I've been reborn, I'm definitely going to become an internet celebrity!

Chapter 142 [The Battle Between the Left and Right Brains]

"Young boss, let me toast you!"

The day after New Year's Day, at a table in the innermost corner of a street food stall, a lean, dark-skinned middle-aged man stood up with a wine glass in his hand. He hesitated for a long time, unable to speak clearly, but he did manage to gulp down the wine.

"Thank you for taking care of Weixiong. If you hadn't hired him, I don't know what kind of job this kid could find."

Liu Zhuohao sat opposite him, in front of him was a plastic tablecloth with red checks, and on the table were ordinary dishes: salt and pepper mantis shrimp, stir-fried snails, fish maw stew, and stir-fried beef with pickled cabbage.

There weren't any fancy dishes, but each one was something commonly found on the Chaoshan people's dining table.

"You're too kind, Uncle," Liu Zhuohao said with a smile, picking up his glass as well.

"No, no, no, boss, you drove here." Huang Weixiong quickly reached out to stop him. "Besides, you don't usually drink alcohol, so how about a cup of tea? I'll pour you a cup of hot tea."

Liu Zhuohao paused for a moment and put down his wine glass.

After spending a few months together, this kid had figured out his habits perfectly.

"Yes, yes, you can't drive after drinking." Old Man Huang finally realized what was happening and quickly waved his hand to dissuade him.

"Alright, then I'll have a cup of tea." Liu Zhuohao took the teacup from Huang Weixiong and glanced at the person opposite him.

The Huang couple sat side by side, with Huang Xiaomei next to them.

The little girl lowered her head, her fingers twirling the wrapper of disposable chopsticks, wrapping it once, unwinding it, and then wrapping it again.

She hasn't looked up since she entered the room, remaining as quiet and introverted as ever.

Liu Zhuohao withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

This meal came out of the blue.

Huang Weixiong called early in the morning, saying that his family insisted on treating him, the boss, to a meal during the New Year's Day holiday to thank him properly, and asked when he would be free.

Originally, Liu Zhuohao wanted to decline, but his parents said they needed to go back to his maternal grandmother's house to visit relatives.

What kind of relatives? Like those maternal uncles, aunts, and so on.

Well, that gives me a good reason not to go.

We made an appointment for noon, but we completely missed it.

"Boss Liu is a capable man, unlike us ignorant people."

Old Huang was still talking, his dark face full of smiles. He was wearing an old jacket with worn-out cuffs and a slightly crooked collar. He leaned forward as he spoke.

"I heard from Awei that you were on TV, Boss Liu, and I didn't quite believe it. But after talking to some people outside, I found that they had all heard of you. That's when I understood. Awei has met a benefactor!"

He lowered his voice slightly, but couldn't hide the gratitude in it: "Boss Liu, our factory manager knows you!"

"When I was having dinner with my coworkers earlier, I mentioned that Awei was working under you. I don't know who told the factory manager, but he specifically asked me if I had worked for that boss Liu from Minsheng Bank."

"I can't hide it, so—"

Liu Zhuohao nodded, took a sip of tea, and followed up with a question: "I wonder which factory Uncle works at?"

It's not genuine concern; it's just polite talk.

When we got to this place, I just blurted it out without thinking.

"We make light bulbs," Old Huang waved his hand. "We've been doing this for over ten years, but business is bad now. There are no orders in the factory, and the boss is almost unable to pay us. I don't know how much longer we can hold on."

"---Hmm, that's a pretty big problem," Liu Zhuohao replied casually.

A light bulb factory? He didn't understand.

He put down his teacup, glanced at Huang Weixiong, and said, "But now that Wei is all grown up, he can help out at home. So you two don't need to work so hard anymore."

The moment this was mentioned, Old Huang's face lit up with a smile.

He leaned back in his chair, his voice rising several decibels: "Yes, Ah Wei is promising!"

"I heard him say that you're paying him at least seven or eight thousand a month!"

"In our small city, what kind of job pays seven or eight thousand? That would have to be a government-affiliated institution!"

He paused for a moment, then said, "Now that he has this job, my wife and I are relieved."

"Recently, I've been thinking of having his mother help me find a suitable wife. We should settle down before focusing on our careers, but first we need to renovate the house—"

Liu Zhuohao glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Huang Weixiong, who was sitting next to him, paused in picking up food.

The chopsticks were suspended in mid-air, still holding a mantis shrimp, and hadn't moved for a long time.

He did some mental calculations and realized that Huang Weixiong was only in his early twenties.

However, in the Chaoshan region, some traditional parents do arrange marriages early on.

They get engaged and married before they're old enough, and then register their marriage when they're old enough.

