Chapter 12

While they waited for the food to arrive, the two of them began going over the details of the contract again. Once they had more or less settled everything, Yang Qindong asked, "By the way, what are your plans for the near future? Young Emperor won't enter its promotional period for at least another six months. If you don't mind, I can arrange a few..."

"No need. Don't arrange anything for me. I still have to go back to school." Chen Mo interrupted Yang Qindong.

Getting into university had been the dream of Chen Mo's parents and the original Chen Mo. Chen Mo would do his best to fulfill it. No matter who tried to persuade him otherwise, he would not change his mind.

Yang Qindong had already seen how stubborn Chen Mo could be, so he did not press the matter further. Instead, he said, "If you need anything, you can tell me. I can help make arrangements. By the way, which university do you want to apply to? Huaying, Huaxi, or some other film school—"

"I want to apply to Huajing University." Chen Mo frowned. Seeing Yang Qindong's stunned expression, he raised a brow and asked, "Why are you so surprised?"

"Nothing. I just didn't expect that the newcomer I just signed would not only be handsome, but also such an excellent student." Yang Qindong took a sip of coffee and said with a smile, "The entertainment industry likes highly educated talent these days too. You have such outstanding looks, and if you're also a Huajing University student, the company will have more material to promote. It'll be a good thing for both you and the company."

Chen Mo said nothing. He lowered his head and cut into the steak he had ordered, forked up a piece, and put it into his mouth before saying, "I still need to go home and discuss the contract with my family. You understand, right?"

Yang Qindong nodded and said with a smile, "Of course. After we finish eating, I'll take you home. I can also discuss it with your parents."

Chen Mo nodded.

When Chen Mo returned home that evening, his parents knew he had gone to the film crew. Seeing that he had not come back so late, they had specially made several of his favorite dishes. Yang Qindong was also full of praise for Chen Mo's father's cooking.

After the family finished dinner, Yang Qindong told Chen Mo's parents about the contract. They were shocked. Before they could say anything, Chen Mo said, "Signing the contract was my own decision. I'm quite interested in this line of work. But don't worry, I won't neglect my studies. I'll get into Huajing University too."

Hearing Chen Mo say that, his parents could only nod.

Yang Qindong keenly sensed that there seemed to be a slight problem with the way Chen Mo and his parents interacted. However, he would not casually comment on another family's affairs, so he pretended not to notice. Smiling, he asked Chen Mo's parents to sign the management contract for him before getting up to leave.

After Yang Qindong left, Chen Mo took seventy-five thousand yuan from his backpack. Fifty-five thousand was his acting pay and crew salary, while the other twenty thousand was payment for the song he had written for the production team.

Chen Mo kept five thousand for himself, then gave the remaining seventy thousand to his parents, clearly stating that it was to help support the household. However, his mother went back to her room and brought out a bank card, placing it together with Chen Mo's seventy thousand. "Tomorrow, I'll deposit this money in the bank," she said. "I'll save it for you."

Chen Mo frowned. "No need. This is money to help with the household expenses. As long as I take on scripts now, I'll get paid. I shouldn't be short of money."

Naturally, those words could not persuade his parents. They pulled Chen Mo into the living room to eat some fruit before he finally returned to his room.

Having planned it long ago, Chen Mo took the original Chen Mo's high school textbooks from the bookshelf. Starting with the easiest subjects—Chinese, history, geography, and politics—he read through every textbook. Then he entered the System Space to recite the texts from memory and work through practice questions.

Over the next few days, Chen Mo shut himself in his room and gradually read through all the textbooks and exercise books, making sure he had mastered all the knowledge. Before he knew it, September had arrived and school was starting.

Chen Mo's school was a well-known experimental high school in Huajing City. During his time there, Chen Mo's grades had been excellent, and he had consistently ranked among the top three in his year. Since he had taken such a long sick leave last semester, all his teachers worried that he would be unable to keep up with the pace of study. His homeroom teacher, Ms. Meng, even called Chen Mo to her office for a talk, reminding him that he could come to her with any questions about his studies. She even said that if he was willing, she could tutor him after school.

Chen Mo smiled and politely declined Ms. Meng's kindness. "Actually, I didn't forget to preview my lessons while recovering. There shouldn't be any major problems."

Seeing that Chen Mo insisted, Ms. Meng could not persuade him further. She could only say, "There'll be a placement test next week. Let's see how you do first. If your results aren't good, you'll still need tutoring."

Chen Mo nodded. Although he had only been back at school for one day, he was already finding it dry and boring. Chen Mo decided that if the days ahead continued like this, he would rather keep taking sick leave. As long as he retained his student status, he could come back for the college entrance examination.

As he mulled it over, Chen Mo became increasingly bored. When he left the office and returned to the classroom, he found everyone eagerly discussing something.

After asking around upon returning to his seat, Chen Mo learned that their math teacher had gone home on maternity leave, so the school had specially hired a new teacher as a substitute.

"I heard the new teacher is super handsome, and he's a top student who came back from M Country. If he's really that impressive, why would he come to a school to be a teacher?"

Chen Mo rested his chin on his hand and listened halfheartedly. His deskmate, Zhang Zongming, grinned and leaned over, casually draping an arm across Chen Mo's shoulders. Raising his brows, he asked, "Why aren't you saying anything? I heard from the teacher that you took leave because you were seriously ill. But when I went to your house looking for you a few months ago, your parents said you'd run away from home. Since when did you start using that excuse too?"

