Chapter Forty-Nine: Touring Jianzhou, the Child Who Refused to Study

"What about the future then?"

Huo Qitai asked, holding his head high with a confident expression. "Would you like to start studying again? Take the college entrance exam? You probably know that I held lectures and earned some money."

"No, thank you, Huo Qitai."

Looking up at the bright, clear moon, Li Yangyang smiled and said, "I am no longer fixated on the idea of going to university. Over the past few years, I've seen too many top university graduates who still failed to live the lives they wanted.

I'm doing quite well right now. First, I want to stay with my grandmother, plant vegetables in the countryside here, and raise a dog and a few cats.

Grandmother has many traditional skills passed down through generations—weaving bamboo baskets, growing sugarcane, and boiling our own cane sugar...

We work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

I think this life is wonderful, and you really don't need to worry about me.

If I truly wanted to go to school, I would have stayed in Pengcheng."

The pure white moonlight cascaded down...

Everything was so tranquil and beautiful.

Huo Qitai did not offer any more words of comfort, because he knew Li Yangyang didn't need them.

However, the new name she had chosen for herself, Li Ziqi, reminded him of the video blogger Li Ziqi, who had exploded in popularity on overseas websites after 2015.

Unlike almost all traffic-driven internet celebrities, Li Ziqi always quietly dedicated herself to various aspects of promoting Chinese culture and traditions, with many videos even requiring a whole year of tracked filming.

How similar and parallel many of Li Ziqi's ideas were to the Li Yangyang right before him!

Since that was the case...

An idea formed in Huo Qitai's mind. Why not follow Li Ziqi's path and shape Li Yangyang into just such an international internet celebrity?

However, he first needed to consult Li Yangyang and obtain her consent.

Sitting on the cool stones by the roadside, Huo Qitai shared his inner thoughts with her.

"You mean, use multiple cameras to record some of the daily moments of my grandmother and me?

Especially when I make traditional handicrafts, as well as the processes of pastoral life and gourmet food preparation, and record all of that?"

Li Yangyang found Huo Qitai's idea novel and creative.

Yet, she still harbored some concerns and asked, "Would anyone watch things filmed like this? With so many cameras running continuously, the cost must be very high, right?

Even if someone were genuinely interested in watching what I film, how could it make money for you?"

"It's not about making money for me; it's about you yourself being able to rely on these videos not only to support yourself and your grandmother,

but even to become an ambassador of our Chinese culture, sharing these fine cultural traditions and essence with those ignorant foreigners out there."

With just a brief explanation from Huo Qitai, Li Yangyang understood immediately.

"Such a meaningful thing, which can also record the little moments between my grandmother and me, and end up making money in the end—

I have no reason not to do it. Thank you, Huo Qitai. I might not do well at first, but I will work hard to learn."

Her autumnal eyes drifted, and Li Yangyang's clear gaze blinked, constantly stirring the young man's thumping heart.

Huo Qitai licked his dry lips. "I only understood the poem you wrote for me before graduation today."

A single word—"understood"—instantly made two rosy blushes fly across Li Yangyang's face.

Her heart raced, and she immediately stood up, picked up the wooden basin filled with washed clothes, and hurried to escape the spot.

"Yangyang, stay home and take good care of grandmother. After I finish my speaking tour, I'll come back to see you."

Huo Qitai knew he had been a bit too eager, so he didn't chase after her.

"Okay! Huo Qitai, I'll wait for you."

Li Yangyang's words—"I'll wait for you"—were like the first breeze of spring after a harsh winter, blooming thousands upon thousands of early spring peach blossoms.

A wave of warmth rippled through Huo Qitai's chest, so much so that even after returning home, he fell asleep with a smile on his face the whole night through.

...

The next day, Huo Qitai bade farewell to his parents early and headed to the city to prepare for the afternoon lecture by the Peking University top student.

Today, Liu Ruyu and Zhang Shengwu were no longer needed to help hold down the fort; Huo Qitai himself was already a bona fide prospective Peking University student.

Not to mention that the more than one thousand students and parents who attended yesterday's lecture had spread the word by mouth, all feeling that what Huo Qitai shared were genuinely effective study methods filled with substance.

Compared to the "empty and grandiose" top student experiences shared by Liu Ruyu and Zhang Shengwu, his advice benefited ordinary students much more profoundly.

The afternoon lecture was even more packed, with quite a few "standing-room-only" attendees who didn't have tickets but managed to squeeze in through personal connections.

Huo Qitai basically repeated the methods he had discussed yesterday, winning even warmer and more enthusiastic applause.

As soon as the session ended, Chang Lu hurriedly fetched a hot towel and water to help Huo Qitai wipe away his sweat and moisten his throat.

"Qitai, you lectured so well. No matter wonder Top Scholar Zhang was so certain yesterday that even if you repeated a year, you would definitely get into Peking University."

Only Chang Lu accompanied him today, and Xue Xiaoshan had wandered off goodness knows where.

"Lu Lu, thank you. And Uncle Chang, you are both my benefactors. You deserve half of the medal of honor."

Huo Qitai took a sip of water and smiled gratefully.

Upon hearing the phrase "medal of honor," Chang Lu's cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and her heart felt sweet as honey.

Yet, turning her thoughts to the fact that she was about to go abroad for studies soon, her mood sank again.

