Cutting-Edge Technology R&D Center

Chapter 27: Wang Hao’s Excitement

The beautiful young woman who had just come up from downstairs was quietly listening to the beautiful melody. Her name was Sun Yan, a reporter for CCTV. She had come to interview Wang Hao, the top-scoring student from Xijiang, but she hadn’t notified the school beforehand. Instead, she wanted to hear Wang Hao’s authentic voice in this setting first, before conducting the interview. Watching the person currently immersed in his performance, she knew this was Wang Hao. Although he was wearing nothing more than an ordinary school uniform, his entire being exuded a confidence that made her eyes light up slightly. The singing and melody gradually came to a halt. For this performance, Wang Hao had chosen “A Lifetime with You” by Shui Mu Nian Hua. Although his original intention wasn’t to deepen the sorrow of parting, his singing still moved many of his classmates to tears. “Wang Hao, this is Gancheng TV. We’d like to interview you,” said Principal Liu Xiao of Gan City No. 1 High School as he introduced him. Wang Hao was taken aback for a moment before nodding slightly, a wry smile forming in his heart—being the top student had its pros and cons. At the very least, having just earned the title of top student had generated an overwhelming amount of public attention, which was bound to affect his life in the near future; it would likely take some time before things returned to normal. But if he didn’t do this, his college life would be another prison, much like high school. He was going to college merely to fulfill his parents’ dream, and attending Yan’da University was a promise he’d made to his father when he was a child—his father had once told him that the best schools were in Yanjing, specifically Yan’da University and Huaqing. “Wang Hao, we’ll just ask you a few simple questions right outside the classroom,” a beautiful hostess said. “Okay,” Wang Hao nodded slightly. He exchanged a few words with the host—it really was just a few questions. Some were about his views on the school, and others about his usual performance. A moment later, Wang Hao was sent back to his class, where everyone was chatting and exchanging contact information. “Brother Bing, you’re all set.” Wang Hao glanced around the classroom; his seat was taken, but he noticed the spot next to Fang Bing was empty. He immediately plopped down and whispered. “I’m ready. The raw materials are on their way, and the factory location has been confirmed—though it’s not very large and is in the southern suburbs of Gancheng. My livestream setup is all set too; I can go live anytime.” Fang Bing looked at Wang Hao sitting next to him and began speaking in a low voice as well. Wang Hao nodded slightly. Producing drones wasn’t difficult—in fact, assembly was quite straightforward. The real challenge lay in debugging the drone’s coordination software and control system once assembly was complete. After all, the raw materials he’d sourced were all loose parts—not a single finished product. He needed to assemble these components to test the drone. He’d already resolved and encrypted the drone’s control system over the past few days; all that remained was to ensure proper compatibility between the various components and then burn the central control program onto the chip. “All right, give me two sets of materials when the time comes. I’ll start by debugging the central control chip,” Wang Hao said softly, nodding. He hadn’t forgotten the promise he’d made to Zhang Xin and Zhang Nan—to give each of them a drone. “Got it,” Fang Bing nodded slightly, but was interrupted the moment he spoke. “Um… Wang Hao, I’m sorry about what happened on Caoshan Mountain.” Ma Ye watched Wang Hao talking with Fang Bing. After thinking it over for a long time, he finally walked over and spoke with a look of shame on his face. “No big deal. I heard you did well on your exams… Congratulations.” Wang Hao smiled lightly, brushing it off. To be honest, he hadn’t given the incident a second thought. “Not bad. I’m planning to go to Yanjing University of Science and Technology.” Ma Ye’s face lit up with excitement at the mention of his scores—he’d really outperformed himself this time. But the moment the words left his mouth, he trailed off… After all, the person he was talking to was the all-time top scorer with a perfect score. What did he have to be excited about in front of him? “Great. We’ll meet up in Yanjing then.” Wang Hao smiled faintly; he wasn’t just referring to Ma Ye—Fang Bing was also planning to spend three years at a second-tier university in Yanjing. “Are you planning to go to Huaqing or Yan’da University?” Ma Ye asked curiously. These two institutions were among the best in Hua Guo, and since Wang Hao had clearly mentioned Yanjing, his choice would likely be limited to one of them. “I haven’t decided yet. You’ll find out in time…” Wang Hao gave a carefree smile, which made Ma Ye feel a bit envious. If he could get into one of those two schools, his family would probably be over the moon with excitement, but Wang Hao seemed completely unconcerned—he clearly intended to think it over first. This class meeting didn’t last long; it was just a chance to bring everyone together to provide guidance on filling out college applications and estimating scores, as well as to discuss the approximate admission scores for each school to help avoid any unexpected situations. However, Wang Hao’s song had left everyone feeling melancholy and nostalgic about parting, so Teacher Zhou simply struck up a conversation with the class while going over the important points for filling out the college applications. A moment later, Wang Hao stepped out of the classroom because Liu Xiao’s assistant had come to call him to the principal’s office. Wang Hao stepped into the principal’s office with some confusion. Liu Xiao wasn’t alone in the office; there was another person there, though Wang Hao didn’t recognize him. After a while, Wang Hao emerged from the principal’s office with a hint of joy on his face. “I’ve got money now.” A flash of excitement crossed Wang Hao’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that the principal had called him in just for a bonus. At first, he’d been a bit puzzled—Lan Wei had received a substantial reward at the time, but why hadn’t anything been mentioned to him earlier? Thinking back to the top-scorer bonus Liu Xiao had mentioned earlier, he felt a surge of excitement. The school had awarded 150,000 yuan, and the other person turned out to be from the Education Bureau—who had also come specifically for the top-scorer bonus. Although the amount wasn’t as large as the school’s award, it still totaled 100,000 yuan. Combined, that made 250,000 yuan—a sum that truly thrilled him. This meant a portion of the funding for Longnao’s servers was now secured, and he wouldn’t have to wait for revenue from the software sales. By the time he stepped out, the class meeting was already drawing to a close. After leaving school, Wang Hao walked alongside Fang Bing for a while, chatting about drones, and after they parted ways, he headed straight home. At Wang Hao’s home, his adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, were beaming with joy—how could they not be thrilled that their adopted son had become the top student in Xijiang Province? “You can decide how to use this prize money yourself,” Mr. Zhang said decisively after hearing Wang Hao’s proposal. This was entirely the result of Wang Hao’s own efforts, and over the past few days, Mr. Zhang had come to clearly understand that Wang Hao was a person with a strong sense of independence. He felt completely at ease leaving the money in Wang Hao’s hands to manage as he saw fit. “Thank you… Father…” Wang Hao nodded slightly and, after a moment’s hesitation, spoke. The word “father” had been buried deep in his heart for many years—he had always avoided it. But during the college entrance exam period, Mr. Zhang’s understanding and tolerance had deeply moved him. “You… you… what did you say…?” A flicker of emotion broke through Mr. Zhang’s normally calm expression. He had waited four years to hear those words. Ever since adopting him, the obedient and sensible Wang Hao had been a source of great comfort to him—especially during that first year, when Wang Hao’s inability to speak had truly broken his heart. He had specifically arranged for his wife to take a year off work so she could be with Wang Hao during that most painful time; he had even sent his own son and daughter to live in a boarding school for a year. He had been on the scene during the flash flood rescue. Watching the child—protected by three people—miraculously survive after being buried for two days, a pang of emotion welled up in his heart; he believed it was nothing short of a miracle.