From twelve noon to five in the evening, he had painstakingly reviewed the entire Chinese curriculum of the first year of high school.
Glancing at his study panel, his Chinese level was still at (Beginner+), but he knew he was close to advancing.
"Once I finish reviewing the second half of the first-year Chinese, I should be able to level up."
Li Shi stood up from the desk, stretched lazily, and moved his body a bit.
The simple folding dining table was too low, and it was uncomfortable to lean over it and study all afternoon.
"If my physique hadn't improved to 10.5, I'd be suffering from backache by now."
Dedicating oneself to studying can make a person peaceful. After studying all afternoon, Li Shi had become very relaxed. While considering what to eat for dinner, a delivery call came, and the phone he had bought in the morning had arrived.
Having collected the delivery downstairs, he immediately unpacked, switched cards, and found the new phone was indeed good. With 12g+512g of configuration, it was very smooth to use. After installing Meituan, he ordered takeout—a claypot rice with diced preserved meat and radish for eighteen yuan.
He still had a balance of 320,000 yuan in his ICBC card, but he did not indulge in luxurious meals. It was not that he was reluctant to spend money, but he felt it was not yet time to enjoy luxuries. He quickly ate so that he could continue to work hard reviewing the Chinese textbook for the second half of the first year of high school.
Concentrating on leveling up is the right way to go.
While awaiting his meal, he looked up tablet computers online, planning to buy one for convenience to study anytime, anywhere.
The heavy old laptop on the dining table should be replaced.
With so many styles of electronic products now, he agonized for a while before deciding on a Huawei work tablet. He placed an order on JD.com for a matebook E with i5 16g+512g configuration and a built-in smart magnetic keyboard.
Since it was priced at over six thousand yuan, before buying he carefully read reviews and looked up a few forums he frequently visited. He only chose a blue one and paid for it after he had finished eating the claypot rice.
Shortly after payment, a bank transaction debit alert arrived. Seeing the digits deducted and the balance, Li Shi felt a slight change in his mindset compared to when he had bought the phone in the morning.
"As the old saying goes, it's hard to move from extravagance to frugality, but it's quite easy to move from frugality to extravagance."
He had initially only wanted to test the new phone's video streaming performance, but unexpectedly, as soon as he opened TikTok, big data continuously recommended beautiful long-legged young women one after another. There were those who danced, practiced yoga, did finger dances, and most surprisingly, one who played a tongue dance. Her pink tongue was so long and flexible that it astonished Li Shi. He immediately clicked on her homepage and watched from beginning to end. Without realizing it, over half an hour had passed.
"Vixens, distracting me from studying...making me think about pink tongues. Really now."
Li Shi threw the new phone onto his bed and performed fifty-five push-ups on the floor.
After standing up, he couldn't help but marvel. He used to reach his limit after doing around ten but now he managed to do fifty-five in one go. The effect of an additional point in physique was indeed impressive.
He opened the unzipped PDF of the second half of the Chinese textbook for first year high school on his computer. The first part was a selection from The Analects—"Zi Lu, Zeng Xi, Ran You, Gong Xi Hua Attends" and "The Matter of Qi Huan and Jin Wen". After Li Shi read them once, he attempted to translate them into modern Chinese, marking any confusing parts. Later, he intended to search for reference translations online with his new phone and compare them to his own.
Since 8:30 in the evening, he pushed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish studying the last essay in the textbook, "Discourses on the Six States", and began reading the last few ancient poems and songs.
"'Touring the Yue Yang Tower' by Du Fu, I've heard of the waters of Dongting, but now I climb the Yue Yang Tower. The states of Wu and Chu to the southeast have broken ..."
These poems and songs were too familiar. He didn't know how many times he'd recited them during his schooling. Now, as he remembered them, he read them aloud.
