Buy books

  Qī Bīng soon settled down in the small building of Zhāng Jìnghǎi's Wōzi Village. And Zhāng Jìn also fulfilled his promise not to let Qī Bīng suffer.

  Every day, Zhang Jin would use moxibustion needles on his body twice a day, making him look like a hedgehog. He would soak in a medicinal bath for half an hour once a day and drink two bowls of sour and sweet Chinese medicine soup every day. This was Qi Bing's entire weight loss plan. Every day, he would sleep for over ten hours without anyone bothering him; apart from treatment, he could spend the whole day lounging on the sofa or bed without being rushed. Although he ate less meat, there were plenty of fish, shrimp, crab, and eggs, and as long as he could eat them, Zhang Jin would never ask him to diet. Moreover, the exquisite dishes made by Zhang Jin's master-level culinary skills were absolutely delicious.

  Although he was still too young to appreciate the scenery, all of these added up to make Qi Bing feel that this weight loss life was simply top-notch enjoyment. In order to let this wonderful life continue, although Qi Bing already knew about Zhang Jin's secrets hidden from his family, he still kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything, letting Zhang Jin put down his worries and breathe a sigh of relief. These things were better left unsaid for as long as possible.

  Before he knew it, Qi Bing had already stayed in Zhang Jin's small building for seven or eight days.

  After sending away the last rheumatism patient of the day, Zhang Jin put away the various gifts that the patients had hastily given him and looked up to check the time. He found that it was not yet time for dinner, so he decided to feed the chickens and ducks in the yard and the fish in the pond first. After feeding the chickens and ducks, he carried a plastic basin filled with fish food to the edge of the pond and found Qi Bing classmate sitting under a big tree not far from the pond, reading a book with great interest.

  That towering tree, over ten meters tall, is an old locust tree. It was the only greenery on this barren land before Zhang Jin's time arrived. The branches are sturdy and the leaves are layered, according to Old Man Hai Jufu, this tree is over a hundred years old. Because of its deep roots, it can survive in this rocky terrain. Cherishing this patch of green, when Zhang Jin built his house, he didn't cut down the big tree but instead let it become a shaded area under the eaves, a cool retreat in the backyard.

  "What are you looking at?" Zhang Jin asked while sprinkling fish food into the pond.

  Qī Bīng held up the book in his hand, with the cover facing Zhāng Jìng and shook it a few times, saying: "Our high school textbooks, this year because of my poor physical condition I had to drop out of school, next year I'll take the college entrance exam again. Although there's still one more year, but can't just throw them away! Otherwise, when you want to pick them up again, it will be a hassle."

  When it comes to reading, Qi Bing is not afraid at all. At that time in school, due to physical problems, he was unable to run wildly on the basketball court and football field like other boys, and because of his obesity, he was discriminated against everywhere, and no one even wanted to be friends with him. Not to mention tasting the forbidden love in middle school. So, in the school where he was alone, he had to put all his thoughts into studying, fortunately Qi Bing was fat but not stupid. This made his grades quickly rise from the top 300-400 in the grade when he first entered school, to the top 100, top 50, top 20, and top 10!

  In school, academic achievement is like a nameplate, good grades will receive admiring glances. So Qi Bing's outstanding grades finally won him the acceptance of his classmates, and with excellent grades, he also won over friends and classmates. From then on, Qi Bing began to take a real interest in studying. Perhaps deep down, he also realized that with his mediocre appearance, ordinary family background, and being overweight, all he had left was his 'grades' as the only shining point, so he wanted to make his strengths more prominent and let this point shine brighter.

  It is thought that Qi Bing, who cannot bear hardships, can be so diligent in reading books. It's probably what the ancient saying says: 'Because he feels it's bitter, he endures bitterness; because he feels it's joyful, he enjoys joy.'

  "Give me the book and let me take a look!" Zhang Jin was taken aback for a moment, his eyes flashing as he stretched out his hand to Qi Bing.

  Taking the "High School Chinese" book handed over by Qi Bing, Zhang Jin rubbed it repeatedly with a mesmerized expression, muttering to himself: "It's actually a knowledge-based book, it's actually a knowledge-based book..."

  Zhang Jin was so excited, not because he missed his high school days, but because the identification information that flashed in his mind when he swept his gaze over just now.

  "High School Chinese": Knowledge-based book. Note: This book is for full-time high school third-year curriculum. Effect: Enhance character's insight.

  This news made Zhang Jin feel refreshed and delighted. For the past month, in order to improve his wisdom attribute, he had no choice but to immerse himself in the classics of the pre-Qin schools of thought such as "Tao Te Ching", "Analects of Confucius", "Mencius" and "Zhuangzi", which were considered abstruse by modern people. He had also tried to use the golden, ancient, yellowed 'masterpieces' in his study to make up for it, but when the appraisal technique was applied, the result turned out to be 'miscellaneous books of strange categories', which didn't have any effect on improving his wisdom attribute at all.

  This made Zhang Jin disappointed, thinking that only the classics purchased in the system store could be considered 'knowledge books', so he also extinguished his playful thoughts and devoted himself to those ancient classic texts. However, when Qi Bing's "High School Chinese" was also identified as having the attribute of 'knowledge book', Zhang Jin carefully pondered it and finally realized that probably all books with educational value can be called 'knowledge books', rather than being limited to only those purchased from the system store.

  **

  Since learning that there were many books that could be considered 'knowledge books', Zhang Jin rushed back to the city the next day, drove into a bookstore and frequently used his appraisal skills to make a big purchase.

