Chen Jingle originally wanted to stick around and watch the drama a little longer, but the system chimed in right on time.
[There are only five minutes left until breakfast time ends! Little Chen Jingle, please be sure to complete the task before the deadline.]
"I know, I know. Stop rushing me. I won’t go over the time limit!"
Forced to give up his desire to watch the commotion, Chen Jingle twisted the throttle of his electric scooter, speeding off. He hoped the traffic police would hold that old lady entirely responsible, although the chances of that were pretty slim.
"I’ll take two sticky rice rolls, one sesame bun, and a cup of soy milk!"
"Sure thing! Just a moment. That’ll be four yuan."
"Scanned and paid."
Usually, Chen Jingle would only eat two buns and a cup of soy milk. However, after sticking to his workout routine for two consecutive days, his appetite had noticeably improved, so he wanted to see if he could stomach an extra one.
After all, fitness was thirty percent exercise and seventy percent diet. How could he build muscle without eating more? And if he didn’t eat more, when would he ever be able to defeat Tyson in three punches? Of course, he still couldn’t compare to those who could polish off dozens of dumplings in a single meal. Fortunately, he wasn’t in a hurry. He would just take his time. He was just curious, though—was eating dozens or even a hundred dumplings in one sitting truly a normal person’s appetite?
Having bought his breakfast, he didn’t even wait to get home. He scarfed it down right on the side of the road, CHOMP CHOMP. Gulping down the soy milk to wash it all down, he let out a hearty BURP.
"See? All done."
[What a good boy! You have successfully completed the eating task. Reward: Height +0.1 cm. Current height: 173.3 cm.]
He had been in a pretty good mood, but hearing the number 173.3 instantly made his lips twitch in a grimace. Well, it seemed it would still take a while for him to reach one point eight meters. Until then, he could only reach that height by jumping.
Returning home, he got ready to take a shower.
[A quick reminder: the next task is cleaning. A smart boy must learn to take care of himself and do household chores. You need to be a civilized and hygienic good child; you can’t be a slob! The time limit is one hour. You can definitely do it, right, baby?]
Chen Jingle paused his movements and said in annoyance, "I have to clean too? Why didn’t you wait until after I showered to tell me?"
[The daily routines scheduled by the system are basically fixed!]
"Hmph!"
Chen Jingle ground his teeth in frustration. Fine, he would clean. At least everything was mechanized anyway. Taking out the vacuum cleaner, he swept both floors, not sparing a single corner or windowsill. Once the vacuuming was done, he mopped everything as well.
However, he still underestimated the amount of physical exertion required. This two-story villa wasn’t exactly huge, but it wasn’t small either. Running up and down the stairs was no easy feat.
Seeing that there were only five minutes left until the cleaning time ended, he didn’t care how the system would judge it. He rinsed the mop and went straight upstairs to shower. Just as he finished showering, changed into fresh clothes, and stepped out, he heard the system’s notification.
[What a good boy! You have successfully completed the cleaning task. Reward: Strength +0.1 kg. Current strength: 33 kg.]
"The study session is up next, right?" Chen Jingle asked while drying his hair with a towel.
[That is correct!]
"Good."
Taking advantage of his break, Chen Jingle restocked his fruit platter and snack cart. He turned on the small fan and leaned back in his rattan rocking chair. Ah, this was the life!
[Study time has begun. A smart boy loves to learn the most! Little Chen Jingle, please choose one of the four compulsory subjects—Language, Mathematics, Foreign Language, or Calligraphy—to study. The time limit is one hour. You can definitely do it, right, baby?]
"I know, I know," Chen Jingle said, waving his hand dismissively.
For his morning theoretical study, he decided to focus on English. Even though he probably wouldn’t use it in his daily life, if he ever wanted to go out and see the world, cramming at the last minute would be too late. He might as well just treat it like watching a movie. Today, Chen Jingle specifically swapped his phone for a tablet. Setting it on the stand upon the nearby coffee table, he freed up his hands and activated his binge-watching mode, munching on snacks and fruit as he studied!
