Study Monster Cultivation System
Chapter 279 - 278 This question, choose B.

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Mario Kart is an entertainment-oriented kart racing game where players can choose from dozens of Nintendo characters, each paired with their favorite karts to enjoy the race.

When Li Zheng first picked up the steering wheel, he simply wanted to defend the dignity of C2.

But as he played, he gradually felt that the lighting was not good enough and got up to turn on the chandelier.

The moment he heard the click of the switch, he shivered and glanced at the wall clock.

It was already 5:40!

More than two hours had passed, having played for more than two hours!

At the same time, something even more unexpected happened.

[Li Zheng]

[Relaxation Level: Lv5↑]

[Distance to Level Up: Relaxation 0/2160 (hours)]

What? I’ve been relaxing this whole time?

When I first tried it at home, playing games was clearly depleting my Vitality.

Or is it because the games I played back then were not fun? Not likable?

There’s no time to think about this now. The old task is not yet finished, and a new task has already refreshed.

[Please select the Lv5 reward—]

[A]

[Professional Player: Master a game to the pinnacle of achievement and obtain a professional contract.]

[Reward: 15 Game Coins, earn the title of Professional Player, eliminate Vitality loss from excessive gaming, and increase the relaxation cap by 100%.]

[B]

[Practitioner: Transform acquired knowledge into practical application by participating in and completing an experimental or engineering project costing over a million (excluding residential and commercial construction projects).]

[Reward: Senior Engineer—able to simulate complex experiments and engineering designs in the mind and more keenly find weak links and optimization ideas.]

[C]

[Scholar Faction Path I: Complete and publish three formal papers solely through 100% piecing together, employing techniques such as Chinese-to-Chinese translation, elaborate illustration, and table making, ensuring that there’s not a single ounce of originality throughout the papers.]

[Reward: 100 Game Coins, incur Scholar Faction I DEBUFF, reducing learning efficiency by 50%, and unlock all social class skill exchange privileges.]

By now, Li Zheng had become familiar with the routine of the options.

A is always related to relaxation, B is for learning, and C is the indescribable one.

Even if he faced option C now, he wouldn’t be shocked.

Even though C seems terrifying at first glance, on second thought, it seems like half of the undergraduates have the potential to complete this task.

Looking back now, if he had always chosen C, he might have become a formidable force to be reckoned with by now.

Of course, he might also have ended up in tears behind bars.

If he always chose A, he probably could have become an artist, a star, or a popular streamer by now.

Only B still struggles through brambles and sails in the bitter sea.

But there’s no helping it; this is my path.

I can’t even see the finish line, and the thorns are right before my eyes.

Yet I would still slash through them without hesitation.

Choose B.

Even if given ten thousand more chances, I would still choose B.

After Li Zheng chose [Practitioner], he couldn’t help feeling a bit sentimental when he looked at Lin Yujing.

If it were her, she might already have become a member of the scholar faction by now.

Then she’d probably divert all the biological research funds to the space agency...

Terrifying.

"I’m hungry, so hungry," Lin Yujing too put down the steering wheel and rubbed her eyes, "Scum Chap, go cook."

"You expect me just to cook when you say so, wouldn’t that be too shameful?" Li Zheng chuckled, held the steering wheel, and sat down in front of the couch, "Deciding round, the loser cooks."

"I can’t cook though," Lin Yujing was just about to complain when she gestured with her hand, "Never mind, I won’t lose anyway."

"Heh, I just love your arrogance."

Lin Yujing then picked up the steering wheel again, unhesitatingly choosing King Koopa.

She had been using King Koopa all afternoon.

Li Zheng, on the other hand, still went with a bespectacled turtle that seemed to be called Zhu Gai Mu.

The reason was nothing else but among the dozens of characters, it looked like it had the best study habits.

Thump, thump, thump!

The deciding race officially began.

Right off the bat, Lin Yujing started drifting around the corners and threw any item she picked up.

Li Zheng turned into the Old Driver of safe driving, holding on to key items and progressing as steadily as driving on the second ring road.

Meanwhile, the NPC opponents, true to the principle of self-harm without benefitting others, randomly tossed their items around.

Lin Yujing hovered between 1st and 3rd place, while Li Zheng comfortably held 4th.

As the finish line neared, suddenly a bolt of lightning struck, and all the racers began spinning in place.

Only Li Zheng continued at a middle-aged pace, steadily moving forward.

"I saw you holding onto a bunch of lightning the whole time," Lin Yujing pressed hard and launched a Red Tortoise with tracking capabilities the moment Li Zheng overtook her, "Have a crash, Scum Chap!"

Yet, Li Zheng suddenly hung a banana peel at the rear of his car: "All calculated."

Squelch.

The banana peel perfectly neutralized the impact of the Red Tortoise.

