Then I felt so unlucky to have been born into this terrible couple's family. Who leaves their son alone outside while they go on a trip? And to top it all off, to New Zealand! They might get mad cow disease from drinking too much milk!
However, Chen Xu was used to playing with his parents since he was a child, so although he was a little annoyed, he could still accept it. There was nothing he could do; if he couldn't resist, he had to adapt. Anyway, this wasn't the first time his parents had done something so unreliable. For example, when he was five years old and had just started kindergarten, his parents suddenly had the idea to train his self-reliance, so after sending him to school a few times, they let him go to and from school by himself.
As a result, poor little Chen Xu was walking and walking alone on the street that day... Actually, his home wasn't far from the kindergarten; it would only be a ten-minute walk for an adult. But little Chen Xu was only five years old and had no sense of direction. In the end, seeing the cars coming and going on the roadside, he got scared and squatted down by the roadside crying. He was brought home by the police.
Chen Xu himself doesn't remember this incident, but his parents often bring it up to tease him... Please! It's clearly you two parents who are being irresponsible, why are you making fun of me?!
Although he knew the dorm rooms wouldn't be closed during winter break, how could Chen Xu possibly stay there again? It was freezing cold, it would be too much for anyone to handle!
So Chen Xu decided to rent a place to live. Besides, he had more money than he could spend in the card his dad had given him. He'd even taken a 30,000 yuan bounty! Thus, Chen Xu gained another nickname: "Bounty Killer"!
However, Chen Xu felt that the reason he couldn't go home was too embarrassing, so he didn't tell anyone that he hadn't gone home for the Chinese New Year. He didn't even tell his roommates, only saying that he had booked his train ticket late and would be the last to leave the dorm.
Gao Xiaojie didn't mention anyone except Zhan Jing, so Chen Xu didn't know there was someone else who shared his misfortune...
Chapter 86: The End of the First Semester of Freshman Year
If you look back on those four wonderful years of university life many years from now, the most unforgettable thing may not be romance, but exams.
It's almost safe to say that few people can recall university exams without feeling intense hatred for them! This is because many students are the type who cram before the exam, essentially forcing themselves to memorize the key points highlighted by the teacher in the textbook for a few days, only to forget everything completely after the exam.
This was Chen Xu and his classmates' first exam in their freshman year, and first exams are usually quite formal. There were seven or eight proctors, and in a large classroom, everyone had their own seat, far apart from each other, so there was nowhere to cheat.
Of course, this only applies to freshmen. Once they become seasoned students, exams are basically no big deal.
Before the exam, everyone was incredibly nervous. Wu Yuan and his friends even typed in the key points the teacher had highlighted before the exam and printed them out... using a shrink printing method, so each word was as small as a sesame seed. Also, because it was winter, these guys, following the advice passed down from the older students, all wore clothes with the most pockets and then put the notes in different pockets.
The advantages of this are twofold: first, it avoids putting all your eggs in one basket, so if the teacher catches one, there are still others. Second, it keeps different types of answers in different categories, making them easier to find when needed. This is akin to programmatic cataloging.
Everyone was incredibly enthusiastic before the exam. The exam was at 8:00 AM, and most students arrived at the exam hall by 6:00 AM to reserve seats, hoping for one near the back or on the side—a spot where the teachers couldn't see them. However, when many of them rushed to the exam room, they found Chen Xu already there reading a novel… Well, everyone knew Chen Xu had exceptionally good sleep quality; he almost always went to bed at 10:00 PM and woke up at 5:00 AM. By the time they arrived at the classroom, Chen Xu had already run two laps around the track, taken a shower, and even eaten breakfast.
Seeing it was Chen Xu, the group could only sigh and resign themselves to their fate. However, Chen Xu was quite considerate; he knew that if he took all the good spots, he'd be beaten to death, so he only took the spots meant for his four roommates. There were plenty of other good spots.
Then Chen Xu saw a group of men hunched over a table, diligently writing something. Curious, he walked over to take a look, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat, saying, "Dude, you're damaging public property!"
These guys were frantically copying answers to some difficult questions onto the desk with ballpoint pens. One of them muttered as he copied, "Damn, this desk is practically ruined. Why the hell aren't we taking the exam in classroom 2103?" Classroom 2103 was the third classroom on the first floor of the second teaching building. Of course, there was a sign hanging above it. Chen Xu asked why they were taking the exam in 2103. What were the advantages?
