Zhan Jing was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said that was fine too. The Fiorentina jerseys have always been quite distinctive and pretty.
Gao Xiaojie exclaimed, "My dear Jingjing, don't you understand what I mean? Don't you think it's too lonely for the team to have only one manager like me? For Fiorentina's sake, come and keep me company!"
Zhan Jing initially wanted to refuse, as she didn't particularly enjoy such lively events, and being a manager meant taking on considerable responsibility. However, the words of refusal were on the tip of her tongue when she saw Gao Xiaojie's clear eyes, and she couldn't bring herself to say them. She could only sigh and say, "Well, I'll think about it."
At this moment, Chen Xu and the others were sitting in Wang Dong's dormitory.
Wang Dong and his classmates, all third-year students majoring in Information Science, also lived in Building 14, but on the fourth floor. When Chen Xu entered the dormitory, he thought he had stumbled into a den of thieves.
Various electrical wires and network cables crisscrossed like a spider web, or extended into every corner of the dormitory like the gnarled roots of an ancient tree. All four tables were occupied by computers, though the monitors were covered in a thick layer of dust. The cement floor was littered with everything imaginable: cigarette butts, shoes, washbasins, and so on. The beds were like pigsties, with belongings strewn about everywhere.
Wang Dong invited them to sit down, saying, "University dorms are all like this. It's a little better when you first come here, but it'll be like this when you get to our age."
Chen Xu and the others broke out in a cold sweat. Without being polite, they found a bed and sat down. Wang Dong then offered them cigarettes, but it seemed that among these freshmen, only Chen Xu accepted one.
Chen Xu occasionally smokes a couple of cigarettes, but he wouldn't call it an addiction. It's just that after he first learned to smoke, he found that it made him feel a little dizzy, which was quite pleasant. As for how he started smoking in high school, it was purely out of curiosity and because he thought smoking looked cool.
After lighting a cigarette, Wang Dong cursed, "That bastard Liu Guang is really asking for it. He actually dared to extend his claws to our Information Science Department. Doesn't he know that our Information Science Department is overcrowded and has difficulty even producing and consuming its own products?"
A few third-year students nearby also cursed, saying that Liu Guang was never a good person. He had basically slept with every girl in the chemistry department who was even slightly attractive. Whether they had actually slept with her or not was unknown, but they had heard that he had gotten a girl pregnant recently, and she later had to have an abortion at the hospital.
After a few words of cursing, Wang Dong got down to business, saying, "You guys still need to be careful in Sunday's game. There's a reason why Liu Guang is so confident. I heard that the Chemistry Department has a few special admissions students this year with pretty high sports scores, and maybe there are some good newcomers among them. You guys train with us these next few days, finalize your lineup, practice together, and then develop corresponding tactics. Just train accordingly, and even if you lose, don't lose too badly."
The implication is that they are not optimistic about the outcome of this match.
Wang Dong took a drag of his cigarette. Seeing that Qin Xiao'an and the others looked rather grim, he laughed heartily twice, patted Qin Xiao'an on the shoulder, and said, "What's there to be discouraged about? Didn't Chen Xu say that a freshman's ability depends on their skill level before entering university? There's nothing that can be done about it. Just like you, Qin Xiao'an, you're the captain now because you played a lot of games before, right?"
Qin Xiaoan chuckled twice, scratching his head. Wang Dong pointed to a guy playing computer games next to him and said, "This is Xiao Mo, you two get to know each other. When Xiao Mo first came to university, he hadn't even watched a single football match. He started from scratch. Now he's the team's starting right-back. And when I entered the university with him, there was this guy in the English department who was hailed as the star of the team. His football skills were excellent. But now, he's ruined himself by smoking and staying up all night every day."
"So, don't rush, the outcome of one match doesn't matter. Several of our stronger seniors have already graduated, and the top seniors are mostly looking for jobs, so they rarely have time to compete. Therefore, you freshmen need to catch up with the class! We can't let down the reputation of our Information Science department!"
Wang Dong's words ignited a frenzy of excitement in Qin Xiao'an and his group, who erupted into cheers. Wang Dong and his classmates exchanged glances and chuckled, "It's great that young people are so passionate! Unlike us, we've all become so decadent. Damn, seeing you guys so energetic, I feel like there are fewer mosquitoes in this room!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Xu, who was drinking water, suddenly spat out all the water in his mouth, which landed right on the computer next to him.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Chen Xu quickly stood up, but the senior next to him waved for him to sit down. He casually picked up something that was no longer recognizable as it was, something that looked like either a piece of clothing or a rag, and wiped it on the computer screen. He laughed and said, "What's wrong with you? Did you get bitten by a mosquito? And it might have been a big, smelly mosquito, otherwise why would you react so strongly?"
