Let's Do Some Questions - Chapter 42

Song Man clicked into the poster and browsed the event page.

“To celebrate the third anniversary of the Question Bank app, the first offline meetup will be held on November 23rd at the Qingcheng Youth Activity Center. Hundreds of students will take part in exciting online exams, and there will be experts present to create questions, allowing face-to-face interaction with top students and even one-on-one tutoring… Is this really that twisted?”

Song Man read aloud, clicking her tongue. At the end, there were several enlarged phrases like ‘If you’re interested, act fast,’ making her feel like these people were devils.

Song Man looked at the general schedule. Famous high-scoring users, streamers, and the designers and question-setters behind the Question Bank app would be present.

This was truly a good opportunity to beat up the question-setters face-to-face.

Song Man didn’t register. She exited the event details and saw a private message in her inbox – an invitation from the Question Bank official account.

As one of the top performers on the Question Bank, Song Man was on the list and naturally received an invitation.

But whether to go or not was the question.

Song Man had something to hide and didn’t want to be discovered.

【Zhuazhua】: Boss, boss, let’s meet up!

【Zhuazhua】: Did you see the event at the end of November? Let’s go together.

【A Man】: Not sure if I’ll have time. I’ll see then.

Song Man was quite conflicted. She did want to go, but she didn’t want her identity exposed. What if someone took a photo and posted it online, and her family or acquaintances saw it? She didn’t want to reveal her identity so soon. Song Man had originally planned to make a big splash during the Gaokao, where she would definitely be the most dazzling person in the province.

Just as Song Man was hesitating, the official account sent her another private message.

【Question Bank】: We’ll have a live competition area there! The first-place winner gets a 3000 cash prize. You might want to consider it.

【A Man】: I want to ask, will you allow photos then?

【Question Bank】: No photos are allowed in the exam area, but they are in the discussion area.

【Question Bank】: We will scan and check before entering the exam area.

The official account might as well have said, ‘Have you ever seen anyone bring a phone into an exam?’

Song Man felt relieved.

【A Man】: If I have time then, I’ll definitely go.

【Question Bank】: Okay, if you confirm, please notify us by November 15th. Since you are one of our popular speed-solving experts, if you confirm, please don’t bail on us unless it’s an absolute emergency.

【A Man】: Got it.

Meanwhile, Chu Fengqiu also saw the advertisement.

She checked the date. November 23rd was a Saturday, and it was in Qingcheng City, so she should have time.

Just then, she saw A Man online and sent a message asking about it.

When Song Man saw the message, she was just about to send the same thing.

From her feeling, she thought Ah Q was a pretty good friend, maybe a bit older and very gentle. It would be nice to have a chance to meet, and then PK on the spot. Plus, she was quite familiar with Qingcheng City, so she could even invite Ah Q to stay and play for a few days.

【A Man】: I’m going. Don’t get beaten by me in person, okay?

【Ah Q】: I will do my best.

【A Man】: Oh right, did Chuanlin challenge you to a PK?

【Ah Q】: Yes, but we haven’t competed yet.

【A Man】: Then be careful with her, she’s very strong.

【Ah Q】: To hear you say that, she must be quite extraordinary.

Seeing A Man say this, Chu Fengqiu became interested in that person.

【Ah Q】: Then I’ll compete with her once.

【A Man】: Okay, I’ll watch.

Song Man perked up, sat up from her bed, took another sip of orange juice, grabbed a peach from under the fridge, and washed it in the bathroom. By the time she came back, the PK had already started. She sat cross-legged on the bed, watching the match.

Song Man chose to watch from Chuanlin’s perspective. After all, she was already very familiar with Ah Q. Although she had reviewed the replay once before, she couldn’t see too much from it.

It was actually difficult for Song Man to discern a person’s thinking process and logical chain from one or even multiple problems. However, by observing consistently, she could see their problem-solving habits and style. Only with complex problems, by watching someone write down step after step, could she feel a sense of resonance in that process.

There were many different ways to solve a problem; whether it was simple or complex depended on one’s individual thinking style.

Song Man felt that Chuanlin was not simple because when Chuanlin solved a problem, she would use some unfamiliar formulas, which were definitely at a level higher than theirs.

The chat was already betting on who would win. Song Man considered it for a moment and bet on Ah Q.

