Seventeen Houses

There were so many places at home that needed money. He was only thirteen years old now, and even if he wanted to work outside, his mother would definitely worry and wouldn’t allow it. The only way to earn money was to study hard, striving to be so excellent that others would compete to have him go to school. Then, even just through studying, he could earn tens of thousands of yuan.

He didn’t have many thoughts beyond wanting to achieve a good result in the math competition. At the very least, he must not be eliminated in the first round of preliminaries; he had to reach the provincial finals. Perhaps a high school principal might notice him and offer money for him to attend their school. In his previous life, he had seen many such cases. The high school he once attended had principals who spent large sums to recruit top students. They would give tens of thousands of yuan. Back in the early 2000s, that amount was enough for a down payment on a house in Ningchuan City.

Excelling academically really could make money! Since he now had the help of a learning system, he couldn’t let his mother overwork herself. If he could make money from studying, why shouldn’t he?

He wasn’t a fool. With such a great system boosting his learning abilities, if he still couldn’t help his family overcome this hardship, it wouldn’t be the system’s fault—it would be his.

Wang Weidong looked Chen Ran over carefully for a long while.

“Hey Chen Ran, what are you standing there for?”

“Nothing, just thinking,” Chen Ran forced a smile.

“Is that so?” Wang Weidong didn’t think much of it and habitually asked, “But I’m optimistic about you. Your grades are pretty good; you’ll definitely get a good result.”

“Thank you.” Chen Ran’s expression grew serious. Wang Weidong stood up, towering over Chen Ran, and gently patted his shoulder. “Keep it up!”

“Mm.” Chen Ran nodded. Wang Weidong continued, “Don’t look so gloomy. You can do it. Haven’t you been studying hard lately? I believe you’ll do well.”

“Hopefully.” Chen Ran sighed.

“Oh, I brought you some snacks.” What he called snacks were really just some spicy strips and the like. There wasn’t much else at home; these were secretly bought by his father when he was still alive.

Chen Ran went back to his room, took out the candy and spicy strips, and placed them on the desk. “You can have some.”

“Have you finished the homework the teacher assigned?” Wang Weidong looked at Chen Ran with unblinking eyes and a youthful, handsome face.

“Uh, I haven’t started yet.”

“I have a lot of questions I don’t understand. Can you explain them to me? Your math is really good.” Wang Weidong scratched his head, a little embarrassed. He had often fallen asleep in class before, so asking someone else for help now was awkward. Young kids are always protective of their pride. Wang Weidong looked a little sheepish. Chen Ran smiled and nodded, “Sure, you eat the snacks first. If you get stuck on anything, just tell me later, I’ll help.”

“Alright!” Wang Weidong nodded firmly. “Thanks, Chen Ran!”

At this moment, Wang Weidong seemed quite happy, without the earlier serious expression.

Chen Ran didn’t think much either. The exam was tomorrow; whether he could do it or not, it would all come down to that day.

He entered the room and put down his backpack. He had borrowed two English books from the school library, covering the second year of middle school, both semesters. After finishing his math study, he started on Chinese. Now he had completed Chinese and begun English. Wang Weidong followed him into the room, looking around Chen Ran’s rather small room.

“Chen Ran.”

“What’s up?”

“Your room’s even smaller than mine. I thought my home was small.”

Chen Ran turned to look at Wang Weidong, who was curiously surveying the space. He smiled and shook his head, “I think it’s fine. I never needed a big room anyway.”

“That’s true, but your room feels kind of cold.”

“That’s probably because I left the window open. Wait a moment.” Chen Ran got up to close the window. Outside, smoke curled from cooking fires, giving a warm, everyday life feeling.

Wang Weidong sat beside Chen Ran, took out his homework notebook, his handsome youthful face showing a hint of thoughtfulness. Chen Ran quietly read English words beside him. Fortunately, middle school English wasn’t too difficult yet; otherwise, he’d have to spend a lot more effort.

“Click”—the door opened. Luo Mingxiu came home and saw two pairs of shoes by the entrance. She put the freshly bought vegetables and meat into the kitchen, then walked to Chen Ran’s room.

“Xiao Ran.”

“Mom!” Chen Ran turned around. Wang Weidong, a bit uneasy, also turned to face Luo Mingxiu with an awkward smile, “Hello, Auntie.”

Luo Mingxiu looked Wang Weidong over; the boy seemed familiar—one of the kids from the courtyard. She stood at the door, smiling, “Xiao Ran, why didn’t you tell your mom before inviting a classmate over?”

“Mom!” Chen Ran hesitated, “I made an arrangement with Wang Weidong, but I forgot at lunch.”

Luo Mingxiu smiled kindly at Wang Weidong, “Your surname is Wang, right? You look familiar.”

