Chapter Twelve: In This Life, Please Allow Your Son to Fight Valiantly for Your Honor!

“Could it be that those three crash-course study guides you just showed me were all made up by yourself?” Xue Xiaoshan stared in disbelief. “You actually plan to sell these for profit?”

“Of course. It’s been exhausting putting together these materials and writing these study methods over the past few days,” Ho Qitai said, clapping his hands as he neatly stacked the documents. Then he sent all the organized files from his computer both to his email and as MP4s.

Backups were a habit Ho Qitai had cultivated over years of work, having suffered many losses from not doing so.

“Hey, Tai! You’re not even sick! Your college entrance exam score was a few points lower than mine! Do you really think those review strategies and secrets you wrote will sell?”

Xue Xiaoshan was increasingly baffled by Ho Qitai. Ever since he was heartbroken by Liu Rumeng’s breakup, he seemed like a completely different person.

“No matter what I say now, you won’t believe me. Just watch what I do next. You and Lulu just need to fully cooperate with me.”

After tidying up the materials and shutting down the computer, Ho Qitai noticed a slight sour smell on himself and decided to tackle the remaining liberal arts materials later.

He glanced at the dazed Xue Xiaoshan and then at the vice class monitor, Lü Xiqing, who was walking over, and asked, “Qing, what are you doing here? Oh right! I haven’t asked—Xiaoshan, did you have something to talk to me about?”

That’s when Xue Xiaoshan remembered and said, “Of course! You’ve been stuck in the internet café for days, and your mom even came looking for you. When she couldn’t find you at the rented room, she came to find me. I told her not to wait at the apartment and immediately called everyone to help look for you…”

“My mom came looking for me?” Ho Qitai then patted his head and recalled. In the previous life, at this time, his cousin Lin Sihui was getting engaged, and his mother had come to help, also tidying up his rented room before returning to their hometown. He had completely forgotten about this.

“I’ll go back first. Xiaoshan, call Lulu and let her know. Tomorrow we’ll all meet at her family’s hotel.”

With that, Ho Qitai grabbed a pile of study materials and hurried back to the rented room.

Vice class monitor Lü Xiqing looked stunned and said to Xue Xiaoshan, “Xiaoshan, I never believed those things in books about how love can make people lose their minds and become capable of anything. But now seeing Tai run to the internet café to study just to retake the exam and get into Peking University because of Liu Rumeng, I believe it! I really do! Love is truly a strange thing. I want to experience it too…”

“Tai is acting a little weird, but I can’t quite put my finger on what’s off. It’s really strange,” Xue Xiaoshan said, equally perplexed.

…

At the rented room, Ho’s mother was tidying up the messy space while happily looking at the “college entrance exam report card” taped to the desk.

579 points!

This was several points above the first-tier university cutoff. Although not enough for top-tier universities like 211 or 985 projects, it was enough to satisfy Ho’s mother.

Just a year ago, Ho Qitai, who used to spend nights playing games online, had grades so poor he couldn’t even get into a third-tier university.

Thankfully, he saw the error of his ways and worked hard for a year, pulling his grades up dramatically.

…

“Mom!”

At that moment, the door to the rented room opened from outside. Ho Qitai, disheveled, yet smiling brightly, called out, “Mom” — a word he hadn’t said in years.

“Ah Tai, back to the internet café again? You’ve been gone so many days without coming back to shower? You’ve really gone wild! But it’s your time to have fun. I told you, as long as your exam results are good, you can do whatever you want.”

Seeing her scruffy son, Ho’s mother was both annoyed and worried, urging, “Hurry up! Go wash first. We’re going to your eldest aunt’s house later for Hui’s engagement banquet tonight. You get so caught up in playing, you forget all the important things.”

“Alright, Mom! It’s been so long since I saw you. Come, give me a hug!”

Ho Qitai didn’t hold back and stepped forward, eyes moist.

“Go on, go on! You’re a grown man, still want your mom’s hug? Aren’t you embarrassed? Hurry up and clean yourself up. You’re about to be a college student, don’t let your eldest aunt’s relatives look down on you. Are you hungry? Let me make you some noodles.”

Though complaining, his mother opened her arms. Ho Qitai took a deep breath and hugged her tightly.

Warm and real.

He recalled that in the previous life, after graduating in 2014, his mother had gone mentally foggy from working both as a substitute teacher and doing farm work. She was hit by a farm tricycle at a crossing and passed away after six months of care at home.