It seemed that the content farms had re-uploaded videos from a few new foreign travel vlogger couples. New NPCs had appeared! As a native of the country, Chen Jingle actually had to rely on these foreign vloggers to learn about major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
"Come to think of it, I’ve never been to any of the other major cities except Sui City," Chen Jingle muttered to himself.
He pondered that he should find an opportunity to travel. Since he was no longer working anyway, he didn’t have to worry about planning around public holidays. The travel couple he chose to watch today was from the UK. Judging from their attire and manner of speaking, they were likely highly educated intellectuals or middle-class. Listening to them was quite pleasant. It would have been much harder to endure if they had a thick, grating accent.
Not all of the overseas video vloggers traveling here held friendly attitudes. Many specifically ventured into rural areas or urban slums, doing everything in their power to dig up the country’s backward and ugly side. Hilariously, the places they assumed were slums were actually traditional courtyard alleys right in the city’s second ring road. Hilarious.
[What a good boy! You have successfully completed the study task. Reward: Removal of one pimple from your face.]
With the one-hour study session over, Chen Jingle stood up and stretched. He felt a bit nostalgic for his school days. If he could have heard a reward notification like this after every class, he probably would have tested into Qingbei during the college entrance exams, instead of just a standard second-tier university.
He sighed softly and shook his head. "Forget it. What’s the point of talking about this now? What’s in the past is in the past. Youth doesn’t come twice. Making the most of the opportunities I have now is what truly matters!" Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.
If he really wanted to, the worst-case scenario would be waiting until his knowledge reserves were sufficient to take the postgraduate entrance exam—even if it was just for the sake of becoming a better version of himself.
After a brief ten-minute rest, the system spoke up again.
[Practical session has begun. While a smart boy must learn theoretical knowledge, hands-on practice is equally indispensable. Little Chen Jingle, please choose one of the four compulsory courses—Cooking, Planting, Breeding, or Health Care—to study. The time limit is one hour. You can definitely do it, right, baby?]
"I choose Cooking. Bring it on! I can’t wait anymore!" Chen Jingle rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
For lunch today, he planned to make potato and beef brisket stew, homestyle honey-glazed char siu, and pork rib soup with corn and carrots. They were all relatively common home-cooked dishes, but prepared with the system’s master-level cooking skills, the resulting aroma wafted through the air the moment a light breeze blew past. A few stray cats wandering nearby were the first to catch the scent, letting out loud MEOWS outside the yard.
The neighbors, meanwhile, furrowed their brows in bewilderment, craning their necks to see what was going on.
"Whose cooking smells so good?"
"Look, it’s that house. Heaven knows what that kid is stewing at home today."
"Heh, eating meat every single day, at every single meal. He doesn’t know how to live frugally at all. No wonder he’s still a bachelor at his age!"
"Hey, keep your voice down!"
"Where did he learn such great culinary skills? I’ve never seen him show off like this before. I’ve never even heard about it."
"This food... smells even better than a professional banquet!"
Sadly for them, they could only drool in envy.
"Done!" Chen Jingle let out a long breath.
Including prep time, he had finally managed to whip up three heavy meat dishes within the hour. After all, his small home stove was different from commercial ones, and he only had two burners to work with.
[What a good boy! You have successfully completed the practical task. Reward: Removal of one scar on your elbow.]
Oh, wow! Another old scar from nearly twenty years ago was gone. Not bad at all!
Chen Jingle took out his phone and snapped a beautiful group photo of the feast. Even though this wasn’t an accurate reflection of his own true skill right now, it would be next time. Then, he opened his friends list, found a profile picture of a kitten, and sent a message.
"Chen Qiyun, are you out of school yet? If you’re home, come over to my place and pick up some stuff."
Only after seeing the other party reply with an "Oh" sticker did he slip his phone back into his pocket.