Li Hongmei herself didn't realize that she was smiling the whole way to work by bike. Everything seemed pleasing to the eye, even the sunlight seemed brighter than usual.
Upon entering the office, her colleague, a woman in her forties, glanced at her and exclaimed,
"Oh!" "Hongmei, something good happening at home?"
"What good news? What good news could I possibly have at my age?" Li Hongmei said, but then stopped, pausing her sentence.
This was one of the strange rules of adult conversation—waiting for the other person to chime in.
The loud-voiced woman was also obliging, "What is it? You look radiant, you've become more than ten years younger."
By 8:52, almost everyone in the office had arrived. People were pulling out chairs, making tea, flipping through notebooks, and setting out calligraphy practice sheets—all of them were listening intently.
"Hey, nothing much, just that my son earned some money over the summer vacation," Li Hongmei waved her hand. "He wouldn't let me make breakfast this morning because he was worried I'd get tired."
"Wasting money on breakfast, and he even said he'd cover all breakfasts from now on."
These middle-aged women in the system, besides gossiping, found their only pleasure in scolding their husbands and showing off their children, which made them feel proud.
"Your son's become so sensible, that's rare. My brat only knows how to play video games," a loud-voiced woman chimed in, stirring up a storm.
Older colleagues chimed in, while the younger ones couldn't get a word in edgewise. A new, smiling young woman asked,
"Aunt Li, how are your son's grades?"
Some people are indeed gifted; one sentence made the conversation awkward. Everyone in the office knew Li Hongmei's son's grades were average, and getting into university was a long shot.
Knock, knock, knock!
A knock sounded at the door. Xu Qianqian opened it a crack, annoyed. Sure enough, it was Jiang Nian.
"What's wrong with you so early in the morning!"
A breakfast was shoved in front of her. Xu Qianqian froze for a moment, somewhat at a loss.
"You...you're trying to bribe me!"
"Just eat it, stop babbling." Jiang Nian clicked his tongue.
Summer was especially unbearable, and this breakfast broke down the barrier between them. Xu Qianqian didn't say anything, but she was still touched, after all, she was hungry too.
"Thank you."
"No need, let me copy your homework after you finish eating."
Xu Qianqian: "."
The table was divided. Xu Qianqian ate her breakfast slowly on one side, while Jiang Nian diligently copied his homework on the other. They were in different classes, but their science papers were the same.
He didn't dare copy everything, only the answers that were within his level.
With nothing to do, Xu Qianqian squinted, watching the golden sunlight stream in through the window, then glanced at Jiang Nian, who was buried in his work at the table.
"I said, haven't you ever thought about improving your grades?"
Hearing this, Jiang Nian paused, looked up, and frowned.
"Yes, but I have two ideas in my head, one is empty, and the other is empty too."
Xu Qianqian was speechless. "Then what about your college entrance exam?"
Jiang Nian sighed. "I want to study too, but there's so much homework in senior year. My foundation isn't solid to begin with, and all my time is spent on homework."
"That's because you're slow."
"Because I don't know how to do it, that's why I'm slow." He shrugged. "After finishing this, I won't have time for that subject. What else can I do but copy?"
Xu Qianqian crossed her arms. "Tch, that's clearly an excuse."
Ding!
[A learning task has been triggered
. You're 38, recently divorced, and standing at a crossroads in your life. At the age of 40, a life turnaround requires not only a strong physique but also the cultivation to appreciate beauty.]
Task: Have a pleasant conversation with Xu Qianqian.
Reward: Memory Bread (5 hours), which allows for rapid memorization of knowledge.
Jiang Nian stared at the panel, somewhat bewildered. What kind of crazy task progress was the system issuing? So, his future self was pursuing Xu Qianqian?
He wasn't opposed to it, but the feeling was a bit strange.
Never mind, the reward was more important.
"Xu Qianqian, you're right!" Jiang Nian suddenly became serious, staring at the girl across the table and saying solemnly, "Giving up is easy, but perseverance is hard."
"My English isn't good. Since I treated you to breakfast, could you teach me how to memorize vocabulary?"
He wasn't really motivated, but he knew very well that Xu Qianqian's English grades were excellent. She was the English class representative in her class and almost always got full marks on tests. What
's even more incredible is that she not only memorized all 3,500 words for the college entrance exam, but also the CET-4 and CET-6 words. She would be happy whenever someone asked about English.
Sure enough, Jiang Nian's words hit the nail on the head, and her eyes narrowed into crescent shapes.
"Alright, for the sake of breakfast, this princess will mercifully tell you."
Jiang Nian, after listening for five minutes, thought to herself:
*(*ˊˋ)*, As expected of a perfect scorer, she does have some knowledge, hmm, I understand!
Ten minutes:
(_) She seems to be enjoying herself, should I interrupt her?
Twenty minutes:
(﹃), Master, stop nagging, I want to!
Half an hour:
(╯▔皿▔)╯ She's even more talkative than my mom!
"So, did you remember everything I just said?" Xu Qianqian's throat was dry, she took a sip of her cold soy milk, she had taught her all her skills.
"I remembered, but not completely." Jiang Nian instantly stood up and walked straight out, "Wait for me to think about it, I'll tell you again this afternoon."
"Hey! You—" Xu Qianqian looked at her retreating figure, her teeth practically grinding.
This person really wasted half an hour of her talking!
Back home, Jiang Nian opened the panel.
[Task: Have a pleasant conversation with Xu Qianqian. (Completed)
Reward: Memory Bread (5 hours), which allows for rapid memorization of knowledge.]
After listening to a half-hour study session, he finally received the task reward. Almost instantly, a loaf of bread the size of a Daliyuan bread appeared in his hand.
Wow, real-time settlement.
Jiang Nian stroked his chin; he was a pragmatic person. Xu Qianqian was right; he couldn't just slack off forever. The most important thing right now was the college entrance exam.
Personally, as a resident of a small county, Jiang Nian had a higher starting point than rural children. At least he had a safety net; if he didn't do well in school, he could still find a job through connections.
But this wasn't what he wanted.
Studying was still the best way for ordinary people to change their destiny!
Secondly, getting into a good university not only meant lower tuition fees, but it also made his parents feel more proud.
Rote memorization wouldn't guarantee a high score, but it certainly wouldn't result in a low score. With five hours of memorization time, browsing through the 3,500 vocabulary words for the college entrance exam was more than enough.
But using all that time to memorize vocabulary is a waste. In reality, mastering 70-80% of the vocabulary is enough for a decent grade.
So time needs to be allocated wisely, since other subjects also require memorization.
Jiang Nian opened the first page and immediately felt a surge of tension.
"Abandon."