This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 351 Studying Abroad?

Chapter 351: Chapter 351 Studying Abroad?

As Chu Guang pondered how to find a breakthrough in the standoff with Pai, Pai was also racking her brains, thinking of ways to snatch Little Fish from Chu Guang’s grasp.

Of course, the phrase "snatch from his grasp" was clearly not accurate.

Little Fish was a free person, not someone’s property.

Yet, what frustrated Pai was that her good friend was excellent in every way except for being utterly indecisive!

She didn’t know what that guy named Chu Guang had fed to her Little Fish to have her parroting "Brother Chu says" like a broken record all day long.

Even so, Pai still wanted to bring Little Fish to Camp 101.

There, with real schools and a group of knowledgeable teachers, she could develop her potential.

Pai was certain that she wouldn’t bet on the wrong horse—Little Fish’s talent was extremely rare among the survivors of the Wasteland, and could even be described as one in ten thousand.

This talent had already manifested in language and arithmetic, like an unpolished jade. Without exaggeration, her innate talent was in no way inferior to her own, despite not having a chip.

However, her current environment limited her potential—there was no space here for her to maximize her abilities.

Pai couldn’t bear to see her good friend miss this valuable opportunity.

In a few years, she would miss her prime learning period, and while that wouldn’t mean fading into mediocrity, missing this chance would mean having to put in exponentially more effort.

As she thought, Pai unconsciously took the elevator to Floor B4 and headed towards the browsing room.

However, perhaps because she wasn’t watching where she was going,

she rounded a corner and collided full-on with Xia Yan, who was coming out of a door.

"Ouch."

After a brief cry of pain, Pai clutched her nose.

Looking at the little girl teary-eyed up to her chest, Xia Yan quickly showed concern.

"Sorry, are you alright?"

Pai, rubbing her nose, muttered,

"Ow... I’m fine, I should be the one apologizing; sorry for not looking where I was going."

Huh?

This kid was quite polite.

Xia Yan had just thought this when she noticed the girl was still rubbing her nose with her right hand.

Feeling half a shade of red wash over her face, she couldn’t help but mutter quietly to herself.

"...Is it really that exaggerated."

She had grown a bit taller recently.

"Hm?" Hearing the sister before her say something, Pai lifted her head.

Being watched by those tear-soaked big eyes, Xia Yan gave a light cough to change the subject.

"You are... Pai, right? Is there something you need here?"

"It’s Pai! I... want to meet with your Manager!" Pai still hesitated, but spurred on by the question, she ultimately made up her mind.

"That guy... I mean, the respected Mr. Manager is busy right now, if it’s not something particularly important, you can tell me,"

Treating Pai like a playful child, Xia Yan spoke in a tone one uses to cajole kids.

Though she actually didn’t know how to coddle children.

Seeing herself being underestimated, Pai frowned sternly and said,

"It’s very important! It concerns my good friend’s future!"

Her good friend’s future?

Xia Yan was about to express her confusion but before she could, a nimble figure slid past her and slipped into the browsing room.

When Pai entered the browsing room, Chu Guang was on a call with Luka,

inquiring about the condition of the diplomatic party.

"...How are things over there? Any casualties? Do you need me to send more help?"

Although the New Alliance had previously sent personnel to Giant Stone City, this was the first formal diplomatic visit.

"We are doing well; casualties were all on the attacker’s side. Please don’t worry about us, sir."

Detecting the Manager’s concern, Luka’s voice carried a trace of emotion.

After reporting the situation, he continued,

"I’ve interrogated the attackers; they claim to have taken their orders from a man named Bit at the Pirate Bay Tavern, hired by an employer who wishes to remain anonymous."

"According to their description, this person was quite generous, quite unlike the penny-pinching merchants, giving them 1000 chips as a deposit. Considering the middleman’s cut, the actual payment is probably even higher."

Chu Guang pondered for a moment, then slowly began to speak.

"Alright... I understand the situation. I’ll arrange for someone to continue investigating the mastermind behind the attack on you."

