Chapter 9

Time seemed to be coated in thick syrup, flowing by with an unusually slow pace. The days after the high school entrance exam weren't as relaxed and pleasant as he'd imagined; instead, the anxious wait stretched on endlessly. Li Ming tried his best to appear calm. He helped his mother with housework, tidied the mountain of textbooks and test papers piled up in his room, and occasionally picked up a high school physics textbook borrowed from Teacher Chen to flip through. But no matter what he did, a tension always lingered in his heart, a precarious feeling, awaiting the final judgment.

Father Li Jianhua seemed more silent than usual. He still left early and returned late, carrying the familiar smell of machine oil from the factory, but Li Ming noticed that he spent more time sitting at the dinner table in a daze after work, often extinguishing the cheap cigarette he held in his hand only when it burned his hand. He no longer asked about his grades, and even deliberately avoided eye contact with Li Ming, but the occasional quick and discreet glance at the telephone betrayed his own inner turmoil.

The mother, Wang Xiuqin, experienced a different kind of anxiety. She became somewhat talkative, repeatedly wiping the already clean furniture, sometimes forgetting to add salt when cooking, and sometimes adding it twice. She tried to mask her unease with busyness, but her eyes, which kept glancing at the calendar and calculating the results release date, betrayed her inner turmoil.

The air in the house felt like the sweltering heat before a downpour, so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Finally, the day arrived for checking the scores by phone.

At dawn, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the family of three was already gathered around the old, small square table in the living room. The old, red landline telephone sat solemnly in the center of the table, like a sacred object that would determine their fate. Outside the window, the cicadas hadn't yet begun their incessant chirping; only the occasional clear bird song accentuated the deathly silence inside.

Wang Xiuqin gripped the edge of her apron tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white. Li Jianhua sat on a small stool opposite her, his back ramrod straight, his lips pressed into a stiff line, his gaze lowered, fixed on a crack in the cement floor, as if he could see the answer within it. Li Ming sat between the two, his hands resting on his knees, his fingertips slightly cold. He could clearly hear the heavy, slow beating of his heart in his chest, thump, thump, thump, each beat striking his taut nerves.

"Is the time... up?" Wang Xiuqin's voice trembled slightly, breaking the suffocating silence.

Li Jianhua raised his wrist, glanced at the Shanghai brand watch he had worn for over ten years, the crystal of which was somewhat blurred, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Wait...wait two more minutes, I'm afraid the line will be busy."

Those two minutes felt like two centuries.

As the clock finally struck the predetermined position, Li Jianhua took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision, and reached for the telephone receiver. His action carried an almost tragic resolve. He pressed the buttons forcefully, digit by digit, according to the dial-in number he knew by heart.

"Beep—beep—"

busy tone!

The cold, rhythmic busy tone was like a bucket of cold water poured over one's head.

Li Jianhua's hand holding the receiver stiffened for a moment, and his brows furrowed tightly. He didn't put it down, but instead pressed the redial button.

"Beep—beep—"

Still busy signal!

again.

Still busy signal!

Time and again, Li Jianhua stubbornly repeated the actions of dialing, listening, hanging up, and dialing again. With each busy tone, his face grew increasingly somber, and fine beads of sweat even appeared on his forehead. His once straight back seemed to hunch slightly under the repeated disappointments.

Wang Xiuqin's eyes began to redden, and her lips moved as if she were silently praying for something.

Looking at his father's stubborn and somewhat clumsy back, at his fingers white from straining, Li Ming felt a sudden, utter disillusionment. The sense of superiority he had felt from his rebirth, a sense of prescient wisdom, vanished. In this moment that determined the fate of an individual and even a family, any advanced knowledge seemed utterly powerless. He was still caught up in this immense uncertainty, awaiting his destiny's verdict just like any other ordinary examinee.

Just as the air seemed to freeze, Li Ming suddenly stood up. "Dad, let me try."

Li Jianhua abruptly turned to look at his son. Li Ming's eyes were calm, devoid of the panic or despair he had expected, only displaying a composure beyond his years. Li Jianhua paused, then almost instinctively handed over the telephone receiver, which felt scalding hot.

Li Ming took the receiver, the cool plastic against his fingertips instantly invigorating him. Unlike his father, he didn't frantically redial repeatedly; instead, he paused for about ten seconds before calmly pressing the number again.

"beep--"

After a brief busy signal, it immediately followed—

A faint static noise came from the other end of the phone, followed by a clear, steady, and emotionless synthesized female voice!

It's connected!

In an instant, Wang Xiuqin covered her mouth, Li Jianhua's breathing stopped abruptly, and he leaned forward, almost touching her.

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to calm down and skillfully entered his examination admission ticket number following the voice prompts. Each keystroke sounded exceptionally crisp and startling in the silent room.

The brief silence was as if the system was retrieving data. Those few seconds drained all the oxygen from the room.

Then, the electronic female voice, without any emotion, announced the score, word by word:

"Chinese language score: 138."

"Mathematics, 149 points."

"English, 131 points."

"Science Comprehensive Test, 285 points."

Total score: 703.

