355: Type 88 sniper rifle.

Shen Yan and Niannian are that close now? He's going to stay at Niannian's house after the final exams?

Could it be that the elders of the Xiao Family and the elders of the Shen Family plan for the two of them to start dating?

Meng Ning knew the Shen Family's background; it was top-tier even in the Capital City.

But Meng Ning really didn't know about Xiao Niannian's family background.

“Sure.”

When Xiao Niannian heard Shen Yan say he wanted to stay at her house, she agreed with a smile.

After the exam the next day, as soon as Xiao Niannian left the classroom, she saw Shen Yan, Meng Ning, and a few others waiting for her.

“Niannian, we finished our exams early too.”

They took the exams for the second half of the year early, while Niannian took the exams covering all content for the next year.

If Niannian performed well on this exam, then starting next semester, she would begin studying the third year's curriculum.

“Sister Xiao, you taught me martial arts last time, and there are still some things I'd like to ask about.”

Shen Yan studied martial arts with Xiao Niannian every day. He had improved significantly compared to when he first enrolled, and he spent over an hour practicing every day.

“Let’s go, to the training grounds.”

Xiao Niannian said this after hearing Shen Yan's request.

Meng Ning, Lin Shi, Gao Yao, and the others also followed them to the training grounds.

Xiao Niannian taught Shen Yan, while Meng Ning and Lin Shi learned alongside them.

What they were learning now wasn't just flowery movements, but genuine, practical martial arts.

Shen Yan was kicked to the ground. He was much more resilient now than he was at the start of the semester; whenever he was knocked down, he immediately got back up.

After half an hour of practice, Shen Yan had been knocked down countless times, and his whole body ached terribly. However, his ability to withstand attacks was many times greater than before.

“Ah, I can’t do it anymore.”

Shen Yan stood up, waving his hand to indicate he was done.

Xiao Niannian looked at Shen Yan with a smile playing on her lips.

Shen Yan had previously seemed like a rich wastrel in her eyes, but after interacting with him for the past few months, she found he had many merits. Although he was sometimes unpleasant to talk to and incredibly arrogant, he was kind-hearted and persistent in everything he did. Now, Shen Yan was also thinking of graduating early, though his and Meng Ning's early graduation would only be about a year ahead, unlike her two or three years.

A few days later, the results were announced.

Xiao Niannian was once again ranked first in the entire school, scoring dozens of points higher than the second-place student.

Shen Yan's score, which had previously been mid-to-high, ranking him seventy or eighty in the school, was now within the top twenty.

Meng Ning and Lin Shi were both in the top five, and Gao Yao's score was similar to Shen Yan's.

“Niannian, you’re first in the whole school. That’s fantastic.”

Xiao Niannian looked at the transcript in her hand and smiled.

“Sister Xiao, today is the start of the holiday.”

“Niannian, my family is coming to pick me up the day after tomorrow. Can I come to your house for a day or two?”

Hearing Gao Yao's words, Xiao Niannian agreed.

Meng Ning and Lin Shi also wanted to visit Xiao Niannian's house.

Xiao Niannian first went to the service center and called the Production Brigade office, asking Tenth Grandfather to inform Grandma and Aunt Gu.

Due to her busy studies, Xiao Niannian hadn't been home these past few days.

“I’ll arrange a car; it will arrive soon.”

Shen Yan hadn't expected Meng Ning and Gao Yao to also go to Sister Xiao's house. He had originally planned to spend a few extra days learning from Sister Xiao.

Although Shen Yan was displeased, he didn't show it.

Xiao Niannian packed up all her luggage, which consisted of two large bags of things. Everything else was stored in the cabinet, to be washed again when school started.

When the car reached the vicinity of the department store, Meng Ning asked the driver to stop.

“Shen Yan, stop the car.”

Hearing this, Shen Yan stepped on the brakes.

“We’re going down to buy some things.”

Hearing this, Xiao Niannian immediately grabbed Meng Ning.

“There’s no need to buy anything.”

“Sister Xiao, don’t worry about it.” Shen Yan also spoke up to persuade her.

If Meng Ning hadn't reminded him, he would have forgotten about it too.

Xiao Niannian watched them run toward the department store.

As soon as she entered the department store, Xiao Niannian ran into acquaintances: Xiao Yu, Yang Mei, Li He, and others. Ever since the incident where she fell into the mud pit, Xiao Yu and Yang Mei hadn't dared to provoke Xiao Niannian openly.

Xiao Niannian performed exceptionally well in all her subjects later on. Although Xiao Yu and Yang Mei were jealous, they didn't dare to make a move again.

Li He had always wanted to impress Xiao Niannian but never found the chance. However, his relationship with Xiao Yu had become somewhat closer than before.

“I’ll buy this pastry, and this one too.”

“I’ll buy this.”

Shen Yan directly picked out a few items. He had been performing very well recently, so his older brother hadn't cut his allowance anymore and had given him extra ration coupons.

Seeing Xiao Niannian and the others shopping as if they were making a major purchase, Xiao Yu frowned.

Her monthly allowance was twenty or thirty yuan, plus some ration coupons and the subsidy issued by the school. Therefore, she was considered quite wealthy at school.

But she was definitely far behind Shen Yan.

But why was Xiao Niannian spending money so lavishly too?

Could it be that she saved up money for the past few months just to show off in front of her?

Seeing Xiao Yu's expression, Xiao Niannian immediately understood what she was thinking.

She currently received two stipends. One was from the Arms Factory. Although she hadn't returned to the Capital City Arms Factory these past few months, she had drawn some blueprints, and comrades from the Xiang Province Arms Factory had taken them away. She had visited the City Name Arms Factory a few times.

Finished products have now been made from these blueprints.

They weren’t massive items, but they were very advanced weapons and equipment.

Xiao Niannian had successfully created the Type 88 Sniper Rifle, with a caliber of 5.8 millimeters, weighing 4.1 kilograms... a magazine capacity of ten rounds, and an effective range of 800 meters... However, it had only just been produced and was still in the testing phase. It would take some time before mass production could begin, and equipping the Military Unit would also require time.

After staying home for a day or two, she would go to work at the City Name Arms Factory for several days.

Grandma Xiao and Aunt Gu were chatting at home. The weather was quite hot now.

“Aunt, please don’t busy yourself, I can handle this work...”

Seeing Grandma Xiao busy cooking, Aunt Gu quickly tried to persuade her.

She had been here for several months and got along extremely well with Aunt Xiao.

Aunt Xiao treated her like her own daughter, and the villagers of Xiao Family Village were also very welcoming.

“It’s past twelve o’clock now, why haven’t Niannian and her classmates arrived yet?”

Grandma Xiao asked.

“Based on the time, they should be arriving soon,” Aunt Gu said with a smile.

She had delivered things to the Military Academy twice, but she had only managed to talk to Niannian briefly.

That child, Niannian, did resemble her sister-in-law somewhat, but her demeanor was more like her older brother’s.

They had done a thorough cleaning of the house these past few days, and now the entire place was spotless.

“Woof woof woof.”

Hearing Little Black's bark, Xiao Niannian called out its name.

Little Black, who had grown into a large dog, wagged its tail and followed the car into the yard.

“What a beautiful dog.”

Gao Yao immediately praised Little Black upon seeing it outside the car window.