Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 161 - 160 0.004 and 1/1075

The basketball court, the group confrontations continued.

By coincidence, the random team formations were the same as the first game, three boys VS three girls.

This time, Li Zheng took the initiative to match up with Xu Mengxi.

He didn’t actually have any special intentions; he just wanted to casually stroll around and chat like before, comforting her not to be too harsh in following those "efficient learning methods."

By the way, figure out what exactly happened.

However, things didn’t go as he wished. Xu Mengxi didn’t look at him once from the beginning to the end, focusing solely on the game with great aggression. She not only ran desperately but also frequently took hard jump shots, even at the expense of clashing with her frail body to break through.

Whenever this happened, Li Zheng would always ease up, symbolically raising an arm to interfere, pretending he couldn’t catch up, or deliberately making way, fearing she’d hurt herself.

But even so.

Xu Mengxi still rarely scored.

Finally, after a shot that missed the ring thrice, Xu Mengxi couldn’t hold back any longer.

She bent down, gripping her knees, and struggled to speak through her faint wheezing, "Don’t... please don’t go easy on me... okay?"

"That’s just basic EQ, Teacher Mengxi," Li Zheng stepped forward and said, "Don’t push yourself."

Xu Mengxi didn’t say anything more. She just wiped her sweat and then started running again, calling for the ball.

Li Zheng sighed and could only symbolically follow her.

Xu Mengxi received the ball again and, without thinking, broke towards the gap beside Li Zheng.

Li Zheng once again let her pass.

Xu Mengxi made a change in direction and was at the basket.

She gritted her teeth and jumped with all her might.

Her right hand tried to lift the basketball higher and higher...

Releasing the ball at its highest point, she delivered it toward the basket.

This time, it should be good, right...?

Just when she thought the ball would score.

A figure leaped from the flank.

Like a volleyball spike, he swung his big arm round.

Slap!

The ball was slapped away, flying right over the half-court.

Xu Mengxi fell to the ground as well.

The figure that blocked the shot only touched the ground at a far-off spot.

It was Jiang Qinghua.

Jiang Qinghua didn’t turn back nor did he offer Xu Mengxi a hand up, coldly saying, "That’s enough."

Before Xu Mengxi could respond, Lin Yujing, furious, ran to Xu Mengxi, helped her up, and glared at Jiang Qinghua, exploding with hostility they hadn’t seen in a long while, "!!!!!"

"It’s okay... it should be like this..." Xu Mengxi bowed her head and dusted off the dirt on her, "It’s right to play this way..."

"Fine." Jiang Qinghua rubbed his wrist and turned to Li Zheng, "I’ll switch, you mark Lin Yujing, I’ll take that one."

"Are you serious?" Li Zheng frowned, "Can’t we just relax for once?"

"Just make sure you cover Lin Yujing properly."

The game went on.

For the rest of the half, Xu Mengxi never touched the ball again.

Jiang Qinghua, going all out on defense, blocked between Xu Mengxi and the basketball 90% of the time. Even during the remaining 10%, the occasional passes directed at Xu Mengxi were easily intercepted by Jiang Qinghua’s sudden explosive power.

Playing basketball for so long, the insurmountable physical difference between boys and girls was vividly demonstrated for the first time.

At the end of the game, the boys’ team won by a wide margin, 10:0.

By the time the final ball went through the net, Xu Mengxi was already sitting on the ground, gasping for breath, unable to utter a single word.

Jiang Qinghua, on the other hand, stood in front of her as if he hadn’t exercised at all, speaking softly, "That’s how it is. You shouldn’t play anymore."

"..." Xu Mengxi’s eyes reddened as she bowed her head.

A dry smile came over Jiang Qinghua’s lips, "If we want to compete and play confrontation, we’ll just find the boys. Who wants to play house with you?"

"..." Tears seeped from the corners of Xu Mengxi’s eyes as she pushed herself up with difficulty and walked alone towards the side of the court.

"Look, I still don’t remember your name," Jiang Qinghua called out unrelentingly, "Forget it, it’s pointless."

