Chapter Fourteen: Maturity

Before leaving the school gates, Su Yinxue spotted Li Mu standing at the entrance of the phone booth. Remembering what Li Mu had said in class today, she felt a sudden surge of unease. She wanted to ask him whether he was truly serious about applying to Renmin University. But unexpectedly, before she could leave the school, Li Mu suddenly took off and vanished from sight.

Watching Li Mu run off into the distance, Su Yinxue felt a faint sense of disappointment. She thought to herself that, judging by Li Mu's grades, getting into Renmin University seemed unlikely. In several previous mock exams, his highest score was only about 580, but admission to Renmin required at least 620 or 630. Analyzing the situation, Su Yinxue concluded that Li Mu was probably just joking. Yet, thinking this made her feel oddly uncomfortable, as if something was amiss.

Li Mu ducked into the Great Spider Internet Café and continued developing his "Stone Age Overlord" plug-in. Within ten minutes, Zhao Kang arrived.

After sitting down, Zhao Kang asked, "How many points do you estimate?"

"Over 620. What about you?"

"Damn... seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Li Mu, I’ve thought about it and I think we should stop being friends."

"Why?"

"I can't hang out with someone who's better looking and gets far better grades. It's too damaging to my self-esteem."

"Cut the crap. How many points did you estimate?"

Zhao Kang hesitated for a moment, sounding a bit uncertain. "If nothing goes wrong, maybe between 490 and 500."

"You look so unsure, I doubt you’ll even reach 490. And 490 might not be enough for the third-tier universities. If you're not certain you'll make the cut, you should be careful when choosing your options."

Zhao Kang asked tentatively, "Should I apply to a good local college?"

Li Mu replied, "If you're willing to go to college, why not choose a city with more opportunities? How about Yanjing?"

"Yanjing..." Zhao Kang scratched his head. "What could someone like me do in the capital?"

"Study, chase girls, make money, climb to the peak of life."

Zhao Kang hesitated. "My parents probably won’t let me go to college, though."

"You don’t want to repeat a year, do you?" Li Mu pressed. "Why didn’t you seriously consider it when I said I could help you earn enough for college tuition?"

Suddenly, Zhao Kang understood. His good friend had already been planning for him, knowing he likely wouldn't make it into a university and that his wishes clashed irreconcilably with his family's. Thus, Li Mu was giving him a choice: even if he didn’t get into university, he could earn money and pay his own way through college.

Zhao Kang felt moved and finally asked, "Is the plug-in business really going to work?"

"It really will."

"Alright, Yanjing college it is. I get it!"

Seeing that Zhao Kang had been persuaded, Li Mu felt more at ease and continued developing "Stone Age Overlord."

During this time, Li Mu received a QQ message from an account with a pink-haired penguin avatar. Opening it, he was delighted to discover that the pink-haired penguin was Su Yinxue.

He always remembered Su Yinxue's online name—it was the simple English word "snow." Her QQ name had never changed. Li Mu, in his previous life, frequently changed his username, but never his password; in this way, he complemented Su Yinxue.

Snow messaged: "How many points did you estimate for the college entrance exam?"

Dreams That Haunt My Soul: "Between 625 and 630."

Snow: "Really? That high? Don’t lie to me."

Dreams That Haunt My Soul: "Why would I lie? It’s true."

Snow: "If it’s true, that’s fantastic."

Li Mu sensed Su Yinxue was skeptical and asked, "What about you? How many points did you estimate?"

Snow: "Between 640 and 660."

Lee: "Congratulations! You’ll have no problem getting into Renmin University!"

Snow: "Hey, why did you suddenly change your username?"

Lee: "The last one was too cliché."

Snow: "I didn’t think so, it was nice."

Just as Li Mu was about to reply, Snow sent another message: "My mom’s calling me to go out. Let’s chat another day!"

Li Mu watched as the pink-haired penguin faded into the offline friend list, feeling a bit empty inside. After a few moments of frustration, he threw himself back into developing the plug-in.

At five thirty in the afternoon, Li Mu saved his progress and said to Zhao Kang, "I’m going home for dinner tonight. You?"

Zhao Kang rubbed his eyes. "Me too."

