Chapter 6: Failed Investment

Among the five subjects in the entrance exam, the Chinese paper was the kind that, even if you knew all the questions in advance, you still couldn't score full marks.

Not only was the essay topic hard to score full marks on, but even reading comprehension questions—where even the original author might not get full points—were beyond S Li Luo's reach.

But even so, Li Luo, with his Memory Palace, held every advantage.

After all, for multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, he had already prepared the answers and could write them down the moment he received the paper.

This saved him a great deal of time, letting him face reading comprehension and essay questions with greater ease.

Thus, even on the Chinese paper—the one with the slimmest chance—he felt confident he could scrape together a three-digit score.

Compared to his past self, who could barely scrape 70 or 80 points, wasn't that a sure thing?

But.

"You've only finished one subject—what's so sure about it?" Lin Xiuhong waved her hand. "Hurry home, let Chanxi check your math again. Your dad and I are going back to cook."

"Xiuhong, are you leaving already?" Zhang Xuefen had just picked up her son and walked over. "Chun, this is your aunt, your uncle, and your cousin—say hello."

Li Luo looked at his cousin Wei Chun, saw the reluctant politeness on his face, then glanced at Zhang Xuefen, and frowned slightly.

"Yes, we need to hurry home and cook," Lin Xiuhong replied. "You should take Chun home to rest too—the kids have exams this afternoon."

"True, Xiuhong, you go ahead," Zhang Xuefen smiled sweetly, feigning modesty. "My husband insists on hiring a maid to cook—he makes me idle at home all day."

Li Luo stared at Zhang Xuefen in silence, then quickly pulled his mother's hand forward. "Mom, I'm hungry—let's go home. Goodbye, Auntie!"

But just as they walked one street block ahead, a red Audi pulled up beside them, the window rolled down to reveal Zhang Xuefen's smiling face. "Want a ride?"

"No thanks, we'll get there in one more turn."

"Alright then, see you this afternoon."

Watching the red Audi fade into the distance, the family walked home in silence.

Ying Chanxi followed them in, immediately pulled Li Luo back to his bedroom, and finally exhaled.

"Who was that lady? She sounded so annoying."

Li Luo's lip twitched. "An obnoxious aunt—basically my mom's rival."

When Lin Xiuhong was young, she was the prettiest girl in the village.

She'd been beautiful since childhood, obedient and sensible, the only girl in the village to pass the entrance exam for the town's junior high.

Though Zhang Xuefen was also good-looking, she was always overshadowed by Lin Xiuhong—whenever people talked about village girls, Lin Xiuhong always came out on top.

After junior high, Lin Xiuhong apprenticed under the village's old tailor and quickly inherited his craft, earning a lot of money.

When families needed new clothes for festivals, they came to Lin Xiuhong first.

At just seventeen or eighteen, she was already a small wealthy woman in the village, using her tailoring earnings to buy a small shop that thrived.

In comparison, Zhang Xuefen fell far behind.

So when she later got lucky and married a good husband, every time she saw Lin Xiuhong, she couldn't help but boast.

Of course, if it were only that, it wouldn't matter.

But Zhang Xuefen's appearance reminded Li Luo of another related matter, and his expression darkened slightly.

Still, the entrance exam came first—focus on the test.

…

"Where are your politics and history books?"

After lunch and nap, Ying Chanxi came to Li Luo's room.

Li Luo rummaged through his backpack and pulled out several books.

Ying Chanxi flipped through them, sighed in disbelief: "What even is this…"

In Yuhang City, junior high politics and history combined courses like ideological cultivation, history, and politics into one subject.

Total score: only 50 points, and it was an open-book exam.

But Li Luo's textbooks were almost entirely covered in bizarre, random doodles.

Some unimportant pages had even been torn out and folded into paper airplanes.

Though it was open-book, there was still a huge gap between students' textbooks.

"Cough… as long as it's usable," Li Luo muttered, embarrassed by the childish drawings.

But for a 35-year-old man, history and political theory were among the few joys left in daily life.

Even without open-book rules or a Memory Palace, politics and history were unquestionably his strongest subject.

But Ying Chanxi clearly didn't think so.

She tossed his books aside, ran back to her own house, and returned moments later with several books, shoving them into his hands.

"Here, just use mine."

The books, neatly wrapped in plastic casing, landed in his lap.

He looked down and flipped through them.

The neat, delicate handwriting was a pleasure to behold.

Color-coded sticky tabs marked key dynasties and important points—flip to the tab, and you found exactly what you needed.

Far easier than flipping through the index.

Li Luo looked at the pristine book in his hands, then at the tattered ones on the desk, and without hesitation, stuffed Ying Chanxi's into his backpack.

"Then I won't be polite."

…

Five p. m.

The bell rang, marking the end of the third exam: politics and history.

Li Luo stepped out of the exam hall and saw his father, Li Guohong, standing under a tree nearby, chatting with someone.

Lin Xiuhong and Ying Chanxi had stayed home to cook dinner—they'd met Li Luo after the math exam, bought groceries, and gone straight home.

So only Li Guohong was waiting for him.

