Li Hongmei didn't even notice, she was smiling all the way to work on her bike. Everything looked pleasant, even the sunshine seemed much brighter than usual.
Upon entering the office, a colleague in her forties gave her a glance and exclaimed.
"Hongmei, is there a happy occasion at home?"
"What happy occasion? At my age, what happy occasion could there be?" Li Hongmei said this, but she paused her step and stopped speaking.
This was waiting for the other person to play along, one of the strange rules of adult conversations.
The loud woman obliged, "Then what is it? You look so radiant, you've turned back the clock by ten years."
At 8:52, almost everyone in the office had arrived. As they dragged chairs, made tea, flipped notebooks, and arranged their calligraphy practice sheets, they perked up their ears.
"Oh, it's nothing, just that my boy earned some money over the summer," Li Hongmei waved her hand, "He insisted I shouldn't make breakfast this morning, saying he didn't want me to tire myself out."
"Wasting money on buying breakfast, saying he'll cover breakfast from now on."
Reaching middle age, these women who work within the system, apart from gossiping with each other, find their only joy in complaining about their husbands and boasting about their children, basking in the glory.
"Your son has become considerate, that's rare. My little brat only knows how to play games," the loud woman chimed in, sparking a huge reaction.
The older colleagues chimed in, while the younger ones couldn't get a word in, and the newly arrived young one smiled and said.
"Aunt Li, how are your son's grades?"
Some people indeed have a knack for making things awkward with just one sentence. Everyone in the office knew Li Hongmei's son's grades were average, and getting into college was a long shot.
The sound of knocking came, Xu Qianqian reluctantly opened the door a crack, and sure enough, it was Jiang Nian.
"What are you doing so early in the morning!"
Swoosh, a breakfast was handed to her, Xu Qianqian was momentarily stunned, feeling a bit at a loss of what to do.
"You... don't think you can bribe me!"
"Just eat it if you want, stop babbling," Jiang Nian clicked his tongue.
The summer days were particularly hard to endure, and a breakfast broke the ice between them. Xu Qianqian didn't say it out loud, but she was a bit touched in her heart, after all, she was also hungry.
"No need, just lend me your homework to copy once you're done."
The dining table had two sides, Xu Qianqian was chewing her breakfast slowly on one side, while Jiang Nian was diligently copying homework on the other. They were in different classes, but the math test papers were the same.
He didn't dare to copy everything, only choosing to copy the answers that were within his capability.
With nothing else to do, Xu Qianqian squinted her eyes, watching the molten golden sunlight stream through the window, then cast another glance at Jiang Nian, who was working hard at the table.
"I say, have you ever thought about improving your grades?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian paused his pen, looked up, and frowned.
"I have, it's just that I have two trains of thought in my head, one is empty, and the other is also empty."
Xu Qianqian was speechless, "Then what will you do about the college entrance exam?"
Jiang Nian sighed, "I want to study too, but there's so much homework in the third year of high school, and my foundation is shaky, and all my time is spent doing homework."
"That's because you're too slow."
"Because I don't know how to do it, so I'm slow," he spread his hands, "finishing this subject's homework leaves no time for the next, so what else can I do but copy?"
Xu Qianqian crossed her arms, "Tsk, that's just an excuse."
[Task triggered: Lifelong Learning
At thirty-eight, you just got divorced, standing at a crossroads in life. In your forties, a life turnaround requires not only a strong physique but also an appreciation of beauty.
Task: Have a pleasant conversation with Xu Qianqian.
Reward: Memory Bread (five hours), allowing you to quickly memorize knowledge in this state.]
Jiang Nian stared at the panel, feeling a bit dazed. What's the system suggesting with this task progress? So... in the future, he's pursuing Xu Qianqian?
He didn't really mind, but it felt a bit peculiar.
Never mind, the reward is what matters.
"Xu Qianqian, you're right!" Jiang Nian suddenly got serious, staring at the girl across the dining table, "Giving up is easy, but persisting is hard."
"My English isn't good, since I treated you to breakfast, can you teach me how to memorize vocabulary?"
He wasn't really motivated, he just knew Xu Qianqian's English grades were excellent. In her class, she was the English class representative, scoring almost full marks in every exam.
Even more impressive, she had not only memorized the 3,500 words for the college entrance exam but also covered the words for the CET-4 and CET-6. Whenever someone asked about English, she'd be delighted.
Sure enough, Jiang Nian's words hit her sweet spot, her eyes turned into crescents with delight.
"Alright then, in honor of the breakfast... this princess shall graciously teach you."
Listening to Jiang Nian for five minutes, his inner thoughts were:
*(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭*, as expected of a full marks scorer, there's indeed something there, mmhm, got it!
(ง•_•)ง She seems to be enjoying explaining this, should I interrupt her?
ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ), Master, stop chanting, want to!
(╯▔皿▔)╯ She can nag more than my mom!
"So, have you remembered everything I just said?" Xu Qianqian asked, her mouth dry, taking a sip of the now-cold soy milk, having shared her life's learning.
"Remembered, but not completely," Jiang Nian got up instantly, heading straight out, "Let me ponder over it, I'll talk to you in the afternoon."
"Hey! You..." Xu Qianqian watched his retreating figure, gritting her teeth in frustration.
This guy really... wasted my half an hour!
Back home, Jiang Nian opened the panel.
[Task: Have a pleasant conversation with Xu Qianqian. (Completed)
Reward: Memory Bread (five hours), allowing you to quickly memorize knowledge in this state.]
After listening to a half-hour learning session, he finally received the task reward. Almost immediately, a bread piece the size of a Dali Garden appeared in his hand.
What a deal, real-time settlement.
Jiang Nian stroked his chin, being a pragmatic person. Xu Qianqian's right, he can't just coast along, the most crucial thing now is still the college entrance exam.
Personally, as a resident of a small county town, Jiang Nian's starting point is higher than a child's from a rural area. At least there's a fallback, if studies don't work out, he can rely on connections for a job.
But, that's not what he wants.
Studying remains the best way for ordinary people to change their destiny!
Moreover, getting into a good university not only means lower tuition fees, but it also gives his parents more pride.
Memorizing by rote might not earn high scores, but it definitely won't be low scores. If there's a five-hour memory span, browsing through the 3,500 college entrance exam words is more than enough.
But solely focusing on memorizing words feels like a waste, as mastering seventy to eighty percent of the words is sufficient for English performance.
So time allocation must be reasonable, as there are other subjects with key points needing memorization too.
Jiang Nian flipped to the first page, instantly feeling overwhelmed.