In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

"Knock knock knock".

Someone knocked on the door.

Li Guilan was heating porridge on the stove when she wiped her hands and went to open the door.

Standing at the entrance was Mr. Chen, an old man in his sixties from the first-floor guardhouse, wearing a faded tank top and clutching a plastic bag in his hand.

"Uncle Chen? You're here so early in the morning..."

"Sister-in-law! Sorry to bother you!" Grandpa Chen said apologetically, shoving the plastic bag into Li Guilan's hand. "These are peanuts my wife braised. They're for eating with porridge. Give them to Yongzi to try."

Li Guilan quickly pushed it back: "This, this won't do, please take it back!"

"Stop pushing! Stop pushing!" Grandpa Chen hurriedly waved his hand, lowered his voice, and peeked into the house.

"Sister-in-law, I need to talk to Yongzi about something. I'm so sorry, so very sorry—"

Zhang Yong heard this and walked over with toothpaste in his mouth.

"Uncle Chen, what's wrong? Please tell me."

Grandpa Chen rubbed his hands together, a sheepish smile plastered on his face.

"Um... Yongzi, I accidentally overheard a bit of your two phone calls yesterday."

"A professor from Beijing University personally called to invite you to attend their university?"

"I think... Yongzi, you're a very capable person. To be honest, my grandson, Chen Yang, is a sophomore in high school this year. His grades are okay, but his writing is terrible. Every time there's an exam, he gets pretty good scores on the fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice questions, but he always falls apart on the essay."

The old man sighed.

"Everyone's saying you published an article in 'October,' earning 100 yuan per thousand words. If you have some free time, could you take a look at my grandson's essay? I'll pay for it—"

"Why would I need to pay, Uncle Chen?" Zhang Yong quickly waved his hand. "Just call Chen Yang over and bring his workbook. I'll take a look at it when I have time."

Grandpa Chen's eyes lit up immediately, and he clapped his hands!

"Yongzi! You're a good boy!"

He squeezed Zhang Yong's hand tightly and raised his voice.

"You don't know, I've also contacted someone before. It was Sun Lei upstairs."

Zhang Yong raised an eyebrow.

"That day I went upstairs and knocked on the door, and his mother opened it for me. Before I could even finish speaking, she sent me back."

Grandpa Chen imitated Sun Jian's wife's tone, speaking in a high-pitched voice:

“Uncle Chen, my son Sun Lei is very busy, we can’t help with this kind of thing! You should let him study more, the early bird catches the worm! My son Sun Lei has never given me any trouble since he was little, he’s learned everything on his own—”

Grandpa Chen smiled wryly halfway through learning.

"The way you said that makes me furious when I got back!"

Zhang Yong took the bag of peanuts and patted Grandpa Chen on the shoulder.

"Okay, have Xiao Chenyang bring over all his Chinese compositions from the last few lessons. I'll take a look at them for him tonight."

"Oh, okay! Thank you, Yong! Thank you so much!"

Grandpa Chen left, thanking him profusely.

Zhang Yong went back inside to continue brushing his teeth, while Li Guilan stood at the door, her face filled with righteous indignation.

"How can Sun Jian's wife speak like that? He just went to ask for a favor, and she had to talk about him like that..."

Zhang Yong rinsed his mouth and nodded haphazardly.

However, the words had barely left his mouth.

"Creak—"

The door to the fourth floor down in the stairwell opened.

Sun Jian's wife, wearing a floral nightgown, with curlers on her head and a spittoon in her hand, was walking into the stairwell.

She had clearly heard Grandpa Chen go upstairs.

He stood still in the stairwell, leaned against the railing, and raised his voice.

"Oh! Sister Guilan, I think I just heard Grandpa Chen come to your house?"

Li Guilan stopped in her tracks as she was about to close the door.

"What, did you go to your son A-Yong for essay tutoring?" Sun Jian's wife's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for the neighbors on both floors to hear clearly.

"We'll have to tutor him properly, after all, Grandpa Chen came upstairs to ask for help once, and my Sun Lei really can't help. Normal college students have so much coursework, they don't have time for this."

Li Guilan gripped the doorknob tightly.

Sun Jian's wife isn't done yet.

She leaned forward, her voice becoming even shriller.

"Speaking of which, Sister Guilan, I heard from others that your son, Ayong, is also studying? But that adult education college is quite different from the regular college that my son, Sun Lei, attends, isn't it?"

