New Year’s Eve.
Li Dong climbed all the way to the sixth floor, his schoolbag on his back.
"Mom, I’m ho—"
Before he could finish, Li Dong’s voice trailed off.
He stared blankly at the scene inside.
The once-yellowish walls had been freshly painted, and the old sofa in the living room was gone, replaced by a brand-new leather one.
Several unopened boxes, big and small, were stacked in a corner of the living room, bearing the logos of things like robotic vacuums and air purifiers.
Li Dong silently drew his foot back and retreated outside the door.
He looked up and carefully checked the apartment number.
"602... I’m at the right place."
’What’s going on? Did writing my thesis give me hallucinations?’
Just as Li Dong was questioning his sanity, Li Qin’s figure emerged from the kitchen.
"Xiaodong, you’re back? What are you doing standing there like a fool? Hurry up and come in!"
Li Qin, still holding a spatula, pointed at the pile of boxes.
"Go move all that junk your uncle bought. It’s blocking the way."
Hearing his mom’s voice, Li Dong finally felt at ease.
He had just changed into his slippers when his bedroom door pushed open.
His uncle, Li Yang, strode out, his face beaming. He wore a crisp cashmere coat, looking spirited and successful, with the air of a big boss.
"Xiaodong, you’re back! Come, come!"
Li Yang waved Li Dong over, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the bedroom.
"Hurry and see the New Year’s gift your uncle bought you!"
Li Dong was pulled into the completely transformed bedroom.
The old bed had been replaced with a new solid wood one, and even the mattress had been swapped out for a thick, high-quality model.
A large bookshelf with an integrated desk had also been added against the wall.
"So? Are you satisfied?" Li Yang said with a smile, patting the desk.
After speaking, Li Yang walked to the doorway and glanced out guiltily, making sure Li Qin was still stir-frying in the kitchen.
He quickly pulled a thick red envelope from his coat’s inner pocket.
Li Yang stuffed the red envelope into Li Dong’s pocket and said in a hushed voice.
"Take it! This is your New Year’s money from your uncle."
"I don’t know what high school kids like these days, so I was afraid I’d get you the wrong thing. Just keep this and buy whatever you want."
"Make sure you hide it well. Don’t let your mom see it!"
"Otherwise, she’ll just save this money for when you get married."
Hearing this, Li Dong couldn’t help but laugh.
It just goes to show that a brother knows his sister best. Growing up, Li Dong’s New Year’s money never survived past the night of the first day of the new year.
Li Dong had over 800,000 yuan sitting in his bank account, so he wasn’t actually short on cash.
But he also knew that his uncle’s factory must be picking up, and his first thought was to take care of them.
So, he didn’t offer any false pleasantries or refuse the gift.
"Thanks, Uncle. I’ll keep it, then."
"That’s the spirit!" Li Yang patted his shoulder in satisfaction.
"You two, go wash your hands! Time to eat!"
Li Qin’s voice called out from outside the room.
The three of them gathered around the dining table.
The table was laden with all sorts of home-cooked dishes. Though there were only three of them, the atmosphere was exceptionally warm.
The Li family’s situation was rather unique. A few years ago, his father’s car accident had left them with a mountain of debt, causing most of their relatives to avoid them and cut off contact long ago.
His maternal grandparents were spending the holiday with his eldest maternal aunt in another city, so on New Year’s Eve, it was just the brother and sister pair, along with Li Dong.
At the table, the conversation naturally turned to Li Dong’s studies.
Li Qin placed a large pork rib in her son’s bowl and asked curiously.
"Xiaodong, I recently heard from my supervisor at the supermarket that if a high school student wins an award in one of those... Ossai competitions, they can get direct admission to Tsinghua or Peking University?"
"Or they can join some... ’Strong Base Program’? And get a huge point reduction on their entrance exam score!"
Li Qin didn’t usually pay attention to such things, but her son’s grades had been excellent lately. Plus, whenever she scrolled through videos, she kept seeing street interviews with top students.
They were always saying things like, "I didn’t take the gaokao; I got direct admission," which left her completely dumbfounded.
In her mind, hadn’t her own son won first place in a national competition? He even earned a million yuan. How come she’d never heard anything about him getting direct admission?
Li Dong shook his head as he gnawed on a pork rib.
