Chapter 3: A Parent’s Decision For The Future
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
What the h*ck?
Getting soup had given him a skill?
Xu Mang carried his basin full of ribs with a bewildered expression on his face, walking toward a corner of the cafeteria. This world was crazy, to think that getting soup was considered to be a skill.
Glancing at his basin full of ribs, Xu Mang nodded thoughtfully to himself. Being able to ladle soup this way was indeed a skill—One that would sufficiently feed you as long as you had a place that gave free soup. If that was the case, every day would bring forth a big meal.
It was a pity that this skill was a little dangerous. It would be easy to accidentally fall into the soup pot and drown if he wasn't careful while in the process of getting points for the skill...plus, this wasn't the same era of Sima Guang, disregarding the possibility of punishments, the fact that the pot was made of stainless steel and would be impossible to break and save him from drowning.
"What a pity…"
"It's such a good skill for making a living." Xu Mang sighed as he began his lunch journey.
As he ate, Xu Mang was pondering on the question in his mind all the while. It concerned getting rich overnight, because after obtaining the System, this had been on his mind all the while.
Forget it…
He was already rich to this extent, he couldn't just throw it all away, right?
What a shameful waste!
In the afternoon, Xu Mang acquired Maths and Chinese skills but didn't activate any other tasks, naturally, he still held onto his 1 Upgrade Card.
At night, it was self-study. This was the one time in the whole school day that Xu Mang anticipated the quiet and mysterious silence that the night brought, which led Xu Mang, who had slept the entire day, to be full of energy at this time.
Night revision period was relatively flexible. Generally, for students who stayed in the dorm, they would stay behind a bit longer, and as for those students who chose to commute, they were allowed to leave earlier. Xu Mang, thankfully, was a commuting student.
When there were thirty minutes left in the long three and a half hour period, Xu Mang had already started to pack up his bag. Although there were no books inside the bag, it was more of a routine, a going-home routine. If you didn't pack your bag before going home, you would feel as though you were missing something.
"Xu Mang, you might as well go home." The bespectacled boy sitting in the middle said, looking at him. "It's not like you study anyway."
F*ck!
You again!
This guy was not an ordinary person, his name was Wang Liang. He was like a celebrity in many of the teachers' eyes and had excellent academic records. It was said that from elementary school until present, he had always been a good student, in fact, he had been one of the top students in the entire district a few times before.
Although he only ranked fourth in class, there was only a difference of about three to five points compared to the top three students, which could be described as a very small gap. Adding on his skill to socialize with most people, it had managed to land him the position of deputy class monitor.
Unfortunately, such excellent people were usually narrow-minded.
Xu Mang quietly picked up his bag, walking out of the classroom.
Catching the last bus home, Xu Mang took out his earphones as he reached the harbor.
"Mom!"
"You're back?"
Xu Mang had just reached home, and his mother—Li Hong came out to greet him as she hurried out of the kitchen. "Come here, come, mom has made you some dessert, you can't neglect your health because of studies."
"Mom…"
"Could you change the snacks?" Xu Mang said as he took the bowl with sugar water and eggs. "Eating this for ten years...I can't stand it anymore. If you take a glass of water and add some soy sauce, it would still be better than this!"
"What did you say!"
"Your father has eaten this for more than twenty years and is still not tired of it, you're just making a fuss." Li Hong glared at her son and scolded him angrily. "Eat it immediately!"
Sigh…
It's only because you've never seen dad secretly puking it out!
Xu Mang looked at the bowl in his hands and he felt a chill in his heart. If there was anything that could make this bowl of sweetened egg taste good, he was willing to pay any price!
Oh!?
Staring at the bowl in his hands, Xu Mang started to meditate. The purpose of the meditation was to let himself fall into a deep sleep, and after about a minute of experimenting, his body started to feel tired.
[New Skill detected, Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating Skill has been unlocked]
F*cking awesome!
'System, System...how much do I need to exchange to let this bowl of sweetwater eggs taste better?' Xu Mang asked in his heart.
