CHAPTER 175: CHAPTER 150: UNEXPECTEDLY, IT’S A UNIVERSITY LUMINARY

Morning.

In the [warehouse], only two Spirit Stones were left. To be prepared for emergencies, Lin Li decided to head to the community park to practice martial arts, focusing on the odd-numbered body Chapters today.

"Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, Grandpa Zhou." Before practicing, Lin Li greeted Zhou Youwei.

Zhou Youwei looked at Lin Li for three seconds and sighed, "You came back after all. I thought you had given up."

Nostalgia was written all over his face, and Lin Li astutely picked up on Old Deng’s little prideful thoughts.

"The word ’give up’ isn’t in my dictionary, Grandpa. I’m not one of those young people who just quit halfway," Lin Li said proudly.

Of course, the dictionary Lin Li referred to was his Oxford Dictionary at home, full of foreign words, and guess what, there really is no ’give up’ in it.

Just like how Edison never said the word ’give up’, after all, he didn’t speak Chinese.

As for Lin Li’s Chinese dictionary, it’s full of things that wouldn’t pass censorship.

"Emphasizing that you’re young, huh? Things are getting interesting. An old steed in the stable, still aspiring for a thousand miles. I’ll keep watching you. I’m not giving up either." Zhou Youwei declared firmly as he stared at Lin Li.

"No problem. I won’t let you down." Lin Li vowed to prove his perseverance.

And with that, he began practicing martial arts.

Halfway through his practice, Zhang Fang was walking on the path outside the bushes. Seeing Lin Li and Zhou Youwei, she suddenly remembered something and shouted to them, "Old Zhou, Xiaolin!"

"Hey, what’s up, Grandma Zhang?" Lin Li halted his stance and inquired.

"Xiaolin, I saw you haven’t replied to the messages in the community group. Just asking now if you guys are planning to go to the community activity room to make mooncakes later?" Zhang Fang asked, then showed the bag in her hand, which seemed to contain ingredients like flour.

Generally, good management would organize some activities during holidays, but Lin Li’s community definitely doesn’t enjoy such perks. This event must be organized by their unofficial neighborhood committee, funded out of pocket without expectations of returns.

In an old community, most residents are retired and prefer organizing activities. Whether as participants or organizers, it provides a way to pass the time.

It’s essentially a pretext for everyone to gather and chat while doing something.

"Not going, I have no interest in making mooncakes." Zhou Youwei was the first to wave it off.

Lin Li initially wanted to decline, thinking that the time could be better spent sleeping or studying. But then he nodded, "Sure, Grandma Zhang, is it in the activity room? I’ll go take a shower after my exercise and be there."

In Lin Li’s [warehouse], there was still a "Body Strengthening and Disease Expelling Pill," which he planned to give to Wu Min. The problem was that, like traditional Chinese pills, it was large, and Lin Li hadn’t found a reason or opportunity to get Wu Min to swallow it these past few days.

Making mooncakes himself might be a good opportunity.

"I’ll go too." Zhou Youwei immediately changed his mind.

Lin Li and Zhang Fang both turned to look at Zhou Youwei.

Zhou Youwei’s elderly face remained calm: "I don’t trust Lin Li going alone. I have to keep an eye on him."

Both Lin Li and Zhang Fang were relieved.

The two exchanged glances, everything unspoken:

Xiaolin, your relationship with Old Zhou is really good.

Yeah, my relationship with Xiaozhou is really good.

...

[Committed to getting up before 5:00 AM and earnestly practicing the Body Refining Eighth Rank Technique for at least half an hour before 7:00 AM, (11/30)]

After finishing his exercise, Lin Li went home to shower and change clothes. He prepared a "Body Strengthening and Disease Expelling Pill," wrapped it in tissue and tucked it in his pocket, and headed to the community activity room.

