Chapter 4: The Divine Tool That Provided Answers to All Questions
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On that night, many people did not get to sleep.
But Qin Guan was calm. After he comforted Su Xiaoyu, he went back to sleep and rested until around nine in the morning before the girl came into his room to wake him up.
Once he ate his breakfast, he looked at the time. It was already 09:40, and he had a class at ten.
Even though he studied in the same university as Su Xiaoyu, their majors were different. Qin Guan majored in Chinese Language, while Su Xiaoyu majored in Journalism.
Many people were puzzled by this. Qin Guan was considered a student with good grades when he was in high school, so why did he choose such a major?
Qin Guan only chuckled in the face of this question. ‘What would you understand? You will never be able to experience the benefits of majoring in Chinese.
‘The male-to-female ratio in that major is 1:4. There are plenty of girls there. So, are you jealous now?
5
‘There are few lectures to go to, and most of the tests are open book tests. Most of the time, I can play games to my heart’s content, and when I have to handle the few closed book tests, I just need to pull an all nighter and memorize whatever is necessary the night before the test to get a scholarship. Well, are you jealous now?
‘As for employment issues…’
Qin Guan went online and streamed himself playing games once every few days, and just by doing that, he could already cover his living expenses. He had nothing to worry about in regards to his career.
He had thought about this a long time ago. He would definitely get the graduation certificate if he studied Chinese, and it would be from one of the National Key Universities in China. He would then go to a local game company and get a job that would bring him lots of money without him needing to do much work, or perhaps he might become be a full-time streamer. There was no way he would not be able to get a job.
1
As for Su Xiaoyu, she had even less to worry about. She had never left the list of people fit for scholarships, and she was about to enter her senior year in university. Her classes would dwindle in number, and it was guaranteed that she could get a recommendation for postgraduate studies in the university. She also worked as an intern in a few digital media companies, and the total income she received from each company was around 10,000 RMB.
If that was not the case, it would have been impossible for the two siblings to be able to afford the rent for a two-room apartment near the university.
Qin Guan was the poorer of the two of them. He often had to become a home tutor to cover the loss he suffered after he bought games from Steam which would not even run on his computer, all so because he wanted to experience the joy of buying the game.
7
After eating, he quickly put away the crockery into the sink.
Su Xiaoyu had already packed her bags. “You can clean them after you come back. Let’s go to the campus together.”
“Okay.” Qin Guan went to his room to pick up his textbooks before leaving with Su Xiaoyu. “You have classes today too?”
Su Xiaoyu shook her head. “Nope, but our supervisor wanted the student council members to go to the university. He said he has something urgent to tell us.”
Qin Guan thought about it. “You think it’s about the silver disc?”
“There’s a high chance it will be that. Are you still going to tutor someone tonight?”
Qin Guan shook his head. “We changed the time to tomorrow.”
Su Xiaoyu nodded. “Alright. I’ll be going to work in the afternoon, so I might not eat dinner at home tonight. You’ll have to deal with it on your own.”
Su Xiaoyu was an orphan adopted by Qin Guan’s parents when she was very young. They had never hidden this fact from her, and Su Xiaoyu was never unhappy about it.
Qin Guan’s parents might not be related her by blood, but they loved her more than they loved their own child.
19
When Qin Guan was in high school, his parents often went overseas because of work. Because of that, Qin Guan and Su Xiaoyu became very independent and slowly got used to this kind of life.
However, soon after Qin Guan became a freshman in university, an accident that shocked the entire world happened. The airplane in which Qin Guan’s parents had been flying went missing, and after a few months searching for it, there was still no news of it. In the end, it was presumed that the plane had crashed, and all of its passengers and flight crew had died with it.
4
This matter had sent Qin Guan to the edge of a mental breakdown for a few months, and Su Xiaoyu was also a little irritable and exhausted during that period of time. She even suffered from insomnia, which led to the siblings deciding to move out of their dorms.
While Qin Guan and Su Xiaoyu lived in the apartment they rented, they still went back regularly to their parents’ house to clean up the place, and they never touched a single cent of the consolation money they received. As for reimbursement? The world could not even find the remains of the airplane, so it was unknown when the siblings would ever receive reimbursement.
Qin Guan would much rather believe that his parents were simply AFK (away from keyboard).
