Chapter 62

After a satisfying dinner, Song Haowen returned alone to the business store. He opened the safe and carefully examined the Sword of King Wu and the Chicken Soup Bowl. After a while, he placed them back into the safe with a feeling of reluctance.

He thought about how he had become a millionaire in less than a year in Beijing, finding it somewhat unbelievable. However, he was curious why he didn’t feel as excited as he had imagined.

In his past life, if he had won five million in a lottery, wouldn’t he be ecstatic? Wouldn’t he want everyone to know while simultaneously fearing the attention?

At this moment, Song Haowen remembered Jack Ma’s words from his previous life, saying that he wasn’t interested in money. Perhaps, when money becomes just a number, one might genuinely lose interest in it. It could be compared to seeing too many beautiful women can make you lose interest or getting tired of delicacies after indulging too much. It’s the same principle. This might not good to hear but a harsh reality.

That night, Song Haowen took a long time to fall asleep, and when he woke up the next day, his head felt heavy. He splashed his face with cold water, feeling somewhat relieved.

When Song Haowen arrived at school and entered the classroom, Zhu Hongyu told him that the counselor, Teacher Jin, wanted to see him and asked him to visit the teachers’ office.

His heart tightened, fearing that something unpleasant had happened. He immediately dropped his backpack and anxiously ran towards the teachers’ office.

Teacher Jin, upon seeing Song Haowen, greeted him with a smile, “You’ve come at the right time. I have something important to discuss with you. After a meeting, the school decided that your recent performance has been good, so we’ve decided to lift all the penalties against you, including the reprimand. You’ll continue to serve as the Cultural and Sports Committee member for the school Youth League and the class study committee member. I’ll announce this to the class before the next lesson.”

Upon hearing this, Song Haowen felt a heavy stone lift from his heart. His biggest concern was the exposure of his collected treasures, leading to unpredictable troubles. However, being able to lift the penalties made him very happy; after all, he could walk with his head held high again. He immediately bowed deeply to Teacher Jin, expressing his gratitude. With no other matters to discuss, he happily went to class.

Zhu Hongyu saved a seat for Song Haowen. After he sat down, she eagerly asked about Teacher Jin’s business. He whispered Teacher Jin’s words to her, and upon hearing the news, she was extremely pleased, repeatedly saying, “Congratulations.”

Indeed, ten minutes before the class started, Teacher Jin came to the classroom, publicly announcing the school’s decision and encouraging Song Haowen. Originally, his classmates had a very favorable impression of him, even somewhat admiring him.

They deeply felt that the punishment he received was unfair, and now, upon hearing Teacher Jin announce the decision on behalf of the school, the classroom erupted in excitement, bursting into enthusiastic applause.

After class, classmates approached Song Haowen one by one to offer congratulations. After all, school penalties were not a trivial matter; they could seriously affect personal political prospects and career development. Ren Hua, with tears in her eyes, was afraid of losing control and dared not approach Song Haowen.

That night, Ren Hua took the initiative to invite Song Haowen and Zhu Hongyu to dinner, celebrating the lifting of his penalties. The three of them found a refined small restaurant near the business store and got a private room.

Ren Hua ordered a table full of dishes and a bottle of Beidacang wine, known as the “Maotai of the North.” This was her hometown’s wine, and it was the first time Song Haowen and Zhu Hongyu were trying it. They found the wine indeed had the flavor of Maotai and enjoyed it very much.

As they chatted and drank, the atmosphere became lively, and unconsciously, they had consumed two bottles. Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua had a higher tolerance for alcohol than Song Haowen, who ended up a bit intoxicated as they continued drinking.

Zhu Hongyu, sensing the situation was getting out of control, urged Ren Hua to quickly conclude the dinner. The two women supported Song Haowen, one on each side, and escorted him back to the business store, settling him on the kang in the west room.

Concerned about any potential issues during the night, both women didn’t dare to return to the school and stayed in the east room with him. Originally, the east room was intended as Song Haowen’s main bedroom, while the west room was mainly used as a studio. However, it turned out that the west room became the main bedroom later on, and the east room became a guest room.

The one who slept the most in the east room was Zhu Hongyu, as she had spent the entire winter break there.

After Song Haowen fell asleep, he slept until dawn. Upon waking up, he found the two women had stayed the night due to his intoxication, and he felt a bit guilty about it.

At the same time, it was somewhat embarrassing for a young man to be outdrunk by two women. He invited the two women to have breakfast together and then attend classes at the school.

It was only one week away from July, with less than half a month left until the college entrance exam. Song Haowen was unsure if the exam papers he sent back had received attention from his second sister, and if she had taken each question seriously.

He couldn’t help feeling a bit worried. His final exams for this semester were starting tomorrow and would run until the end of the month. When he rushed back home, there might only be two or three days left before the college entrance exam, and he feared it might be a bit late.

However, he couldn’t skip his final exams either; otherwise, he might have to take all the makeup exams, which the school might not agree to. If he couldn’t return home earlier, it might affect his second sister’s college entrance exam.

