On his second day back in Spring City, Cheng Che treated everyone to a meal at his home.
Guo Xin, Lin Xiao, Zhou Mingxuan, and Su Qingyue, four people.
He originally wanted to meet outside, but Guo Xin said on the phone, "Are you crazy? If you go out to eat now, you'll be trending on social media before you even finish your meal." Cheng Che thought about it and realized it made sense, so he asked Jiang Xue to buy more groceries so they could eat at home.
That afternoon, the four people arrived one after another.
Guo Xin was the first to arrive. As soon as she entered, she greeted everyone with "Hello, Auntie," and then casually lay down on the sofa as if she were at home.
Lin Xiao and Zhou Mingxuan arrived one after the other. Zhou Mingxuan brought a box of fruit, Lin Xiao brought a box of pastries.
Su Qingyue arrived last, carrying a bag of fresh flower cakes from a well-established shop on Spring City Old Street, saying she "bought them on the way."
Cheng Che glanced at her as he accepted the flower cake.
Su Qingyue wore a white down jacket, her hair was loose, and she wore light makeup. It was clear that she had taken care of her appearance, but it didn't seem deliberate.
She smiled at him and said, "You've lost weight," before Jiang Xue pulled her aside to talk to her.
The meal was quite lively.
Guo Xin talked the most, recounting all his embarrassing moments from university.
Lin Xiao was relatively quiet, but her occasional interjections always managed to elicit laughter. Zhou Mingxuan was in charge of eating, his mouth never stopping the entire time.
Su Qingyue sat opposite Cheng Che, not saying much, but every time Cheng Che looked up, he met her gaze.
She didn't flinch, just looked at him, smiled, and then lowered her head to continue eating.
After dinner, Guo Xin and Zhou Mingxuan played video games in the living room while Lin Xiao watched.
Cheng Che went to the kitchen to help Jiang Xue tidy up, and Su Qingyue followed him in.
"I'll wash the dishes for you," she said.
Jiang Xue smiled and pushed her outside, saying, "No need, no need, you're a guest, please have a seat."
Su Qingyue didn't leave; she picked up a rag and started wiping the stove.
Jiang Xue glanced at her, but didn't stop her, and turned back to continue washing the dishes.
Cheng Che stood to the side, watching Su Qingyue wipe the stove from behind.
She worked very carefully, scrubbing each tile meticulously. When she reached Cheng Che, she looked up at him.
"Are you free tomorrow?" she asked.
"There should be."
"How about we go for a walk? I know a place where there aren't many people."
Before Cheng Che could answer, a notification popped up on the system panel.
[Binding target detected: Su Qingyue. Appearance: 90. Intimacy: 80. Bind?]
Cheng Che was taken aback.
He stared at the number on the panel, mentally processing it.
eighty.
He hadn't triggered the [ Red Sleeves Add Fragrance ] event before, assuming that Su Qingyue only had feelings for him as a friend.
The last time they went to Baiwang Mountain together, he gave her a four-leaf clover pendant. She accepted it and smiled happily, but didn't say anything more.
He thought Su Qingyue had no feelings for him, and he thought he was just imagining things.
It turns out the intimacy level wasn't high enough.
He clicked "bind".
[Binding successful. Gained buffs: Dynamic Luck, White Moonlight, Burst of Inspiration.]
He already had [ Dynamic Luck ], and after stacking it, it became [ Little Luck ], with the lower limit increasing from 1 point to 3 points.
[ White Moonlight: Possesses a gentle aura when facing the opposite sex, slightly increasing initial favorability. Effect is influenced by charm level.]
This is good; it reduces the sense of distance and makes him easier to approach.
But what concerned him most was the third one.
[ Burst of Inspiration: Active Buff. Upon activation, the host's divergent thinking speed doubles, the success rate of unconventional associations is greatly increased, and the efficiency of cross-branch knowledge connection skyrockets, lasting 30 minutes. Cooldown: 365 days. Effect is affected by Intelligence stat.]
Active buff.
A full year of cooling-off period.
He glanced at Su Qingyue. She was wiping the stove with her head down and didn't notice his expression.
"Okay," he said. "What time tomorrow?"
Su Qingyue looked up, her eyes brightening. "I'll be waiting for you at the flower cake shop on the old street at ten o'clock this morning."
"OK."
The following evening, " Walking the Flower Road Together " aired.