"Mom, it doesn’t work like that."
"That was a commercial competition hosted by a corporation. It’s not on the Ministry of Education’s official list of the five major subject competitions that qualify for direct admission."
Hearing this, Li Qin was a little disappointed.
"Oh, I see... Well, can you participate in one of those recognized competitions? Your physics is so good, you should be able to get direct admission too..."
Li Dong patiently explained.
"There isn’t enough time. The Physics Ossai is a long process. You usually start with the preliminaries and semi-finals in your second year of high school, then you have to make the provincial team and the national training camp. The final results don’t come out until the second half of the year."
"I’m already in the second semester of my senior year. The gaokao is just around the corner."
"Oh, then forget it."
Li Qin wasn’t too disappointed, though.
After all, her son was in the elite class at Jiangcheng Sixth Middle School; getting into a key university wouldn’t be a problem.
She was just feeling a bit wistful.
"It’s just that from the videos I watch, it seems like if you don’t get direct admission or join the Strong Base Program, you’re not considered one of the very top students."
Hearing his mom’s words, Li Dong waved his hand dismissively.
"Mom, don’t listen to that nonsense online."
"Students who get into the regular Strong Base Program, or competition winners who barely squeak into Qingbei..."
"...are really not as impressive as a gaokao top scorer."
"Oh, so that’s how it is."
Li Qin nodded, only half-understanding.
"Then just do your best on the gaokao. Don’t feel too much pressure."
Li Qin truly didn’t understand the meaning behind his words.
But Li Yang, sitting beside her, felt his hand tremble as he was picking up food.
He may have only finished elementary school, but he wasn’t stupid!
His sister was a bit slow on the uptake and didn’t get it, but he did!
Li Dong had said they weren’t as impressive as a gaokao top scorer.
’What does that mean? My nephew is aiming to be the top scorer?’
Holy crap!
Li Yang looked again at Li Dong, who was still sipping his soup.
’Are the ancestral graves of our old Li family finally about to puff green smoke?’
He felt a rush of excitement, and his hand unconsciously reached into his coat again.
He wanted to give another red envelope!
But halfway there, he forced himself to stop.
He had already given him ten thousand. If he pulled out another ten thousand, his sister would definitely sense something was up, and the money would most likely be intercepted.
"Ahem, Xiaodong is right!" Li Yang quickly raised his glass to hide his excitement.
"Don’t worry about competition winners or whatever. We’ll just do our best on the gaokao."
Soon, they finished lunch.
Li Dong checked the time. He had other things to do today. He only had a two-day break, so he had to go fleece... ahem... visit Old Yang.
"Mom, Uncle, take your time."
"I have plans with Teacher Yang. I’m going to his place to pay a New Year’s visit."
"Hey! You can’t go empty-handed!"
Li Qin quickly stood up and started stuffing all the bird’s nests, sea cucumbers, and other things Li Yang had brought over that afternoon into Li Dong’s hands.
"Take all of this with you!"
Seeing this, Li Yang quickly stopped her. "Sis, I bought that for you to build up your health! For Xiaodong’s visit, I can just take him downstairs to the supermarket to buy something new!"
"Buy what? Why spend that extra money when we have perfectly good things right here!"
Li Qin’s eyes widened in a glare.
"It’s a waste for us to eat these fancy things! Xiaodong, you take them!"
"On your way, stop by the supermarket downstairs and grab two decent bottles of liquor and some fruit to go with it!"
Li Dong thought about it and figured his mom had a point.
So he nodded. "Okay."
Carrying the large and small bags, Li Dong said his goodbyes and went downstairs.
The security door clicked shut.
Only then did Li Yang turn his head to look at Li Qin, who was still clearing the table.
"Sis."
"What is it?" Li Qin replied.
"Did you... hear what Xiaodong said just now?" Li Yang asked.
Li Qin froze.
"Hear what?"
Li Yang was still a little excited.
"He said that the regular Strong Base Program isn’t as impressive as a gaokao top scorer!"
"So, does that mean Xiaodong is aiming to be the top scorer?"
Li Qin’s hand, wiping the table, suddenly stopped. She then looked up at Li Yang.
’Top scorer?!’
It was only at this moment that Li Qin realized her son had apparently been talking about being the *gaokao top scorer*, not just taking the *gaokao*.

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