That idiot replied that, legendary, there was once an incredibly talented person in exam room 2103 who wrote down all the key answers for C programming on that table. From then on, no one who took the C programming exam at that table failed. I reckon even passing the National Computer Level 2 exam by copying from that table would be possible.
Chen Xu broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself that Hexie University really does produce a lot of outstanding people.
Desk culture is a unique feature of university campuses, supposedly originating from the great Lu Xun, who carved the character "早" (early) on his desk in the Sanwei Study, thus pioneering this tradition. Leaving aside the issue of damaging public property, some of the messages on those desks are truly incredibly audacious. For example, the desk Chen Xu is currently sitting on has the following inscription: "No cheating on exams, or you'll be a junior next year." Better to lack integrity than fail!
That's truly a profound statement!
However, those students who were carving cheat sheets on their desks were disappointed before the exam. The proctor's first words upon entering were, "Now, let's arrange the seating for the exam..."
A scene of utter devastation!
Finally, Chen Xu was lucky enough to sit in the animal's seat. Looking at the table, wow, it was full of answers! Looking back at the animal, its eyes were brimming with tears, and its gaze seemed to want to devour Chen Xu's heart!
Chen Xu shrugged innocently; this had nothing to do with him. The teacher had assigned the seats… But this was like a windfall!
The first exam today was a written test on C programming. Chen Xu was quite worried before he came, because he had been studying Chinese language recently. He had reviewed some C language materials and crammed a bit before the exam, but he was afraid of confusing the two during the test.
But when the exam papers were handed out, Chen Xu wrote with incredible ease. This is because many of the operational habits and patterns of the Chinese language originate from the C language… This isn't to say that Chinese experts were lazy or lacked technical skills; the main reason is simply due to user habits.
Chen Xu quickly finished the test paper, then asked Xiao Min to take a look. After checking, Chen Xu found that he could get 70 points on his paper according to the grading criteria, so he stood up and handed in the paper without hesitation.
The first person to hand in their paper is usually the most eye-catching, especially since only half an hour has passed.
The proctor took a look at the exam paper and thought, "Wow, not bad." So he said, "Would you like to check it again? There's still plenty of time."
Chen Xu grinned and said, "Seventy-three points is enough, ten points higher than the passing grade." He realized he had let something slip after saying that, chuckled sheepishly, and turned to run away.
His words infuriated the teacher and astonished the entire class. Several professors from the Information Science department then graded the paper, revising it repeatedly… only to discover that it truly was 73 points, not a point more or less!
However, the layout of this exam paper was terrible. Aside from the 73 points I got, I wrote answers everywhere else, but for some reason, they were all crossed out at the end!
A group of teachers exchanged bewildered glances, wondering if this guy was doing it on purpose. They thought there were always geniuses like this, some of whom, after handing in their papers, would turn back at the door, think for a moment, and then cross out two correct answers on the test, saying, "Hmm, exactly sixty points, no wasted!"
So the teachers all thought this student might truly be a prodigy, and Chen Xu's reputation was already known to everyone at Hexie University. However, what these teachers didn't know was that Chen Xu had scribbled away the answers so badly that the original text was unrecognizable because the questions were wrong. Or rather, they were wrong according to the C language's solution method. So he simply erased them, leaving no trace.
In his first exam in his freshman year, Chen Xu shocked the whole class. Later, Wu Yuan asked Chen Xu how he knew he could definitely get 73 points. Chen Xu replied, "Are you stupid? I only know how to do the questions worth 73 points. How could I possibly get 74 points?"
The exam was no longer a question for Chen Xu, but it wasn't going to be a problem for Wu Yuan and the others.
Hutchison University's rules don't use a credit system. Failing a course deducts a certain number of credits, and you can't graduate if you don't accumulate enough credits. Retakes at Hutchison cost 20 dollars per course, much cheaper than the hundreds of dollars per credit at other universities. However, there's a strict requirement: failing four major courses means you won't get your degree, so exam-oriented students are quite stressed, especially first-year students.