Aunt Liu on the third floor opened the door a crack and poked her head out.

Sister Zhao from the second floor was also secretly listening through the crack in the door.

Sun Jian's wife became more and more enthusiastic as she spoke.

"I'm not looking down on you! But adult education is adult education after all. Can it compare to a regular degree? I heard from Lao Sun that employers don't even recognize adult education certificates when they go out to find jobs."

She tilted her head, and the curling iron swayed back and forth.

"And I also heard that Professor Zhao took the initiative to invite A-Yong? What respectable college student needs someone to invite them? Did he pull some strings?"

"Do you want to fight?!"

Li Guilan yanked the door open, standing on the threshold with her apron still on.

She rolled up her sleeves, and her voice rose into the air!

"My son's article was published on the front page of 'October,' earning a fee of one hundred yuan per thousand words. A professor from Peking University personally came to my door to solicit the payment. Is this what you call using connections?"

Sun Jian's wife's lips twitched.

"I congratulated your son Sun Lei on getting into teachers' college!" Li Guilan said clearly, enunciating each word. "You should congratulate him too, stop being so sarcastic and sarcastic. What are you after?"

"I wasn't being sarcastic at all; I was just trying to give you a friendly reminder—"

"Kindness? I heard from others! Last time you were scolding my Yongzi for talking to a young girl in the middle of the night from the window, calling him shameless. Was that also kindness?"

Sun Jian's wife immediately lost face.

The crack in Aunt Liu's door on the third floor had widened by two inches.

"Our Zhang family is a bit poor, but my son didn't get in through connections; he's all got real skills. All the money in our family was earned by ourselves."

"I don't steal or rob; I earn my living through my own abilities."

She looked at the fourth floor.

"If you're so capable, why don't you get two professors from Peking University to call your son? Stop nitpicking other people's families all the time; even his mother wouldn't be this jealous!"

Sun Jian's wife stood holding the spittoon, and swallowed back the sound of a single syllable she uttered.

She turned and went back into the house, slamming the door shut.

"Bang!"

Li Guilan also turned around and went into the house.

Zhang Yong stood in the entryway, remaining silent.

Li Guilan walked to the stove, her hands trembling slightly, and picked up the spatula to stir the porridge a couple of times.

"That old woman! My mother may be illiterate, but I'll definitely protect my son!"

"If she's being sarcastic again, I'll slap her with my slipper!"

Zhang Yong felt a lump in his throat.

"Alright, Mom, let's not stoop to her level."

He walked over and took the pot of porridge that was almost burnt off the stove.

"Let's eat first. I'm going to Old Zhao's place today, I'll be back this afternoon."

……

9:30 a.m.

Zhang Yong rode his old-fashioned bicycle through Jinsong Road and turned into Chuiyangliu Street.

He knows this road so well he could ride it with his eyes closed.

Turn one more corner ahead, and you'll reach the gate of Chuiyangliu Middle School.

Zhang Yong was just passing by.

But his gaze inadvertently swept across the bulletin board at the school gate, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure.

Dean of Studies, Zhou Guoqiang.

Zhou Guoqiang, sleeves rolled up and sweating profusely, was holding a paste brush and pasting a large red paper in the most conspicuous position on the bulletin board.

The words on the red paper were written in large characters—

Warmest congratulations to our outstanding graduate Zhang Yong for having his short story "The Ingenuity of a Great Nation" featured on the front page of the October issue!

Below is a line of smaller, bold text:

"A rising star in literature shines, a beacon of light for Chuiyangliu Middle School!"

Zhou Guoqiang pasted the paper very carefully, smoothing the edges with a rag as he turned to the head of the Chinese language group beside him and said, "Look, look! What did I tell you? I could tell Zhang Yong was a literary talent back in school! His writing skills are really solid!"

The head of the Chinese language group chimed in, "Yes, yes, Director Zhou, you have a discerning eye."

Zhang Yong found the scene rather amusing.

In this world, it's always true that when you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city, but when you're rich, distant relatives come calling even in the deep mountains.

When you stand high enough, those who once looked down on you will rush to offer you a way out.

He pushed off with his foot, and the Flying Pigeon bicycle made a crisp sound as it passed the gate of Chuiyangliu Middle School.

Nobody saw it.

Standing in front of the bulletin board, Zhou Guoqiang, who was all smiles after the Spring Equinox, glanced at the screen and his expression changed as he held his pager.

......