Chapter 270 The Real World (Part 9) What exactly is reality? ...
Fang Xiaobao was caught off guard and staggered, clutching the spot where he had been hit, staring blankly at his mother, tears streaming down his face as if they were free.
"Mom...why did you hit me!?"
"So what if I hit you?" Fang's mother slammed her chopsticks on the table, her voice instantly rising eight octaves: "You brat! Who taught you to talk to your sister like that? You even dare to give your sister a nickname, I think you're asking for a beating, you have no manners!"
Fang Xiaobao was startled by his mother's sudden outburst of anger, standing there dumbfounded for a long time, unable to react: "Mom, you used to..."
"All you ever talk about is the past! How old were you back then? How old are you now?"
Fang's mother pulled out a dining chair, her tone extremely stern: "Xiaobao, you're all grown up now, you need to respect your sister! Can't you learn from her? Huh? Look how hard your sister works at school, why should she have to serve you, her little princess, when she gets home? From today onwards, all the chores you can manage, like washing dishes and sweeping the floor, are yours! If you dare to slack off, see how I deal with you!"
Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaobao was truly dumbfounded. He had never been treated like this at home before. He immediately protested, wailing, "I won't do it! I won't do it! Fang Wenzi always did these things! Why should I do them! Waaah, Mom, you've changed! You're biased! I'll never be your best friend again!"
"If you keep crying, you'd better stand outside! You're such a spoiled brat!" Fang's mother said fiercely and then ignored him, turning around and pulling Fang Xiwen to sit down.
"Xiwen, forget about your brother and eat first, otherwise the ribs will get cold and won't taste good. You're in a crucial period of your second year of junior high, so you can't be careless about your nutrition! Come on, eat more."
"...Thank you, Mom."
"You silly child, why are you thanking your own mother!"
When Fang Xiaobao saw that his mother was really ignoring him and instead dragging her good-for-nothing sister to eat, he felt both angry and aggrieved.
He couldn't understand why his mother used to cry if he ate even one less bowl of rice! But now? His bad mother was actually scolding and beating him for his sister's sake! The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He threw his schoolbag on the ground and stormed off to his room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.
If his bad mom doesn't come over and coax him today, he... he'll never eat her cooking again!
Seeing this, Fang Xiwen put down her chopsticks, somewhat at a loss: "Mom, Xiaobao, he..."
"Hmph, Xiwen, ignore him! Let him do whatever he wants! We won't starve if we skip a meal! Come on, let's eat."
Fang Xiwen: "..."
She nodded silently, taking small bites of the ribs that her mother had put most of on her plate.
After dinner, Fang Xiwen returned to her desk in her room, but she couldn't calm down.
Today, Fang's mother was not so much strange as abnormal. She actually took the initiative to stew pork ribs for her, and even got angry because Fang Xiaobao didn't respect her. She even made him do the housework after the meal... In the past, she wouldn't have dared to even think about these things.
Meanwhile, in the next room...
Fang Xiaobao lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, his heart filled with grievances.
His mother used to dote on him the most, always giving him the best food and toys first. But today, not only did she make him do chores, she was also so mean to him! The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He suddenly sat up, grabbed the toy car next to his pillow, and threw it against the wall.
"Bad mommy, stinky mommy! If you don't appease Xiaobao today, Xiaobao will never talk to you again!"
After Fang Xiaobao shouted at the top of his lungs, the room remained quiet. Unlike before, Fang's mother did not rush over to comfort him at the slightest sound.
"Waaaaah..."
Fang Xiaobao pouted, angrily pulled the blanket over his head, and fell asleep without realizing it.
The next morning, Fang Xiwen was awakened by the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes, glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, and realized it was not yet 6:30. Usually at this time, her mother wouldn't be up yet; she would get up early to make breakfast for the family and then call them up one by one to eat.
What happened today?
She quickly grabbed the clothes from the side, put them on, and walked out of the room. She saw Fang's mother wearing an apron, busy in the kitchen, and the aroma of millet porridge wafted from the pot.
"Xiwen, you're up? Sit down quickly, the porridge is ready, Mom made you some bok choy and egg pancakes, and there's also the braised beef I made last night!"
"Thank you, Mom."
"Don't thank me, child, eat first!"
"……Um."
Fang Xiwen sat up straight, her eyes slightly red. Since being brought back to the city after her grandmother's death, this was the first time she had eaten breakfast made by her mother. No one knew how long she had longed for this simple breakfast since she was a child.
She ate this meal with exceptional care, only putting down her chopsticks after Fang Xiaobao came out of the room with a pout and sat down opposite her with a reluctant expression.
"Mom, I've finished eating, I'm going to school now." Fang Xiwen slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and opened the door, when her mother chased after her with a pink plastic bag.
"Xiwen, take these two apples and cookies with you. Eat them after class, don't go hungry. Also, be careful on your way home, and go home early after school, okay?"
Listening to Fang's mother's earnest instructions, Fang Xiwen hesitated for a moment, then took the plastic bag and carefully put it into her schoolbag.
"Okay, I understand."
