☆, Chapter 13: The Top Scorer
The days passed one by one amidst playing with cats and dogs, and soon it was the day to check the college entrance exam scores. Hao Ren calmly opened her computer and casually checked. She found that her total score had only lost ten points. She had originally aimed to blind the Hao family with her brilliance, so she hadn’t held back at all, simply filling in the standard answers. She wasn’t too shocked by this result.
Although the score was within her expectations, she still felt a little uneasy when she learned that she was a full twenty points ahead of the second-place scorer. Including the presentation scores for the Chinese and English essays, this result was indeed a bit outrageous. But no matter how uneasy she was, there was nothing she could do. The scores were out, and she had to accept them.
Mr. and Mrs. Hao were completely indifferent to her exam scores. It wasn’t until someone from H TV came that they suddenly realized their family had produced the top scorer of the college entrance exam. When that episode of the program aired later, Hao Weiguo’s completely clueless expression probably shocked countless parents who wished they could take the exam for their children.
That night, someone on a local forum commented: “As expected of the top scorer’s father, that level of composure is simply heaven-defying!”
For the sake of the family’s reputation, Hao Weiguo hurriedly sent Hao Ren to Hao Yi’s room and urgently brought a few of her photos from her room. Although Hao Yi was a boy, his room was always tidied by Auntie Zhang, so there was no fear of reporters seeing boys’ clothes and shoes. Most of the books on his bookshelf were fantasy novels like Harry Potter, which wasn’t strange for a girl to like. Even the posters on the wall were of The Lord of the Rings, which was suitable for both genders. After putting up Hao Ren’s photos, there was no sense of incongruity at all.
The reporter who came for the interview was the most handsome new male anchor from H TV. Auntie Mei was his fan. Because of him, Auntie Mei had recently been trying to persuade Hao Yi to study broadcasting. Hao Yi himself was quite interested, but Hao Weiguo wouldn’t allow it. In his view, if his only son went to a TV station, what would happen to the huge family business?
To be honest, the scene of Auntie Mei persuading Hao Yi to study broadcasting made Hao Ren’s hair stand on end. It always made her feel that the other party’s intention to harm her was still alive.
“It seems our top scorer has a wide range of hobbies!” The reporter pointed at the soccer ball and basketball on the bookshelf with an excited look. He probably felt that Hao Ren’s small frame didn’t look like she could handle soccer and basketball, so he couldn’t help but glance at Hao Ren a few more times.
At this point, she couldn’t just jump out and say those weren’t hers. Hao Ren could only smile at him.
“Oh, there’s a guitar too! Can you play a song for us?” It was really indecent to ask a girl to demonstrate her ball-handling skills in front of her father, but playing a guitar should be fine. The moment he saw the guitar on the wall, the reporter’s eyes lit up. An interview alone was boring; this could be a little extra entertainment.
“Well, let’s forget it. She’s only had a few lessons. It’s too much to ask her to play for the audience in front of the TV…” Hao Ren clearly felt Hao Weiguo stiffen when the reporter said this. When he heard the reporter ask Hao Ren to play, cold sweat even broke out on his forehead.
The scene would surely be amusing when the reporter saw that Hao Ren couldn’t play the guitar after taking it. A mischievous thought arose, and Hao Ren casually took the guitar down from the wall and struck a pose as if she were about to play. From the corner of her eye, she clearly saw the expression on Hao Weiguo’s face turn extremely ugly.
Hao Ren ignored him and calmly strummed the open strings from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, then from top to bottom again…
The monotonous sound of the open strings made Hao Weiguo look frustrated, and even the reporter’s expression became strange.
“That’s enough! I told you not to study properly. Stop making a fool of yourself and put it away!” After an unknown amount of time, Hao Weiguo finally couldn’t stand the embarrassment anymore and walked over angrily, preparing to snatch the guitar from Hao Ren’s hands.
Hao Ren wouldn’t let him have his way. Just as Hao Weiguo’s hand was about to touch the guitar, a string of fluent chords suddenly poured out from between her fingers.
“It’s Eason Chan’s ‘The Road is Always There’!” The reporter was indeed knowledgeable and guessed the correct answer from the intro.
Hao Ren smiled at him, opened her throat, and began to sing along with the chords.
