The Mightiest Little Peasant

The next six days passed in the blink of an eye.

Tang Hao finalized the recipe for the sports drink in those six days. He also bought more raw jade so that he could produce spirit jade to craft talismans and Artifacts.

He had to replenish his depleted inventory from his last trip to Hindustan.

He realized that he had stayed in Westridge for almost half a month. Tang Hao wanted to return to the university, but after calling Liu Bingyao and finding out that the Tang-Hao-mania was still raging, he began to have second thoughts.

He weighed his options and decided that he should stay in Westridge for longer.

He received a call late in the morning.

The call was from Principal Cai of First High.

“Lil Bro Tang… no, I should call you Chairman Tang by now!” Principal Cai laughed heartily over the phone.

“Is there something, Principal Cai?” Tang Hao said.

“It’s like this. You’re an honorary alumnus of First high, and your success story can be a great motivation to your juniors. I’d like to invite you to come to the school and give a talk,” Principal Cai said.

“Ah? A talk?” Tang Hao was stunned.

“Yes, a talk. You can introduce yourself and share with the students about your path to success,” Principal Cai said with a smile.

Tang Hao did not have a reply to that.

He did not know how to give a talk. Furthermore, his ‘path to success’ was not exactly conventional.

“Well…” Tang Hao hesitated for a while and planned to decline.

Principal Cai continued, “The gaokao will start in a few days. I’d like to use your success story to motivate the third-year students.” (TN: The gaokao, or the National College Entrance Examination, is the exam that all high school students in China take for university admission. As with any other major examination in East Asia, it is Very Important.)

Tang Hao was surprised. He looked at the calendar and noticed that the gaokao was in seven days.

He felt rather emotional.

It was one of his regrets that he could not participate in the gaokao.

For any high school student, what was studying hard for, if not for the gaokao?

The gaokao was very important to a student. It might not decide the rest of one’s life, but it certainly would affect the trajectory.

He was reminded of Yan’er. She would be taking her gaokao in the coming week.

Tang Hao’s lips curled upward subconsciously when he thought of her. The smile was genuine from his heart.

He thought for a while more and agreed to Principal Cai’s invitation.

“Remember, it’s in the morning after tomorrow,” Principal Cai said.

After the call ended, Tang Hao looked at the calendar and got emotional.

“It’s almost a year!” He mumbled wistfully.

This time last year, he was riding his three-wheeled motorcycle and barely scraping by. A year later, he was sitting in his personal office and looking down at the entire city.

He sat there for a very long time, deep in thought…

Two days later, at about nine o’clock in the morning, An Audi A8 drove out of Haotian Plaza’s basement parking lot toward First High.

Tang Hao sat in the backseat. He wore a business suit and looked very formal.

Han Yutong sat next to him, dressed in black office clothes.

She wore light makeup, which enhanced the beauty of her face.

In the driver’s seat was a driver in a uniform.

Tang Hao was planning to drive there himself, but when Liu Yan caught wind of that, she insisted on hiring a driver and getting Han Yutong to accompany him.

She also instructed Tang Hao to dress formally.

“That way, you would look like you’re a capable man, and you wouldn’t embarrass Haotian Group,” she said.

Tang Hao had no choice but to listen to what she said.

The car arrived at First High after about fifteen minutes of driving.

Tang Hao lifted his head to see and was shocked.

A crowd had gathered at the entrance. All the students were there, and the people in the front were the teachers and administrators of the school.

Even the cafeteria ladies and janitors were there.

He brought his gaze higher and saw a banner hanging on the front gate.

“Welcome Honorary Alumnus Tang Hao to First High…” Han Yutong softly read the words.

She could not help but chuckle. “You’re famous now, Chairman Tang!”

Even the driver laughed out loud too.

Tang Hao grimaced helplessly.

The atmosphere at the school entrance was incredibly lively.

The students stretched their necks and looked down the road. They had curious and excited expressions on their faces.

“Hey, have you heard? That Tang Hao is the rumored boyfriend of the beauty queen.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard of that! That Tang Hao is amazing! He’s only a year older than us, but he’s already the chairman of a group of companies. He’s very, very rich.”

“Most importantly, he’s handsome! He’s the perfect Prince Charming.”

Everyone discussed excitedly.

Even the cafeteria ladies and the janitors were talking.

“I remember that I’ve served lunch to that young man. I can’t be wrong, that’s him! He was very skinny back then, he looks like he’s malnourished. He only buys two vegetable dishes and never any meat.”

A cafeteria lady pointed at Tang Hao’s face in a booklet.

“I felt quite sorry for him back then, but he’s found his success now. Wow, the chairman of a group. What a big-timer!”

The middle-aged woman seemed emotional.

“I remember that he looked quite poor and dressed quite shabbily. He was shy and didn’t speak much,” another middle-aged woman said. “He’s made it big now!”

Some teachers were also talking among themselves.

A nineteen-year-old who started his own group of companies and became a self-made billionaire was earth-shaking news.

They were utterly shocked when they heard the news a few days ago.

If they had not heard it from the principal’s mouth, they would not have believed it.

The principal also said that many VIPs were in attendance at the dinner party that night, which had shocked them even more.

Tang Hao had always kept a low profile when he was a student in First High. His grades were not bad, but he was not very remarkable. His teachers would have forgotten about him if not for that fighting incident.

From that incident, they only remembered that he was a hooligan who got himself expelled from school.

They could not imagine that the student would go on to make a name for himself.

He had exposed the misdeeds of the dean, then started his company and donated a few million yuan to the school. Now that he had made it big and was making a glorious return to the school, the teachers treated him differently.

“Ha! To be frank, I knew from back then that he’s not a normal boy. I had expected that he’d do great things in the future! See what I mean?”

“Haha, Tang Hao was my pride! He’s the most accomplished among all the students I’ve taught. Back then, I also thought that his cool temperament and unique fashion style made him different from the rest.”

Those teachers who were boasting excitedly had taught Tang Hao back when he was in First High.