“Ballet?” Shen Xudong was shocked. “You want to learn ballet?”

Ballet wasn’t some obscure dance style. Many of his colleagues had sent their daughters to learn various forms of dance, with ballet being the most common and well-known.

But that was for girls. He had never heard of any boy being sent to learn ballet.

Besides, his son was the mischievous and playful type. Wanting to learn guitar—now that, he could understand. After all, many celebrities on TV used guitars to show off, so it was natural for Li Nan to take an interest.

But ballet?

As a teacher himself, Shen Xudong knew that boys at this age were beginning to care about how others saw them. They tended to avoid getting too close to girls. While his son had never been overly obvious about it, he had still kept a certain distance from the girls in their neighborhood.

Wanting to learn ballet didn’t seem like something a boy his age would suddenly take an interest in.

Could it be that he liked some girl who was learning ballet…?

A hundred thoughts ran through his mind, but Shen Xudong didn’t show any of them on his face. Instead, he said calmly, “I can’t make this decision for you. I suggest you talk it over properly with your mother.”

“Of course, but on the condition that you don’t make my wife angry.”

Li Nan: …

Fine, your wife is your wife.

…

When the father and son returned home, Li Wenqing happened to be out, possibly at the supermarket.

However, Li Nan’s grandparents were at home, leisurely watching TV with the fan blowing. Seeing Li Nan and Shen Xudong return so soon, Li Nan’s grandmother, Qiao Cuiping, was surprised and greeted them, “Weren’t you supposed to be in class? Why are you back so early? Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing, Mom,” Shen Xudong said, pointing at Li Nan. “Xiao Nan seems to be suffering from a bit of heatstroke. I was worried the Youth Palace might be too hot for him, so I brought him back.”

“Heatstroke?” Qiao Cuiping exclaimed in shock. “You need something to cool down. Lao Li, hurry and get some medicine for Nan Nan.”

Li Hongguo immediately stood up to fetch the medicine box, but Li Nan quickly stopped him. “No need, Grandma. I already drank a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi water at the Youth Palace’s infirmary.”

The taste was disgusting, and he definitely didn’t want to drink another one. Besides, he was perfectly fine now.

After Li Nan repeatedly assured them that he was okay, the two doting elders finally gave up on their fussing. However, they still decided to turn on the air conditioner.

In this era, air conditioners were considered a luxury, affordable only to wealthy families. The reason Li Nan’s family had one was because they ran a supermarket, so they conveniently bought one for themselves while stocking up. It was installed in the living room, and whenever it was turned on, they would leave all the bedroom doors open so that the cool air could circulate throughout the house.

Although the air conditioner was great, it consumed a lot of electricity. The two elderly folks, who had lived frugally for years, rarely used it. They usually made do with the fan and would only turn on the air conditioner for an hour or two when the whole family was home.

This time, however, the air conditioner was turned on earlier than usual, all thanks to Li Nan’s “heatstroke.”

Li Nan slipped into his bedroom, grabbed a pen and paper, and began seriously studying this so-called “Superstar System.” Beside him was a plate of watermelon cut into bite-sized pieces, served by Qiao Cuiping, with toothpicks ready for easy eating.

After flipping through the system interface repeatedly, Li Nan confirmed that this system truly had the power to turn him into a so-called superstar. With all those incredible tools and the absurd talent points, even the dumbest person could be transformed into a genius.

Not to mention, the system’s talent points could even be allocated to intelligence.

In other words, if Li Nan wanted to, he could probably become a 100 IQ-level super genius on the spot.

【Of course! I’m the most advanced and powerful System 001, after all!】

Out of nowhere, the lively mechanical voice suddenly popped up, startling Li Nan and making his heart race.

『Can you at least give me a warning before you show up?』 Li Nan complained helplessly.

【If I warned you in advance, would you not be scared then, Host?】 the system baby asked curiously.

…Well, that made sense.

Li Nan gave up. Fine, scare me all you want. If it happens enough times, maybe his heart will eventually toughen up.

【By the way, Host, I came out to remind you to check the sign-in feature in the system mall!】

Hearing this, Li Nan summoned the system panel, opened the mall, and found the inconspicuous sign-in button in the corner.

『What’s the point of this?』

Li Nan had played a few games before, but due to intense training and his age catching up, he wasn’t as skilled as he used to be. He mostly played casual games like “Happy Landlord” and “Candy Crush,” which didn’t require much skill. His impression of sign-in features was limited to receiving some in-game coins or rewards.

If it’s in the system’s case… would it give him popularity coins for shopping in the mall?

Thinking about those tempting items in the mall, Li Nan’s eyes lit up.