“Through the surging crowds and dimming lights, never thought of turning back
One journey after another, when will this endless journey end
Oh, what does my dream represent, and what is it that makes us uneasy
That’s just life, searching for the future in our dreams
…”
This guitar was bought by Hao Yi on a whim last summer. He had only learned for a short time before throwing it aside. Later, after Hao Ren’s accident, he had given it directly to her. Hao Weiguo had no idea that, in a way, Hao Ren was more familiar with this guitar than Hao Yi himself. “The Road is Always There” had always been Hao Ren’s favorite song; she had played it thousands of times in her past life.
“What does it matter if the road is unclear
What does it matter if the dream is unclear
So what if we reach the end, so what
…”
Perhaps hearing a familiar sound, Daizi actually squeezed through the crack in the door and came in, sitting at Hao Ren’s feet and, just as it had done countless times in her past life, began to howl along with Hao Ren’s singing.
The chords were fluent, the singing was clear and melodious, and even the dog’s howling was perfectly coordinated. The reporter’s eyes instantly lit up. He made a gesture, and the cameraman began to film this unexpected performance from various angles.
“…
When there is no choice, when you cannot choose
Always move forward, the road is always there, always there”
When the song ended, Hao Ren found that she was already in tears. As if to vent all the grievances she had suffered in her past life, Hao Ren smiled at the reporter, wanting to wipe away her tears, but found that they just wouldn’t stop.
Unconsciously, the lonely days and nights of her past life once again surfaced in her mind. She thought of the self who couldn’t even walk, of Daizi’s unwavering companionship, and of the boundless sorrow in her heart every time she sang this song. What “the road is always there”? In her past life, she didn’t even have the feet to walk on the road of life. Fortunately, everything was different now…
“Awooo—” As if to vent the emotions in its heart, after Hao Ren’s singing ended, Daizi struck a pose like a wolf howling at the moon and let out a long, cathartic howl at the sky.
“Awooo—” Just as Daizi’s long howl ended, another dog’s long howl sounded in the air. This time, it wasn’t him. Hao Ren looked down and found that Mantou had, at some point, also sat down at her feet. After the long howl, it walked over and comfortingly nuzzled Hao Ren’s calf.
“Your Majesty, it’s all in the past now. You have us now…” Perhaps having heard the sorrow in Hao Ren’s heart from her singing, Mantou’s words went straight to her heart.
Daizi nodded solemnly, walked over, and nuzzled Hao Ren’s other calf.
Seeing the actions of these two, Hao Ren, who had just managed to stop her tears, once again burst into tears. She dropped the guitar, squatted down, and hugged the two understanding dogs, one on each side.
“These two dogs are…” Pushing aside the crying Hao Ren, the reporter pulled Hao Weiguo over and pointed at the two dogs, asking. In his opinion, it was completely normal for Hao Ren to cry like this. If he had become the top scorer of the college entrance exam back then, he guaranteed he would have cried too.
“Both dogs were picked up by my Hao Ren. The Samoyed with impure blood was picked up recently. The three-legged one was picked up in her second year of high school. When she found it, the dog had just been in a car accident, and that’s when it lost its leg. If it weren’t for my Hao Ren, it would have died long ago.”
It seemed that Hao Ren’s performance just now had deeply pleased him. Hao Weiguo was all smiles as he introduced the two dogs, the previous embarrassment completely gone.
“Good at studying, loves sports, knows music, and has a kind heart! Mr. Hao, how did you raise such a well-rounded daughter like Hao Ren, who excels in moral, intellectual, physical, and aesthetic education?” The reporter was not stingy with his praise for Hao Ren, praising her to the skies.
Faced with the reporter’s admiring gaze, Hao Weiguo was now beaming with joy. Even if he disliked this daughter, it was an absolute fact that she had brought him honor. The guy shamelessly took all the credit for himself. And it had to be said, his eloquence was quite good. He spoke in a well-organized manner. If one didn’t know the truth, they would probably think that everything Hao Ren had today was his doing.
Listening to Hao Weiguo’s words, Hao Ren sneered inwardly. Of course, for the sake of her future, she didn’t show it. The reason she had cooperated so well with the interview today was in the hope of getting a sum of money from him under the title of the top scorer. Once the interview was broadcast, the whole city would know that she was his daughter. If she went out in shabby clothes again, it would be his face that was lost.