Although he had anticipated such a scenario, he didn’t expect the opponent to act so decisively.

Some force was trying to prevent the New Alliance from signing a friendly treaty with Giant Stone City—this incident served as a wake-up call.

"Besides, you must be careful on the road, and even after reaching Giant Stone City, don’t let your guard down. Someone is trying to sabotage our relationship with our neighbors, and I fear their methods won’t be limited to ambushes on the road."

Luka said earnestly.

"I have that feeling too... I always have this bad premonition that the real trouble is still ahead of us and we’ll encounter it after we arrive at Giant Stone City."

Chu Guang nodded.

"Staying vigilant is the right thing to do."

"Once we reach our destination, you go first to our Office in Giant Stone City and catch up with Shu Yu about the local situation, then head to the city hall to negotiate the agreement."

Luka replied respectfully.

"Yes, my lord."

After delegating some tasks, Chu Guang hung up the phone and took off his headset, placing it on the table.

He paused for a moment, then spoke in a gentle voice.

"I’m done with my work, is there anything you would like to talk to me about?"

Hearing Chu Guang’s voice, Pai, who was hiding behind the bookshelf at the door, realized she had been discovered and emerged from behind the shelf, her face red.

She had an embarrassed look on her face.

"I, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop... Ah no, actually, I didn’t hear anything clearly, I’m sorry!"

Observing Pai with her head bowed, Chu Guang smiled.

"I know, don’t worry about it."

Of course, he knew the girl had come to his place, and knew it even before she stepped into the elevator.

Every inch of space in the Shelter was under his control; even the floor tiles obeyed him, let alone the elevator.

If he wanted, he could even make the faucets in the public restrooms talk.

But he would not do something so trivial.

If it were a call that was meant to be confidential, she wouldn’t have been able to come down in the elevator, much less walk over here.

Although Chu Guang said not to worry, Pai still had a regretful expression on her face.

Even though she was used to being free-spirited, she understood that eavesdropping on someone’s conversation was very wrong.

Despite knowing that it wasn’t intentional, not knocking on the door was indeed her mistake.

At this moment, Xia Yan walked into the reading room from outside.

Catching a glimpse of Pai next to her and looking back at Chu Guang, she seemed to understand something.

A trace of cunning that was difficult to detect flashed in her eyes. In an apologetic tone, she said,

"I’m sorry, I didn’t stop her... It’s my dereliction of duty."

Not bad.

She understands me quite well.

Chu Guang gave Boss Xia an approving look, then gently shook his head and continued along her line of thought.

"It’s okay, although I was discussing very important matters with my confidant, Ms. Pai from Camp 101 is our friend. I believe that even if she heard anything, she would not disclose what I just said to others... Can I trust you, Pai?"

Using such cleverness to make someone owe you a favor isn’t really a good thing to do.

Especially when the other person is much younger than you.

However, now clearly wasn’t the time to be scrupulous about the means.

Standing at the door, Pai’s cheeks burned red, wishing she could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.

The last thing she wanted was to cause trouble for others, and she hated being in anyone’s debt.

However, listening to the first part of what Chu Guang said, she felt as if she had heard some unbelievable secret and had brought a huge problem to her friends.

Although she completely did not understand the conversation on the phone, listening was still listening.

At this thought, Pai couldn’t help but feel regret. If she had left immediately or reminded Chu Guang of her presence instead of instinctively hiding behind the shelf, she wouldn’t be in this predicament now!

"I... I will just delete that memory from my brain!"

"There’s no need for that, like I said, I trust you."

Chu Guang cleared his throat, quickly stopping the flustered Pai.

Speaking of deleting memories from the brain, is that something even possible?

But now wasn’t the time to discuss that.

In order not to appear too intentional, Chu Guang did not rush to reveal his own needs.

Watching the silent Pai, he casually changed the subject, throwing the conversation back to her gracefully.

"It seems you have something to discuss with me, may I know what it is?"

Pai, feeling inwardly guilty, had completely lost her earlier boldness. She stole a glance at Chu Guang and said in a small voice.

