Huayu: That year, I withdrew from the Super Boy competition.

After Su Wei finished speaking, the living room was quiet for several seconds.

Zhou Qiao didn't immediately fly into a rage as usual.

This made Su Wei feel a little uncomfortable.

Although his mother is an educated person, she is also a true Sichuan-Chongqing woman. Her personality is something those who know, understand.

She closed the book in her hand, placed it on her lap, looked at Su Wei for a while, then put the book on the small table next to her, got up and walked to the living room, sat down on the sofa next to him, and patted the sofa.

"Come, sit down and talk."

His calm tone made Su Wei's heart pound.

He obediently sat down, waiting to be scolded.

"Your grades," Zhou Qiao said carefully, "while not the absolute best, aren't they bad either?"

Su Wei nodded.

"With your current level, if you perform normally, getting into a top-tier university like Tsinghua or Kyoto shouldn't be a problem—right?"

Su Wei nodded again.

His mother is a teacher at their school, so she knows the most about the college entrance examination.

"Then tell Mom," Zhou Qiao turned around to face him, her gaze devoid of anger, but carrying a scrutinizing quality honed from years of teaching, "why did you suddenly decide to take this path?"

Su Wei thought about it.

He could have come up with a whole host of impressive arguments—

"Music is my dream"

"The stage is my home."

"I want to touch more people with my singing."

He had heard these words from other contestants countless times on the show, and he knew them by heart.

But he didn't.

"Mom, I studied it carefully before."

He honestly said, "But as you can see, fifth in the grade is pretty much my ceiling."

Zhou Qiao didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"It's not that it's impossible to push it further upwards, but the effect will definitely be minimal."

Even if you put in a lot of effort to get into one or two universities, in the end you still have to get into a good university and find a decent job.

I could see the end of this road with my eyes closed. It's getting a bit boring.

Zhou Qiao opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say, "What's wrong with living a peaceful life?" but she swallowed the words back down.

She was an educated person and knew that the word "stability" held almost no appeal for a seventeen-year-old boy.

"But my art-related stuff is different."

Su Wei's voice was a little more confident than before.

"Whether it's singing or playing an instrument, I pick it up faster than others. I think—"

He paused for a moment, looking into Zhou Qiao's eyes.

"Instead of stubbornly sticking to a road that you can see the end from the beginning, why not try a different direction?"

After he finished speaking, he waited for Zhou Qiao's reaction.

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

Zhou Qiao leaned back on the sofa, staring at the water glass on the coffee table, without speaking immediately.

Her expression was neither angry nor happy.

"Are you absolutely determined?"

She finally spoke.

Su Wei nodded.

"Not just a momentary impulse?"

"No. I've been thinking about it for a long time."

Zhou Qiao remained silent for a few seconds before picking up the water glass on the table.

She neither immediately objected nor immediately agreed.

It took about a minute to drink that sip of water.

For Su Wei, that minute felt like a year.

Then she spoke.

"Su Wei, I have a question for you, and you must answer it seriously."

His tone was completely different from usual.

Are you really sure?

Su Wei looked at her and nodded.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Zhou Qiao spoke slowly and deliberately, "Ultimately, you have to walk your own path in the future. There's only so much your father and I can do to help you."

She put the water glass back on the table, the bottom of the glass tapping softly on the coffee table.

"As you know, although our family is relatively well-off, we are not a very wealthy or powerful family."

Especially in the entertainment industry—our family has absolutely no resources.

If you really go down this path in the future, we won't be able to help you at all.

She paused, then lowered her voice.

"Those people have connections and backgrounds, while you may have nothing."

If you suffer losses or injustices, we won't even have the ability to stand up for you.

Have you thought about all of these things?

Su Wei remained silent for a while.

"I've thought about it."

He said, "But I still want to give it a try."

He didn't make any grand pronouncements like "I will definitely succeed," nor did he pat his chest and make any guarantees.

He just said he wanted to give it a try.

Just as Zhou Qiao was about to speak, her phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID, frowned slightly, and answered, "Feed?"

Su Wei vaguely heard his father's voice coming from there.

"I heard from Teacher Feng! Su Wei hasn't been studying properly lately; he's been focusing all his attention on other things! Zhou Qiao, you can't let him get away with this!"

Zhou Qiao's expression changed slightly.

She took her phone and went to the balcony, whispering a few words, but Su Wei still caught some snippets:

"...The child has his own ideas...please don't rush..."

A few minutes later, she hung up the phone and came in, her expression much more complicated than before.

Your dad probably won't agree.

You probably heard it too, your dad is so upset about you not studying hard and focusing your attention on other things, let alone pursuing an artistic path.

Those few words instantly sombered the atmosphere in the living room.

Su Wei's heart sank as well.

He knew that his father usually didn't care about anything, but once he got serious, he was much harder to deal with than his mother.

"That……"

He opened his mouth.

Zhou Qiao looked at him and suddenly sighed: "I can talk to your dad for you."

Su Wei was stunned.

"but--"

Zhou Qiao pointed to his schoolbag, "You need to show some real talent. I can agree with your idea, but your exam grades can't drop."

She paused, then lowered her voice:

"I can shield you once, but not forever. You have to prove yourself."

After saying all that, Zhou Qiao reverted to her usual straightforward Sichuan woman and went to sit down on the balcony.

Su Wei sat on the sofa, watching her back.

He called out towards the balcony, "Mom, thank you!"

"No need to thank me."

Zhou Qiao's voice drifted from the balcony, this time with a hint of mockery.

"If your kid actually makes it on TV someday, I can brag about it to my neighbors and colleagues."

Alright, alright, go do your homework!

Su Wei smiled and responded, then picked up her schoolbag and headed to her room.

After taking a few steps, he heard Zhou Qiao talking to himself coming from the balcony. It wasn't loud, but he could hear it clearly:

"To pursue art... why would this child even have this idea..."

She's always been like this; sometimes she's assertive, but she's actually very soft-hearted.

From childhood to adulthood, whatever Su Wei wanted to do, as long as it didn't cause harm, they would support her.

This time will probably be the same.

Su Wei closed the door, put her schoolbag on the table, and let out a long sigh of relief.

I've passed the family hurdle.

Dad's opinion? That's not important.

His mother will do his job.