A Parent's Heartache Under Heaven

Level 0 (Trash Tier) requires 100 scholar points to upgrade to Level 1 (Beginner Tier).

Level 1 requires 1000 scholar points to upgrade to Level 2.

Levels 2-4 are all considered Advanced Tiers. Upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 requires 3000 scholar points.

Upgrading from Level 3 to Level 4 requires 5000 scholar points.

Upgrading from Level 4 to Level 5 requires 10,000 scholar points.

The pattern is quite clear: the higher the level, the more scholar points are needed for upgrades.

Level 5 is the Professional Tier. The reference template provided by the system in the real world is Shen Qi's homeroom teacher, Zhang Wanbang.

Zhang Wanbang is a professional math teacher; he makes a living from mathematics, earning his bread through this knowledge.

Shen Qi calculated on his fingers; his highest current subject level is mathematics.

His math level is 1. Upgrading to Level 5 will require a total of 19,000 scholar points.

He only has a little over a year to complete the task, meaning he needs to go from a math apprentice to the level of a professional math teacher in just over a year.

Shen Qi studied diligently and arduously for one day, earning 10 scholar points. To acquire 19,000 scholar points, he would need to continuously study diligently for 1900 days, which is over five years.

This is an almost impossible task.

Shen Qi protested, "Hey, System, I can't possibly complete your new task. Can you give me a simpler one?"

System: "Tasks cannot be changed. It is recommended that the host continue to upgrade the subject with the highest current level and take it one step at a time."

"Crap, I'm trapped."

There was nothing else to think about; he decided to focus on math first, as it was already at Level 1.

Shen Qi took out 1000 scholar points and continued to pour them into math. His information in the system changed to:

Math Level 2 (0/3000) Chinese Level 0 (0/100) English Level 0 (0/100) Physics Level 0 (0/100) Chemistry Level 0 (0/100) Biology Level 0 (0/100) History Level 0 (0/100)

Remaining scholar points: 798

System: "Congratulations to the host for upgrading the math indicator to Level 2 (Advanced Tier). The host's deductive ability, insight, judgment, and memory in the field of mathematics have greatly improved compared to Level 1 (Beginner Tier)."

At this moment, evening self-study ended, and Shen Qi left the classroom to cycle home.

It was past nine o'clock in the evening when he arrived home. Shen Qi was hungry. He opened the refrigerator and found nothing that could be eaten directly, so he made a cup of instant noodles to fill his stomach first.

Under normal circumstances, his mother would have prepared meals and put them in the refrigerator, and Shen Qi could just heat them up and eat them.

His mother might have been very busy today and didn't prepare any meals.

It was late, and Shen Qi was alone in the house. He was eating instant noodles in the living room.

After just two bites, the front door of the house was opened, and Shen Qi's parents returned home at the same time.

Shen Qi's father, Shen Zhishan, was wearing a white shirt and suit pants. Shen Qi's mother, Fan Yunxia, was holding her husband's suit jacket in her hand as she helped him into the living room.

Shen Zhishan's face was flushed red, and he reeked of alcohol. He drunkenly shouted, "The government office is such crap! It's easier to provoke the King of Hell than to deal with petty officials! Back in my day, when I was working at the office, I never made things difficult for private enterprises. Li Delong, you bastard, how dare you give me attitude? If I hadn't looked out for you back then, would you be where you are today? You ungrateful wretch!"

Fan Yunxia helped her husband sit on the sofa and gently consoled him, "Old Shen, you've had too much to drink. Calm down. You know as well as anyone that people change when circumstances do."

"In short, Li Delong is a bastard!" Shen Zhishan, a private entrepreneur, flew into a rage, constantly cursing a man named Li Delong.

"Okay, okay, Li Delong is a bastard, an ungrateful wretch. We won't stoop to his level. Old Shen, you lie down on the sofa for a bit, and I'll make you some tea to sober you up." Fan Yunxia soothed her husband. She was a doctor, skilled at comforting patients or people with abnormal behavior.

Shen Qi seemed to understand. Shen Zhishan, a small private business owner, had gone out drinking and socializing with government officials tonight and was deliberately made to feel awkward by a civil servant named Li Delong.

Shen Qi had an impression of Li Delong. This Uncle Li was once a clerk under his father and had even bought him toys.

A few years ago, Shen Zhishan resigned from his public service position in a certain department in Nangang City and opened a small company. Now, Boss Shen often had to deal with government departments. People leave, circumstances change; his former subordinate, Li Delong, refused to give his former superior face, causing Shen Zhishan embarrassment and anger.

"People, they all change," Shen Qi sighed. Uncle Li, who was so kind and amiable, actually refused to give his father face after becoming a minor official. What a bastard!

"Shen Qi, why are you eating instant noodles?" After comforting her husband, Fan Yunxia's attention shifted to her son. "Didn't I send you a WeChat message? I was busy with many things during the day, and I had to pick up your father tonight. I told you to eat dinner outside and have something nutritious."

"Teacher Zhang confiscated my phone... Oh, no, my phone ran out of battery!" Shen Qi accidentally let it slip.

"What exactly happened?" Fan Yunxia suddenly became stern. "Give me your phone to look at."

"I... Alas, Teacher Zhang confiscated my phone." Shen Qi confessed, realizing this lie couldn't be covered up.

"Why did Teacher Zhang confiscate it? During class time, even if you turn off your phone and put it in your bag, teachers can still control it after school once you're outside the school gates?" Fan Yunxia pressed. She didn't object to Shen Qi having a phone. Her and her husband's jobs were quite busy, and if there was an emergency, they couldn't contact their son without a phone.

Shen Qi sincerely admitted his mistake: "I was playing mobile games at school... I was wrong. I won't play games anymore. I've already quit."

"Sigh." Fan Yunxia sighed. She knew her son's academic performance was poor, and it was unrealistic to expect Shen Qi to get into a prestigious medical university and follow in her footsteps. Shen Qi getting into an ordinary university would be a blessing.

No matter how bad his grades were, as long as he was willing to study, there was still hope. The key was that Shen Qi had given up on himself, which pained Fan Yunxia greatly, making her feel like "iron cannot be made into steel."

"Stop eating instant noodles, Shen Qi. I'll make you an egg noodle soup," Fan Yunxia said. She didn't scold Shen Qi. Although she was an internal medicine doctor, she had also studied clinical psychology. Boys Shen Qi's age had strong rebellious tendencies. The more you yelled at them, the more resistant they became, and they might even go to extremes. There were too many real-life lessons and cases of this.

Mother's love was, after all, great. Fan Yunxia felt bad that her son was filling his stomach with instant noodles for dinner, so she went to the kitchen to make egg noodles and add a side of fried bacon.

It was unavoidable that her son's grades weren't good. Fan Yunxia and Shen Zhishan were usually busy and didn't have much time to manage Shen Qi's studies. They just hoped Shen Qi wouldn't ruin his health again.

Shen Qi felt guilty towards his parents. His mom and dad had it tough. His dad drank and entertained clients every day just to earn more money. His mom left early and returned late, seeing so many patients, and was exhausted when she got home, yet she still had to worry about him.

Fortunately, his dad was drunk and asleep. Otherwise, with Boss Shen's explosive temper, he would have definitely spanked him. Shen Qi tearfully finished the egg noodles and bacon, prepared with motherly love, and returned to his bedroom to diligently study.