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However, businesspeople always had all sorts of ways to solve raw material problems, especially when expanding production meant making more money. After discussing it with Tang's mother, the cafeteria owner asked her to give up the bun-wrapping process and only prepare the filling and proof the dough. He would send people to take the ingredients back and hire others to wrap the buns themselves. Though the taste would not be as good as buns personally made by Tang's mother, the larger volume and ample ingredients would make up for some of the difference.

Later on, the cafeteria owner even began considering opening a food factory. After all, the market for frozen dumplings was quite good, and turning buns into dumplings only involved differences in proofing the dough and shaping them. Tang's mother had trained in dough preparation, so making dough for buns or dumplings was nothing difficult for her. Since that was the case, why couldn't the two of them work together? The cafeteria owner could invest capital, while Tang's mother could invest a smaller amount of money and her technical expertise, and the two could open a food factory as partners.

The cafeteria owner's proposal greatly tempted Tang's mother, and when she got home, she discussed it with Tang Shi. Although Tang Shi had the experience of two lifetimes and had looked up all sorts of business materials while writing novels to give himself cheat abilities, looking at flowers and embroidering flowers were two different things. Cooperating with a "cunning businessman" like the cafeteria owner required careful consideration.

Fortunately, although Tang Shi and Tang's mother had no experience with business negotiations, they understood that this was a good thing. Besides, they might not have experience, but Lu Hengzhi's parents did! To ensure the buns tasted good, Tang's mother had always bought flour and pork from the grain company run by Lu Hengzhi's father. Lu Hengzhi's parents admired her skills and had repeatedly suggested that their two families partner up to open a breakfast shop. They would earn more money that way, and Tang's mother would not have to work so hard. But Tang's mother had always felt that her family lacked the financial means. If she forced herself into a partnership with the Lu family, it would seem like she was taking advantage of them, so she had never agreed.

Now that she was considering opening a food factory with the cafeteria owner, Tang's mother felt that she should hear Lu Hengzhi's parents' opinions. Setting aside the affection and trust between old neighbors, Lu Hengzhi's father had, after all, been the first to suggest working together. Before, Tang's mother had neither money nor resources, yet she would have been trying to go into business with someone based solely on a filling recipe. She had always felt she had no grounds to do so.

But now, after several years of selling buns, plus the relocation compensation from back then, the compensation left after the children's father died, and the refunded social security payments, she had scraped together nearly a hundred thousand yuan in savings. Even if she went into business with someone else, she now had a little capital.

Meanwhile, after Lu Hengzhi's father learned of this, he also felt it was an excellent arrangement for everyone. First of all, he owned a grain, oil, and food company and could guarantee the quality of the supply channels, so there would definitely be no problem with raw materials. Tang's mother had the filling recipe, which meant the product had its core competitive advantage. As for the cafeteria owner, he had sales channels. With the three parties cooperating, it was practically perfect.

So when the three parties met, after a brief discussion, they decided on the new company's equity distribution. Because Lu Hengzhi's father had abundant funds and contributed the largest share, he put up three hundred thousand yuan to import the most advanced processing equipment from abroad and purchase the basic equipment for the food factory. He held 40% of the factory's shares and became its chairman and general manager. The cafeteria owner contributed two hundred thousand yuan, held 35% of the shares, and became the factory's business manager. Tang's mother contributed one hundred thousand yuan, along with the technical shares from her filling recipe, held the remaining 25%, and became the food factory's technical director.

Good Taste Frozen Foods, which would later become wildly popular, had begun to take shape.

With no need to sell buns in the mornings anymore, Tang Shi used his free time to listen to English recordings and memorize practice questions. He also paid close attention in class, and whenever he did not understand something, he promptly went to the teachers' office after class or during afternoon self-study to ask questions. Teacher-student relationships were still very simple and sincere at the time. Teachers lectured conscientiously and welcomed students who came after class to ask about things they had not understood. Sometimes Tang Shi arrived too late, and the teachers of various subjects would already be surrounded by other students, leaving him unable to squeeze in.

They were not like certain shameless teachers in later years, who deliberately withheld key points during class in order to earn extra money. After school, they would only subtly pressure parents into paying to send their children to tutoring classes. Not only did that increase the children's academic pressure, it also added to the financial burden on their parents.

Enough idle chatter. After Tang Shi diligently reviewed for a while, his grades indeed improved considerably. In the final exam of his first semester of high school, his total score finally rose to over 560 points, more than eighty points higher than his midterm score. He ranked twenty-fifth in his class and over four hundredth in the grade. Although this score was still not enough for admission to a top university, it was enough to get into a decent second-tier university.

Tang's mother, who had been anxious and disappointed ever since Tang Shi entered middle school because his test scores had never exceeded 500, was overjoyed. At last, she felt that her son had grown up, learned to work hard, and given her hope. When it came time for the parent-teacher meeting, she no longer went with a worried frown, too ashamed to face anyone. Being invited by Old Yu, the homeroom teacher, to speak before everyone about her parenting experience was something she had never imagined before.

It was simply an unexpected delight. Her face practically glowed with pride.

Meanwhile, after more than two months of intensive practice, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi's movements had become very smooth and their coordination extremely seamless. They finally decided to borrow a camera from Cui Yujin, a classmate who loved photography, record their dance, and send it to the official email address left by Dance Miracle.

Tang Shi only knew Cui Yujin loved photography because, in his previous life, Cui Yujin had applied to Capital Media University. After graduating, however, he refused his family's arrangement to place him at a television station and went to the United States for further studies. Later, a documentary series he filmed independently won a photography award, and Cui Yujin became an internationally renowned photographer in one leap.

Tang Shi was now asking Cui Yujin to film them. Once Cui Yujin became famous ten or twenty years later, if this footage was dug up again, it would probably make for quite an interesting memory.

