The mountain was abundant with plants and trees. This is why Yong Min chose to stay here, although this mountain was owned by the government, no one really goes here.

When he arrived it was already in the late afternoon, the sun was already setting.

In the mountain, a small shabby shed could be seen, this was his small house. Its wall was made of sticks tied together and its roof was made of leaves. The walls had leaves pasted on it to act as cover against the gap between the sticks, so that the inside couldn’t be looked up from the outside and more importantly to act as shield against the cold night.

Yong Min then opened the shed and the inside could be seen.

Inside the shed was a small bed made of what seems like hay stacks. It took up almost one-third of the shed’s inner area. On the bed was a bag, filled with his clothes and towel. The rest of the area was occupied by a table. Different things were on the table, hoe, frying pan, a basin, a soup pot, spoon, fork, and a plate. Beside it was a reused notebook. He used this notebook to write things that got him interested or some terms which he does not understand yet.

After seeing the inside in order, Yong Min picked up the hoe and went to the deep parts of the mountain. He was looking for food. After searching for a while, he found some leaves and shoots. A little rummage by the hoe in the soil showed a tuberous root. It was a sweet potato. He immediately dug and took it out. Holding its large root, Yong Min laughed. He quickly ran back to his little shed to prepare the sweet potato.

He took the basin and filled it with lake water placing the sweet potato inside. He gathered some sticks and then started some fire. This fire was kind of special. It was made from the traditional way of creating one. Using two sticks to create friction that could create some sparks added with dry leaves to fire it up. He then used another two sticks as poles and another one as the intersecting stick between the two. He hanged the basin full of sweet potato there.

A satisfied smile bloomed on his face as he sat down waiting for it to be cooked. He took some leaves from a random tree that had big, wide leaves and wrapped the leaves and shoots of the sweet potato inside it. He hanged it above the basin to steam it. The leaves and shoots of sweet potato can be eaten by steaming it.

When it was cooked, Yong Min enjoyed eating the sweet potato. By the time he finished, it was already night time. The stars could clearly be seen in the sky. He suddenly thought of his parents and how they were doing. This thought lasted for a moment then he sighed.

He looked at the basin and there were still some sweet potato left. Some ideas quickly floated on his mind as he saw the sweet potatoes.

‘I can make some money out of this.’ He thought.

Yong Min quickly went down the mountain and went to the market to sell his cooked sweet potato. After he arrived at the market, he placed his basin on an elevated platform that was currently empty and shouted “Freshly cooked sweet potatoes for sale for only 10 coins.”

A lot of people were passing by him, some were buying and some were bargaining if they could buy it more cheaply, as his sweet potato was different in sizes. He could only smile when they said this. It was really in different sizes, so he couldn’t do anything about it.

After selling for a while, he looked down at his basin and saw that there was only one sweet potato left. He shouted with energy while smiling “Sweet potato, only one left for 6 coins!”

After that no one came to buy his sweet potato, so he decided to pack up and go back to the shed. He counted his money. After counting, He couldn’t help but smile, this was really good business. He made 48 coins just from selling the sweet potato he found.

As he was going to get the basin after cleaning the area he just used, a young woman came into his view. As he saw this young woman, he was a bit dumbfounded and couldn’t help but asked “Are you here to buy sweet potato?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You could say so!” The young woman laughed and said as she picked up the sweet potato from the basin.

“Then that’s 6 coins.” Yong Min said.

“Hmmm! It’s really delicious! Here!” The young woman handed Yong Min his 6 coins and said after taking a bite at the sweet potato.

“Anyway, Madam Ping has already the result of your exam and she wants you to come to the guidance office tomorrow.” She added.

“Li Juan, did I pass it or did I fail?” Hearing what Li Juan said Yong Min couldn’t help but ask. His future was riding on this, and his family could breathe a little bit more if he had the scholarship.

“Just come to the guidance office tomorrow.” Li Juan said as she turned around and left. Entering a high class sports car, driven by what seems to be her butler.

