Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dad Also Has His Hardships

After receiving the lollipop, Xia Yuan kept playing with it on the table and showed no intention of eating it at all. Mei Fang looked somewhat impatient.

“Why are you so happy just because you got a lollipop? They sell them right outside the school gate,” Mei Fang raised his eyebrows.

Xia Yuan whispered, “Mom said this is junk food and told me not to eat it. Eating too much will make my teeth as bad as Du Zihan’s, which would be ugly.”

So it’s not because she doesn’t have enough, but because she’s not allowed to eat it…

“Then why are you still so happy?”

“Because it’s your first time giving me a gift!” Xia Yuan seemed incredibly excited. “I’m really, really happy!”

“Still, you should eat it! It would be a waste if you don’t,” Mei Fang thought this was his precious starting capital he had spent five cents on.

Xia Yuan shook her head and said seriously, “I plan to save it until I’m very, very hungry!”

“What do you mean by very, very hungry?”

“Very, very hungry means—”

“Mei Fang, what are you whispering about with Xia Yuan down there? Stand up! Pay attention in class. Have you figured out this problem?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Then tell me, if there are seven apples plus five apples, how many apples are there in total?”

The children below were already counting on their fingers, but only Mei Fang calmly raised his head and gave the correct answer, “Twelve!”

A look of surprise flashed across the teacher’s face. She had only started teaching addition and subtraction within ten recently, and now that they were close to graduation, she had nothing else to do but teach two-digit addition and subtraction.

“What about 8 plus 13?”

Mei Fang scratched his head, pretending to think for a few seconds before answering, “Twenty-one!”

“How impressive!”

Although they didn’t know if it was correct, Mei Fang’s determined expression made the children spontaneously applaud him.

“Mei Fang knows so much addition, he’s as good as an elementary school student!”

“How impressive, judging by my estimate, Mei Fang must be at least at the level of second grade… No, third grade! My brother couldn’t even calculate this when he was in third grade!”

That’s probably because your brother has problems! How can a third grader not know how to add and subtract?

This child must have been trained in the ‘Shit-Eating Club’ by my brother.

Teacher Li pushed her glasses up and looked puzzled, “Mei Fang, have you enrolled in any mental arithmetic classes?”

“No… My cousin taught me.”

Mei Fang hadn’t considered creating a prodigy persona yet. After all, such personas lacked sustainable development potential, and he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t end up like Zhong Yong, being dragged around by his money-grubbing father Mei Lijun to participate in shows and earn appearance fees.

“Even if you do well in the future, you still need to follow classroom discipline. Otherwise, when you start primary school, you’ll get spanked for being so mischievous. Understand?”

“Yes, Teacher Li.”

Mei Fang momentarily forgot his identity as a kindergartener.

But this kind of showboating wasn’t very enjoyable. He decided not to do it again in the future.

The eagerly anticipated national team debut had finally arrived. On June 4th, the Chinese national football team would face Costa Rica.

This year, the country’s interest in the World Cup reached unprecedented levels. Even kindergarten children were watching live broadcasts at school, cheering for the national team. The excitement of the match aside, the atmosphere was indeed intense.

However, knowing the outcome, Mei Fang remained silent throughout. He was observing the children who were immersed in the game.

An interesting discovery was that even Xia Yuan, who seemed unrelated to football, cried because the national team lost.

Another few boys, due to rebelliousness, cheered for Costa Rica, but they were scolded by Teacher Li and made to stand in the corner.

It was clear that the teacher was furious.

But taking it out on the children was a bit unreasonable.

However, it turned out that there was a period when the national team was loved by people. Without experiencing it firsthand in 2002, one could never truly feel it.

Who would have thought that 20 years later, the national team would make General Fan, the famous player, say something so outrageous!

The gloomy atmosphere persisted until school dismissal in the afternoon. The parents who came to pick up their children had somber faces, and the air remained heavy.

When Mei Lijun appeared, his face was long. Mei Fang noticed a bruise on his forehead.

Mei Fang thought to himself that his dad was indeed a die-hard football fan, getting so angry over losing a match that he might even bang his head against the wall.

Could it be because he lost a bet and was upset? Is it worth getting mad over 10 yuan…

Mei Fang was smart. He followed his silent father on the motorcycle home.

Once they arrived, Mei Lijun couldn’t hold back his complaints anymore:

“Did you watch today’s match? Damn Costa Rica used dirty tricks. If Sun Xiaohai hadn’t been injured and disrupted Milu’s strategy, we wouldn’t have lost so badly!”

Mei Fang nodded, “Dad, Teacher Li said winning and losing is common in sports. We shouldn’t be upset. Let’s hope the national team performs better next time!”

“The next match is against Brazil. There’s no hope of winning, but we won’t consider it a loss if we lose by less than three goals…”

At first, Mei Lijun was rather disheartened, but the more he thought about it, the more excited he became, “Think about it, if we could score a goal against Brazil… then even if the national team doesn’t qualify this time, it would still be worth it!”

…

Mei Fang stared at his father in shock, feeling like they were living in parallel worlds.

Where did this mysterious confidence in the national team come from…

After enduring his impatience with a few perfunctory words, Mei Fang took the opportunity to voice his request:

“Oh, Dad, about that bet we made last time—”

“A bet? What bet?” Mei Lijun frowned. “You’re a little kid, and you’re gambling in kindergarten?”

“Hey, Dad, are you talking nonsense? You said you’d give me 10 yuan if we lost to Costa Rica!”

“What does a little kid need so much money for? If you want to buy something, I’ll buy it for you.”

Blood pressure rising, adult!

Mei Fang could only act like a spoiled brat and stretch out his hand, “I don’t care! I want 10 yuan! Dad, you’re breaking your promise, you’re a dog!”

“You’re a puppy!”

Mei Lijun picked Mei Fang up and spun him around in the air before putting him down.

“I’ll take you to the mall with your mom tonight, and we’ll eat chicken legs. That will be compensation!”

Mei Fang scratched his dizzy head and thought for a moment before responding, “I don’t want to go to the mall. I just want to buy a lottery ticket. The World Cup comes around so rarely, I want you to take me to play once. Missing this would be a real shame.”

“Haha, so you want to buy a lottery ticket…”

Mei Fang continued, “Dad, look, I guessed the result of this match correctly. To be honest, I actually have a superpower, the ability to predict the future. Let me pick one ticket. Who knows, maybe our family will become rich and famous!”

Originally, Mei Fang intended to secretly buy the lottery ticket and keep the huge sum for himself, but he remembered later that even if he won, he couldn’t claim the prize himself; he would have to go to the provincial capital. So he could only rely on his dad.

Mei Fang spent a lot of effort trying to convince his father, but at the end, Mei Lijun suddenly wore a sad smile and searched his pockets.

Both of his pockets were clean and empty.

“Think I don’t want to buy a lottery ticket? I just don’t have the money…”

“What about your private savings?”

“Don’t mention it. It’s precisely because of these private savings that I suffer. Right after dropping you off at school, your mother found the hidden money and cut off my smoking money for the month.”

As he spoke, Mei Lijun pointed to the bruise on his forehead, “See, this is what your good mother hit me for.”

“It seems, Dad… you also have your hardships…”

Mei Fang expressed deep sympathy for his unfortunate father.

Although the comments aren’t showing up now, I’ve seen everyone’s messages, especially Unknown’s. You read carefully, ha ha, thank you so much!

By the way, I’ve added some suitable AI-generated artwork for each chapter. Once the comment section is unlocked, I’ll share them with everyone!