“Auntie, my family also lives in this courtyard.” Wang Weidong lowered his head, his expression unreadable.

Chen Ran continued, “Mom, Wang Weidong’s family has some issues. He just called his dad and said he’d stay at our place for a day or two.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s fine,” Luo Mingxiu quickly said, “That’s good. I’ll go cook now.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Luo Mingxiu left the room. Wang Weidong looked at Chen Ran and asked quietly, “Chen Ran, are you really okay with this?”

“Of course,” Chen Ran found it amusing and shook his head. “What’s the problem? Don’t worry.”

After closing the window and door, Chen Ran sat back down and quietly asked the tall, handsome Wang Weidong beside him, “Not cold now, right?”

“Nope.”

“Let’s do homework.”

Burying his head, Chen Ran continued reading. Seeing Wang Weidong so serious, he couldn’t continue slacking off and had to work on his homework properly.

After dinner, Wang Weidong noticed Chen Ran didn’t seem to have other entertainment. He didn’t like going outside to exercise or running around. It was as if he could sit at his desk reading all day.

“Chen Ran,” Wang Weidong whispered, “Why do you study so seriously?”

Chen Ran came back to reality and looked at Wang Weidong. “What is it now?”

“Nothing, it’s just… you read so seriously. Do you really understand what you read?”

“Yeah.” Chen Ran answered softly, “Of course I understand.”

“That’s amazing!” Wang Weidong scratched his head, his handsome face showing helplessness. “I can’t focus on my books. I always feel studying is pretty hard.”

“Really?” Chen Ran was momentarily stunned, recalling his previous life before the learning system. He knew only through study could he rise. He had tried with all his might to be a top scholar, but in the end, he only got into a regular university, not even a prestigious one. Sometimes he wondered if he had a lower IQ or just couldn’t compare to others.

“Actually… you have to like studying for it to work,” Chen Ran thought a moment and said, “I didn’t always like studying either—I used to want to play all the time. But later I found studying quite interesting. Learning a new thing always made me feel really satisfied.”

Wang Weidong looked at Chen Ran with a strange expression, clearly not expecting such a strange idea. To him, Chen Ran’s thoughts were bizarre—how could anyone find studying satisfying? Everyone loved to go out, have fun, or play sports. Every time gym class was taken over by Chinese, math, or English teachers, everyone would complain. Who in their right mind would refuse gym and play?

“You’re pretty weird.” Wang Weidong’s youthful, handsome face was full of confusion. Chen Ran lowered his head, “Wang Weidong, I don’t have another way out. I just have to study hard.”

His voice was calm. Wang Weidong was silent. He wanted to say that if Chen Ran went to the police academy, being the child of a martyr might grant him score reductions and special treatment. But when the words were on his lips, he remembered Chen Ran had said he didn’t want to be a policeman. Wang Weidong didn’t understand why Chen Ran rejected that path—was it because of what happened to his father? But in the end, he never asked. Chen Ran read quietly for a long time.

Wang Weidong’s speed was too slow. Chen Ran had finished his English book while Wang Weidong still had half the math problems undone.

“Let’s go to sleep.” Earlier, Luo Mingxiu had laid out blankets on Chen Ran’s bed; each had their own.

“Go wash up.” Wang Weidong slowly put down his pen, washed, then lay on his bed. Chen Ran closed his eyes beside him.

“Chen Ran, Chen Ran!” Wang Weidong turned over and whispered, “What time are you going to school tomorrow morning?”

“About nine o’clock? I heard the exam starts at 9:30.”

“Aren’t you going too?” Chen Ran opened his eyes. In the dark, he vaguely saw Wang Weidong’s eyes shining. “You want to go play basketball, right?”

“Hehe.” Wang Weidong smiled, “I’ll just play for a bit.”

“Mm.” Chen Ran closed his eyes again. “Go to bed early, or you won’t get up tomorrow.”

“By the way, you still have a lot of homework left.” Wang Weidong pouted. “It’s too hard.”

“I’ll help you look at it.” Chen Ran turned over. “If you don’t understand something, ask me tomorrow. If I can help, I will.”

“Thanks!”

Chen Ran didn’t fall asleep quickly. Wang Weidong, who had been eager to chat, fell asleep fast.

Chen Ran envied Wang Weidong’s good sleep quality. The exam was tomorrow morning, and he felt nervous. Thinking about it, he eventually fell asleep.

When he woke, his mother was in the kitchen making breakfast.

He got up, put on his clothes, and hurried out of his room.

“Xiao Ran, you’re awake?” Luo Mingxiu smiled. “Where’s your classmate?”

“He’s still sleeping.” Chen Ran whispered, “Mom, what time is it? My exam starts at 9:30. It takes about ten minutes to get to school.”