The first reason was that she and Ah Q were friends. Chuanlin was so arrogant, she wouldn’t bet on her side. The other reason was that while Chuanlin was strong, Ah Q might not necessarily lose.

She had mentioned it before: Chuanlin’s disadvantage at their difficulty level was that she was used to more advanced ways of thinking, sometimes jumping outside the original scope of the problem and making it more complicated.

Moreover, Song Man felt that someone like Ah Q was very meticulous and would connect similar previous problems to arrive at the answer fastest.

For example, when given a problem, unless she had just solved it, Song Man wouldn’t even think about whether she had done this problem before; she would just solve it. But Ah Q wasn’t like that. She would remember solving a certain type of problem, then convert the values to get the result. This actually tested the brain’s data substitution function quite a bit. Song Man didn’t like doing this; she found it particularly troublesome.

Ah Q had accumulated a lot of knowledge, and in high school problems, many core concepts were the same. So even if Chuanlin was very strong, Song Man felt that Ah Q might not necessarily lose.

【Wow, A Man bet on Q-Shen, following suit!】

【Man Shen is so generous with her bets, I’m envious of these question coins.】

【I’m watching Chuanlin’s side, feeling like I don’t understand but am impressed. My hand holding the Wu San is trembling slightly.】

【Every time I see the experts solving problems, I want to mail them a stack of my test papers. SF Express shipping is fine, and they can pay for the return shipping. A humble student is crying online.】

【Q-Shen is as steady as ever. Every time I watch Q-Shen solve problems, I feel so inspired, that calm and unhurried feeling.】

Song Man liked this comment. Ah Q was very steady, so in her impression, she must be a very gentle, calm, and steady person who doesn’t rush things.

Song Man continued to follow Chuanlin’s train of thought through the sea of problems, feeling her own thinking constantly climbing upward, still struggling to keep up.

The speed of thought became faster and faster. Song Man’s mind rapidly constructed a geometric world, coordinate systems and moving points, curves and lines, until Song Man felt herself being thrown high to a point, where Chuanlin abruptly stopped and wrote down the final answer.

Her active thoughts plummeted from the high point, pulling Song Man out of that dazzling and magnificent world of logic.

Song Man felt ignited. She didn’t check the result of the PK match. She jumped off the bed, took out a sign from her drawer, and hung it on the hook by the door.

After doing this, she locked the door, sat down in her chair, slid to her desk, took out paper and pen, and then took out her tablet from her locked drawer, clicking into a learning app.

This app was different from the Question Bank. Its main focus was theoretical teaching and specialized improvement, like a textbook, with one knowledge point per chapter.

Song Man clicked to where she had studied last time and began absorbing new theoretical knowledge and looking at new examples.

Only by understanding the essence of a type of problem could she handle its various variations with ease.

Just a wall away, Chu Fengqiu checked the result of the PK.

Although she knew the opponent was strong, Chu Fengqiu wasn’t overly nervous or concerned, because the opponent wasn’t someone she cared about, so winning or losing didn’t hold much significance for Chu Fengqiu.

In some ways, Chu Fengqiu was quite indifferent. If it wasn’t something she was interested in or familiar with, her competitive spirit wouldn’t be aroused.

But when it came to things she cared about, she had a nearly demanding persistence.

Seeing the result, Chu Fengqiu wasn’t very surprised.

【Holy cow, this is too exciting, 0.04%.】

【Man Shen and Q-Shen are truly good friends, even their winning poses are exactly the same.】

【Losing by such a small margin is really frustrating, I want to pound the table.】

Chu Fengqiu won the PK with Chuanlin by a narrow margin of 0.04%, securing the victory.

Chuanlin was somewhat disbelieving. In just two days, she had suffered setbacks twice in similar ways.

Losing by just this little bit made it impossible to casually comfort herself that the gap wasn’t big. It was precisely because the gap was so small that she felt like spitting bl00d.

How could she not even beat a high school student? This was too embarrassing.

Chuanlin watched the replay and then sent another PK invitation.

Chu Fengqiu saw the invitation and clicked reject.

Song Man still had homework to do. She would go and be with her first, watching Song Man finish her holiday assignments before doing anything else.

Chu Fengqiu turned left out of her room. Before she could knock, she saw a sign hanging on Song Man’s door. The two large words “Do Not Disturb” were displayed prominently, making it impossible to ignore.

Chu Fengqiu checked her watch and saw that there was still enough time, so she didn’t knock and disturb Song Man. She returned to her own room.

