Chapter 02: System

A math test printed on A3-sized paper was spread out in front of Ming Can. In the upper right corner, a score written in red pen stood out glaringly.

A cruel, menacing single-digit number.

Ming Can held the paper, her long eyelashes fluttering rapidly in disbelief. “This… could there be a mistake somewhere?”

Teacher Lin handed her a cup of hot tea. “Please don’t worry. Miaomiao has only been in school for five days and isn’t yet accustomed to the new learning methods. It’s completely normal not to achieve an ideal score.”

Really?

Is it normal?

Ming Can quickly scanned through the test paper—

1 + 2 = (0), five beads with one taken away leaves (51) beads, yesterday was Wednesday, so today is (Monday)… Was this child on a flexible schedule? Answering like this, could it really be considered normal?

Calm down, calm down.

Ming Can tried her best to calm her emotions, but when she spoke, her voice still carried a hint of bewilderment. “Teacher, how has Miaomiao been performing in class these past few days?”

Teacher Lin replied, “I was just about to talk to you about this. Miaomiao is quite well-behaved in class and doesn’t fidget much, but there is one thing—he seems to get distracted very easily. Sometimes, in the middle of the lesson, his eyes will go blank, as if he’s staring at something, and he’ll start mumbling to himself.”

After pausing for a moment and noticing Ming Can’s face turning pale, Teacher Lin quickly added, “Children have rich imaginations. They might find studying dull and immerse themselves in their own world. This isn’t a serious issue and will gradually improve as they grow older. We’ll also do our best to make our teaching more engaging to help them enjoy learning.”

Faced with someone like Ming Can, a member of an influential and wealthy family, Teacher Lin spoke cautiously. Even if Ming Miao truly had any issues with his mental faculties, she wouldn’t say it outright.

Morning Star Elementary School followed an international curriculum. For lower grades, it emphasized happy education, placing less importance on academic performance. Teacher Lin’s purpose in speaking with Ming Can today was mainly to discuss the importance of building the child’s mental well-being. She also reminded her not to put pressure on Ming Miao just because he didn’t perform well on the test.

At exactly 3:00 PM, the dismissal bell for the first grade rang.

After finishing her conversation with the teacher, Ming Can walked out of the school building. The thin November sunlight shone on her, and the autumn breeze was refreshing, yet she was drenched in sweat.

The glaring “2 points” and the teacher’s reminder about “happy education” replayed in her mind, tugging at each other endlessly. Ming Can felt an intense headache and instinctively began muttering under her breath, “If life forces me to endure…”

“Mom… Big Sister!” A childish voice called out from behind. Ming Can turned around and saw a little cannonball shooting out from the dismissal line of Class 1, Year 1, landing squarely in her arms.

Over the past few days, Ming Can had been too busy, so it was always Ming Shu or the housekeeper picking up Miaomiao from school. Today, his mother had come to pick him up, and Miaomiao was so excited that he almost forgot he wasn’t supposed to call Ming Can “Mom” in public.

Right now, his “mom” was only nineteen years old, and it would be very strange for a girl at this age to have a five-year-old son.

The moment Ming Can saw Miaomiao, half of the frustration in her heart seemed to dissolve instantly.

This child had a pair of round, grape-like eyes, rosy lips, and pearly teeth. When he smiled, faint dimples appeared on his cheeks. He was so adorable that anyone who saw him would feel their heart melt into a pool of warmth.

Ming Can took Ming Miao’s hand and bid farewell to the classmates and teachers.

The sunlight poured down, illuminating the two faces—one big, one small—making them shine brightly. Their features were strikingly identical, both beautiful and refined, drawing everyone’s attention.

The supervising teacher stared at them for a long time and couldn’t help but sigh, “The Ming family’s genes are truly strong. Even non-direct relatives can look so alike.”

The math test was taken today, but the papers wouldn’t be handed back until next Monday, so Ming Miao had no idea what an astonishing score he had achieved.

