Chapter 47: Household Trifles

Time flew by.

It had been three days since the Gaokao results were released.

During these three days, Wangjia Village was incredibly lively. Whenever people looked toward Wang Donglai's house, their eyes were filled with a hint of envy and jealousy.

The National Top Scorer in Liberal Arts!

Top-tier universities like Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Zhejiang University were all scrambling to recruit him.

He could receive scholarships just by attending, and he could even be sent abroad for advanced studies at public expense to eventually return as a professor.

There were even reporters from television stations coming to conduct interviews.

The people of Wangjia Village had never imagined that such things would happen in their impoverished little mountain village.

Yet, here it was, happening right before their eyes.

And during these three days, Wang Donglai had been so busy he was running himself ragged, exhausted beyond measure.

Because he had chosen not to attend Tsinghua or Peking, but had instead opted for Tangdu Jiaoda, he had drawn an immense amount of shock, confusion, and doubt from many people.

There was no helping it; Wang Donglai could only explain slowly.

It took a great deal of effort and persuasion to finally smooth things over.

However, he did not reveal the true reason.

In reality, it was quite simple: the 300,000 yuan from Tangdu Jiaoda was extremely important to the current Wang Donglai.

The conditions offered by prestigious schools like Tsinghua and Peking seemed excellent, but that was only true for ordinary people.

For Wang Donglai, as long as he had the time to develop, he could become a modern-day Einstein, surpassing even Einstein himself.

Just as any single technology from the system's lottery, if brought out by him, could trigger a massive upheaval across the entire world.

Therefore, he didn't need conditions like guaranteed postgraduate admission or a faculty position.

Would Einstein have been barred from universities simply because he lacked a master's degree?

Moreover, focusing solely on academic research was not Wang Donglai's intention.

To change this world, one must either build a massive commercial empire or enter politics.

The latter required too much time, was too complex, and was uncontrollable, so he naturally discarded it.

That left only the first option: building a massive commercial empire.

Using commercial means to achieve his dreams.

While foreign companies were launching commercial spacecraft to explore the stars, continuously investing in artificial intelligence research, and vigorously developing biotechnology and cutting-edge technologies...

The top domestic internet companies were merely selling goods, developing games, or building platforms to collect transaction fees and sit on piles of cash.

The difference in caliber was stark!

In his previous life, Wang Donglai was a commoner, an ordinary person.

But when he was a keyboard warrior on the internet, he had fantasized that if he ever became wealthy, he would use that money to develop real technology, leading his motherland to prosperity and strength, allowing them to hold their heads high.

Now that he had the system, his resolve in this thought had become even firmer.

It was already 2012, and the opportunities left for Wang Donglai were not many.

If he wanted to expand rapidly, domestic and foreign capital would not grant him much room to grow.

He could either accept financing from domestic and foreign capital, allowing his equity to be diluted bit by bit until he became a "golden hen" for those capitalists to make money;

Or he could stumble along, being pursued and blocked by capital, trying to endure through time to become a great company.

Thirty years is too long; one must seize the moment!

Though current opportunities were few, there was still a glimmer of light, so Wang Donglai had to seize this moment.

The first pot of gold was exceptionally important.

And the prize money obtained from this Gaokao would serve as the starting capital for his substantial entrepreneurial fund.

In truth, if it weren't for his rural upbringing, if it weren't for his family's lack of money, and if it weren't for his lack of savings, Wang Donglai would not have made such a choice.

During these three days

The Provincial Department of Education awarded Wang Donglai 10,000 yuan and issued a document praising the educational achievements of Shangshan City, while simultaneously allocating 1 million yuan to Anshui High School to expand its library and strengthen its teaching staff.

The Municipal Education Bureau awarded Wang Donglai 30,000 yuan and heavily commended the excellent work of the Anshui County Education Bureau.

The County Education Bureau awarded a 50,000 yuan prize, and Anshui High School also provided 50,000 yuan as a reward. Additionally, the 300,000 yuan from Tangdu Jiaoda arrived on the same day.

Several enterprises in Anshui County also expressed their willingness to provide prize money, but they were all rejected by Wang Donglai.