"'Partridge Sky. Jinling Reminisces of the Past' by Wang Anshi, Standing tall to part ways, This is my old country in late autumn... "
"'Touring the Garden' by Tang Xianzu, A fragment of a purple cassock, The blooming of the purple and red... The rain threads the wind pieces, the foggy waves painting a boat—The jinping people watching this beautiful time!"
After reading the last line, he sensed something in his mind and quickly called up the study panel—
Name: Li Shi
Physique: 10.5+1 [Fuse?]
Wealth: 1 [Exchange?]
Currently studying: Chinese (Proficient-)
Completed Studies: None
Phew-
Li Shi stood up, rubbing his sore wrist from controlling the mouse, let out a long sigh of relief. After working all night, he finally upgraded his Chinese level to (Proficient-)!
Looking at the panel, his eyes glistened as he saw an increase in both his physical and wealth attributes. Suddenly, all his fatigue vanished.
"If I were to convert it to gold again, this one point of wealth attribute would at least be worth 400,000 yuan. However, this time I can convert it to other materials. I'll look into it after I wake up. I've been up all night, I'm too tired now."
Even though he felt grimy from staying up all night, he didn't care. He went straight back to bed, turned off his phone, then chose "Fuse 1 point of physique attribute". Very soon, within ten or so seconds, he fell asleep with a warm sensation sweeping over him.
Five hours later, around nine o'clock, he woke up feeling refreshed. His body felt full of energy as if he could knock out an ox with a punch.
Of course, this was merely the illusion of his physique improving by a tenth overnight.
While showering, he carefully inspected himself. His figure was very well proportioned. The only difference from before was that he had less fat and more defined muscles—a slight change in the shape of his body. Touching his belly, it felt even harder now.
Name: Li Shi
Physique: 11.5
Wealth: 1 [Exchange?]
Currently studying: Chinese (Proficient-)
Completed Studies: None
After changing into clean clothes, he turned on his phone, ready to call a cab and resign from his company.
Upon turning on his phone, he found two missed calls and a bunch of unread WeChat messages, all from Li Gui Ming. He opened a WeChat message first: "Li Shi, why is your phone off? Listen, the company announced bankruptcy today!"
Li Shi: ...
So, should I still go resign?
At half past ten, Li Shi left the company with his belongings and got into Li Gui Ming's orange Cadillac CT4.
"Ah, I didn't expect the company to go bankrupt so quickly. Damn, I've graduated college four years ago, and I've driven two companies to ruin. I've even been married and divorced. Was I cursed all these years?" Li Gui Ming said regretfully.
Li Shi laughed, "Li, you don't seem like the superstitious type. Besides, it's the higher-ups who ran the company into the ground, not us hard-working lower-level employees. If it's gone, it's gone. Let's head to "The Way of the Earth" and have some relaxation, my treat."
Li Gui Ming started the car while looking at him with surprise, "Li, you're playing host! What happened, your house got demolished?"
Demolished? Li Shi chuckled a little, not offering any explanation. Compared to the learning panel, what's a demolition?
Although they were close colleagues, their relationship was not that good—a little more than acquaintances—they didn't know much about each other. All Li Shi knows is Li Gui Ming is from Bei Hu Province, and Li Gui Ming only knows that Li Shi's hometown is in Shao City down South. This is the typical relationship between colleagues, superficially familiar.
Well, they were now former colleagues.
By the time they reached "The Way of the Earth", it was almost noon. To show his gratitude for Li Gui Ming's help over the past two years, Li Shi specially ordered two sets of 688 Yuan package, which included a 198 yuan buffet, a ninety-minute foot bath, and an hour massage.
Li Gui Ming was a regular here, but it was Li Shi's first time splurging like this. By the time they left around two in the afternoon, he felt as if he had lost a couple of pounds.
However, after refusing a lift home from Li Gui Ming, Li Shi immediately adjusted his mentality and headed straight to the 51st Business District in downtown—the home to many high-end jewelry merchants.
It's time to think about what material to exchange for the second wealth attribute point.