"I... I want to take Little Fish back to Camp 101."

Take Little Fish away?

Hearing these words, Chu Guang was momentarily taken aback, looking at her with a strange expression.

"You want to take Little Fish to Camp 101... Shouldn’t you ask for her own opinion first?"

And her parents or her brother.

"Why ask me?"

Pai muttered sulkily and softly.

"I did ask... but she said that although she wants to visit there, she prefers to stay and help you. I was thinking, if you could help me persuade her... Is my request too much?"

Chu Guang thought for a moment before asking.

"May I ask why you want to take her to your place?"

Pai said earnestly.

"I want to take her to school! We have real schools where she can learn a lot of knowledge that’s not available here!"

"Her mental talent is the most impressive I’ve seen in anyone. It would be a waste of her abilities to stay here when she could be getting a higher education!"

"The most impressive... Even more so than your teachers?" Xia Yan’s face showed surprise.

Pai shook his head and continued seriously.

"Talent and knowledge are two different things... even within the realm of mental ability, there are stark differences when you get into specific fields. At the very least, when it comes to mathematics, her talent is indeed the most outstanding I’ve seen."

Suddenly thinking of something, Pai’s eyes lit up as he continued.

"Right, in your terms, she has the traits of an Awakener!"

An Awakener?!

... Little Fish?

Xia Yan was stunned, her eyes wide open like a goldfish.

She couldn’t connect Little Fish with the identity of an Awakener.

Chu Guang, sitting on the sofa beside them, was equally surprised but didn’t show it on his face; instead, he fell into deep thought.

He had indeed felt that Little Fish learned things very quickly.

Especially her spatial imagination and computational abilities, which even he found astonishing.

Because of this, Chu Guang had specifically asked Heya to give Little Fish a physical examination.

However, what puzzled him was that although her intelligence attribute was slightly higher than average, it wasn’t exorbitantly so.

Seeing that Chu Guang wasn’t speaking, Pai grew anxious and sped up his speech.

"... I don’t want to see her waste her talent when she could be achieving great things on a bigger stage."

"Besides, if she learns a lot of impressive knowledge, that would be helpful to you as well, right?"

Chu Guang looked at Pai.

"Calm down. I certainly agree with what you’re saying, but this first requires the consent of the person involved."

He paused before continuing.

"I’ll help persuade Little Fish and her parents. If she’s inclined that way, I will fully support her."

Hearing this promise, a joyful expression appeared on Pai’s face.

"Thank you!"

Watching the girl’s happiness, Chu Guang smiled and said.

"Don’t mention it. She’s young, and if she can have better development in your place, I would naturally want her to learn as much as she can while she’s young."

After a short pause, he went on to say.

"Speaking of which, you’ll be heading back in a few days, right?"

Pai nodded excitedly.

"Yes, I need to report back to my teacher on the visit... ah, don’t worry, I’ll have plenty of good things to say!"

Seeing that Pai had misunderstood him, Chu Guang gently shook his head.

"It’s not necessary to just say good things; just tell him the true situation here. However, I do have a favor to ask of you."

Eager to repay the favor, Pai looked at him intently and said.

"Just tell me what it is, and I’ll do my best if I can help!"

"Do you know the Manager of Shelter No. 404 well?" Chu Guang asked.

"The Manager?" Pai’s eyes brightened as she nodded, "Of course I know him well, we have a great relationship... What do you need?"

"That’s great," Chu Guang breathed a sigh of relief, showing a relieved smile, "I’d like to borrow something from your Manager."

"Borrow something? Leave it to me! The Manager is a very good man; he will definitely lend it to you!" Pai patted her chest confidently and then asked curiously, "Oh, what do you want to borrow?"

"A VM, a Vital Signs Monitor," Chu Guang pointed to the wrist-mounted computer on his arm, "it’s this device."

"A VM? I’ll try my best..." Pai agreed verbally, tilting her head unconsciously.

A screen worn on the arm?

Just to borrow it, it shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

After all, he’s an approachable guy.

But that being said, does the Manager really have one of these?