…

Li Mu remembered the first time he drank baijiu with his father—it was after he graduated from university. He had decided to head to Yanjing to pursue his future, leaving home and journeying over a thousand kilometers away. There were no high-speed trains then, and airfare from the provincial capital to Yanjing was unaffordable for most. Ordinary hard seats rattled for over ten hours. His parents were reluctant to let their only son travel so far, but his father, after days of consideration, respected Li Mu’s choice.

That night, both Li Mu and his father got drunk. He vividly remembered crying under the covers, vowing to make something of himself in Yanjing. Yet, his first few years weren’t much better than a stray dog’s: living in basements, crowded rentals, constantly changing jobs and homes, endlessly getting scammed by shady northern real estate agents…

In this life, thanks to Li Mu’s rebirth, the day he clinked glasses of baijiu with his father came four years earlier.

His father brought out a bottle of Luzhou Laojiao, which he had been saving since the 1980s. There were only two bottles. His father had plans: one for Li Mu’s wedding day, the other for when Li Mu had a child.

But tonight, in celebration, he opened a bottle early.

Both father and son handled their liquor well, and, feeling genuinely happy, they split the bottle without getting drunk. Instead, Li Mu’s mother had to go out and buy several bottles of beer to keep the celebration going.

At the table, Li Mu announced his decision to apply to Renmin University. His parents were initially concerned it might be too risky, but Li Mu insisted he was confident. After a few drinks, his father’s mood soared, and he declared loudly, "Good! Young people need the courage to take risks. Your father supports you!"

After three rounds, Li Mu suddenly said, "Dad, isn’t the Xiling coal mine nearly depleted? Its performance drops day by day. Do you have any plans?"

His father looked at him in surprise and chuckled, "Don’t worry. Your old man has been a technician for over twenty years; I have a skill to rely on."

"Coal mines are rare in Jiangnan," Li Mu said calmly. "Haizhou only has Xiling. If Xiling fails, Dad, your skills might not be much use south of the Yangtze."

In China, most coal mines are in the north; they’re seldom seen south of the Yangtze. Li Mu spoke realistically. In his previous life, after his father was laid off, he considered working in the northwest coal mines, but the distance was too great. In the end, he found work locally on a construction crew.

His father was a traditional man. Grandparents still lived in the countryside, and his mother had her own elderly parents to care for. He couldn't just leave and work far from home.

Li Mu’s words made his father fall into deep thought. He realized his son had matured overnight and could now discuss such matters as an adult.

"The Xiling coal mine probably won’t last much longer," his father admitted, realizing there was no point in hiding from Li Mu now. "There’ll be layoffs at the end of the month, and more at the end of the year. Your mom and I are likely to be among them. But it’s not a big deal. Even if we’re laid off, we’ll still have some income, and we can supplement it with part-time work. After a few years, we’ll be able to retire."

Li Mu smiled. "Dad, I’ll find a way to cover all my university expenses. You and Mom don’t need to worry. I brought this up because I don’t want you to hide things from me after being laid off, or work yourselves to exhaustion just to cover the gap."

His father was stunned. His mother asked in surprise, "Don’t talk nonsense. Do you know how much university costs? Your father and I have calculated—studying in the provincial capital, tuition, living expenses, travel, it’ll take at least fifty thousand yuan over four years. If you go to Yanjing, it’ll be sixty or seventy thousand!"

Li Mu replied, "I’ll find a way. The internet is booming now; lots of people are making good money. I’ve been researching in my spare time, and I think I can do it too."

"What net?" his father frowned. "The internet? Isn’t that what you kids spend money on at internet cafés?"

"Yes," Li Mu nodded.

"Isn’t that just giving money to the cafés?"

Li Mu laughed. "Giving money to cafés pays for machines and network access. Making money online is earning from others, not the same thing."

"Don’t get scammed. There are so many cheats out there," his mother said, clearly skeptical.

Li Mu wanted to set their expectations, so he didn’t sound too certain and simply smiled, "There’s no real cost. I’ll give it a try. If it works, great; if not, nothing lost except some internet fees."

"That’s true," his father said, taking a sip of liquor. "Anyway, you do whatever you like this summer. If you need money, come to us. We don’t have much, but your first year’s tuition and expenses are covered. We’ll figure out the rest."

Li Mu didn’t say much more. He nodded, poured a glass of beer, clinked it with his father, and drank it down in one go.