Chapter 36: Chapter 34: Since You’ve Asked, How Could I Refuse
"Excuse me, how much are these apples per pound?"
Misha’s mind was completely filled with Calculus problems. When she heard the voice, she blurted out without thinking.
"The limit of the sum of the series 1/(n+1) + 1/(n+2) + ... + 1/(2n) as n approaches infinity is..."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Misha inwardly cursed, ’Crap.’
’A customer wants to buy apples, and I hit them with a Calculus formula for the limit of a series. Isn’t that just completely insane?’
She frantically raised her head, ready to apologize.
However...
"ln(2)."
Li Dong was a little speechless. ’I’m just trying to buy an apple, and you’re giving me a Calculus-based secret code?’
When Misha saw that the person was actually Li Dong, her face instantly flushed red to the roots of her ears.
"Ah... I’m so sorry. I was distracted solving a problem. My mom went to the restroom in the back, so I’m watching the stall for her."
Misha quickly stood up to explain.
"The apples... the apples are two-fifty a pound."
Li Dong nodded, picking out some Fuji apples as he casually asked.
"Huh? Isn’t school still in session? Why aren’t you at school?"
Misha hesitated for a moment before saying.
"Something came up at home, so I took the day off."
In truth, it wasn’t that something had come up at home.
Ever since Li Dong had lit a fire under her, she’d been pulling all-nighters, desperately grinding through practice problems.
Especially in math and physics, she had devoured nearly every competition prep book available on the market.
The combination of intense mental exertion and severe sleep deprivation caused her to faint in the classroom during morning self-study, which was why her teacher had forced her to go home and rest.
But of course, she wouldn’t tell Li Dong any of this.
In her heart, Li Dong was now the mountain she had to conquer. How could she show weakness in front of her rival?
Li Dong nodded and didn’t ask any further. He picked out a few good-looking apples and handed them over to be weighed.
After paying, Li Dong picked up the plastic bag and prepared to leave.
"Li Dong!"
Just then, Misha suddenly called out to him.
Li Dong turned back, looking at her with some confusion.
"What is it?"
Misha took a deep breath and asked in a quiet but firm voice.
"Can... can you tutor me in math?"
The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled across Misha’s cheeks, softening her already well-defined features.
Those usually calm and cool eyes were now filled with a thirst for knowledge.
To be fair, Misha was indeed very pretty.
Li Dong seemed a bit dazed. Then he nodded and said.
"I can’t."
Misha was stunned.
She asked, unwilling to accept it.
"Why not?"
Li Dong thought it was a rather silly question.
"I don’t have time. I have to review biology, Chinese, and English every night. Where would I find the time to tutor you?"
Hearing this, Misha finally understood. Li Dong’s math and physics abilities had reached a terrifying level.
But... he definitely still had room for improvement in his other subjects.
On the last monthly exam, his Chinese score was apparently only a 98, and his English was barely over 110.
As for biology and chemistry, while not bad, they were certainly not top-tier.
Looking at Li Dong’s matter-of-fact expression, Misha didn’t feel dejected by the rejection. Instead, her resolve to surpass him only grew stronger.
’People who are better than me are still working this hard. What right do I have to be on sick leave?!’
Misha didn’t press the issue. She lowered her head and said to Li Dong, embarrassed.
"I’m sorry. That was selfish of me."
"I was even thinking of paying you to tutor me..."
Before Misha could finish her sentence, she saw that Li Dong, who had already turned to leave, had somehow walked back over.
He had a smile on his face, one so brilliant Misha found it a bit dazzling.
"I might only be able to squeeze in some time to help you on weekend afternoons."
Li Dong looked at her seriously.
Misha asked blankly.
"But... don’t you have to review so many other subjects?"
Li Dong shook his head.
"Reviewing is important, of course, but I believe the purest relationship in this world is the one between classmates."
"Once we’re out in the working world, we may never encounter such a pure bond again."
"So, since you, as my classmate, have already asked, what reason do I have to refuse?"
His gaze was crystal clear.
’You should have said you were going to pay! I thought you wanted me to do it for free.’
After they briefly arranged a time for the weekend tutoring sessions, Li Dong, in high spirits, left with his apples, humming a little tune.
...
「Jiangcheng, Southside Industrial Park.」
Li Dong’s uncle, Li Yang, rented two small factory workshops here, doing rough processing for metal hardware.
Because he had helped Li Dong’s family pay off their debts in earlier years, Li Yang’s wife had divorced him. He hadn’t remarried since and had been alone all this time.
To save money, he didn’t even rent a house, living instead in a temporary shack made of colored steel panels next to the workshop.
Carrying the apples, Li Dong pushed open the door to the prefab shack with practiced ease.
Li Qin was stir-frying vegetables on a simple induction cooktop. The smell of cooking oil and smoke lingered in the room, refusing to dissipate.
Meanwhile, Li Yang was sitting at his desk, frowning at a ledger while chewing on the end of his pen.
"Mom, Uncle," Li Dong called out.
Hearing his voice, Li Yang quickly looked up and saw the plastic bag in Li Dong’s hand.
"Xiaodong, you’re here! You’re still a student, why are you buying things? Who taught you these pointless formalities? Wouldn’t it be better to save the money for study materials?"
Stirring the twice-cooked pork in the wok, Li Qin laughingly scolded from the side.
"Are you really unhappy that your own nephew bought you some fruit?"
Li Yang sighed. "It’s not that I’m unhappy. I just think it’s a waste of money."
