Chapter 18: Chem-Bio Lv1, Acquired Entry: Deep Learning
It was Chen Lu's first time being alone with a boy in such a confined space; she could even feel his breath.
Perhaps it was the awkward atmosphere, or perhaps the car was too warm, but her cheeks were flushed, and tiny beads of sweat dotted her forehead. She wanted to pull a tissue from her pocket to wipe her face but worried her movements might brush against Xu Ming.
She could only sit up straight and still.
Originally, she had planned to walk home, but at the school gate, she was stopped and questioned by this old driver.
That's when they started discussing the fare.
Coincidentally, she met Xu Ming, and the two shared a ride.
Dongping No. 1 High School and Xinhua Bookstore, although not on the same road, weren't too far apart.
A moment later, they finally reached their destination.
"Master, you can stop here," Chen Lu called out crisply, looking at the building outside.
"Alrighty!"
Once the car came to a steady stop, Xu Ming and Chen Lu got out together. He specifically made space for her to retrieve her quilt.
And upon seeing her reach for money, he quickly spoke up.
"I'll pay for both now, you can just give me your share during evening self-study," he said. He understood Chen Lu's personality somewhat and didn't presumptuously offer to pay her share of the fare entirely.
Chen Lu's hand froze. "Then I'll give it to you in class."
After saying that, she carefully picked up her quilt and crossed to the other side of the road.
Xu Ming glanced at her retreating figure, then withdrew his gaze, re-entered the car, and pulled up his shirt to vigorously wipe his face.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
"It's really hot today."
...
The driver, an older man, took the five yuan Xu Ming handed him, then executed a swift U-turn on the spot and sped off towards Dongping No. 1 High School without delay.
It was currently the peak time for students to be out, and if he hurried, he could still pick up another fare.
Xu Ming first returned to his rented room, dropped off his belongings, then went downstairs to his family's handmade Wonton Shop.
It was still the wontons and spicy dried tofu slices that his mother made.
In the afternoon, he was, once again, the first to enter the classroom. He habitually pulled out his Biology Five Years' Gaokao, Three Years' Mock Exams and continued reviewing and doing exercises from where he'd left off at noon.
Just as he thought he could enjoy this quiet time alone, a figure suddenly strode in from outside.
Crucially, it wasn't Chen Lu, but his deskmate, Qian Hong.
This greatly surprised him.
"I've never seen you enter the class at this time. What's the program today? Have all the internet cafes in the county gone out of business?" Xu Ming asked with a smile, looking up at Qian Hong.
"Don't even mention it!"
"I went to two internet cafes, and they were all fully booked."
Qian Hong sat down and grumbled unhappily, "In the end, I had to ask a buddy from the next class to log into QQ for me."
"I knew you'd definitely be in the classroom, so I just came over to rest for a bit."
Listening to Qian Hong's words, Xu Ming didn't know what to say.
Clearly, his deskmate had an agreement with his online girlfriend to chat together every Sunday afternoon, so whether he played games or not didn't matter, but QQ absolutely had to be online.
However, although Qian Hong said he was just coming to rest, under Xu Ming's subtle influence, he still picked up a book to read.
Just like that.
After about half an hour, Chen Lu, having changed her clothes, finally arrived in the classroom.
Xu Ming subconsciously glanced over. Her hair wasn't completely dry yet, cascading over her shoulders and accentuating her delicate face. Even he couldn't help but be struck by her beauty.
He could imagine how stunning she would be once she entered university.
Of course, thoughts were just thoughts; he had no other intentions. After all, in his plans, studying was the most important thing.
Chen Lu had originally intended to return the money to Xu Ming first, but she clearly hadn't anticipated Qian Hong being in the classroom.
As if by some strange impulse, she went directly back to her own seat.
After putting her things away, she stood up again, walked to his desk, and held out several coins.
"Xu Ming, thank you for lunch. Here's the money," Chen Lu softly expressed her thanks.
Xu Ming took the money and said, "You're welcome."
He simply nodded in response with three words, and after that, the two returned to their respective studies, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Qian Hong, on the other hand, kept his gaze moving back and forth between the two, a curious expression appearing on his face.
"Why is Chen Lu giving you money?" he quietly asked Xu Ming.
Xu Ming didn't even lift his head, casually replying, "We shared a tricycle ride back; that's her share of the fare."
"So that's it! I almost thought that you drawing a line with Zhang Yingxin meant you wanted to pursue Chen Lu."
"If you don't want your brain, you can donate it," Xu Ming retorted, rolling his eyes.
"I'm conducting a logical analysis! To pursue a good student like Chen Lu, you definitely can't be too bad yourself," Qian Hong argued, a little unconvinced.
Xu Ming, of course, couldn't be bothered to argue such a topic with him. Seeing that Chen Lu in front of them didn't seem to notice, he continued to pour his energy into the Biology Five Years' Gaokao, Three Years' Mock Exams textbook. He was still aiming to successfully raise Chem-Bio to Level 1 Discipline before the end of the evening self-study session.
There were no teachers supervising the three evening self-study sessions on Sunday.
Even the Homeroom Teacher rarely made an appearance.
Only the class monitor, Li Wenhui, sat at the podium, doing exercises while maintaining discipline in the classroom.
Meanwhile, Xu Ming, who hadn't stood up or moved for three hours, remained focused on reviewing Biology.
It wasn't until the end-of-class bell rang that a hint of delight finally appeared on his serious face.
—
【After diligent study, your [Biology] level has improved, gaining 2 Subject Experience.】
【After diligent study, your [Chem-Bio] Level has increased to Lv1.】
【You have acquired the Entry — [Deep Learning].】
【Entry: Deep Learning】
【Effect: You can enter a Deep Learning state once a day. While in this state, reading books allows for rapid memorization.】
"It finally reached Level 1 Discipline."
Facing the information prompts on the panel before him, Xu Ming controlled his emotions and immediately examined the effect of the new Entry.
"Deep Learning?"
Among the knowledge he possessed, the most familiar was the flow state, where one maintains a state of selfless focus to improve efficiency in performing a task or work.
He remembered that when he was diligently preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam in his previous life, he had specifically studied it for several days.
But unfortunately, he could never enter that state.
As for Deep Learning, in his view, it was similar to the flow state, allowing one to maintain high concentration while reading books.
Significantly increasing the speed of content memorization.
Ever since acquiring the Trait: Deep Sleep, he had been full of energy every day.
Compared to before, his memory had already improved significantly. If he were to enter the Deep Learning state again, his content memorization would undoubtedly reach a terrifying efficiency.
It would be like this: in the same amount of time, others might only read and remember half a book, while he would manage several.
His thoughts lingered there, and Xu Ming's heart stirred. He suddenly felt that reviewing the Chinese Language discipline had become incredibly simple.
Considering that entering this state would make him extremely focused and less susceptible to external distractions, and to avoid getting too engrossed and then being unable to return to his dorm, he decided to experience it tomorrow morning instead.
"I might as well go back and sleep early today."
He muttered to himself, then wasted no more time, quickly packed his things, stood up, and caught up with his deskmate Qian Hong, who was ahead of him.
(End of Chapter)