Chapter 40: Dropping Out? Song Mo's Scheme!

Song Mo once again asked Sheldon for help.

Far away in France, the heir of that super family was still as unreliable as ever.

"Tiger bone?"

Sheldon asked, puzzled: "Song Mo, what do you want that thing for?"

"If you like tigers, I keep a few — I could even give you one."

"If you prefer wild tigers, I can get you a live one too, though you might have to go abroad to see your little baby."

Song Mo laughed and scolded: "I said I want wild tiger bone — why are you giving me a tiger?"

"In traditional Chinese medicine, tiger bone is an extremely rare medicinal ingredient, and I recently got hold of a rare prescription that needs wild tiger bone as a primer for refining a pill."

After hearing Song Mo's words, Sheldon's lazy voice instantly perked up.

"Refining pills? The kind like Qin Shi Huang and Xu Fu?"

"Song Mo! You want tiger bone, right? No matter how much, I can get it for you right now!"

"No matter how much, you can get it?"

Song Mo hesitated briefly.

"Forget it, then — wild tigers are protected animals after all."

"Hey! What are you talking about? In those Russian countries, wild tigers are overrunning the place. Lord knows how many were hunted before; they only just stopped the mass culling now, but plenty of tiger bones from before are still left over."

"There are more than enough."

Only then did Song Mo nod and say: "Then help me gather some, will you?"

Sheldon's tone grew excited.

"Song Mo, you still haven't answered my question!"

"The pill-refining you mentioned — is it the same as what Qin Shi Huang and Xu Fu did, refining the elixir of immortality?"

Song Mo hadn't expected Sheldon to actually be a China buff — he even knew that bit of unofficial history.

Song Mo denied it:

"The elixir of immortality is a legend."

"But the pill I'm refining is real."

Sheldon asked, curious:

"Then what pill are you trying to refine?"

Song Mo gave a slight smile.

"Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Pill."

"Its main effect is to help strengthen the body."

"Sheldon, speaking of which, I have a collaboration — it's about the Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Pill. I wonder if you'd be interested?"

Sheldon was taken aback.

"Song Mo, are you planning to start a pharmaceutical company?"

"The pharmaceutical industry isn't easy for outsiders to break into these days — it's long been monopolized by those drug-industry giants. Unless you can produce absolutely outstanding medicinal effects, it's very hard to break through."

Song Mo didn't say much more.

He only said briefly:

"Once I've finished refining the Dragon-Tiger Bone-Strengthening Pill,"

"I'll send you a sample, and then we'll talk this over in detail."

Sheldon agreed readily.

Song Mo hung up the phone.

……

Song Mo opened up his Kuaishou account.

After enjoying the benefits brought by Prestige Value,

he had clearly come to recognize the importance and necessity of Prestige Value.

Enhancing his own influence

had naturally become a top priority.

In this era of internet celebrities, the fastest and most direct way to capture traffic has always been to show one's face and stay active in the public eye.

The key is:

bring others emotional value, or practical value.

Stay active — don't be forgotten!

He currently had several million fans, but only a pitiful four works. Compared with those internet celebrities who were frequently active in front of audiences, his presence was still far too thin.

Song Mo sent Xia Rou a message,

asking that after class today, she and Xia Yu shouldn't rush home, and instead meet up with Song Mo for a small gathering at the campus coffee shop.

How things should develop from here

needed to be discussed properly.

……

Afternoon.

Song Mo had just finished class and was about to head to the coffee shop with Xia Rou as planned,

when unexpectedly his academic advisor found him, saying there was something to attend to.

Song Mo had no choice but to let Xia Rou go on ahead.

He followed the academic advisor to the office.

I didn't expect the homeroom teacher, the dean, and the president were all here.

Seeing Song Mo, all of them wore expressions of relief.

To be honest, Modu University is famous now.

Because of the past few days' viral news about the prodigy teenager Song Mo, the university's official account gained countless followers.

It's a pity Song Mo refused to give a public speech on campus about his success—otherwise, it might have generated another positive news story.

The dean spoke first.

"Lao Hu, you've trained an excellent student. Song Mo has made our school go viral—he's nearly turned us into an internet-famous university!"

"Song Mo, have you been keeping up with your coursework since returning to school?"

Song Mo smiled faintly.

"Thank you for your concern, Teacher. I've kept up with all my coursework."

The homeroom teacher also said with relief: "To be honest, the commotion you caused startled me—I even doubted whether you were really my student."

"Only when the evidence was undeniable did I believe it."

"Song Mo, I'm curious—who were the people in the Paris Grand Theater who listened to your performance? What was your state of mind at the time? Was Master Liszt easy to get along with? How did you achieve such excellence?"

"Haha! No need to answer!"

"I'm just amazed, that's all!"

Song Mo smiled but said nothing.

The president also studied Song Mo closely.

"Today's young people are truly incredible!"

"With such great honor, even someone with the best upbringing and the most worldly experience would rarely remain humble at this age."

"Yet today, I've seen in a young person the quality of remaining unmoved by praise or blame—how rare! Song Mo, you're outstanding!"

Song Mo replied humbly: "Teachers, you're too kind."

Song Mo was estimating in his mind.

The school probably wanted to reward him…

Probably grant him a guaranteed graduate admission slot.

An honor certificate.

A scholarship.

Credit hours.

To be honest, he didn't care much for any of them.

So he had no expectations.

Sure enough, the homeroom teacher soon announced the school's reward for Song Mo.

It was more or less what Song Mo had expected.

But Song Mo refused.

"My family's financial situation is decent—I don't need the scholarship. Let it go to other students."

"With a world-class certificate, I don't need any other honor certificates."

"Give the guaranteed graduate admission slot to another student."

After long consideration, Song Mo said something shocking:

"Teachers, since you're all here."

"Then let me share what's on my mind."

"I want to drop out."

His words stunned everyone.

"No!"

The president of Modu University flatly refused.

If such a talented young man—who had brought immense honor to Modu University—dropped out, how could he face himself?

How could he face the public's criticism?

Song Mo didn't give the teachers a chance to lecture him.

He quickly said: "Teachers, to be honest, I'm practically a genius…"

"I can finish all the coursework here in no time; staying in class longer is just wasting time. I have many things to do—exploring the ocean of academia, building my own career, learning knowledge beyond the classroom…"

Song Mo meant he didn't want to be held back.

But his true goal was still to use withdrawal as leverage, hoping the school would grant him special privileges.

Because he wanted to break through a window.

The people inside the room would hardly agree.

So he had to say he'd overturn the roof—perhaps then they'd rather let him break a window.

(End of Chapter)