Upgrading from Level 0 (the lousy level) to Level 1 (the beginner level) required 100 Academic Prodigy Points.
Upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 required 1,000 Academic Prodigy Points.
Levels 2 through 4 were all advanced levels. Upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 required 3,000 Academic Prodigy Points.
Upgrading from Level 3 to Level 4 required 5,000 Academic Prodigy Points.
Upgrading from Level 4 to Level 5 required 10,000 Academic Prodigy Points.
The pattern was clear: the higher the level, the more Academic Prodigy Points it took to advance.
Level 5 was the professional level. The real-world model the system provided was Shen Qi's homeroom teacher, Zhang Wanbang.
Zhang Wanbang was a professional math teacher. He made his living from mathematics, supporting himself with that knowledge.
Shen Qi did a quick calculation. His highest-level subject was currently math.
His math level was Level 1, and it would take a total of 19,000 Academic Prodigy Points to reach Level 5.
He had only a little over a year to complete the task. In other words, he had to advance from a math apprentice to the level of a professional math teacher in just over a year.
If Shen Qi studied hard for a whole day, he could earn 10 Academic Prodigy Points. To earn 19,000 points, he would have to study diligently for 1,900 days straight—more than five years.
It was practically impossible.
Shen Qi protested, "Hey, system, there's no way I can finish this new task. Give me an easier one!"
System: "Tasks cannot be changed. The host is advised to continue upgrading the subject currently at the highest level and take things one step at a time."
"Damn, I've been had."
There was no point dwelling on it. He'd invest in math first, since it was already at Level 1.
Shen Qi spent 1,000 Academic Prodigy Points to upgrade math again. His system information 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 Academic Prodigy Points: 798
System: "Congratulations, host. Your Math Level has advanced to Level 2 (advanced). Your deductive ability, insight, judgment, and memory in the field of mathematics have all improved significantly compared to Level 1 (beginner)."
By then, evening study had ended. Shen Qi left the classroom and rode his bike home.
It was past nine when he got home. Hungry, Shen Qi opened the fridge and found nothing ready to eat, so he made a cup of instant noodles to tide himself over.
Normally, his mom prepared food and kept it in the fridge, so Shen Qi could just heat it up and eat.
His mom had probably been busy today and hadn't prepared anything.
It was late, and Shen Qi was the only one at home. He sat in the living room eating instant noodles.
He'd only had a couple of bites when the front door opened and both his parents came home.
Shen Qi's father, Shen Zhishan, wore a white shirt and slacks. His mother, Fan Yunxia, carried her husband's suit jacket and supported him as she helped him into the living room.
Shen Zhishan's face was flushed, and he reeked of alcohol. Drunk, he shouted, "Those government offices are a damn mess! The King of Hell is easy to deal with, but his underlings are a nightmare! When I worked for the government, I never gave private businesses a hard time. Li Delong, you bastard, how dare you give me attitude? If I hadn't looked after you back then, would you have gotten where you are today? You ungrateful, good-for-nothing son of a bitch!"
Fan Yunxia helped her husband onto the sofa and gently tried to soothe him. "Old Shen, you've had too much to drink. Calm down. You know how people forget you once you're no longer useful."
"Anyway, Li Delong is a bastard!" Shen Zhishan, a private business owner, flew into a rage and kept cursing a man named Li Delong.
"Alright, alright. Li Delong is a bastard, an ungrateful wretch. We won't stoop to his level. Old Shen, lie down on the sofa for a bit. I'll make you some tea to help you sober up." Fan Yunxia comforted her husband. She was a doctor, skilled at calming patients and people behaving erratically.
Shen Qi had more or less figured it out. His father, Shen Zhishan, a small-time private business owner, had gone drinking with government officials that evening and been given a hard time by Li Delong, a government employee.
Shen Qi remembered Li Delong. Uncle Li had once been one of his dad's clerks and had even bought Shen Qi toys.
A few years ago, Shen Zhishan had quit his government job at a department in Nangang City and started a small company. These days, Boss Shen often dealt with government departments. His former subordinate Li Delong had shown his old boss no respect, now that Shen Zhishan was no longer in office. It had humiliated and angered him.
"People really do change," Shen Qi sighed. Uncle Li had seemed so kind and easygoing, but once he'd become a minor official, he wouldn't even show his dad any respect. What a bastard!
"Shen Qi, why are you eating instant noodles?" After settling her husband down, Fan Yunxia turned her attention to her son. "Didn't I message you? I had a lot to do today, and I had to pick up your dad tonight. I told you to eat dinner out and get something nutritious."
"My phone was confiscated by Teacher Zhang—no, wait, my phone ran out of battery!" Shen Qi blurted out before he could stop himself.
"What exactly happened?" Fan Yunxia suddenly turned stern. "Give me your phone so I can have a look."
"I... Ah, Teacher Zhang confiscated my phone." Shen Qi decided to come clean. There was no way he could keep up the lie.
"Why did Teacher Zhang confiscate it? During class, you're supposed to switch it off and leave it in your schoolbag. The teachers are allowed to control what you do even after school, once you've left?" Fan Yunxia pressed him. She didn't object to Shen Qi bringing a phone. Both she and her husband were busy with work, and if there was an emergency, they needed a way to contact their son.
Shen Qi sincerely admitted his mistake. "I played mobile games at school... I was wrong. I won't play games again. I've already quit."
"Ah." Fan Yunxia sighed. She knew her son wasn't doing well in school. Expecting Shen Qi to get into a top medical university and follow in her footsteps was unrealistic; she'd be lucky if he got into an ordinary university.
Even if his grades were terrible, there was still hope as long as he was willing to study. The real problem was that Shen Qi had given up on himself. It broke Fan Yunxia's heart. She wished she could knock some sense into him.
"Stop eating instant noodles, Shen Qi. I'll make you a bowl of egg noodles." Fan Yunxia didn't blame him. Though she was an internal medicine doctor, she'd also studied clinical psychology. Boys Shen Qi's age were strongly rebellious. The more you scolded them, the more they resisted; they might even do something extreme. There were all too many tragic real-life examples.
A mother's love was great, after all. Seeing that her son was making do with instant noodles for dinner, Fan Yunxia went to the kitchen to make egg noodles and fry up some bacon.
There wasn't much she could do about her son's poor grades. Fan Yunxia and Shen Zhishan were both busy most of the time and had little time to supervise Shen Qi's studies. She just didn't want him to ruin his health on top of everything else.
Shen Qi felt guilty toward his parents. Neither of them had it easy. His dad drank with people every day to bring in more money, while his mom left early and came home late after seeing countless patients. By the time she got home, she was exhausted, yet she still had to worry about him.
Luckily, his dad had drunk himself to sleep. Otherwise, with Boss Shen's fiery temper, he would definitely have given Shen Qi a beating. Shen Qi ate the egg noodles and bacon made with his mother's love, his eyes brimming with tears, then returned to his bedroom and studied hard.
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