Long-Awaited Praise

As Mei Shu listened to him, she lowered her head to look at the test paper he was working on. Her eyes were filled with pride as she said, "Our Ah Jing has really grown up. You've done well on these earlier questions; keep up the good work!"

"Do you really need to say that?" Mei Jing blushed and shifted his chair a bit further away, feeling uncomfortable. He then asked uncertainly, "I didn't perform poorly tonight, did I? Shen Quan, that old man, shouldn't have noticed my identity, and Lu Ming didn't seem suspicious."

"Did I make things difficult for you? I know that I have room for improvement, but I'll have more experience in the future. I'm sure I can do better than this next time. So, in case you encounter a similar situation in the future, can you not treat me as an outsider and let me help you?"

He continued speaking to himself, never daring to raise his head to look at Mei Shu, fearing he might see a look of indulgence or disdain in her eyes.