Cheng Che didn't watch the live stream; he knew he would only feel awkward if he did.
But he could feel the buzz. His phone had been ringing non-stop since 8 p. m. Guo Xin sent seventeen voice messages, each one shouting, "You're trending!" Lin Xiao sent a "Congratulations!" and Zhou Mingxuan sent a screenshot of the trending topics list, showing that three of the top ten entries were related to him.
On the morning of the third day, when Cheng Che woke up, he found that things were bigger than he had imagined.
He had originally planned to go find Su Qingyue, but when he opened his phone, he saw a message from Guo Xin sent at 2 a. m.: "Don't go out, there are people downstairs at your place."
He walked to the window and glanced out.
Two cars were parked at the entrance of the residential compound, and several young women were standing next to the security guard booth.
Outside the wall not far away, there were several people holding up their phones.
Cheng Che drew the curtains.
He sent Su Qingyue a message: "Can't go out today."
Su Qingyue replied quickly, "I guessed it. It's okay, next time."
Then she sent another message: "Get some rest."
Cheng Che stared at those four words for a second, then replied with a "Okay".
He sat on the bed, thought for a moment, and then made a phone call to Cheng Jianguo.
"Dad, I want to go back to the countryside for a few days."
"Back to Pond Village?"
"Hmm. I'll visit my grandparents and write something while I'm at it."
Cheng Jianguo didn't ask any further questions, simply saying, "Then I'll take you."
"No need, I'll drive myself."
That afternoon, Cheng Che drove the Camry back to the countryside.
On both sides of the road are vast fields, with only withered yellow rice stubble remaining in the winter, and the distant mountains are shrouded in a thin mist.
When he drove to the village entrance, he saw his grandfather Cheng Qingshan, squatting in front of his house smoking.
Cheng Che parked the car on the side of the road, rolled down the window, and called out, "Grandpa."
Cheng Qingshan looked up, paused for a moment, and then smiled.
You're back?
"Um."
Cheng Qingshan stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and called out into the yard, "Old woman, grandson's back."
Grandma Zhou Lan walked briskly out of the yard, and when she saw Cheng Che get out of the car, all the wrinkles on her face smoothed out.
She walked over, took Cheng Che's hand, looked him up and down, and muttered, "You've lost weight, you've lost weight again."
Cheng Che smiled and let her look at him.
He spent the whole day at his grandparents' house.
In the morning, I helped chop some firewood. At noon, I ate fried rice with cured pork made by my grandma. In the afternoon, I accompanied my grandpa to bask in the sun in the yard and listened to him tell me about the recent events in the village.
Whose son got married? Whose land was rented out? The road at the village entrance is going to be repaired next year.
Cheng Che listened, occasionally offering a word or two in response.
In the evening, he returned to his room.
This is the room he lived in when he was a child; he rarely came back after he went to high school.
The room wasn't big; it contained a bed, a table, and an old bookcase. The window faced south, offering a view of the persimmon tree in the yard.
He closed the doors and windows, drew the curtains, and then sat down at the table.
Take a deep breath.
Exciting! [ Burst of Inspiration!]
In an instant--
The Art of the Brain, Flash of Inspiration Comprehension by Analogy -Disciplinary Insight, Rigorous Thinking, Total Concentration are all activated simultaneously!
He felt something in his mind being opened up.
It felt like being in a pitch-black room when suddenly all the lights come on.
All the furniture, decorations, and dust in the corners were clearly visible.
[ By Comprehension by Analogy ] I started to tremble.
The textbooks he had studied before.
The knowledge points of three branches—p-advanced number theory, complex analytic potential theory, and algebraic number height theory—began to automatically arrange, combine, and connect in his mind.
Thin lines appear between what were originally seemingly unrelated theorems.
He followed the lines and they became thicker and clearer.
He picked up his pen and opened his notebook.
Then he reached into his system inventory and found the item.
[ Scratch Paper ].
He clicked "use".
The Scratch Paper disappeared.
At the same time, a piece of paper appeared in his mind.
It's huge; you can't see the edges.
The paper was blank, but when he began to think, his thoughts would transform into symbols and automatically arrange themselves on the paper.
He closed his eyes.
Polynomials with integer coefficients.
root.
Unit circle.
A thought popped into my head: what would happen if all the roots fell near the unit circle?
He began to deduce.