Although physics no longer exists in various works, it doesn't prevent everyone from still living in a very physical world.
As a sophomore, soon to be a junior, student in the Mechanical Engineering department at Tianmen University, Ji Jue would naturally not question the foundation upon which he will establish and sustain himself in the future, but this watch was indeed too strange.
There were too many incomprehensible things about it—every part of it revealed the bizarre craftsmanship and design.
But he dared not disassemble it; he could only wait for an opportunity to do so later... Unfortunately, the years passed, the opportunity never came, and he had instead grown accustomed to wearing it.
Weird as it may be, could he just throw it away?
The young man leaned back in his chair and stretched, only to notice a plate of watermelon next to the table that he didn't know when had appeared, and turned to see everyone else had already finished eating and were chatting. Only the youngest child, who had been writing homework, popped his head out from behind the counter and eyed his portion with great interest.
"Thanks, Lu Ma!"
Ji Jue smiled and waved the child over, sharing half of his portion with him.
"Little Ji, that... what was it again?" Lu Ma suddenly remembered, and slapped her forehead, "The exam for... emergency responder, how did it go?"
"I've just registered."
"That's not right," Lu Feng realized, "Didn't you take it last year?"
"Last year I took emergency first aid."
Ji Jue smiled, "This year I've been helping the extreme sports society at school for a while, so I thought I might as well take the injury and sick person rescue exam too, now I can also be considered a second-level lifesaver."
"Is that useful?"
Lu Feng was puzzled; his impression of a lifesaver—sunshine, beach, lounge chairs, big shorts, idling in the sun, the sea breeze, watching the waves, and if lucky, helping with sunscreen application, earning appreciation from customers with skilled experience and busy nights.
But this didn't fit at all with Ji Jue, who almost wished he could stretch every day into forty-eight hours and was a total study king!
"You're here helping with work, going to university, busy with your thesis... Why bother taking this exam? It seems useless."
Lu Ma heard this, activated her skill—The Wrathful Glare of a Mother!
In the eyes of the die-hard disciple of the study-above-all Lu Ma, a good student like Ji Jue had a reason for everything he did. How could Lu Feng, who hadn't gotten into university and had loafed around after his military service, not be ambitious enough for himself, yet dared to question a good kid?
Could it be that the back of her hand was not swift enough to smack?
"No way around it, I guess I'm just unlucky."
Ji Jue laughed at himself, showing the cut on his hand from the A4 paper that morning. Lu Ma fell silent, looked at the scar crawling out from Ji Jue's neck, sighed without a word for a long time, and said no more.
"Computer! The computer!"
The second eldest girl was shocked, pointing behind Ji Jue, "The computer is smoking!"
"Wait, hold on... shit..."
Ji Jue was startled, turning to look at the documents on the table. Before he could act, the computer screen went black and was unresponsive.
Completely dead.
The power supply had burned out.
After some checking, Ji Jue came to a helpless conclusion: after all, it was an old computer.
Actually, to say it was an old computer... it was more like a battle-scarred sewing monster, an epic Frankenstein, that Ji Jue pieced together from various fourth or fifth-hand parts. Over the years, patching up and swapping out, what belonged to the original computer probably only amounted to the case.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time the computer had crashed in the middle of work. But fortunately, Ji Jue had developed compulsory saving disorder because of this. Important files were definitely saved in three places—hard drive, cloud, and phone—and every time he stopped, he would habitually hit the save button.
If he was lucky, he only lost a few hundred words at most, and he could rewrite them later.
As for the computer...
Ji Jue scratched his head. He could only try his luck across the street in the second-hand repair "junkyard" to see if he could find a working power supply.
As for buying a new computer?
Saving money was no problem, but he was afraid that after spending months of savings on a new computer, he might accidentally spill a cup of water over it...
What else could he do but helplessly lose Little Pearl?
He had lost all hope in his terrible luck already.
From as early as he could remember, Ji Jue had never had good luck.
It was common to open a packet of instant noodles without a flavor packet, and completely normal to tear off a whole strip of skin peeling his hand.
In elementary school, he was the only kid in the whole class who nearly got kidnapped during a spring outing; in middle school, he ended up on the streets, tried to find work to pay tuition but nearly fell into a pyramid scheme, and it was only because of a quick reaction that he managed to escape. Later, even when he came to seek a job at the mainland auto repair shop, he accidentally entered through the back door and was nearly kicked out on the spot by Lu Feng, who had just returned from military service and mistook him for a thief...
Such were the countless tragic tales, too many to recount.
That he was still alive and had managed to get into university was sheer luck. He thought maybe his luck would turn, but on the first day of school, right after he had a bowl of Tianmen University cafeteria's famous braised pork rice, he was involved in a massive food poisoning incident. By the time it was his turn to be rushed to the emergency room, he was reportedly nearly gone...
Lu Feng was truly astonished. He had been in the military oil fields in Central Earth facing life and death for years and had never seen anyone as unlucky yet tough as Ji Jue.
Even in the notorious Cliff City, he was considered a rarity.
After the computer broke, Ji Jue didn't bother anymore.
With nothing better to do, he started to guide the third and youngest children with their summer homework.
And with a warm and friendly demeanor, he recommended several sets of practice books he had used himself to Lu Ma, no need to buy them; he had a set at home that he could just erase with an eraser and reuse, absolutely no need to waste money... Ah, don't be polite, we are all neighbors, no need for formalities, I still have an unused set of Thirty Volumes of Exam King at home!