Chapter 2 - Profession [Student]
Lu Yuan's dad was called Lu Xinghua.
He owned a small shop selling grains, oils, cigarettes, snacks, beverages and daily necessities.
Lu Yuan also found it hard to accurately summarize what kind of shop his family had.
When Lu Yuan reached the door of the small shop, he saw his mom Zheng Qiuling sitting there fanning herself and watching TV.
He glanced at the TV screen, which was playing an older family ethics drama.
He called out "Mom," then helped himself to a bottle of soda from the standalone cooler by the door.
He chose the cheapest kind.
"You're back," his mom said with a smile when she saw Lu Yuan.
Just as she was about to talk to him, a customer came by to buy cigarettes.
So, she only hurriedly said to him, "I made lunch upstairs, go eat."
"Got it," Lu Yuan replied.
He walked into the shop, past stacks of rice bags, buckets of assorted cooking oils, shelves of snacks and seasoning bottles, and exited through the back door of the small shop.
Here was a staircase leading upwards. Bicycles and electric scooters were parked in the hallway next to the stairs. At the end of the hallway was a small courtyard.
The building was very old. Iron rust covered the stair railing, and there were cobwebs in the corners.
The whole building had five floors.
The shop on the first floor was rented. Lu Yuan's family had bought the unit on the second floor.
Lu Yuan walked up the stairs step by step.
When he reached his home's door, he took out his keys and unlocked it.
Right after entering was the living room, followed by the dining room which could be seen in one glance. The decor was also very outdated.
The house was quiet, even though it was lunch time and no one else was home.
Lu Yuan silently changed his shoes and went in.
After washing his hands, he sat down at the dining table.
On the table were three simple dishes and a soup: stir-fried bitter gourd, braised pork, smacked cucumber, and a bowl of winter melon rib soup.
Lu Yuan served himself rice and started eating silently.
Recently, he had gotten used to eating alone at the table.
His mom Zheng Qiuling had to stay in the shop almost the whole day, from opening at 7am until closing at 9pm.
Family members had to bring food down to her in bowls when it was mealtime, and she could only sneak to the bathroom when there were no customers.
His dad Lu Xinghua had been at the hospital taking care of grandpa these past few days.
Lunch today was probably made by him; Lu Yuan could tell from the taste.
As for his sister Lu Jing...
She was studying archaeology in university. She went on an archaeology mission with a team some time ago and hadn't come back yet.
She video called a couple days ago and said she was at a place called Xixu, where there was nothing but gobi desert and sand everywhere.
Lu Yuan checked a map online and found Xixu was over 3,000 km away from Jiaoyan City where he was, almost at the border of Xia Country. It was really far.
Lu Yuan finished eating very quickly.
He ate a lot of the bitter gourd and braised pork but didn't touch the rib soup. He brought it downstairs for his mom.
On the sofa, he watched some TV.
He kept pressing the remote, changing channels, eyes staring at the screen but thinking about the interest classes instead.
He wasn't still fixated on the martial arts class.
Lu Yuan was considering telling his parents to forget signing up for any interest classes first.
After things settled down at home, he could just sign up for a random class later.
He was also ready to take out all his savings.
"I'll talk to dad about it when I go visit grandpa at the hospital this afternoon."
Lu Yuan made up his mind.
With this thought, he swiftly turned off the TV, then went to the kitchen to wash the piled-up bowls and chopsticks, arranging them neatly on the drying rack.
Next, he entered his room.
He pulled down the blinds, turned on the AC, and sat down at his desk.
Lu Yuan checked the time on his phone.
12:05pm.
"Finish the battle before 3pm!"
He set a 2.5-hour alarm, then took a deep breath. Staring at the big pile of test papers and homework in front of him, his gaze instantly turned calm and sharp, like a battle-hardened veteran.
"Activate - [Absolute Focus]!"
Lu Yuan recited in his mind.
In a flash, all the noisy sounds around him swiftly faded away.
The occasional car horns from the street, loud conversations from downstairs, the whirring of the AC...
In this moment, everything disappeared.
It was as if Lu Yuan entered an isolated space that contained only himself. In his vision, there remained only the books and test papers before him.
"Beep beep beep-"
The obnoxious alarm from his phone beside him rang out as the screen lit up, showing the time as 2:35pm.
Hearing this sound, Lu Yuan who had been sitting upright and writing intensely at his desk suddenly deflated like a popped blowup doll, slumping weakly in his chair.
"Phew-"
Lu Yuan exhaled deeply.
His complexion was now somewhat pale, and his whole body was wrapped in a thick sense of fatigue.
With some difficulty, he raised his hand and opened the desk drawer, taking out a box of golden foil wrapped chocolates.
He tossed one in his mouth and washed it down with the water he had prepared, swallowing it whole without really chewing.
In one breath he ate 4-5 pieces of chocolate before he seemed to regain some energy.
He straightened his back a little and slowly massaged his temples with both hands.
Before his eyes, rows of prompts that only he could see quickly popped up.
[10 minutes of focused studying, +1 profession exp]
[Math skill improved, +2 exp]
[Physics skill improved, +4 exp]
[10 minutes of focused studying, +1 profession exp]
"In 2.5 hours, math went up 9 exp, physics up 12 exp, chemistry up 6 exp. Got most of the homework done, not bad results."
A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Yuan's face. Then his eyes flashed, and a pale blue virtual screen appeared before him.
[Name: Lu Yuan]
[Age: 17]
[Profession: Student lv3 (233/400)]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 8]
[Vitality: 7]
[Intelligence: 10]
[Basic Skills:
Language lv3 (203/400),
Math lv3 (329/400),
Physics lv3 (209/400),
Chemistry lv3 (224/400),
Biology lv3 (150/400),
History lv3 (78/400),
Geography lv3 (137/400),
Information Technology lv3 (238/400)]
[Core Skills: Absolute Focus lv1 (Active)]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
The screen had a very simple style, just like a character stats panel from some online game.
This was Lu Yuan's golden finger.
When he first crossed over and saw this virtual panel, he thought everyone in this world had such an augmented reality aid. After all, technology here was much more advanced than his old world.
After a period of confirmation, he realized this was unique to him alone.
As the name suggested, this profession panel existed to better improve one's professional abilities.