Chapter 25: School Starts

    The day before school started, Grandma Li didn’t go to work at the market. Instead, she was busy preparing her grandchildren’s school uniforms, hanging them out in the sun, and ironing them. Meanwhile, the two siblings were still sitting in front of the computer, trying to win one last set of prizes from the game before the break ended.

    Once school began, they wouldn’t have time to play games as seriously. They would only be able to log in occasionally to collect random rewards. As for their other game accounts, they planned to log in at Jie Yong’s internet café on weekends. Playing at home risked receiving another warning from the game’s administrators due to their IP address.

    The siblings didn’t want any trouble.

    “Yifeng, should we give some of the money we earned from selling game items to Grandma?”

    Her brother thought for a moment, glancing at their grandmother, who was tirelessly moving around, and then nodded in agreement.

    Selling those in-game items during the break had netted them a little over 1,000 yuan, a satisfying amount.

    The two siblings smiled at each other and headed downstairs to withdraw the money from the ATM in front of the convenience store. They then returned home and called out together.

    “Grandma.”

    Grandma Li, who had just finished her chores and was sitting at the dining table, turned toward the sound of their voices. Li Yifeng grinned widely, and his sister did the same.

    “What is it?”

    Grandma Li was already feeling a bit nervous, fearing they might ask for money. After all, school was starting tomorrow, and while the state covered tuition, there were always other expenses to cover.

    “We have something for you, Grandma.”

    Li Yifeng said, placing a stack of hundred-yuan bills in front of her. Grandma Li stared at the money in shock. After the photoshoot, the siblings often spent their time at the gaming café, and she hadn’t accompanied them.

    “We sold in-game items, Grandma. We can promise that we didn’t do anything illegal.”

    Li Yifeng quickly explained after sensing her confusion.

    “Sold what now?” Grandma Li asked, still puzzled.

    “In-game items, from the game I play on the computer,” he clarified.

               Once she heard this, Grandma Li began to understand a little. She recalled some people at the market complaining about their grandchildren asking for money to spend on games, and when inquired further, there would be no direct answers. However, could games really make money?

    “If you don’t believe me, Grandma, I can show you,” Li Yifeng offered.

    Grandma Li naturally trusted her grandson. Li Yifeng had always been a responsible boy, helping the family whenever he could, and he did well in school. Whenever people asked her about her grandchildren, she proudly told them that not only were they good-looking, but they also excelled in their studies.

    Her granddaughter, too, had improved. As long as she didn’t return to her old ways, Grandma Li would be happy.

    “I believe you, even though I don’t quite understand. I’ve heard the market vendors complain that they only lose money because of all the game top-ups.”

    “Yes, but we’ve never topped up. We won items that others wanted to buy and sold them.”

    The more he explained, the more confused Grandma Li felt. She pretended to follow along, nodding occasionally so she wouldn’t fall behind.

    When the story was over, Grandma Li picked up the money and counted it. Her eyes widened again as she realized it totaled 1,100 yuan. She looked at her grandchildren in awe.

    Could they really have made this much? While it wasn’t a full salary, it wasn’t a small amount either. A few hundred yuan more, and it would equal the hard-earned money she made through her labor.

    Tears began to well up in Grandma Li’s eyes.

    “What’s wrong, Grandma?” Li Yifei asked.

    “Grandma is just touched that us two worked so hard to earn this money, Sis.”

    “Really?”

    Li Yifei’s eyes sparkled with happiness, knowing they had made Grandma proud.

    “Yes, thank you both for helping out like this. If I could choose where to be born, I’d want to be born into wealth, so I could give you two an inheritance,” Grandma Li said.

    Both grandchildren nodded obediently.

    “Here, each of you takes one of these bills back,” Grandma Li said, handing them each a note.

    The siblings accepted the money without complaint.

               “Grandma, do you think we could have some of your delicious braised chicken?”

    “Yeah, Grandma, your braised chicken is the best!”

    Grandma Li, who had been wiping her tears, shot them a glare. Now that they had made some money, they wanted to eat well! But after the month-long break during which her grandchildren had managed to earn so much, Grandma Li couldn’t deny them. Their spendings hardly affected the family’s finances at all.

    “Of course! I’ll go buy the chicken now.”

    When Grandma Li said this, the two siblings shouted with joy, raising their hands to high-five each other in unison. It had been a long time since Grandma Li had seen the siblings so united.

    She suspected that this week would be filled with braised chicken and pork, or maybe even fish maw soup. She felt a bit regretful about spending the money her grandchildren had worked hard to earn.

    But she knew it was important to nourish them too.

    That evening, her son and daughter-in-law were surprised by the lavish meal on the table. When they asked about the food, it was Li Yifeng who explained the story behind it. Grandma Li observed their expressions and understood that the children's parents were somewhat aware of the concept of in-game items.

    Seeing this, Grandma Li felt relieved.

    The dinner was braised chicken again. Since Li Yifei had recovered from her illness, their small family had been enjoying more good meals, whether it was eggs, fried chicken, roast duck, and now braised chicken.

    Grandma Li could only hope this happiness would last. Besides the unity of the family, having enough food was key to their contentment.

    After all, Grandma Li never wanted to experience hardship again.

    The next morning brought the start of the second semester. Having lived with this family for two months, Li Yifei had grown accustomed to their way of life.

    While riding the bus, her striking appearance made her the center of attention. Li Yifei decided that tomorrow she would wear a face mask again, as she had done before, because all the stares made her uncomfortable.