Chen Xu quickly said that he had choked by accident, but it was actually because of what Wang Dong had just said.
September is the peak season for mosquitoes, and they're especially rampant. Every night before bed, everyone has to fight off the mosquitoes inside the mosquito net for at least half an hour before they dare to sleep. Getting bitten a few times in the middle of the night isn't so bad, but the real problem is when the mosquitoes are buzzing around your ears, especially when it's still hot and you're not sleeping soundly. If you get bothered by the mosquitoes, you can forget about falling asleep at all.
Now, whenever Chen Xu encounters a problem, he turns to Xiao Min, regardless of the nature of the problem… It's like some people who are unfamiliar with electronics going to Baidu Knows to ask for Baidu's website address. So Xiao Min recommended a software to him… "Mosquito Killer".
The software works by using sound waves of a certain frequency to repel mosquitoes. These ultrasonic waves are inaudible to humans and are harmless to humans, but they can drive away all the mosquitoes in the vicinity.
Given the rampant and ubiquitous mosquitoes at Hexie University, Chen Xu kept the software running 24/7. After all, the ultrasonic waves it generated wouldn't affect any people or animals like cats and dogs… Of course, considering the peculiarities of some legendary species, the biggest drawback of this method was that it might attract passing Superman or wild Ultraman…
Wang Dong then asked Chen Xu if he knew how to play football. Chen Xu honestly shook his head and said that he only knew how to play football games on PS and computer.
Seeing Wang Dong's somewhat disappointed "Oh," Chen Xu shamelessly said, "If you don't know how, you can learn. I'm so smart and quick-witted, I'll definitely learn it in no time."
The guys laughed and cursed, "What do you think football is?" Then Wang Xu clapped his hands and said, "Okay, come along for training tomorrow and give it a try."
Chen Xu cheerfully agreed, but just then, his watch on his left wrist vibrated slightly but continuously. Without saying a word, Chen Xu said, "Then I'll be going now, senior. I have something to do." After leaving the house, he ran all the way to a secluded grove of trees downstairs, entered the password, and unlocked his watch.
"Xiaomin, what's wrong?" Because usually Chen Xu and Xiaomin were the ones communicating, the computer rarely contacted him on its own initiative.
"Hello, I wanted to inform you that, thanks to the cell-based self-repair mechanism of the biological computer, the data in one cell region has been repaired and is now usable."
"What kind of things are in the documents?"
"One of the greatest inventions of the 21st century... the main program of the virtual reality system."
Chapter 14 Virtual Illusion - Ginkgo
"Hiss..." Chen Xu hissed as if in pain. Virtual illusion?
Chen Xu, who enjoys reading online novels, is no stranger to this term... because if you browse through the online game section of Qidian, the first chapter of most online game novels is about buying this kind of virtual reality helmet and then entering the game.
He wasn't sure if the virtual reality system Xiaomin mentioned was the same as the one he remembered. So Chen Xu asked, "The virtual reality system you're talking about, is it the kind that lets people enter a virtual world to play games?"
"Yes."
"Does that mean that once you enter that virtual world, your experience will be just like the real world? You'll be experiencing this illusion from a completely first-person perspective?"
“That’s right,” Xiaomin said. “However, I want to correct one point: virtual reality systems are also subject to hardware limitations. With current technology, although users can experience the powerful realism of the virtual system as if they were actually there, there is still a considerable gap between this realism and the real world. For example, subtle details on the grass or delicate expressions on people’s faces. These require a powerful combination of hardware and software to achieve. But the birth of virtual reality is undoubtedly one of the milestones in the development of human technological civilization, that’s beyond doubt.”
Chen Xu took a few deep breaths and said, "Can I experience this virtual system now?"
“No way.” Xiaomin poured cold water on the idea. “Because only the main program of the virtual reality system has been restored, but the corresponding software is lacking, so it cannot be used.”
"Uh, what does that mean?"
"The abbreviation for the Virtual Reality system is BC, which stands for Brian Computer. To use a traditional PC platform as an analogy, the main program of the BC system is equivalent to the operating system of the PC platform. Because the Magic Box computer integrates the hardware of both PC and BC, theoretically, once the main program of the Virtual Reality system is restored, the Magic Box computer can use the BC platform. However, currently, only the main program of the BC platform has been fully restored, and no software can be used."
Chen Xu understood after this explanation. To give an analogy, the BC system inside the Magic Box computer is like a PC with Windows installed, but this computer has nothing but the operating system! There's no browser, no media player, not even a simple game like Minesweeper!