In that moment, Xu Mengxi’s body jerked and she could no longer endure it, covering her face as she ran out of the court.

Lin Yujing couldn’t bear it anymore, she stormed up to Jiang Qinghua, baring her teeth and after struggling for quite a while, she managed to spit out the insult: "Baldy! Big baldy!!"

"Is it that... obvious..." Jiang Qinghua subconsciously covered his hairline, and then quietly said, "Listen to me, I have my reasons. How can one understand without experiencing greed, hatred, and delusion..."

"Baldy!!" Lin Yujing symbolically stamped on Jiang Qinghua’s foot and hurried after Xu Mengxi.

At this time, Li Zheng also approached.

Although he really wanted to hit someone, he knew that Jiang Qinghua also had high EQ, so he didn’t insult him as harshly as Lin Yujing did.

"What is your actual intention?" Li Zheng asked with a stern face.

Jiang Qinghua didn’t hide it and calmly said, "Li Zheng, what would you do if you were trying to have something you don’t deserve?"

"I’d work hard to make myself worthy," Li Zheng answered without hesitation.

"What if you still aren’t worthy after trying?"

"Then I’d keep trying."

Jiang Qinghua’s face twitched, and he pressed, "What if no matter how hard or how long you try, you’d never be worthy?"

"How would I know the future? Just try first."

"We can’t talk this way." Jiang Qinghua cursed then continued, "Anyway, for most people, it’s important to let go when it’s time."

"I see you haven’t let go either," Li Zheng couldn’t help looking at Jiang Qinghua’s real hairline revealed after the exercise.

"You don’t understand, I’ve moved on to the next phase," Jiang Qinghua hurriedly raked his hair, covering his last bit of dignity, and said in a very low voice, "If you really want her to be happy, then from now on, stay away from her. Don’t play basketball with her, don’t discuss studies, don’t go to her class. Delete her on WeChat, block her permanently, even if you see her at the school gates, pretend you don’t know her, and even if she falls off her bike and cries by the roadside, don’t go to help her."

"What the hell, isn’t that inhumane???" Li Zheng was agitated.

"That’s what detachment is," Jiang Qinghua gently patted Li Zheng’s shoulder, "Just now, my behavior was also a form of detachment."

"You’re detaching too..." Li Zheng frowned and pondered for a long time, suddenly his eyes widened, as he had an epiphany, "I got it."

"Mhm, good."

"It’s about the hair, right?"

"..."

Meanwhile, Xu Mengxi, unbeknownst to them, had been quietly crying with her face covered, trying very hard not to make any noise, even while crying.

Qiao Bixia and Lin Yujing were holding her arms from either side, not knowing what to say or how to comfort her.

"Don’t worry about me... really... there’s no need to worry about me..." Xu Mengxi clutched her face, still couldn’t stop her sobbing despite her best efforts, "Why is it always like this... When it was clearly me overthinking... but I end up troubling you... stop worrying about me, please, I beg you don’t worry about me..."

"Oh dear." Qiao Bixia said anxiously, "If something’s bothering you, just speak up, okay? Look at me, with my style, aren’t there even more things for me to worry about?"

"Mm." Lin Yujing confirmed Qiao Bixia’s point, "I also have a lot of things on my mind too, we could... we could trade."

"Oh?" Li Zheng suddenly joined in, "I’m willing to trade as well."

Lin Yujing turned and gave him a glare: "I’m not trading with you!"

"Got it." Qiao Bixia suddenly clapped her hands together, "We all have our insurmountable troubles. Why not organize a support group where we talk about our issues and help each other solve them?"

At that moment, Jiang Qinghua also joined in: "That’s doable."

"I’m okay with that," Li Zheng nodded.

"Look!" Qiao Bixia pointed at Liu Xin, who was worried about the parents’ meeting in the distance, and said, "I’ll answer for him too, and I’m alright with it myself, now it’s just the two of you left. Jingjing, what do you say?"

