Before he knew it, the whole morning had passed, and Chen Zhao had finished the entire Math 63 book.
He'd run into maybe seven or eight problems he couldn't solve, but as soon as he looked at the answers, he understood them right away. He'd probably be able to work them out if he saw them again.
Chen Zhao put the book back on the shelf, dusted himself off, and headed to school. He planned to borrow a couple of his classmates' 63 books from the classroom that afternoon.
What? Buy one at the bookstore?
Not a chance!
He was broke! He had no money!
Getting things for free was the best!
Chen Zhao got along reasonably well with his classmates, so borrowing a workbook wasn't difficult. Before long, he'd borrowed a Physics 63 book and was reading it with his head down on his desk.
His deskmate, Xu Lanlan, noticed how diligently Chen Zhao was studying and felt a little spooked.
"Chen, why have you been studying like you're hopped up on something these past couple of days? Have you lost it? The road to heaven is open, but you won't take it—you'd rather row a boat through the sea of learning?"
Hearing Xu Lanlan's sarcastic jab, Chen Zhao sighed softly.
How could a sparrow understand the ambitions of a swan?
How could a dead-last student like her understand the joy of learning?
"I've got a new goal," Chen Zhao replied, his gaze resolute. "At the weekly test the day after tomorrow, I'm going to score higher than Ma Jianjun. I'm going to be the top student in the whole school!"
Xu Lanlan burst out laughing.
"You're ugly on the inside as well as the outside, but you sure have pretty dreams." Xu Lanlan covered her face, laughing. "If you got the highest score in the whole school, it'd mean our school had been hit by a nuclear bomb and you were the only one left—the one who skips class."
Chen Zhao shot his sharp-tongued deskmate a look, but didn't bother arguing. He returned to his voyage through the sea of learning.
Being top of the whole school wasn't that hard. Who did she think she was looking down on?
I'll show you when I take that test the day after tomorrow!
His deskmate's taunts only spurred Chen Zhao on. He studied all the way until evening study ended, then went home. By then, he'd finished the Physics, Chinese, and Chemistry 63 workbooks. If things went smoothly, he'd have enough time to get through the remaining subjects tomorrow.
He'd originally planned to finish all the 63 workbooks in a single day, but now he'd have to put it off by one more day.
His progress was a little slow, but as long as he finished before the weekly test, that was all that mattered.
If the other students had known what Chen Zhao was thinking, they would've been spitting blood!
A 63 workbook was dozens of pages thick, and an ordinary student would need several weeks to finish one. He could get through all of them in two days, and he still thought he was slow?!
When Chen Zhao got home, he was practically starving. As usual, he cooked up a pack of instant noodles and some frozen meatballs, then wolfed them down with an ice-cold cola.
He turned on the computer and got ready to go online.
Studying was one thing, but he couldn't give up making money through livestreaming.
He'd been reported so many times yesterday. Had there been any news?
......
Meanwhile, the gaming streamer Wolf Brother was livestreaming on Fighting Panda Live.
The game on his screen had reached the Final Circle.
Wearing a Ghillie Suit and carrying an M249, Wolf Brother lay in the grass, warily watching the barren land ahead.
"There's only one enemy left. He should be behind that tree up ahead," Wolf Brother explained to his viewers. "Let's keep our heads down. Staying alive is how we win!"
Suddenly, without any warning, the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner screen appeared!
Wolf Brother froze, then smiled. "Looks like the last enemy was hiding in the Blue Zone. He couldn't heal fast enough and got killed by the zone."
"Wolf Brother got the chicken dinner without firing a shot. That's it for tonight's stream!"
Wolf Brother left the match, only to notice that he had a message.
He opened it and saw a message from the game's official developer, Bluehole:
"After investigation, we found that the player Chen Zhao, whom you reported at 23:55 last night, was not cheating. Thank you for helping us monitor the platform's environment."
Wolf Brother was stunned. He blinked and read the message several times before he was sure the investigation had concluded that Chen Zhao hadn't been cheating.
He hadn't been cheating?
Those lightning-fast quick-scopes, those headshots with every shot—he hadn't been cheating?
Wolf Brother's first instinct was that the investigation had gotten it wrong. But then he thought it over. The game's official data was extremely detailed and precise. Bluehole had always cracked down hard on cheats. Players could be mistakenly banned despite not cheating, but cheaters never went unbanned.
So streamer Chen Zhao really hadn't been cheating.
As for why his aim was so good, perhaps he was a professional player using a smurf account to play public matches for fun. Wolf Brother had shared meals with all the domestic professional players, and none of them fit the bill. So Chen Zhao was probably a European or American pro who'd picked a Chinese name and happened to cross paths with him. The odds were slim, but it was possible.
Whatever the reason, Wolf Brother realized he'd wronged an innocent person.
"Everyone should be able to see this message on my computer screen. I reported streamer Chen Zhao for cheating last night, but the result says he wasn't cheating."
"Looks like I jumped to conclusions. I don't know if Chen Zhao watches my streams, but I want to apologize here. I'm really sorry—I acted too hastily. Tomorrow, I'll write up a formal apology and post it on my personal page, where I'll pin it for a week."
After that, Wolf Brother searched online for Chen Zhao's livestream to make sure it was the same Chen Zhao he'd run into the night before. He clicked into the stream and opened the donation page.
Then he sent five Heart of the Universe gifts in a row.
On Fighting Panda Live's gift price list, the Heart of the Universe sat at the top. It was the most expensive gift, worth 18,888 Panda Coins, or 1,888 yuan!
Wolf Brother had just sent five Hearts of the Universe, worth 9,440 yuan in total!
"I don't know streamer Chen personally, but the Heart of the Universe represents my heart. Consider it an apology. That's it for today's stream. Wolf Brother's going to bed now. Good night, everyone!"
With that, Wolf Brother ended the stream.
(Sorry, something came up and delayed me, so this update's a little late.)
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