The "Body Strengthening and Disease Expelling Pill" now had a small notch—Lin Li had taken a bit himself, and it tasted like traditional Chinese medicine, slightly astringent and a bit bitter, not pleasant to eat.

However, there were no magical phenomena like feeling energy circulating in the body.

This way, he could be more reassured that his mom wouldn’t experience any adverse changes after consuming it.

Inside the activity room, there weren’t many people, and as Lin Li expected, they were mostly of the older generation or two, mainly grandmas and aunties. Male participants were rare, and the conversations weren’t in standard Mandarin, but in Xiling dialect.

Zhou Youwei hadn’t arrived yet.

Zhang Fang saw Lin Li, walked over, wiped her hands, and asked, "Xiaolin, do you know how to make mooncakes?"

"I just watched a tutorial, so I should be able to," Lin Li replied honestly.

Learning on the spot isn’t embarrassing; Lin Li’s life before getting the system was all about improvisation.

"Alright, let me tell you, here are the materials, here’s the pre-mixed flour, molds are over here, and the microwave is there. Making mooncakes is simple; you young folks are smart. If you don’t understand anything, you can just ask Grandma or anyone else."

"Okay, thank you, Grandma."

Zhang Fang smiled and nodded, then returned to chat with a few friends while continuing to make mooncakes.

Just as Zhang Fang left, the only young person in the room came over and patted Lin Li on the shoulder, "Let’s make mooncakes, I’ll guide you."

Lin Li: "?"

Dude, who the hell are you?

Noticing Lin Li’s confusion, the young person quickly whispered, "You don’t want to become the focal point of the grandpas and grandmas’ conversations later, do you? Saving me is saving yourself too!"

Lin Li: "..."

Being the young one among the elderly can indeed make you a spotlight.

Right now, quite a few eyes were curiously checking out Lin Li.

"Alright." Having another young person to chat with would indeed be better, Lin Li nodded and followed the person to the materials area.

The available fillings were limited and classic: jujube paste, lotus seed egg yolk, and five-nuts. There were no signs of new-style mooncake ingredients here.

Each of these three types of mooncakes had its distinctive qualities: jujube paste tasted better than the other two, lotus seed egg yolk was more fragrant, and five-nuts simply had more ingredients than the other two.

Whoever invented the green and red threads in five-nut mooncakes must have a strange sense of taste. Just seeing them made Lin Li uncomfortable, as if tasting an overwhelming sweet sugary flavor.

So, without hesitation, he only picked the other two types for fillings.

"What’s your name, I’m Zeng Ziang," the young person introduced himself.

"My name is Lin Li."

Lin Li started by taking some flour and used a rolling pin to make the pastry.

He looked at the size of the mold again; it shouldn’t be a problem to put the "Strength and Disease Prevention Pill" inside.

"Lin Li, did you come here alone?" During the process of rolling the pastry, Zeng Ziang asked with some confusion.

"Yeah."

"Why did you come here to make mooncakes by yourself so early, at just seven in the morning?" Zeng Ziang was even more shocked, "I thought you’d be brought here by your family like me."

Zeng Ziang then sighed, "When I first came home during the Mid-Autumn holiday from school, they treated me like a treasure, but in just a few days, they started to dislike me."

Lin Li couldn’t quite understand Zeng Ziang’s situation.

Wu Min had been home for so long, and Lin Li had never found her annoying.

As for Sister Min’s view of him, it was probably consistently disapproving.

"By the way, are you still in school, bro? A graduate student?" Despite being relatively young, Zeng Ziang’s appearance no longer resembled a child’s, and Lin Li believed he had already been working for years.

"I’m in my fourth year of college now. I wanted to be a graduate student, but after my thesis draft was shown to my professor once, I gave up." Zeng Ziang shook his head.

"Why?" Lin Li asked curiously.

"Because my advisor said my thesis is of too significant strategic value."

"Then shouldn’t you pursue graduate studies more?"