His mother’s death was a lifelong regret.

Now, the one person who most hoped he would succeed was his mother.

Yet, after a lifetime of hard work, she never got to see him succeed in business or make millions.

While showering, Ho Qitai thought back to the end of the second year of high school.

He was still staying at his eldest aunt’s house, sneaking out every night to surf the internet, causing his grades to fall to the bottom of the top high school.

Back then, he cared only about games, chatting online, and reading novels, ignoring the scoldings from his parents and teachers.

Whenever reprimanded, he’d nod and promise to do better, but then his mind would wander, already planning to rush to the internet café after class to play a few rounds of CF’s zombie mode. It was pure bliss.

One day after class, he overheard his eldest aunt yelling at his mother harshly.

She said something like, “The Ho family boys have no destiny for studying. Ah Tai is hopeless, living here conveniently near the top high school but scoring at the bottom, just taking up space.”

She called the Ho brothers “vampires” because they had no money and always asked the eldest brother for help, living rent-free in this room that could easily rent for hundreds a month.

She implied his mother should just let him drop out and work, since his grades were too poor to get into a good university.

Ho Qitai, hiding outside the door, was hurt by these words.

But after over a year of falling behind, such harsh words had become white noise — in one ear and out the other.

More importantly, he himself had given up on studying, believing he wasn’t cut out for it.

Yet…

Despite his eldest aunt’s harshness, his mother kept her lips pressed together, speaking kindly to her and insisting, “Ah Tai is smart, he just loves to play. I believe he can do well. Please give him another chance, don’t drive him away…”

Then Ho Qitai saw his mother suddenly kneel before his eldest aunt, begging her:

“They say brothers share flesh and bone. My brothers may be uneducated country boys, a burden to you and big brother. But we won’t forget your kindness. Please don’t drive Ah Tai away. I will talk to him, so he remembers your kindness and repays you well when he gets into a good university, finds a job, and makes money…”

“Ai Zhen! What are you doing? I never said I wanted to drive Ah Tai away. It’s just that he runs off to the internet every night. If something happens, you’ll blame me for not watching him. I don’t expect anything in return. As the eldest, it’s my duty to take care of the younger ones.”

His eldest aunt, seeing this, didn’t dare speak harshly anymore and helped Ho’s mother up.

Still, young and reckless Ho Qitai, a mix of insecurity and pride, couldn’t bear to see his proud mother kneeling before someone.

“Mom! Let’s go. I’m not staying here anymore.”

With red eyes, Ho Qitai stormed inside, packed all his things hastily, and dragged his mother away from his eldest aunt’s house.

From then on, Ho Qitai was completely awakened.

His mother believed in his intelligence and thought he could still work hard and get into a good university.

He swore never to disappoint her hopes, never to let her suffer or kneel for others on his account.

With no money to rent a place, he squeezed into a dorm room with Lü Xiqing and others for a month.

During that month, Ho Qitai not only studied hard to catch up on missed courses but also continued to go to the internet café every night—not to play games, but to write novels.

This was the only way he knew to make money conveniently.

Sure enough, under the pen name “Must Fire,” his first novel, “The Strongest Pretender System in the City,” gained some popularity online within a month, earning him over a thousand yuan in royalties plus a thousand yuan attendance bonus—a total of two thousand yuan.

With this money, Ho Qitai rented off-campus housing and bought a large number of review books.

In less than a year, Ho Qitai earned tens of thousands of yuan from his novel royalties, and his grades soared from the bottom to around the first-tier cutoff.

Ultimately, he performed exceptionally well on the college entrance exam, scoring 579 points.

“Phew… this is wonderful!”

Memories like drifting smoke, after his shower, Ho Qitai felt refreshed.

Especially seeing his mother peacefully sitting on the bed with a steaming bowl of noodles on the table, he was filled with boundless ambition.

Silently, he vowed to his mother:

“Mom! In my past life, I was unfilial and caused you so much pain, and in the end, you never saw me succeed.

But now that I have a second chance, I will not let tragedy repeat.

This life, please let me bring you pride! I will prove to everyone who looks down on you, on our Ho family, and on me that you were right!

I, Ho Qitai, am smart, hardworking, able to get into the best university, destined to succeed, and above all, a devoted and loving son!!!”

…

[PS: This chapter is quite emotional! It’s almost my own experience of decay and rise in high school, except I only had about three months to review all high school science knowledge for the college entrance exam.

In the end, I also scored 579 points. With more time, I probably could have done better.]