Finish!

Li Zheng crossed the finish line first.

"Ahhh!" Lin Yujing grabbed her head in frustration, "The banana peel can even be used like that?"

"Humph, I found out on the third race. As long as you hold down the item use button, you can hang it behind the car for defense. I just didn’t use it," Li Zheng sneered. "See? This is the power of C2."

"Hm..." Lin Yujing glared at Li Zheng bitterly, "You drove too safely this time. You didn’t even scrape against anything."

"Safe driving."

```

```

"Really..." Lin Yujing suddenly lunged and snatched Li Zheng’s game controller, opening the settings page.

Displayed clearly on the screen was that Li Zheng had the [Support Mode] activated.

In this mode, the car would slow down as it was about to veer off the track, and automatically correct its course.

It was, to put it bluntly, a no-brainer mode specifically designed for preschool children.

"Hmm hmm hmm!!" Lin Yujing pointed at the screen and accused, "Sneakily using the children’s mode!"

"~~~"

"You’ve resigned yourself to your downfall, C2 Zheng Baby!"

"Doesn’t matter... I still won..." Li Zheng, with a shameless face, stood up and said, "Let’s cook, the dinner menu is—Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

"???"

...

In the kitchen, Li Zheng pulled over an office chair and entered command mode.

"First, cut the fish maw into pieces 2 centimeters in length and 4.5 centimeters in width."

"Hmm......" Lin Yujing stared at the bighead fish, her whole being starting to ~~~ up.

"Hurry up." Li Zheng directed, pointing at the cutting board, "After that, we still need to chop off the heads, necks, and feet of the chicken and duck, trim the pig’s trotters, and scrape and clean the lamb shank."

"Scum Chap... Let’s negotiate a bit..."

"We have no chap, please do not consume wild animals."

"Err..." Lin Yujing turned her head back in frustration, "How about I do some other household chore, this is too hard..."

"Ha, you don’t know the grace of Li Zheng until you cook." Li Zheng propped his cheek with a thoughtful leg cross, "What else do you think you can do?"

"I can... sweep the floor?"

"Not enough."

"Mop the floor?"

"Not enough."

"Do the dishes?"

"Add more."

"Wash the vegetables?"

"Getting there," Li Zheng said, resting his chin on his hand, "Add one more and you get the hammock tomorrow."

"Don’t push your luck..."

"Ha, does the loser have the right to say that?"

"Does someone who uses child mode have the right to speak to me?" Lin Yujing bit her teeth, "Sweeping, mopping, doing dishes, washing vegetables—that’s as far as I’ll budge."

"No deal, I want the hammock."

"Negotiation breakdown!" Lin Yujing swung her arm, "Get out, I will cook myself."

"Humph, I like your spirit." Li Zheng picked up his phone and said, "I sent you the recipes, I’m off to study."

...

Two hours later.

A pot of soy-sauce-colored material was carried to the table.

Each ingredient in it was completely unrecognizable.

Li Zheng tried to scoop up a spoonful.

There were lumpy cinnamon sticks, overcooked mushrooms, and all sorts of oddly shaped green onion pieces.

Underneath, the chicken carcass was a muddled mess.

Li Zheng understood what dark cuisine meant.

"Eat!" Lin Yujing pushed a bowl of clearly undercooked rice towards Li Zheng with murderous intent, "It’s my first time cooking, so you better be supportive."

"..." Li Zheng’s voice trembled, "You... you eat first."

"Tsk." Lin Yujing took the spoon herself and fished up something that resembled meat, "It just looks bad, that’s all."

As she put it in her mouth and chewed the first bite, her expression visibly contorted.

But she still swallowed it.

One bite.

Two bites.

Swallow.

After eating, she was gasping for breath and sweating profusely.

"So... so delicious..." Lin Yujing trembled as she picked up the spoon and scooped a large chunk of something for Li Zheng, "I’ve eaten it... now it’s your turn..."

"I..." Li Zheng clenched his fists, "I propose a solution—let’s throw this out and cook some frozen dumplings now, how about that?"

Lin Yujing wiped the corner of her mouth and sneered, "Who’s going to cook?"

"I’ll cook..."

"And after that?"

"I’ll cook every time..."

"The hammock?"

"Yours..."

"What do I need to do?"

"Just play games in the living room."

"Well, since you said so, I’ve got no choice, hurry up go go go~~~"

"..."

Li Zheng re-entered the kitchen, which looked as if it had just been the site of a battle.

Everywhere were the limbs and fluids of the food ingredients.

It was terrifying.

He must never let this woman into the kitchen again.

While cooking dumplings, Li Zheng couldn’t resist pouring out his troubles to his senior.

