An Expert Is actually By My Side - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Lend me A Bit More and I’ll Pay it All Back Together

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After hanging up the phone, Lin Mengmeng felt that she was about to explode. She slammed her newly bought mobile phone on her music theory textbook.
In modern society, it was difficult to survive without a mobile phone. You wouldn’t even be able to order take-out. Of course, she couldn’t just wait blindly. On the same day that she had dragged Cloud Hao to the security room, she went to buy a new phone right after she headed back.
As for the phone with a broken screen?
She threw it away.
Anyway, it was just something worth around 10,000 yuan. It would be too troublesome and annoying to send it back to the factory for repairs for two weeks.
As for why she insisted on demanding the three thousand from Cloud Hao, it was purely because she was furious!
At that time, the basketball had flown over and frightened her.
Fortunately, it didn’t hit her face.
She was just asking him to compensate for her phone screen. She felt that she was already being overly kind.
I’m so pissed!
Seeing her roommate’s foul expression, Su Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, “Did he pay you back?”
“No!”
Su Xiaoqi hesitated for a minute. She then suggested, “Why don’t you just forget it…? You said that even the mobile phone he uses is a free gift from topping up prepaid value.”
“No way!” Lin Mengmeng’s eyebrows furrowed, and she said through clenched teeth, “Whether he has money or not… ha-has nothing to do with me! It can’t be that he’s in the right just because he doesn’t have money, can it?
“Besides, if you don’t have money… If you don’t have money, then work part-time to pay it back! Now that the country is so developed, it’s easy to get ten thousand yuan just by doing some random job, right? He’s an able-bodied grown man. If he doesn’t do some part-time job, he can just wait to eat dirt! Hmph, it’ll be good to teach him a lesson!”
It’s easy…?
Exactly how deep is this girl’s misunderstanding of this society?
Three thousand yuan is two months’ worth of living expenses for many people.
Su Xiaoqi couldn’t help but facepalm herself when she heard this speech that lacked common sense.
“So how much does he owe you now?”
“…Five thousand.”
“Huh?” Su Xiaoqi was stunned, and her hand tying her hair also froze. “How did it become five thousand?”
Glancing at her roommate, Lin Mengmeng guiltily said, “Just now, he asked me to lend him another 2000, saying that he needed it urgently. I was afraid that he really came across an emergency, so…”
When she heard this, Su Xiaoqi was dumbfounded.
“What???”
“And then you just gave it to him???”
What the f*ck!
You actually believed that?!
…
Late at night…
As the librarian aunty drove him out, Cloud Hao unwillingly returned the few books and left reluctantly.
After a period of exploration, he roughly understood what the attributes and enlightenment gem were about.
To make a simple analogy, learning was equivalent to killing monsters in RPGs, whereby the attribute level determined his XP bonus. In other words, it was the reward from fighting monsters.
The enlightenment gem was equivalent to a double-XP card purchased in the app, which would allow him to boost his XP within a certain period. In other words, it was to improve his skill proficiency more quickly.
In the same way, the lower the level of skill proficiency, the lesser XP required to level up. Therefore, he felt that learning was effortless, as if he had already learned it before.
For the more advanced knowledge, his speed of understanding was slightly slower, and it would take some time to slowly digest it.
“In other words, the programming attribute points in the attribute panel correspond to the ability of learning programming skills, while the proficiency level of the programming skill itself cannot be quantified in simple terms…
“Aside from that, the enlightenment gem can only apply buffs to a certain attribute. It cannot work on multiple aspects at the same time.”
Glancing at his right hand, Cloud Hao slowly clenched his fist.
Although his dream wasn’t to become a programmer, this did not stop him from feeling exhilarated.
Having more skills wasn’t a burden. It was never wrong to learn more stuff.
Besides…
The system never said that he could only master one skill!
If there ever came a day when his attributes panel was densely packed with skills, even if he had a mortal body, he would undoubtedly be a God in this world!
…
When Cloud Hao got back to the dormitory, it was already 9 pm. He returned the C language textbook to Zheng Xueqian.
“Thanks, bro.”
“You’re welcome. You can have this book, though. I’ve already taken another one,” Zheng Xueqian smiled stiffly and said, “So how was it, star student? How does it feel to read up in advance?”
Cloud Hao smiled embarrassedly.
“I’m no star student.”
“Hey, hey, hey, if you continue being humble, it’ll be hypocritical!”
