21 Chapter 21: Is Participation the Key?

Front, left, right.

Lin Xiaoqing, Zhao Linlin, Hu Tianyan.

The coin machines sit in all three directions, so there's no need to worry about not maxing out the 'Flirting Points'. Easily raking in six a day, all while enjoying the bonuses of flirting.

'Flirting' indeed is a superb way to relax.

Zhao Yi sighed emotionally.

Besides 'Flirting Points', other coins also needed to be earned.

Daily physical exercises were indispensable. The morning sun seemed to be getting lazier by the day, delaying school dismissal time till nine o'clock. Running to school was no longer an option, so exercises had to be squeezed in during other times.

Radio calisthenics were one option.

During lunch or the afternoon, if there were some free time, one could also join the classmates for a quick game of soccer. In just ten to twenty minutes, two Study Coins could be earned.

Just like that, it added up.

Another easy way to earn coins was by sleeping, an extra ten minutes of rest would earn one Study Coin.

Three classes, almost there.

The hardest Study Coin to earn was Relaxation. There weren't many recreational activities at school, and leaving school too late made playing games impossible.

Listening to music?

During the breaks.

Zhao Yi took away Sun Liang's Walkman, or rather 'portable audio player', rubbed the earphones with some disdain, and closed his eyes while leaning back against the back of the table.

The headphones carried an explosive rhythm--

"Kiss my left hand, ask for forgiveness, the old pipe organ in the corner…"

Next song.

"Cropping through the lens, what history tells you, the 8mm documentary..."

Next song.

"Quickly use the nunchaku, heiheihahi…"

There was a sudden shock!

Again!

Next song!

"The little god in the pub...."

What the hell!

Zhao Yi tugged out the earphones and with a 'click', switched off the recorder, turned around, and roared, "Monkey! Can't you listen to some art songs? What is this…"

[Artistic Influence, Study Coin +1.]

Sun Liang's eyes were filled with resentment as he roared in despair, "If you don't want to listen, give it back to me!"

"Forget it, I'll make do!"

Zhao Yi twisted his head back with disdain, shoved the earphones back into his ears, and continued to enjoy 'Artistic Influence'.

So, listening to music can also earn Study Coins!

This is a gold mine!

In the evening.

In the classroom of Class A of the elite students, the students all waited for self-study.

Lin Xiaoqing was chirping about the knowledge competition, "The test is on Sunday afternoon. We have to read more over the next few days, I plan to finish this entire book."

"Didn't they say that the scores wouldn't be announced? Only the top four could enter the finals."

Zhao Yi didn't seem to care.

He had also heard about the 'Youth Cup' knowledge competition. Thousands of schools competed for four spots in the finals with bleak probabilities.

Zhengyang No.13 Middle School wasn't a key high school and didn't bother about extracurricular knowledge. The talk about Quality Education was all gibberish, and the prospect of making it to the finals purely based on the students' performance was almost impossible.

Therefore…

What was the use of studying hard?

Lin Xiaoqing rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction, "It doesn't matter if we can get into the finals or not, we have to give it a shot. At that time, we're a team, you can't be a drag."

"You're the drag!" Zhao Yi retorted dismissively.

"Hmph!"

Lin Xiaoqing went back to her competition book, but soon turned back around, "Which of the following is NOT part of Ba Jin's 'Torrent Trilogy'? 'Family', 'Spring', 'Autumn', 'Winter'. Choose!"

Zhao Yi answered listlessly, "'Winter'!"

"Why?" Lin Xiaoqing looked at Zhao Yi, her hair was all tousled, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Why what? What else could there be?" Zhao Yi was even more confused.

"Why do you always answer correctly?"

"I know a lot!" Zhao Yi glanced around, then asked, "I'll ask you a question as well, let's say. A rich man's house had two maids, who always complained to each other while working."

"Maid A said: 'I'm so pathetic, every day I have to keep saying, 'Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am''."

"Maid B said: 'I'm even more pathetic, every day I have to keep saying, 'No, sir. No, sir''."

"So, here's the question, who earns higher wages?"

Dumbfounded, Lin Xiaoqing responded, "Did you mention wage?"

Looking at her silly expression, Zhao Yi could not help but feel guilty.

Such innocence!

Forget it.