  "Sir, may I ask which training institution you are from. If your institution has a cooperative relationship with us, you can get an 8% discount." At the No. 6 cashier in Shenzhen Book City, Cashier Hao Xiuer smiled at Zhang Jin. Her long eyelashes fluttered, making Zhang Jin's heart feel itchy, as if they had not been close to women for many days.

  "English Proficiency", "New Concept English", "Spanish Crash Course", "German Intensive Reading", "Tang Poetry", "Song Ci", "Yuan Qu"... dozens of books filled Zhang Jin's shopping basket, no wonder the cashier thought he was a procurement officer for some training institution.

  Zhang Jin shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm not from any training institution. I just wanted to find an opportunity to talk to you, so I specially bought these books."

  Hao Xiuer was slightly annoyed by Zhang Jin's frivolous words, and after staring at him for a moment, she said in a bad mood: "I'm not talking to you anymore, just looking at you, you're not a good person!" Although normal women are all narcissistic, this little girl still has some self-awareness. Although she looks okay, it's only slightly better than ordinary people. It can only be said that she is cute, but not beautiful, and far from being so charming that someone would spend thousands of dollars to buy a book as an excuse to hit on her. Moreover, Zhang Jin is still a tall and handsome man with a strong physique, and his wallet doesn't seem to be thin either?

  Hao Xiuer stopped talking, and Zhang Jin just smiled and didn't bother to explain anymore. He couldn't say that these were all for his own use, could he? Others would think he was the kind of nouveau riche who used books as decorations. There are geniuses who are proficient in multiple languages, but even they have to learn one language at a time. Buying so many foreign language textbooks at once isn't about wanting to learn, it's about wanting to show off.

  Zhang Jin had no choice, he didn't want to spend two hours going into town to buy books every now and then, it was better if the books he bought could last for a while. Because he found that when he officially reached level zero, his brain seemed to have undergone a huge development, whether it was memory, understanding or logical thinking ability, all of which had made a huge leap.

  After all, even when he was 4 points of comprehension value before the zero level, he was already considered to be one of the smarter ones among ordinary people. Now his comprehension has reached an astonishing 12 points! Although it's said that if a comprehension value of 4 points corresponds to an IQ of 100 for an ordinary person, a comprehension value of 12 points doesn't necessarily mean that this person's IQ will also triple to reach the terrifying value of IQ 300. However, he is absolutely considered to be a clever and cunning individual. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to finish reading and understanding several classic but abstruse books such as "Tao Te Ching", "Analects of Confucius", "Zhuangzi" and "Mencius" within just one month. If it weren't for Qi Bing's "High School Chinese" that let him know that 'knowledge-type books' have other sources, his next purchase would be the system store's "Records of the Grand Historian" or "Essays from a Leisurely Studio".

  Although Zhang is highly intelligent and has a deep love for traditional Chinese culture, if he only reads these abstruse ancient texts all the time, it would be a kind of torture for a modern person. It's better to interspersed with learning some foreign languages when getting tired of reading ancient books, although they may not be used in the future, but also counts as a way to relax and increase one's skills.

  After stuffing dozens of foreign language textbooks into the trunk, Zhang Jin returned to the driver's seat and was about to start the car when he suddenly stopped again. He rested his elbow on the steering wheel, rubbed his chin with his index finger, and muttered to himself: "If these foreign language textbooks can be considered 'knowledge books', then can some fitness books also be considered 'exercise books'?" With this thought, Zhang Jin got out of the car again and walked towards the book city.

  What a coincidence, Zhang Jin was again at the previous 6th cashier to pay. Zhang Jin didn't do it on purpose, but who made the queue in front of the 6th cashier the shortest when he finished buying books?

  Hao Xiuer stared at the pile of books in front of her that hadn't sold more than a few copies in ten or eight days, and looked up at Zhang Jin with a mischievous smile on his face: "How is it you again?"

  Hearing Hao Xiuer's movement, Zhang Jin's smile became even more radiant and hateful: "Of course it's me, I've said before that I want to talk to you. We didn't say a few words just now!"

  "Who believes you!" Hao Xiuer glared at him as before, but compared to the last time, her eyes were no longer full of disgust and estrangement, but had a slightly flirtatious tone.

  Zhang Jin's sly smile stopped his thoughts of further teasing. Because the experienced him had already discovered that with just this much effort, this girl was already showing some signs of romantic feelings. Although Zhang Jin often played around with girls, he never toyed with their emotions. It seemed that this girl's pure nature didn't suit being a casual fling. So it was better not to harm her after all.

  Hao Xiuer and Ye Meng are different, Zhang Jin didn't notice the feelings of his ex-wife towards him, it can be said that he was blind to it, or maybe it was a deliberate selective neglect in his subconscious. However, when facing Hao Xiuer, this veteran playboy's eyes lit up again, and he became sharp-sighted once more.

  Hao Xiuer's mind was a bit messy, "Is this despicable guy telling the truth or lying? It can't be true, right? If not, who would buy seven or eight foreign language textbooks at once like that? And after buying a bunch of miscellaneous foreign books, he came to buy another batch of books that have nothing to do with foreign languages. What's with "Chen-style Tai Chi", "Introduction to Xingyiquan", "Eight Pieces of Brocade", "Pre-practice Method of Eighteen Ways", "Continued Practice Method of Eighteen Ways", "Post-practice Method of Eighteen Ways"... Normal people wouldn't buy this kind of expensive and useless book, would they? Even if it's for health preservation, you'd just choose one, not all of them!"

  "Could it be that he really wants to take this opportunity to talk to me? Ah, how annoying, I'm so embarrassed."