Ming Can wasn’t planning to tell him either. She decided to follow Teacher Lin’s advice and focus on her child’s mental well-being. She believed in her son’s intelligence—it was impossible for him to be incapable of learning math. The poor performance must have been due to something like a bad mood or a conflict with a classmate before the exam that affected his performance.

The school had vast greenery and was full of life. As Ming Miao walked, he kept staring at the gray magpie on a locust tree. Suddenly, he tugged on Ming Can’s sleeve and said, “Mom, that gray magpie is very anxious. It hasn’t been able to poop for several days.”

“…” Ming Can didn’t know how to respond. She was feeling pretty anxious herself right now. All she could do was praise him, “Miaomiao, you have such a vivid imagination.”

Ming Miao blinked his eyes. He wanted to say that this wasn’t just his imagination, but he could sense that his mom wasn’t very interested in the gray magpie’s unfortunate situation, so he chose not to continue.

“Mom,” Ming Miao tilted his head up and asked, “are you unhappy?”

It’s often said that there’s a deep connection between a mother and her child. Having spent every day with Ming Can in another timeline, Ming Miao was highly attuned to her emotions. Moreover, compared to his thirty-something mom, his nineteen-year-old mom was like a child herself, unable to hide her feelings at all.

Ming Can’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t expected Ming Miao to be so perceptive.

“Mom’s not unhappy,” Ming Can quickly shifted the topic to him, probing gently into his thoughts. “What about you, Miaomiao? Have you been having fun at school these past few days?”

“Super fun!” Ming Miao exclaimed as he bounced up. “School is so much fun! There are so many little animals!”

Ming Miao loved small animals. According to him, in the future, he had a dog named “Xiao Er” and, together with his mom, took care of many stray cats and birds in their community.

Ming Can had assumed that after traveling to this unfamiliar timeline and transferring to a new school where none of his old friends were around, his mood would surely be affected.

She continued to ask, “And how are you getting along with your classmates?”

Ming Miao thought for a moment and replied, “Pretty good!”

“Really?” Ming Can bent down and lightly tapped his nose. “Don’t lie to Mom, okay?”

Earlier, when Ming Miao was saying goodbye to his teacher and classmates, Ming Can had deliberately observed the scene. She noticed that only a few kids waved goodbye to him out of politeness, and none of them seemed to genuinely have a close friendship with him.

“I’m not lying,” Ming Miao’s voice was a little soft. He hadn’t actually made any close friends yet—it wasn’t easy for a transfer student to fit into an already-established class. But then he quickly remembered something, and his voice became full of confidence again. “Zhao Zihao’s birthday is the week after next, and he invited me to his house. He said if I can cure his dog’s illness, he’ll be my good friend.”

What the heck.

Ming Can couldn’t understand how this little guy had inexplicably taken on the role of a veterinarian.

And as for that Zhao Zihao, he already carried a sense of superiority at such a young age, which made Ming Can feel uneasy. She had always been proud and self-assured—how could her son’s friendships be based on someone else’s charity?

However, the world of children was simple, and it was better not to judge it using the rules of the adult world.

Wait a second, what kind of adult was she supposed to be anyway?

She! Was! Only! Nineteen! Years! Old!

University students her age were still far from internships or entering the workforce. Their days were filled with nothing but studying and playing, with the only real worry being not failing their finals. For those with even less ambition, life could be as simple as that of a paramecium.

Seriously, was there any other college student on Earth, apart from her, who would be tearing their hair out over something as absurd as their child scoring 2 points on a math test?!

At this thought, Ming Can completely broke down.

Ever since she found Ming Miao, she would occasionally reach her breaking point, only to quickly reconcile with herself thanks to her strong resilience. Over time, these breakdowns had become less frequent. However, life always seemed to hit her with a club just when she thought things were getting better. Today, Ming Can was truly shaken, and it wasn’t something she could recover from so easily.

The mother and son walked out of the school together.

