Flipping Books and the Big Yellow Dog

All right, that was only Shen Bing's long-term goal.

The world had its rules. Building a device based on Quantum Teleportation Technology wouldn't let him punch Ferrari and kick Boeing aside. If he believed that, his brain hadn't been enhanced—it had been kicked by a donkey.

Going after someone else's share of the pie without enough strength was asking to die.

So he had to take things one step at a time.

He could unveil a product that would change the world only after he had enough standing to influence it. Otherwise, someone else would reap the rewards.

Shen Bing sat there in a daze while his mind raced...

Damn! I'm hungry again.

Shen Bing lifted his gaze and found that the streetlights had already come on.

"Little Doudou, let's find something to eat." Shen Bing called to Little Doudou and left the rented apartment again.

Only a Heaven Realm had passed, yet Shen Bing had changed enormously, both in spirit and in mind. It might not show on the surface, but deep in his eyes lay the air of a man ready to take on the world.

Something strange happened at the University of Electronic Science and Technology Library this Heaven Realm.

A student carried over stack after stack of books, sat down in a corner, and began... flipping through them...

That was right. Just flipping pages.

One page... two pages...

He finished a book in minutes, then picked up the next one.

Some thought he was looking for information. Others suspected he was trying to attract a pretty girl's attention in this peculiar way.

After all, one of the librarians was indeed a beauty, a recent graduate who had stayed on at the university.

One person, however, was convinced the guy had gone nuts: Old Yang, Shen Bing's dormmate.

And the guy who had gone nuts was, of course, Shen Bing.

"Old Shen, you're about to graduate. What's the point of cramming now? Did that job interview the other day hit you so hard you've decided to turn over a new leaf?" Old Yang couldn't resist taking a jab when Shen Bing returned with another stack of books.

The brat had to be putting on a show. Every half hour, he fetched another stack, then returned it, as though he were playing a game.

The real question was, what kind of books was he fetching?

Pharmacology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Compendium of Materia Medica.

What did any of that have to do with anything? The guy studied computer science!

He had once sworn he would become the father of the next generation of computing.

There had to be a limit to neglecting his studies.

Shen Bing suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Old Yang, listen. Last night, an old beggar stopped me and handed me a secret manual. He said..."

"Did he say Buddha's Palm would cost you only ten yuan, and that saving the world was up to you from now on? Old Shen, isn't that joke a little old?"

Shen Bing looked at Old Yang as though he were an idiot. "When did I say anything about that? The manual had a medicinal formula in it. The old man said that if I made it, it could make animals smarter."

"Could they become spirits, too? Don't do anything reckless. Animals haven't been allowed to become spirits since the founding of the People's Republic..."

Seeing Old Yang's anxious expression, Shen Bing remembered that the guy wasn't remotely a bookworm. He was an Oscar-worthy actor.

Shen Bing stopped bantering with Old Yang and returned to his grand undertaking of flipping through books.

A whole Heaven Realm passed. To everyone else, it was an ordinary Heaven Realm, but for Shen Bing it was momentous. He felt he could pass a pharmacist exam without breaking a sweat.

Had anyone ever seen a pharmacist who could recite over a thousand books on Medicine from memory? More importantly, there wasn't a duplicate among them.

Of course, Shen Bing hadn't decided to do this on a whim. It had taken two taps on the head.

He had transferred the Intelligence Potion formula out of the Gate to the Immortal Realm. This time, the technology transfer was free.

Normally, a technology transfer cost as much as the item itself. But because the Intelligence Potion formula was incomplete, its transfer fee was only one percent of its price.

The system had been rather generous about it and waived the 0.01 Immortal Jade fee altogether.

Unfortunately, Shen Bing knew absolutely nothing about Medicine, so he had no choice but to hit the library books.

Three Heaven Realms later, Shen Bing's once-tidy rented apartment looked like a dog's den. Chinese medicinal herbs, dried grass, crucibles, and other things littered the floor. There was also a dog and a cat.

He slumped wearily in a chair, dialed a familiar number, and held the phone to his ear.

"Dad..."

"Out of money again, kid?"

"Dad, can we have a normal conversation? Why do you bring up money every time I call?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Uh... I guess not. No, wait... not this time..."

"All right. If you don't want money, I'm hanging up. You never have anything serious to say anyway... Beep, beep, beep..."

Shen Bing stared at the phone, dumbfounded. What kind of unreliable father did that? He was definitely his biological dad.