In the end, he had a total of 440,000 yuan in hand.

Beyond that, it wasn't just Wang Donglai who applied to Tangdu Jiaoda.

After consulting with Wang Qingchen, Chen Mengni, and Guo Xing, he had bundled them all together to apply to Tangdu Jiaoda as well.

As the Director of Admissions at Tangdu Jiaoda, Zhao Chengpeng made the decision on the spot.

Everything was ready; all that remained was to receive the admission notices and report for school.

At the same time, during these three days, Wang Donglai also discovered something strange.

He seemed to have become smarter, his mind more agile, as if he had undergone an awakening.

His height had also quietly increased by three centimeters, growing from 175cm to 178cm.

His body, which had previously been somewhat sub-healthy, had returned to a full-health state.

His entire body was filled with strength and boundless energy.

After careful study, Wang Donglai realized this was due to the rewards obtained from completing his first main quest, "The Gaokao Decisive Battle."

Intelligence +1, Constitution +1.

It had comprehensively improved his mental attributes like EQ and IQ, as well as his physical attributes like height.

...

As the news of Wang Donglai being the National Top Scorer in Liberal Arts spread, bolstered by media coverage, his home became incredibly bustling.

Friends and relatives came to visit one after another.

In response, Wang Donglai could only stay at home and act as a mascot.

Because he understood that this was the moment of greatest pride and joy for Wang Yanxing and Cao Shuxian.

It was a joy that even surpassed the happiness of Wang Donglai getting married and having children.

After all, most families with children will eventually experience marriage and childbirth, but there is only one National Top Scorer in Liberal Arts every year.

At this moment, Wang Donglai was attending to his cousins.

Cao Shuxian was the youngest, with two older brothers and three older sisters.

The number of cousins gathered around Wang Donglai was not small.

A son and a daughter from his eldest aunt's family, two daughters and a son from his second aunt's, three daughters and a son from his third aunt's, a son and a daughter from his eldest uncle's, and a male cousin from his youngest uncle's.

Although there were significant age gaps, due to the blood ties of the previous generation and their close relationships, Wang Donglai got along quite well with his cousins.

Looking at the smiles on the faces of these familiar relatives and the radiant expression of Cao Shuxian, Wang Donglai only wished he had been more mature in his previous life so he could have provided them with a better life sooner.

At the banquet, glasses clinked and the atmosphere was very lively.

Because the relationships were good, Wang Donglai also poured drinks, drinking along with his two uncles, three uncles-in-law, and several cousins.

...

The next day.

When Wang Donglai woke up, he first opened his system panel to take a look.

[Player: Wang Donglai] [Attributes: Constitution 9, Intelligence 8] [Level: Level 3 (0/10000)] [Reading Categories: High School Compulsory, Computer Science, Economics] [Skill: Photographic Memory] [Abilities: Sense of Direction, Speed Reading, Mental Calculation]

As for the information regarding various subjects, the system had humanely folded it into a second interface.

After unlocking two new reading categories, Wang Donglai immediately felt the difference.

Reading experience grew very quickly, far faster than reading other books.

At the same time, the system had unified the various types of books and removed the upper limits.

This meant that as long as Wang Donglai kept reading, he could continuously increase the level of a particular subject.

Of course, the experience points required were astronomical.

Not only that, but the experience points obtained from reading books had also changed; reading a book for the first time yielded the most experience, but after reading it two or three times, the experience points would decrease significantly.

Looking at his panel information, Wang Donglai let out a long breath.

The *Han Feizi: Yu Lao* records: "There is a bird that perches on a southern hill; for three years it does not grow feathers, does not fly, and does not sing, remaining silent and still. What is this called? The King said: 'For three years it does not grow feathers, so that it may grow its wings; for three years it does not fly or sing, so that it may observe the people. Though it does not fly, when it flies, it will soar to the heavens; though it does not sing, when it sings, it will astonish the world.'"

The Gaokao was over, and Wang Donglai was eighteen years old—the prime of youth. The world is vast, and it is time to spread one's wings!

(End of Chapter)