Their apartment was only a ten-minute walk from Morning Star Elementary School. Ming Can held Ming Miao’s hand as they headed home, all the while observing his behavior and demeanor. No matter how she looked at him, he didn’t seem like a child whose mood was so low that it would affect his academic performance.

When they got home, Ming Miao eagerly rushed into the playroom to build Lego sets.

Ming Can made him a glass of fresh juice and then sat at the bar in the living room with her laptop, keeping an eye on her son while studying.

The computer was playing a financial engineering lecture. Some of the problems on analyzing financial market dynamics required mathematical knowledge to solve. While distracted, Ming Can scribbled through four problems on paper in just ten minutes.

Finally, she checked her answers.

All correct.

She rested her forehead on her hand, and thought, such difficult math problems, yet even when she half-heartedly solves them distractedly, she still gets them 100% right. There’s no way such exceptional genes didn’t pass down to Ming Miao, right?

With this thought, Ming Can jumped off the high stool and walked into the study. She rummaged through a pile of children’s exercise papers and found a brightly colored math quiz sheet adorned with cute cartoon characters. After taking it to the living room, she called Ming Miao over to work on it.

Ming Miao looked confused and said, “Mom, the teacher didn’t assign this as homework.”

“I know,” Ming Can gently patted his head with a warm smile. “But these questions are really interesting. Do you want to give them a try?”

Ming Miao didn’t mind doing the problems. He held the pen, and nodded.

Then, like a statue, he froze completely still and softly muttered, “Mom, I can’t write with you standing next to me…”

Ming Can immediately left and went to the study, reading for over ten minutes. When she came back out, Ming Miao had already finished the quiz and returned to the playroom to build a castle.

He seemed to be in a good mood, humming a song while playing, which indicated that he hadn’t felt any pressure while doing the quiz and likely displayed his true ability.

Ming Can picked up Ming Miao’s quiz paper.

At just a glance, she instinctively pinched the bridge of her nose—

Question 1: Find the pattern and fill in the blanks

1, 2, (3), 4, 5, 6, (3), 8, 9, (3)…

Question 2: Fill in the blanks with “＞, ＜, or ＝”

2 + 3 (＞ = ＜) 7 – 4

4 – 1 (^ = ^) 6 – 3

…

Ming Can collapsed onto the sofa. Just then, Aunt Zhang, the housekeeper, returned from grocery shopping and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

Before Ming Can could respond, Ming Miao suddenly dashed over in his little dinosaur slippers, leaving his castle-building behind. He leaned close to her and asked, “What’s wrong, Big Sister?”

He was clever and knew that when Aunt Zhang was around, he couldn’t call her “Mom.”

Fortunately, Aunt Zhang would leave after preparing dinner and didn’t stay overnight. In the evenings, Ming Miao could call her “Mom” as much as he wanted.

“I… I’m fine.” One second, Ming Can was in a near-mental breakdown, unable to understand how her future self could give birth to a child who turned math problems into emoji art. The next second, looking at her adorable, thoughtful son, who had no idea how serious the situation was, she couldn’t muster the energy to scold him. Instead, her mind involuntarily began coming up with excuses for him—

It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t solve math problems! He was still so young—everything was just beginning.

Even if he really turned out to be an underachiever, it would be his parents’ fault for not giving him better brains!

At that thought, Ming Can suddenly realized—this child wasn’t someone she could have brought into the world all by herself.

She had always been a top student, with unquestionably excellent genes, so where was the problem?

Ming Can felt her headache intensify.

She got up from the sofa and sent Miaomiao off to play by himself. Then, she followed Aunt Zhang into the kitchen, hoping to distract herself by doing some random chores.

She barely managed to hold herself together until dinner was over. As the sky grew darker and Aunt Zhang left, the house suddenly became much quieter.

Ming Miao ran to the balcony, using a magnifying glass to examine the plants in the pots.

Ming Can stayed in the living room, silently working to calm her emotions.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but her attempt to calm down ultimately failed. Her mind was completely occupied by thoughts of that Y-chromosome donor she had been avoiding at all costs.

Ming Can instinctively glanced toward the balcony.

