"Go ahead and tell me!"

Chen Qinqiu repeated once more.

Zhu Xiaosuo was busy writing and drawing, setting up equations to solve the unknowns.

Chen Qinqiu looked at Zhu Xiaosuo's scribbles of Arabic numbers and Latin letters, curious:

"What is this stuff? It looks impressive, but I can't understand a bit of it."

Zhu Xiaosuo ignored her, focused on his calculations.

At this moment, he had forgotten his simp identity.

All he wanted was to conquer this applied problem.

Damn it.

I couldn't grasp quantum mechanics, but I can't handle elementary school math?

"This isn't right, I can't solve it. How is that possible? Do these cultivators have different speeds for picking spirit herbs?"

Zhu Xiaosuo stared at the impossible equation, lost in thought.

"No, all cultivators are the same. If there were differences, the problem would state it."

Zhu Xiaosuo pondered and said:

"Still not right, how can twenty-three times nine equal twenty-one times twelve? Where's the problem... Oh!"

Zhu Xiaosuo suddenly remembered something.

It was a long-buried memory.

A problem he encountered during a math competition in elementary school.

The cow eating grass problem.

In the cow eating grass problem, the cow eats grass while the grass grows at a constant rate, asking how long it takes to finish.

In this problem, the spirit herbs in the spirit field are being picked while growing at a constant rate, which is why he couldn't calculate the correct value.

Tears welled up.

When your experiences are rich enough, every first encounter is a reunion.

With tears in his eyes, Zhu Xiaosuo wrote down the equations.

"Four days."

When he calculated this answer, Zhu Xiaosuo seemed to return to that sunny afternoon.

He ran wildly in the elementary schoolyard, expressing the joy of solving the problem.

In the blink of an eye, it was already his second life.

A past not worth recalling.

Chen Qinqiu's eyes lit up:

"You got it right! You're amazing!"

Zhu Xiaosuo just smiled, not saying much.

At this moment, he knew.

He had kicked open the heart of a wealthy lady with a "cow eating grass" problem.

"You solved this problem, so you'll definitely get the next one."

"Alright. Let's go straight to the third question then."

"No, no, no, you still have to do the second one. Listen to the second question..."

Before Chen Qinqiu could read the question, Zhu Xiaosuo grabbed the book from her hand and took a glance.

This page only had the question, no answer.

He glanced at Chen Qinqiu, noticing her evasive gaze, as if she had a guilty conscience.

Zhu Xiaosuo felt a sense of déjà vu, immediately realizing something was off.

Then he squinted his eyes:

"Could this question be the homework your academy teacher assigned you?"

Chen Qinqiu's face turned red immediately.

Perhaps chatting with Chen Qinqiu was so stress-free that Zhu Xiaosuo completely forgot the responsibilities of a simp.

Instead, he automatically assumed the role of someone who had been through it all.

So young, how could you not do your homework?

If you don't do your homework today, you'll skip class tomorrow!

Skipping one class means you'll have to spend three classes making up for it!

Your attitude towards learning must be correct.

Otherwise, how will you pass the high school entrance exam, the college entrance exam, and get into university?!

With this attitude, forget quantum mechanics, you won't even understand middle school mechanics!

"Do your own homework! Third question!"

Chen Qinqiu pouted.

"Alright. Third question... hmm..."

Reluctantly, Chen Qinqiu flipped a few pages.

She lingered on a page with no answers for a long time before moving on.

Zhu Xiaosuo felt she originally wanted him to help with the third question too.

But his words made her afraid to ask.

Zhu Xiaosuo also felt this girl was quite sincere.

You're a cultivator at the Honoring the Ancient Stage, isn't it easy to force me, a little chicken at the Rebirth Stage, to do the problem?

Either she was too naive to think of it, or too kind to use it.

Chen Qinqiu flipped through a few pages before closing the book.

"Nothing more to ask."

Zhu Xiaosuo glanced at the cover.

"Humbling the Present Stage Sprint Class Exercise Collection"

Goodness.

Even stage breakthroughs have sprint classes.

Feels like her brain can't sprint at all.

Chen Qinqiu stuffed the exercise collection back into her chest.

A bit frustrated.

"I thought you could help me, you're so stingy."

"Do your own homework."

"I know! Just like the adults in my family."

"Any other questions? I'm knowledgeable about everything from astronomy to geography. No need to stick to textbook questions."

Chen Qinqiu rolled her eyes at him.

"I admit you're impressive. But that's about it."

"Oh, you're not convinced? Tell me about it."

Zhu Xiaosuo thought of being looked down upon by a girl who couldn't even understand elementary school math, and he felt indignant.

Chen Qinqiu propped her chin with her hands:

"I don't have any difficult questions besides homework. But my dad is very troubled. I heard he's been troubled since before I was born, for over three hundred years."

"Three hundred years... May I ask what stage your father is in?"

Unconsciously, Zhu Xiaosuo's tone became humble again.

Three hundred years, at least a cultivator at the Honoring the Ancient Stage.

Zhu Xiaosuo immediately reverted to his dog-like state.

"Tenth Layer of the Exiting Saint Stage, preparing for a breakthrough to the Divine Entry Stage for over three hundred years."

Zhu Xiaosuo looked up at the sky.

What stage was that again?

Seemed a bit vague.

He took out the "Cultivator's Beginner Guide," opened it to check.

Rebirth Stage, Bone Transformation Stage, Honoring the Ancient Stage, Humbling the Present Stage, Exiting Saint Stage, Divine Entry Stage...

Then he closed the book woodenly.

To read the uncut version, go to pawread dot com.

Ah.

The autumn wind is quite noisy.

"What troubles your dad?"

"What do you mean 'your dad'?"

"Never mind, just tell me what's troubling him."

Chen Qinqiu plucked a foxtail grass, drawing circles.

"What else? Because he can't prove his path to the Divine. He researches every day, but has no clues."

"I really can't help with that, let alone entering the Divine, I don't even know how to break through the Honoring the Ancient Stage."

"That's easy. For the Honoring the Ancient Stage, just read more ancient texts and understand the knowledge of the sages. The Humbling the Present Stage is harder. You need to integrate the sages' knowledge and organize your own insights to break through."

Zhu Xiaosuo thought, isn't this just reading comprehension?

He's very familiar with it.

What emotion does the blue curtain express?

Why write "one is a jujube tree, the other is also a jujube tree"?

The text mentions xx three times, what different meanings does it convey?

Five years of Honoring the Ancient, three years of Humbling the Present.

Old friends.

"Hey, from the Honoring the Ancient Stage to the Humbling the Present Stage, don't you need any pills to help with the breakthrough?"

Chen Qinqiu pouted:

"Pills are only auxiliary. Without your own insights, you can't break through."

"Oh, go on."

"Reaching the Exiting Saint Stage is even harder. You need some innovation in your cultivation. But it doesn't have to be big, even a small innovation can help you break through to the Exiting Saint Stage."

Zhu Xiaosuo leaned back tactically.

Why does this sound so familiar...

Isn't this the requirement for innovation in master's and doctoral theses...

And now it's in the cultivation world too...