Chapter 19

“This problem isn’t that difficult, is it?” Jiang Zhiyu smiled and said this unconsciously, but only realized the next second that she was a poor student.

She shouldn’t have said it so lightly, especially with Lin Yeci’s expression of shock. It dawned on her that what she said didn’t match her identity, so she quickly added, “…I was just guessing, anyway, it’s square root of three.”

Lin Yeci looked at her, still doubting whether this student, who confidently gave the correct answer, was really that capable. Can a bad student be so good? Could she have solved the problem after just looking at it once?

He didn’t ask further, perhaps she had just guessed, after all, it was impossible to solve a problem that he had been struggling with for so long so easily. He put away the paper and began to do other homework.

Jiang Zhiyu tucked the paper full of answers behind her chair and didn’t continue to dwell on it.

After evening study, Jiang’s father arrived at the infirmary just as the bell rang, and Jiang Zhiyu’s IV drip had just finished.

It must be said that the fever-reducing medicine worked quite well. Her high fever had turned into a low one. Although her head still felt a bit dizzy, it was no longer an obstacle to going home.

After saying goodbye, Jiang Zhiyu went home first, leaving Lin Yeci to clean up the mess in the infirmary and the piles of scrap paper all over the floor.

Most of the scrap paper had been thrown by him, crumpled into balls, left over from the big problem that had been troubling him.

Suddenly, he noticed a piece of paper on the chair where Jiang Zhiyu had been sitting. The handwriting was neat and clean.

The paper was full of dense math equations. Lin Yeci curiously picked it up and froze when he saw the content.

“This is… the solution to that big problem just now… How could this be… I racked my brain trying to figure it out…” Lin Yeci looked dazed. He admitted that he had underestimated her; maybe he had misjudged her from the start.

As soon as she got home, Jiang Zhiyu collapsed onto her bed with a heavy head and fell into a deep sleep. She had a dream.

In the dream, she was still the model student, loved by teachers and classmates, the pride of the country. She held her acceptance letter to Jingbei University and stepped into university life. In the dream, a young man with an unclear face walked toward her with light steps.

“Yuyu! Yuyu!”

The soft murmuring sounded in her ear. Jiang Zhiyu wiped the drool dripping from the corner of her mouth, almost gagging.

It was awful!

Her stepmother’s voice was gentle and caring as she asked, “You still seem to have a bit of a fever. I helped you take a leave. Rest at home and take care of yourself.”

Jiang Zhiyu nodded. After her stepmother left, she immediately washed her face.

Feeling refreshed, she took out her phone.

Zhang Qiangyi sent a message: “Yuyu, since you’re not here today, I’ll go eat alone.”

Xu Leyun sent a message: “I went to your class this morning to look for you. I heard you took leave. Are you okay?”

Lin Yeci sent a message: “Are you feeling better? Remember to drink more hot water.”

“Drink hot water, my foot!” Jiang Zhiyu muttered.

After breakfast, Jiang Zhiyu slumped on the sofa. She had never been so relaxed before.

There was a game on her phone’s home screen that she had never opened before. It was the popular game “Yaozhe Rong Wang.” Since she was so relaxed today, she decided to give it a try.

The voice of Kimi rang out in the living room. Jiang’s father unexpectedly came back home. Hearing the sound, his expression turned serious.

“Games are harmful. Today, I called your homeroom teacher, and she said your grades have been declining. She recommended that I sign you up for some tutoring classes.”

Jiang Zhiyu hadn’t even mentioned it, but her father had brought it up himself. Such a good thing! She happily agreed.

“Of course, I’ll go! I want tutoring for math. I want it arranged this week!”

Surprised by her quick agreement, Jiang’s father had expected to argue with her for a while, but she agreed so easily?

Jiang’s father quickly switched from a serious to a happy mood. “That’s more like it! Now rest at home. Dad’s off to work!”

—-

Still staring at the Yaozhe Rong Wang screen, Jiang Zhiyu, unfamiliar with the game, took some time to figure it out. She found out that she was in the Gold tier. After checking her profile, she realized she had played over 10,000 ranked matches.

Suddenly, a message popped up in the chat window from a player named “Arrogant and Conceited.”

“Useless newbie! You talk big, but can’t even come out for a 1v1?”

The chat history with this player went back a month, filled with insults, not fit for reading.

Jiang Zhiyu clicked on his profile. Diamond tier, forever stuck between Gold and Diamond. It seemed like a mismatch in skill.

But she calmly replied, “Is that all?”

The person on the other side of the screen was furious. After insulting her for over a month, today he would be mocked.

He immediately sent a voice message. “Useless newbie! You have the guts to talk but not to fight?”

Was it her imagination, or did that voice sound familiar?

She had heard that this game was easy to pick up, so after roughly understanding a few heroes’ skills, Jiang Zhiyu accepted his 1v1 challenge.

At the start, she gave up first blood, even being chased down, but suddenly she seemed to get the hang of the game. Using her knowledge of physics, she quickly calculated and, with the last sliver of her turret’s health, pulled off a perfect counterattack. She destroyed the enemy turret and won the game.

Finally, she couldn’t resist a little mockery, “I let you have the lead at the start. Diamond is nothing.”

Arrogant and Conceited, humiliated, immediately blocked her after the game.

Jiang Zhiyu clicked her tongue. “Can’t afford to play.”

She played a few more matches from the jungle role, winning 10 in a row, getting MVP every time, and advancing to Platinum. She was close to Diamond, but she lost interest in the game.

It was already lunchtime. Lin Ye sent another message: “Are you okay? Why aren’t you replying to me?”

—-

Jiang Zhiyu realized that she had replied to Zhang Qiangyi and Xu Leyun but hadn’t replied to Lin Yeci.

This was telepathic replying, all thanks to her powerful and damnable thoughts!

After thinking for a while, Jiang Zhiyu replied, “I’m fine, playing a game, don’t disturb.”

Lin Yeci smiled and looked at the piece of paper, which was even more detailed than the correct answer. He murmured to himself, “Playing a game? Maybe she just happened to see the same problem and remembered it down.”

Since her parents were not home, Jiang Zhiyu had to figure out lunch herself. She wandered around the kitchen but found nothing, so she gave up and went back to the sofa to continue lounging.

Bored, she was scrolling through her social media when suddenly a post caught her attention.

It was from Xu Leyun, with a picture from the game Yaozhe Rong Wang. The caption read: “I’ve been tangled up with this rookie for half a month, finally had a 1v1 today, and the rookie got completely wrecked.”

Upon closer inspection, the ID in the picture was hers, and the picture showed her winning with a final counterattack on the enemy’s last sliver of turret health.

No wonder the voice sounded so familiar! The one who couldn’t afford to play was Xu Leyun!