Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

A reward that Li Zhao found difficult to evaluate.

The main problem is that he doesn't quite grasp the concept of "being ahead of its time".

How can it be considered ahead of its time?

Is it better than a normal laptop, or better than the best laptop you can buy right now?

Could this system even provide a computer equipped with a future CPU and graphics card, and with a vast amount of memory?

But neither of them was particularly appealing to Li Zhao.

Even with his incredibly powerful computer, he can't really make any use of it now. After all, in his previous life, he had a super high-end computer that he could only use for gaming.

...And the game Li Zhao plays doesn't really require high system specifications.

Another crucial question is the justification for the existence of this computer.

Let's leave it for now and see how much happiness we need to accumulate before we can redeem the next reward if we don't redeem it.

This wish-granting machine is quite interesting... Li Zhao simply had the thought "If only I had a computer" while writing a youth novel, and it actually responded.

However, 25 points can be exchanged for 2 yuan, while 30 points can only be exchanged for a laptop. Logically speaking, 2 yuan can buy a laptop with performance that can easily keep up with the development of the industry for one or two years, right?

What happens next?

That's the stage of achieving modest financial freedom; changing to a top-of-the-line model every year is perfectly fine.

Li Zhao suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. "Isn't it a bit crazy to try to calculate the happiness score with the system?"

The greatest significance of this system lies in its guidance towards "happiness".

As long as you can feel happiness, your life will be full of positive feedback.

When faced with a truly difficult problem, exchange your accumulated happiness for a solution.

He's clearly a supporting character who doesn't steal the spotlight.

If you actually try to figure out how to maximize your happiness points by exchanging them for the greatest benefit, then you've fallen into a trap and gone down the wrong path.

[A small realization about getting enough restful sleep. Happiness +1, total 31]

Li Zhao paused for a moment, then smiled, took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, and fell asleep within seconds.

The following afternoon, Li Zhao was continuing to refine the outline of his novel, lamenting that there was so much he wanted to write that he suddenly felt he didn't have enough time or energy. Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the stairs.

He had just gotten up and walked towards the living room when he heard Chen Nian shout, "Ah Zhao, grab the racket, let's go!"

Li Zhao picked up a badminton racket and opened the door, where he saw Chen Nian leaning on his leg, panting heavily.

"The eighth floor is too hard to climb... Come on, my dad's car is downstairs, he'll take us to the stadium."

"You could have just made a call from your car, why did you climb up here?"

"My dad called it that, saying it was to show the respect that the nation's number one team deserves."

Li Zhao was dumbfounded.

No wonder he didn't walk there today; the stadium is only two kilometers away... Usually, they just meet at the stadium, but Li Zhao walked there instead.

Old Man Chen was a cheerful middle-aged man, rather fat, with a loud voice.

As soon as he got into the car, he actually turned around from the driver's seat and shook hands with Li Zhao.

"It's an honor for my son to sit next to you."

"Uncle, you can't say that. I'm very happy to be sitting at the same table as Chen Nian."

"Did you hear that, son? Look how well he handles things. Learn from him."

Chen Nian nodded vigorously.

It seems like no matter what you say, it triggers that classic line...

Throughout the journey, Chen Nian's father tried his best to find angles to make his son "learn more from others," which made Li Zhao tremble with fear, afraid that Chen Nian would be unhappy about it.

As soon as he got out of the car, Chen Nian shook his head and immediately showed an excited smile.

"Damn, it's been so long since I played basketball with you!"

It's like his dad rambled on and on, but he only temporarily stored it in his mind and didn't take it to heart at all. Once he got off the car, he shook it all off.

That's an ability that's truly enviable.

The badminton hall was where Li Zhao first played, brought by Chen Nian.

When Li Zhao was a child, his first time playing in a formal stadium gave him a great experience, and he has always had a special affection for this stadium.

After returning to work in New Taipei City, he made a special effort to look for it, only to find that it had already closed down, becoming the eternal white moonlight in his heart of the stadium.

In his memory, the venue was large, well-lit, and had a pleasant temperature, making it a very comfortable place to play.

Now, looking at it, the concrete ground is covered with duct mats, the mesh belts aren't even taut, there's an iron shed, a small fan... it's all been laid out.

Childhood nostalgia is truly amazing.

"Come on, come on!" Chen Nian was extremely excited. He picked up a ball, ran to his position, and prepared to start the game.

It turned out that Li Zhao was warming up.

"Huh? Ah Zhao, when did you become so professional?"

"You need to warm up before strenuous exercise to avoid injury," Li Zhao said. "Come here and do it with me."

Chen Nian followed along eagerly.

This warm-up method was learned by Li Zhao from a national champion – a badminton pro hired by the company specifically to compete against various units within the planning system; he was essentially a sports mercenary.

After a set of warm-up exercises, Li Zhao gained a new understanding of his own physical weakness.

I'm exhausted...

Before the game even started, Chen Nian went to rest on a chair nearby.

Li Zhaoqiang held on for a while, then went to rest.

"Is warming up really that tiring? Do you need to rest after warming up?"

"..." Li Zhao answered awkwardly.

Fortunately, the boy's stamina bar always recovers very quickly, and the two were back on the field soon.

"My energy bar is full again! Ah Zhao, today I'm going to beat you so badly you'll be begging for mercy!"

It's not an illusion.

Today, Chen Nian is extremely determined to defeat Li Zhao in badminton.

I understand. There's no hope of beating Li Zhao in the exam, so finding a way to get back at him elsewhere is the right thing to do.

Chen Nian often ran around during his primary school years, so he was physically better than Li Zhao and had more experience playing on a proper court. When he went all out, Li Zhao couldn't beat him.

"I'll break first!" Chen Nian said and then hit a high shot.

Li Zhao stared blankly at the soft, half-high ball as it flew up, then turned sideways and smashed it cleanly and decisively.

Chen Nian's serve was too slow, too floaty, and too low; Li Zhao almost didn't have time to set up his racket.

Is this all there is to it? It's just home badminton...

The ball hit Chen Nian's side of the field, and he didn't even have time to react.

It wasn't that Li Zhaoqiu was too fast; it was simply that Chen Nian was too incompetent.

"Huh?" The incident happened so suddenly that Chen Nian had no idea what was going on. He just silently picked up the ball and started another one.

This was clearly a power increase. Li Zhao took two steps back and hit the ball out with what he considered a standard high clear shot.

Then both of them were dumbfounded.

Chen Nian was dumbfounded because the ball flew so fast and so far that he had no way to catch it, and it was even in bounds.

How come even badminton has suddenly evolved, Li Zhao?!

Li Zhao was dumbfounded because he had almost twisted his ankle with that extremely basic movement...

Was I really that weak when I was in elementary school?

Using the same posture as adults to exert force is too demanding on elementary school students.

After the match, Li Zhao tried to adapt to his body, while Chen Nian tried to adjust his mindset.

The score was a crushing 11-2.

It wasn't that Li Zhao didn't want to let Chen Nian win, but he thought that letting Chen Nian win would be a challenge for Chen Nian.

"Ah Zhao..." Chen Nian, physically and mentally exhausted, sat on the ground with a bottle of mineral water. "You, don't tell me that you learned this during winter break too."

That's really not true; learning to play ball costs money.

Li Zhao pondered for a moment, then walked over and sat down next to him, his face serious:

"No, I just realized it."