For some reason, perhaps because the two had bad luck, they waited a long time after sending it the first time but never received an automated reply from Dance Miracle's mailbox. Unsure whether they had actually sent the video successfully, they sent it another three times just to be safe. They finally received the automatic reply on the last attempt, which put them at ease.

What excited them even more was that on the afternoon of the day after they sent the email, they received another response from Dance Miracle. It congratulated them on passing the initial Auditions and informed them that they could arrive at Apple City Television Station before July 2 for the first nationwide Auditions recording of Dance Miracle's first season. It was already June 29. The first semester of their first year of high school had just ended, and it was the third day of summer vacation.

After receiving the reply from the Dance Miracle production team, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi immediately told their respective parents. Tang's mother and the Lu family parents, who had long been mentally prepared, naturally agreed to the boys' request. Tang's mother and Lu Hengzhi's mother even suggested accompanying them, since it would be the first time the two boys went to Apple City and the adults would not feel at ease with them being unfamiliar with the place.

The two parents' heartfelt concern was fiercely opposed by Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi. Lu Hengzhi simply felt that he was already so old; finally going out to handle something important, only to have his parents tag along, was far too embarrassing. Tang Shi, on the other hand, considered that the family business had only just started, and it would not be good for Tang's mother to leave at such a time. Besides, it was not as if he had never been to Apple City in his previous life. There was no need to make such a big fuss.

This was where the difference between boys and girls showed. If two girls were going somewhere so far away, whether to have fun or record a program, the adults at home definitely would not be at ease. But it was different for two tall, strapping boys. Huaxia had always had the folk tradition that "a man must strive to be strong." When Lu Hengzhi's father had been their age, he had already taken over Lu Hengzhi's grandfather's position and worked at the grain depot to earn money. Therefore, when Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi firmly insisted on traveling alone, the adults from both families only briefly expressed their concerns before being persuaded by the two boys to agree.

A small incident occurred while they were packing. Since they had used Cui Yujin's camera to record the program audition video, Cui Yujin felt a sense of personal involvement in the matter and paid close attention to its progress afterward. He often called for no reason other than to ask how things were going. When he learned that the two had successfully passed the Auditions and were preparing to travel to Apple City to record the program, Cui Yujin was extremely excited. He even suggested going with them.

"Why are you coming with us? We're going to compete, not to have fun. It'll definitely be a huge hassle when we get there. Can you handle it?" Knowing how difficult it had been in his previous life, Tang Shi rejected Cui Yujin's suggestion with both amusement and exasperation. It was not for any other reason; he was simply worried that something might happen to Cui Yujin while he was alone there, and they would not be able to explain it to Cui Yujin's parents.

"Oh, come on, it's just Apple City. It's not like I've never been there. My grandmother lives in Apple City, and I go there every holiday to visit. Besides, one of my mom's classmates works at Apple City Television Station now. I heard she might be in charge of this program. Maybe I'll even be able to help you!" Cui Yujin's idea was both enthusiastic and well thought out. "I just think that you two are unfamiliar with the place, and everything will be inconvenient over there. Take me with you—you definitely won't regret it! Besides, even if you don't take me, I have to go to my grandmother's place with my mom in a couple of days anyway. It's the same thing."

Since Cui Yujin had put it that way, Tang Shi could not refuse him any longer. He only reminded Cui Yujin again, "Then you have to explain it clearly to your mom. She has to agree first."

Finally, amid Cui Yujin's string of complaints—"I know, I know. Why are you so naggy?"—he hung up.

He had just hung up and turned around to continue packing when the phone rang again. Tang Shi impatiently went back to the living room and answered it. He had assumed Cui Yujin was calling again to keep pestering him, but it turned out to be the class monitor, Yu Miao. He informed Tang Shi that Old Yu, their homeroom teacher, was planning to hold an extracurricular class during summer vacation, giving several top students and students who had improved especially greatly some extra instruction so they could preview the next semester's first-year high school coursework. Tang Shi had the honor of being included among the students who had "improved relatively greatly." As class monitor and the homeroom teacher's son, Yu Miao had been honored with the task of delivering the notice.

Yu Miao's notification made Tang Shi, who had never received this kind of treatment in his previous life, feel flattered. But he also awkwardly declined Old Yu's proposal. It was still because of the Dance Miracle Auditions. Yu Miao expressed his understanding and congratulations, wishing Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi good results in the competition—at the time, people still simply believed talent shows were competitions. However, he still reminded Tang Shi that it would be best to call Old Yu personally and explain the matter.

"My old man has a bad temper. You should tell him yourself. Call tonight—my dad will definitely be home then."

Those were Yu Miao's exact words.

After hanging up, Tang Shi continued packing with a troubled expression, pondering how he should explain things to Old Yu when he called that night. But one thing was set in stone: no matter how he explained it, Old Yu would be angry.

Sure enough, when Old Yu received Tang Shi's call that evening, he was so furious he practically exploded. Not only did he berate Tang Shi over the phone, he did not spare Tang's mother either—

"How can you be a parent like this? You're being so irresponsible! This concerns the child's future! A student's duty is to study! You let him mess around with all this nonsense, and when it scatters his focus, will he still be able to settle down and study properly? If he doesn't study well, he won't get into a good university! If he doesn't get into a good university, he won't get a good job! What will happen to him in the future?"

From that string of exclamation marks alone, one could deeply feel Old Yu's fury. As an old artist who had spent more than thirty years in education, published articles in several important national journals, and even released collections of essays, poetry, and realistic fiction, Old Yu made his contempt and distrust for the entertainment industry perfectly clear. As the one bearing the full brunt of his verbal bombardment, Tang's mother could only bow and apologize repeatedly, then gently try to persuade Old Yu not to be so angry—