If parents can't see tangible benefits, they lose motivation.
So why have parents in the village suddenly started caring more about their children's studies lately?
Because they’ve found their motivation.
Liu Yutong, the granddaughter of the Liu family, taught them a clear lesson after the college entrance exams—getting into university, especially a prestigious one, can bring visible, life-changing rewards!
In no time at all, she became the envy of the entire village as a millionaire. Sure, the money went to her gambling-addict father, but it was still an amount they could never have dreamed of earning in their lifetime.
Most importantly, she even made wealthy friends at university.
So if their own kids could also get into a good university, wouldn’t they have the same bright future and rich connections?
With that thought, some parents began paying closer attention to their children’s studies.
And just like that, the winter break turned into a "miserable" ordeal for the village kids.
Before, no one even bothered to check if they finished their holiday homework—they could run wild and play all day. But now? Freedom was gone. They had to study extra hours every day, buried in books.
Even the gifts from visiting relatives turned into stacks of exam prep books like the "Huanggang Test Papers" or "Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests."
The village was practically drowning in collective wails of despair.
And when Liu Yutong returned, her transformation cranked up the "misery" of those kids’ holidays to an entirely new level.
After sharing his bragging tips, Huang Bo naturally thought of Liu Yutong.
"Hey, Yushan, your sister’s gonna hit it big, huh? That marriage arrangement your dad and Ergou set up—are you guys still planning to go through with it?"
Liu Yushan scoffed. "How should I know? It’s not like I get a say."
"But even if we do, Ergou’s family better cough up more dowry. A few grand? That’s beggar money. Does our family even need that now?"
For once, he was putting on airs.
In the past, he’d have been just like his dad, eager to seal the deal immediately.
Huang Bo nodded in agreement. "Exactly! Honestly, this marriage shouldn’t happen. Your sister’s gorgeous, a college student, and a money-maker. If she marries into their family, who knows if your family will ever see a dime of her earnings?"
Liu Yushan slapped his thigh. "Damn, you’re right! A married daughter is like spilled water—once she’s gone, she’s gone. What if her friends hand her another few million later? All that would go straight to the Wang family. We’d be screwed!"
"This marriage is off. I’ll tell Dad to cancel it as soon as I get back!"
"......"
While the two were crawling along the road at a sluggish pace, barely hitting 15 mph—
VROOM!
A thunderous roar erupted from behind them.
The sound carried a metallic growl, like a beast snarling.
"What the hell was that?!"
Before they could even check the rearview mirror—
A flash of blazing red shot past them in a blur, the sheer force of the wind rocking their car slightly.
Huang Bo’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "Holy shit! Was that a freaking Ferrari?!"
"Since when do we have Ferraris in this backwater?!"
Before they could recover, another car—jet-black and exuding luxury—blazed past them.
"Holy crap! Another one! That’s a Maybach, right? I heard those things cost like ten million after taxes!"
"Did some big shot roll into our town?"
In this rural dump, even a decent sedan was rare. Seeing two ultra-luxury cars back-to-back was mind-blowing.
Their car was too slow, and the other two were too fast—gone in an instant. They barely caught a glimpse of the drivers.
The Ferrari had two women inside, but the Maybach’s tinted windows revealed nothing.
"Why the hell are rich people cruising around the countryside during New Year’s?"
"Maybe someone from a nearby village made it big and came back for the holidays?"
"No way. Even the richest guy in our town only drives a Mercedes. Nobody here owns a sports car."
"Who knows? Maybe someone struck gold. Or maybe it’s someone from our own Duan Village."
"Bullshit. The most successful guy from Duan Village is right here." Huang Bo smugly patted his steering wheel.
His BMW was definitely the first luxury car in Duan Village—even if it was secondhand.
"Look at you, all proud. I’m getting one after New Year’s too." Liu Yushan’s envy was eating at him.
God, he wanted to show off so badly!
But when they finally dragged themselves to the village entrance around 1 PM, both were stunned.
"Where is everyone? Why’s it so empty?"
"How should I know?" Liu Yushan secretly gloated.
Serves you right for driving slow to show off. Guess what? No audience.
"Damn it! I skipped lunch just to pull off this grand entrance, and now nobody’s here? How am I supposed to flex?!" Huang Bo was fuming.
Duan Village’s roads were decent, thanks to some policy perks. Since their town had a minority ethnic enclave, while neighboring villages still had dirt roads, theirs had been paved with cement early on.
Later, when other towns were still stuck with cement roads, theirs was the first to upgrade to asphalt—all thanks to government support.
Otherwise, Liu Yutong wouldn’t have driven a sports car back home. Bumpy roads? Say goodbye to your undercarriage.
As Huang Bo and Liu Yushan stood by their car, sulking over their failed flex, a few villagers finally wandered into view.
But instead of stopping to admire the BMW, they barely glanced at it before walking off—like it was nothing special.
Huang Bo’s heart shattered.
Seriously? A BMW doesn’t impress anyone anymore?
Just then, an old classmate, Guo Longzhi, rode up on a scooter.
This guy was worse—he didn’t even look, ready to zoom right past.
Huang Bo couldn’t take it. He rolled down the window and shouted.
"Hey, Longzhi! Your boy’s back!"
Guo Longzhi finally stopped, but his first words were brutal.
"Yo, Bo, why you parked this junk here? Shouldn’t you be home?"
Huang Bo: "......"
Junk?!
Did this guy just call his BMW junk?!
What the hell? A few months away, and these villagers got this arrogant?
This is a freaking BMW! Bimmer! You clueless or what?!
Guo Longzhi seemed to remember something and gave the car a once-over. "Huh, a BMW. But compared to those cars, yours is probably worth, what, a couple of their rims?"
Huang Bo and Liu Yushan snapped to attention.
"Who? Whose cars?!" they demanded in unison.
Guo Longzhi finally noticed Liu Yushan in the passenger seat: "Huh? Yushan, you're back too?"
"I was talking about your sister, Liu Yutong. She just arrived at your grandpa’s place. Half the village is already there gawking at the Ferrari sports car she drove in—most folks have never seen one up close before."
Liu Yushan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "My sister?!"
Huang Bo and Liu Yushan exclaimed in unison: "A Ferrari?!"