Seeing that this guy didn’t believe him, Cloud Hao shrugged his shoulders and stopped explaining. He took off his T-shirt and threw it on the chair, ready to take a cold bath and sleep.
However, just then, as he walked past the back of Zheng Xueqian’s chair, he happened to catch sight of the opened textbook on the table and the densely-packed notes. Instantly, his eyes lit up.
“You’re reading this chapter too?”
However, what Cloud Hao didn’t expect was that his casual question would cause Zheng Xueqian to quickly close his book like a thief caught red-handed.
“Haha, I was just flipping through it, not reading ahead. Not reading ahead… You’ve read till this part too?”
Cloud Hao wanted to smile and tell him that he had finished reading everything, but he suddenly noticed something in his expression.
After pondering briefly, he smiled and said, “Hah, don’t bring it up. I just casually flipped through it then started playing on the computer.”
He wasn’t lying when he said this. He really just flipped through it casually, and then started making a game.
As for concealing the truth…
He had a hunch that if he told him he had finished reading the entire book in the morning, this guy probably wouldn’t sleep the whole night.
True enough, when Zheng Xueqian heard that he didn’t read the book, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief. The smile on his face also became much more sincere.
“You can even access the Internet in the school library? That’s awesome! Let’s go and play games all night some other time!”
“Haha, some other time, definitely… Come to think of it, where’s the class president? Is he still moving books in the female dormitory?”
Zheng Xueqian smiled and said, “Hah, he finished that a long time ago. He has now gone to the student union for an interview, saying that a fellow townsman there is his big brother. He had greeted him during the summer vacation, which means he’s just there to go through the motions.”
“Tsk.”
Liang Ziyuan, who was seated at the side and tuning his guitar strings, smirked and spat out “Stupid” in a voice that only he could hear.
Humans.
Why are they all wearing masks?
At birth, we don’t bring fame and benefits that look impressive but are worthless. At death, we take none of these with us.
Casually strumming the guitar strings, he cleared his throat and hummed a messy and chaotic tune.
Without any hesitation, Cloud Hao picked up his washbasin, soap, and towels, and dashed into the bathroom at lightning speed.
The pitter-patter of water rang out.
He knew that if he was half a second slower, his ears would be polluted…
…
In Room 402 next door…
He Ping, who was flipping through a math book, frowned and pushed up his glasses with his index finger.
Before he could grumble, somebody beat him to it and said everything he wanted to say, “F*ck, what the hell is he singing? F*ck him!”
“It’s probably Liang Ziyuan from 401?” With a pained expression on his face, the podgy little man, Zhou Xuan, removed his headphones and stretched back in his chair, making the chair creak.
“I think he’s the only one who brought a guitar.”
He was editing a video when a wail rang out next door and once again interrupted his train of thoughts, which he had cleared with much difficulty.
Yuan Gaofei, who had been the first to rage, forcefully rubbed the curls on his head and walked around the dorm room in distress, like a baboon that had gone berserk.
“Ahhhhhhhh, it sounds so horrible!”
Although he said “f*ck him”, that was just with his mouth. With his stick-like figure, he clearly didn’t have the courage to go confront him.
Besides, they were all classmates and were bound to cross paths regularly. Unless he was causing a ruckus during bedtime, they generally found it uncomfortable to go knocking on the door to confront that person.
Can’t edit the video. Looks like today’s update will have to be postponed.
Zhou Xuan sighed. He pushed the chair aside and stood up to loosen his arms.
He Ping, who was lying on his side on the bed and flipping through a book, pondered for a moment before saying, “Brother Yi, you know Liang Ziyuan well. Why don’t you go and talk to him?”
In Room 402, only Wang Ziyi played basketball. He and that expressionless guy next door were good buddies and could converse a little.
Moreover, his height of 185cm made him look more imposing.
We can’t possibly send the little pudgy, Zhou Xuan, and the thin stick, Yuan Gaofei, right?
Of course, it’s absolutely impossible for me to go by myself either.
This thing is more troublesome than turning off the lights…
“Don’t be noisy… Wait for me to finish this game.”
It was rare for Wang Ziyi to not complain about his buddy’s singing today. Instead, his eyes seemed to be glued to the computer.
Out of curiosity, Zhou Xuan leaned over to take a look. Instantly, the expression on his face seemed as if he had discovered a new world.
“Eh? Wang, you actually aren’t playing an instance today? What about your CP? She didn’t press you to log in?”