Before he could figure out how to respond, Huang Weixiong suddenly spoke up: "I've said it many times, I'm not planning to get married right now!"

As I put my chopsticks down on the table, the mantis shrimp fell into the plate, splashing some soup.

"This money is for my sister's schooling, not for renovating the house!"

People at the next few tables turned to look.

Liu Zhuohao frowned, quickly stood up, patted Huang Weixiong's shoulder, cupped his hands in greeting to the surroundings, and gave a smile.

Fortunately, the incident involving the sale of personal information occurred several months ago. Unless one actively identifies themselves, most passersby would not recognize them based on mere glances.

He sat down again, sandwiched in the middle, unsure whether to put the piece of sauerkraut and beef in his bowl into his mouth.

Did this kid take the wrong medicine today?

Having known him for so long, Huang Weixiong had never been this temperamental in front of him.

After months of honing his skills at the stall, even when someone at his stall got drunk and started causing trouble, he could still smile and go up to them to mediate.

Now you can't control your temper after just a few words?

"What's the point of studying now?"

Old Huang first glanced at Liu Zhuohao, his face not looking too good, then glared at Huang Weixiong: "So many college graduates these days don't earn as much as you! Don't talk about this here, just save your money, and then..."

"And then what?"

Huang Weixiong interrupted him directly, raising his voice by half an octave.

"My boss is right here, so you don't dare to speak up? I already said before that if you're unwilling, I'll figure out how to pay for my sister's college tuition. You agreed back then that if you were capable, you could go find a job."

He tapped his finger on the table, his knuckles turning white: "Now that I've really made money, you guys are arguing with me every day, saying we can't give this money to her for school, we should use it to renovate the house."

"This money is mine to earn, I can spend it on whomever I want!"

He suddenly turned his head and looked at Liu Zhuohao.

There was a hint of something more to his excited expression.

Liu Zhuohao understood, and felt helpless.

He shifted his gaze to the opposite side.

Huang Xiaomei kept her head down, shrinking into herself, wishing she could crawl under the table.

Her mother was beside her, with one hand on her arm, it was hard to tell whether she was pressing down or protecting her.

"Of course you have to study! How can you not study?"

Liu Zhuohao spoke, trying to keep his tone calm.

He looked at Old Man Huang: "If your grades are bad, then forget it, continuing to study is just a waste of time. But I remember Awei's sister's grades weren't very good, were they?"

He didn't know her name, but she had been to the stall a few times.

It's a key high school in the city; their academic performance should be quite good.

"With my sister's current grades, is she capable of getting into a top-tier university?"

he asks.

"----have no idea."

A very soft sound came from the other side.

Huang Xiaomei didn't even lift her head; her voice was muffled in her chest.

Her mother moved her hand slightly, and she stopped talking.

"Then let's aim for a top-tier university, and at least a second-tier one." Liu Zhuohao wasn't worried. "Relax, just take the exam. If you can get into a key high school, it means you're capable of doing well."

He paused, then said, "If you get into a second-tier university, find a good major, and accumulate experience after graduation, you can easily earn seven or eight thousand."

"For a girl, seven or eight thousand is enough to support herself."

This was just a casual remark.

Is seven or eight thousand easy? It's hard to say, but there's no need to go into too much detail at this point.

"If there were really seven or eight thousand, I'd be incredibly grateful!"

Old Huang paused for a moment, then waved his hand, "Boss Liu, you're still young, you don't understand."

He leaned back, and the plastic chair creaked.

"I have a friend who used to work with me."

"Later, his daughter went to college and quit her job to deliver gas. She would carry the gas on her shoulders, step by step, to those old buildings, eight or nine stories high."

He stretched out his hand to indicate the name, as if to show how high the stairs were.

"That's how a college student was produced."

"How's it going? I couldn't find a job and stayed at home for almost a year! In the end, my coworker used his connections to get me a clerical job at the housing bureau, which only makes three thousand a month."

He slammed his hand on the table, his voice muffled: "They're talking about it behind my back every day now; it'd be better if I didn't study at all!"

The table was silent for a few seconds.

The broth from the stir-fried snails slowly condensed into a layer of oil film on the plate.

Someone at the next table called out to the owner to order more food; the sound carried over from a distance.

Huang Weixiong didn't dare to speak, probably because he had mentioned these words at home countless times.

Liu Zhuohao smiled and picked up his teacup.

"That's normal. It depends on the school and what kind of student the student is."

He took a sip of tea and put down the cup: "Not all college students are the same. Some college students go to college and no one cares about them. They become lawless and just play all day long."

"After graduating, they had high expectations but low skills, so naturally they couldn't find a job."

