Study Monster Cultivation System

Chapter 93 - 093 From One to Infinity (Solo Extra Chapter)

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The library, an old man sat at the table reading some documents.

Suddenly.

"Hmm..."

A magazine was tossed onto the table.

The old man looked up, only to see Lin Yujing by the opposite desk, taking off her backpack.

"Oh, what’s up with you today?" the old man lifted his glasses, "That ’hmm’ sounded so lifeless."

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing set her backpack down, flopped her head on the table, and sighed, "Not happy."

The old man chuckled as he took off his glasses: "Did that kid annoy you again?"

"Not exactly… not entirely." Lin Yujing’s forehead rested against the table as she dully stared at her sneakers, "Don’t know, don’t like, not happy."

But the old man found it quite amusing.

A troubled young girl, how nice to look at.

Yet he was certainly not Sun Leyang, he was very good at managing his expressions, and his face was now a picture of complete empathy.

"If you’re not happy, don’t think about it, read a book." The elder stood up, "Just got some new Asimov books in, shall I get one for you?"

"I’ve read them all already," Lin Yujing said dully.

"Then what would you like to read? I’ll find it for you."

"Thanks, teacher, I don’t need it, just want some quiet time."

"Well alright then…" The old man sat back down, "Technically, we close at 6 p.m., but I’ve got nothing else today, so I’ll extend the hours for you, stay as long as you want."

"Thank you, teacher…" Lin Yujing stared at her shoes and sighed again.

...

Inside the classroom, Li Zheng screamed out loud.

"Ren Da Fu? Just fucking you?!"

Luckily there was no one else in the classroom, otherwise Li Zheng’s image would have crumbled again.

Zhang Xiaoke’s face reddened: "What do you mean by that? I was quite excellent in my middle school days, you know."

As she spoke, she got up, ran to the door, and shut it tight,

"So you mean, you transferred to Lake Ying because you couldn’t stand being at the bottom?" Li Zheng glared at Zhang Xiaoke, once again questioning her intelligence, "Being able to make such a decision, you really are too…"

"I’m warning you, shut up!" Zhang Xiaoke locked the door, walked back to her desk, bowed her head, and suddenly became sad, "You have no idea how terrifying those people were, being around more than 1400 Lin Yujings day and night, could you endure it?"

"Hmm..." Li Zheng gasped, "Now that you put it that way, I understand."

"I... have no other desires now..." Zhang Xiaoke clenched her teeth and slammed her fist on the desk, "I just want to be a person."

"Lake Ying will fulfill your wish."

"You must keep this a secret for me," Zhang Xiaoke turned and glared at Li Zheng, "I must get into the top 50 in the midterms, it’s supposed to be a happy occasion, but if people find out I came from Ren Da Fu, I’ll be laughed at."

"Got it." Li Zheng’s eyes suddenly widened, "No wonder, you know so many people who participate in competitions, including provincial first places."

"Hmph, I’ve said it before, my network in Jijing High Schools is beyond your imagination."

"With this, you can fulfill the favor you owe me," Li Zheng nodded, "Work hard to get me the competition class exercises from Ren Da Fu, the more the better."

"What? What favor?"

Li Zheng hurriedly took out a notebook: "The basketball game, you lost the bet, do you forget?"

"Uh." Zhang Xiaoke scratched her head, "But... so many papers... Should I get them for you personally?"

"Aren’t your connections deep?"

"Deep they are... but the relationships are kind of strange..." Zhang Xiaoke blushed, too embarrassed to say more.

With my intelligence.

Suddenly asking for competition papers, won’t that be strange?

Li Zheng then picked up his phone: "Then forget it, I’ll contact Chen Jinyu."

"No! I’ll get them!" Zhang Xiaoke immediately pressed him down, "Master, why are you playing this game too, is it fun?"

"It’s just to trigger your potential," Li Zheng said with a smirk, "Look, how many words have you memorized these past few days?"

