"Yu Bin, you use the computer. I'm going to take a shower."
A few minutes later, after washing up, Huang Yifan picked the bed on the right side and got ready to sleep.
Seeing Huang Yifan climb into bed, Yu Bin felt a bit embarrassed. He exited the game and lay down on the single bed to the left.
"Huang Yifan, why haven't I ever heard your name back when we were in Class 2?"
The lights were off when Yu Bin asked from the other bed.
Huang Yifan knew what he meant and deliberately twisted the topic. "Totally normal, you haven't heard of me. I hadn't heard of you before either."
Sure enough, that line got Yu Bin to drop the subject.
"Huang Yifan, do you think Li Luozhi can win the championship tomorrow?"
"Uh… maybe. Probably. Possibly."
"It'd be great if she did."
"Bro, what's so great about her winning? Why don't you hope I win instead?"
Huang Yifan joked.
"Come on, let's be real. Sure, I'd love for you to win too, after all, we go to the same school. But how could you possibly beat our Luozhi?"
"Damn, she's already 'yours'? You guys dating or what?"
"I wish. Li Luozhi doesn't even talk to me."
"So it's a one-sided crush, huh?"
Huang Yifan couldn't help but laugh. This guy… was already into girls in junior high. But thinking about it, it made sense. They were already in the third year, not too young and not too old, right in that adolescent phase. Having feelings like that was normal. Come to think of it, in his previous life, Huang Yifan had also fantasized about a girl in middle school.
"But hey, Yu Bin, didn't Sun Jin and Wu Haihua say you were loaded? If you've got that much money, how come you still can't win over Li Luozhi?"
"What good is money? Li Luozhi doesn't care about that."
"Damn, even money doesn't work."
Cue the tears.
Girls at this age really were pretty pure. Sometimes, money just didn't matter.
But in a few years? That might be a different story.
"Huang Yifan, what do you think I should do to win over Li Luozhi?"
"How would I know? If nothing else works, just go all in."
"Damn, Huang Yifan, didn't expect you to be such a thug. I wouldn't dare try that. If my mom found out, she'd beat me to death. Even if she didn't, I think… that's illegal, right?"
"You already know, so why ask? If she doesn't like you, just give it up."
"But I really like her. I'd give her everything I have."
"Alright, alright. Let's talk about this tomorrow. Time to sleep."
Not wanting to keep messing around, Huang Yifan tried to go to sleep.
But Yu Bin just wouldn't let it go. "Bro, help me out. Give me some ideas."
"Come on, just do me this one favor."
"If you don't help me, I'm going to keep talking all night."
Huang Yifan ignored him and eventually drifted off.
He was sleeping soundly when suddenly something woke him up, and then he heard a voice in his ear.
"Huang Yifan, how do I win over Li Luozhi?"
That voice in the middle of the night nearly scared Huang Yifan to death. "Damn it, Yu Bin, can you just let me sleep?"
He was furious, half tempted to kick the guy out of bed.
"Big bro, don't be mad, don't be mad. I really have no one else to turn to. I know you're a genius, your acting during the day could win an Oscar, but my sharp eyes saw right through it. Bro, help me out. If you help me win over Li Luozhi, I'll treat you like my big brother forever. I'll do anything for you."
"This kid's sharper than I thought."
Huang Yifan felt like coughing up blood. He didn't expect the nonsense he'd spewed during the day to get seen through by this guy.
But as for helping him chase girls? Huang Yifan wasn't about to agree to that.
He was still single himself.
Still, he was too tired to argue, so he said, "Fine, fine, let me sleep first. Tomorrow, after the finals, I'll give you an idea. Guaranteed to help you win her over."
"Really?"
"I swear."
"Alright, bro. Sleep tight. I won't bother you anymore."
With Huang Yifan agreeing, Yu Bin finally quieted down. Only then could Huang Yifan sleep in peace.
The next day, Huang Yifan and the others headed to the county's Wenhua Hall again.
"Bro, did you come up with an idea yet?"
After breakfast, Yu Bin quietly asked Huang Yifan.
"Dude, the finals are about to start. You think I've got time to help you chase girls right now?"
"Okay, but after the finals, you've got to help me, alright?"
Shaking his head helplessly, Huang Yifan, along with Jiang Weiwei and Li Luozhi, entered the finals venue.
After a whole day of competition yesterday, the original 120 contestants had been narrowed down to just 30.
Today was the final day. Among these 30, the ultimate champion would be crowned.
Unlike the first day, the final round was just a written test, simple on the surface.
Huang Yifan found it odd at first, but once he saw the test paper, he realized this exam was anything but ordinary.
Sure, it looked like a traditional written test, but the content was totally different from regular exams. For example, one question looked like a Chinese language question, but it was actually a math problem.
It read: "One hundred buns, one hundred monks. Big monks get three each, small monks share one. How many big and small monks are there?"
This question came from a Ming dynasty mathematician. It wasn't particularly difficult, but the twist was that it was written in classical Chinese. If you couldn't understand the language, even a math genius wouldn't be able to solve it.
On top of odd questions like this, the test also assessed calligraphy and even included a section on drawing.
The final essay wasn't a simple narrative or descriptive piece, but an argumentative essay that tested deep foundational skills.
Of course, for Huang Yifan, it was all a breeze. He picked up his pen and got to work.
…
Shanghai, Lingdian Editorial Office. Time: 9:00 AM.
"Everyone, let's begin the meeting."
Editor-in-chief 567 rubbed his eyes and looked around at the thirty-plus editors gathered in the room.
"You're all elites in online literature, and I know each of you has your own ideas. At Lingdian, we've always turned those ideas into experience, whether it's signing new books, discovering new authors, training top-tier writers, or guiding novel genres. But now, all of that is being challenged. Our hard-earned experience and writing insights have been upended. A novel we all thought was just another noob-style book has unexpectedly become the hottest topic recently."
"I'm sure I don't need to name it, you all know which novel I'm talking about. Today, we'll take a close look at this book, and its author. What exactly did he do that was so groundbreaking?"
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