The next day.
Gao Fei slowly woke up from his bed.
After washing up, he walked out of the room and saw a hot breakfast laid out on the table.
His mother had brought it on her way home after her night shift, a consistent gesture for the past three years.
Gao Fei's resolve to earn a lot of money became even stronger.
After breakfast, he quietly cleaned up the meal containers and then softly closed the door to avoid disturbing his mother's rest.
Downstairs.
Elderly residents of the community were doing their morning exercises in the square.
Gao Fei also greeted his neighbors enthusiastically and chatted for a few minutes.
"Little Fei, where are you going so early? You've graduated high school, why aren't you sleeping in at home?"
"Going out to earn money, Grandpa Liu."
Grandpa Liu, who had just spoken, showed a hint of surprise. "You're actually going to earn money! I thought your interview on TV before was just polite talk, something you said casually!"
Almost everyone in the community had watched the interview video from last night.
Gao Fei had said he was going to work on a construction site to help his mother.
In the eyes of the community members, they all thought he was joking.
After all, they had been neighbors for over a decade, and they had watched Gao Fei grow up. It was already a blessing if this kid didn't cause trouble for his mother.
But now, seeing Gao Fei actually preparing to go out and earn money immediately sparked heated discussions among the elderly residents.
"How did this child, Fei, grow up so quickly and is really going out to earn money! My grandson stayed up playing games until late last night and won't be up before noon."
"Eighteen years old, not young anymore. He knows to care for his mother. To have such awareness, it's like a prodigal son returning!"
"If you ask me, he probably knows he can't get into college, so he wants to find a job early to help the family!"
Gao Fei's decision to go out and earn money was met with mixed reviews from his neighbors.
Some were optimistic about him, while others thought it was just a fleeting impulse.
Even more believed that he simply couldn't get into college and wanted to enter society and work early!
At this moment, Gao Fei, who had already left the community, knew that his decision to go out and earn money would definitely become a hot topic among the neighborhood elders.
However, he didn't care. As long as he could open the barbecue stall in the night market, his future life would definitely be no worse than it was now.
But Gao Fei was unaware that the topic of him had once again stirred up a storm online, and it was an even bigger storm than yesterday.
It wasn't until he met up with Hu Xu that he learned about the new revelations about himself online.
"Fei, look for yourself!"
Hu Xu handed him his full-touch screen mobile phone and then tapped to play a video on it.
Instantly, the sides of the touch screen phone lit up with a marquee effect, accompanied by faint voices.
And when Gao Fei saw the video, he couldn't help but frown.
The footage showed an afternoon two weeks before the college entrance exam, him playing basketball on the sports field, being filmed by Yao Zhen and others calling him "Brother Fei."
He turned off the video and looked at a blogger with a red V who had written on the video:
"The last place in the grade is the object of oppression? No! He is the ringleader among the delinquents!"
The video was posted at seven o'clock this morning.
An hour had passed, and it had already garnered over 100,000 likes and comments, and the numbers were still climbing.
Hu Xu looked at the video caption and cursed directly, "Damn it, the person who leaked this must be a student from our school. Who the hell is doing this to you? If I find out, I'll stuff them down the sewer."
Above the video, there was another post, a photo of his high school report cards, about ten of them.
On each report card, at the very bottom, there was a red mark circling Gao Fei's name.
This post also had tens of thousands of likes and comments.
But compared to the video, it seemed insignificant.
The appearance of this video once again pushed Gao Fei to the forefront of public attention.
It even caused a greater public outcry and backlash.
Several official media outlets that had previously reposted Gao Fei's views on the college entrance exam directly deleted their original posts to clarify their stance!
Even the official Weibo account of the Provincial Department of Education deleted their post about his college entrance exam interview.
After all, the words 'delinquent' had too significant an impact.
This directly implied that Gao Fei was involved in campus violence.
Faced with the revelations from online influencers and the online uproar, Gao Fei did not fly into a rage like Hu Xu.
He calmly called Director Huang and briefly explained the situation online concerning him.
After the call, Gao Fei stopped paying attention to the online matters and, with a sullen Hu Xu, headed to the night market administrative office.
Meanwhile, Director Huang, who was busy at school, had an angry expression on his face after the call and directly cursed the school for having traitors.
He immediately put down his work and contacted an old classmate in the municipal police station.
After stating his purpose, a criminal investigation was launched.
....
The video incident continued to ferment.
Yao Zhen and more than ten members of the school team, as the parties involved in the incident, immediately filmed a response video.
But the effect was poor, and they were met with all sorts of scolding and vulgar language.
It wasn't until Gao Fei called Yao Zhen that the group stopped responding online.
He knew that before the college entrance examination results were out, all explanations were futile.
Instead of being bothered by what was happening online, it was better to earn money.
On the same day, Gao Fei rented a stall in a reasonably good location in the night market city for a rent of 400 yuan per month.
However, this was also due to Hu Xu's connections; his father had pulled some strings.
Thanks to the feedback from the simulator, Gao Fei took charge of all aspects of the barbecue stall, including procurement.
After two days of running around, all the ingredients, tables, chairs, and tableware were purchased.
As for the barbecue seasoning, Gao Fei visited multiple shops to gather all the ingredients.
This was a secret recipe that he had obtained with sixty simulation points, and he didn't want any interested parties to buy it through the shop owners.
On the third day after the college entrance exam, a barbecue stall named 'Yuan Fei Barbecue' officially opened in the night market city.
On the opening night, the students from the advanced class, who had already heard the news, and Yao Zhen and other school team members were the first customers.
More than fifty people were divided into nine tables, sitting around the stall.
Just as the classmates were curious about when Gao Fei had learned his skills and how good the taste was.
Strands of bright, appetizing-looking skewers were served.
When everyone took their first bite, they immediately clapped their hands in admiration.
This taste was something they had never experienced at any other late-night snack stall.
Yao Zhen and the other big, burly members of the school team immediately brought beer from the convenience store.
They had already graduated, and the teachers no longer cared about them. Everyone ate and drank to their heart's content, enjoying the beer and skewers with great gusto.
Diners who were out for food in the vicinity that night also noticed the newly opened stall.
Seeing the students eating heartily, a few people couldn't resist coming forward to order.
When they took their first bite with curiosity, those customers immediately paid and ordered another fifty skewers.
In the crowd, some sharp-eyed individuals noticed the owner skillfully grilling at the barbecue grill.
Wasn't this Gao Fei, the ringleader of the 'delinquents' currently being hotly discussed online?
Someone took out their phone to take pictures and videos.
Gao Fei, with his characteristic carefree attitude, even took off his mask and gave a peace sign in front of the camera!
After the videos and photos were posted online, the online trolls who were still spewing venom were instantly stunned.
I was fiercely criticizing you online, and you still had the mood to take pictures and make gestures!
The trolls immediately retaliated, and a new wave of online controversy erupted regarding unsanitary conditions.