【You get one sign-in opportunity every Monday when the mall refreshes. There’s actually a lucky wheel feature too, but your popularity is too low right now, so that function is temporarily locked. Hurry up and make your debut to earn popularity points!】

The system excitedly rambled on before realizing it had gone off track. It quickly corrected itself:

【The rewards from signing in vary, but they’re usually trial versions of items from the system mall.】

『Trial version?』

【The full versions are expensive! The system can’t afford to lose money, so you only get trial versions. Some last for an hour or two, while others can last up to a day~ Hehe.】

『Oh, I get it now. So you let me experience it first, and then trick me into spending money—oh wait, in the system’s case, it’s more like tricking me into completing tasks.』

【Hehe, but since this is your first sign-in, I managed to get you a little bonus. As long as you successfully sign in at the designated location, you’ll receive a specific item (trial version).】

『What item?』 Li Nan asked absentmindedly, his pen scribbling on the notebook.

【【The Sims: Acting Training Room】! Impressive, right? This is a Level 3 item in the system mall, and it’s super expensive! It costs a full one million popularity coins to purchase, but by signing in today, you’ll get a one-day trial for free!】

Li Nan’s pen paused as he fell into deep thought. 『An acting training room? What exactly is that? Tell me more. 』

【It allows the Host to fully experience the life of the character you want to portray. The training room helps you understand the role and makes it easier for you to deliver a flawless performance.】

【With your pitiful 40 points in acting skills, landing a male lead in this lifetime would be nearly impossible. But with the acting training room, you can bring a character to life with stunning realism!】

Li Nan raised an eyebrow: 『Even fictional characters from stories can be experienced?』

【Of course! Don’t underestimate this system. As the most advanced system in the world, creating a virtual world for you to immerse in is just a piece of cake!】

Li Nan nodded and asked once more, 『I can experience any role, no matter what it is? 』

The system responded with absolute certainty, 【Of course!】

『Then where exactly is this designated check-in location?』

The system calculated for a moment before providing Li Nan with a map, 【As long as you’re within 100 meters of this range, the system will activate the automatic navigation function. Once you’re within 10 meters of the designated spot, the check-in will be successful!】

Li Nan studied the map and tried to recall the address. After a moment of hesitation, he asked uncertainly, 『The department store?』

The system fell silent, seemingly unable to respond to this question.

In the department store? Well, might as well check it out…

After thinking it through, Li Nan decided to head to the so-called designated location.

At that moment, Li Wenqing finally returned home. Seeing Li Nan at home, she didn’t say much. It seemed that Shen Xudong had already called her in advance to explain Li Nan’s heatstroke situation.

She sat down on the sofa, waved her hand, and signaled Li Nan to sit on the small stool across from her.

Li Nan: “…”

Great. It’s time for another lecture from Mom.

Li Nan was all too familiar with this scene—he had seen it countless times before. Ever since he was a child, this was how his mother always prepared before giving him a lecture or discussing something important.

The night he left home to officially step into the entertainment industry, Li Wenqing had simply beckoned him over the same way, gesturing for him to sit across from her. After he explained what he truly wanted, she had fallen silent for a long time—at least ten minutes. Just when Li Nan had started feeling uneasy, fearing that she was about to reject his decision, she had unexpectedly agreed to let him pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

Thinking back, it had been a long time since he last experienced this scene. He found himself feeling a bit nostalgic.

With an inexplicable sense of sentiment, Li Nan eagerly dragged over a small stool and plopped down opposite Li Wenqing.

His enthusiasm left Li Wenqing momentarily stunned. She couldn’t help but suspect that her son was up to something—after all, he had never been this eager to sit and wait for one of her lectures before.

“Your father already told me about the guitar class,” Li Wenqing began. “So, you don’t want to continue anymore?”

Li Nan hummed twice in response, then quickly corrected her, “It’s not that I don’t want to continue. I just want to switch from guitar lessons to ballet classes.”

Li Wenqing fell silent for a moment, giving him a peculiar once-over. After a brief pause, she finally spoke. “I don’t know if someone has been saying things to you, but I need to emphasize something very clearly.”

Her tone was solemn, and Li Nan instinctively straightened his back, listening intently.

Li Wenqing took a deep breath and said in a steady voice, “Even with your little sister’s birth, you are still—and will always be—a child loved by both your father and me. That will never change. So, you don’t have to worry… uh, about us not loving you anymore or anything like that.”

Li Nan slowly typed out a question mark in his head, his gaze turning blank.

Huh? What is Mom even talking about?

It took him a moment to finally realize what Li Wenqing meant.

