Chapter 688: Chapter 688

Feeling absolutely miserable...

Huo Feng was bullied by Huo Mingshan...

I feel like I’m on the verge of depression!

After retreating to his room, Huo Feng lay on his bed, seething with gloom, rage, and irritation until he couldn’t help but send a WeChat message to Huo Mingshan.

He sent: [Old Huo, are you the devil?]

Unexpectedly, Huo Mingshan replied instantly: [Nonsense, you’re the demon!]

Huo Feng sent another: [How do you manage to stay awake for more than an hour just to listen for my footsteps?]

Huo Mingshan replied: [You should ask how your footsteps managed to wake me from my sleep!]

Huo Feng sent: [I swear, my feet were as if they were treading on clouds just now! Not a single sound!]

Huo Mingshan replied: [No, you were noisy as hell.]

Huo Feng was instantly dumbfounded!

The next day at 7 a.m., the three family members got up early to attend the closing ceremony for first and second-year high school students.

Having woken up from a night’s sleep, last night’s awkwardness had turned the page.

No one mentioned it, nor did anyone care.

On the drive to school, Huo Mingshan, who was driving them, chatted about some inconsequential topics.

On the way, Huo Feng said to Huo Mingshan, "After the ceremony ends, Sangzhi and I won’t be coming back. I’ve made plans to hang out with ten of my buddies."

Huo Mingshan didn’t even think about it before bluntly refusing, "Don’t bring Sangzhi into those chaotic gatherings. Go by yourself."

"What ’chaotic’? Watch your language, that’s insulting!"

Huo Feng rigorously criticized, furrowing his annoyed brows, "Anyway, Sangzhi is going with me. I also invited Dandan and Little Miao. Sangzhi will have company!"

Next to him, Pu Sangzhi, who had been quietly listening, suddenly interjected, "Are you talking about Dandan and Wen Miao?"

Huo Feng turned to her with a brilliant smile, "I’ve invited all of them over. It’s not every day we have a school-wide speech, right? Got to have our friends watch out for us, no?"

Pu Sangzhi then understood...

So today’s reason for gathering everyone wasn’t merely for catching up, but for showing off in front of everyone!

How can someone be so boring, shallow, and vulgar!

"Huo Feng, how’s the revision of your speech going?" Huo Mingshan suddenly asked.

Huo Feng proudly lifted his head, showing off his nostrils, "Perfect!"

Huo Mingshan was skeptical, "Better have Sangzhi check it again later. There’s going to be leadership awards and prize money on stage. Be serious, and don’t make it too third-rate."

Huo Feng’s brow arched higher, "Third-rate? I advise you to choose your words carefully! Father-son relations are on thin ice; they can’t withstand insults!"

Huo Mingshan snorted with a smile, "I didn’t name names. If the shoe fits, it only means you think your speech is third-rate too."

Huo Feng: "Fine, from now on, you’re not my father! Not for the whole day today. Wait until I calm down tomorrow before I recognize you again!"

Huo Mingshan: "Believe it or not, I’ll stop the car right now and leave you on the side of the road!"

Huo Feng: "Then I’ll just take the opportunity to run off with my girlfriend."

Huo Mingshan "tch"-ed, too lazy to continue the verbal battle with the youngster.

Sitting next to them, Pu Sangzhi, who was earlier silently observing their banter, covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, barely able to hold back from laughing out loud...

She didn’t know why...

Throughout the three years of high school, she never thought Teacher Huo was an interesting person.

But ever since Teacher Huo spent time with Huo Feng, his whole aura changed—how did he become so interesting?

He’s really very adorable.

At 8 a.m., the closing ceremony at Longxiang High School officially began.

First and second-year students lined up in an orderly fashion, running onto the sports field to the music playing over the broadcast as per the assembly call.

This year, Longxiang High School was unlike the previous years.

Because this year, Longxiang had a top scholar in the national college entrance exam, and they even had two students admitted to Tsinghua!

This turned a middling private high school in Rui’an City with a rather average reputation into an instant high-status institution!

Therefore, at this year’s closing ceremony, not a single school leader was absent; there were even some officials from Wenzhou City and a few media reporters.

Although current party and government policy does not advocate publicizing top scholars of the college entrance exam, it was still inevitably a matter of concern for the leaders of Wenzhou City since the top scholar was from there.

On the way there, Pu Sangzhi had not expected to be welcomed by so many VIPs at the school.

Therefore, she arrived at the school at 7:40 in the morning, and when Principal Han introduced her and Huo Feng to a few municipal leaders, both she and Huo Feng were stunned.

The graduation ceremony was about to start, so there wasn’t much time for pleasantries.

Consequently, Principal Han took Pu Sangzhi and Huo Feng aside and told them to stay at the school a bit longer after the ceremony as media reporters wanted to interview them.