Seemingly sensing Chang Lu's thoughts, Huo Qitai asked, "Lu Lu, which day is your flight? Shanzhan and I will go see you off."

"The day after tomorrow! You guys better not come; I'll cry."

Waving her hand, Chang Lu made a crying face, then immediately smiled again. "Besides, didn't you already arrange a lecture in Dongping County for that day?

It's fine, my dad will take me there. Once I arrive in the United States, I'll message you. You can't make international calls from your phone, but we can stay in touch via QQ."

"Alright! Let me know when you arrive, and I'll have something for you to help me with."

Huo Qitai nodded.

"What is it? Buying Bitcoin again? I can have my little uncle help you buy them directly on the market.

However, there aren't enough bitcoins circulating in the market right now," Chang Lu said.

"It's not about Bitcoin; it's about purchasing a domain name. When you get there, I'll send you the details, and you can negotiate on my behalf."

With tens of millions in his hands now, Huo Qitai felt plenty of confidence.

Money is a man's courage; with ample ammunition, Huo Qitai's ambitious business empire naturally had to start moving into the fast lane.

...

And just like that, Chang Lu flew away, and neither Huo Qitai nor Xue Xiaoshan went to see her off.

For many days in a row, Huo Qitai rushed from venue to venue giving lectures.

Jianzhou City was a prefecture-level city, with jurisdiction over Jianan City, Tanqheng District, Jianjin District, Shunyang County, Wuning County, Guangze County, Dongping County, Guanli County, Zhaowu County, and Chong'an County.

From ancient times to the present, Jianzhou has been the necessary route from the Central Plains into Fujian.

Countless clans fleeing and migrating from the Central Plains settled down here, also bringing the newly advanced culture and productive forces of the Central Plains.

Jianan City, in particular, was hailed as the capital of the Eight Min regions, serving as the Min-Yue royal city for a long time.

The accumulation of history and its reputation as a city of Neo-Confucianism imbued all ten counties and cities of Jianzhou with deep cultural heritage.

Yet, unfortunately, after the reform and opening up, the center of economic development shifted to coastal cities.

Jianzhou City, being an inland city surrounded by mountains, quickly saw its economic development plummet from being among the top in the province to hitting rock bottom.

This caused the subordinate counties and cities to lag in economic development, while their education and culture also fell too far behind.

The No. 1 Middle Schools in many counties and cities hadn't produced a single top student of the Tsinghua or Peking University caliber in over a decade.

Therefore, Chang Lu's father, Chang Fuyou, originally intended to proactively contact local strongmen in other counties and cities the next day to help Huo Qitai negotiate lectures and ticket sales.

However, those local strongmen in the counties and cities were well-informed and had already started calling by evening, eagerly begging for cooperation.

Those local strongmen, who had firmly established their turf and accumulated considerable wealth in their respective counties, lacked higher formal education themselves, yet respected culture all the more and understood the preciousness of knowledge.

Furthermore, if all the other counties and cities hosted a Peking University top student lecture while their county didn't, it would be a loss of face for them and a loss for all the students in the city.

From this perspective, Chang Fuyou was actually quite pleasantly surprised, and his evaluation of Huo Qitai in his heart rose significantly.

Including the subsequent nine-day lecture tour, Chang Fuyou personally handled the contacts, communications, and arrangements.

Because of time constraints, except for the first three days of lectures in Jianan City which were held in the afternoon,

Chang Fuyou directly arranged three sessions a day—morning, afternoon, and evening—for Huo Qitai across the remaining nine counties and cities.

Every single session was packed to capacity, with even the parents of many primary or junior high school students finding ways to buy tickets to bring their children along to listen.

The prestige of a Peking University top student was still exceptionally potent and effective in the year 2010.

It had to be said that after completing his lecture tour across Jianzhou City, Huo Qitai had undoubtedly become the role model used by all parents to urge their children to strive and study hard.

Moreover, because of his fortuitous admission to Peking University and his handsome, generous appearance, he also became an idol worshipped by many young boys and girls.

On the final day after finishing his lecture in Zhaowu County, just as Huo Qitai was about to leave through the back door of the hotel, he was intercepted by a youthful junior high school student.

"Big Brother Top Student, wait a minute... I have a question I'd like to ask you."

"Hm?"

Turning his head at the sound, Huo Qitai found the young boy somewhat familiar and asked, "Kid, what's your name? Looks like you've been lying in wait here specifically for me. What question do you have?"

"My name is Xiao Minfei, and I just started junior high this year.

Big Brother Top Student, I don't want to study. I don't like studying at all; I like playing video games, and I'm really good at playing them.

My parents told me to come and listen to your speech. I just heard you say in your speech that studying requires intrinsic motivation to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Since I strongly reject studying right now, I'm definitely not going to be good at it.

I told my parents that in the future I'm going to make a living and support them by playing video games, but they all laughed at me, calling it a whimsical fantasy.

I really don't know what to do now..."

"Xiao Minfei? Oh! This is Zhaowu City, and you're really good at gaming? So you're Dream's Tear Scar!"

Huo Qitai searched his memory and immediately recalled who the young boy in front of him was.

"Yeah! I'm really good at playing games. Big Brother Top Student, don't you believe me?

Dream's Tear Scar? Hearing those four words feels so evocative!

Big Brother Top Student, what do you think if I use Dream's Tear Scar as my online username?"