So, his mom actually thought that because of his little sister’s birth, he felt unloved and wanted to learn ballet to lean towards femininity and gain their attention—wait, what the hell?! His mom’s imagination was way too wild!

A few drops of cold sweat rolled down Li Nan’s forehead. He couldn’t help but feel that his mom was truly overthinking things. Did he look like the kind of kid who would overthink and feel unloved?

Obviously not!

…Wait a minute.

Wasn’t the reason he started learning guitar in the first place actually because of his sister’s birth…?

Suddenly, he understood why his mom was thinking this way.

Li Nan hurriedly explained, “It’s not like that!”

“I wasn’t thinking that much,” Li Nan said awkwardly. “Actually, learning ballet is just for support. What I really want to do is—”

【Become a Superstar!】

The system suddenly popped up out of nowhere and finished Li Nan’s sentence for him.

Li Nan paused for a moment, choosing to ignore the voice in his head. He looked at Li Wenqing seriously and said, “What I actually want to do is become a figure skater.”

【???】

“Figure skater?” Li Wenqing was stunned. The term sounded unfamiliar to her. After all, the more popular sports were still those from the Summer Olympics. Figure skating, a sport from the Winter Olympics, was rarely paid attention to, especially in Huaguo, a country with such vast latitudes. For those living in the southern regions, the idea of skating on a frozen lake in winter was simply unimaginable.

This was precisely why, despite Huaguo’s massive population, there was a severe lack of figure skating talent.

—

It wasn’t until the time when Li Nan was reborn that Huaguo’s figure skating talent pool finally began to take shape, with more and more young skaters emerging.

Shen Xudong, Li Wenqing’s husband and a high school teacher, knew a bit more about this field. Hearing this, he looked at his son in surprise, “You want to become a figure skater? How did you suddenly come up with this idea?”

It wasn’t an Olympic year, nor was it winter, and there was no figure skating promotion going on. Plus, S City wasn’t like the three northeastern provinces where ice skating was a common hobby among kids. Shen Xudong couldn’t figure out where Li Nan even heard about this sport.

Li Nan thought for a moment and replied, half-truthfully, “I saw it on TV. I think becoming a figure skater and bringing glory to the country is really amazing, so I want to be that kind of person too.”

“Bringing glory to the country? Good! That’s the kind of ambition a Li family member should have!”

Li Nan’s grandfather, Li Hongguo, who was usually a man of few words, couldn’t help but cheer for him after hearing that. “Wenqing, since Xiao Nan has such determination, we must support him!”

The older generation in this era was just like that—always putting the country first.

Li Wenqing, however, wasn’t as easily convinced. She glanced at Li Nan skeptically, “You’re saying… you want to participate in the Olympics? You?”

She wasn’t trying to crush her son’s confidence, but she had never even heard of the term “figure skating” before. Plus, knowing Li Nan’s personality, he was someone who couldn’t stick to anything for long. He was the type who’d get excited for three days and give up after two.

Take the guitar lessons, for example. After just a few sessions, he suddenly set a new goal of learning ballet and figure skating. It sounded completely unreliable. Who knew if Li Nan would quit after a few days of complaining about how hard it was?

The Li family did have some money and didn’t mind paying for various classes for him. After all, how could investing in learning be considered a waste?

However, Li Wenqing believed that she couldn’t let her son develop the habit of being indecisive. It was fine now, but what if he carried this attitude into adulthood and ended up quitting everything halfway through? Wouldn’t that ruin him?

Raising a child required the right approach. Spoiling him blindly wasn’t true love.

With her own parenting philosophy in mind, and with Li Hongguo and Qiao Cuiping echoing her stance, Li Wenqing didn’t get swayed. Instead, she maintained a stern expression and said, “Have you thought this through? If I agree this time, no matter how much you act spoiled or throw tantrums in the future, I won’t allow you to change courses again.”

She emphasized, “Even if you bring your grandparents in to plead for you, I won’t change my mind.”

Hearing this, Li Hongguo and Qiao Cuiping immediately fell silent. After all, the two of them were the most indulgent when it came to spoiling Li Nan. Whenever he made mistakes and got scolded by his mother, it was always these two who stepped in to protect him.

But now, not only was Li Wenqing warning Li Nan, but she was also indirectly calling them out.

Well, what could they do? Their daughter was too strong-willed and the true head of the household. What she said was final.

Sensing that there was still hope, Li Nan quickly nodded and promised, “I’ll definitely work hard. I’ll even bring back a gold medal for you, Mom!”

Li Wenqing couldn’t help but laugh at her son’s wild ambition. “A gold medal? I’d be satisfied if you can just finish one semester without wasting my tuition fees. You think I actually expect you to bring back a gold medal?”