Caught in a dilemma, not knowing how to make a decision, he completed all his subject exams, and the date was already July 1st, with only five or six days left until the college entrance exam.

At this moment, Song Haowen could no longer afford to delay. As soon as the morning exams finished, without caring about the selection for the “Three Good Students” or outstanding class committee members, he immediately requested leave from the school.

He entrusted all the affairs of the store to Wang Li and Qian Youlai, then packed a simple bag. Without buying any gifts, he took a taxi to the airport, attempting to take a flight to the provincial capital of Jiangnan, Tangdu City. From there, he would take another taxi directly back home.

If everything went smoothly, he could arrive home on the same day. However, his plane ticket and taxi fare did not enjoy the half-price student discount. Nevertheless, he didn’t care about these expenses now.

Fortunately, there was a flight to Tangdu City at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Because a passenger had unexpectedly canceled their trip, he obtained a precious ticket. As he boarded a plane for the first time after his rebirth, memories of his complicated relationship with the flight attendant Tan Shishi from his past life stirred his heart, and he couldn’t calm down for a long time.

Although the past had become a dream, its impact on him lingered. Fortunately, he had overcome that shadow in his past life, and he wouldn’t be as timid in this life.

After an hour and forty minutes of flight, the plane landed at Tangdu Airport. It was still before 6 PM, and the sun was hanging high in the western sky. After disembarking, Song Haowen heaved a sigh of relief, and the weight on his chest finally lifted.

At the airport shops, he didn’t bother about prices; he just bought a bunch of imported goods as gifts. Then he negotiated a deal with a taxi driver for 200 yuan, including accommodation and meals on the way, and headed straight for the Zhao Sheng Commune in Linshan County, part of the Tangdu City.

After nearly five hours of driving, the taxi arrived at the small street of the Zhao Sheng Commune before 11 PM. Although it was very close to Song Haowen’s home, the young driver, concerned about safety issues, refused to go any further into the countryside.

Helpless, Song Haowen had no choice but to find the only guesthouse in the town—a government guesthouse. As all the restaurants and shops in the town had closed, and the guesthouse didn’t provide food at night, the two of them had to eat the leftover steamed buns to ease their hunger.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Song Haowen urged the driver to wake up. Without having breakfast, they set off in the taxi. In just over ten minutes, they reached the gate of Song Haowen’s home.

At this moment, Song Haowen’s mother, Li Ying, had just gotten up and was standing in the yard combing her hair. Hearing someone knocking on the gate, she opened it and was surprised and delighted to see Song Haowen.

She anxiously asked, “Third son, why did you come back? Why didn’t you write in advance?”

Song Haowen greeted his mother, took his luggage from the car, and wanted to invite the driver to sit in the house and have breakfast before leaving.

However, the driver understood that there were many things for a family to discuss when reuniting, and he felt it would be inconvenient for him to stay. He insisted on leaving, and Song Haowen, feeling guilty, gave the driver an extra ten yuan to buy food on the way.

After sending off the driver, Song Haowen had just entered the house when the whole family rushed out from various rooms. His return brought immense joy to the family. They surrounded him, bombarding him with questions and exclamations.

Song Haowen, due to the haste of his return, had only brought back one gift for each of his parents, second sister, fourth brother, and youngest sister. However, the family didn’t mind these material things. They spoke excitedly, sharing their experiences and news.

After breakfast, Song Huai Sheng and Li Ying headed to the production team for a meeting. Though the wheat had been harvested not long ago, the usual busy period for planting rice had arrived.

However, there was a new development — the commune had organized land contracting, and Song Family Farm was chosen as the pilot project for the entire township.

Facing this new initiative, opinions among the commune members varied, with many conflicting interests. Consequently, a complete contracting plan had not been finalized yet, and the meeting today was still discussing this matter.

Once the fourth younger brothers and the youngest sister Song HuiFang, went to school, only Song Hua and Song Haowen, were left at home. The review class had already taken a three-day break, and Song Hua didn’t know what to do anymore.

She had read all the books and completed all the exercises. Now, she was waiting for the exams to determine her fate in the coming days. However, her confidence was low, as her ranking in the class for the third mock exam was only sixteenth. Whenever the topic of studying came up, her mood would dip.

After Song Haowen learned the basic situation of his second sister, he asked, “Have you received the mailed exam papers?”

“I received them early,” the second sister said

“Did you complete them? Were they difficult?” Song Haowen asked.

“I did them. There were quite a few questions I couldn’t solve.”

Song Haowen couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. “The questions you couldn’t solve, you must have figured them out by now, right?”

“There’s still a portion I couldn’t solve. It seems like it’s a bit beyond the my scope of capability, so I didn’t pay much attention to it,” the second sister said casually.

Song Haowen was surprised. The thing he feared the most had happened. Although he couldn’t be held accountable for leaking the college entrance exam questions from his previous life, it had led to an injustice.

How could he address such a situation openly? What he feared most was that his second sister wouldn’t listen to him, thinking that as a science student, he didn’t understand the humanities, and thus not taking seriously the exam papers he provided. This was the reason he was eager to return home ahead of schedule.