Chapter 57 - 45: My Son Has Grown Up
Seeing that his father was beginning to be swayed, he laid out the future path he had already decided upon.
"Dad, the reason I’m so determined to switch to the mathematics department isn’t just because I’m interested. It’s because of my plans for the future."
He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "You know what the fastest-developing field of technology in the world is right now, don’t you? It’s artificial intelligence—AI. The core of all AI technology, its fundamental logic, is all mathematics. Algorithms, models, data... none of it can exist without it."
"I believe the next decade will be the age of AI. This field will create countless opportunities. Chinese Language and Literature already has limited career paths, and facing a technological wave like this, we’re even more vulnerable. Switching to the mathematics department is the only way I’ll have more opportunities."
"I’m working hard to make money right now to save up my first bit of startup capital. I hope that in the future, I’ll have the chance to truly enter the AI field."
Once he finished, the entire dining room fell silent.
Lin Xiaoqi was completely lost, but she could sense a light shining in her son’s eyes that she had never seen before as he spoke.
As for Chen Xian, he was completely stunned by his son’s clear logic and farsighted vision.
He stared blankly at his son, as if looking at a stranger.
He never would have imagined that his son—the one who was usually a bit of a wisecracker, always working part-time jobs for some extra cash—was secretly harboring such a grand blueprint.
After a long moment, Chen Xian let out a heavy breath. The scrutiny and doubt in his eyes were completely replaced by relief and approval.
He raised his hand, clapped Chen Lin firmly on the shoulder, and said three words.
"I support you."
With her husband’s approval, the worry on Lin Xiaoqi’s face slowly faded away.
...
「In the dead of night.」
Chen Lin was lying on his bed.
With his eyes closed, his hearing, enhanced by "Little Champion," clearly picked up his parents’ hushed conversation from the master bedroom next door.
"Old Chen, don’t you feel like our son is a bit different since he came back this time?" It was his mom, Lin Xiaoqi, her voice tinged with emotion.
"He is," his dad, Chen Xian’s, voice was as steady as ever. "He seems a lot stronger, and he has more spirit."
"It’s more than that," Lin Xiaoqi’s voice held a note of wonder. "I feel like he’s suddenly found his own backbone, found his own goals and ambitions. Have you noticed? He was always a good kid, but he used to just do whatever we told him to, maybe complaining a little under his breath. But today, he had everything planned out and presented it to us so clearly and logically. That’s never happened before."
In the darkness, Chen Lin could picture his father nodding.
"Kids have to grow up eventually. We should support him going out and making his own way," Chen Xian’s voice was smiling. "Besides, isn’t this a good thing? Don’t you think he’s gotten more considerate? He knows how to look out for us now, even thinking of getting a new air conditioner for the house."
At the mention of that, Lin Xiaoqi’s voice filled with unrestrained joy and pride.
"Yes! You have no idea how happy I was this afternoon when I saw that new air conditioner. That kid... he’s really grown up. He’s almost become the pillar of our family."
...
Listening to his parents’ conversation, Chen Lin closed his eyes, a warm smile slowly forming on his lips.
...
「June 23rd. Monday, 3:00 PM.」
「A top-tier high school in Shuixiang City, Jiangsu Province.」
On this summer afternoon, the scorching air felt thick enough to be solid. Outside the window, wave after wave of shrill cicada cries grated on the nerves.
The atmosphere inside the classroom, however, was a stark contrast to the sweltering world outside. A lazy, relaxed mood, unique to the days after final exams, had settled over the students.
The math teacher stood at the front of the class, enthusiastically explaining several difficult problems from the final exam, but only half the students were paying attention. The rest were either secretly on their phones or whispering to their deskmates about where they planned to go wild over the summer break.
Liang Xiaodong was one of them.
He was sprawled on his desk like a puddle of goo, half his face buried in the crook of his arm. Phone in hand, he was messaging a WeChat friend named "Bozi."
Liang Xiaodong: [Game time! Game time! Badminton!]
Liang Xiaodong: [I binged games for two days straight and now I’m electronically impotent. I’m in desperate need of a good sweat session to physically recover!]
He fired off two messages, but there was no immediate reply.
Liang Xiaodong pursed his lips. Just as he was putting his phone away, he felt a firm poke in his back.
He turned to see his good friend, Han Sibo, looking at him with a helpless expression.
Han Sibo wore black-framed glasses. He had a refined look and a quiet disposition—a model student in the teachers’ eyes and the "neighbor’s perfect kid" parents always talked about.
"Dongzi, stop playing. Old Ding is watching from the back," Han Sibo reminded him in a low voice.
Liang Xiaodong instinctively ducked his head. He shot a glance toward the back door out of the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw the familiar face of their homeroom teacher, Ding Shu.
He quickly stuffed the phone into his desk, sat up straight, and feigned the attentive expression of a well-behaved student.
He finally endured until the bell rang for the end of class. The teacher had barely stepped out of the classroom when Liang Xiaodong jumped up and threw an arm around Han Sibo.
"C’mon, c’mon, Bozi! Let’s go play! If I don’t get moving, I think I’m gonna grow mold."
"Can’t," Han Sibo said, shaking his head. He pulled a stack of printed math handouts from the small mountain of review materials on his desk. "I have to study."
Liang Xiaodong’s movements froze. He looked at his good friend with an expression of utter disbelief.
"Study what? Didn’t we just finish finals?" He leaned in and grinned mischievously. "What, did you bomb the exam this time? Getting a head start on senior year prep?"
"No," Han Sibo pushed up his glasses, his expression serious. "I’m preparing for the senior year Strong Base Program selection."
"Strong Base Program?" A big question mark appeared over Liang Xiaodong’s head. "What the heck is that?"
"It’s not something I can explain in a sentence or two," Han Sibo said concisely. "Look it up online yourself. To put it simply, you can think of it as a special track that could get me into Qingbei."
"Holy shit!" Liang Xiaodong’s eyes went wide, and the arm hooked around his friend’s shoulders tightened. "Damn, Bozi! Don’t forget me when you’re rich and famous!"
Liang Xiaodong knew where Han Sibo stood academically. He was consistently ranked in the top fifty of their grade, and on a good day, he could even break into the top thirty.
Even at a key provincial high school like theirs, those grades made him a top-tier student. But it was still a far cry from being a shoo-in for Qingbei.
Liang Xiaodong had heard the homeroom teacher mention before that in the past two years, only about twenty people from their school got into Qingbei each year.
This was the first time Liang Xiaodong had ever heard of a "Strong Base Program." It seemed the number of people who got in on raw Gaokao scores alone was even smaller.
"Stop, stop," Han Sibo said, breathless from the chokehold, waving his hand dismissively. "They call it an opportunity, but really it’s just rounding up all the ’Kings of Competition’ from across the country to fight over a handful of spots. It’s way harder than the Gaokao."
He paused, then added, "The school set up a special training class just for this, it started the day before yesterday. Right now I’m mulling over the homework the teacher assigned yesterday. There’s another class after school on Wednesday afternoon, and the teacher is going to go over it then."
"But you still have all day tomorrow," Liang Xiaodong pressed, not giving up. "Let’s go play today. You know, balance work and rest for higher efficiency. Who knows, maybe getting some exercise will clear your head and you’ll figure it out?"
"Nah," Han Sibo said, shaking his head. "I can’t solve these problems, so I wouldn’t be able to relax and have fun even if I went."
"..."
Liang Xiaodong let go, speechless. ’The world of a top student... I guess I’ll never understand it.’