CHAPTER 173: CHAPTER 148: WHY ARE ALL THE OPTIONS FOR THIS QUESTION NOT PROVIDED?

Because he already ate half of Zhou Baowei’s chicken steak, Lin Li casually grabbed a couple of bites for dinner and returned to his own room.

He took his textbooks to the living room and started preparing to study.

"What are you doing?" Wu Min, who had finished washing the dishes, was about to return to the master bedroom to rest, but stopped in the living room when she saw Lin Li’s actions and asked him.

"Isn’t it obvious? I’m preparing to concentrate and start studying," Lin Li pointed at the table.

"Your room has such a big computer desk, can’t it be used as a study desk? Why not study in your own room?" Wu Min asked.

"I’m afraid you wouldn’t notice how hard I’m working, and forget to tear up and praise me while raising my allowance and pocket money," Lin Li said smoothly.

Wu Min: "..."

Wu Min kind of missed Lin Li’s childhood.

Lin Li was occasionally abstract as a child, frequently occasionally, always frequently.

— This kid has always been in this careless state since young.

She missed it not because Lin Li was different as a child, but because when he was mischievous back then, Wu Min could use a feather duster to whip him until he cried out loud, apologizing to Sister Min and his mom, saying he wouldn’t dare next time.

As for why he said next time, it’s because Lin Li would definitely dare next time.

But now, her mischievous child is beyond her control with age, Wu Min retrieved a feather duster from the cupboard, and as expected, Lin Li chuckled fearlessly, "Mom, I’m so grown up now, isn’t it inappropriate to use this on me?"

"I’ll buy a bigger one someday," Wu Min nodded, agreeing with Lin Li’s point.

Lin Li: "?"

Sister Min is also a genius.

Then Wu Min negated her own words, "No, it’s not about the feather duster anymore, I should buy a spiked whip or a Wolf Fang Club."

Lin Li: "?"

Even cultivators fear becoming black slaves.

Lin Li, like a Disney movie, suddenly started singing, "Goodbye, Mom, tonight I’m setting sail, don’t worry about me, I have oars of joy and wisdom~~"

If only he knew ballet, Lin Li would have shown some dance moves as well.

"A wise kid can’t work seven hours for just five dollars," Wu Min shook her head.

Lin Li: "..."

The inability to refute feels so frustrating.

"Alright, you focus on studying. Since your room’s empty, I’ll help clean it up; it’s all dusty and filthy," Wu Min said with disgust.

Actually, Lin Li didn’t think his room was dirty, but unfortunately, the standards of two generations seemed to differ.

Just as Wu Min was about to enter the room, she stopped and asked Lin Li, "Anything private you need to handle first?"

The child has grown, needs his own space, and since she wasn’t at home most of the time, who knows what was stashed away.

One of Lin Li’s childhood fears was coming home to find his room completely transformed and tidied up.

Because that meant many of his secrets might have been exposed.

As a kid, Lin Li loved picking up men’s health magazines from the ground because the last page had some risqué jokes.

It was considered an enlightenment publication.

He got scolded twice for that as a child.

"Sister Min, what privacy do I have with you? That’s too distant," Lin Li said. In this day and age, who keeps physical items? Good stuff is so well hidden it won’t be found, so Lin Li didn’t care at all.

"Alright then, you focus on studying. I’ll quietly close the door and clean, won’t disturb you," Wu Min nodded.

"So, Mom, can you cry and raise my allowance and pocket money later?" Lin Li didn’t forget his goal.

The door closed, Wu Min even slammed it, echoing loudly.

Lin Li: "..."

So real.

Guess coming to the living room to study was in vain.

Lin Li currently wasn’t short on money; the Demon Suppression Bureau’s subsidies still had a lot left, and Lin Li only planned on spending the money wisely. But the problem is everywhere in life there’s a place demanding money, like today, where many processes need money to ease or unlock, at this rate, he’d deplete his resources quickly.

His system was also useless, leaving the cultivator bound by the mundane world, couldn’t it just inexplicably give him a mountain of gold and silver?

Concentrated his thoughts, activated [Enhanced Memory], and Lin Li started studying.

After twenty minutes, his memory began to fade, and the first round of study ended, Lin Li turned his gaze to his phone with the breathing light flashing.

Bai Bufan hadn’t replied to the morning’s message at all, but was now finally willing to respond.

"Bai Bufan: Bao Wei said you were delivering food today? Are you not studying at all, just trying to annoy me on purpose?"

"Bai Bufan: You’re really so concerned about your face, I knew you wouldn’t stick with it."

"Heh—" Lin Li sneered.

Bao Wei really is a snitch.

"You initiated a video call"

"Hello?" Bai Bufan answered, but there was no sight of his face, only the ceiling.

— Bai Bufan would avoid showing any of his weaknesses in front of Lin Li, the screenshot kid.

"Shh—I’ll mute you now, you just watch," Lin Li said only that, muted the phone, and placed it aside facing him, immediately starting the second round of studying.

Another twenty minutes passed, Lin Li turned his head, and was surprised to find that Bai Bufan hadn’t angrily hung up, but instead showed his face, staring intently at Lin Li.

Seemed like he was also gritting his teeth.

Spending twenty minutes watching him study, Bai Bufan had lived his life.

After another twenty minutes, when Lin Li turned his head again, Bai Bufan was crying, tears streaming down both cheeks, staring blankly at him.

Spending forty minutes watching him study, Bai Bufan had eternity.

Lin Li finally unmuted the phone.

And then sneered.

Eyes weren’t red, tears unevenly spread, sobbing was pretentious, spotted fake immediately, eye drops on the spot.

"Crying? Crying counts for time."

Bai Bufan: "?"

