, rugged men, or even transmigrating secret agents. Thinking about all the books she had read over the years suddenly made her feel deeply embarrassed.

Back when she used to hold up a book and read at her maternal grandparents’ house, the elders didn’t know any better and assumed she was studying her textbooks. However, reading those novels did help her language skills a bit; at the very least, crafting beautifully descriptive sentences now came naturally to her.

Mr. Feng dropped them off at the entrance before driving away.

Hua Buwan linked her arm with Grandma Wen’s as they walked inside. She didn’t look around haphazardly, afraid that others would think she was a country bumpkin visiting the city for the first time, which would embarrass Grandma Wen.

Grandma Wen naturally noticed Hua Buwan’s nervousness and said with a smile, ”Buwan, you look truly beautiful in that qipao. You look just like a well-bred young lady stepping out of a grand estate.”

”It’s because Grandma Wen has great taste. I’m just borrowing the splendor of this qipao,” Hua Buwan said modestly.

Seeing the large crowd and fearing that the auction would begin soon, Hua Buwan leaned in close to Grandma Wen’s ear and asked in a low voice, ”Grandma Wen, if someone has an item for auction, can they take it to the backstage area?”

Grandma Wen inconspicuously glanced at Hua Buwan’s bag and nodded. ”Yes. Shall I take you over to have a look?”

Hua Buwan thought, ”Grandma Wen is really quick on the uptake!”