As Fang Xiwen approached the entrance of No. 3 Middle School, she spotted Song Ce in the distance. He was standing at the school gate with his backpack, seemingly waiting for someone. After a moment's hesitation, she blushed slightly and stepped forward to greet him, "Good morning, Song Ce!"
Song Ce turned his head, saw Fang Xiwen, and smiled gently: "Yes, good morning. Did you have breakfast today?"
"I've already eaten. It was millet porridge and egg pancakes made by my mom." She smiled, her face showing an unprecedented ease and joy. "She even brought me cookies and fruit for dessert!"
Song Ce was stunned for a moment. It seemed that the Yin-Yang Substitute Heart Talisman had indeed taken effect. He looked at Fang Xiwen, who had a smile on her face, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good."
"Okay, it's almost time for morning reading, I'll go in first!" Fang Xiwen waved her hand and urged, "Hurry up too, don't be late!"
"Okay." Song Ce nodded and followed her slowly toward the classroom.
After the morning reading session, Lin Anliang brought people to the school and completed all the necessary procedures for Song Ce's transfer to Beijing.
The principal of No. 3 Middle School's eyes lit up, barely suppressing his excitement. "Dr. Lin, could our No. 3 Middle School do some publicity for Song Ce in the future?"
Lin Anliang smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course. Although Song Ce's future work will be kept secret, the impact will be minimal if the school only publicizes it. It can even motivate more students to study harder, which is a good thing. However..."
"But what?"
Lin Anliang paused, his face serious: "However, the principal still needs to coordinate with our Institute of Physics regarding the subsequent publicity content to ensure that it does not involve any sensitive information about Song Ce."
"Of course, of course!" The principal of No. 3 Middle School nodded repeatedly, his smile never fading, as if he could already see the future when No. 3 Middle School would become famous.
That afternoon, Song Ce left Qing City by special train with the people from the Institute of Physics.
For the next month, Song Ce was properly housed in a three-story building inside the Institute of Physics. Not only that, Du Xidun also personally contacted the best affiliated high school in Beijing for him, saying that he should not fall behind in his regular studies while focusing on physics research.
When it comes to Beijing Affiliated High School, it is undoubtedly the top key high school in Beijing, with strong academic strength and a powerful teaching staff. Countless students would do anything to get in. However, now, a student from out of town has obtained admission without any effort, which has made many teachers at Beijing Affiliated High School frown.
Another blatant case of nepotism! The century-old reputation of our affiliated high school will inevitably be ruined by people like these!
At this moment, Zhuang Yujiang, who had just been promoted to principal of the affiliated high school, was also quite troubled by the overt and covert complaints and doubts. Although this student was young, the fact that Professor Du from the Institute of Physics personally came to greet him and that he could freely enter and exit the affiliated high school's exclusive laboratory building suggested that this was no ordinary relationship.
After much deliberation, he finally decided to have the teachers who had raised doubts create a test paper together and conduct a preliminary examination on Song Ce in class. Let's put him to the test and see if he's any good, so that everyone can be convinced!
Zhuang Yujiang originally thought that he might run into trouble by proposing the exam, but to his surprise, Professor Du from the Institute of Physics readily accepted his suggestion and said that everything could be done according to procedure, as long as the child was given a chance.
Haha, he's willing to give the opportunity, it just depends on whether this person with connections can seize it!
Soon, the diagnostic test was scheduled for Friday afternoon in the affiliated high school's staff activity room. The test was created by five core teachers from the entire senior year group, and the content covered six subjects: Chinese, mathematics, English, politics, physics, chemistry, and biology. The difficulty level of the questions was directly comparable to the senior year mock exams. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was a deliberate attempt by Beijing Affiliated High School to give Song Ce a hard time.
"Student Song, this is the exam paper. The exam lasts two and a half hours. You cannot leave the room during the exam. If you have any questions, please raise your hand. Understand?" The chief examiner, Teacher Li, pushed up his glasses and gave the instructions in a calm tone.
Song Ce nodded, took the test paper and draft paper, and quietly sat down in the middle of the activity room. He quickly glanced through all the questions, then picked up his pen and began to answer the questions.
The six proctors who set the exam questions exchanged glances, gradually becoming restless. The reason was simple: Song Ce was completely unaffected by them, his handwriting flowing smoothly with almost no pauses, and he didn't even need to use any scratch paper.
An hour later, Song Ce put down his pen, stood up, tidied up his test paper, and handed it to the proctor: "Teacher, I've finished answering the questions."
One of the older teachers stood up and took the test paper. He glanced through a couple of pages and his tone softened considerably: "Okay, okay, you can go back now. We'll let you know when the results are out."
"Thank you, teacher."
Song Ce packed his things and walked out of the activity room. Du Xidun, who had been waiting outside, could tell at a glance that he was in a good mood. He took a few steps forward and asked with a smile, "How did the exam go? The questions weren't easy, were they?"
"It's alright, not too difficult," Song Ce said honestly.
Du Xidun laughed heartily upon hearing this, "Good! I knew you could do it! Come on, come back to the lab with me first. There are still three things I don't quite understand about the idea you proposed last week, one is..."
Song Ce listened quietly as he finished speaking, and was about to answer the three questions about the proposed weapon manufacturing when the long-dormant voice in his mind reappeared.
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