Chapter 12: Rage for Mom

I hung up the phone and looked up, only to find the entire table staring at me in dumbfounded silence. My second uncle’s family, in particular, looked as if they had just swallowed a fly—their expressions were a absolute sight to behold. Dad looked at me with disbelief as well, his eyes filled with sheer astonishment, as if the person sitting next to him wasn’t his own son!

"Impossible! I must have heard that wrong just now!" Shohi yelled, jumping up from his seat and glaring at me intently, his eyes looking as though I had just stolen his bride.

I shot him a glance like I was looking at an idiot, not bothering to say a word. It felt way too satisfying—a total breath of fresh air. I really had to thank Athena; if it weren’t for her, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten such an amazing score. Only now did I realize just how sweet it feels to stand above the rest!

Second uncle glared sharply at his son, who had lost his composure, and then turned to me, saying, "Huge congratulations to Fuitsu. Who would’ve thought your grades would improve so much in such a short time?" His smile was immensely awkward and utterly ironic. Second aunt shut her mouth as well, her face drooping into a deathly pale mask.

"Fuitsu, you’re unbelievable... You actually scored 997... out of 1000 total! In past years, high school exam toppers who got 950 were already hailed as geniuses!" Shizune said, her words stumbling over themselves.

At this moment, Grandma, who had treated me as invisible until now, began smiling warmly at Hikaru Li, who was still frozen in shock beside her: "Hikaru-kun, this is my grandson, Fuitsu!"

Oh, so now you recognize me? Where were you earlier? The moment I thought of Mom sitting at home right now, a surge of deep hatred for this awful old woman welled up inside me. If I didn’t stick up for Mom today, how could I even call myself her son? With that in mind, I suppressed the rising anger in my heart and said plainly, "Ma’am, don’t go throwing around the word ’grandson’ so casually. I don’t know who you are."

Saying those words gave me an incredible sense of relief. Dad hurriedly shot me warning glances and scolded me loudly, "Fuitsu, how can you talk to your grandmother like that?" Scolding aside, I knew in my heart Dad was just putting on a show for them to give Grandma a way to save face. But I absolutely loathed the atmosphere here—so hypocritical and full of deceit. I said emotionlessly, "Just remember how she treated our family in the past! As the saying goes: a leopard can’t change its spots!"

"You..." Grandma turned dark with rage, her double eyelids looking somewhat sinister.

I stood up and said to my eldest aunt, "My mom is still at home eating plain porridge. Eating all these delicacies here makes me feel like I’d get struck by lightning. I’m leaving first, eldest aunt. Thank you for the hospitality!" With that, I walked out of the villa without turning back. The moment I reached the entrance, Dad rushed out after me and grabbed my arm, saying, "You almost gave your grandmother a heart attack!"

I sighed and said, "Dad, a man may be poor, but his pride remains intact. Didn’t you teach me that? You gave up your status in the family for Mom’s sake—can’t I at least give her a piece of my mind for Mom’s sake?"

Dad shook his head and said, "Good son, I’m not blaming you. You did great—better than me!" A sense of helplessness and heartbreak leaked through his words. I comforted him: "I know. Even though I’m not close to her, she’s still your mother after all. Just like me with my mom, even if she did something wrong, you couldn’t really do anything to her. But I’m different. I will never forgive her!"

Dad looked at me happily and said, "I’m glad you understand. I will always love you guys. You really made me proud today; from now on, I can finally hold my head up high in front of them."

I nodded and said, "I want to go home, it’s too fake here. You still have to socialize with them, so go back inside. We can be mocked by others, but we can never lose our own self-respect!" Dad nodded and went back inside, while I hailed a cab and headed home.

When Mom found out I became the top scorer in the exams and stood up for her at the gathering, she held me tightly and cried her eyes out, finally releasing all the pent-up frustration she had harbored over the years, repeating over and over how good it was to have a son like me!

At the same time, once my exam results were released, the entire school practically exploded. Principal Jou personally called our home to bring the good news, and my homeroom teacher, Sho-sensei, even paid a visit to our house.

Poor Dad and Mom, who were kept completely in the dark, treated him like a savior, offering endless gratitude right and left, until even a thick-skinned teacher like Sho-sensei flushed with a hint of red.

Then came wave after wave of visitors—friends of my parents popped up one after another, some even bringing their kids along to tell them to learn from me, making me want to hide and see no one; they were practically treating my house as an educational retreat! Those friends were still manageable, but the absolute scariest part was opening the front door to find dozens of heavy camera lenses pointed at you—journalists from all over the country.

That was because my exam score wasn’t just the highest in Tokyo, but also the best in the entire country, leading the runner-up by a whole 40 points!

The next day, newspapers published the news, hailing me as the premier child prodigy of the new century. Manufacturers of health supplements and brain-boosting pills swarmed over like flies, begging me to endorse their products. Even though they offered endorsement fees as high as 10 million yen, I still rejected them. Who knows if their products are real or fake? I’m not doing something so unethical.

When I vented my frustration to Athena, her reaction was even more dramatic than mine—complaining about why I didn’t get a perfect score. I nearly collapsed to the floor right then and there. If I got a perfect score, wouldn’t I be dragged into a lab to be dissected as a specimen?!

Leaving Athena aside, when I returned to school on the 20th to fill out university applications, all my classmates steered far away from me as if I carried a plague. Kozuki actually scored exceptionally well this time, but because of my presence, her total score of 943 only placed her second in all of Tokyo. This time, seeing me, Kozuki no longer gave me the cold shoulder; instead, she wore an expression of mixed envy and jealousy, making her thoughts impossible to read! I couldn’t help feeling a bit annoyed—does everyone really judge a book by its cover?

The moment I arrived at school, I was dragged into Principal Jou’s office by the man himself. It was nothing else but the matter of university applications, urging me to go to the University of Tokyo at all costs. I agreed to all of it. I had to—think about it, when a grown man looks at you with deeply sorrowful eyes, can you really say no?

Upon returning home, I already saw over a dozen acceptance letters from top national universities lying on the table. I remembered clearly that I had only submitted my application today, and exclusively to the University of Tokyo, yet so many had arrived all at once.

Thinking about it, I finally understood—I was basically a walking billboard now; whichever university got me would get free publicity! Reality really hits hard. Looking at their offered perks, I was honestly quite tempted—some universities even offered a massive scholarship of 3 million yen per year.

Looking at the University of Tokyo’s offer, the scholarship was a bit lower—only 500,000 yen a year—but it allowed complete freedom in choosing majors, meaning if you were interested, you could take all the majors offered by the school.

Still, since I had promised Principal Jou, I ignored the mega-scholarship universities selected by Dad and Mom and insisted on attending the University of Tokyo! Because they were so overjoyed, Dad and Mom didn’t say anything more.

Right then, the phone rang. Answering it, it turned out to be that director from the SH telecommunications company. He invited me to attend an event tomorrow. I wasn’t planning to agree at first, but then he mentioned it would be a guest appearance on a television show—and that show was Education Online. Instantly, that graceful image outside the exam hall flashed in my mind, and I agreed without a second thought.