"Um..." Lin Yujing still felt somewhat ashamed, but considering Xu Mengxi’s ceaseless crying, she finally nodded, "As long as it stays confidential, not to be told to others."

"Of course," Qiao Bixia said, sitting Mengxi down using her physical advantage, "Mengxi, you cry it out first, we’ll go first."

After struggling a few times, Xu Mengxi gave up: "I’m sorry... really, it shouldn’t be this big of a deal for me..."

"Nonsense, everyone has their own issues," Li Zheng said as he took a seat too.

Afterward, Liu Xin brought everyone’s bags and water bottles over, and the six of them quickly formed a circle.

Qiao Bixia gulped down most of a bottle of water, slammed the bottle down, and wiped her mouth, "It was my idea, so I’ll go first."

"Let’s be clear about this, today we have to reveal our biggest worries, and not just slip by with trivial matters."

"My worry, well, you don’t have to think about it, just use your eyes to see."

"I don’t want to be six feet tall, and I don’t want to be all muscle."

"This matter... sigh... it’s all because of my elementary school P.E. teacher..."

Qiao Bixia shook her head, slapping her thigh vigorously.

"That teacher really liked me, said I was cut out for shot put and discus."

"I didn’t know any better, so I started training with the teacher."

"Then I joined the district athletics team, and the city athletics team after that."

"I was hoping to get into a sports university with my skills."

"But in ninth grade, I got cut."

"There’s no way around it, although it’s hard to believe..."

"But there were many girls even taller and stronger than me…"

"Not to mention a sports university, I didn’t even qualify as a special sports recruit…"

"Maybe it’s because my family is kind of naive and didn’t network with the athletics teams..."

"Anyway, I’ve already trained to this point, what can I do?"

"Study, of course."

"Surely many people are laughing at me..."

"What can I do?

"I’m already a joke anyway."

"So I might as well take the initiative."

"If I’m to be a joke, let it be a happy one."

"Hahaha."

"As I am now, I can’t really slim down anymore, whoever cares can deal with it."

"By the way, I still want to get into a sports university."

"It’s quite hard to get in too, I’ll try my best."

Qiao Bixia, her face flushed, grabbed the water bottle again: "There, I’ve said everything, no holds barred, fair enough?"

"Mm..." Lin Yujing reached across Xu Mengxi and gently stroked Qiao Bixia’s palm; her expression and movements filled with an indescribable compassion.

Xu Mengxi, who had stopped sobbing without anyone noticing, hugged Qiao Bixia’s arm tightly and pressed her face against it: "I’m sorry, Sister Xia..."

"Eh," Qiao Bixia laughed and shook her arm, "It’s nothing big, I’m quite happy actually, don’t get sentimental. Next!"

"I’ll go then," Jiang Qinghua took a deep breath.

"From middle school until now, I’ve liked four girls, all unsuccessful."

"The first time, I was young and oblivious, cried for three days after being rejected."

"The second time, heartbroken after the rejection, I didn’t speak a word in class for a whole term."

"The third time, facing the outcome, I felt like I’d accepted it; that must be fate... The girls I liked just happened to be the type who didn’t care for me."

"The fourth time, well, it might be hard for you to understand... I felt like I was cultivating Buddhism, not too excited or depressed, without extreme ups and downs, and I no longer needed to confess, it was all good either way, but I couldn’t restrain myself, I had to do something... I know what I’m saying sounds disconnected and nonsensical, but that’s all I can describe, probably because my Buddhist qualities aren’t strong enough yet..."

Jiang Qinghua’s personal recount was even shorter than Qiao Bixia’s, but the heart-wrenching index didn’t diminish at all, especially for the fourth time.

"Qinghua... with your qualities...," Qiao Bixia mumbled, "getting into a relationship shouldn’t be hard, right?"

Jiang Qinghua shook his head: "Only being with someone you love can be called being in love. We’re only 17; should we start settling now?"

"Listen to your sister’s advice," Qiao Bixia raised her hand and said, "While you still have plenty of hair, find someone to settle down with as soon as you can."

