CHAPTER 260: CHAPTER 258: CINDERELLA’S COMEBACK AGAINST THE ODDS 3 (BONUS FOR 250 MONTHLY TICKETS)

Anning got up in the morning to find Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu had already left.

After washing up, Anning saw breakfast left in the living room, so she hurriedly ate a few bites before taking out her phone to call the class teacher.

She asked the class teacher for sick leave, saying she needed to rest at home for a couple of days.

Since Anning had never taken a leave before, and her academic performance had always been excellent, coupled with her good nature, the class teacher didn’t ask much and readily approved the leave.

After asking for leave, Anning went back to her room to find a set of clothes to wear.

Anning’s clothes were all the cheap kind, and it wasn’t clear how long she’d worn them; they were pilling, and some had worn thin at the edges.

Anning found a relatively tidy set of clothes to change into and took a canvas bag before heading out the door.

She had to go out and figure out a way to make one hundred thousand.

If Anning had a thousand or eight hundred to start with, getting a few tens of thousands wouldn’t have been too difficult, but she barely had any money now - just a few tens of yuan in total.

Anning took the bus to the busiest commercial street.

She wandered around the street, thinking about what she could do to earn her first pot of gold.

As Anning wandered, she came across an electronics store.

The store was newly opened, and for promotional events, they had many activities like opening discounts, raffles, and also an interesting memory game.

The game had several levels, and each level passed awarded a different prize.

If one could pass all the levels, they could win a grand prize of sixty thousand yuan.

Many people, eyeing the grand prize, queued up to play this game.

As soon as Anning heard it was a test of memory, she immediately joined the long queue.

There was already a long line before her, and Anning observed that up until now, not a single person had passed the final level.

Generally, most people could pass the first level, but the second level blocked many people. Those with a slightly better memory could get through the third level, but so far, very few had passed the third level, and no one had passed the fourth.

The rewards for the earlier levels, which were easier, were actually quite cheap.

The first level gave away a box of tissue paper, sort of a commemorative prize, the second level was a pair of headphones, and the third level was a slightly better keyboard.

Many people queued with the hope of getting lucky, thinking they had a good memory. Yet, most could not pass the second level.

Anning waited in line for more than half an hour before it was her turn.

She went to a staff member, filled in her name and phone number, then began the first level.

The first level was easy – just a group of numbers that had to be memorized in ten seconds.

Anning scanned them and remembered them at a glance, but she still waited ten seconds, and after the numbers disappeared, she immediately reported them correctly.

"Congratulations."

The staff member had a smile on their face: "Would you like the commemorative prize, or will you continue to challenge?"

Anning softly said: "I’ll continue to challenge."

The second level combined numbers and symbols, also with a ten-second memory span.

Anning memorized them with just one glance as well, and after ten seconds, she reported the numbers and symbols of the second level without mistake.

The third level was more challenging – this time with English letters, Chinese characters, numbers, and symbols, all jumbled up together, making it quite a headache to remember.

But the time given to memorize was still ten seconds.

It was almost as if you had to accurately report these numbers and symbols right after they stopped scrolling.

Anning felt no pressure at all and quickly passed the third level.

Those behind her who watched Anning pass three levels were all exclaiming in surprise; after all, in such a long time, very few had made it through three levels.

By the time Anning had passed the fourth level, the staff looked at her differently.

Because the prize for the fourth level was substantial, it was a smartphone, which although not particularly expensive, was worth over a thousand yuan.

"Do you want to take the prize or continue to the next level?"

The staff asked again: "Let me clarify, if you don’t pass level five, the prize from level four will be voided."

Anning nodded in understanding: "I choose to continue to the next level."

Many people behind her felt particularly sorry for her.

If Anning chose not to go to the next level now, she would definitely get a smartphone, which would already be quite good. However, if she chose to continue and failed, she would lose all the preceding prizes.

"Young lady, why don’t you just take the phone and leave? The next levels are bound to be particularly difficult."

You must understand, level five is for a computer, which is bound to be much more difficult than the fourth level.

Several well-intentioned people were persuading Anning.

Anning smiled at these people: "I just want to challenge my own limits. If I fail, I’ll have no regrets."

When the person involved had said this, what else could others say?

The staff looked at Anning with a touch of pity in their eyes, as if they were certain she could not pass the challenge.

As expected, level five was more difficult, including shapes and musical notes.

However, for Anning, this was not difficult, and she passed level five quite smoothly.

Many people began to congratulate Anning with smiles.

Everyone thought now that Anning had passed this level, she would get a computer, which was already an exemplary achievement, and she should know when to stop.

But unexpectedly, Anning chose to attempt the final level.

The staff confirmed repeatedly, and Anning was determined to challenge the last level.

The commotion here attracted many people, even the manager came over.

She confirmed with Anning with a smile, and Anning nodded decisively: "I just want to challenge myself; I want to try the last level."

The manager advised Anning: "The last level is very difficult; it’s a chess puzzle. You have to memorize it within ten seconds and set it up without a single mistake. Are you sure you want to try?"

Anning nodded firmly: "I want to try."

"Young lady, this chess puzzle is very complicated. Not to mention ten seconds, even ten minutes or half an hour might not be enough to set it up perfectly without a single mistake. We’ve had people with exceptional memory try it, and it’s nearly impossible."

But Anning still insisted on giving it a try.

Since she requested this, it was not possible for others to outright deny her the chance.

The manager felt she had kindly warned Anning, and if the young lady insisted on trying, then let her. If she couldn’t pass the sixth level, it wouldn’t be anyone else’s fault.

Soon, a chess puzzle appeared on the screen, and Anning watched carefully—it was certainly very complex.

Many people behind her sighed in shock, feeling that the difficulty was at a hellish level.

Everyone unanimously believed Anning couldn’t possibly clear the level.

Ten seconds passed quickly, and the chess puzzle disappeared from the big screen. The staff brought out a chessboard and pieces.

Anning stood at the table, grasping the black and white chess pieces and began to replicate the puzzle.

She restored it quickly, placing each piece sharply and with no hesitation whatsoever.

Seeing Anning so confident, some people began to think that maybe this young lady could indeed clear the level.

Everyone expressed envy and admiration for Anning’s memory.

Not to mention the sixth level, just making it to the fifth level, many people were already exclaiming her memory was extraordinarily good. Many wished their own children had such a strong memory—how much easier their studies would be.