June 29th, the unified final exam of Jinan Prefecture began and ended on July 1st, lasting for three days. The end of the exam also marked the official start of summer vacation.

  It's often said that having many skills doesn't burden one, because learning one thing won't cause you to forget another. Although Li Qian had abandoned his studies for nearly twenty years, the foundation he laid back then still remained, and even though his grades had dropped with age, it was only a matter of time. His original foundation was quite solid, and after more than a month of review recently, if not regaining his former glory, at least he could achieve a satisfactory improvement - so this time's final exam, he took it very easily.

  After the exam, he naturally had to check his answers with Wang Jinglu, and as a result, they were basically not unexpected. Last time, he scored 533 points, this time, his score should be around 580 points, and at least it will not be lower than 560 points.

  That was enough for Li Qian.

  For Li Jian's parents, this achievement is enough to fulfill his original promise, so that Li Dad won't stop him from doing things related to music - although he didn't achieve the previous promise of selling songs, Li Dad might not stop him anyway. After all, those 400,000 yuan are real checks, which is what Li Dad, a high school teacher, can earn in over a decade without eating or drinking. It's already enough to show Li Jian's potential in the music industry. But isn't it better to fulfill the promise smoothly?

  As for Wang Jinglu, when she had finished answering the questions and roughly estimated her score, she was almost certain that as long as Li Qian continued to do so, by next year's college entrance examination, Li Qian would definitely be able to smoothly enter a public university. So even if she were to go to Beijing immediately, she could take a deep breath and leave with more peace of mind and ease, right?

  As for Li Qian himself...

  Actually, he himself didn't care that much about his academic performance, at least not as much as he had shown in the past month - in the past month, his diligence in studying was almost palpable. For him, learning and taking the college entrance exam were just a part of youth, so he even approached learning with an attitude of enjoying his youth.

  If this is said out loud, no matter if it's someone who has already gone through this stage or someone who is still on their way, they might find it hard to understand: enjoying youth is not wrong, but can learning also be enjoyable?

  Perhaps only those who have been reborn as humans, like him, and those elderly people who have already seen through life despite their advanced age, would have a similar perspective.

  Yes, for him now, learning is indeed a pleasure.

  But what he enjoyed was not just the knowledge he gained, but a kind of shallow and tender time.

  …………

  Because the results of the final exams will not be announced until the start of next semester, for every student, no matter what they have achieved in the past year, the upcoming summer vacation will be relaxing and enjoyable.

  The day after the final exam, Li Qian finally fulfilled Wang Jinglu's wish and accompanied her to climb Mount Qianfo - although it was scorching hot in summer, and the mountain had lush greenery, but it wasn't particularly cool anywhere. However, seeing Wang Jinglu's satisfied expression made sweating profusely worthwhile.

  Then on July 5th, Wang Jingxue returned to Jinan Prefecture and personally drove to pick up Wang Jinglu.

  Because of her current situation, Wang Jia's parents didn't think highly of her, and at Wang Jingxue's place, she couldn't even get a good face. Li Qian didn't go to see her off, not even making a phone call, but just silently watched from the window as Wang Jingxue got into her sister's Changcheng sedan - she looked up towards the third floor for a moment before the car started moving.

  Then he sent her a text message: Have a safe trip.

  She replied: Wait for you.

  …………

  After seeing off Wang Jinglu, Li Qian made preparations to start another phase of his life.

  Yes, he is going for an interview as a resident singer. Even if it's just a restaurant's resident singer.

  He is now certainly not short of money, although the 400,000 yuan still has 350,000 yuan that is being controlled by Li's father and cannot be spent, and there are 20,000 yuan that will have to be found in the future to give to Teacher Qi Jie, so it cannot be spent. However, the remaining 30,000 yuan, Li's father and mother have handed over all the disposal rights to him, so for him, making money is no longer a rush.

  Moreover, he knew that as long as Liao Liao's album went on sale, he would soon be rolling in money.

  So money is no longer an issue.

  All he needs is to accumulate some experience in live performances.

  Of course, in his previous life, he had been a resident singer at various bars in the capital for over ten years, which meant that he was absolutely not lacking in experience. However, that was his previous life after all, and in this life, he still had a blank record when it came to performing live on stage.

  He can of course not care about the astonishment that may come in the future, but he cannot ignore the truth of "a boat sailing upstream will either advance or retreat". Besides, singing is what he loves to do, so why sing alone in his room when he can go out and sing for everyone to hear?

  Of course, before this, he still had one very important thing to go and do: find a house!

  Yes, he is preparing to move out and live elsewhere.

  "He told his parents: 'First, I'm going to go out and perform, since it's a performance, the time will be arranged by others. If I can get hired at a restaurant, that's fine, but if I accidentally get into a bar, it might be midnight or later. If I don't move out, you'll also be disturbed by me and won't sleep well; Second, during this summer vacation, I want to seriously do some things, write songs, compose music, practice singing, so disturbing the neighbors is okay, but if I suddenly play guitar in the middle of the night, it will scare you both into getting sick; Third, I just earned a sum of money, can't you let me splurge a little and experience a free life?'"

  Okay, actually these reasons are not very sufficient, so Li's mom expressed strong, serious and extremely violent opposition, but fortunately, Li's dad unexpectedly expressed support.

  Miraculously, no one knows what Li Dad said to Li Mom, but the next day when they woke up, Li Mom surprisingly didn't object anymore. She only insisted that if Li Qian wanted to rent a house, it had to be one she personally went to see and agreed on.

  Then Li Qian began a life of practicing singing, learning Russian and house hunting.

  In the end, Li's mother made the decision and helped Li Qian rent a small one-bedroom apartment in a neighborhood about two stops away from Shengshi Garden. Then, Li Qian hastily moved there, leaving his mother heartbroken.

  But it's not that they're not close to their parents in this life, it's just that as boys grow up, they'll want to fly solo, won't they?

  Moving into the new house also means that Li Qian's summer vacation has truly begun.

  ***

  I know that this chapter is a bit short on words, actually if time permits, this chapter and the previous one should be merged into one chapter. However...

  Well, the next chapter can finally get down to business. I have to say, being criticized by book reviewers for being "slow-paced" and "lacking a climax" has been quite stimulating. I've been waiting for this plot development for a long time!

  Next, watch me!