At this moment, besides Li Guohong, there were also his cousin-in-law Zhang Xuefen and his cousin-in-law Wei Dongrong beside him.

"Yes, ten percent annual interest."

"With such high interest, why did you come to me?"

"We're family, right? A good project naturally brings you along—these days, who in real estate ever lost money?"

"Old Wei, you're the one making big money. My family's just small-time—we've saved barely enough to buy our son a house later; we really can't afford to risk it."

"Oh, no rush at all—we're just chatting first. Later, I'll take you to see the project. Guaranteed profit."

"Alright, I'll think about it. After all, it's a huge sum."

Li Luo walked over to Li Guohong, greeted his cousin-in-laws, overheard their conversation, and immediately frowned, subtly sizing them up.

Seeing Li Luo, Li Guohong paused the conversation, waved goodbye to Wei Dongrong, and took Li Luo home.

"Dad, what were you talking about?"

"Nothing." Li Guohong shook his head. "Adult matters—don't meddle, just focus on your exams."

Li Luo sighed helplessly. At fifteen, he had little say in front of adults and elders.

If it were a trivial matter, Li Luo would naturally ignore it.

But upon seeing his cousin-in-law Zhang Xuefen and cousin-in-law Wei Dongrong again, Li Luo immediately slipped into memory.

Back when he was in school, he knew absolutely nothing about his family's finances.

Only after graduating and eating and drinking with his father a few years later did he learn that, around the time he entered high school, the family had invested in a relative's real estate project.

At the time, they said the minimum investment was one hundred thousand, with ten percent annual interest.

Initially, Li Guohong was tempted, but after decades running a breakfast shop and scrimping, they'd saved only six or seven hundred thousand.

So he started by investing just one hundred thousand for one year.

But after the year ended and he received back one hundred and ten thousand—clearly earning ten thousand in interest—

both Li Guohong and Lin Xiuhong found the temptation hard to resist.

After all, if they'd invested all six hundred thousand a year earlier, they'd have earned sixty thousand in interest!

That meant an extra few months' income, just like that!

What followed, naturally, was a complete disaster.

Wei Dongrong's real business wasn't real estate—he'd merely gotten lucky, using connections to secure a plot of land.

Both financial management and project planning were a mess—a complete amateur operation.

The buildings were abandoned, the company went bankrupt, and the money Li Luo's family invested remained stuck there; even by the time he turned thirty-five, they were still arguing over it, unable to recover over a million in principal and interest.

Back then, Li Luo was young and knew nothing of family affairs; his parents never discussed such matters with a child.

But now, having lived this life again, Li Luo would not let this happen again.

The only difficulty now was… how to make his parents believe a fifteen-year-old?

Li Luo had a headache.

But fortunately, time was still early.

Wei Dongrong probably just happened to run into Li Guohong today and pulled him aside to chat.

A real investment decision wouldn't be made in a moment.

Li Luo sighed, gave up probing his father, and decided to focus first on acing his high school entrance exam.

At least get a good score—then he'd have more leverage with his parents.

He needed his parents to know he'd changed—he wasn't that ignorant, rebellious little brat anymore.

…

When they returned home, dinner was already ready.

Li Luo watched Ying Chanxi, wearing an apron, carrying a dish from the kitchen, her hair tied in a bun, faint sweat glistening on her forehead—he felt momentarily dazed.

He put his backpack back in his room, grabbed a few tissues, and walked over.

Ying Chanxi took them in surprise, wiped lightly along her cheek and neck, then studied Li Luo: "When did you become so thoughtful?"

"Just thanking you." Li Luo rolled his eyes, then returned to normal. "Your textbooks were really helpful—thanks."

Though Li Luo had his Memory Palace, he'd never even read through those political and history textbooks once.

So even if he tried to recall, he couldn't be sure he'd find the right content.

Fortunately, junior high political and history exams were simple, and with Ying Chanxi's detailed, neat notes and clean textbooks, Li Luo passed without incident.

"No need to thank me," Ying Chanxi smiled. "If you get into regular high school, I'll feel I've repaid Lin Yi for all her kindness."

"I think you should raise your expectations a bit," Li Luo coughed, laying groundwork. "For example…"

"Like Yingcai or Shulan?" Ying Chanxi named a few slightly renowned local high schools. "If you get into No. 2 High, that'd be impressive."

"I think people should have dreams," Li Luo said seriously. "Like Fuzhou No. 1 High?"

"Dreams are beautiful," Ying Chanxi patted his shoulder. "Good luck then—let's eat."

"If you get into Fuzhou No. 1 High," Lin Xiuhong said, stepping out with bowls and chopsticks, hearing Li Luo's words, and chuckling, "I'll buy you the smartphone you wanted."

"Mom, maybe forget it? I can pretend I didn't hear." Li Luo sat at the table, face serious. "Smartphones are so expensive now—I'd feel bad making you spend."

"Shut up and eat," Lin Xiuhong slapped the chopsticks in front of him. "If you can get into Fuzhou No. 1 High, what condition won't I agree to?"

"I only have one condition: promise to be gentler with me—that way you'll age slower."

"Get lost."

【Flop Diary】: This book's setting is a parallel world with heavy modifications—do not associate it with reality.