Code Monkey

"Xia Xu, are you... are you really going to pay Uncle Yang eight thousand yuan?"

Even after Yang Bowen left, Tang Youxin still felt a little dazed.

That was a salary of eight thousand yuan, a number she normally would not even dare dream of.

Eight thousand a month meant over ninety thousand a year, almost a hundred thousand. That was so, so much money. Even her lifelong ambition probably amounted to no more than that.

Yet all that was actually the salary of a middle-aged man she had casually pulled through the door. Even more outrageous, the person paying him was her classmate-a classmate whose family was supposedly even worse off than hers.

It all felt as unreal as a dream. In fact, she had already pinched the tender flesh at her waist several times.

"Of course I am. Youxin, you really helped me out this time."

The lingering excitement was still plain on Xia Xu's face, and he could not resist taking the little flower's cheeks in his hands and kneading them.

Successfully talking an exceptional talent like Yang Bowen into working for him for just eight thousand yuan a month was far more thrilling than finding a bargain antique.

"Is Uncle Yang really that good?"

Tang Youxin shyly escaped Xia Xu's mischievous hands. Her little face was flushed, whether from his rubbing or her embarrassment, and she hurriedly changed the subject.

"Of course he is. Didn't I just say so? He's an absolute genius when it comes to detective work. Forget eight thousand a month-even hiring him for eighty thousand would be a steal."

The more Xia Xu looked at the little flower's expression, the more adorable he found her. His hands itched to tease her again, but remembering that they were not yet close enough for that, he restrained himself.

Seemingly noticing that Xia Xu was itching to get up to mischief again, Tang Youxin shyly retreated another half step. In the end, though, she could not suppress her curiosity. "But wasn't this your first time meeting Uncle Yang? Can you really tell that much just by observing him?"

"Didn't I tell you before? I'm the... which generation was it again? Anyway, I'm an heir to Ghost Valley Divination. I can tell fortunes. A quick calculation on my fingers tells me what talents and strengths people have."

Xia Xu told her the truth.

Unfortunately, she had not believed him last time, and naturally Tang Youxin dismissed it as nonsense this time too. His earlier explanation about "observation" was much more convincing.

"I'm being serious."

Tang Youxin's lips moved hesitantly. Several times, she seemed about to speak, only to stop. Finally, she could not help asking again, "You... you said at lunch that I was talented too. Can you tell me what talent I have? How did you spot it?"

Everyone wanted to become better. Xia Xu had sounded so convincing when speaking to Yang Bowen that a trace of curiosity and hope had involuntarily stirred in her heart.

Of course, it was mainly Xia Xu's decisive actions that made him credible. That was a salary of eight thousand yuan a month. Surely nobody would offer that much money just to fool someone as a joke?

For Xia Xu to do that, he naturally had to be completely confident in his judgment. In that case, perhaps what he had said at lunch was true too.

Clinging to that fragile hope, she looked anxiously at Xia Xu, her little hands already twisting the hem of her clothes without her noticing.

Faced with that expectant expression, even the most hard-hearted stickler for rules would probably have been willing to tell a kind lie.

And there was no need to lie.

"Of course I can. Everything I told you before was true, Youxin."

Xia Xu affectionately stroked the little flower's head. Waiting eagerly for his answer, she did not dodge-or rather, she was too anxiously awaiting the verdict to spare any attention for it.

Realizing that his mischievous hand had unconsciously reached out again, Xia Xu hastily withdrew it with a show of nonchalance. "Youxin, haven't you noticed that your logical thinking is actually excellent? And you get full marks in math every time."

Predicting an outcome from its causes might be difficult, but tracing the causes back from an outcome was easy. Just as he had done while persuading Yang Bowen, knowing their talents naturally allowed him to deduce certain distinctive traits in their everyday lives.

These were four- and five-star talents, after all. Their characteristics and advantages would be fairly pronounced in daily life. However, without exposure to the relevant professional skills, they often manifested only in scattered little details, making them difficult to notice or uncover.

"Logical thinking? Does that mean I'd make a good detective too?"

After hearing Xia Xu's explanation, Tang Youxin reflected on herself. Like Yang Bowen earlier, she found it very accurate, and her bright, dewy eyes shone a little more.

Thinking of how Xia Xu had opened a detective agency and recruited Uncle Yang, she felt everything had suddenly fallen into place. But then she became troubled again. "But what use is math? Do detectives need math too?"

"Who said anything about becoming a detective?"

Xia Xu tapped her forehead and said in exasperation, "Math is the foundation of all science. Every discipline needs it. Add your excellent logical thinking, and what suits you best is studying computing and becoming a programmer."

"Huh... a programmer? But I'm a girl. Becoming a programmer seems..."

Tang Youxin felt a little disappointed, and even more lost.

To be honest, she had barely used a computer growing up. Only after entering high school had she attended a couple of computer classes, and the teacher mostly just let them play around. After several lessons, the other students were happily playing little games, while she could do no more than turn the computer on and browse webpages.

Once they reached their second year of high school, the subject disappeared altogether. The computer teacher was even more sickly than the PE teacher, joining the music and art teachers on perpetual sick leave.

It could therefore be said that she had no foundation whatsoever in computing, nor had she developed any interest in it.

In fact, a look at her fate would reveal some signs of this. Although she had five-star programming talent, she did not actually have any fate potential related to becoming a programmer.

As Xia Xu understood his ability, fate potential should really be divided into two categories: [Fate] and [Potential].

The former truly described a person's destiny, much like fortune-telling. Examples included beauty that could topple kingdoms and husband-blessing, and perhaps others such as a doomed loner, a high-ranking dignitary, or someone born into royalty. The latter meant "having the potential to become XXX."

This potential did not necessarily correspond to a person's talents. It depended more on inclinations arising from personality, beliefs, opportunities, social standing, and other factors, as well as choices based on personal wishes. In most cases, it concerned occupations in various fields.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as thieves, criminals, and desperadoes, but to some extent those could also be classified as occupations.

Su Yu, the first person he had examined after awakening his ability, had two-star literature talent but no potential to become a literary master or anything similar. He had no medical talent, yet could become a mediocre doctor. That showed there was no direct connection between talent and potential. Talent might remain undeveloped, while someone without talent could still work hard and make up for their shortcomings through diligence.

Tang Youxin had no fate potential for becoming a programmer. That meant she essentially had no inclination or interest in that area, and her future was very unlikely to lead her down that path.

However, she did not seem to have any other "potential" either. Her kingdom-toppling beauty and husband-blessing were both merely aspects of fate.

That was rather peculiar. Other people had potential but no fate, while hers was exactly the reverse.

Xia Xu did have a few guesses about this. The first was that she would simply have no occupation. After all, she was a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms. Perhaps she would marry into a wealthy family and become a rich wife.

Becoming an ordinary housewife was possible too. In any case, he had yet to see [Housewife] as a fate potential. Besides, with her husband-blessing fate, whoever married her would probably prosper and become wealthy, allowing her to remain a rich lady.

The second possibility was that Tang Youxin simply had no particularly strong or obvious personal inclinations, or that she would enter some profession but perform so poorly that her potential failed to reach even the "one-star" level.

Taking Su Yu as a reference again, someone without talent could still become a doctor. That meant the absence of something from the status panel did not necessarily signify its absolute absence. Perhaps it simply failed to qualify for a star rating, much like the difference between second- or third-rate and not making the grade at all.

The final possibility was the worst, and the one Xia Xu least wanted to see-an early death.