"Should I give it a try..."
At the thought of making money, Xia Xu somehow found himself thinking of Xue Mingjie, the noodle shop owner he had just met.
A three-star talent might not measure up to Tang Youxin's five stars, but it certainly wasn't something everyone had.
He hadn't been idle earlier. He had checked quite a few people's attributes, and almost all their talents were only one star or even "none." The noodle shop owner was the only one with a three-star talent.
More importantly, that talent was called "gambling."
Tang Youxin's five-star programming talent might be a higher grade, but under the Xia Kingdom's education system, middle and high school students mostly studied Chinese, math, foreign languages, physics, and chemistry. Schools practically wanted to commandeer every scheduled music and PE class, let alone let students learn anything outside the curriculum.
Talent was just talent. However gifted someone was, it was damn useless if they had never studied the subject or even encountered it. Tang Youxin probably wouldn't get a chance to try programming until university.
Besides, people's lives could take any number of turns. There was no guarantee she would major in programming. Su Yu, for instance, had a two-star talent for literature, yet wasn't his fate potential still "mediocre doctor"?
Given Tang Youxin's circumstances, this five-star "computer genius" was probably still a complete computer novice who couldn't even figure out how to turn one on.
But "gambling" was different. With the way people in the Xia Kingdom lived, playing mahjong or cards for fun was perfectly normal. It would be practically impossible not to develop that talent.
That was why Xia Xu could be almost certain that Xue Mingjie was an excellent card player.
And as a supporting character in "The Dying Man," he had to have certain distinguishing traits or serve some purpose. Once his gambling talent was taken into account, it wasn't hard to guess that the plot would involve gambling.
That was something Xia Xu could exploit. A "script" was bound to have its own inevitable momentum. If Xue Mingjie opposed the protagonist in a gambling scene, he would almost certainly lose everything. If he worked with the protagonist, they would most likely win all the way through or turn the tables against the odds.
Xia Xu didn't know exactly what the plot would be, but if the attribute panel could show him a supporting character's fate, it should also show him the protagonist's. As long as he found the protagonist, he could pick up a few scraps while the other guy feasted.
"There's no harm in checking things out first..."
After turning it over in his head, Xia Xu couldn't help feeling tempted.
There was certainly nothing wrong with watching from a distance first and identifying the protagonist.
Whether in novels, anime, movies, or TV dramas, plots followed recognizable patterns, sometimes even set formulas. Crime thrillers, disaster movies, superhero movies-each had its own central theme, be it justice prevailing or saving the world.
There were patterns in the details, too. Smoke meant no damage, falling off a cliff didn't mean death, and anyone who promised to go home and get married after a battle was doomed...
As the story gradually unfolded, the clues would let him work out its general direction. It wouldn't be too late to decide then.
"Xue Mingjie is my way in if I want to find the protagonist and the other supporting characters. If he's involved in the plot, he's bound to cross paths with them. I can keep an eye on him during breaks and after school..."
Xia Xu thought as he walked back to his classroom.
School rules required everyone to put their heads down on their desks and nap during the lunch break, so the campus was practically deserted, utterly quiet.
Faint footsteps suddenly sounded behind him. Tang Youxin had caught up with quick little steps.
"I... I know you were really just trying to treat me to lunch. Thank you."
Tang Youxin had been about to run straight past him, but she stopped as though she had finally worked up the courage and shyly thanked him before dashing into the classroom.
Almost instinctively, Xia Xu used the Inspection Spell on her retreating figure.
[Affection]: 60
"Why does this feel like I'm playing a dating sim? And is affection really this easy to raise?"
Xia Xu wore a strange expression.
Her affection had only been ten points before, but now it had shot up by fifty. If it was scored out of a hundred, he had already reached a passing grade.
Hadn't he mostly been snapping at her, aside from buying her a bowl of noodles? Even eating the noodles had practically been forced on her.
How the hell did that raise her affection, and by so much? Did this innocent little flower have some unusual preferences?
"Hey, hey, hey, what were you and Tang Youxin doing? I heard you dragged her off to have lunch with you!"
As soon as Xia Xu returned to his seat in the classroom, his deskmate Ma Bing lost all trace of sleepiness and started fishing for gossip. He even gave him a thumbs-up. "I never knew you were this bold, bro. You're an example to us all!"
Xia Xu merely rolled his eyes, as though he couldn't be bothered to respond.
That did nothing to dampen Ma Bing's appetite for gossip. "But seriously, why did you go for a clam like Tang Youxin? Our class monitor spends all day watching those domineering CEO soap operas. If I had your guts, I'd go straight for her."
Their class monitor was a fairly pretty girl, too. More importantly, she was outgoing and knew how to dress up. Although they didn't actually rank class beauties and school beauties like in novels and movies, plenty of boys in their class considered her their dream girl.
Unfortunately, most people their age still limited themselves to talking big in private and nursing secret crushes. The genuine warriors who dared to act were few and far between. That was why Ma Bing was so excited and eager for gossip: there was both the thrill of breaking a taboo and the feeling of living vicariously through Xia Xu.
"The key part of 'domineering CEO' is 'CEO,' not 'domineering.' If you're broke and boss girls around, they'll just call you an insensitive idiot and a nutcase. Go back to sleep. You can have anything in your dreams."
Somewhat speechless, Xia Xu corrected the horny young teen's misunderstanding.
Of course, there was another enormous mistake he didn't point out.
A mere class beauty was no match for Tang Youxin, an innocent little flower with breathtaking beauty.
However skilled the class monitor was with makeup, she would at best be on the level of some online influencer or celebrity. Passing up this hidden gem of an innocent little flower to chase a class beauty would truly be throwing away a fortune for loose change. He'd have to be out of his mind.
Ignoring the overexcited adolescent Ma Bing, Xia Xu rested his head on his desk to recharge and dutifully finished his midday nap. Then, during a break between classes, he ran to the school gates to keep watch over Xue Mingjie's noodle shop.
It wasn't mealtime, so the already struggling noodle shop was even quieter. Checking the attribute panels of everyone who came and went took hardly any effort.
Whether it was pure coincidence or Tang Youxin's husband-blessing fate at work, Xia Xu unexpectedly gained something from those scant ten minutes. He had only intended to start watching during his free time and hadn't expected results anytime soon.
[Name]: Yao Dawu [Life level]: 1 [Fate potential]: [Supporting character: "The Dying Man"] [Talent potential]: Gambling (3 stars) [Special]: None [Obsession]: This time, I'm damn well going to make him taste what it's like to lose everything. [Affection]: 0
[Name]: Zhu Guan [Life level]: 1 [Fate potential]: [Supporting character: "The Dying Man"] [Talent potential]: Gambling (2 stars)
[Name]: Gao Shi... [Name]: Shao Fu...
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