In fact, the focus should have been solely on the interview with valedictorian Pu Sangzhi.

However, once Principal Han disclosed to the media reporters the story of how Pu Sangzhi and Huo Feng had both pledged to get into Tsinghua, their story also became one of the pieces of information the media reporters were very eager to collect.

It was believed that such a story with a personal struggle and background would become an internet sensation once articles about it were published online.

Around 8:10 AM, the students had already densely and firmly taken their stands on the plastic track and field.

By that time, Pan Bo and his ten brothers, as well as Zhu Dandan and Wen Miao, had also arrived at the scene.

Their group stood together with Huo Mingshan on the side of the field, next to the high platform.

They had a good view of the side profiles of the leaders on the platform and, of course, they could hear the speeches delivered through the microphone...

But, they didn’t care about these matters!

What they cared about were the speeches from Brother Feng and his wife!

In fact, they really wanted to hear Brother Feng boldly tell their love story in front of the whole school. Follow current novels on novel•fire.net

At that time, they were most curious to see the leaders’ reactions!

At the graduation ceremony, Principal Han first took the stage and spoke, followed by several other leaders, and Huo Mingshan also gave a short formal speech.

Each person had their say, and with their unhurried manner, it took quite some time.

In this extreme summer warmth, as noon approached, the sun was piercingly fierce, causing students to sweat on their foreheads and grow more restless.

Finally, after the leaders’ monotonous formalities were over, it was Pu Sangzhi and Huo Feng’s turn, the Tsinghua top scorers!

The student host introduced their Tsinghua elite status with the microphone, which sparked some interest among the students on the field, who refocused their attention, straightened up, and listened attentively.

First up to give a speech was Huo Feng.

Valedictorian Pu Sangzhi would be the grand finale!

Huo Feng was indeed a well-known face throughout the school...

As soon as he took the stage, the students erupted into applause, and Pan Bo and his group also clapped their hands vigorously.

The thunderous applause was a testament to Huo Feng’s popularity at the school.

He took the microphone from the host, confidently looked over the crowd filling the field, took a deep breath, and began his speech, "Hello, students and teachers, I am Huo Feng from Grade 12, Class 7."

Class teacher Zheng Qiu had also made a special trip to the school today to watch Huo Feng’s speech.

At that moment, she was standing on the side of the field, excitedly recording Huo Feng with her mobile phone.

"Time really flies; three years have passed in the blink of an eye, and I can’t believe I’ve actually graduated."

Huo Feng spoke in a relaxed tone, a confident smile playing on his lips, his posture easy and natural, "As you all know, I’ve been accepted into Tsinghua and have reached the pinnacle of my life. But what I want to tell everyone is, there is no permanent peak in life, only one step at a time upon the staircase of life."

"My history at Huo Feng is well-known around the school. I don’t mind repeating it for everyone today."

"Four years ago, I experienced my first middle school exam, scoring 325 points, and no school would take me! So, I repeated Grade 9 for another year and barely made it into Longxiang High School with a score of 520. This is my backstory!"

As he said this, Huo Feng placed his palm on his chest, speaking in a lighthearted and at ease manner as if he were discussing someone else’s story.

Hearing about Huo Feng’s previously poor academic performance, the students on the field began to take an interest.

They all thought: A student with such poor grades actually got into Tsinghua? Is Tsinghua that easy to get into?

So, Huo Feng’s subsequent speech captured even more earnest attention from everyone on the field.

"When I first joined the class in Grade 10, my grades were around the 600th in the ranking, the last in the class. Back then, I never thought about getting into Tsinghua, absolutely not!"

Huo Feng shook his head and then continued, "The opportunity to aim for Tsinghua came in a rather amusing way. It was all because of our valedictorian, Pu Sangzhi."

And so, in front of the entire school, Wenzhou City leaders, and the media reporters, Huo Feng prepared to delve into romantic matters!

This was something Huo Mingshan strongly disapproved of and had warned him against several times at home!

Unexpectedly, Huo Feng looked determined to speak his mind...

This made Huo Mingshan on the sidelines extremely anxious!

But there was nothing Huo Mingshan could do to stop him...

"Back then, I was young and liked Pu Sangzhi," Huo Feng said bluntly.

"I went after her, proposing to date her, wanting to give her chocolates. In return, she asked me: Could I get into Tsinghua? If not, I wasn’t allowed to pursue her!"

As he said this, Huo Feng laughed, "So, I started to target Tsinghua as my goal!"

The mood among all the students turned electric! Suddenly, everyone was abuzz with gossip!

The leaders found it interesting too and no one stopped him.

The media reporters were frantically taking notes...

Probably only Huo Mingshan was fretting so much that he looked like he could trap a fly with his furrowed brows!