At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

Zheng Hao's belated call finally came through.

"Brother Xiao, I just checked! Guess how many points I got?"

"three hundred?"

"Three hundred? Brother Xiao, you overestimate me. Two hundred and seventy-five, I haven't even touched the three hundred mark yet. Because of this, my old man almost beat me to death with a Seven Wolves cigarette!"

Li Xiao was not surprised by this result at all.

Given how this kid slept through class for three years of high school, it's already a miracle he scored over 200 points.

"By the way, Xiao Ge, have you checked?"

Li Xiao repeated the numbers he had already repeated twice.

"445".

"Holy crap! Over four hundred?! Xiao-ge, tell me the truth, did you cheat?"

Upon hearing this incredibly familiar exclamation, the veins on Li Xiao's forehead throbbed uncontrollably twice.

"Get lost! Did you all rehearse your lines beforehand? My mom asked this, my dad asked this, and now you're saying the same thing. Is this all the credibility you think I have?"

"No, no, Brother Xiao, don't misunderstand."

Zheng Hao was laughing so hard on the other end of the phone that he could be heard gasping for breath and rubbing his lower back in the background, probably because he had been badly beaten by Zheng Guodong's Seven Wolves beer.

"What I mean is, your grades are just outrageous. We usually sleep together in class and hang out together after class, how come you got 445 while I only got 275? That's a difference of 170 points, enough for me to take two more Chinese exams."

Seeing that Li Xiao didn't want to talk about this topic any further, Zheng Hao tactfully changed the subject.

"Let's not talk about that, Xiao-ge. Where are you planning to go to university? My dad originally wanted to send me abroad, but I didn't agree. With my terrible English, I can't even recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet. Going abroad would just be like being a mute and suffering in a foreign land, wouldn't it?"

"It's better to find a university in China. It's close to home, and you'll be used to all the basic things, including food and accommodation. Most importantly, you can still stick with Brother Xiao!"

Actually, Zheng Hao originally wanted to go abroad. After all, he hadn't really been with foreign women many times. Just thinking about those blonde, blue-eyed, and hot exotic beauties made him drool for months.

Moreover, I've heard that it's easy to get into those dubious universities abroad as long as you have enough money. You can drive a sports car every day, live in a big villa, and live the life of a god. After a few years, you can return to China as a "golden" returnee.

Taking over the family business in the future would be incredibly prestigious, a perfect deal to buy face with money.

However, after careful consideration, his father, Zheng Guodong, vehemently disagreed.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father, and Zheng Guodong knew all too well what kind of person his son was.

This little bastard dares to climb on the roof and tear off the tiles right under his nose. If he were really sent to the other side of the ocean, far from the emperor's control, wouldn't he completely let himself go?

If he were to cause some uncontrollable disaster outside, or get involved with some illegal substances he shouldn't be touching, then the only son of the Zheng family would be completely ruined inside.

Moreover, Li Xiao doesn't even know where he'll go to school yet. In Zheng Guodong's mind, although his son is a blockhead, he's lucky and has grown up with the young master of the Li family.

What is the Li family's status in Jiangyang County? They are a behemoth that has influence in both the political and business circles. He was able to get to his current position entirely because the Li family provided him with food. Otherwise, if he wanted to do business in Jiangyang County, he could be dreaming.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the Zheng family is now a prominent figure in Jiangyang County, and even the county officials give them some face. With just one word from the Li family, everything they have built up over the past ten years could vanish into thin air.

Therefore, for Zheng Guodong, keeping his son with Li Xiao was more important than anything else.

Going abroad? Getting a prestigious degree? That's all bullshit. The only real solution is to cling to the Li family's coattails.

Zheng Hao's pipe dream of going abroad to date foreign women has been completely thwarted.

His father made it very clear: either he should honestly get a diploma in China and work hard with Li Xiao, or he should go to the building materials market and start from scratch as a bricklayer, without a penny of pocket money. Zheng Hao chose the latter without hesitation between bricklaying and following Brother Xiao.

Of course, Zheng Hao would never tell Li Xiao about this.

On the other end of the phone, Zheng Hao was still pledging his loyalty, "Anyway, I've figured it out. No matter how bright the moon is outside, it's not as comfortable as the barbecue stalls in our Jiangyang County. Xiao Ge, tell me which school you're going to so my old man can quickly pull some strings and shove some money into it. We brothers have to be in the same trench in college!"

Hearing the sycophantic tone on the phone, Li Xiao couldn't help but laugh and curse, "Stop flattering me. I plan to stay in Jiang Province."

"Jiang Province?" Zheng Hao on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback, his voice instantly rising eight octaves. "No way, Brother Xiao! Wouldn't it be better to go to Beijing or Shanghai? Staying in our province is so boring, don't you want to go out and see the world?"

"Go to Beijing or Shanghai? If you really go to those places where powerful people are everywhere and rich kids are as common as dogs, with your talent for causing trouble, you probably wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it. Staying in Jiang Province is fine. It's not too far from home, and the emperor is far away, so you can have some peace and quiet."

He had his own reasons for staying in the province. Now that he had this background, it would be really unreasonable not to do something.

In other places, Li Xiao was unfamiliar with the area and wouldn't even know if he was being scammed. But in Jiangyang, which is Tianshui, such a thing is basically impossible. Why would someone give up a fully-upgraded character and go to another place to suffer and experience starting from scratch? That would be just plain stupid.

Moreover, the land in the south of the city is about to be developed into a high-tech industrial park by the province. Given his proximity to the land, it would be unreasonable for him not to acquire a piece of it.

"In our area, you can at least walk sideways like a crab. But if you go to a deep-water area like Beijing or Shanghai, you might mess with the wrong person one day, and even Uncle Zheng won't be able to find a way to get you out. Just stay with me in Jiang Province, and I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury and enjoy plenty of benefits."

"That's right, that's right, I'll go wherever Brother Xiao points! Jiang Province is great, the girls are beautiful and it's close to home!" Although Zheng Hao couldn't hear the grand capital scheme Li Xiao was planning, his awareness as a lackey was top-notch, and he immediately started flattering Li Xiao.

Zheng Hao knew that he wasn't as smart as Li Xiao or Zhou Yanhuai, nor did he have a stronger family background, but he was obedient. From childhood to adulthood, he would blindly follow whatever Brother Xiao decided.