So what can this computer do? It's just an empty shell; it can't do anything!
Chen Xuxi said that the Virtual Reality BC platform has great appeal and potential, and Xiaomin said that almost one-third of the data on the hard drive belongs to the BC system.
Chen Xu was sad... because the BC system was like those beautiful women on TV, you could see them but not touch them, let alone actually seduce them!
Frustrated, Chen Xu could only ask Xiao Min some questions about the virtual system, hoping to give himself something to look forward to.
The virtual system, developed in 2064 by Chinese and American experts, is a groundbreaking system. This system truly enables harmless communication between machines and the brain, and in some fields, it has rapidly captured and even replaced the market.
Especially in the fields of gaming and multimedia, they have almost completely driven out the PC platform.
The significance of the virtual reality system is immense. For many disabled people, it allows them to hear and see the world, and to enjoy it like everyone else. By 2086, after more than a decade of development, the virtual reality system had become quite sophisticated. All of the top 100 first-person perspective games of 2086 were on the BC platform.
Moreover, besides playing games and watching movies, the most important significance of the BC platform is that it can help people learn!
After listening to Xiaomin's description, Chen Xu was truly envious of the children born in the 1980s. With the help of the BC platform, students of that era had truly achieved edutainment.
Want to see dinosaurs? No problem! Experience the real Jurassic Park firsthand with the BC platform.
Want to improve your hands-on skills? No problem! See that? Here's a bunch of parts that are 99% realistic airplane parts. Go assemble them, and then try to see if the plane can fly. It's okay if it crashes, you won't die here anyway, so do whatever you want with it!
Even the militaries of various countries have developed military training programs specifically for the BC platform. A soldier can personally experience the cruelty of the battlefield without fear of death, learn to use any weapon, become familiar with combat methods in any terrain, and even reach the level of an elite special forces soldier integrating the army, navy, and air force!
Furthermore, the training on the BC platform is practically a highly realistic war game; aside from the initial development costs and subsequent maintenance, it requires almost no upfront investment. Therefore, future militaries will be eager to conduct "real combat" exercises, with almost every exercise featuring missiles flying everywhere. Billions of dollars worth of aircraft and tanks will be destroyed without hesitation. Perhaps a few nuclear missiles will even be deployed to test soldiers' ability to protect themselves and complete missions in a nuclear-contaminated battlefield…
The problem is, Chen Xu can only dream about these first-person simulation games on the BC platform. It feels like when his dad bought him a Little Tyrant game console as a kid, and he excitedly plugged it in to play, only to find that his stupid dad hadn't bought a single game cartridge...
He repeatedly told Xiaomin that if any new BC game became available, she should tell him immediately! He wanted to go in and experience it as soon as possible!
When Chen Xu returned to his dorm, he found the door locked and the room empty. He then remembered that apart from him and Qin Xiaoan, the other two guys in the dorm were like ghosts, disappearing somewhere at night.
Wu Yuan is alright; at least we know where he went. This guy was originally the homebody type, but lately he's been incredibly busy every night. Every time after dinner, he comes back, grabs his little notebook, and heads out again. According to Xiao An, who's well-informed, Wu Yuan went to the school's BBS before even arriving, demonstrating his excellent network attack and defense skills. He was already being watched by a bunch of upperclassmen before even entering the school. Now he's joined the student council's computer interest group, and I wonder what project he's working on.
It's well known that the student union at Hop Hop University is exceptionally strong. Looking at the surrounding universities, no other student union boasts such high efficiency and organizes so many successful events. Hop Hop University's student union has become a model and a benchmark for neighboring universities to emulate. Even on graduates' resumes, mentioning their participation in student union activities significantly boosts their chances of getting a job.
The Computer Interest Group is one of the most popular departments in the student union. While other departments recruit students from across the university through interviews, the Computer Interest Group only has a separate, encrypted section on the school's BBS, requiring students to independently access this section to apply. The most impressive thing about the Computer Interest Group is that they receive assignments from the school or other organizations during their student years, and the rewards for completing these assignments are very generous.
Moreover, many of the research topics and products of the computer interest group have won awards in China. Therefore, although Wu Yuan is currently very busy, as the first person in the whole school to join such an amazing department as a freshman, he can be considered a minor celebrity.
As for Dong Qingjie, he was the most mysterious one in the dormitory. He was always nowhere to be seen after school, and when asked why he was back, he'd say he was working part-time, but wouldn't say where. Thinking back to how agitated he was when his things went missing that day, everyone figured it out: Dong's family was probably quite poor; they'd heard he even relied on student loans for tuition. So, while the amount he lost that day wasn't huge, it was probably unbearable for him.