The night had swallowed the last trace of twilight, and stars were beginning to twinkle in the eastern sky.

Ming Miao stood motionless in front of a calathea plant, his eyes staring blankly ahead. His lips moved slightly but made no sound.

In his consciousness, he was having a conversation. “…For the next translation target, can I choose Mom?”

Soon, a gentle, neutral voice echoed in his mind:

[Affirmative. The host’s ability value meets the standard, physical strength is sufficient, and there is a certain level of understanding of the translation target. The translation function for Ms. Ming Can has been activated for you.]

[Additionally, a friendly reminder to the host: the human world is very complex, unlike the gray magpie you’ve been studying at school these past few days, which does nothing but eat, poop, and squawk meaningless phrases. Understanding Ms. Ming Can’s language may significantly impact your life.]

Ming Miao nodded solemnly. “I want to understand what Mom says. I’ll do my best!”

After crossing over into this world, Ming Miao inexplicably found something in his mind called the “Superpower Development System.”

It claimed its designation was 233 and stated its purpose was to cultivate its host into a powerful superhuman.

Ming Miao was very intrigued and, at the cost of some sacrifices, exchanged for the one superpower he wanted the most.

The superpower he requested from the system was: “I want to understand what dogs are saying.”

The system: …

This superpower was far too underwhelming for the system and wouldn’t help it achieve its goal of cultivating a powerful individual to meet its KPIs. So, out of goodwill, the system upgraded Ming Miao’s requested ability to “understand what dogs are saying” into “understand all the languages in the world,” also known as “Extraordinary Translation Ability.”

This ability went beyond mere language comprehension. By analyzing indicators such as eye movements, microexpressions, and brainwaves, it allowed true understanding of what an individual intended to convey.

A soft “click” sounded in Ming Miao’s mind, as if a switch had been flipped.

Moments later, he heard a series of footsteps approaching from a distance.

Ming Can walked up to him, patted his shoulder, and said, “You’ve been outside for a while. Are you cold? Do you want some hot milk?”

Ming Miao looked up at her.

In that moment, he heard two sentences in his ears. One was clear—what Ming Can had said aloud. The other was more vague because Ming Miao had just started translating her language. He was inexperienced, and the process was slow, like a poorly functioning simultaneous interpreter—

[Miao ah, come back quickly and chat with your poor old mother!]

Ming Miao was stunned.

He had just recently learned a new word online—tsundere—used to describe someone whose actions don’t match their true feelings, hiding their needs behind a façade. He never imagined his mom would be this type of person, even needing an excuse just to talk to him, her closest and most cherished son.

On the coffee table in the living room, the hot milk was already prepared, just at the right temperature.

Ming Miao picked up the warm milk cup and sipped it slowly, little by little.

Ming Can also poured herself a cup.

She took a big gulp, drinking half of it in one go, licked her lips, and, for the first time ever, proactively asked Ming Miao about his cheap dad: “Miaomiao, do you know your dad?”

Ming Miao found the question rather strange. “Of course I know him.”

He did know him.

That meant he wasn’t born through artificial insemination—he had at least met that man and probably even knew who he was.

Ming Can felt a bit disappointed.

So that man really existed in the future; he wasn’t just a simple sperm sample from a sperm bank.

Thinking about how her future self and that man had most likely divorced, Ming Can tenderly stroked her son’s cheek.

For him to grow up looking so handsome, with such a sweet and well-behaved personality, he must have been incredibly resilient.

It’s just that his intelligence…

Ming Can’s headache returned.

She rubbed her temples and, forcing herself to stay calm, asked Ming Miao, “What kind of person is your dad…?”

At the same time, the superpower-translated thoughts echoed in Ming Miao’s mind. His wide, dark eyes slowly widened further, and he instinctively shrank his neck and pinched his ears, struggling to process the simmering fury hidden beneath his mom’s calm facade:

[Be honest, is your dad an idiot? He must be an idiot! I’m so angry that I could die, arghhh!!!]