"Great-Grandfather, can I play with your phone for a bit?"
Simon scratched his head. His phone usage time had expired today, and there were still two hours until bedtime. Lying there doing nothing was boring, so after much thought, he decided to borrow his Great-Grandfather's phone for a while. Aren't adult phones just for kids to play with?
Lu Xuefeng seemed to hesitate. He was practicing calligraphy in his bedroom, hard-pen calligraphy, and he wrote quite well. On the west wall of the bedroom, next to the bedside table, there was a small wooden bookshelf. The books on it were a bit dusty; Great-Grandfather hadn't read in a long time.
Simon and Lu Xuefeng looked at each other for a few seconds. He got the phone, and the unlock password: lxf0000.
The phone was quite dirty, clearly not cleaned often. Dust was stuck in the crevices, especially the microphone and speaker, which were almost completely blocked.
He returned to his bedroom, found a web series, and used the phone's built-in projection light to project it onto the bedroom ceiling. He watched the show lying down like that.
The old phone's functions were mediocre, and the projection quality was quite poor. Simon watched for a while, then decided to give up. He opened the browser and checked the search history, but it required a password. Simon tried entering: lxf0000, failed.
lxf0001, failed, three attempts remaining.
lxf1000, failed, two attempts remaining.
lxf0002, failed, one attempt remaining.
Simon pondered for a while. Anyway, failing didn't matter.
Then he tried: lzk0000.
Success.
The first entry in the browsing history was 'hard-pen calligraphy tracing'.
The second was "Modern Mechanical Engineering and Robot Design."
The third was "Citizen Integrity Code."
Hmm? Why would Great-Grandfather search for this?
The fourth entry was 'social credit level 2 exam procedure'.
After that were some scattered items: some related to agriculture, some to machinery, and three were recipes. The rest were basically news.
Simon checked the usage time of all his software. The browser was used the most, followed by Tieba and forums.
So, Lu Xuefeng was trying to keep up with the times?
Simon suddenly felt very sad, as if watching an old-fashioned razor challenge an electric clipper. It couldn't win. An old-school barber produced one apprentice in a few years, while a new-school hairdresser could have a batch graduate in a few months. The speed of information updates was so fast that people couldn't keep up. The most terrifying thing was that as a social credit level 1 member, all the information Great-Grandfather could access was outdated, adjusted, and harmless. He was like a hoe placed among farm machinery, only able to dig three feet deep.
He placed the phone by his pillow, looking at the off-white ceiling. There was some dust on it. Was this why the projection quality was poor?
He comforted himself, since Great-Grandfather wanted to take the social credit level 2 exam, that was good. Then he would be able to participate in projected chats, or perhaps move into the city to live?
Looking at Great-Grandfather's physical condition, he could last a few more years. When he truly got too old to walk, he would have to go to a nursing home. By then... by then, any efforts would be too late.
If he reached social credit level 2, Great-Grandfather would be able to retire and receive subsidies. Even without children to support him, he could be cared for by smart home devices. That would be a different scenario.
But if Great-Grandfather had flaws in his integrity record, he might not be able to pass the exam. And just as he said himself, he swore too much. Though it did make him keep quiet and maintain a cool demeanor throughout... Should he ask Comrade Lu Jiande to help tutor him in cultural subjects? Wait, this matter should be asked of Xiao Zheng, he was Great-Grandfather's friend despite the age difference...
Simon went through all the certification matters one by one. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He couldn't help but jump up, bouncing wildly on the bed, cheering and shouting.
He calmed down and sent an email to You Tou Guai using Great-Grandfather's phone.
18:29 "Simon: Teacher Zheng, can you help Great-Grandfather review his cultural subjects? He seems to want to take the social credit exam."
The email was sent, but it was not received for a long time, constantly showing "Sending."
A sending envelope animation on the screen repeated continuously. Simon knew this was an audit. He watched the envelope turn into a small bird and then float into the recipient's mailbox... This animation was somewhat similar to the IE browser's download interface. Was this also a kind of retro? Simon had actually seen this animation for the first time because previously, emails were sent and received instantly, with a maximum delay of less than 0.3 milliseconds, so he hadn't seen this...
He was sure it wasn't a network or signal issue, so it was under audit.
It had been a minute now, and there was no movement in the outbox, but a new email arrived in the inbox.
Simon opened it to find a survey questionnaire.
Great-Grandfather came over and knocked on the door, taking back the phone. He stared at the screen for a while, frowning. Simon was a bit nervous; an email under audit could not be recalled. Lu Xuefeng must have seen it. He didn't say anything. He answered the questionnaire, then handed the phone back to Simon.
"Great-Grandfather..."
Lu Xuefeng stroked Simon's head. His barber skills were quite good; the child's hair was soft and clean, very comfortable, like a small blanket. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he said nothing and turned to leave.
The room's soundproofing was excellent, so good that Simon couldn't hear Great-Grandfather's slight sobs leaning against the door.
The email to Teacher Zheng was sent, and the reply came half a minute later.
18:33 Reply "Zheng Qilu: It's fine, I just fear he doesn't want to learn. I've advised him many times, but it's useless!"
At this moment, Simon's phone also received an email.
18:33 "National Internet Supervision Bureau: Dear Citizen Simon, the system has detected that your account has logged in on an unfamiliar phone. Please confirm this is your own operation..."
Simon picked up his phone and found that the youth mode had been deactivated.
After identity verification, another email arrived, "Thank you for your cooperation..."
Then, youth mode was activated again.
Simon scratched his head, truly airtight.
The next day, Comrade Zheng Qilu arrived on time. He brought a pack of freshly printed test papers. "Old man! I heard you want to take the social credit exam!"
Lu Xuefeng's face was grim. "No."
Zheng Qilu first glanced at Simon in surprise, then nodded. "Alright, then I won't teach you, I'll teach your great-grandson! Your little boy is the best!"
Lu Xuefeng was terrifyingly silent today and hadn't shaved. White stubble poked out from his aging skin, making his chin look like a small dandelion landing pad. Simon lowered his head and walked up to him. "Great-Grandfather, I'm sorry."
"It's nothing." The old man forced a smile, glanced at the test papers in Zheng Qilu's hand, snatched them, and turned to go upstairs.
You Tou Guai shrugged. "Old tsundere, old tsundere, that's exactly what they are. Kid, do you want to see your Great-Grandfather's collection?"
Simon was surprised. "Collection?"
"Your Great-Grandfather was an audiophile when he was young."
Simon had to agree.
Then they secretly went to the attic and in a small compartment, pulled out a cardboard box. Inside was a pair of HIFI headphones, and looking at the brand, they were Beyerdynamic. Additionally, at the bottom of the box was a heavy Sony MP3 player. They were old items, but they looked quite new, newer than the bookshelf in Great-Grandfather's bedroom.
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Greyhounds
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"