They're already in university, and the primary school system is only just starting out?

Chen Lin then explained: "I plan to list a math tutoring service on Xianyu (a Chinese online marketplace), and I'd like to use your transcript and college acceptance letter as promotional images to make it more convincing."

He thought for a moment, then prepared to add, "After all, you can't just use other people's things for free."

[I won't lend it to you for nothing, Wednesday afternoon...]

Before the word "free" could even be typed in the chat box, Shen Yan had already replied with a message.

Shen Yan: [No problem.]

Shen Yan: [Image]

Shen Yan: [Image]

Two high-resolution original images: one is the gold-embossed admission letter from Yannan University, and the other is her transcript from last semester, with a long list of major courses followed by a row of scores: "95," "98," "99," and so on...

The personal information, such as the name and student ID, was sent over without any blurring or censoring.

Chen Lin silently deleted the sentence he had typed halfway through.

Before he could even reply with a "thank you," Shen Yan's message popped up again.

Shen Yan: [Is there something you urgently need money for?]

Shen Yan: [Do you want me to lend you some?]

Looking at these two lines of text, Chen Lin felt a gentle pang in his heart, a feeling that was both heartwarming and amusing.

Chen Lin quickly replied.

Chen Lin: [No need, no need]

Chen Lin: [I simply changed my errand-running work to consulting, optimizing the business model.]

Shen Yan: [Okay]

Shen Yan: [I've arranged to do my homework with Hanhan during evening self-study, so I'll talk to you later.]

Shen Yan: [I'll make an appointment with you early on Wednesday, don't forget!]

Chen Lin: [OK][OK]

Chen Lin: [Doraemon bowing.gif]

Even after putting down his phone, Chen Lin still felt a little touched.

It seems my help wasn't in vain.

He shook his head, banishing those thoughts, and got down to business.

He skillfully used the built-in photo editing software on his phone to carefully erase all the personal information on the two pictures Shen Yan sent him.

Looking at the words "Approved to study Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the School of Mathematical Sciences of our university" on the admission notice, Chen Lin found it very pleasing to the eye.

It was much more convincing than my own admission letter for Chinese Language and Literature.

He added the processed images to the salted fish product description, and after thinking for a moment, he added a finishing touch of text at the very beginning of the description:

[A second-year undergraduate student in the Department of Mathematics at Yannan University, with excellent grades, favored by professors, and given early exposure to research projects]

Click to publish!

Get it!

Chen Lin leaned back in his chair with satisfaction, not bothering to investigate the value-added services that Salty Fish offered for paid traffic.

He knew very well that his pricing would seem like a pipe dream to ordinary students, and that buying promotional materials would be a waste of money.

He believed in the hard skills of the "little mathematician".

The main strategy is to attract willing participants.

If you can close the first one or two deals and build a reputation with your absolute strength, subsequent clients will naturally come to you.

Moreover, with Shen Yan's stable business earning 500 yuan per hour in the short term, accumulating start-up capital is not a problem at all.

Thinking of this, Chen Lin was in a great mood. He originally planned to continue browsing the Enki Love Forum to see if there was anything new to amuse him.

But when he glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the screen, it was already dinnertime.

Chen Lin suddenly remembered his life before he got the system.

Back then, mealtimes were his busiest time.

To save time, he would always rush into the cafeteria half an hour early, hastily shovel a few bites of food, and then wander through every corner of the campus, delivering meals to one person and bringing milk tea to another.

If you think about it carefully, he has run to almost every corner of the school in the past two semesters, but it seems that he has never had time to stop and really see the scenery around him.

Thinking of this, Chen Lin had an idea, turned off the computer, and stood up.

No rush today.

He decided to walk slowly to the cafeteria.

The campus in the evening sheds the heat of the day, and the air is filled with the scent of grass and earth.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky a warm orange-red.

At dinner time, there are no classes scheduled at Yannan University, so there are many students walking around.

In mid-May, the cicadas' chirping gradually gained momentum, mingling with the cheerful laughter of boys and girls.

Chen Lin stood with his hands in his pockets, walking at a leisurely pace.

I felt a sense of ease and lightness I had never experienced before.

Magic City.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the seventeenth floor of an office building was still brightly lit.

In the office of an engineering design institute, several tired figures were still hunched over their computers, the occasional clatter of keyboards echoing through the air.

Sun Yu rubbed his sore eyes and irritably scratched his already thin hair.

He was a new employee who joined the company during this year's spring recruitment season.

As a student who graduated from a non-985/211 university with a master's degree in mathematics, being able to squeeze into this design institute is a pleasant surprise.

He lived up to expectations and was lucky enough to pass the written test by the narrowest point.

During the interview, his family asked a distant relative's friend to pull some strings and give him some gifts, which got him the job.

To put it bluntly, he's the kind of employee that many companies have—someone with connections, but not very strong ones.

When there are no problems, people won't make things difficult for him out of consideration for others.

But now, that's when the problem arises.

Their project team had completed the main part of an important design scheme, but they were stuck on a core verification calculation.

Using the old methods passed down in the institute for many years, we calculated repeatedly, but the results were still quite different from the theoretical expectations, and we could not pass the final review.

This is a tough nut to crack. Those old hands in the group have been around for years and are as slippery as eels.

When the team leader contacts them, they make all sorts of excuses, such as "I have other urgent work to do" or "I need to help my child with homework."

So, the team leader's gaze naturally fell on Sun Yu, the newcomer.

"Xiao Sun," the team leader patted him on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, "look at this plan, there's only a little finishing touch left. The other colleagues in the team are all quite busy, so this task will be assigned to you. It's a great opportunity for you to learn as you go, a perfect chance to hone your skills."

Although Sun Yu's professional skills weren't great, he still understood these basic social etiquette rules.

This isn't a training opportunity; it's clearly a blame-shifting session!

He wanted to refuse immediately: "Team leader, I..."

"Young people should seize opportunities and take on more responsibilities so they can grow quickly in the future!" The team leader didn't give him a chance to speak, cutting off his words and then dangling a carrot in front of him, promising that he would be given priority in the year-end performance evaluation.

What else could Sun Yu say? He was still in his probationary period. The team leader reported the results directly to the boss, and if he failed, he would be fired.

Sun Yu could only reluctantly accept this hot potato.

He's a graduate student majoring in applied mathematics, and to be honest, his level is only average.

He had already exhausted all his learning by simply understanding the mathematical methods used in the current plan.

Asking him to optimize the calculation scheme and solve a problem that even senior engineers can't handle? That's just wishful thinking!

"well……"

Just as he was frowning and at a loss, staring at a bunch of dense formulas and data on the screen, his phone screen lit up; it was an incoming call.

"Hello, your takeout has arrived. Please come down to the lobby to pick it up."

"Okay, okay, I'll be right down!"

Back at his workstation, he absentmindedly opened the takeout box while habitually opening the Xianyu app—he wanted to check if the seller had shipped the anime-themed phone case he had ordered the night before for a hefty 50 yuan.