[The System has acknowledged, to make this bowl of Sweetened Egg Dessert taste delicious will require: 1 point (Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating Skill)]
[Note: The essence remains the same, it will only deceive your tastebuds]
[Will you agree to the exchange?]
If he had to be deceived, so be it. From young until now,
Xu Mang quickly set the bowl down and lay down in front of it, going to sleep.
Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating +1
Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating +1
Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating +1
This scene broke Li Hong's heart. Now, her son was under so much pressure that even when eating an egg, he could fall asleep. In that instant, the mother felt love overwhelm her heart, and she went back into the kitchen to add two more eggs into the bowl for him.
"Son…"
"Wake up, eat up your eggs." Li Hong said, her tone full of love.
"Huh?"
"What in the!" Xu Mang looked at the bowl in front of him, a horrified expression on his face as he asked, "How come...how come there are two extra eggs now?!"
"Don't ask so many questions, hurry up and eat. Mom has specially added some ginseng inside it." Li Hong said. "Hurry up and eat."
Not being able to do much regarding the increase in the number of eggs, Xu Mang now needed a total of 3 points instead. Fortunately, he had just enough.
After exchanging the points, Xu Mang picked up the bowl to eat.
Not bad...sweet!
"Mom?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you put sugar in this?" Xu Mang asked.
"Oh!" Li Hong exclaimed in surprise. "I thought I forgot something, I forgot to put the sugar in it!"
"..."
Even though the Sweetened Egg Dessert Eating Skill was a bit useless, it did give him a slight feeling of... luckiness.
"Son is back?"
A gruff voice came from the doorway.
"Dad."
Xu Mang saw his father—Xu Jianguo carrying a briefcase, returning home with a smile on his face, and he knew that his father had won again in today's drinking games. His father was really good, no smoke or drinks, only liked to have an occasional drink or two.
Of course, the amount of a drink or two was a little bigger than normal.
"Jianguo!"
"Why did you drink so much again today?" Li Hong could smell that her husband's entire body reeked of alcohol and she angrily scolded him. "Next time don't drink with those friends of yours!"
"I couldn't say no today! If you want to blame anyone, then blame your son for this." Xu Jianguo said, defending himself.
What?
Why was he thrown under the bus like this?
Xu Mang didn't say anything, silently waiting for his father to elaborate, if he could...he'd throw his father into the fire!
"This kid caused trouble again today, Mr. Lin was almost foaming at the mouth!" Xu Jianguo looked toward Xu Mang. "I could only buy a drink for Mr. Lin and the director of the school at night, using drinks to compensate them."
"Son?"
"You caused trouble again today?" Li Hong sighed. "Listen to Mom, study hard and properly."
"Oh…"
Xu Mang nodded silently and said, "I'm going to bed, I still have school tomorrow."
"Go on, go on."
"Don't play games!"
The couple waved at Xu Mang as he left.
After Xu Mang went up to the second floor, Li Hong couldn't help but ask, "Dear...do you think our son will be able to go to university?"
"University? Him?"
Xu Jianguo snorted and said angrily, "If he can even graduate from high school, I'll already be praising the skies and earth!"
"What do we do? If he can't qualify into university, wouldn't you just become a laughingstock?" Li Hong said helplessly. "And it's not like you don't know the situation on my mother's side, all of them are good in their studies...how do we show our faces during the New Year?"
"You think I'm relaxed on my side?" Xu Jinguo said, clearly unhappy. "Look at my eldest brother's daughter, she's confirmed going to Peking University. My second brother's daughter is going to Tsinghua University, and my third sister's son is going to Fudan University…"
"Dear?"
"Do you think the nurse in the hospital gave us the wrong child?" Li Hong frowned. "Look, the children on my side are all excellent, even the children on your side are all great, only our son…"
"Don't blindly assume, if you let the child hear you, it wouldn't be nice." Xu Jianguo said as he let out a heavy sigh, saying, "Why don't we do it this way. We'll wait till he's in the second half of his third year, then we'll send him abroad to earn some money. After that, we'll use it to start a family business."
Sigh...
"That's the only way." Li Hong shook her head helplessly and then glanced at the empty bowl on the table, turning to ask, "Do you want an egg?"
-- Gift
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