Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

After learning the truth, the couple sat on the bed with their legs curled up.

Lin Xiaoli clung to her husband’s arm while Lin Yingjun scrolled through news articles and obscure online posts about Zhengshi Company from the past few years.

Lin Xiaoli kept pointing at the screen, exclaiming, “Look at this one! Now that one! And that one over there!”

Lin Yingjun stared blankly at all the headlines, completely blown away—like he was living in a dream.

It wasn’t until half the day had passed and countless posts had been read that he finally came back to earth. He suddenly sat up straight on the bed like a spring-loaded jack-in-the-box.

He turned his head, stunned, to look at his wife.

Startled by his sudden movement, Lin Xiaoli asked, “What’s with you? Why’d you pop up like that all of a sudden? You’re like a spring!”

Grinning wide, Lin Yingjun grabbed her by the shoulders, excitement radiating from his face:

“Wife! That means… we’re about to live like the rich second generation! We’ll never have to worry about money again!”

That night, Lin Zhengran returned home after wrapping things up at Zhengshi Company.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered. It seemed his parents weren’t home.

But as soon as he unlocked the door—

POP! POP! Confetti and streamers rained down from above.

Lin Xiaoli and Lin Yingjun stood there holding party popper guns, with balloons hanging all around and a big banner across the room.

Together, they threw their arms up and shouted:

“Welcome home, General Manager Zhengran! Long live Zhengran, long live our son!”

Lin Zhengran froze in awkward silence.

“Mom, Dad… what are you doing? Have you lost it?”

The two of them rushed over and hugged him tightly.

Lin Xiaoli was teary-eyed: “Zhengran! You make Mom so proud!”

Lin Yingjun was bawling too, hugging him: “Son! You’re Dad’s pride and joy! I never imagined you’d achieve so much! You’ve completely blown me away!”

Lin Xiaoli sobbed:

“All those nights you weren’t home, I used to call you thinking you were out goofing off… I never imagined you were busy with all this! From now on, I won’t nag you ever again. If you say it’s for work, Mom will never question it. My son is amazing!”

Lin Zhengran sweatdropped. Mom, you don’t even nag me that much anyway…

Given how affectionate she was with Dad, any time he wasn’t home, the two of them were probably off enjoying their couple time.

Sometimes when he came home early in the morning, there’d still be rose petals left scattered on the bedroom floor…

Lin Xiaoli looked at him eagerly: “Come on, let Mommy give you a few kisses! Muamuamua~”

Lin Yingjun jumped in: “Son! Let Dad kiss you too! Muamuamua~”

Feeling their kisses wetting both cheeks, Lin Zhengran looked utterly defeated.

His face felt disgusting.

That night, the family of three enjoyed a grand celebratory meal, absolutely elated.

But as big as the occasion was, Lin Yingjun, being the man of the house, managed to regain his composure and brought up some important things during dinner.

Like:

“Zhengran, even though you’ve made it big, your mom and I won’t ask for money unless we absolutely need it. And we won’t go around blabbing that you’re the General Manager either—less attention means less trouble for the family.”

And other things… not insignificant, but not that serious either.

A few days later, college entrance exam results were released.

Across the province, high school students were anxiously glued to the official website, waiting for their scores.

Lin Yingjun and Lin Xiaoli had known the results would be released today and had been camping out at the computer since early morning.

They sat silently, waiting like hunters at the edge of the woods.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhengran was completely unconcerned, lying on his bed as his parents sat beside him with a laptop.

Lin Xiaoli, wrapping herself around her husband’s arm, asked, “How many points do you think Zhengran got?”

Lin Yingjun shook his head. “Hard to say. But probably pretty good, right? Our Zhengran’s been a genius since he was little—clearly inherited my intelligence.”

“Mm, and mine too.”

Lin Zhengran sighed, rolled over, and yawned.

Lin Xiaoli turned back to him. “Zhengran? Aren’t you going to check your scores? This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

He waved her off. “Not interested.”

Lin Xiaoli was moved and gave him a thumbs up: “Now that’s a true businessman’s mindset—broad-minded and chill.”

Lin Yingjun turned to praise him too: “My son really has style. Just like me.”

Lin Zhengran: “...”

Finally, the system was ready.

Lin Yingjun quickly entered his son’s exam number and credentials.

Once everything was confirmed, he said, “Okay, I’m clicking the search button!”

“I’m so nervous!” Lin Xiaoli squeezed her hands.

“Searching now!”

He hit the button.

Then…

Both parents stared at the screen—only to find that no score showed up. Just a string of asterisks.

No individual subject scores either.

They looked at each other, confused.

Lin Xiaoli asked, “What the heck? There’s no score? Is the site frozen? Refresh it!”

But Lin Yingjun didn’t move his hand. He just stared at the screen, and then suddenly—his eyes lit up.

She urged him, “Hurry up, refresh it already! What are you waiting for?”

He replied, “Wait, wait, wait! Let me try refreshing first—don’t rush me.”

Refreshed… still the same.

He frowned. “What’s going on? Why won’t it show up? Is the computer busted?”

Then he looked over with wide eyes and whispered to his wife, “Top fifty in the whole province…”

“Huh?”

“I said Zhengran is top fifty in the province!”

“What?! How do you know?!”

Lin Yingjun stared at his not-so-stellar wife. “Because if you score in the top fifty, your results don’t show—just the asterisks! That means our son ranked top fifty in the province! Zhengran! You made top fifty!”

Just then, Lin Zhengran casually picked up his muted phone.

The screen showed a flood of missed calls that had started coming in earlier.

They weren’t from The Three Little Ones or people in the company.

They were from university recruitment departments.

Zhengran said, “You two are too slow. I already figured it out a few minutes ago—my phone’s been ringing nonstop.”

The couple looked at each other and immediately leapt up in excitement.

Once again, they jumped on the bed and smothered their son in kisses.

Lin Xiaoli: “Zhengran, Zhengran! Let Mommy give you more kisses—muamuamua~! You really are Mommy’s pride and joy! I’m so happy, hahaha!”

Lin Yingjun also hugged him: “Son, son! Let Dad kiss you too! Muamuamua~ You’re Dad’s greatest pride—my son is amazing!”

Lin Zhengran couldn’t be bothered to respond. “I just washed my face and laid down…”

Lin Xiaoli was thrilled: “So what? Just lie down—Mom will wash it again for you later! No worries! But wait…” She suddenly asked her husband:

“Hubby, now that Zhengran is a big CEO… is going to college kind of backwards? Like… isn’t the order a bit messed up?”

Lin Yingjun, mid-kiss, froze and blinked:

“Wife, good question. Honestly… I don’t know how to answer that.”