[Li Zheng: This is the situation, it’s too difficult.]

```

[Li Yi: Sigh, close enough, close enough. I wouldn’t dare let your mom into the kitchen either.]

[Li Zheng: That’s because you’re powerless, can I even compare to you?]

[Li Yi: Little comrade, watch what you say, this is a man’s responsibility.]

[Li Zheng: Does dishwashing count too?]

[Li Yi: When have you ever seen your mom order me to wash the dishes? I just enjoy doing it.]

[Li Zheng: What about mopping floors?]

[Li Yi: Healthcare worker, loves cleanliness.]

[Li Zheng: What about the salary card?]

[Li Yi: ... Son, let’s not talk about that.]

[Li Zheng: Sigh.]

[Li Yi: Sigh.]

They didn’t know that another conversation was going on in the living room.

[Lin Yujing: (Picture of disastrous cooking)]

[Lin Yujing: I can’t cook 5555.]

[Shen Tinglan: Neither can I.]

[Lin Yujing: Then... it’s okay if I can’t cook, right?]

[Shen Tinglan: ...That depends on the perspective. For work, it doesn’t matter, but for family... well, I’m not qualified to give advice to others.]

[Lin Yujing: Ah, he’s a scumbag, it’s not related to this.]

[Shen Tinglan: Some parts have arrived at the port... I need to go there for a bit.]

[Lin Yujing: Go ahead, you’re busy.]

[Shen Tinglan: Anyway, how to interact, how much you keep for yourself, how much you give to the other, that’s your business.]

[Lin Yujing: Don’t understand, so weird!]

[Shen Tinglan: (Covering face laughing)]

2 minutes later.

Just as Li Zheng’s first pot of dumplings were set to boil, Lin Yujing once again descended into the kitchen.

"Don’t... don’t..."

Li Zheng took a step back in panic, only to realize that Lin Yujing had come in wearing an apron and was holding a large trash bag.

Before he knew it, she had already started cleaning up the kitchen without a word.

Li Zheng was stupefied.

And somewhat moved.

"Ah, you’ve grown up... becoming so sensible..."

"Shut up!" Lin Yujing gritted her teeth while picking at the fish bones, "The hammock is mine."

"Haha, it’s yours, yours."

...

After a simple meal of dumplings, Li Zheng had yet to lift a finger when Lin Yujing took the initiative to start clearing the dishes and utensils.

Li Zheng sat in the office chair, watching her bustling about, wiping the table and sweeping the floor.

He felt as if he were floating on clouds, utterly relieved.

Status.

He felt his status.

It made sense, after all.

He was, after all, the victor of the physics competition.

Accepting Lin Yujing’s respect, having such status was rightly his due.

Watching Lin Yujing wiping the floor and humming, Li Zheng enjoyed the moment and lifted his hand, "There, you missed a spot."

"Grrr!" Lin Yujing instantly stopped and glared at him, "????"

Li Zheng shivered and stood up, "Of course, I should be the one to wipe it, I’m stronger."

Wait... something’s off.

It seemed there was a slight deviation.

Better to compromise for now.

He might need to win the IPHO again to secure his status.

...

After clearing up, Li Zheng returned to his desk to resume the studies he hadn’t finished that afternoon.

Lin Yujing took a glance at the launch tower on the balcony, then turned on the game console and lay on the couch, playing with her legs kicked up.

This time, she seemed to be playing a cooking game, operating a little character in the restaurant’s kitchen to chop meat and cook dishes.

Li Zheng occasionally looked up, finding it quite interesting.

Because activities like chopping vegetables and cooking rice all take a certain amount of time, to make more dishes in a shorter period, you need to do some calculating and arranging, and surely, there are mathematical methods to figure out the optimal strategy.

It was like doing an experiment.

Unconsciously, Li Zheng found himself looking up more and more frequently.

It was like watching a game livestream, where the skill level of the person playing might be debatable, but the comments sliding by were undoubtedly from the top-tier players.

"No, that’s wrong, you should steam before you fry," Li Zheng advised, "That move alone will cost you at least 5 seconds."

This time, Lin Yujing completely ignored him and continued playing with her legs kicking.

"Hey, at least scold me," Li Zheng scratched his head in frustration.

"Ignoring you."

"Is the game that fun?"

"There’s a two-player mode, not playing with you."

"Who wants to play... wait... you should be washing the dishes before cooking here."

"I won’t~~~ I’ll just watch the rice boil, doing nothing~~"

"Don’t do that, you’re insulting the game."

"~~~ I’ll only cook one bowl at a time, bowl by bowl, just to piss you off."

"Stop!" Li Zheng put down the IPHO paper again, "I can’t stand this anymore, let me teach you how to play."

When Li Zheng picked up the controller, he didn’t yet know that the nickname of the game was "Breakup Kitchen," which had caused countless couples to argue in the two-player cooperative mode and form deep enmity.

