Rebirth: Daily Face Slaps - Chapter 22

“I want to study English.”

“English? That’s quite a leap!” The old man’s lips twitched, finding it hard to believe that someone would switch majors as easily as changing meals. Yet, before he could lose his temper and scold Lin Mengting, he managed to hold onto his last thread of sanity—if he drove this girl away with harsh words and word got out, those colleagues who enjoyed watching him struggle would have a field day!

Even so, the old man’s words were still sharp and biting.

“If you didn’t like studying medicine, why did you waste three years on it? Don’t you know that wasting time is equivalent to slow suicide?!”

“I was young and foolish back then. I went with the flow,” Lin Mengting, having quickly assessed the old man’s temperament, put on a distressed look and explained softly, “It wasn’t until I entered the medical school and came into close contact with medical knowledge that I realized I wasn’t cut out for it.”

The old man didn’t care for Lin Mengting’s explanation. Her obedient and respectful demeanor only fueled his urge to lecture her, so he asked bluntly, “If you knew you weren’t suited for it, why didn’t you drop out and find a new school sooner?”

“Well…” Lin Mengting sighed deeply, not bothered by the fact that the old man’s questions were beyond the scope of a registration teacher. His scholarly aura had struck a chord with her.

She couldn’t help but admire “intellectuals” and had often fantasized about the realm of “scholarly conversations and distinguished guests” and longed to meet true scholars.

“It’s a long story!”

“Then make it short!” The old man was dissatisfied with Lin Mengting’s evasive response, finding it frustrating that a seemingly smart young girl behaved like an elderly person, slow and hesitant in speech and action, always leaving things half said.

“If I dropped out, my only option would have been to get married,” Lin Mengting replied honestly.

Strictly speaking, this shouldn’t have been her situation.

Lin Mengting was the only child in her family, the apple of her parents’ eyes, raised in comfort. She had never had to do household chores and hadn’t even stepped into the kitchen!

Moreover, her grandfather was a private school teacher, her second grandfather was an old-school construction engineer, and her father’s brothers were all high school graduates from the older generation. Even if not described as a “scholarly family,” they enjoyed a reputation as “culturally refined.”

Especially since her aunt was the deputy director of a state-owned factory in M City, a typical modern career woman!

In theory, Lin Mengting shouldn’t have been affected by outdated “patriarchal” thoughts.

Yet, for some unknown reason, her grandfathers revered the ancient system of “legitimate heirs” and often hammered home the notion that “daughters are bound to marry off, like water thrown away, incapable of carrying forward the family legacy.”

Unfortunately, Lin Mengting had the bad luck to be born as the eldest legitimate daughter, while her uncles kept having sons, giving her numerous mischievous cousins who delighted in making her life difficult.

“Really?!” The old man was skeptical. Given Lin Mengting’s appearance and demeanor, she didn’t seem like someone living in such dire circumstances.

Lin Mengting smiled. If it weren’t for China’s family planning policy, her parents being minor officials, and her grandfathers caring about their reputation, they would have forced her parents to divorce long ago to have a son to carry on the family name.

Privately, her grandfathers had discussed many times, suggesting that one of her third uncle’s three sons should be adopted by her father to continue the family line.

This was the primary reason her third uncle and his wife dared to scheme against her.

—They needed to paint Lin Mengting as a “good-for-nothing” to solidify her image as an incapable and foolish girl, so her parents would see her as a worthless burden rather than a source of pride and joy.

…

In a short time, Lin Mengting thought through many things and gained a clearer understanding of her future.

—In this second chance at life, she would become her parents’ pride!

—”If gods or demons block me, I will defeat them!”

The old man narrowed his eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, there was a moment when a sharp and cold aura briefly appeared around this young girl!

…This was interesting.

“Fill out this registration form.”

Taking the materials handed to her, Lin Mengting pulled out a pen from her backpack and began to fill it out.

She wondered why she hadn’t filled out this form in her previous life when she enrolled in the preparatory class, but quickly dismissed the thought.

After all, in her previous life, it wasn’t until she was 27 and inspired by her roommate taking the adult college entrance exam that she realized her vocational school diploma was too low.

Now, this was the last chance for junior high and high school students to directly enroll in undergraduate programs.

A slight difference was normal!