She paused for a moment and added, “But fine, if you really do bring back a gold medal… I’ll grant you one wish. Whatever you want, as long as it’s not too unreasonable, I’ll agree to it.”

Li Nan: 【?!】

Li Nan was stunned.

His mom was being… this generous?

Well, it made sense. She probably didn’t believe he could actually become a real figure skater from the bottom of her heart.

“It’s a deal then!” Li Nan didn’t really care about the promise itself; all he needed was his family’s support.

“Don’t get too excited just yet,” Li Wenqing interrupted him. “I can agree to let you switch courses and learn figure skating, but you have to promise me one thing in return.”

“Go ahead, Mom. As long as I can do it,” Li Nan replied without hesitation. He didn’t think his mother would make any unreasonable demands.

“When I allowed you to take guitar lessons before, you promised me that you’d rank in the top three for every exam that semester. Now that you’re switching courses, I’ll have to change the condition as well.”

Li Wenqing paused for a moment and said, “From now on, for every exam—big or small—you have to rank in the top three in total score. Not just in one subject, but the overall ranking. How about that?”

This condition was actually quite difficult.

Li Nan was currently attending an experimental elementary school, one of the best in S City. Only the top 100 students in the entire grade could directly advance to the affiliated experimental middle school. This middle school only admitted 320 students each year—100 from the elementary school and the remaining 220 through entrance exams, drawing the best students from across the city.

In Li Nan’s class, everyone had solid academic performance. If he could rank in the top three in his class, he would easily be in the top 50 for the entire grade, securing his spot within the top 100.

However, Li Nan’s previous grades had always hovered outside the top 100, and he had never once broken into the top ranks.

Li Wenqing thought Li Nan would back down or at least try to negotiate. She had already come up with several backup conditions in her mind.

Unexpectedly, Li Nan agreed without hesitation.

“No problem,” Li Nan said with full confidence.

Nonsense.

Having a fake elementary school student compete against a bunch of real elementary school kids—how could he possibly lose?

If he couldn’t even manage that, he might as well go back and be reborn properly instead of wasting this second chance.

Li Wenqing: ?

She had set such an unreasonable condition, yet he accepted it without hesitation?

Did she set the bar too low?

Li Wenqing fell into self-doubt.

…

With Li Wenqing’s approval, Li Nan’s dream of becoming a figure skater was finally on the right track.

The rest of the family had no objections after Li Wenqing agreed. The only one still causing trouble was the system.

【Host, you’re supposed to become a superstar! How can you go and learn figure skating?!】

The system was extremely dissatisfied. 【Host, you clearly promised me you’d become a superstar!!!】

Li Nan looked innocent: 『When did I ever promise you that?』

【Host!!!!!!!】

A burst of crackling electric noise exploded in Li Nan’s head, making him press his temples in frustration. The noise was giving him a headache.

Finally, the system calmed down and returned to its usual flat tone.

【Allow me to remind you, if you don’t quickly gain popularity points to provide energy to the system, you will soon die again. And this time, there will be no chance to start over.】

Li Nan fell silent for a moment and asked, 『So, this so-called popularity value is the way you gain energy? What exactly do you need? Emotions? Intense emotional fluctuations?』

If popularity value was the energy the system needed, then from another perspective, did that mean the system required intense emotional changes?

After all, popularity value usually stemmed from fans’ love for idols. The stronger the love, the more fans were willing to do for their idol, and the higher the popularity would be.

Could this be the principle behind the energy the system needed?

【……】

The system fell silent.

Li Nan felt that he had probably figured out the truth. He didn’t press further and instead changed the question: 『Then, if I can gain the popularity value you need and complete the task in a literal sense, wouldn’t that also fulfill your goal?』

【……】

The system still didn’t respond.

It seemed he guessed right. The heavy stone in Li Nan’s heart finally eased a little, and he could finally breathe.

The system’s main mission was: to become a superstar.

However, this so-called superstar wasn’t strictly limited to being a singer or an actor, or anything specific for that matter. After all, in the entertainment industry, whether one was an actor or a singer, as long as they reached a certain level of fame, they could be considered a superstar.

A superstar—that meant achieving worldwide recognition.

Li Nan believed he couldn’t do it. Even with the system’s assistance, he simply wasn’t cut out for the entertainment industry.

But—

Li Nan thought: If he couldn’t become a superstar in the entertainment industry, couldn’t he become a superstar in another field?

Besides, how could becoming a superstar in the entertainment industry compare to bringing glory to the country?

He would become a superstar on the ice rink!

One day, the entire world would cheer and celebrate his performance.