Chen Mo shot Zhang Zongming a glance, unwilling to answer. He simply changed the subject and asked, "Where did you go during summer vacation?"

That question hit right where Zhang Zongming wanted it to. His eyes lit up, and he immediately began chattering away about the fun things he had done while traveling to the Maldives with his family over the summer. Since his stories were entertaining, nearby classmates gathered around as well. Zhang Zongming bragged enthusiastically for ages, then did not forget to ask Chen Mo what he had been doing. Resting his chin on his hand, Chen Mo replied indifferently, "I went to make a movie."

"Huh?" Everyone stared at him in stunned disbelief. Zhang Zongming had just opened his mouth to ask something when the bell rang. A stylish man in a white shirt, black suit jacket, and blue jeans walked into the classroom right on time.

The man appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He had neat, short brown hair, thick brows, deep-set eyes, and a high nose bridge. He gave off an exceptionally bright and handsome impression. He possessed both the high spirits of youth and the mature steadiness of a successful man in every movement.

Before he even spoke from the podium, Chen Mo could already hear the girls below letting out soft squeals.

Hearing the girls' praise, the man smiled even more happily, revealing a dazzling row of white teeth.

He casually turned on the television mounted above the classroom podium, then took out a lottery ticket from his lesson plan. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.

The students were baffled, but they still answered in unison, "A lottery ticket."

"Have any of you bought lottery tickets before?"

This time, the answers varied. Some said they had, some said they had not, and some said they had seen their parents buy them.

The substitute teacher smiled again and asked, "Then those of you who have bought them, have any of you won?"

Even fewer students gave affirmative answers this time.

That clearly matched the substitute teacher's expectations. He shook the lottery ticket in his hand and said with a smile, "I bought this ticket this morning while passing a lottery center on my way to work. I calculated the numbers on it based on mathematical probability, statistics, and other related knowledge. Now, let's see how the results turn out."

As soon as the substitute teacher finished speaking, the television began broadcasting the lottery draw. Every student stared intently at the little balls on the screen. A few minutes later... every student, Chen Mo included, stared at the substitute teacher in shock once again. The numbers on his lottery ticket differed from the jackpot numbers by only two digits...

In other words, the lottery ticket in the substitute teacher's hand had won at least one hundred thousand yuan!

Seeing the students' stunned expressions, the substitute teacher curled his lips in satisfaction. He casually put the lottery ticket back into his lesson plan, pressed both hands against the podium, and said with a smile, "So this teaches everyone the importance of learning math well. As long as you learn math well, even if you accomplish nothing in the future, you can squat outside a lottery center and buy lottery tickets for a living... Of course, that last part was a joke."

After saying that, the substitute teacher's smile faded slightly. He nodded to the students and introduced himself. "Hello, everyone. My name is Pei Qingjue. I'm your math teacher. For the next period of time, I'll be spending it with all of you."

"It's my first time teaching, so I don't have much experience. Please guide me."

Chapter 12

It had to be said that Pei Qingjue's lottery-ticket motivation method really did stimulate most of the students in the class. As a result, everyone listened with unusual attentiveness throughout the next lesson.

After class, quite a few students ran up to the podium to "besiege" Pei Qingjue, hoping to learn from him exactly how to use mathematics to buy lottery tickets.

Chen Mo was interested in this too. After all, he was short on money right now.

Pei Qingjue had expected this. He did not dampen the students' enthusiasm, merely saying casually, "Although probability and statistics can be used to calculate winning lottery numbers to a certain extent, this sort of thing requires more talent than effort. So for most people, studying diligently is still more important. Rather than learning math with the idea of buying lottery tickets, you might as well learn math well and trade stocks. At least the latter can help you land a decent offer after graduation."

Learning math to trade stocks sounded pretty good too!

As he thought this, Chen Mo followed Pei Qingjue all the way into the office. Getting straight to the point, he asked, "Teacher Pei, can you teach me how to trade stocks?"

Pei Qingjue had not expected Chen Mo to be so persistent about this matter. Somewhat helplessly, he said, "Not right now. You've just entered your final year of high school, and your studies are extremely demanding. How could you have the energy to worry about other things? If this student truly likes stock trading, why not study hard and strive to get into the Huajing University Department of Finance? Then you can systematically and professionally learn how to trade stocks, and you can also—"

Before Pei Qingjue could finish, Chen Mo interrupted him. Smiling, he said, "Huajing University is indeed my first choice. But I believe that reviewing my lessons and wanting to learn stock trading do not conflict with each other. If Teacher Pei isn't willing to teach me, then I'll have no choice but to learn on my own. That might end up wasting even more time."

Upon hearing that, Pei Qingjue knew Chen Mo had already made up his mind. He sighed with a slight headache and said, "But students should still prioritize their academic performance. How about this? The placement test is next week. Let's make an agreement. If you can achieve first place in the entire year on the placement test, I'll teach you how to trade stocks. If you fail to rank first in the year, then you have to promise me that you'll study properly and not put your mind on other things."

After thinking for a moment, Pei Qingjue added, "After your college entrance examination is over, if you still want to learn stock trading, I'll teach you."

Chen Mo looked at Pei Qingjue in some surprise. He had not expected someone who seemed so high-spirited at the podium to be so gentle and soft-spoken in private... Looks truly could be deceiving.