Fang Ping said this with such conviction that the Fang couple had no choice but to believe him.

　　After that, they were first filled with joy, and sadness and even some degree of guiltiness.

　　It was obvious that they had believed Fang Ping’s words, that he really possessed extraordinary talent.

　　However, that also meant he had been held back by them.

　　Once they thought about what would happen if their son was born in a wealthy family…

　　They did not dare to think about it further. While at the dining table, they had smiles on their faces but deep in their eyes was visible dejection.

　　…

　　After they finished their meal, Li Yuying collected the dishes and went into the kitchen, with Fang Mingrong behind her.

　　Fang Yuan caressed her little tummy. She was in a good mood; that shitty guy Fang Ping seemed to have stopped stealing her food those past few days, so she always got to eat her fill.

　　She felt somewhat unhappy when Fang Ping stopped stealing her food, though, as if the food was not as delicious as before.

　　She brought up the previous topic, saying happily just after their parents left, “Fang Ping, can you really pass the martial sciences exams?”

　　“Of course!”

　　“But why do I always get the feeling that you’re boasting?”

　　“Trust me a little more, why don’t you?”

　　Fang Yuan nodded reluctantly, giving her brother some face. Next, she looked up and asked, “If you don’t manage to pass, will you really stop pinching my face?”

　　Fang Ping’s expression turned gloomy as he turned to glare at her. “Are you stupid? Wait till your brother gets admitted to a martial sciences school and becomes a martial artist, and you’ll have anything you want!

　　“When the time comes, I’ll treat you to KFC, buy new clothes for you, and take you to the cinema. I’ll also beat up the boys who call you names.

　　“Say, which option would you choose when compared to a few pinches on the face?”

　　The little girl sank into doubt instantly.

　　What Fang Ping said seemed legit!

　　Fang Ping did not have the time to mind her. He got up and walked towards the backyard.

　　Watching his stealthy moves, Fang Yuan asked him, “What are you doing?”

　　“Dad and Mom must be discussing how much money they should spend on my supplements. I’m going to listen in.”

　　Fang Ping was not stupid. He could easily guess what his parents were planning to discuss after entering the kitchen together.

　　He could not possibly go with his parents’ opinions on this issue. If they really did spend a fortune to buy some kind of supplement for him in secret — the most expensive Vitality Pill, for example — Fang Ping would fume to death.

　　At the same time, they were very likely to do just that!

　　If they really bought it, they would only do so first and tell him after. At that point, regret was pointless.

　　As opposed to that happening, he might as well think of a way to trick his parents.

　　At this moment, Fang Ping needed money, stat. He had not thought of ways to earn quick money for now, and he would need some funds in hand even if he had ideas.

　　Tricking his parents was not against his conscience.

　　Everything would be recovered after he passed the tests.

　　Even if he does not pass the tests, Fang Ping did not think that he would be useless for the rest of his life either.

　　…

　　In the kitchen in the backyard.

　　It was almost as Fang Ping had guessed.

　　Fang Mingrong asked quietly while he smoked with his brows slightly furrowed, “How much do we have in our savings?”

　　“Fifty thousand and a bit more. We’ve spent quite a lot on Pingping and Yuanyuan these years…”

　　“You go withdraw all of it after work tomorrow. We can’t hold Pingping back.

　　“It’s all on me. Some of the children of the higher-ups went for checkups in the past, while I did not think much of it.

　　“If not…

　　“Sigh!”

　　Fang Mingrong sighed. If Fang Ping did not register by his own volition, he would not have his son take the tests.

　　Who knew that his son was naturally talented? Fang Mingrong was filled with regret at this point.

　　The Gaokao was near now. It was unknown if Fang Ping still had a chance.

　　Sighing again, Fang Mingrong said, “I heard our department supervisor say that he bought a big deal of supplements for his son and that they worked well.

　　“We should buy more nutritious ingredients for Fang Ping in the next two months.

　　“I’ll go ask if there are medicines that help. We can borrow some money if we don’t have enough.

　　“After Pingping is finished with his Gaokao, we should make Yuanyuan go for a checkup, too. If the two of them were both held back by us, we would be the ones who destroyed both of their lives!”

　　Li Yuying had nothing to say to that. It was only after a while when she replied softly, “That’ll do. I’ll withdraw the money after work tomorrow.”

　　“…”

　　The two of them discussed as Fang Ping listened in. When he felt that he had listened to his satisfaction, he walked into the kitchen from the entrance.

　　Seeing their son enter, the couple stopped talking about the matter.

　　Fang Ping acted as if he did not know anything as he said with reluctance, “Dad, Mom, I want to tell you something.”

　　Fang MIngrong extinguished his cigarette and replied, “Go on.”

　　“It’s like this. Didn’t I go for a Vitality checkup in my classmate’s house? That classmate is the one with the best grades in our class. He’s highly likely to be admitted into a martial arts university this year.

　　“He told me that passing the tests is possible even under my condition, but I’ll have to prepare for it.”

　　Fang Mingrong said quickly, “Tell us, what sort of preparation do you need? You won’t need to worry about other matters aside from passing the tests. Dad will think of ways for you.”

　　“It’s this: he said that it’s best if I can purchase medicines with nourishing qualities.”

　　Fang Mingrong exhaled in relief. This was something he was prepared to do even before his son suggested it.

　　Fang Ping continued, “It’s a little expensive, though. That classmate said that it’s best if I can buy a Vitality Pill.

　　“Vitality Pills cost thirty thousand bucks if I buy it in a pharmacy.

　　“He bought some before, but at a cheaper price than in the pharmacies. His father’s a businessman who knows the bosses of some pharmacies, so he can buy them with twenty thousand bucks each.