"Bao Wei cried and you became the gentleman, but when I cry, you tell me crying counts for time? Is my status lower than Bao Wei’s, I won’t accept this! Didn’t you say yesterday you couldn’t bear to see your buddy cry?" Bai Bufan broke down.

Lin Li closed his eyes.

The meaning is simple.

Once you close your eyes, you can’t stand it.

"Damn!! I’m studying! I’m also studying! I’ll outcompete you, you groove-churning thing!"

The boy’s blush surpassed any romantic words. Bai Bufan turned off the video, flushed, and made a bold vow.

"The ancestors of the Bai Family really ought to rise and bow to my brother. Bufan met us and decided to amend his ways. It’s like their ancestral grave is emitting green smoke." Lin Li laughed and shook his head.

Then he added in his heart—a joke, you guys better not actually rise.

Lin Li continued to study.

He studied for a total of two hours, one hour was memory-based study with the [Strong Recognition] segment, and the rest of the time without strong memory was spent on solving science problems.

To achieve a high ranking in the monthly exam, you need to be well-rounded and balanced, relying solely on rote memorization is not enough.

Then, under Wu Min’s hesitant and reluctant gaze, he asked her to scan his face to log in to the delivery app, participating in the late-night snack delivery rush.

Considering Wu Min goes to bed quite early, Lin Li only delivered for two hours at night, returning around eleven, increasing the task completion count by just 2, reaching 13.

It’s worth mentioning that after two hours of effort, the balance went from 5.0 to 4.0.

Lin Li’s biological clock was actually somewhat tired, but he didn’t sleep, instead he continued studying.

When midnight arrived, entering a new week.

[Update complete.]

Sure enough, will his system always update at midnight every Monday?

Lin Li looked at the system interface, searching for what has been updated.

In the last update, the system’s UI added an option, but it had no text and was gray, unable to be selected.

But this time, although there’s still no text, it can be selected, however, after selection, the new interface is completely blank without any options to operate.

This option representing the new feature is still a semi-finished product, estimating it still has a long way to go before becoming a finished product.

No problem, love, faith, wait.

Looks like besides "Hollow Knight: Silksong," "GTA6," and "Black Myth" launching on XBOX, he has another thing to anticipate.

Did you ask? Any news?

Lin Li clicked into the [Shop], both product slots and the free item replacement button lit up simultaneously.

First, purchase Spirit Stone and "Limit Break Talisman," leaving 790 system currency.

"In exchange for Bai Bufan going bald after sixteen, get me a high-grade Spirit Stone!"

[Low-grade Spirit Stone]

Useless Bai Bufan.

But accustomed to it, no waves of emotion.

Considering the daily income from Spirit Stones in slot one is important, Lin Li chose to freely replace the "Limit Break Talisman"—he now has three, and unlike Bao Wei, he doesn’t need to hold back from breaking the limit of stubbornness, feeling this stock is already sufficient.

So even if something good refreshes, it can be replaced without any concerns.

Damn, it’s all Zhou Baowei’s fault, assuming the tool is used for holding in shit.

[You have refreshed "Ability Amplifier (+1)": 100 system currency (daily purchase limit 1), do you want to replace?]

[Ability Amplifier (+1): Specify an owned ability for use, permanently enhance the effect of that ability, the enhancement limit is "+1"].

Is it actually a tool that affects the system?

Without much hesitation, after analyzing the pros and cons for three seconds, Lin Li chose to replace.

Sorry, "Limit Break Talisman," you are a great teammate, but now I need to take the talent elsewhere.

Lin Li purchased one on the spot.

As expected, the product slots share one free chance, now both buttons are gray, the system is really stingy.

[Passive abilities: Bare-Handed Blade Catch, Wall of the Soul]

[Active abilities: Charge, Strong Recognition, Mimic, Heal]

These are the six abilities he currently owns.

The one used most undoubtedly is [Strong Recognition], and the one that feels useful and has the broadest applicability, also able to link with other abilities, is [Charge].

First, enhance [Strong Recognition], [Charge] will be enhanced tomorrow, directly skipping the two passive abilities that have no use in modern times, and as for [Mimic] and [Heal], they will depend on his future ’financial situation’ and system task issuance.

[You have used the Ability Amplifier (+1) on "Strong Recognition," "Strong Recognition" has been upgraded to "Strong Recognition (+1)"]

[Strong Recognition (+1): After use, memory is increased to five times the usage amount, lasts for thirty minutes, accumulating one usage every eight hours, maximum storage limit is 3.]

Compared to the original, the duration changed from twenty minutes to thirty minutes.

The change is small, but the enhancement is quite big, originally one could only have super memory for an hour a day, now it’s an hour and a half, pity the storage limit hasn’t changed.

The purpose of staying up was to confirm the system update time, after all these operations, Lin Li glanced at the messages on his phone and found Bai Bufan left him a message.

"Bai Bufan: Studied up till now, there’s one problem that’s stumped me, can I ask you?"

"Lin Li: Go on."

Chen Yu Ying told him, first understand to lead others to understanding, also don’t underestimate problems the weak can’t solve, they might help fill in gaps.

Lin Li followed the guidance, prepared to pass on knowledge.

This is what is passed on as the torch, this is the meaning of education.

"Bai Bufan:

A fisherman caught a mermaid by the sea, why did he release her?

A. The mermaid was too ugly.

C. The mermaid’s bust was too small.

D. The fisherman had a kind heart."

Screw the meaning of education.

"Idiot."

Lin Li felt he shouldn’t waste time on Bai Bufan, true sincerity was fed to the dogs, didn’t reply to the message, just turned over and slept.

Counting on Bai Bufan, better to count on a dried-out pile of dog poop by the roadside.