"Oh, that..." Zhang Xiaoke scratched the back of her head, "I do feel like I’ve made not a small improvement."

```

Li Zheng got up with his crutches happily, "Alright, I won’t supervise you this weekend. Go for it, work hard, stay strong."

"!!!"

As he reached the door and just opened it, he saw a large figure.

"I... heard nothing," Qiao Bixia said somewhat awkwardly, laughing, "After school, a boy and girl alone in the classroom, discussing studies, nothing wrong with that, haha, nothing wrong."

"What are you talking about..." Xu Mengxi squeezed out from behind her. She was feeling much better now, but when she saw Li Zheng, she ducked back again, whispering, "Jingjing already left, huh..."

"This…" Li Zheng scratched his head too, "Ignoring her for three days is a bit too much. Maybe just half a day."

"You Lu Bu, your IQ really is problematic," Qiao Bixia scolded, "Don’t you know Jingjing’s problem of overthinking? Over such a trivial matter, you’ve needlessly complicated things. I don’t even know what to say to you."

"Cough..." Zhang Xiaoke had her backpack on now and was walking by with her head down, "You guys chat, I’m heading out…"

"Bye." Qiao Bixia then leaned close to Xu Mengxi’s ear and said, "This idiot from Ren Da Fu… has his brains messed up, no…?"

"Wuu wuu wuu..." Zhang Xiaoke wanted to cry but had no courage to fight back, so she could only clench her fists and run away.

...

In the library, Lin Yujing had been prostrating for 20 minutes.

Twisting and turning.

Unhappy.

The old man, however, looked as if nothing was the matter, flipping through documents one after another.

Seeing him like this made Lin Yujing even angrier.

She plopped her head on the desk and stomped her feet.

"Hmm?" The old man quickly took off his specs, "Ready to talk?"

Lin Yujing fidgeted a bit, then finally murmured, "Hate chemistry."

"Hey, who doesn’t hate it."

"Don’t want to compete."

"Then don’t compete."

"But they insist I do," Lin Yujing stomped her feet repeatedly, "Hate it, hate it, hate it."

"Is that what’s bothering you?" The old man chuckled, "Your troubles really are hard to solve, aren’t they?"

"There’s more..." Lin Yujing’s voice became weak again, and she spoke as softly as a mosquito, "My best friend... might start to dislike me..."

"What have you done?"

"I…" It took a long time for Lin Yujing to speak up, covering her face, "Just too... too smart…"

"Cough..." The old man covered his chest and coughed twice, "I’m starting to dislike you too."

"I didn’t want this... I tried my best to... not to show off, and I’ve been speaking very little…" Lin Yujing turned her head, rested her chin on the desk, and gazed blankly ahead, puffing her cheeks and blowing air, "Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft…"

"Oh my…" The old man found it hard to keep a straight face, so he turned his head away to maintain his dignity, "What do you mean by ’not showing off’?"

"It’s like…" Lin Yujing puffed her cheeks several times before speaking.

"If I show off, I’ll be disliked; if I speak, I’ll be disliked; no matter what I say, I’ll be disliked."

"For example... scoring 100 on a test."

"I said I didn’t study."

"Will be disliked."

"Lie and say I studied hard."

"Also will be disliked."

"Say the test was easy, will be disliked."

"Lie and say the test was hard, also will be disliked."

"It’s like... nothing I do is right..."

"Ah... that’s the loneliness of being a master, isn’t it?" the old man sighed, "Why not try going to a better school where there might be people similar to you?"

"Too far," Lin Yujing immediately replied, "Want to sleep in."

"Cough…" The old man coughed again, "You… are quite annoying."

"Hehe," Lin Yujing giggled, "Just kidding."

The old man’s face reddened, and he hastily turned his head away again.

Hang in there.

For over a year, I had been carefully cultivating the persona of a thoughtful librarian, and it couldn’t collapse now.

"Yu Jing, all I can say is, the people you’ve encountered before were not very good," the old man sighed deeply before he gathered the courage to look at Lin Yujing. "A true friend will not envy you for being outstanding, nor despise you for being weak. Though you’ve ended up at a school that doesn’t deserve you, there must be friends out there who are worthy of you."

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing slowly lowered her head, "Before, there were some..."

"And now there are still some," the old man tapped on the desk, "If they leave you over such trivial matters, it only shows they don’t deserve you."