However, when Li Zheng entered the cooperative mode, Lin Yujing suddenly changed from her previous reckless style and seriously settled down to play.

Before Li Zheng could even mention what ingredients he wanted, they were already thrown to him.

And when Lin Yujing was about to cut the cabbage, the chopped cabbage was already served on the table.

In one evening, the two hardly spoke, yet smiled from ear to ear, as if they had returned to the days of intensive training camp.

This inadvertently proved that the reason some people broke up over "Breakup Kitchen"

was simply because they were bad at math.

By around ten o’clock, they had completed the game with full stars in all levels.

"Hmm~~" Lin Yujing leaned back on the sofa, "We’ve beaten the game, let’s sell the cartridge to Zhang Xiaoke."

Li Zheng also put down the controller with a flushed face and turned to ask, "Does Xiaoke even have time to play games?"

"She plays more fiercely than I do," Lin Yujing gestured, "She’s turned Animal Island Club into a real tycoon’s empire."

"Unexpected," Li Zheng said with a sigh as he leaned back on the sofa, "the game is actually quite fun, just a bit distracting from studying."

After speaking, he stretched and stood up, "Alright, I must make up for the lost time now."

He returned to the desk and spread out the paper once again.

Seeing this, Lin Yujing launched Animal Island Club, called Zhang Xiaoke, and happily headed to a place named "Doggie Island."

Seeing that Li Zheng didn’t lift his head, she deliberately laughed loudly, "Haha, there are so many doggie residents on Xiaoke Island."

This time, Li Zheng still did not look up but concentrated on solving problems.

Lin Yujing tried to entice him for ten more minutes, but Li Zheng remained immovable.

She simply laughed and told Zhang Xiaoke in the game, "Alright, time to rest."

Zhang Xiaoke: "No way, you just got here, stay a bit longer!"

Lin Yujing: "No staying, I’m going to study."

Zhang Xiaoke: "???" "Studying at this time, did you catch it from the master?"

Lin Yujing: "Move aside, move aside, I’ve played all day, it’s time to study..."

Zhang Xiaoke: "Oh no, now that you mention it, I’ve also played all day, I feel so guilty..."

Strangely, by ten o’clock, everyone started studying.

But when Li Zheng got up after studying, Lin Yujing had already fallen asleep at the dining table.

Li Zheng chuckled and suddenly shouted next to her, "Hey, the rocket launch is happening, you’re missing it!"

"Ahhhh!" Lin Yujing sprang up with wide-open eyes and without a word rushed to the balcony.

After coming to her senses, she turned around and punched Li Zheng repeatedly.

After both the punching and being punched felt satisfied, they both looked towards the brightly-lit launch tower.

"It’s the day after tomorrow, right?" Li Zheng asked.

"It depends on the weather; the final decision will be made tomorrow."

"So can you tell me the secret launch location now?"

"Hmm... It’s pretty obvious, can’t you guess?"

"Ah?"

"Give it a guess."

Li Zheng muttered to himself, "Better than here... that means closer than here, higher than here..."

Looking ahead, he said, "But there are no tall buildings in that direction, the hill at the bay corner is pretty..."

Li Zheng paused, his eyes locking onto the vague silhouette: "The mountaintop?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Is that mountain accessible? Is there a path?"

"It’s not open to the public, but there’s a trail." Lin Yujing pointed towards the faint lights at the mountain peak, "There’s a signal tower over there that requires maintenance."

"I see..." Li Zheng gazed into the mountains, rubbing his hands together, "So close... so high... perfect; it’s perfect!"

Lin Yujing proudly said, "Am I not a good luck charm?"

"Eh, how is it you? It’s your aunt’s charm."

"Isn’t that still my charm?"

"What does my good relationship with your aunt have to do with you?"

"Scum Chap! Get out, sleep outside."

"Alright, if aunt tells me to get lost, I will."

"Just wait." Lin Yujing reached for her phone but then softened, "She’s been too tired these days, better not disturb her..."

Li Zheng smiled with paternal pride: "Really grown up, so sensible now."

"Hmph." Lin Yujing put away her phone and skipped toward the bedroom, "Tomorrow there’s a tour of the space center, and I’m not taking you~~~"

"???"

"Goodnight, oh~~"

"Don’t be like this... what time tomorrow?"

"~~~"

"What do you want for breakfast? I’ll get you escargot if you want."

"I want pancakes, with two eggs."

"... Alright, I... I’ll make them for you."

"Haha, time for sleep."

People’s joys and sorrows, in fact, are interconnected.

If one person is sad, another is happy.

Even though everyone is going to sleep, lying in almost the same bed.

Some go to sleep looking forward to the deliciousness of the next day.

While some lie awake contemplating the art of making pancakes.