The moment the phone hung up, the living room was so quiet you could hear the ticking of the clock. Linda and Robert looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.
That was Yale University! And they spoke so kindly... And even offered scholarships and guaranteed undergraduate through doctoral study!
Linda said to Robert:
"Robert, what's going on?"
Robert was also confused:
"I don't know!"
Ethan took a piece of steamed corn from the kitchen, took a bite of the golden kernels slowly, and the sweet, fragrant juice burst in his mouth.
He met his parents' burning gazes, and a sly smile appeared at the corner of his mouth:
"You might as well guess?"
Robert and Linda's minds became active, and then they opened their eyes wide and said:
"You brat, could it be that you got a score that made Harvard and Yale fight over you!"
Ethan nodded noncommittally.
Linda was so excited she stamped her feet:
"Robert! Pinch me quickly—I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Although she asked Robert to pinch her, she reached out and twisted Robert's arm first.
"Ouch!"
Robert grimaced in pain:
"It's real! It's real! Honey, let go!"
Then Linda came back to her senses and patted her son on the shoulder with both joy and worry:
"You brat, if you say you want to consider other schools, that's Yale University! Don't mess around with this—I'll see how you cry later."
After Ethan finished the last bite of corn, he casually tossed the cob into the trash:
"Mom, don't worry! It's not me begging them now—they're rushing for me. And besides, I don't even want to go to Yale!"
When Linda heard this, she subconsciously raised her hand to grab his ear:
"You little brat!" But she stretched out her hand halfway and couldn't bear it, and finally only poked his head gently. "Just like your father back then! Such a know-it-all!"
"???"
Robert, who was innocently caught in the crossfire, was rubbing his pinched-red arm, and his eyes widened when he heard this:
"When did I..."
Before he finished speaking, his wife glared him back into silence.
...
Ethan slowly dialed the phone number of the Harvard Admissions Office and deliberately pressed the speakerphone.
"Hello, I'm Ethan. My homeroom teacher just now..."
His tone was relaxed as if he was chatting.
Anyway, Ethan's general message was:
The conditions Yale gave are on the table—what does Harvard University offer!
When the director of the admissions office at Harvard University heard this, he almost vomited blood.
'Damn it! Yale explained it like this? Professor Anderson, you old fox! When we were drinking yesterday, you said you wanted a united front! Why did you explain it so quickly?'
'What a pig teammate!' Director Williams of the Harvard Admissions Office looked helpless!
The director of the Harvard Admissions Office on the other end of the phone spoke sincerely:
"Mr. Ethan, since Yale has informed you of the news about being valedictorian, we apologize for our previous reservations. We at Harvard University officially extend an invitation to you, hoping you can become a member of our Harvard family—a scholarship of $60,000 per year, free tuition, priority is given to recommending you to enter our computer science honors program, and all majors are optional with guaranteed qualifications for undergraduate through doctoral study."
Seeing that Ethan didn't respond, Director Williams hurriedly added:
"We can also arrange for you to communicate one-on-one with top international scholars! For example, Turing Award winner Professor Yao's special seminars... Plus publicly-funded overseas exchange programs!"
The conditions were better than those given by Yale, and then he talked about how his school's engineering departments were stronger than Yale's, etc.
According to his understanding, Harvard's engineering departments were indeed better than Yale's, such as: computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, etc.
Yale was stronger than Harvard mainly in certain liberal arts and social sciences, such as law, political science, etc.
But in the end, Harvard also received a sentence from Ethan to "think about it."
After hanging up the phone, Linda finally couldn't help it:
"You brat! Harvard has offered these conditions—what else are you considering?"
As soon as the phone hung up, Director Williams from the Harvard Admissions Office hurriedly dialed Yale's number.
At almost the same moment, Professor Anderson from Yale was also about to call Harvard—the two sides collided on the phone line.
Both sides picked up and started arguing.
Williams slammed the table right away:
"Anderson! You guys are too unprincipled! You actually sent information about the valedictorian? Do you have no shame?"
Anderson was so angry his voice changed pitch:
"Bullshit! Have you forgotten about directly taking the valedictorian to Harvard campus last year? Do you want me to pull up the security footage!"
Both sides were red in the face, and the phone was full of "bang bang" table-slapping sounds.
It wasn't until the war of words lasted for more than ten minutes that they suddenly realized at the same time—
"Wait... You didn't reveal the valedictorian thing?"
"Didn't you say it first?"
Both ends of the phone suddenly fell into an eerie silence. The sounds outside the window were particularly harsh.
"Damn..."
Anderson wiped cold sweat:
"This kid is playing us?"
Williams' teacup fell to the ground with a "crash":
"Worthy of being valedictorian... This psychological tactic..."
....
Linda's ears seemed to automatically filter all the information, but the words "SAT valedictorian" exploded in her mind.
She turned to her husband in a daze, her lips trembling slightly:
"Honey, honey... Did they say on the phone just now... Our son is... Valedictorian?"
"Honey? Honey?"
"Where are you going?"
After asking several questions without getting a response, she realized Robert had already grabbed his phone and rushed to the entrance.
She saw him hurriedly dialing a number, his voice trembling:
"Uncle Jim! Quick! Go check the family plot! Yes, yes... About that blessing thing... No, I'm afraid of starting a forest fire nearby!"
Today, Linda and Robert were both particularly happy.
Robert simply closed the shop today to rest, while Linda took leave from work and prepared to sit at home and make a feast to celebrate Ethan.
Linda turned to Ethan and said:
"Son, hurry up and call your sister and tell her!"
Then she said to Robert:
"Honey, you call your parents and tell them."
.....
Robert went out to buy groceries, walking like he was floating. His son was too excellent. Carrying two large bags of ingredients through the door, walking with the wind.
After living for most of his life, he realized for the first time what it meant to "walk on air"—the live lobster in the bag was just like his excitement at the moment.
Ethan saw his parents so happy, and he felt more comfortable than ever.
He smiled and dialed his sister's phone, and the noisy background sound unique to the laboratory came through the receiver.
"Em, are you busy?"
He deliberately drew out his tone.
"Obviously!"
Emily's voice was accompanied by the hum of a centrifuge. "If you've got something to say, say it! I'm monitoring a reaction here!"
Ethan paused mischievously:
"There's good news... Guess what?"
"E! Than!"
His sister's teeth-gritting voice made Ethan imagine her rolling eyes. "I'm counting to three! One..."
Ethan quickly surrendered and immediately said:
"Okay, okay! Harvard and Yale both rushed to call today... Your brother aced the SATs!"
"AHHHHH Really?"
Her scream almost pierced Ethan's eardrums. "I just knew it! My brother is the best! I'm taking leave to come back right now—"
There are 50 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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