"..."

"Also, about the chemistry competition," the old man cleared his throat and continued, "It really isn’t that important. It’s enough that you respect your own attitude. The only thing I can say is the thing you truly want to do is fraught with difficulties. No, it’s actually countless difficulties – I’m not using hyperbole, but literally countless."

"Yeah." Lin Yujing nodded as well.

"Among these countless difficulties, there will be some even more headache-inducing than chemistry. In fact, these difficulties will include countless chemistry problems," the old man raised his silver eyebrows. "Would you make the same choice then? To only focus on the parts you like, only on the parts that are going well?"

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing lowered her head, her fingers pressed against her forehead, entangled in her thoughts.

"Hehe, I might be speaking too gravely. Don’t feel pressured," the old man’s tone softened. "After all, it’s just a chemistry competition. It isn’t necessarily linked to your future. Whatever choice you make is fine... By the way, you look so upset.

What exactly did that boy do to you?"

"He’s the worst," Lin Yujing glanced away disdainfully.

"Okay..." the old man rubbed his head, "Could it be... he’s competing?"

"... Yeah."

"Hehe." The old man chuckled again, "That’s interesting. That boy doesn’t fear difficulties. Maybe he’ll end up throwing a prize certificate in your face to show you up."

"Hmm..." Lin Yujing clenched her fist tightly. "Even if I hate chemistry... I’m still much better than him..."

"Not necessarily, progress in competition can be very rapid."

As they were talking, the most annoying voice came from the entrance of the library.

"Hmph, so uncreative. I knew you would be here."

"!" Lin Yujing bristled and glared, picking up her backpack, ready to run.

But her movements gradually slowed down, and she stopped.

Walking in with him were Qiao Bixia and Xu Mengxi.

As Qiao Bixia walked in loudly, she complained, "I really don’t get it. You ignore your Sister Xia and instead have what, exactly, to talk about with this old... teacher."

The old man felt offended.

What was she going to say?

An old coot?

Even so, he still smiled and raised an eyebrow at Lin Yujing, then picked up a stack of documents and retreated into the Sutra Depository.

That moment, Xu Mengxi also ran over, grabbing Lin Yujing’s arm and started shaking it: "Really... it’s me who’s upset, yet I have to comfort you in the end, hmph."

"Ah, um." Lin Yujing scratched her face, her mouth open wide, not knowing what to say.

All she knew was that she wasn’t so upset anymore.

Qiao Bixia then pulled up a chair and sat down: "You really don’t get it, do you? Do you not know Li Zheng yet? Can he even speak properly? Has he ever said anything sensible? And this talk about a ’genius halo’ and ’pain.’ Is his brain damaged?"

After speaking, Qiao Bixia hugged Lin Yujing tightly, pressing into her chest and pulling her in close: "I just crave your body, don’t you understand that?"

"Hmm, hmm, hmm..."

The feeling of suffocation returned.

"Okay, Sister Xia." Xu Mengxi traditionally intervened, squeezing herself next to Lin Yujing on the chair, raising her hands and pinching Lin Yujing’s cheeks on both sides.

"Pfft, hmm..." Lin Yujing couldn’t resist, her face stretched flat, her eyes squished into "~" shapes.

Xu Mengxi found pinching quite addictive, chuckling as she did it: "Even if it really hurts, so what? Eating spicy food is painful too, isn’t it more addictive the more you eat it?"

"~~~" Lin Yujing felt strangely happy being pinched.

"Pay attention, this is a knowledge point," Li Zheng suddenly appeared, putting down his backpack and smiling, "Spiciness is not taste, it’s pain. When you eat something spicy, the pain sensation triggers the body to release certain hormones, not only increasing appetite but also causing addiction. Now the question is, what’s the molecular formula of capsaicin..."

"Go stand over there!" Qiao Bixia pushed him away with a shove.

"I get it..." Li Zheng hurriedly retreated toward the Sutra Depository, "Doesn’t anyone have an interest in the molecular formula of capsaicin..."

"Go on, get out of here." Even Xu Mengxi couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm!" Lin Yujing also raised her fists.

In the depths of the bookshelves.

Two forlorn men ran into each other.

The old man and Li Zheng exchanged a smile, both tinged with bitterness.

They were just tools, after all.