He put down his pen and pulled over a stool for Li Dong to sit on.
"By the way, I heard you went to the provincial capital for some competition? How did it go?"
Li Dong set down the apples and nodded. "It went okay. I did pretty well."
He didn’t go into detail about the prestige of the Huaxuan Cup with his uncle. After all, his uncle had been out in the real world since graduating from middle school. It was impressive enough that he could tell the difference between physics and geography.
Li Qin placed the stir-fried dish on the small coffee table and casually complained.
"Don’t go to these random competitions next time. They’re a waste of time and don’t help one bit with the college entrance exams."
"You’re in your final year of high school now. The proper thing to do is to play it safe and get into a good university."
Li Dong took a mouthful of rice and retorted inwardly.
’It might not help with the college entrance exams, but it makes money! Twenty thousand in scholarship money! And if I get first prize, that’s thirty thousand!’
But since the prize money wasn’t in his hands yet, he wasn’t going to tell his mom. After all, he wanted to give her a surprise.
During the meal, Li Qin looked at the mountain of ledgers on Li Yang’s desk and couldn’t help but complain.
"Li Yang, don’t mind me for being nosy."
"Your factory should really get some kind of inventory management system, don’t you think? Like the one we use at the supermarket, where you just scan with a barcode gun and all the ins and outs are crystal clear. Even if the system freezes sometimes, it’s got to be better than you calculating everything by hand, right?"
Li Yang gave a wry smile. "Sis, you think I don’t want to? I went to the computer mall last month to ask."
"They said a custom hardware inventory system with scanning and a database, even the cheapest software and hardware combo, would cost over ten thousand a year."
"You know my factory is just getting off the ground. I’ve landed a few big orders, but the clients haven’t paid up yet. I’m having to pay the workers’ wages out of my own pocket. Where would I find that much spare cash to set something like that up?"
Hearing this, Li Qin put down her bowl and chopsticks.
"It’s ten thousand, right? I’ll withdraw my fixed-term deposit tomorrow..."
"Don’t!" Li Yang immediately waved his hands.
"Sis, it wasn’t easy for you to save that little bit of money."
"Xiaodong is in his final year now. This is when he really needs money."
"Buying nutritional supplements, hiring a tutor on weekends... what doesn’t cost money?"
"In our Li family, we haven’t produced a single proper university student in three generations. We absolutely can’t let the kid suffer because of my stupid problems."
Li Qin nodded and didn’t insist.
Listening to their conversation, an idea suddenly sparked in Li Dong’s mind.
He put down his chopsticks and turned to look at Li Yang.
"Uncle, this inventory system you need, what functions does it have to have? What specifically does it need to manage?"
Li Yang was taken aback for a second, then smiled and ruffled Li Dong’s hair.
"This is grown-up business. What’s a kid like you asking about this for? Just focus on your studies."
"Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just trying to understand, you know, to broaden my horizons."
Li Dong casually made up an excuse.
Li Yang didn’t think much of it, assuming his nephew was just curious, so he explained casually.
"To be honest, it’s not that complicated. We do hardware processing, so we deal with a ton of different part specifications."
"You know, M4 screws, M6 washers... just in different materials and lengths, there are thousands of types."
"I just want a system that can record how many raw materials come in each day, how many finished products are processed, how many defective parts are scrapped, and which clients they’re shipped out to."
"Also, it would be best if there’s a red-line reminder, a notification to tell me to restock when inventory drops below a thousand pieces."
As Li Dong listened, he silently committed these requirements to memory.
His current physics and math skills were already enough to dominate the college entrance exams, and for chemistry, he had the "Chemical Intuition" from the bearded man.
He could completely master high school chemistry within a week, and it wouldn’t even be impossible for him to tackle some university-level inorganic chemistry.
For biology, he could rely on his passive Memory to secure a high score.
Aside from needing to memorize more classical poems and essay material for Chinese, he actually had a lot of free time he could use as he pleased.
’If that’s the case, why not teach myself how to program?’
’I could just write a lightweight inventory management system for my uncle!’
Li Dong hadn’t forgotten that the "Cyan Dragon Study Group" didn’t just have gods of physics and math; it also had the founding fathers of computer science!
[Alan Turing] and [John von Neumann].
’When they’re chatting in the group, maybe I can even fleece them for some computer science knowledge.’
After dinner, Li Dong helped clear the dishes and then got on the bus home with his mom.
The bus swayed in the night.
Outside the window, the neon lights of Jiangcheng continuously receded into the distance.
Li Qin looked out the window and suddenly sighed.
"Xiaodong, you used to think your uncle was unreliable and overly ambitious. But you were wrong about him."
"He’s the only man in our family, and he’s always wanted to make a name for himself out there so that our family won’t be bullied by others."
Li Dong looked at his mother and nodded.
"Mom, I know."
...
Back home, after washing up, Li Dong lay in bed, his mom’s words still replaying in his mind.
’Uncle really has it tough.’
’I feel like I have to do something.’
So, he unhesitatingly pulled out his phone and opened the "Cyan Dragon Study Group".
He had planned to scroll up through the chat history to see if Turing or Von Neumann had been active, making it easier for him to strike up a conversation.
However, the moment he opened the group chat interface, he found no trace of the computer science giants.
On the contrary, the atmosphere in the group was so tense it almost felt like it was spilling out of the screen!
There was only one reason for this: [Niels Bohr] had come online.
