Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 136: I won’t be modest about this kind of thing.

Li Zheng was sandwiched between his senior sister and brother, extremely anxious.

What’s there to calculate anyway?

The senior sister definitely deserved respect, not only could she guide his studies, but she could also boost his vitality during this time away from school.

On the other hand, his brother hadn’t had enough of Academic Fortune, which meant he couldn’t let him go either.

Watching their completely misaligned gazes, Li Zheng felt a headache coming on.

You people with such low emotional intelligence are so troublesome.

Fortunately, there was an excellent opportunity to shift their attention now.

"How about we go have a meal first?" Li Zheng tentatively looked at his senior sister.

"The cafeteria’s already closed, but it doesn’t matter..." Shen Yiyun chuckled, throwing off her white lab coat, "Come on, senior sister will take you to eat out."

"Alright, find a place that can issue receipts." Li Zheng also picked up his backpack.

"You don’t need to bring your backpack, we’ll come back after eating." Shen Yiyun pocketed her phone and waved her hand, saying, "Anyone who isn’t planning to come back, please carry your backpack with you."

Shi Yang sighed with a bitter expression, walking to the table to pick up his backpack.

This is probably what it means to

win the experiment,

but lose at life.

As he picked up his backpack, he couldn’t help but look towards the door.

Shen Yiyun was checking her watch, waiting for him to come out so she could lock the door.

Li Zheng stood by her side, squinting over with a half-smile.

Not a single person seemed to have any intention of inviting him to join them.

Senior sister and brother, both had abandoned him.

Shi Yang swallowed hard, hoisting the backpack onto his back, pulling the straps over his head forcefully.

Damn it, society is so cruel.

And what about that crap about ’the familiarity of having used the same piece of toilet paper’?

All bullshit.

This guy had calculated everything from the start, intending to get rid of me and monopolize senior sister.

Brotherhood is unreliable...

Just as Shi Yang was about to put his phone away, the screen suddenly flashed, revealing a message.

It was a private chat from the QQ group.

[Li Zheng: Do as I say.]

[Li Zheng: Immediately say the following to senior sister.]

[Li Zheng: "Senior sister, it’s just that I was lucky with the experiment today, I wouldn’t know how to do more difficult ones, and you definitely know more than I do. Can I follow you and learn for a couple more days? Plus, I got too focused on the experiment and delayed everyone’s lunch, so at the very least, let me treat you to a meal before I go."]

This speech, like a blazing sun, swept through Shi Yang’s cold heart.

Instantly igniting it.

Shi Yang’s eyes widened as he looked towards Li Zheng at the door.

Li Zheng, holding his phone, subtly nodded.

Brother!

My good brother, I misunderstood you!

That look was supposed to mean this.

Without giving it another thought, Shi Yang quickly pocketed his phone, strode to the door, and repeated the script Li Zheng had provided, word for word, his head down.

Shen Yiyun was also surprised.

She was aware that the words she had previously said, "I can’t teach you, just go," were indeed not very appropriate.

It was just that this little fatty was indeed too irritating to endure.

At this moment, seeing Shi Yang take the initiative to lower his head, Shen Yiyun casually waved it off as if it were nothing: "Oh my, I didn’t actually mean for you to leave, I just didn’t want to waste your time here, I didn’t want to hold you back from improving."

Shi Yang was quite straightforward, immediately nodding in acknowledgment: "It’s okay, you don’t need to teach me, just provide me with some more reagents, and I can improve by myself."

"..." A layer of frost once again covered Shen Yiyun’s face.

Even if you see me as a tool sister, is it necessary to say it out loud?

Li Zheng stood beside her, vigorously scratching his head, frustrated at Shi Yang’s improvisation.

Just follow what I said, don’t ad-lib.

"Let’s go, let’s eat first." Li Zheng quickly changed the subject, "Since Shi Yang is in such a good mood, let’s splurge on him."

"You shouldn’t let you guys pay, I’ll do it." Shen Yiyun locked the door with a very indifferent tone.

"I insist, it’s got to be me." Shi Yang made an earnest effort.

"That’s not quite right..." Shen Yiyun unenthusiastically began to refuse.

"Alright, enough said, Shi Yang is treating," Li Zheng issued the final decree, "and pack the dinner to bring back, too."

…

After confirming Shi Yang was treating, Shen Yiyun didn’t really have the heart to fleece him and just picked a cheap ramen restaurant. One bowl of noodles and three skewers of meat each was enough to settle the meal.

Li Zheng thought Shi Yang was just shy and slow to warm up, hoping he’d be able to strike up a conversation with his senior during the meal.

But this dude, as soon as he saw the ramen and lamb skewers, turned his face and grabbed two heads of garlic.

As a result, he spent the entire meal wrestling with the garlic and actually finished it all.

During the meal, he also conveniently packed up stir-fried dough slices and pulled noodles, various side dishes, for dinner.

Shi Yang was shy and kept silent throughout the meal, focusing on his garlic, but when it came time to pay, he took the initiative, even stuffing the receipt into Li Zheng’s hands.

It was truly pitiful.

Back at the Chemical Institute, Shen Yiyun had to retrieve some materials from the project lab and gave the keys to Li Zheng, telling them to practice freely and to be safe.

Shi Yang followed Li Zheng back to the teaching lab and took a seat by the window, basking in the afternoon Sun, before he dared to speak his mind.

