Chapter 13 — From the Ashes to the Pinnacle

Date of results. When the homeroom teacher stood on the podium to read the scores, he held the scoreboard upside down and then turned it back. When reading my name, the voice clearly became a little higher—“First place—Tham Ve Duong—total score 502.” This time, the classroom was not silent. It's a stir. Ha Loi jumped straight out of his chair: "Fuck?!" Luc Gia Minh sat in the front row and turned to look at me. This time, his eyes were no longer “who are you”. It's "how did you do it". I leaned back in my chair, expressionlessly looking out
window. The leaves on the sycamore tree downstairs have fallen off, the winter sunlight is pale white. Top of the block. This is just the beginning. 【Chapter 10】 After the final exams comes winter break. Tham Ve Quoc personally drove to pick me up and take me back to Guangzhou for Tet. This was the first time I went to his house after being "resurrected". Three-bedroom apartment, one living room, simple decoration. The main bedroom was filled with his things, and the secondary bedroom was cleaned up for me—blue sheets, a new desk, and reference books on the bookshelf.
and extracurricular books that I previously asked him to buy online. In the closet hang some new clothes. All are my size. He silently prepared these things. "Do they fit?" He stood at the door rubbing his hands: "If it doesn't fit, bring it back tomorrow to exchange." "Fits." A smile appeared on his face. That kind of smile—the smile of a middle-aged man after being recognized by his child, so happy that he couldn't help but afraid to show it too clearly. Very pale. But the wrinkles at the corners of my eyes are all stretched out. In these
On Tet, Tham Ve Quoc took me to meet some business friends. At the party, he didn't intentionally introduce me, just let me sit next to him to eat. But those people—Mr. Duong who works in construction materials, Mr. Tien who works in transportation, Uncle Ma who works in construction—all paid attention to me. “Old Tham, is this your son?” “Yes.” “Looks very bright. How old is he?” “Fourteen. Eighth grade.” “Oh, how's studying?” Shen Wei Quoc hadn't answered yet, old Duong came over: “I heard your son ranked first in the grade in the final exam?
Old Tham, you really hid it." "It's because of its own efforts." "Good seeds, good seeds." I listened to the polite words and ignored them. These people had no effect on me. But at the party there was one person—I remembered. Last name was Co, Co Chi Vien. Over forty years old, wearing a Patek Philippe watch that was not too ostentatious, few words but every sentence got to the point. He did investing—not the high-end venture capital kind, but investment. industry, specializing in targeting medium-sized manufacturing enterprises
and small. When the party ended, everyone was about to leave, he came next to me. "Tieu Tham." "Hello, Uncle Co." "Your father told me, you helped him discover that contract dispute?" "I was lucky, I just happened to read that clause." Co Chi Vien looked at me for two seconds. Then he laughed. "At the age of fourteen, you can understand the priority of payment over secured assets, it's not a matter of luck." He gave me a business card. "If you're interested in talking about investment in the future, you can find me." I
received the business card. "Thank you, Uncle Co." He patted my shoulder and left. I put my business card in my pocket. Workpiece of the third knife. Already have it. Winter vacation is over. I returned to a fourth-tier city. The second semester of eighth grade begins. In this semester—the most important thing to me is not the exam. It's a citywide math competition in March. Previous life. The first prize of this contest—belongs to Lam Phong. At that time, he was only in seventh grade. He passed the exam and became famous in just one match. Trieu Ngoc Phan holds a copy of the certificate
Receiving it and showing it off everywhere for half a year. "My Tieu Phong is truly a genius! He's only in seventh grade and can compete with eighth graders!" In my previous life, when I sat in a wheelchair listening to others recount these words, I didn't feel anything. Because at that time, I didn't even have the qualifications to take the exam. But this life is different. I took a look at the contest rules—the middle school group had no grade limit, any middle school student currently enrolled could sign up. I subscribe. March fifteenth. The exam begins. Twelve
middle schools throughout the city, three hundred and seventy-four students participated. In the exam room, I sat in the third row on the left. Before the bell rang, I looked around once. In the corner of the exam room— I saw Lam Phong. He's also here. Exactly like the previous life. Seventh grade students who surpass their grade level take the exam. Apparently he saw me too. His eyes froze. Then quickly move away. Bow your head and look at the exam question. The bell rang. Start exam. Two hours. It took me an hour and a half to complete
whole topic. In the last half hour, check again. There's nothing that needs fixing. When I submitted my assignment, Lam Phong was still writing with his head down. I didn't look at him anymore. Stepping out of the exam room, the sunlight outside was just beautiful. One week later. The results are announced. First prize—three people. First place in the whole city: Tham Ve Duong, 148 points, total score 150.