　　“I’m thinking of asking him to buy one for me…”

　　Fang Mingrong furrowed his brow slightly. It was not because he was reluctant to let go of the money; twenty thousand yuan was well below his expectations.

　　The main question was if it was reliable.

　　Ten thousand was already a huge sum in a normal family. It would be troublesome if they were scammed.

　　Fang Ping knew that his father would definitely worry about that. He continued immediately, “His family’s rich, so he’s definitely not lying.

　　“Plus he has good grades and he is going to take the martial sciences exams.

　　“Dad, we’ll have to pass a political background check before we can advance into the next stage. If he scams me, I’ll report the incident to the school and he’ll be disqualified immediately.

　　“After some serious thought, I reached the conclusion that he’s definitely not lying. He’s stupid to do otherwise; after we pass the tests, forget about twenty thousand bucks. Even two million bucks will seem like nothing.”

　　Fang Mingrong hesitated before setting his mind on it. He nodded and said, “It’ll do. I’ll take a day’s leave and visit his family tomorrow…”

　　“Dad!”

　　Fang Ping interjected hurriedly, “They’re all busy. If you visit him personally just because of a mere twenty thousand yuan, it’ll seem like you don’t trust him. He’s offering us help without being obligated to do so.

　　“He only agreed to help me because he noticed that my result was decent. Who would be so kind as to offer help otherwise?

　　“If you agree, I’ll visit them instead. Dad, is this okay?”

　　Fang Mingrong was still hesitating when Li Yuying at his side agreed, “You’re right. They offered help because of Pingping.

　　“They’re only doing this because Pingping has a shot at passing the martial sciences exams.

　　“Who are you? A worker. Who would be glad to offer help to you?”

　　Fang Ping said, noting that his father was still silent, “It’s Wu Zhihao from my class. Do you know him?”

　　“It’s him?”

　　Fang Mingrong remembered him.

　　He had attended Fang Ping’s parent-teacher meetings, and so he had seen Wu Zhihao’s father before.

　　Those with the best grades in class not only had an influence on their classmates but also their parents.

　　Although Fang Ping’s class teacher did not have the habit of fawning on privileged people, he still prioritized his students according to their grades, and that was normal.

　　During parent-teacher meetings, he would always something like, “Your son Wu Zhihao is excellent. He has a high chance of passing the martial sciences exams” or “He would’ve definitely passed the tests if he took them last year”…

　　It was not the first time that the class teacher said something of the sort. Even Fang Mingrong had heard him a couple of times.

　　He had seen Wu Zhihao’s father too. He was dressed up better compared to them and even drove a small car to the parent-teacher meetings unlike him who had gone on a motorcycle.

　　Fang Mingrong did not believe that a parent whose son had a chance to get admitted into martial sciences would scam twenty thousand yuan out of him.

　　If this was after the Gaokao and Wu Zhihao had failed, this would blow.

　　This was happening before the Gaokao, though, and as Fang Ping had said, Wu Zhihao would be disqualified if news of the incident got out.

　　Reaching that conclusion, Fang Mingrong immediately said, “Fine. I have no problem with that.

　　“I’ll let your mother withdraw the money for you. Remember to pay your respects to them and thank them for their help.

　　“You’ve not been admitted into martial sciences yet, and I’m embarrassed to visit. After you’re admitted, we’ll visit them together to convey our gratitude and treat them to dinner.

　　“Even if you don’t, you must remember their favor too…”

　　Fang Mingrong talked on. This was a huge favor to him.

　　A discount of ten thousand bucks was not insignificant.

　　He would have to ask his department supervisor the next day when he went to work in the factory to see if what Fang Ping had told him was real. If the pill was cheaper than from the pharmacy, there was no need for external help.

　　Fang Mingrong was only a factory worker, but he was not dumb. If it for not for his son, he would avoid owing anyone else favors.

　　Their financial conditions were limited. The ten thousand yuan he saved after the discount could be used to purchase nutritional foodstuffs for Fang Ping.

　　At that, Fang Mingrong reminded him, “You should tell your friend about this first and pay him when he needs the money.”

　　“Yes, Dad, relax.”

　　Fang Ping nodded consistently, apologizing to him in his mind. ‘Sorry, Dad, I tricked you again.’

　　Tricking him was the last resort. If he did not do so, his dad would probably purchase medicine from outside that cost a lot but yielded few results.

　　The money would only yield the best results when it was in his hands. When it came to it, he could spend the Wealth points that the money brought him and return the bills to his father. If he did that, would his Wealth points be deducted?

　　Fang Ping thought that the possibility of that happening was big. Would it happen if he had converted them to Vitality, though?

　　No matter what, the more Wealth he had, the higher the possibility of him passing the martial sciences exams.

　　If he got in, his parents would probably not mind even if they knew that he had tricked them.

　　…

　　His parents did not doubt him. After he sorted out the matter, he returned to his room only to discover that Fang Yuan was waiting for him with an expression that suggested that she had caught Fang Ping doing something dishonest.

　　“Fang Ping, be honest. Confess your sins!”

　　Fang Ping rolled his eyes and reached for Fang Yuan’s cheeks, only for the girl to dodge him speedily and grumble. “Don’t think of using this on me!

　　“Be honest. Were you telling the truth just now?”

　　“That’s it. Little kids like you should worry less about adult matters. You’ll know if what I said was true after I pass the exams.”

　　Fang Ping did not bother explaining to his sister, so he brushed her off with an ambiguous answer.

　　Fang Yuan puffed her cheeks and muttered, “You can’t lie, or else… Or else… You can’t pinch my cheeks in the future!”

　　Fang Ping laughed and caressed her head. He said with conviction, “Relax. Your brother isn’t so desperate as to trick money out of our parents with this.”

　　He was only doing it for the martial sciences exams and his future. He would not have done it if he had more time.