‘I didn’t expect Li Juan to be wealthy! But why was she working as a working student at school?’ Yong Min couldn’t help and ask himself.

After thinking for a while he shook his head and sighed ‘I shouldn’t think about this kind of things right now!’

After that, he took the basin and went home. Arriving at the shed, he took a worn out towel from his bag and went to the lake to swim for a while.

While swimming he couldn’t help but close his eyes and float in the water as he thought of many things, his family, his future, his exam and a lot of stuffs. After swimming, he quickly dried himself and changed into a set of clothes. He went back straight to the shed and slept.

When dawn came, Yong Min woke up and went to the deep region of the mountain to look for food for his breakfast. He found some wild squash and some nuts. He quickly cooked the squash with nuts and ate it. He had little money so he couldn’t be picky about his food. After eating he went to the lake again to bath and refreshes his mind by the lakes warm and cold water. Then he went and worn his uniform again. He immediately went to school to find out his results.

When Yong Min arrived, it was still around 6-7 am, he noticed that there were no students that had yet to arrive as class’ starts on 8:30 am. As he went past the gate, the guard who told him about the scholarship exam was already there. When he saw Yong Min, he smiled and asked “So, how did it go?”

Yong Min smiled back and said respectfully “I don’t know the result yet. I still have to go to the guidance office to know.”

When the guard heard this, he smiled and encouraged Yong Min “I know you will pass. Hard work will beat anything out there.”

Yong Min nodded and thanked the guard again about yesterday.

The guard shook his head and answered “I only did what’s best, no need to thank me.”

After that Yong Min waited till the guidance office would open. He accompanied and chatted with the guard during that time and he came to know many things about the school. After the guidance office opened he went inside and saw a female student inside.

The female student greeted him “Good morning! You must be Yong Min! Madam Ping instructed me to entertain you for a while as she would arrive late.”

“I am indeed Yong Min.” Yong Min nodded and smiled at her.

“I am An Yi, a working student.” An Yi said.

“An Yi, nice to meet you. Could I ask where Li Juan is?”Yong Min couldn’t help but ask. Li Juan said that he would know today, but she it seems she didn’t come here.

“Miss Li? Miss Li is in her class at the moment.” An Yi said.

“I see, thank you.” Yong Min said.

An Yi only nodded as she started cleaning and arranging things inside the guidance office.

After an hour, Madam Ping arrived.

As Yong Min saw Madam Ping, he couldn’t help but be nervous.

As Madam Ping saw Yong Min she laughed and beckoned him with her hand to come.

Madam Ping then took out his test result from her bag and said “I’m sorry but you failed the exam!”

When Yong Min heard this, his heart sunk. This was his only chance to make some room for his parents to breathe a little but he failed. He clenched his fists and started blaming himself.

When Yong Min was thinking this, Madam Ping started laughing “HAHAHA! Look at that expression you’re making! I was just kidding! You passed with flying colors!”

Yong Min became dumbfounded when he heard Madam Ping, she was teasing him.

Madam Ping handed the result to Yong Min so he could see for himself his own results.

When he saw it, he couldn’t help but clenched his fist and shouted while raising both his arms high in the air “Yes! I did it! Yes!”

Madam Ping let Yong Min immerse himself in his happiness as she went and sit down on her table and got some papers from her drawer.

“Yong Min, come here for a while!” Madam Ping said.

“Yes!” Yong Min immediately came.

“Here is a check about the tuition fee that you paid, take it to the school accounting and ask for the refund. Also take this identification card and go to the dormitory and pick the room you want to occupy.” Madam Ping said as she handed Yong Min a check and an Identification card which contained Yong Min’s information.

“Go to the dormitory and pick a room?” Yong Min asked excitedly.

“Hmmm? Didn’t you know that if you become a scholar, you need to live in the school dormitory for the duration of your scholarship?” Madam Ping said.

“I didn’t. But I’m really excited to pick my room!” Yong Min truthfully said. He was living in the mountains so it was natural for him to want to live in the dormitory where it was clean and neat.

Madam Ping laughed and said “Then go now and choose your room!”