"Brother..." Shi Yang looked at Li Zheng with grateful eyes, "your emotional intelligence is really high."

"Heh." Li Zheng casually ruffled his hair, "Indeed, I won’t be modest about this."

"You must have a lot of girlfriends, right?"

"Eh, not really, just the occasional exchange," Li Zheng waved his hand, "All for the sake of learning."

"Ah, stop playing," Shi Yang said eagerly, "Please teach me. When talking, I don’t even dare to look at girls. The prettier they are, the more flustered I get."

"Heh, what’s there to be flustered about? They’re just girls. I’ve never been flustered..." Li Zheng began, but then thought of certain people, and hastily added, "Actually, I do get flustered occasionally."

"The girls that even you get flustered around must be really pretty. You have to introduce me to them." Shi Yang was already letting his imagination run wild, "Anyway, I’m going to stick with you these days, so you’ve got to teach me more about emotional intelligence."

"Emotional intelligence, huh..." Li Zheng, resting his chin on his hand, said with some difficulty, "It’s 70% talent and 30% experience. Those who know it get it immediately, and it’s hard to convey if you don’t understand..."

"70% talent and 30% experience..." Shi Yang said fiercely, "Isn’t that, like, chemistry?"

"Yeah, roughly the same idea."

"Then I understand..." After thinking for a moment, Shi Yang perked up, "In that case, brother, over the next few days, I’ll do my best to teach you experiments, tell you all the tricks I know, and you take what you can from it. Please also try to talk more with our senior, so I can learn, and if possible, carve out a chance for me to have a chat too. Let’s get into real practice.

It’s a rare opportunity, at least let me grasp that 30% experience."

"What are you talking about." Li Zheng straightened his face, "Whether or not you teach me experiments, I don’t mind sharing some insights on emotional intelligence. We’ve used the same sheet of toilet paper, discussing and exchanging knowledge is right. There’s no need for this setup. You talk like that and I’ll get angry."

Shi Yang slapped his forehead, full of remorse, "Yeah... why am I so low... I also regret not meeting a brother sooner and wanting to improve together. Why does it sound so bad when I say it? It must be an emotional intelligence issue, right, an emotional intelligence issue."

"Brother Shi, don’t panic, just follow me and learn slowly over these next few days, starting with observing words and expressions. Don’t rush to do any fancy tricks."

After another ten minutes or so of conversation, it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, about time to get down to business.

Li Zheng got up and walked over to the experimental bench. He had been too busy watching Shi Yang and Shen Yiyun spar that he only now remembered to check the display of the electronic balance—

[2.31g]

If he remembered correctly, the theoretical yield was 2.53g.

That meant that Shi Yang’s yield was over 91%.

Exceeding the operational limit of this experimental environment.

Of course, this limit was just a rule of thumb, like "it’s very hard for humans to run 100 meters under 10 seconds."

And Shi Yang, it was as though he casually ran a 9.8 second sprint.

Seeing as Shen Yiyun, a professional track athlete, was bested by a wild child, it wasn’t too hard to understand the emotional blow.

"Impressive, Brother Shi..." Li Zheng sincerely admired the numbers, "With your skill, you really should go straight into a PhD-level laboratory."

"Eh, it’s all the same," Shi Yang, seeing the eager look on Li Zheng’s face, cheekily replied, "Looking at you, you want to give it a try, too, don’t you?"

"I do."

"Then let’s do it." Shi Yang immediately started to tidy up the workbench, "You don’t have to strictly follow my method. Just work step by step according to what you think is best. Don’t be afraid even if you make a mistake. You just do it, and we’ll discuss it after."

"How can I be so bold..." Li Zheng said, pursing his lips, "After all... we are... right?"

"What?" Shi Yang, clueless, "With our relationship, isn’t there anything we can’t say outright?"

"Then I’ll be frank." Li Zheng cleared his throat nervously, "After all, we are in competition, whether it’s in training or in the national competition. You helping me without holding back, I always feel a little awkward."

"Nonsense!" Shi Yang’s eyes widened in anger, cursing with a mouth full of garlic, "You know what I hate most? — In-fighting! There are fewer and fewer people studying chemistry, yet you press down your brothers to be kings among the short-sighted. What’s the point in that?"

"Brother Shi..."

"Shut up, listen to me." Shi Yang glared at the experimental bench, the garlic breath growing more intense.

"My most admired teacher once said—any competition is not within you, but outside you."

"What really matters is: how can we achieve higher academic levels than those outside?"

"If we simply snuff out our own, the whole field will end up ridiculed."

"The current atmosphere in some academic circles is just made up by a bunch of idiots who only know how to hold onto their meager results and oppress others."

"I’m here to stir the pot, once the shit has decomposed, the real deal floats to the surface."

"I don’t care who belongs to whom, anyone who likes chemistry is my brother, anyone who enjoys power struggles can get the hell out!"

Li Zheng watched the Academic Fortune bursting forth from Shi Yang’s eyes.

And the allicin.

He was fired up.

"Brother!" Li Zheng grabbed Shi Yang’s shoulder firmly, "From now on, my knowledge is your knowledge."

"Cut the crap, let’s get the experiment going!" Shi Yang, impassioned, wiped the garlic juice from his mouth, then his eyebrows mischievously raised, "Or should I first synthesize some invigorating scent for you?"