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

"Alright, stop professing your loyalty. Focus on getting your current tasks sorted out first. Once those are done, then you can think about university."

"Yes, sir!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Xiao glanced at the class group chat and found it was unusually lively.

Two students in their class scored over 600 points in this exam: Lin Xiaoran and their class monitor, Wang Lei.

Wang Lei performed exceptionally well this time, scoring 638 points. Although it's not as dazzling as Lin Xiaoran's 675 points, it's enough for him to firmly enter the gates of a mid-tier 985 university.

At the age of eighteen or nineteen, the college entrance examination score is the only standard for dividing students into different classes. This score of 638 is enough for him to enjoy the adoration of all his relatives and elders for the next two months.

At this moment, Wang Lei was sending several humble emojis in the class group chat, but his words couldn't hide his smugness.

"I didn't do well on the combined science exam this time. I made a careless mistake on the last big question, otherwise my total score could have been higher. [Sigh]"

This seemingly frustrated statement instantly drew a chorus of groans from the audience.

Even Lin Xiaoran, who always maintained a cool and aloof demeanor, made a rare appearance in the group chat and replied with a message.

"That's already amazing. Class monitor, have you decided which city's school you want to go to?"

Wang Lei quickly replied, "My initial plan is to go to Nanjing University. Several of the 985 universities there have good science and engineering programs. I'll have to discuss the specifics with my family when it comes time to fill out the college application. As for the campus belle from Nanjing University, with your score, you should be good enough for Tsinghua or Peking University, right?"

"I haven't decided yet, but Tsinghua and Peking University are a bit risky, while Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong should be fine."

Li Xiao glanced at it briefly, found it uninteresting, turned off his phone, and casually placed it on the bedside table.

The lively Versailles-style discussions and mutual flattery in the class group chat seemed to him like watching a play through frosted glass—a bustling scene with shadowy figures and deafening gongs and drums, but none of it concerned him.

With the official document from the provincial government drawing ever closer, he had to get his hands on that piece of land in the south of the city as soon as possible.

That piece of land was crucial for the start-up capital of his future plans, and he absolutely could not afford to lose it.

The high-tech industrial park that the province plans to build in the south of the city will be a key target of the province's support in the future.

The traditional industry has already reached its limit with his family. Even with his knowledge and experience over the past ten years, he can't do better than his father. Moreover, almost every well-known industry in Jiangyang County has his family's influence behind it.

If he were to get involved, it would be like stealing meat from his own bowl. Li Xiao naturally wouldn't stoop to such a foolish act of shifting profits from one hand to the other.

What will truly create trillion-dollar wealth myths is the internet ecosystem and the wave of cutting-edge technologies that are about to experience explosive growth.

The wasteland in the south of the city, which was about to be incorporated into the high-tech zone, was the perfect springboard for him to completely break away from his family's influence and build his personal capital empire.

If you can secretly acquire that piece of land at a bargain price before the provincial planning bureau officially issues the document, you can resell it for a profit that is unimaginable to ordinary people—more than ten times the initial investment.

With the help of this money, Li Xiao will be able to truly launch his own plan, instead of relying on the Li family's resources, he will build his own.

……

In the small group chat of the three, Zhou Yanhuai also posted his grades.

Zheng Hao, who had been lurking online, was immediately exposed, sending three or four rolling on the ground emojis in a row, followed by a voice message that lasted more than ten seconds.

"Holy crap! Old Zhou, are you trying to blow your mind?! 645! How did you even get a brain like that?! We're doomed. Of the three of us, I'm the only illiterate with a 275. We're going to never live like this again!"

"By the way, Lao Zhou, where are you planning to apply for with such a high score?"

Zhou Yanhuai's message quickly popped up in the group: "My grandfather has already chosen one for me: Beijing University of Electronic Science and Technology."

"College? You're kidding me! You scored over 600 and only got into a third-tier university? What was your father thinking?"

As soon as Zheng Hao sent the message, before Zhou Yanhuai could even type an explanation, Li Xiao, who was looking at the screen, couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

This silly kid, does he really think that all universities with "academy" in their name are third-rate diploma mills?

Li Xiao replied with a voice message in the group chat, "Rat, I always tell you to read more news, but you insist on playing billiards. Beijing University of Electronic Science and Technology is a special university directly under the core departments. As long as you graduate smoothly, you'll basically be directly assigned to a confidential unit within the system, holding a pure gold rice bowl that ordinary people wouldn't even dare to dream of."

The group was silent for a full half minute before it was flooded with a series of terrified emojis from Zheng Hao.

"Holy crap?! That's awesome! Director Zhou, if you ever become rich and powerful, don't forget me!"

Zhou Yanhuai looked at the screen full of rolling emojis of Zheng Hao and shook his head helplessly. "What Director Zhou? Don't call me that. I might not even pass the exam yet, but you've already given me that nickname."

Zheng Hao replied instantly, "No way, this is an investment in advance! Later, when you're in an office and I need to ask you for favors, you can't pretend you don't know me!"

……

That evening.

Golden Diamond KTV.

When Li Xiao entered the private room, Zheng Hao and Zhou Yanhuai were already there.

Li Xiao was taken aback when he saw Zhou Yanhuai sitting upright and looking very serious. He hadn't expected that Zheng Hao would actually be able to invite Zhou Yanhuai here.

The private room was dimly lit, and deafening music was constantly bombarding our eardrums.

Zhou Yanhuai looked like an old cadre who had wandered into a spider cave, wearing a light-colored shirt and with his hands placed awkwardly on his knees, appearing completely out of place with his surroundings.

Li Xiao and Zheng Hao had tried to drag him to this kind of place to broaden his horizons more than once, but the kid always refused to come.

In Zheng Hao's words, Zhou Yanhuai's nightlife is even more austere than that of the monks in the temple. To be able to invite him here today, Zheng Hao must have used some underhanded tricks.

"Brother Xiao, you're finally here."

Zhou Yanhuai visibly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Xiao push the door open and come in.

Seeing his extremely uncomfortable expression, Li Xiao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He walked straight over and casually muted the karaoke machine on the wall.

The deafening heavy metal music abruptly stopped, and Zheng Hao, who was energetically dancing with the microphone in hand, immediately yelled in dissatisfaction, "Hey! Brother Xiao, I was just getting to the climax of my song, why did you cut it off!"

"Alright, shut up your lousy voice. Tell me, what do you want with us tonight?" Li Xiao said, glancing at the restless Zhou Yanhuai, his meaning clear.

Zheng Hao chuckled dryly twice. "I just thought we should have a good get-together since everyone's scores are out now."

Zhou Yanhuai, standing to the side, hadn't expected that he'd brought me to this Golden Diamond restaurant for just this. "A get-together? So you lied to me and said Brother Xiao had an emergency, dragging me here just for a get-together?"

"I was just worried you wouldn't come, and besides, I've prepared a special surprise for you tonight."

Upon hearing Zheng Hao's words, Li Xiao raised an eyebrow and immediately realized that the surprise Zheng Hao mentioned was definitely not a good thing.