Because upperclassmen say that proctoring isn't as strict after sophomore year. Unless you're incredibly unlucky and encounter one of the most notorious proctors in the entire university, you can usually cheat by making notes beforehand and paying attention during the exam. Otherwise, how many men and women at Hsieh University would fail to graduate every year!
However, since failing a course means failing in the first year, it ends at the end of the first year. There are even exceptional cases where students don't get their degrees by the end of the first semester. Therefore, the freshmen take exams very seriously. For example, among Chen Xu's roommates, apart from Qin Xiao'an who usually reads a lot, the other three are always busy with a bunch of other things and don't have much time to study.
Chen Xu wasn't afraid anymore, but he found it somewhat amusing to see his boss and Lao Dong looking so nervous. Then he remembered a post about the future that he'd seen on Xiao Min's computer.
It's said to be in the future, just over two years from now. It's touted as the most powerful cheating method in history.
This cheating method is a bit complicated. First, the answers to the key questions are entered into the computer and then printed... well, I won't go into the details of the process. Take, for example, the small, block-sized printed sheets of paper that Wu Yuan and his friends have prepared. However, they need to use photocopying toner instead of regular ink for printing.
Once everything is done, use transparent tape to stick the paper on, with the side with the writing on it facing the adhesive. Then press and press hard! The tighter the better.
After applying the tape, put it in water and gently rub it with your hands to remove the paper. Because of the stickiness of the toner and tape, you'll see all the black lettering appear on the transparent tape!
Because the tape is transparent and reflective, even if there are dense black words on it, the teacher won't see them from a distance, and might not even notice them standing right next to you. At this point, you can confidently take out the tape with the cheat sheet and place it on the table. Simply lay it flat on the test paper, and the black words on the tape will be clearly visible through the white test paper underneath.
This method, though complex, is incredibly safe. After Chen Xu explained this and tested it, the entire dormitory erupted in excited shouts. Outsiders might have thought they'd gotten their hands on the exam questions ahead of time!
However, after discussing it among themselves, they decided not to reveal this method. They knew that too many people would talk too much, and it would be troublesome if it got back to the teacher.
This method should actually be available online now, but it hasn't spread widely yet. Chen Xu only benefited from it.
With this "advanced" cheating method, the group was overjoyed during the next few days of exams. More than a dozen others who brought cheat sheets were caught, but the four of them brazenly laid tape on the table and copied the answers without getting caught.
February 5th, the Beginning of Spring. The almanac said today was auspicious for weddings, offering sacrifices, and travel, but Chen Xu picked up his pen and added a note to the almanac: "Auspicious for cheating!"
Whether it was Chen Xu's stroke of genius or not, one of the proctors today had diarrhea, and the other simply sat on his desk reading *Ghost Blows Out the Light*. The students below were so excited they were practically screaming, copying like crazy. Notes were flying all over the classroom. Finally, the teacher reading *Ghost Blows Out the Light* couldn't take it anymore and said, "Keep it down. Keep it down! I specifically borrowed a copy of *Ghost Blows Out the Light* to give you a chance, so be quiet!"
So everyone in the room was incredibly grateful... because today's exam was on Marxist philosophy, and the teacher even said it was a closed-book exam.
A few good students, however, didn't bring their textbooks and ended up cramming a lot before the exam, so frustrated they almost banged their heads against the wall. They should have known better than to waste their time!
After finishing the last exam in the morning, some students immediately went back to pack their bags. Others took the bus in the afternoon or evening; Qin Xiaoan was one of them.
The four of us in the dorm went to a small restaurant near the school gate for a meal with meat, which was a kind of farewell dinner for each other. Basically, half of our freshman year is over, and one-eighth of our university life is already gone.
After seeing Wu Yuan and Lao Dong off, Chen Xu went to a rental agency outside the school.
Because it was freezing cold and he had plenty of money, Chen Xu found a pretty nice apartment. It was a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom, one-kitchen suite, fully furnished with internet access, a double bed, a Simmons mattress, a washing machine, a refrigerator, a microwave, and everything else you could need. Although there was no central heating, the bedroom had a wall-mounted air conditioner for warmth, and the floor was carpeted… a cheap kind, but quite comfortable to walk on. And with the carpet, the room didn't feel so cold in winter.