    Being beautiful had its challenges.

    In her life as Tang Yifei, she had always taken private cars to school and never had to deal with public transportation. She wondered if her original face would have drawn as much attention on the bus.

    “I think people are staring because you ranked first in your grade.”

    Li Yifeng spoke up.

    Li Yifei suddenly remembered that nearly half of the passengers on the bus were students from AA High School.

    When they arrived in front of the school, they saw Li Ying and Xu Kai waiting as usual. Along the way, Li Yifei could feel the stares and hear many comments.

    “Unbelievable.”

    “She’s now perfect, both beautiful and smart.”

    “I think she was just lucky. We’ll see how she does in the midterms.”

    People talked, as they always did.

    Li Ying stood proudly as if she were the one who had ranked first in the class.

    When they entered the classroom, all eyes were on Li Yifei, even from the class’s usual favorite, Xing Fei.

    Once Li Yifei and her friends sat down, a boy everyone called "Nerd" walked up to her desk.

    “Can you solve this problem for me?”

    He immediately asked and placed a math problem on the table, clearly wanting to test Li Yifei, the top scorer.

    Li Yifei picked up a pencil and solved the problem right in front of him.

    The nerd watched in disbelief as she worked through the solution.

    Then, another math problem sheet was handed to her, and she continued solving until her hand began to cramp. Luckily, the school bell rang, and the homeroom teacher walked in with the graded test papers.

    The class leader called for the students to stand and greet the teacher.

    “Class leader, please hand out the test results to everyone,” the teacher said.

    The test papers for each subject were passed from the front to the back. Students took their own papers and handed the rest along.

    “This year, our class’s average score has moved up to the middle ranking. You all have Li Yifei to thank for that.”

    The homeroom teacher said it with a smile.

    “But teacher, didn’t our class get investigated the next day?” one of Xing Fei’s minions raised her hand to ask.

    The homeroom teacher replied cheerfully,

    “No, Li Yifei retook the same exam twice, and the results were the same. There’s no question about her performance.”

    The class erupted in murmurs of disbelief, and everyone turned to stare at Li Yifei in astonishment.

    “Alright, vice class leader, come get the new class schedule and hand it out,” the teacher instructed.

    Once the schedules were distributed, the rest of the day was spent going over the exam results, and Li Yifei was asked by Xing Fei’s minions to explain the solutions.

    Li Yifei got up and went to the front of the class to write the solution on the board for everyone to see.

    The homeroom teacher didn’t stop Xing Fei’s group from requesting this. She likely wanted everyone to see that Li Yifei had become a top student now.

    The days of guessing her way through exams were behind her.

    The students ranked 1 to 10 in the class, except for Xu Kai, all raised their hands to ask Li Yifei questions. She responded to each one effortlessly, like the game Akinator who always had an answer.

    Seeing Li Yifei handle every question with ease, the homeroom teacher couldn’t help but smile, relieved that the doubts about her abilities were diminishing.

    When the bell rang for lunch, the teacher left the room in high spirits.

    "Yifei, you’re amazing!" Li Ying exclaimed loudly, as if she wanted the whole world to know how great her friend was.

    "If you keep praising her, we’ll miss lunch," Xu Kai interrupted.

    It was time to rush to the cafeteria for lunch.

    Li Yifei found herself enjoying the race to the cafeteria. It felt like she was truly experiencing the fun life of a regular teenager.

    Back in her days as Tang Yifei, there had been no need to rush as her school had offered many more dining options. But now, this chaos was fun in its own way.

    The three of them safely made it to the cafeteria, grabbed their food trays, and found a place to sit. Not long after, Xiu Min and Lu Han joined them.

    “How are things in your class?” Lu Han asked.

    “You probably know already,” Xu Kai replied.

    “In our class, they still don’t believe Yifei really ranked first in the class. They think she guessed her way through the exam.”

    “Well, they can think what they want, but my class saw it for themselves. Yifei went to the front and solved the exam problems for everyone to see.”

    Li Ying boasted, making Li Yifei smile in amusement.

    “Did anyone record it?” Xiu Min asked.

               “Not with the teacher there! I would’ve had my phone confiscated,” Xu Kai grumbled.

    “Oh, you're right.”

    “Don’t worry about it. We’ll see how she does in the midterms, and that’ll settle things,” Lu Han said.

    “Exactly.”

    Everyone said in unison.

    “By the way, Yifei, would you be interested in tutoring us? This last break was so fun, and I hope the next one will be just as good,” Lu Han suggested.

    Before Li Yifei could respond, Li Ying jumped in, already knowing her friend’s thoughts.

    “There will have to be a small tutoring fee, of course.”

    “Of course!” Lu Han and Xiu Min agreed enthusiastically.

    And so, it was decided that after school, Li Yifei would tutor them on the material they had learned. She would earn 10 yuan per person from tutoring her current students, Li Ying, Lu Han, and Xiu Min.

    That meant she’d make 30 yuan in total. The money was enough to buy fresh or fried chicken. Just the thought of Grandma Li’s braised chicken made Li Yifei’s mouth water. But she had to maintain her composure and not let her friends see how much a foodie she was.

    Originally, Li Yifei had thought about not charging Li Ying, but her friend insisted on paying.

    So, Li Yifei went along with it.

    How nice! It was only the first day of the new semester, and she was already earning money by the evening!