4
Still, it was a little difficult to rely on their own income to pay for rent in Beijing. Fortunately, both Su Xiaoyu and Qin Guan could earn money. Qin Guan relied on his skills to stream his gameplay of the currently popular games, such as [Moon Goddess’ Oracle [1]], [The Lost Treasures], and others. His income from that was quite good.
If Su Xiaoyu decided to be a streamer, she would probably become popular as well. However, she was not interested in that, and she did not like being in the limelight. Most importantly, she was not eighteen years old yet, so she could not stream.
1
The apartment Qin Guan rented was not too far from the university. He could reach it in ten minutes on foot.
Su Xiaoyu went to the office, while Qin Guan went to the lecture halls. He managed to reach his classroom before the bell rang, and he sat down in the empty seat at the back.
“Yo, brother-in-law, you’re here,” Xiao Qiang greeted him with a well-intended leer.
Qin Guan rolled his eyes, but he noticed that Xiao Qiang had taken off his glasses as well.
They were not the only ones who had done so. There were at least 80% students in the class who wore glasses in the past, but all of them had taken them off.
1
Needless to say, this was definitely the work of the silver disc.
Xiao Qiang and Qin Guan used to be dormmates, and they were still very good friends.
Ever since he learned that Su Xiaoyu was Qin Guan’s little sister, his inglorious dormmate began referring to him as his brother-in-law, and he showed absolutely no moral principles when he did so.
Xiao Qiang belonged to the group of people who were considered as “kind-hearted rascals”. He looked a little handsome, but when he smiled, he ruined his own image. He did not look too serious on usual days despite that. Qin Guan and Xiao Qiang often flipped each other the bird when they were alone together.
7
Ah, perhaps describing it as such was not too accurate, because every single time Qin Guan flipped Xiao Qiang the bird, Xiao Qiang would look elated, and he would say, “Come on then!”
“You weren’t in the dorms yesterday, so you didn’t know how exciting it was over there. Everyone was in a ruckus until five-something in the morning. I’m so sleepy right now,” Xiao Qiang whispered.
Qin Guan frowned. “No way. Once I went through the news, I went straight back to sleep.”
Xiao Qiang looked shocked. “Oh, how calm! Don’t you know how awesome this thing is? Everything may seem normal, but in truth, the world has become a mess a long time ago! This disc—”
Before Xiao Qiang managed to finish speaking, he heard the lecturer clear his throat at the podium.
“Ahem, I will have the next student answer this question. The student in the gray shirt at the left corner. Yes, you. Please answer this question.”
The students in front turned their heads around simultaneously. Xiao Qiang stood up with a dumbfounded expression.
Qin Guan did his best to suppress his laughter. ‘Serves you right for talking nonstop. What class did you think this is? It’s Introduction to Aesthetics! The lecturer is the associate dean. Professor Li is famous for failing around ten men every year. If you talk in his class, doesn’t that mean you’re not respecting him?
‘Isn’t it great? Now you have to answer his question, but you don’t even know what the question is…’
But Xiao Qiang only remained silent for two seconds before he answered smoothly, “Aesthetics is the appreciation for beauty. It is a mental activity of the viewer who can view and interpret the subject in any way he or she pleases. It is the interaction between the heart and matter, and this interaction is filled with joy of the viewer and the aesthetic subject. It is a dynamic psychological process that involves a communication between the self and the matter. It possesses spiritual and dynamic features.”
Professor Li was stunned for two seconds before he registered what happened. “Sit down.”
When Qin Guan saw Professor Li looking livid but having no way to vent his anger, he was puzzled. When did the unreliable brat known as Xiao Qiang become able to answer questions so smoothly that he managed to render his professor speechless?
1
The problem was that Qin Guan had flipped through the textbook just then and knew that this was precisely what Professor Li had talked about, but Xiao Qiang had been talking to him all the time. How did he know Professor Li’s question when he hadn’t been listening and even was able to recite the answer?
“Not bad, Young Qiang, not bad at all,” Qin Guan whispered.
Xiao Qiang looked at him as if he was looking at a retard. “Brother-in-law, have you turned dumb? It’s this thing.”
Xiao Qiang tapped the silver disc at his right temple.
Translator’s Note:
[1] Moon Goddess’ Oracle: A Chinese only game, so I translated the name.