The house has natural gas, a natural gas water heater, and hot water pipes. It ignites automatically when you turn on the tap, providing instant hot water, so you always have hot water, even on cold days – which is great. The bathroom also has a bathroom heater and a bathtub, so it's not cold to shower there in winter. The kitchen also has natural gas and an induction cooker, so you only need to buy pots, pans, and the right equipment to cook your own meals.
This one-bedroom apartment, though furnished with exquisite details and fully equipped with appliances, is in a great location near the school. Normally, it would rent for at least seven or eight hundred yuan. But it's almost Chinese New Year, the off-season for renting. So Chen Xu got it for six hundred yuan. He'll rent it for two months, paying the rent upfront, with utilities settled upon move-out. However, because he has so many appliances, he has to leave a three thousand yuan deposit with the landlord.
Carrying his luggage and bedding into his "new home," Chen Xu felt that having money was really great. Then he noticed that the money in his bank account had barely been touched, but he also felt that having too much money was a problem. Like Bill Gates, didn't he worry about how to spend all his assets?
Chen Xu was an easily satisfied person. Although there was no TV in the room, there was internet access, which was enough. He could even watch the Spring Festival Gala online anyway. So after tidying up the room, he openly took out Xiao Min and turned it into a laptop.
Seeing such a beautiful laptop, Chen Xu felt a pang of nostalgia, thinking how long it had been since he'd seen Xiao Min in her true form. He had actually considered renting an apartment off-campus, which would make using Xiao Min more convenient, but he later dismissed the idea. Living alone was simply too boring; Chen Xu was a person who preferred company, and he didn't like being a recluse.
The house is quite nice to live in. The air conditioner is on almost 24 hours a day, which has made Chen Xu lazy. He spends his days online and learning hacking techniques. He basically doesn't even leave the house all day long... because there is a restaurant downstairs that delivers food. He just makes a phone call and it is delivered upstairs.
"Oh, this decadence!" Chen Xu thought to himself that he couldn't go on like this, but it was just too cold outside. He figured he might as well indulge in a little decadence in the dead of winter. Anyway, no matter how decadent he became, he couldn't be as decadent as his parents.
The thought of his parents deliberately leaving him behind while they went to Australia to see kangaroos made Chen Xu a little depressed, and he thought to himself that he wouldn't take them with him when he went to Australia to see kangaroos in the future. Chen Xu was currently playing a very interesting app called "Personal Hollywood."
This software, naturally, is also from the future. Like its predecessor, *RPG Maker*, it allows movie and anime fans to create their own 3D animations. *Personal Hollywood*, paired with *RPG Maker*, is practically a DIY game creation tool. *Personal Hollywood* is even more powerful than *RPG Maker*, producing graphics that are a level above… because while *RPG Maker* is user-generated and doesn't have the high technical requirements of *RPG Maker*, *Personal Hollywood* is produced and used by professional companies.
Chen Xu is currently creating his own 3D avatar. The method is actually quite simple: Xiao Min uses a camera to take a 360-degree full-body photo of him, then imports it into the software, which automatically detects and generates a character model. Of course, some details still need to be modified, and it wouldn't look too much like a real person... Because Chen Xu knows he's not handsome, he's trying to find ways to modify the details, such as making his eyes bigger, his hairstyle cooler, and his clothes more stylish, etc... Anyway, he's having a lot of fun with it.
It was already February 9th, and tomorrow was the eve of the Lunar New Year. Chen Xu had been staying in this place for three days. Just then, his phone suddenly beeped with a text message.
I opened the text message and saw it was from Gao Xiaojie. The message only contained one sentence: "I'm sick and lying in the hospital. I'm so bored! You big idiot, can you chat with me?"
Chapter 87 Cohabitation
Gao Xiaojie didn't understand why she was looking for Chen Xu.
She was genuinely sick, probably because the dorm room was too cold. Somehow, a window in the room broke, and then it snowed heavily last night, with a biting wind. She slept all night, and when she woke up the next day, she felt very groggy.
Gao Xiaojie didn't want to go to the hospital because she was worried that the little money on her card wouldn't be enough for the hospital expenses. But the problem was that she was the only one in the building, and it was quiet at night. Although she was outgoing, she wasn't much braver than most girls, so she had no choice but to go to bed early. Besides, she knew that if she was really sick, no one would know even if she was hanging out in her dorm room, so she had to take a taxi to the hospital herself.