No need to explain further.

Hu Tianyan couldn't stand it and leaned in to whisper something in Lin Xiaoqing's ear.

Lin Xiaoqing immediately snapped, "Zhao Yi, if you keep this up, I'm not talking to you!" She noticed Zhao Linlin snickering to her left and became even more irritated.

Everyone else understood, but she didn't!

So frustrating!

[Flirting, target: Hu Tianyan, Study Coin +1.]

[Flirting, target: Lin Xiaoqing, Study Coin +3.]

[Flirting, target: Zhao Linlin, Study Coin +2.]

Lin Xiaoqing actually landed a critical hit!

With a suck-up like grin, Zhao Yi couldn't help but glance at Hu Tianyan. Each time he made a joke, only minor advances were seen with Hu Tianyan.

She's not an old-hand at this, is she?

A few days had passed.

After attending a week's worth of classes and studying with dedication, waking up early, going to bed late, Zhao Yi began to look forward to the holidays – not because he was tired of studying, but because the bonus had been credited to his account.

During his lunch break, Zhao Yi wrote his second bug-reporting letter to the Apple Company.

This time he reported two bugs, one of which was very important.

Then he started fretting!

He had thousands in his pocket, yet every day he stayed in school.

Looking at his worn-out Walkman, Zhao Yi felt an urge to smash it on the ground. All of a sudden, the headphones were jerked out of his ears, and a furious voice rang out, "My Walkman is practically yours! Give it back!"

"Let me listen one more time!"

"Didn't you say you didn't like it?

"But I like to be immersed in art." Zhao Yi stood up, patted Sun Liang on the shoulder and said, "I'm not listening for nothing. During the holidays, I'll get you an MP3 player!"

"Pish!"

Sun Liang didn't believe him, "With your measly pocket money, you still borrow from me to go to the internet cafe!"

Zhao Yi helplessly shrugged, his face filled with sorrow, and suddenly sighed and said, "Monkey, you just don't understand!"

"What?"

"You don't understand how it feels to be rich."

"You do?"

Zhao Yi shook his head and sighed, "The feeling of being rich is... no time to spend money!"

"Screw you!"

Sunday afternoon, Zhao Yi and Lin Xiaoqing went to the office on the first floor together.

The other students also came for the competition.

One was He Ronghua, the top student of the grade, wearing glasses and looking studious; the other was Sun Li, short-haired, petite, with a round and somewhat cute face when she smiles.

The teacher leading the competition was their Chinese teacher, Mrs. Wang Ping.

When Wang Ping saw Zhao Yi, she was surprised, "You're also participating in the competition?"

"Well, I have no choice!"

Zhao Yi glanced at Lin Xiaoqing.

Wang Ping nodded and did not say much, but began to talk about the competition rules, "We're going to take a test. The test lasts half an hour and consists of two hundred multiple-choice questions."

All the students were stunned.

Two hundred multiple-choice questions to finish in half an hour?

It's not even enough to allow ten seconds per question!

Wang Ping didn't seem bothered, "All the questions are based on extracurricular knowledge, mainly Chinese, history, and geography. If you know it, you know it, if you don't, fill it in anyway. Remember, during the exam, you guys are a team. The questions will be divided into four papers, and each Paper will be graded according to the highest score among you. The final scores will then be added together."

"There are too many questions to do in one go, that is to say, the best way is to split the work and concentrate on one paper per person."

"So, you guys discuss among yourselves. Among the four of you, each person focuses on one paper, fifty questions..."

Zhao Yi listened.

After Wang Ping had finished speaking, he immediately asked, "Only multiple-choice questions?"

"Yes!"

"That... is great!"

Zhao Yi revealed a confident smile.

Wang Ping was somewhat puzzled, "Two hundred questions are quite a lot, right?"

Zhao Yi didn't answer but instead asked, "If we get them all right, will we make the top four?"

"Definitely!"

Wang Ping said, "But it's impossible. Some questions are very offbeat, and a lot of them are new. I looked at last year's competition data. Zhengyang's First Middle School won first place in the preliminary round; they got 181 questions correct."

"The second-place Huayao High School got 171 questions correct."

"So, don't think about getting every question correct, or making the top four teams, for our Zhengyang No.13 Middle School, this competition is all about participation!"