Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 165: Behind the 164 Bubbles

That evening.

Li Yi laid everything out on the table with his son at the Xiang Cuisine Restaurant.

Without a single sip of liquor, he delivered a harangue with bitter earnestness for half an hour, which completely stupefied Li Zheng.

"That’s how it is," Li Yi said, picking up a piece of double pepper fish head with his chopsticks, "For girls, sexual activity before the age of 18 can easily lead to lifelong gynecological diseases. Even after turning 18, one must remain clean, take the necessary precautions, and protect the other party.

Li Zheng looked blankly at the white rice before him, only now finding a chance to interject: "I get the point, but I should be a guy, right?"

"Do you think girls get gynecological diseases by themselves?" Li Yi glared, his tone becoming even more severe, "Isn’t it because of those smelly boys who have no sense of hygiene? Just look at Liu Xin’s dad, still willing to undergo surgery for the sake of someone at his age."

"Sorry... sorry..." Li Zheng lowered his head and thought for a long time, "Wait, why should I apologize?"

Li Yi ignored him and continued speaking to himself: "Although your mom and I met in the first year of high school, our first time was after marriage. Given the times we live in now, it’s hard to demand the same from you, but at the very least, wait until after your sophomore year, yeah? Around 20 should be about right."

"Can you actually plan that kind of thing?"

"It’s about restraint; you must have self-control at the crucial moment." Li Yi leaned forward and whispered as if imparting secret martial arts manuals, "If you fail to restrain yourself and attempt to go further too soon, it can give the other person a perception of frivolity, which is very detrimental for future progress. All of this is from my personal experience."

"Enough already, I don’t need that kind of experience," Li Zheng couldn’t bear it anymore and began to eat his meal in silence, "The Chem Competitions aren’t even over yet, and there are still physics competitions, informatics competitions, math competitions, and... and what’s it called, there’s one more competition to go, what do I need that experience for?"

"Now that we’ve started this conversation, stop pretending with your old dad," Li Yi continued imparting knowledge, "I’ve told you about the physical aspects, now for the psychological ones. There’s a type of girl who, for various reasons, inevitably lacks fatherly love in her life; they tend to be sensitive, thoughtful, bad at expressing themselves. When dating such a girl, you must absolutely not throw tantrums like a child, but instead show the responsibility of a man... "

"..."

Under Old Li’s teachings, Li Zheng inexplicably found himself forced to absorb a series of strange knowledge.

It felt as if he was being coerced into an arranged date.

...

At eight o’clock in the evening, a certain unit’s cafeteria was still bustling with people.

Mother Lin brought Lin Yujing to the cafeteria to get their dinner and found a corner seat to sit down.

"Um..." Lin Yujing didn’t look at the food in front of her but rather gazed at the hurried people around her.

They walked while discussing data and experiments, all of it incomprehensible jargon and numbers.

People occasionally nodded and greeted Mother Lin as they rushed by, then they would glance back from a distance, excitedly pointing and gesturing.

Mother Lin gave a wry smile, leaned forward, and gently turned her daughter’s face back: "Alright, stop looking. I’ve broken the rules by bringing you here anyway. We’ll wait until there are fewer people, then I’ll sneak you in for a visit."

"Hehe." Lin Yujing giggled and scratched her face, "Can I really see... an actual rocket?"

"You can only see that at the production and launch bases. This is just a laboratory, with only sample modules and scaled-down models." Shen Tinglan propped her chin with her left hand, while gently mixing her food with the right, "This project is planned for launch at the Wenqiong Base next summer. If it coincides with your holidays, I can help you book a room nearby. If you really like it that much, you can witness it with your own eyes."

"Wow!!!" Lin Yujing’s eyes shone with excitement, and she bowed her head to eat her meal with big, eager bites.

Shen Tinglan looked at her daughter, and her first instinct was to laugh.

But then she felt a little like crying.

She turned her head and touched her nose, asking softly, "Jingjing, do you understand what this means?"

"Ah, building rockets."

"I mean, what does this path mean for your personal life?"

"Building rockets! Ah."

"Go on, take your time eating, and just listen to me," Shen Tinglan sighed lightly.

She began speaking slowly and quietly, as if whispering beside a pillow.

"Your mom was the same way, just like you."

"Completely devoted to the one career I wanted to pursue."

"I met your dad in the process, too."

"Young people always have their ideals and goals at heart."

"Absurdly believing that they can strive for them their entire lives."

"Even while pregnant, I would work in the institute for over a dozen hours a day."