Then the doctor said she needed to have an IV drip. Gao Xiaojie thought it best to stay in the hospital, so she booked a hospital bed as a suite for the time being.
Gao Xiaojie originally planned to text Zhan Jing, but then she thought that if she told Zhan Jing she was sick, Zhan Jing would definitely be very worried and might even come over. That would be too much trouble for her, especially since the New Year was approaching and Zhan Jing must have a lot of things to do herself.
After thinking it over, she realized she couldn't contact the other women in the dorm, otherwise they would definitely tell Zhan Jing. But for some reason, she suddenly thought of Chen Xu instead of her good friends from high school.
Gao Xiaojie actually had a good impression of Chen Xu. Although the two would occasionally bicker, it was just playful banter between friends. It could be said that among the boys she had met in the past six months of university, Chen Xu was indeed the one who had left the deepest impression on her and whom she liked the most.
Of course, this goodwill refers to the relationship between friends, and he also caught the man who slit the throat, which can be considered revenge. That night, when he thought he was going to jump off the building, the two of them stood on the rooftop chatting on the phone, and Gao Xiaoneng was able to feel that Chen Xu was a good person.
Actually, Chen Xu has a pretty good reputation among girls. He's loyal, talented, and rich. While he can't be called handsome, he's pleasant to look at. Besides, handsome guys are often womanizers and unreliable, so someone with average looks like him is just right.
Gao Xiaojie was well aware of Chen Xu's loyalty; she owed him a great deal of favor. To be honest, she might even be a suitable boyfriend candidate… Oh dear, Gao Xiaojie blushed at this thought, thankfully no one saw. Why did she even have this thought?
Chen Xu replied to the text message quickly: "What's wrong? Did you kick off the covers while sleeping? Poor kid, let me pat you."
Seeing the text message, Gao Xiaojie felt another wave of frustration. She had indeed kicked off the covers while sleeping. There was nothing she could do. The room was cold, so she unceremoniously covered herself with Zhan Jing's down comforter, and then put a cotton comforter on top of that. The result was that she was very hot at night, accidentally kicked off the covers, and woke up the next day with a groggy head.
Gao Xiaojie replied: "You pighead, gloating! You have no humanity. I'm lying here all alone in the hospital, and you don't even offer me any comfort."
Chen Xu chuckled upon seeing the text message and replied, "Okay, okay, just trying to comfort you. I'll buy you candy when you're discharged." Actually, Chen Xu was a little nervous when he first saw the message, but seeing that this girl still had the mind to banter with him, he knew she was definitely doing very well.
"I don't want to eat sugar. It will make me fat! Last time I ate at a buffet, I only dared to eat fruit for the next week."
"Oh, so what do you want to eat?"
"I want to eat KFC's Orleans-style roasted chicken wings!"
Chen Xuhan replied, "It seems like eating chicken wings makes you gain weight more than eating candy!"
"I know, but I just want to eat it! That's how women are; they're afraid of gaining weight from things they don't want to eat. But if they really crave something that might make them gain weight, they'll still eat it. You didn't just find out on the first day, did you?"
Chen Xu was a little dizzy when he saw the message. He realized he still didn't understand women well enough! So Chen Xu replied cheerfully, "Then I'll treat you to a meal when you go back to school."
Neither of them knew that they had both stayed behind. Gao Xiaojie replied, "Let me correct you, you're the one who's treating me to a meal now that you're back at school. Because I'm rather pitiful, I couldn't go home for Chinese New Year this year, and I'm still pitifully living in my dorm..."
This really startled Chen Xu. There was someone else like him who hadn't gone back? And pitifully staying in the dorm? So Chen Xu quickly made a phone call: "Hey, are you in the dorm now?"
Gao Xiaojie felt a sweet warmth in her heart when she received the call, because it seemed Chen Xu cared about her quite a bit. You see, after going home for the New Year and leaving the city, everyone's phones were only used for texting. Making phone calls involved long distance and roaming charges, which were incredibly expensive. Although she knew Chen Xu wasn't short of money, his prompt call still pleased Gao Xiaojie's womanly heart.