She had absolutely no recollection of such a thing...

...

After Pai left,

only Chu Guang and Xia Yan remained in the browsing room.

As she watched the buoyant figure disappear through the door, Xia Yan’s expression grew slightly complicated.

She wasn’t sure if it was the youth, luck, or talent of Little Fish that she envied, or if it was simply a sense of regret over her own past fate.

At his age, she was struggling just to stay alive.

The greatest kindness fortune had shown her was perhaps allowing her to snatch her life from the jaws of a Crawler, but at the cost of survival, she had also lost a leg.

Xia Yan knew she was somewhat envious of Little Fish.

She could do exactly what she was interested in, and she just happened to have a talent for it.

Whenever she needed help the most, someone would always appear to lend her a hand, or to tell her the best choice.

"When we play poker, everyone gets different cards, but it doesn’t mean that you’ll lose just because you got bad ones."

Hearing the voice that came from behind her, Xia Yan turned her head and gave Chu Guang a blank look.

"Don’t always try to teach me life lessons like an old man... you’re not my dad."

"I was just saying," Chu Guang replied with a smile, paused for a moment, and then continued, "May I ask you something?"

"It’s rare to hear the word ’please’ from you," teased Xia Yan, "What is it? What do you want me to do?"

Chu Guang went on.

"Study abroad with Little Fish."

Xia Yan was stunned, seemingly not expecting Chu Guang to suddenly propose this.

"Study abroad? What’s that..."

Chu Guang said, "It means learning, going to study things we don’t have here, or things that aren’t good enough."

"But..."

Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Chu Guang continued.

"I’ve taught you addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, algebra, and reading and writing, but I can’t help with the harder stuff; I’m not cut out for that. If you want to make further progress, you need to gain it on your own."

"It’s never too late to learn, especially since you’re not really that old. You would be just entering university in my hometown."

Xia Yan said quietly,

"But... what can I learn?"

Chu Guang replied with a smile,

"Anything is fine; it’s up to what you like. Didn’t you enjoy tinkering with those machines? There are quite a few experts in that field over there."

"Remember to learn as many skills as you can and bring them back."

Shelter No. 404 had acquired a Magnetic Confinement Plasma Cutting Machine Tool a long time ago, capable of processing on an atomic scale.

However, up to now, this tool had only been used to make some very basic parts.

No one had been able to truly harness the full potential of that high-precision industrial mother machine.

"...Of course, this is still up to your willingness. I won’t force you if you’re not inclined."

Xia Yan looked at Chu Guang with a dazed expression.

After a while, her eyes stopped wavering and began to show resolution.

"I’m willing."

Although she didn’t quite understand what she could do with no particular talent, deep down, she harbored a faint desire to become stronger.

This might be an opportunity.

She felt she should seize it.

Seeing Boss Xia, who had finally decided to take this step, Chu Guang nodded with approval.

"I’ll arrange for someone else to take care of the weapon shop; I’ll settle your salary for this month in advance."

"Although there will be no salary afterward, I will still give you a regular amount of money for living expenses."

"Money without working..." Xia Yan looked somewhat abashed.

Although she hadn’t been a stranger to slacking off at work, she had still done her part.

It felt strange to be paid without working.

"I won’t see you starve, will I? Or do you have a habit of saving money?"

After a joke and a brief pause, Chu Guang became serious again and continued, "This funding will be provided by the newly established Education Department. You can think of it as... a scholarship for study abroad."

Bringing in technology that other advanced Survivor Settlements did not have was part of Chu Guang’s plan for the field of education, just as important as Archaeology.

The approach wasn’t limited to inviting teachers to start schools or actively sending people to study.

That wasn’t feasible yet.

When conditions allowed it in the future, he would send people to Ideal City or even the Academy to work or study.

Looking at Xia Yan, whose expression was touched, Chu Guang continued,

"Prepare yourself over the next few days."

-

(The trouble with having too many characters is that sometimes the protagonist’s share gets squeezed out. The plot for Giant Stone City is only half-written and couldn’t be included in this Chapter... T.T)

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