"I never considered your dad’s feelings."

"So much so that when you were born,"

"I realized he wasn’t there."

"He had gone abroad, to the world’s best Chemistry Institute."

"Years later, he returned as an associate professor."

"We went through the divorce proceedings, with no hard feelings towards each other."

"I didn’t know at the time, but he had given all of the fifty thousand dollars he saved over those years to your grandma."

"In the end, when we parted, he suddenly asked me,"

"Did I marry him, or did I marry the aerospace career?"

"I didn’t know how to answer."

"He didn’t seem to expect an answer either, suggesting that if I had any difficulties in life or needed help, I could contact him anytime, and he would be more than willing to take you in and raise you."

"Afterwards, you grew up a little more every day."

"Even though I never told you anything,"

"You still fell in love with these things."

"Despite never asking you to study hard."

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"But you still study so well."

"Now, you’re about to go to the competition, and you’ll be faced with many choices."

"It’s necessary for me to tell you that with every path you take, you’ll gain something, but you’ll also lose something."

"Now, this might be your last chance." Shen Tinglan took a long breath, looked away from her daughter’s gaze, and towards an empty corner, "Do you want to go to Magnesium Country?"

"???"

"If you really take this path." Shen Tinglan suddenly caressed the tabletop, "For national security, as well as for your safety, it will be very difficult to leave the country. So, I need to tell you in advance, you have a father in Magnesium Country. His life is better than anyone you’ve met, his status higher than anyone you’ve seen. He’s willing to accept you, to give you a better education and a bigger stage."

"But he won’t be able to come back."

"And I definitely can’t go there."

"But you have the right to choose your own future."

Thump!

Lin Yujing suddenly slammed the table hard.

Her head bowed, teeth clenching with a grinding noise.

"I hate him."

"Hate chemistry."

"I like it here."

"Like mom."

"I never want to hear anything about him again."

"Anything!"

Shen Tinglan wiped her eyes behind her back, "Alright, I will never mention him again."

Seeing this, Lin Yujing’s mouth softened a bit, "I’m... sorry..."

"It’s okay, I’ve never been hurt by him." Shen Tinglan finally turned around with a smile, bowed her head and began eating, "In terms of emotions, mom has failed more than anyone. There really isn’t much to say. I just hope that you can meet a man who, just like you, is ridiculously dedicated to a cause for a lifetime."

"Hmph," Lin Yujing finally breathed a sigh of relief, bowed her head to eat, "Boys are silly, none are as fun as rockets."

"Uh-huh, that’s what I think too." Shen Tinglan chuckled, "The Li Zheng you saw after school, isn’t he particularly silly?"

"Yeah, yes." Lin Yujing replied subconsciously.

After a long while, suddenly her face turned red, and she choked up

"Hic."

"Nervous? Keep eating." Shen Tinglan laughed, covering her face.

"It’s not what you think... hic, not like that..."

"I didn’t think anything."

"You did, hic, was it Teacher Tang...? Hic."

"Hahaha." Mother Lin laughed, then suddenly raised an eyebrow, "You can’t say much about others, just don’t trust a man who studies chemistry."

"Hic, he doesn’t like chemistry either, didn’t even sign up, hic."

"Oh, oh, oh, you’re quite concerned."

"Hic, now I’m angry, hic!"

...

The next day, Li Zheng made trades with Xu Mengxi and Zhang Xiaoke.

He acquired over ten kilos of exam papers and practice problems.

At night, he opened the computer he hadn’t touched for a long time, as well as Visual Basic.

Visual Basic is a programming software that the teacher talked about in the computer science class in the first year of high school.

It’s very ancient, yet simple.

Maybe even simpler than "Macro Express."

In this era, VB hardly has any practical value left, but because it is based on a graphical interface and is extremely simple to use, it’s still suitable as a programming primer.

This is, of course, the only programming software Li Zheng has been introduced to.

When it comes to programming, of course, its significance is far more than just for computer science competitions.

Computers are undoubtedly very core research tools, where researchers use software for a large amount of simulation and calculation, with a considerable number of the software being designed and programmed by the researchers themselves.

Although there’s no need to master it deeply, programming languages are inevitably an important skill in the learning process, more so the further you go.

To put it in a smaller context, being in the Dragon Pearl Group, one has to dabble in computer science competitions, too.

It just so happens that Teacher Mengxi needs help, so why not start from today, little by little, to realize a small idea.

The idea of Li Zheng, it had to be related to studying.