"But he said the strategic significance is that if we find a way to let other countries steal my thesis, it would set their tech back by ten years. I suspect he was being sarcastic."

"Bro, you should trust yourself." After a moment of silence, Lin Li encouraged.

"I do believe in myself. I think my thesis is okay, but the decision is in the teacher’s hands, and he doesn’t listen to me."

"No, bro, I meant you should trust your judgment. Your advisor is being sarcastic, no need to doubt it." Lin Li quickly explained.

Zeng Ziang: "..."

"Has anyone ever told you that your words are hurtful, Lin Li?"

"Everyone says that." Lin Li nodded.

Zeng Ziang: "..."

So, you’re a habitual offender.

"With undergraduate theses being this difficult, I can’t even imagine doing a grad thesis. I’d just end up postponing my graduation. Plus, my English isn’t good, so I’ve completely given up on grad school." Zeng Ziang returned to the original topic.

"So are you planning to look for a job, bro? Doing any internships? Found any ways to make money?" Lin Li asked curiously.

"Not really, jobs are hard to find now, I’m preparing for civil service exams." Zeng Ziang shook his head but then complained helplessly, "But the current environment is really tough. I looked at the positions in Xiling, and the competition ratio is as high as hundreds to one. I don’t even know what to say, hiring from hundreds of people to just one, it’s insane.

Ah, the old environment was better, now there’s no way to live."

"Indeed," Lin Li nodded, agreeing with him, "In the past, there were no application statements, no essays, just by being castrated you could succeed."

Zeng Ziang: "?"

"Uh... Lin Li, your ’past’ is a bit too far in the past. If we’re talking about that past, I might not even consider civil service exams." Feeling a chill below, Zeng Ziang was somewhat sweaty.

The past he talked about was years ago, but Lin Li’s referred to hundreds of years ago.

"Lin Li, what are you studying now, high school?" Feeling like he couldn’t keep up with Lin Li, Zeng Ziang changed the subject to talking about himself, suspecting it’s better than being surrounded by the older generation, so he shifted the topic.

"Yeah, first year of high school," Lin Li nodded.

"Which high school?"

"Nansang."

"That’s impressive, I missed the Nansang cutoff by six points in my entrance exam, so I ended up at Xiling First Middle School." Zeng Ziang praised him, then sighed a bit:

"High school is such an amazing time. Asking me to go back and endure another three years, I’d refuse, but I’ll always cherish those years. What’s the saying, you don’t remember the battlefield, only the comrades."

"Isn’t college life good?" Lin Li asked after hearing this.

"Of course there are things that are good," Zeng Ziang immediately retorted.

Lin Li: "?"

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, pretend I didn’t say that," Zeng Ziang closed his mouth immediately.

Dammit, how could I taint a pure, innocent high school kid?

"Ahem, life is definitely a hundred times better than high school. To put it this way, the first seventeen weeks of each semester in college are like you can go to a top-notch massage place to soak your feet anytime... Uh, can you understand this description? You’ve probably never soaked your feet, but just know it’s very, very comfortable and enjoyable."

Lin Li sneered in his heart.

Old geezer, who are you looking down on?

Who hasn’t soaked their feet before?

I’ve fought too many times to count and soaking is even easier.

But then Lin Li asked, "What about after those seventeen weeks?"

"Hehe." Zeng Ziang suddenly laughed with relief, "After the start of the finals week in college life, it’s like having to drink all the foot soak water from the previous seventeen weeks."

Lin Li: "..."

"If you worked hard and didn’t soak your feet in the first seventeen weeks, then the water is odorless, and you’d finish it in no time."

"But if you soaked your feet every day for seventeen weeks, this water becomes terribly hard and painful to swallow, scratching your throat."

Zeng Ziang’s first half was quite perfunctory, but the second half was heartfelt. Which part he belonged to was without doubt.

Lin Li nodded in agreement.

What a precise analogy, it just immediately made sense.