What's more, in the end everyone's belongings were found, but his money was the only thing that wasn't recovered.
Although no one had discussed this issue, everyone tacitly understood it. So when they went out to eat together and saw that Lao Dong had only a small portion of food and a large bowl of rice for himself, they would all find various excuses to give him the food from their own plates.
Qin Xiaoan's monthly living expenses are only a little over four hundred yuan, but Wu Yuan and Chen Xu usually have enough money, so the two of them tacitly agree to order extra dishes every day when they eat, and then find various excuses to share the food.
Qin Xiaoan is probably still upstairs in Wang Dong's dorm discussing football, but who knows when he'll be back? So Chen Xu didn't dare to bring out the supercomputer, so he opened his laptop and browsed the internet for a bit before getting ready to go to sleep.
Chen Xu soon realized that his decision was very wise, because a few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. When he opened the door, it wasn't Qin Xiao'an, but a beast from next door named Liu Rui.
It's been a few days since school started, and the students in this building see each other all the time, especially those in the neighboring dorms, who are basically acquainted with each other. Chen Xu politely asked him what was wrong.
Liu Rui asked if he could borrow the computer to look up some information online.
This wasn't a big problem; Chen Xu was bored anyway, so I let him do it. Then I asked him curiously what information he was looking up.
“Poetry!” Liu Rui looked over in surprise: “Do you not know or have you forgotten? Didn’t Boss Chen assign a task after class today? He said that the Mid-Autumn Festival is in a month, and we should all prepare a greeting card and write our blessings on it. After a while, we’ll collect all the cards and then randomly distribute them to classmates on the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
Chen Xu said, "I know that, but what does it have to do with poetry?"
Liu Rui said, "You don't understand. I heard from Chen Laoda today that although the greeting cards are randomly distributed, the basic principle is to send the boys' cards to the girls, and the girls' cards to the boys. Of course, there are more boys than girls in our department, so the girls will all get cards from us boys. I was thinking, what if I write a charming love poem and get lucky and send it to some girl? What if I'm even luckier and send it to one of those three beauties, Guan Yizhan, Jing, or Gao Xiaojie? Maybe she'll admire my talent or something, and then, hehehehe..."
Chen Xu got goosebumps from his owl-like laughter and then said, "Damn, what if your love poem ends up in the hands of some animal?"
"At worst, it'll all be for nothing!" Liu Rui glanced at Chen Xu with disdain and said, "If I do it, at least there's a chance of success, but the problem is, if I don't do it, then there's absolutely no hope of success." At that moment, Chen Xu really thought this guy was a philosopher!
But thinking about it, what this guy said wasn't entirely unreasonable. Looking at how intently this beast was searching for poems online, Chen Xu smiled disdainfully. Poems? Do you even need to look for these?
Since he had nothing to do and the computer was occupied by this guy, Chen Xu went downstairs to buy a rather nice greeting card, picked up a pen, and started writing right away.
Back in high school, Chen Xu was a rather bourgeois literary youth. He'd even written a few silly poems to charm the girls, but he eventually gave it up when he realized that being a literary youth wasn't so appealing anymore. Looking back now, it all seems like a pipe dream. However, copying his own old writings is easy enough; I'm sure his poems wouldn't be much worse than those of other literary youths online.
When Chen Xu was in high school, there was a thousand-year-old ginkgo tree on campus, which was said to be the school's treasure. It was said to have been planted by Zhou Tai, a general of the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period... However, Chen Xu never quite understood why Zhou Tai would go out and plant trees instead of fighting wars. Did the saying "If you want to get rich, have fewer children and plant more trees" already exist back then?
Of course, many literary figures have written poems about this ginkgo tree, but most of them were obscure, half-baked writers like Chen Xu. Years ago, when a good friend of Chen Xu transferred to a high school in Shanghai, Chen Xu wrote a quatrain for her on the theme of a ginkgo tree:
I think back to when I was a child,
Leaves fall and withered branches remain after the winter solstice.
Pick the leaves from late spring again.
Wild geese carry my longing across the distance.
At this time, Chen Xu wrote another poem on the greeting card, a modern poem, also titled "Ginkgo." Writing it now, he felt a mixture of pride and a touch of melancholy, a longing for the past.
"Meeting you,
It all started with that bleak autumn wind.
Under the ancient ginkgo tree,
It holds my initial emotions.
Your bright smile,
It is deeply imprinted in my mind.
You under the ginkgo tree
She's like an angel, making my heart flutter.