"...The candidate's total score is 703. To query again, please press..."

No one listened to what was said after that.

“Seven…seven hundred and three?” Wang Xiuqin murmured, repeating it as if she didn’t understand the meaning of the number. Then, she suddenly realized what it meant, and tears streamed down her face—not sobs, but a sudden, torrent of tears. She hugged Li Ming tightly, her voice trembling with overwhelming joy, incoherent: “Seven hundred and three! Mingming! Seven hundred and three! Provincial No. 1 High School! He can go to Provincial No. 1 High School! My child got in! He got in!!” She patted her son’s back forcefully, as if trying to confirm that this wasn’t a dream.

Li Ming was held tightly in his mother's arms, feeling her body tremble violently and her hot tears soaking his clothes. His heart, which had been hanging in suspense for months, finally settled at this moment. A tremendous, almost exhausting sense of relief swept through him, followed by an indescribable bittersweet feeling of joy and relief. He raised his hand and gently hugged his mother back, his eyes also welling up with tears.

He turned his head and looked at his father.

Li Jianhua remained frozen in place, leaning forward. His expression was incredibly complex, as if he had been rendered incapable of reacting by this overwhelming surprise. Shock, bewilderment, disbelief… ultimately, all these emotions melted into his slightly reddened eyes, converging into an extremely complex light. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but only a few muffled "hoarse" sounds escaped his throat.

Then, he suddenly stood up, so quickly that he knocked over the small stool behind him. Unlike Wang Xiuqin, he didn't pounce on him. Instead, he strode to Li Ming, raised his calloused and cracked hand, seemingly wanting to pat his son's head or shoulder, but his arm paused in mid-air for a moment, and finally, he simply slapped Li Ming's arm heavily, again and again. The force was great, carrying a suppressed excitement that had been building up for too long and didn't know how to release.

"Okay...okay..." He finally managed to squeeze out those two words from deep in his throat, his voice hoarse and choked with emotion. After saying those two words, he seemed to have used up all his strength, abruptly turned around, and strode towards the balcony, leaving Li Ming with a slightly trembling back view, as if he had finally unloaded a heavy burden.

He needed some space to process this immense, almost unimaginable joy, and to hide the tears that might well up in his eyes—the tears of a father.

The home phone quickly became a hotline.

First, it was Teacher Chen who called, her tone full of relief and excitement, repeatedly saying, "Well done! I knew you could do it!"; then came Zhang Hao, who was wailing and expressing his congratulations and envy on the other end of the phone; then came relatives, neighbors... The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire courtyard and among the neighbors.

In less than half an hour, many neighbors who had heard the news flocked into the house. Congratulations and exclamations filled the small but never-before-seen old house.

"Xiuqin, your Li Ming has really made you proud!"

"Over 700 points! That's incredible! This must be the first one in our area!"

"Jianhua, you're going to be living a life of luxury from now on!"

"Li Ming, when you get into the top high school in the province and become a big shot, don't forget about us old neighbors!"

Wang Xiuqin, her face streaked with tears, smiled broadly, busily offering cigarettes and water to everyone. Li Jianhua, who had returned from the balcony sometime earlier, straightened his back, usually slightly hunched from the weight of life's burdens, and his face radiated a newfound brilliance—a mixture of restraint and pride—as he calmly offered cigarettes to the men who had come to offer their congratulations. His movements were no longer tinged with the usual somberness and melancholy, but rather exuded a triumphant exuberance.

Surrounded by people, Li Ming received praise, some sincere and some polite. Looking at the radiant smiles on his parents' faces, so bright and luminous they had never been before, and seeing the vibrant life his family had brought to their home because of his success, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. He had taken the right step, and he had taken it firmly.

As night deepened, the noise subsided.

The house returned to tranquility, though the air still held the lingering scent of smoke and a hint of joy. Wang Xiuqin hummed a tuneless tune in the kitchen, washing the pile of teacups. Li Jianhua sat in the living room, unusually not turning on the television, simply sitting quietly with a faint, relaxed smile playing on his lips.

Li Ming returned to his small room and turned on the desk lamp. He took out the notebook with the word "comeback" written on it and turned to the page where he first made his vow.

"First, get into the top high school in the province and leave this place."

He picked up his pen, paused after the line of text, and then drew a checkmark with force and clarity.

√

The ink stains appeared particularly deep under the dim light. This checkmark erased the regrets of the past life, outlined the starting point of this life, and also brought back the long-lost glory on the faces of the parents.

However, after closing his notebook, Li Ming's gaze drifted to the deep night sky outside the window. The Provincial No. 1 High School was merely a stepping stone, an entrance to a larger world. He knew that entering that prestigious school meant encountering more outstanding peers, a broader platform, and also… more intense competition, and the possibility of launching the grand business plan in his mind.

The first goal has been achieved. But the more arduous second step—"to transform this family's life within three years"—has only just begun. What opportunities and challenges await him behind the gates of the provincial No. 1 High School? Will his plan to accumulate his first fortune through his "prophetic" abilities proceed smoothly in the talent-rich environment of the provincial No. 1 High School?

The night was deep, and the road ahead was unknown.