"..."

"I actually think that Qinghua is just plain stupid," Li Zheng said, scratching his chin, "Being rejected by someone is a matter of course in my opinion. Before college, dating is against discipline. I’d reject you too; can’t you understand such obvious logic?"

The room fell silent, with only Lin Yujing nodding in agreement.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

Jiang Qinghua hadn’t intended to pay any attention to Li Zheng, but saw that Lin Yujing actually agreed with him.

Suddenly, he felt a flicker of hope rekindled.

Could years of failure be because I just happened to like girls with strict family upbringing?

Could it be this ridiculous reason?

Then, he turned to look at Li Zheng in surprise.

Great wisdom hides behind an appearance of stupidity!

Just as Jiang Qinghua’s enthusiasm was rekindled, Liu Xin spoke up.

"Ha, I’ll just say it," he said.

"I must be the poorest one among us."

"The least cultured."

"And my studies are the worst."

"You guys don’t despise me and are willing to hang out with me, that really... I don’t know what to say."

"But anyway... there’s not much time left, right?"

"Next semester’s class division, I’m afraid I’ll have to say goodbye to Brother Li, Jiang Shuai, and Fairy Lin."

"Sister Xia and Sister Mengxi will also be graduating."

"In another year."

"I’ll probably go to some technical college."

"Lanxiang is also a possibility."

"Or simply join my dad in driving a taxi."

"You guys are probably the best people I’ll ever know in my life."

"Thank you for being willing to hang out with me..." Liu Xin looked around at everyone, his middle-aged face trembling, "Really, thank you all."

"Get lost!" Jiang Qinghua punched Liu Xin’s arm hard, "What are you thinking? Even after we graduate, we’ll still meet up every week, still plan to go out and play basketball. Have you gone mad?"

"Good suggestion," Li Zheng also raised his hand, "Basketball every week, I’m in."

"Yeah!" Lin Yujing raised her hand as well.

Qiao Bixia naturally picked up Xu Mengxi’s hand to raise it too.

"Oh..." Liu Xin rubbed his head and chuckled, "In the future, you guys are sure to be very busy, there won’t be time for this."

"Can’t say for others," Qiao Bixia laughed heartily, slapping her chest, "but at least your Sister Xia will have time."

"Right!" Liu Xin also burst into laughter.

Then it was Li Zheng’s turn to speak.

He took a deep breath, his expression growing gradually solemn.

"My worries are far more serious than any of yours."

"Compared to mine, your troubles are nothing."

Everyone else gasped.

Li Zheng... was he hiding some... horrific experience?

Li Zheng continued to speak.

"Moreover, my problem is something that cannot be solved under the current conditions."

"And that is—" Li Zheng pointed at his own head, "as you get older, your brain slows down."

"When your brain becomes dull, you can no longer study effectively."

"Even though you know more, you end up learning slower and slower, and your creativity gradually fades."

"Isn’t that infuriating?"

"Newton came up with the calculation for centripetal force in circular motion when he was 21 years old."

"Einstein at 26 published ’On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light,’ ’On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat’ and ’On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies’ all in one year."

"Without a doubt, the peak of human brainpower is before the age of 30."

"After 30, even if you achieve something, it’s hard to reach a level that breaks new ground."

"Therefore, I must fully understand their knowledge and reach the pinnacle level of existing knowledge as soon as possible."

"If I can’t come up with anything important before the age of 30, then it won’t be possible after that either."

Having said that, Li Zheng clenched his fist in frustration, visibly moved.

"I don’t have much time left... "

"Ah!"

"Why do people get stupider?"

"I’m so angry! So angry!"

After finishing, Li Zheng looked around, seeking resonance.

He found it.

Everyone looked just as frustrated.

"You all think the same, right?" Li Zheng rubbed his hands together in conversation, "You see... one can be 30 years old just at graduation from a PhD program..."

"Shut up!"

"Brother Li, you really are asking for a beating."