He had searched for a long time, wanting to find a software that could reveal his weak points in knowledge, and depending on the person, provide tailored coaching and practice problems.

Of course, he hadn’t found one.

In this era of big data, whether it’s listening to music, watching videos, scrolling through Zhihu, or shopping, everything has been refined to each user, with precise information pushing.

Yet amazingly, when it comes to studying, there’s no software that’s tailored to the individual.

This is truly incomprehensible.

The research and development efforts of the industry seem to be all thrown into exchanging homework answers and online courses, which of course are good, but compared to these, there are more efficient approaches available—so why not use them?

```

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Of course, perhaps this path was not viable commercially.

But that didn’t stop Li Zheng from conducting some programming training on his own.

Right now, the program he needed was very simple, it could even be completed with Excel.

That was to list all the detailed knowledge points for each subject.

Then, he examined the practice problems Xu Mengxi had recently worked on, and linked them to the knowledge points.

For a correct answer, that knowledge point would get a point added; for a wrong one, a point deducted.

In the end, based on the scores, he would list out Xu Mengxi’s mastery of each knowledge point.

After that, he would push tutorials and practice problems for reinforcement.

From then on, Xu Mengxi wouldn’t have to do practice problems blindly and waste time; she would only work on problems that could improve her performance.

The principle was very simple, in fact, classroom tests often did the same thing.

It was just that... the data volume was somewhat large.

Moreover, linking each question to the corresponding knowledge point and selecting the best questions to push was a very specialized and patience-testing task.

Probably only Li Zheng himself had the interest in doing so.

Although the challenges were myriad.

But that evening, an engineering file named "Scholar Demon Training System" was ultimately created.

...

Friday, during the lunch break.

Li Zheng marched into Class 1 of grade three, full of swagger and bluster.

He was carrying a big stack of printed papers.

His face radiated a heroic air.

The students of Class 1 had long been accustomed to this sight.

They even actively greeted him with a "Brother Zheng."

The girls, on the other hand, called Li Zheng "Sister Xi."

This logic took Li Zheng 5 minutes to comprehend, and he still didn’t get it.

I’ve even developed a six-pack, could it be I’m still not manly enough?

Under everyone’s gaze, Li Zheng slapped the stack of papers onto Xu Mengxi’s desk, "Thanks for using it, sorry for the inconvenience."

The dozing Xu Mengxi shot up with a "whoosh."

Her first reaction was to push Li Zheng out.

But seeing that she was surrounded by her classmates, she gave up on "treatment" as well.

Before she could react, the onlooking students were the first to be shocked.

"Holy crap, this chart actually has substance!"

"Subject scores?"

Even the little girl from the front row who was egging them on came over, "How is this calculated, Sister Xi?"

"Go on, get out of here," Li Zheng waved his arm, "Wanna see my abs?"

"Yes," the girl nodded repeatedly.

"Fine, it’ll scare you to death!" Li Zheng grabbed the hem of his shirt as if he was about to lift it.

"Enough now!" Xu Mengxi hurriedly held Li Zheng down, "I get it, I get it, you’re a tough guy, okay?"

"Just kidding, Teacher Mengxi," Li Zheng said with a smile, "Come on, have a look at the software feedback."

"Hmm..." Xu Mengxi finally looked at the chart on the first page.

It showed her scores in various subjects, all out of a hundred.

They basically aligned with her usual test results; chemistry was the highest at 87, and math was the lowest at 66.

"Did you average my previous scores?" Xu Mengxi asked as she flipped to the second page.

Immediately after, the surrounding crowd all exclaimed, "Wow!"

Because the content on the second page was really in-depth.

[Math Knowledge Mastery]

[Meaning and Representation of Sets: Excellent]

[Basic Relationships Between Sets: Excellent-]

[Basic Operations of Sets: Good]

...

[Exponential Functions and Power Operations: Good-]

...

[Stratified Sampling: Average]

...

[Calculations of Non-Arithmetic, Non-Geometric Sequences: Average+]

...

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Among these, a "good" rating is indicated in green, meaning no further attention is needed.

A "fair" rating is shown in yellow, signifying that it’s not quite solid.

An "average" rating is marked in orange, recommended for focused improvement.

A "poor" rating is in red, meaning a complete mess.

Turn the page.

Besides Chinese and English, other subjects also listed such knowledge mastery charts.

