Lu Mingfei: Don't call me a loser, call me a hero.

After buying the gifts, Lu Mingfei went back to the CBD to thank Su Xiaoqiang and give her the promised reward, so she wouldn't accuse him of ungrateful.

He wandered around there for almost half an hour but didn't see a single person. He was almost considering going to the mall's broadcasting room to ask them to put on a missing person notice.

"Su Xiaoqiang, Class 1, Grade 11, your friend Lu Mingfei is looking for you. Please gather at the main entrance on the first floor of the shopping mall immediately after hearing this announcement."

But Lu Mingfei was only thinking about it. If he actually did it, even if Su Xiaoqiang was found, his own life would be in danger.

The young celestial maiden is very concerned about her reputation. This is no different from dragging her onto a torture cart and parading her through the streets. It's no wonder she can't forgive him.

After searching for a long time without finding anyone, he didn't waste any more time and took the bus home.

However, he didn't notice while he was looking for someone that a bodyguard in sunglasses had taken in his search and then reported it to the employer's wife.

When Lu Mingfei got home, it was almost lunchtime. His uncle and Lu Mingze had not yet returned; only his aunt was home.

The room was filled with a suffocatingly low atmosphere. Looking at his aunt's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, Lu Mingfei thought to himself that he had come back at the wrong time.

If nothing unexpected happens, my aunt must have lost money playing mahjong again.

And they lost quite a lot.

He tiptoed in, trying to make himself invisible.

However, when his aunt glanced at him, he stood rooted to the spot, scratching his head and chuckling:

"Auntie, you're back so early today."

Shut up! Do you want to hear what you're saying?!

Lu Mingfei wished he could cover his mouth immediately, but it was too late. His words immediately drew his aunt's pent-up anger:

"It's still early. What time is it? In two more hours, people who are taking a nap will be up!"

You disappear every weekend, always running off to play and never home. Why don't you settle down somewhere else?

You don't care about your studies, and you can't even do housework properly. When I ask you to clean, you just do it half-heartedly. You swept the floor, why didn't you mop it too?

"I'm sorry!" Lu Mingfei readily lowered his head to admit his mistake, his heart completely unmoved. "I'll go mop the floor right now."

"Lunch is almost ready, why are you mopping the floor? Go wash the vegetables, rinse the rice, and start cooking!"

"You're such a grown man, don't you have any common sense? I have to tell you everything?"

"I'm going right now!" Without saying a word, Lu Mingfei went back into the house, put down his schoolbag, locked up the money and gifts, and went into the kitchen to start working.

He started doing these kitchen helper jobs in the second year of junior high school, and his skills were comparable to those of a New Oriental intern.

After he finished preparing the ingredients, his aunt put on an apron, came in, picked up a spatula, and started cooking.

Not long after, just as Lu Mingfei had set the bowls and chopsticks on the table, his uncle pushed open the door and walked in, followed by Lu Mingze, who looked smug.

"Uncle, you're back." Lu Mingfei looked at his uncle as if he were looking at a comrade-in-arms who had gone through thick and thin with him, and the latter immediately knew the seriousness of the situation.

"Yes, I'm back."

Lu Mingze, however, was completely oblivious, complaining that he was dying of heat and wanted to turn on the fan.

At the dinner table, the four people each occupied a corner, with Lu Mingfei sitting as usual at the far end, so that he could serve rice to others later.

Because of the tense atmosphere after her aunt lost money, no one dared to speak at the dinner table. In the end, she took the initiative to ask:

"Mingze, how was your trip to the Children's Palace today?"

Lu Mingze was waiting for his mother to ask the question, and said with great enthusiasm:

"That's great! The piano teacher at the Nie Er Piano Training Center said I'm very talented; my hands look perfect for learning piano!"

Lu Mingfei ate his rice, thinking that Lu Mingze's chubby little hands clenched into fists looked like Doraemon's. The piano teacher at the training center was really just spouting lies to recruit students.

The uncle nodded in agreement and added, "The training center has a good teaching staff; the teachers they hire are all graduates of prestigious universities."

The students he taught have all won awards in provincial and municipal competitions. Mingze tried practicing it, and his teacher praised his posture as being quite standard.