Chu Fengqiu watched the replay of the recent match, a hint of confusion on her face. She sat up straighter.

She had a vague guess in her mind, and her eyes widened slightly as she watched the replay a second time.

During this time, Chuanlin sent her a second PK invitation, which she still rejected.

【Chuanlin】: Don’t have time?

【Ah Q】: I do.

【Chuanlin】: Then why aren’t you coming?

【Ah Q】: Not in the mood.

【Chuanlin】: Well, when you’re in the mood, remember to tell me. I’ll be waiting anytime.

【Ah Q】: Waiting to defeat me.

【Chuanlin】: Of course.

That somewhat familiar way of thinking and the unchanging confidence of ten years really resembled a certain senior.

【Ah Q】: KLY?

Chu Fengqiu waited for the answer from the other side. Actually, she preferred it wasn’t her. After all, the matter with Lingnan was still fresh, and Lingnan was also on this app. If Chuanlin was really Ke Lingyu, then the direction of things would become somewhat unpredictable.

Chu Fengqiu was someone who didn’t like to pay too much attention to other people’s affairs that didn’t concern her, but the Lingnan matter was special.

Because she was also facing this problem, but given Chu Fengqiu’s personality, she wasn’t feeling very lost or panicked. She liked to do everything with a plan, so regarding the matter of pursuing Song Man, she had already listed many plans in her mind, just waiting to implement them step by step.

There was silence on the other side for a while.

【Chuanlin】: Who are you?

【Ah Q】: Chu Fengqiu.

【Chuanlin】: You scared me, I thought it was someone else. So it’s you!

【Chuanlin】: You could actually guess it was me. It seems you pay a lot of attention to me, junior. No wonder you liked my moments before.

How was Chu Fengqiu supposed to say that she had only looked at her moments because she accidentally learned about a past event?

Of course, Chu Fengqiu wouldn’t say that.

This matter was too private and sensitive. If it was really as Lingnan said, that Ke Lingyu hated her so much, then saying it would only add to the awkwardness and bring no benefit.

But Chu Fengqiu felt that things might not be that simple. After all, humans are complex beings, and mixed emotions of love and hate are not non-existent. If Ke Lingyu truly hated Lingnan as much as Lingnan said, Ke Lingyu wouldn’t still be here.

Today was her third day here. Lingnan had a name on the PK leaderboard, and her homepage also had previous live stream replays. With Ke Lingyu’s PK style, it was impossible for her not to PK Lingnan.

But there was also a possibility that Ke Lingyu hadn’t clicked into the homepage at all, hadn’t gone in to look.

Chu Fengqiu didn’t mention Lingnan. Just as she was about to tell Ke Lingyu that she was going offline, Ke Lingyu kept nagging about wanting to PK again.

【Chuanlin】: Good thing those people in my group aren’t here. If they knew I lost to a high school student, they’d laugh me to death.

Although Ke Lingyu knew that she would definitely win if they competed at a higher difficulty, and it was only 0.04%, losing was losing. She wanted to win it back.

【Chuanlin】: Let’s do it again with a bit more difficulty, let me experience the feeling of crushing you.

Chu Fengqiu felt a bit helpless in front of the screen. Ke Lingyu had always been a confident person, or rather, arrogant was more fitting. Not just in problem-solving, but in other aspects too.

She remembered when they were in the youth training camp together, they once encountered a wedding. There were flowers everywhere, and the female students in their group were exclaiming how romantic it was, but Ke Lingyu was unimpressed.

Ke Lingyu said that if she got married in the future, she definitely wouldn’t use fresh flowers, only carefully made dried flowers.

Chu Fengqiu asked curiously why, and Ke Lingyu tilted her chin as if it were obvious, saying, “When my flowers bloom, all others shall perish.”

At that time, Chu Fengqiu thought, how could there be such a conceited and annoying person in the world?

【Ah Q】: Senior, maybe another day. I don’t have time today.

It was past four in the afternoon. Chu Fengqiu thought Song Man was likely sleeping in her room. She planned to make the pumpkin fish balls that Song Man had been craving. She had to start preparing now, because she needed to see if there was suitable fish.

【Chuanlin】: What’s wrong? Busy?

【Ah Q】: Yes, I have something very important to do.

Chu Fengqiu could already imagine Song Man’s surprised reaction when she saw the food, her eyes filled with tenderness.