After Hao Weiguo finished speaking, the crying Hao Ren finally calmed down. When she had wiped her tears, the reporter immediately handed her the microphone. The rest of the interview was about study methods and the like. Hao Ren and the reporter had a pleasant conversation, echoing each other.
“As this year’s top scorer, what do you have to say to your juniors?” At the end of the interview, the reporter asked a cliché question.
Hao Ren smiled brightly at the camera. “All roads lead to Rome. The college entrance exam doesn’t represent everything. As long as you have feet, there is still a road. As long as you are alive, there is still hope. The most important thing in life is to enjoy your youth and enjoy life!”
Although it sounded like a platitude, it was Hao Ren’s heartfelt words.
The interview concluded successfully. What Hao Ren didn’t expect was that the reporter whom Auntie Mei was infatuated with actually secretly slipped her a business card before leaving, while Hao Weiguo wasn’t looking.
“This is my business card.” The guy even winked at Hao Ren as he spoke.
Hao Ren didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. No wonder he was the one who came for the interview. So this guy had come with the intention of picking up a beautiful top student! Hao Ren recalled that the photo on her college entrance exam admission ticket was indeed quite beautiful. Thinking about it, she couldn’t blame him. Top scorer of the college entrance exam, plus daughter of the richest man, and the attribute of being beautiful—any man would be moved.
The title of top scorer of the college entrance exam was indeed extraordinarily charming. That night, Hao Weiguo rarely asked Hao Ren to eat with them. Although she disdained eating at the same table with their family, for the sake of her financial future, Hao Ren obediently sat down.
“Unlucky Ren, how on earth did you do it? I believe you can get this score in other subjects, but I remember your English was worse than mine!” The one who asked was Hao Yi.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Lucky was currently sitting on Hao Ren’s lap, so she wasn’t afraid of him asking about English.
That guy Hao Yi had always been one to get to the bottom of things. He actually took out his phone on the spot and searched for a super difficult sentence for Hao Ren to translate.
With Lucky, a native British cat, there, Hao Ren of course passed with ease. She even corrected Hao Yi’s pronunciation of a certain word with a disdainful look.
“Damn! So you’ve been pretending all this time!” That guy Hao Yi really didn’t have a bad heart. Although his expression was a bit resentful at first after learning the truth, it soon turned into a bright smile. “Awesome, heaven-defying, my Unlucky Ren is actually the top scorer of the college entrance exam!”
His expression looked even happier than if he himself had become the top scorer.
Hao Ren secretly glanced at Auntie Mei and saw that she was staring at her son with a look of disappointment.
After finishing this discordant meal, Hao Ren immediately returned to her room. Hao Yi had originally wanted to follow, but was dragged away by the ear by a grim-faced Auntie Mei, probably to instill a sense of crisis in him. As for how effective that would be, only heaven knew.
In her past life, Hao Yi hadn’t studied properly in his third year of high school at all. Although his grades had always been among the top before, he hadn’t attended a single class properly since entering his third year, as if a nerve in his brain had suddenly broken. Not only did he not study well, but he also did almost every bad thing a rich second-generation kid could do. In the end, he didn’t even take the college entrance exam. He was even forced by Hao Weiguo to study abroad for university. When that guy came back after graduation, not only was he covered in tattoos, but he even brought back two alpacas. What was even more bizarre was that the guy had always refused to get married, insisting on being a “single noble,” which almost angered Mr. and Mrs. Hao to death. He was still a troublesome youth when Hao Ren had her accident in her past life.
For a woman like Auntie Mei to have such a son, it was hard to say whether it was a blessing or a curse.
As soon as she returned to her room, Hao Ren immediately began to shake her left hand desperately, the composure and ladylike demeanor from the dinner table completely gone.
“What’s wrong with you?” Daizi looked concerned.
“My fingers hurt…” Hao Ren tearfully showed Daizi the four fingers of her left hand. On them were four large blisters.
Showing off gets you struck by lightning. There’s a price to pay for being in the spotlight! Her left hand didn’t have a single callus yet. After playing “The Road is Always There,” all four fingers of her left hand, except for the thumb, had blisters. It hadn’t been too painful before, but now it was starting to hurt like hell.
“Uncle Daizi, it really hurts…” There were benefits to knowing that Daizi was an uncle. At least in her past life, Hao Ren would never have shown such an expression of a junior whining to an elder in front of it.
“Silly girl!” Daizi cursed softly, but his expression was infinitely gentle.