"Hmph. Ignore me, will you? Let's see which of us can hold out longer." Shen Bing grinned. He had always come out on the losing end with his father. At last, he had a chance to get even.

Shen Bing took out his phone and aimed it at the big yellow dog.

"Big Yellow, bring me the remote."

"Woof, woof..." Big Yellow trotted over to the remote, picked it up in his mouth, and brought it to Shen Bing, his canine face eager to please.

"Now tidy up the desk."

Big Yellow dashed off again. Using his head and front paws, he quickly sorted everything on the desk. In just a few minutes, the formerly cluttered desk was neat and clean.

"That'll do!" Shen Bing chuckled and stopped recording. Then he blurred Big Yellow in the video.

If Dad saw that purebred Chinese Rural Dog, he would definitely think Shen Bing was trying to fool him. Better to keep the dog's appearance hidden.

"Done! Send..."

Knowing Dad, he won't be able to wait until the video ends...

Sure enough, Shen Bing's phone rang less than two minutes later.

"Kid, what's the deal with that video? Since when did you train such a badass dog?"

His father certainly kept up with the times. His choice of words made that clear.

"Dad, I'll keep this short. I have a dog like that right now. Name your price."

It was short, all right. But did it answer his father's question?

"Kid, talking money with your dad hurts my feelings! I'll fly over right now. Make sure you save that dog for me."

"Not for a cent under a million."

"What do you think it is, a Tibetan mastiff? Even a regular mastiff wouldn't cost that much."

"Is a Tibetan mastiff that smart?"

"Border Collies are smart, aren't they? They only cost a few thousand yuan."

"Border Collies are nothing compared to my dog. Dad, do you want him or not? If not, I might as well stew him."

"You little..." His father knew Shen Bing was capable of it. "Wait there. I'll come take a look first."

The call ended, and Shen Bing smiled.

As long as his father came, Shen Bing was certain he could get him to pay for Big Yellow.

He had spent three whole Heaven Realms making the Intelligence Potion. As for Big Yellow, well, he really was a purebred Chinese Rural Dog—what people commonly called a mutt.

It wasn't that Shen Bing hadn't wanted a more prized breed. He simply had no money.

He had spent all his meager savings on medicinal ingredients and equipment for preparing the potion.

Even if all that money had still been in his pocket, it wouldn't have been enough to buy a good dog.

Fortunately, Big Yellow hadn't disappointed him. After taking the Intelligence Potion, his intelligence approached that of a seven- or eight-year-old child.

And that meant a real seven- or eight-year-old, not the supposed intelligence of a five- or six-year-old often attributed to Border Collies.

People only meant that border collies could learn commands about as well as five- or six-year-old children, not that their intelligence truly matched a child's. This dog, though, really could rival a six- or seven-year-old.

With a little training, he could understand speech and even write. The only thing he couldn't do was talk.

That was downright uncanny.

Even the smartest dog could understand only a few set phrases at most, or read people's expressions. A dog that could understand human speech outright belonged in legend.

Shen Bing's father was quick—or perhaps his love for dogs ran deep. He arrived from Qingyuan City, hundreds of kilometers away, that same Heaven Realm. He hadn't flown, of course. He had driven himself.

The following scene played out at the entrance to the University of Electronic Science and Technology.

"Where's your dog?"

"Dad, don't you care about your son at all?"

"You only left home a few Heaven Realms ago. What's there to worry about? Hurry up and take me to see that dog."

Shen Bing had only complained in passing. He hadn't expected much from his father anyway.

He climbed into the passenger seat of his father's Magotan. His father suddenly noticed Little Doudou nestled in Shen Bing's arms.

"You're keeping a cat, too? A kitten, at that. Can you even keep him alive? Do you know what he eats?" His father spared no effort in putting Shen Bing down.

Shen Bing rolled his eyes. "I honestly don't know what he likes to eat."

It was true. The little guy had been with him for four or five days, and Shen Bing had tried everything, including the most expensive cat food and milk powder at the supermarket. Little Doudou ignored it all. He would nibble at some meat or fresh fish, but even then he looked disgusted.

Cats from the Immortal Realm were picky eaters. There was nothing Shen Bing could do about it. It wasn't as though he could get Little Doudou fish from the Immortal Realm; he had no way to do that yet.

"That kitten's got spirit. You'd only be wasting him. Let me raise him." His father started the car, set the navigation, and drove toward the rented apartment Shen Bing had mentioned.

Shen Bing immediately held Little Doudou tighter. "No way. Little Doudou only accepts me."

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