He looked at Old Man Huang and said, "But some students go to university, study hard, and accumulate project experience."

"Some of them haven't even graduated yet, but they're already being snapped up by other companies, receiving so many job offers that they can't keep up with the demand."

"No need to generalize, Uncle Huang. Although I am young, the people I've met are all bosses, and I've met their children. They probably have the same attitude towards these things."

These words, spoken one after another, sounded increasingly sophisticated.

Young? With business as it is, no matter how young Liu Zhuohao is, the people he comes into contact with will be different.

Old Huang opened his mouth, but didn't dare to refute.

Liu Zhuohao changed the subject: "And actually, I find this very puzzling. Are you worried about tuition fees?"

"It's definitely the tuition!" Old Huang blurted out, his voice rising a half-octave. "A university education costs over ten thousand!"

Liu Zhuohao nodded.

"Oh, tuition fees."

He leaned forward slightly: "But as far as I know, basically in China, as long as you get into university, you can attend and apply for a student loan from the State Grid."

"That means the government lends you money to study first, and you can pay it back slowly after you graduate."

"Basically, there's no interest for the first few years after graduation, and the tuition for a second-tier university shouldn't be that expensive, right?"

He glanced at Old Huang's expression and said, "You just mentioned that your friend's daughter is probably in a junior college or a third-tier university, right? The tuition is expensive, and the living expenses are generous, so the child is spoiled."

"Not working for a year after graduation is indeed too extravagant for an ordinary family."

"Anyway, I've graduated. Let alone a year, I'd be worried to death if I didn't earn any money for half a month. How can I just sit back and wait a whole year?"

Old Huang was stunned, as if he was pondering these words.

"Student loans?"

After a long pause, he frowned, looking wary. "Really?"

"Dad, how could my boss lie to you?"

Huang Weixiong quickly responded, his voice much calmer than before.

He moved forward a bit, resting his elbows on the table: "My colleague, Liu Honghao, who's in charge of editing, is someone who applied for a student loan to attend school."

"He's currently attending university while also working part-time for his boss."

"If our company grows bigger and stronger in the future, we basically won't need to pay it back after graduation. We might even be able to pay it off before graduation."

He paused, then added, "And—"

Liu Zhuohao would chime in from time to time, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.

After a meal, I finally managed to convince these two "adults".

I'm willing to send my daughter to university.

"Mom and Dad, I'm taking the boss home."

"It's alright, you guys go back. Little sister, remember to study hard!"

The Huang family of three disappeared at the alley entrance.

As Huang Xiaomei left, she glanced back, but it was unclear who she was looking at.

Liu Zhuohao stood at the entrance of the food stall, took out a cigarette and lit it.

Huang Weixiong stood to the side, let out a long breath, and exhaled!

"You brat, you didn't even warn me beforehand," Liu Zhuohao glanced at him and said irritably, "You just now..."

He suddenly yelled, and if I hadn't reacted quickly, I wouldn't know how to respond.

"I'm sorry, boss."

Huang Weixiong quickly handed him a cigarette, but Liu Zhuohao waved his hand, indicating that he already had one in his hand.

"It wasn't something I had planned in advance; it just happened so suddenly."

He lit the cigarette that was handed to him. "I've already argued with them about this several times at home. My dad brought it up at the dinner table just now, and I just couldn't hold back."

He took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled, and the smoke dissipated.

"I have no other choice."

"They don't listen to what I say at all."

"I don't know why, but my parents are willing to listen to outsiders. Um, boss, that's not what I meant. I just mean, they listen to outsiders and not their family."

He turned to look at Liu Zhuohao, a hint of helplessness in his eyes: "They just won't listen to me, their son, and would rather listen to their friends."

"But the people they know are even more unreliable. They haven't even raised their own children well, so what kind of advice are they giving my parents?"

"Of all the people I know, you're the only one I can rely on, boss."

Although they are the same age, at times like this, it seems that the only person he can rely on is his boss.

Even the uncles and aunts' relatives don't seem as reliable as the boss.

Liu Zhuohao didn't say anything, he just listened.

To put it bluntly, this kid is really eighteen years old.

Unlike myself, a thirty-year-old person is housed in the body of an eighteen-year-old.

"When we were little, they always told my sister and me to study hard, you know?" Huang Weixiong became more and more agitated as he spoke, not even noticing the ash falling from his cigarette. "It's just outrageous, I completely can't understand what they were thinking!"

"Back then, my sister and I would get beaten if we failed our exams! But they mainly beat me because I wasn't good at studying, and even if I got beaten, my grades still wouldn't improve."

"But my sister is different. She's basically never been hit by my parents. She's a good student."

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