After hearing this, Auntie finally smiled a little: "Of course, our Mingze has been smart since he was a child, and he learns everything quickly."

Lu Mingfei pursed his lips. His posture was quite standard when the teacher called on him to answer questions in class.

The chubby boy received his mother's approval, and his chin was practically pointing to the ceiling.

"My teacher said that if I practice hard, I'll definitely have a chance to perform on the school's Spring Festival Gala. Mom, you can sit in the audience and watch me perform. I guarantee I'll make you proud!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.

There are only two people in the entire school who are qualified to perform a solo instrumental piece at the school's Spring Festival Gala.

One is Chu Zihang's cello, which is either the closing act or the opening act every year. As soon as the cello starts playing, the girls in the audience start to scream silently and cheer wildly.

The other was Liu Miaomiao's piano solo. The beautiful young pianist sat there in a white dress, while the boys in her class, dressed in black suits, danced around the piano, making them look like black peacocks displaying their plumage to woo a mate.

But if Liu Miaomiao were replaced by the chubby boy...

Lu Mingfei could only imagine a chubby guy in a suit playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with two fingers, while the black peacocks dancing around him turned into pounding-chest-and-stomping chimpanzees.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud, and then the laughter at the dinner table instantly froze.

The aunt turned her head, her eyes like a bone-scraping steel knife, as if she wanted to cut Lu Mingfei in half and chop him up.

Lu Mingfei was about to apologize, but for some reason his aunt didn't pursue his suppressed laughter. Instead, she asked about the cost of the summer piano training course.

"The tuition is 3000 yuan for 30 lessons, not including other fees." The uncle looked a little bitter when he said this, and it was hard to tell if he was feeling the pinch from the large sums of money he was spending.

"Three thousand?" Auntie couldn't help but raise her voice upon hearing this number, but then softened her tone, remembering it was an investment in her son.

"It's a bit expensive, but if Mingze can make a name for himself in the training, then it'll be worth it."

The family of three were having a lively discussion, while Lu Mingfei listened with a look of astonishment.

He saved up 1,000 yuan in three years by living frugally, while Lu Mingze made 3,000 yuan in one summer vacation. It is true that people cannot be generalized.

He lowered his head and continued eating, poking around in the bowl with his chopsticks, his feelings a mix of emotions.

If he were given this 3,000 yuan, he could go to internet cafes 365 days a year without interruption.

The moment this thought arose, the familiar task options popped up:

Life is about perseverance! Daily task triggered, please select—

1. Exercise for two hours every day.

2. Spend two hours online every day.

3. Study for two hours every day.

Upon seeing these three task options, Lu Mingfei paused in his act of eating.

No, there are also easy questions?

He had just said he wanted to become a master of corner woodworking when the game immediately gave him a related task.

It would be an outrage against heaven and earth not to choose to continue using the internet.

Just as he was excitedly about to make his choice, his uncle next to him suddenly asked:

"Mingfei, have you ever thought about signing up for an extracurricular class during the summer vacation?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback upon hearing this. Before he could reply, his aunt's slightly smiling face immediately fell, and her voice became somewhat shrill:

"He's about to be a senior in high school, what kind of extracurricular classes would he sign up for? With his grades, he'd be better off taking tutoring classes!"

If you continue to indulge him like this, what will you say to your brother and sister-in-law when Lu Mingfei really fails to get into university?

One sentence sealed off the future for both the uncle and Lu Mingfei. The former wanted to live up to his brother and sister-in-law's expectations and educate his nephew to be successful, while the latter refused to go to tutoring classes no matter what.

If students are already starting school early to go from junior to senior year of high school, what's the difference between them and being killed if they have to go for extra tutoring?

So Lu Mingfei shrank back and decisively spoke up before his aunt's barrage of criticism arrived:

"My aunt is right. With my current grades, I should focus on my studies."

As soon as he finished speaking, a notification popped up in front of him—

[Selected: Study for two hours every day]

[Mission Reward: Unlock the skill "Focus" upon first completion of the mission]

Skill: Focus (Sorry, I really just want to study!)

Effect: Quickly enters a learning state, and learning efficiency is improved during the duration.