"You... you you you..." Xu Mengxi was almost moved to tears, "How much work have you done..."

"What do you mean, work? This is a hobby, and I should be thanking you for providing the data," Li Zheng said as he flipped another page, "Next, are the targeted guidelines and exercises for the ’average’ and ’poor’ knowledge points. You can just focus on these without having to go through the textbooks or exercises cover-to-cover anymore. You can trust the problems I selected, they’re definitely precise."

"It’s not... It’s not..." Xu Mengxi flipped through the pages rapidly, "You must’ve spent tens of hours on this, right? I... I’m not worthy..."

"Hey, it’s just half an hour’s work for a program, that’s all," Li Zheng said with a laugh, waving his hand dismissively and standing up, "Do these problems and then get back to me, so we can reevaluate."

"Stop!" Xu Mengxi stood up as well, "Please, I’m begging you not to waste any more time on me, okay? The chemistry finals are coming up..."

"I’m also begging you to stop saying that," Li Zheng said as he walked away, raising his hand, "If you say that again, we can’t be friends anymore."

"But but but..."

"Right, I need to input Zhang Xiaoke’s data next," Li Zheng said while standing at the door, gently waving his fist, "Jingbei is indeed still far off, but that’s not a reason for us to stop trying to close the gap. I’ll be waiting for your response."

With that, the man turned and walked away, hands behind his back.

"Ah..." Xu Mengxi sat down, somewhat dazed.

In the end, she had become a super burden.

But...

Since she had already dragged him down so much,

she might as well try to close the distance a bit more.

On his way, Li Zheng, walking with his hands behind his back, suddenly got stopped by a group of people.

"Brother Zheng, I want it too."

"Sister Xi, you are a tough guy, a super tough guy!"

"Stop joking around," Li Zheng waved his hand, "It’s very troublesome, it took me tens of hours."

"Wasn’t it automatically done by the program?"

"That’s the future expectation once there’s enough data..." Li Zheng coughed and reluctantly admitted, "At this stage, I’m still inputting and outputting manually. The program is basically like an Excel spreadsheet."

Hearing this, the bigger players all made noises of understanding, not pressing him any further.

After all, everyone was facing the college entrance exams, who would spend tens of hours for another person for no reason?

"So..." a girl from the front row tentatively stepped forward, "I already called you a tough guy, I don’t believe you have abs, let me feel them."

"Please," Li Zheng braced himself.

Just how he braced himself might be compared to straining as if on the toilet.

The girl reached out to feel, and to her surprise, she actually felt the firm contours: "Wow! Sister Xi is really a tough guy."

The other girls immediately gathered around: "Really? I don’t believe it."

"I don’t believe it either, let me feel."

As Li Zheng dodged, Qiao Bixia suddenly appeared, rolling up her sleeves and stepping forward aggressively: "What are you guys doing? What don’t you believe?"

Li Zheng quickly stepped down the stairs, reaching the halfway point in just two steps.

After fleeing back to the classroom, Li Zheng also handed over Zhang Xiaoke’s materials to her.

Zhang Xiaoke didn’t have much to say, her eyes immediately welling up with tears.

"Master... Master..." Zhang Xiaoke shook Li Zheng’s shoulders, "How do you sell this software? Let me help you get investments..."

Li Zheng shook off her grip, cursing, "Aren’t you supposed to be challenging Jingbei? Get back to your problems."

"Will do, will do, I’ll do them all," Zhang Xiaoke said, rolling up her sleeves, "Ever since I became your disciple, I don’t know why, but I feel so energized when I see new types of problems I’ve never encountered."

"That’s right, that’s your intelligence," Li Zheng commented.

Jiang Qinghua shuddered from behind.

Are you sure it’s not a spiritual obstruction?

"I should probably get started too." Li Zheng then shook his head, took out a copy of "Catalysis and Material Chemistry Postgraduate Textbook" from his backpack, "Once I finish the postgraduate studies too, I guess I won’t need to touch chemistry ever again in my life..."

Meanwhile, fifteen kilometers away at Tiantan Hospital.

Li Yi’s phone rang, multiple times.

[Dear Mr. Li, your current credit card payment due amount: 18223.42 RMB]

[Congratulations! The Supreme Plus member LZ from Dong’s home has given you one month of VIP access, please click to claim...]

[Your bank card 4XXXXXX has received a "salary deposit" of 17542.66 RMB.]

[Your bank card 4XXXXXX has successfully transferred out 17542.00 RMB.]

There was no help for it.

Behind the bubble of studying,

someone always has to literally get their hands dirty.

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