"I’m just returning some books," Li Zheng said. "My backpack is outside, but I don’t dare to go get it now, I’ll wait a bit longer."

"No worries," the old man put down his documents and started scanning the bookshelves, "There are a few by Asimov..."

"I’ll look at them later," Li Zheng raised his hand, "When I’ve been reading sci-fi recently, I feel like my knowledge isn’t up to snuff, and there are many things I only half understand."

"For example?" The old man was intrigued.

"General relativity," Li Zheng grimaced, pursing his lips, "Special relativity I can just about understand, you know, how mass and energy, time and speed, can be converted into each other."

"Not bad, this summary is pretty good," the old man nodded in approval, "You have a good ability to distill."

"But general relativity, the textbooks barely touch on it, and the videos I found are mostly beyond me."

"Hey, no need to delve so deep when you haven’t even mastered the basic mathematical tools," the old man said, searching the shelves, "You’ve studied universal gravitation, right?"

"Yes, bodies attract each other, and the force of gravity is directly proportional to their masses."

"Good, so what do you want to say about that?"

"Of course I have questions," Li Zheng immediately asked, "Why? Why is there gravity? Why does it increase with mass?"

"Congratulations, this is physics," the old man said with an approving smile while he browsed through books on the shelf, "A child who always asks ’why’ is a smart child. A person who spends their life asking ’why’ is a scientist."

Li Zheng was heartened: "I... I’m still just a kid..."

"Yes, a smart kid. 99.999% of whom will not become scientists," the old man smiled enigmatically as he pulled out a yellow-covered book and handed it to Li Zheng, his eyes mysteriously deepening, "But what if, eh? What if you never stop asking questions, and that 0.001% comes into play?"

Li Zheng took the book somewhat flustered.

From One to Infinity

George Gamow—

From a single atom to an infinite universe.

The old man patted Li Zheng on the shoulder, "This book won’t help you pass exams, but it might just ignite that 0.001%."

Only then did Li Zheng realize that it was a comprehensive popular science book, explaining lofty theories in simple and interesting ways.

He quickly found the explanation for gravity on the back cover.

[Gravity is not an independent force; its essence is due to massive bodies bending the space-time around them.]

"This is general relativity," the old man said with a smile that was all propriety, the very image of an educator.

"Brilliant!" Li Zheng’s eyes widened, "How was it proven?"

"How would I know, I’m just a librarian," the old man said as he put his glasses back on and pulled out pen and paper to ask, "How’s your new homeroom teacher?"

"Teacher Xiao Tang is great," Li Zheng said while putting away his books, "Why do you keep prying?"

"Why ask so many questions?" the old man opened his pen cap to ask, "Don’t be shy, talk about teaching quality, management methods, communication skills. Go on, talk about it."

"They’re all pretty good," Li Zheng felt something was off.

"There must be something not so good though, right?"

Li Zheng unconsciously wriggled his nose.

If pressed, there certainly were some flaws.

But let’s keep it a secret for her.

"Everything is very perfect," Li Zheng said, wiping his nose, "In the midterms, our class is bound to shine."

"Boring," the old man put away his notebook uninterestedly, but still mischievously arched an eyebrow, "I hear you’re going to try competitions?"

"You’re really well-informed."

"Then wait a second," the old man got busy again, "There are some inorganic chemistry books in here, I’ll see if I can find them."

"Thanks a lot." As Li Zheng was moved, he took out his cellphone and opened the book list that Sun Leyang had sent him, "Since you’re looking, help me find these ten or so books as well."

"..." Even for someone as experienced as the old man, he had never seen anyone so shameless.

But sure enough, the school library had what was needed, and after some searching, he actually found two of the textbooks specified by Sun Leyang.

By the time Li Zheng had finished the loan and return procedures, Lin Yujing and Xu Mengxi had already made amends.

In fact, there was never a rift to begin with; Li Zheng was just blabbering nonsense and caused the stir.

After all, if they couldn’t stand Lin Yujing’s halo of genius, they probably couldn’t have become friends in the first place.