Chapter 136: A Mother and Daughter's Bond, Early Admission

Huo Hong, living up to his reputation as a businessman, immediately began drafting a plan. Moreover, since it was going to be close-up magic, card tricks alone would not suffice. He could purchase the necessary props for various close-up illusions in advance; after all, everything was available on Taobao these days.

Huo Hong had a business partner named Xie Baolian—the "Lian" in the company name "Hong Lian"—who was a female entrepreneur. She was remarkably efficient; once Huo Hong brought the matter to her attention, she immediately provided a wealth of suggestions. From sourcing props and planning routines to designing a professional image, Huo Hong delegated it all to her.

Zhang Wuyong had to admit that these business owners worked with impressive speed. Whenever they spotted an opportunity to make money, they would pounce on it fiercely. Especially in this age of the internet, they were terrified of missing their window of opportunity by even a single day. Of course, it was also because these business owners were wealthy enough to take risks; even if this particular investment failed, it wouldn't be a significant blow to them.

Furthermore, a capable businessman is a capable businessman for a reason. The investment plan Huo Hong proposed—covering the initial costs and outlining the profit-sharing ratios—seemed quite fair. No matter how he looked at it, the proposal was clearly structured with long-term cooperation in mind.

...

Although Zhu Yuwen felt fine, and the post-operative CT scans showed no issues in any areas, her attending physician would not allow her to be discharged immediately because she had indeed been in a coma for two days. She was instructed to stay for a few more days of observation. At this moment, Zhu Yuwen was just one of many patients, so there was little she could do. Since there was nothing actually wrong with her, she certainly didn't need anyone to stay and nurse her.

"Wait for Wuyong to come and pick me up!" Zhao Yutong said, hanging up the phone and snuggling against her mother.

"Is that so?" Zhu Yuwen reached out to embrace her daughter. "The past two days must have really frightened you both, right?"

Zhao Yutong had indeed been terrified over the last two days. Especially yesterday, when the captain of the criminal investigation team showed up, forbade her from coming to the hospital, and asked if her family had offended anyone. She had been paralyzed with fear at the time.

"It’s a good thing Wuyong was there to keep me company the whole time," she whispered. "Wuyong was constantly worried, too." She recalled the icy coldness of Wuyong’s hands in the early hours of the morning. Even with the warmth of her own body, she had barely been able to warm him up.

"Wuyong, that boy," Zhu Yuwen sighed. "Even though I was asleep after the incident, I had a dream last night. I dreamt I was walking through a thick fog, not knowing where I was going. Later, Wuyong found me and brought me home. As soon as I arrived, I saw you rushing toward me, hugging me, so happy."

Zhao Yutong looked up at her mother, feeling incredibly surprised in that moment, for she had dreamt almost the exact same thing the night before. At that moment, she hugged her mother, burying her head against her chest. Perhaps this was the intuition shared between mother and daughter.

When Zhang Wuyong arrived at the hospital, he saw the mother and daughter embracing on the hospital bed. He stood at the doorway, not wanting to disturb them. However, Zhu Yuwen spotted him almost immediately.

"Wuyong is here to pick you up!" she said with a smile, patting her daughter’s back. Zhao Yutong then rose from her mother’s embrace.

As Zhang Wuyong walked over, Zhu Yuwen smiled and said, "Wuyong, I’m so glad you were here. If something had really happened to me, I would at least feel at ease knowing Tongtong is with you."

Zhang Wuyong quickly replied, "Auntie Zhu, please don’t say things like that. Nothing will happen to you. Besides, Tongtong has helped me a lot, so isn't it only right that I take care of her?"

Zhu Yuwen felt a sense of melancholy. Unconsciously, these two children had grown to a point where, even without her, they could rely on each other to keep moving forward. As a mother, the mixture of helplessness and joy was a truly complex feeling. Fortunately, from the very beginning, she had seen that the boy from across the hall was never a bad kid. This was the main reason she had never interfered as the two grew closer—even reaching the point where her daughter would intentionally take off her pants to show him. But children grow up eventually, and once they do, she could no longer control them. As long as he wasn't a bad person, that was enough.

"It’s getting late," Zhu Yuwen said. "You two should head back. Oh, and you haven't filled out your college applications yet, have you? You need to make sure you get that done in the next few days so you don't miss the deadline."

As soon as she heard about the applications, Zhao Yutong’s head began to ache.

When Zhang Wuyong brought her home on his electric scooter, it was nearly seven in the evening, but the sky had not yet darkened. Being summer, the road was still bathed in the slanting rays of the setting sun, and the streetlights had begun to flicker on. Although they were long familiar with the scenery of this city, the lingering glow of the summer evening still made them feel at peace.

Wearing her helmet and sitting behind Zhang Wuyong, Zhao Yutong stretched out her arms to wrap them around his waist. "Wuyong," she said loudly, "I’m planning to try applying for the early admission batch."

"Early admission?" Zhang Wuyong asked without turning his head. "Isn't that for becoming teachers or police officers?"

"Yes! I’m going to try for the teacher-education program at East China Normal University. If I get in, you can apply for their non-teaching program in the undergraduate batch. With a few other universities of varying levels in Shanghai, our chances of being together in the city will be much higher."

This was the best plan she could think of. However, the success rate wasn't high, as the job market was poor, and everyone was crowding into teaching programs. Early admission was a priority selection; if you didn't get into your first choice, your second choice was almost useless. And there might be others in the province with higher scores who also wanted to get into East China Normal University. Based on previous years' cut-offs and the difficulty this year, her chances were decent, but it was hard to say for sure. All she could say was that the early batch didn't conflict with the regular undergraduate batch, so there was no harm in trying.

"Teaching? But I remember you don't like being a teacher!" Zhang Wuyong knew Tongtong had no interest in teaching at a school. She had indeed role-played as a teacher in front of him, but that was just their personal intimacy.

"But if one of us gets in through early admission, we’ll have a better chance of being together. The early batch is mostly for teachers and doctors. By comparison, I really don't want to become a doctor like my parents."

"Alright," Zhang Wuyong said. "You decide on these things, it's fine by me."

"Don't leave everything for me to decide!" Zhao Yutong grumbled. She wanted to dump some of this pressure onto him, but oh well—she would just have to take it one step at a time.

"By the way, I’m planning to start livestreaming," Zhang Wuyong said from the front.

"Livestreaming?" Zhao Yutong was surprised. "Are you going to be a gaming streamer? You’ll need to upgrade the computer at your place, right? Gaming streamers seem to need high-end hardware."

"No, I’m going to be a magic streamer."

"What?" Zhao Yutong bit her lip. "Are you going to go around tricking girls?"

"I said I’m going to livestream magic, not trick girls. Magic, just magic!"

"Is there a difference?" Zhao Yutong muttered. "Isn't it just tricking girls?"

Zhang Wuyong turned his head. "What? What did you say?"

"Just watch the road," Zhao Yutong patted his back.

As everyone knew, the most important thing for a magician was... being handsome, of course. She felt that Wuyong was doing just fine with his anime-style persona; she could even wear anime-style outfits for him to see often. Why become a magic streamer? It put a lot of pressure on her. She began to feel that having a childhood sweetheart who was too handsome wasn't necessarily a good thing.