“Don’t disturb me…”
Wang Ziyi stared at the screen intently, pressing the up, down, left, and right keys from time to time.
Zhou Xuan watched for a while, but he didn’t understand what he was playing. He couldn’t help but ask, “Since when did you get so bored to the point of playing mini-games?”
“I just finished an instance and was taking a break, so I went shopping on the E-fun platform. After the trial, I thought it was not too bad, so I bought it.”
“How rich.”
“Rich my a*s. I bought it from the stand-alone game section, and it was only selling for one dollar,” Wang Ziyi muttered. “Let me warn you, this game is addictive.”
Zhou Xuan stroked his chin and commented, “It looks quite ordinary.”
As a content creator in the Bilibili game section, although his fans were in the single-digit, he was very picky about games. Even “The Oracle”, a national-level RPG, was not up to his standards.
He would evaluate games from multiple aspects, including creativity, gameplay, graphics, plot, et cetera, before giving a comprehensive score.
As of now, this digital number game seemed to have more unique gameplay. As for the other aspects, he felt that even a score of 0 was too much.
However, Wang Ziyi had a different opinion.
“That’s because you haven’t played it yourself! Let me tell you, you have to merge two identical numbers like this and then find a way to make 2048…”
Zhou Xuan cast him a side glance.
“Isn’t that very easy?”
“Hehe, give it a try when the number gets bigger later on! Cloud gamers like you who mindlessly rattle on irritate me the most!”
“F*ck! Isn’t it just a dollar? I’ll purchase one by myself and will definitely clear the game before you!”
“What’s so interesting?” Drawn to the conversation between them, Yuan Gaofei also leaned over and said, “Let me take a look too.”
Hearing his roommates’ conversation, He Ping, lying on the upper bunk bed and reading an advanced mathematics book, gave them a sidelong glance.
A number game?
Interesting…
But it doesn’t seem to be much of a challenge.
After thinking for a while, He Ping advised, “You can try moving the large number to the side as much as possible.”
Hearing the voice from the upper bunk bed, Wang Ziyi responded, “The side? Let me try…”
He trusted He Ping’s words quite a bit.
After all, this guy was an impressive dude, the only one in their room who had obtained a perfect score in math during the college entrance examination.
Not only that, but he also earned the honor of the provincial first prize of Country Xia’s National Mathematics Competition!
One must understand, this was a national mathematics competition!
In his eyes, only experts would participate in such an impressive competition. As for himself, even if he ate some magical candies, he still wouldn’t dare to dream about it.
Sure enough, when he tried to move all the largest numbers to the side, he really turned the unfavorable situation around, and his score soared up.
Fascinated by what he saw, Yuan Gaofei couldn’t help but shout excitedly, “F*ck… That’s amazing, bro!”
Wang Ziyi was also excited, and his hands trembled.
“It really seems to work!”
“Hmph, easy.”
He Ping smiled faintly. With an expression that said ‘it’s all within my plan’, he continued reading the advanced mathematics book in his hands.
When the last two 1024 tiles on the screen combined together to form the number 2048, a pop-up window notified them that they had finished the game.
Next to him, Zhou Xuan’s eyes widened.
What the f*ck?
He won the game!
However, before they could be excited, the trio gathered around the computer was stunned.
A leaderboard had appeared before their eyes.
The person at the top had a score of 131072.
At the bottom of the leaderboard, several five-digit scores were still being added on.
This time, even He Ping, who had been observing in secret, couldn’t help but put down the advanced mathematics book. He looked at the leaderboard on the screen and muttered something under his breath.
The easily-surprised Yuan Gaofei was the first to shout, “F*ck… this score absolutely defies natural order!”
Wang Ziyi’s right hand left the keyboard. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he said, “Turns out that 2048 is just the beginning… I thought I completed the game.”
The three of them turned quiet.
The first to break the silence was Yuan Gaofei, who was standing behind them.
“Carry on?”
Wang Ziyi pulled himself together and rolled up the sleeve on his right arm.
“Carry on! F*ck him, let’s try to make it onto the leaderboard!”
“Haha, change the ID to Handsomest in River Town University Software Engineering 1801!”
“Ptui! You are so shameless!”
Hearing the banter between his two roommates, Zhou Xuan didn’t say anything. He simply gulped, and his eyes overflowed with excitement.
As an amateur content creator in the Bilibili game section, his instincts were screaming wildly in his ears.
This mini-game of less than 2MB…
Will go viral…