Seventeen and Afraid of School Violence

In this life, Lin Ze was born into a family where both parents were teachers.

Their circumstances weren't the best, but they weren't the worst, either.

As a child, Lin Ze hadn't awakened the wisdom of his past life. He was often mischievous, and even with his teacher parents tutoring him, his grades barely ranked around the middle of his class.

Even after he started middle school, his grades showed no sign of improving.

At first, when Lin Zheng and his wife saw that Lin Ze could make money through self-media, had started exercising and learning to shoot, and had found hobbies of his own, they were delighted by the changes in their son.

It was summer vacation, after all. It was only natural for a child to have interests and hobbies of his own.

But before long, they couldn't smile anymore.

Lin Ze's schedule was packed from morning to night. He exercised, practiced shooting, and studied the language of the Other World.

As for school, he simply stopped going.

This was what gave rise to a deep conflict between Lin Ze and his family.

His parents both felt that a child like Lin Ze should be in school, while Lin Ze didn't agree at all.

Learning was about gaining knowledge and changing one's fate. That was exactly what he was doing now.

Whether he gained that knowledge at school was completely irrelevant.

Ordinary children needed to stay in school and receive an education, but his situation was different.

But it was obvious that twelve-year-old Lin Ze had no power to persuade his parents.

They forcibly hauled him off to school.

Lin Ze was rather helpless about it. For a moment, he even had the outrageous thought that would have made people gasp at his lack of filial piety.

Why wasn't I...

At that moment, Lin Ze suddenly understood why, in the transmigration novels he'd read in his previous life, the protagonist was so often an orphan from the very beginning.

The trouble was right here.

You worked hard to build a career, only for someone close to you to drag you down.

The conflict between parents and child had now flared into the open.

After trying and failing to persuade his parents, Lin Ze decisively moved out.

With proof that he'd earned seventy thousand yuan from two months of self-media work, and after the school principal approved his leave of absence under the pretext of social practice, he boarded a plane and left Green Mountain County, where his parents lived. He headed for Ningyu City, the coastal capital of East Sea Province.

At twelve, Lin Ze wasn't a fully capable civil actor, so he couldn't rent an apartment himself. But there was no problem with staying at a hotel.

He signed up for a monthly stay directly with the hotel.

Once Lin Ze had settled into his new city, he immediately called his parents to let them know he was safe and sent them ten thousand yuan.

After that, he fell into a steady routine in the unfamiliar city: making videos, exercising, and practicing at a shooting range.

Lin Zheng and his wife looked at each other, realizing they had no way to keep Lin Ze in check.

He had his own source of income and wasn't doing anything illegal. As his parents, they couldn't force him to do anything—not even by calling the police.

Only then did they truly understand what it meant for the economic base to determine the superstructure.

If Lin Ze had no income, then naturally, whatever they said as his parents would go. But now the situation was completely reversed.

They had only strained their relationship with their child, without getting the outcome they wanted.

Lin Ze had even taken the initiative to apply for a leave of absence from the compulsory education bureau, so his parents wouldn't get in trouble with the authorities.

He had proved through his actions that he could already live independently.

Helpless, the couple began to feel regret.

They wanted Lin Ze to come home, and they promised they wouldn't interfere with his life anymore.

But by then, Lin Ze didn't want to go back.

Only when he was on his own could he appreciate how wonderful it was to be free and unrestrained.

Besides, what he was doing required a relatively free and independent space—not a home where he had to report to his parents wherever he went.

After leaving home to live on his own at the age of twelve, Lin Ze rarely returned.

He sent his parents five thousand yuan every month. He only went home for a few days around the Lunar New Year, then left again in a hurry.

It wasn't that the two sides were still at odds.

Once his parents chose to stop interfering with his life, they'd reconciled long ago. Otherwise, he wouldn't have returned home for a set period every year.

It was just that Lin Ze needed space and independence for his work, and staying at home wasn't very suitable.

But Lin Zheng and his wife had never given up on the idea of having Lin Ze come home and live with them long-term.

Over the past five years, Lin Ze had grown more impressive with every passing year.

At seventeen, he was tall and strong, had mastered a fine shooting technique, and was doing very well as a self-media creator. He was an outstanding young man. The only regret was that he spent so little time with his parents.

More than two years ago, he had even moved to a remote village so he could create in peace.

As parents, they didn't want to see their son isolating himself and living alone at such a young age.

And so, there was the phone call taking place now.

His video account had gone silent for two months, not because Lin Ze had hit a creative slump, but because of his real undertaking.

Trade between the two worlds was about to begin.

"It'll be New Year's in a little while. I'll come back then."

After a moment of silence, Lin Ze said this.

After today, his trade between the two worlds would finally begin.

He had finished investing in the early stages of the two-world trade. Now it was time to officially start reaping the rewards.

He would be busy for some time to come, so he naturally couldn't agree to his parents' request that he come home and keep them company.

After talking a little longer and asking after his parents' health, Lin Ze hung up.

Thinking back to their conversation, he also remembered the messages from fans on the messaging app, asking when he would post an update.

He thought for a moment, then turned on his computer.

He edited together footage of himself hitting every target at the shooting range and showing off his well-developed muscles at the gym, then added background music to make a video about a minute long.

He opened Salted Fish, the biggest short-video platform in this world, and logged in to his creator account.

He glanced at the account, which had lost two hundred thousand followers during the two months he'd been inactive and now had just over three million left, then uploaded the video he'd just finished editing.

Seventeen and afraid of school violence!

He came up with the title and uploaded it.

'Seventeen and afraid the school isn't violent enough!'

Lin Ze had even already guessed what the top comment would be once the video went live.

"Mm, update done. Time to go to bed."

After confirming the upload had succeeded, Lin Ze shut down the computer, washed the dishes, got up, and went to the bedroom to sleep.

Tomorrow, he would start turning the matsutake he'd bought in the Other World into cash. It would probably keep him busy for a long time.

If he didn't get a good rest, he wouldn't have the stamina to handle all that work.