"Why don’t you just wish for eternal youth while you’re at it?"

"Ugh! So infuriating!"

After a beating, everyone turned their attention to Xu Mengxi and Lin Yujing.

Xu Mengxi, although she hadn’t spoken, had already cried her heart out and just now laughed heartily too.

However, she still felt somewhat ashamed to talk about herself.

Especially when seeing so many people willingly sharing their humiliating feelings for her sake.

Therefore, Lin Yujing mustered her courage and spoke.

"My trouble... is probably the scale of space and time."

"A person’s height doesn’t reach 2 meters."

"Life span, 80 years."

"Even if one starts running at the speed of a marathon champion from birth,"

"spending an entire lifetime, one could only cover one third of the Earth-Moon distance."

"With technology’s help, we could seat him on the fastest rocket humans have ever built."

"In that case, in his lifetime, he could travel 0.002 light-years."

"The length of this journey is 1/2150th of the distance to the nearest star outside the Solar System."

"Of course, we can go even further to the extreme."

"Like Voyager 1, seizing the once-in-decades opportunity, propelled by a series of gravitational slingshots to reach a speed of 55,000 kilometers per hour."

"Then, in his lifetime, he could traverse approximately 0.004 light-years."

"0.004 light-years, that’s 1/1075th of the distance to our nearest ’neighbor’s house’."

"This is the furthest journey we can aspire to in a lifetime."

"So how far is the farthest galaxy we can observe?"

"13.4 billion light-years."

"How many stars are there in it?"

"A 3 followed by 23 zeros."

"So many stars."

"Clearly... we’ve seen them all."

"But with a lifetime spent... we might not even make it out of our own door..."

"If it’s so far away..."

"Why then does it let us see it..."

By the end, Lin Yujing, hugging her knees tightly, bowed her head, her face flushed, "Sorry... I’m rambling again... even though I’ve only been abroad once... hehe..."

However, no one complained about her.

Instead, they all unconsciously lifted their heads.

Without realizing it, they had entered her journey.

This journey.

Even if ten Einsteins and a hundred Newtons came back,

they probably wouldn’t get very far either...

Everyone felt as though they had attained some kind of enlightenment.

Only Li Zheng was sneering.

"I just can’t stand you defeatists," Li Zheng said, shaking his head, "Who cares how short life is, is reaching the Moon enough? Is Mars enough? Is Uranus enough? You haven’t even done those things yet, what are you thinking about Proxima Centauri for? What is there to despair about 13.4 billion light-years?"

"I can’t be bothered with you." Lin Yujing, previously shy, turned away angrily, "Now, another Moon landing is hardly possible, and you’re talking about Mars?"

"How is it not possible? It is very likely," Li Zheng retorted, turning his head away too, "Besides, isn’t the purpose of our learning to turn the impossible into the possible? What else are you studying for? Just to show off with a physics competition trophy?"

"Who’s showing off? You’re the one acting all that!" Lin Yujing retorted fiercely, "The limits of space and time are right here, and so is the shortness of life. With such limited distance, stubborn pig’s trotters!"

"Ha, what a joke. At least regarding the Moon landing, my country will definitely land on the moon within the next ten years! No, seven years! No, if I’m badass enough, five years!"

"Ha, will you even graduate from college in five years? Do you even know that the space program for five years later is already set?"

"That’s none of your business, I’m gearing up for it."

"Ignorant!"

"Pretentious!"

"Alright, alright, why are you guys arguing now?" Xu Mengxi frantically waved her hands to the left and right, subconsciously trying to break up the fight, "It’s my fault, it’s all my fault, okay?"

Jiang Qinghua was taken aback.

Xu Mengxi, without realizing it, had reverted back to her former innocent and helpless state.

It seems that as long as everyone else is breaking down,

she stops breaking down.

This strategy of relieving the siege by attacking the enemy’s base,

brilliant!

Then looking towards Qiao Bixia,

she was smiling without saying a word.

This maneuver, this scheme...

Was this all within your calculations?

Grand Master Dong.