My IQ has been increasing year by year.

Nanmen Market is the most bustling and chaotic place in the city.

There is no cold, impersonal order here, only a vibrant, chaotic energy.

The rainy day did not diminish the human touch here; on the contrary, the sounds of rain on the roof, the puddles on the ground, and the arguing over prices blended together to create a unique scene.

The air was filled with the damp smell of earth, the smell of chicken droppings from the poultry area, the fishy smell from the seafood area, and the aroma of freshly baked flatbreads, all mixed together to create an extremely strong, pungent smell that seemed to hit you right in the head.

Wearing a pair of mud-splattered sneakers, Zhang Qiang carefully avoided the puddles of black water mixed with rotten vegetable leaves as he weaved through the crowded streets.

He was short and chubby, carrying a large backpack. Among this group of elderly people carrying shopping baskets and exuding a fierce fighting spirit, he looked like a husky that had wandered into a pack of wolves.

But he doesn't care.

He was a secret agent on a mission.

He kept his eyes straight ahead.

I skipped the toy stalls at the entrance, even though the new yo-yo with a clutch was really tempting and it was flashing.

I also skipped the fried food stall, even though the freshly fried pork tenderloin smelled really good and was still sizzling with oil.

He swallowed hard, using willpower to overcome his appetite.

"That's for ordinary people," Zhang Qiang told himself. "Today's money is for Zhuo Ge to improve his brain."

He went straight to the dry goods section of the market.

The place was overflowing with walnuts, red dates, melon seeds, and wood ear mushrooms.

"Come on over! Freshly arrived paper-shelled walnuts! Five yuan a pound! If you don't like them, you don't have to pay!"

A bald stall owner was standing behind his stall, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth, a palm-leaf fan in his hand, swatting flies away while loudly hawking his wares.

A mountain of walnuts was piled up in front of him.

The walnuts were piled high.

Zhang Qiang stopped in his tracks.

He stood in front of the stall, unlike those middle-aged women who grabbed a handful to look at, or tried one, or asked if they could give him a discount.

Those are all too cliché.

He placed his backpack on the clean ground, unzipped it, and like an expert about to perform bomb disposal surgery, slowly and ceremoniously pulled the gun out of his pocket.

A 20cm plastic ruler with teeth marks.

The bald boss was stunned for a moment.

He's been selling dried goods for ten years and is considered a big shot in the South Gate vegetable market. What kind of people hasn't he seen?

I've seen people bring spring scales to re-weigh their items, because they're afraid of being shortchanged.

I've seen people bring magnifying glasses to check the condition of goods; that's because they're afraid of buying old stock.

I've even seen people bring hammers to the scene to smash things; that's a sign of a short temper.

But this also brought a broken elementary school ruler...

"Kid, buying walnuts? Pick whatever you like, but don't throw them away," the shopkeeper casually called out, blowing a smoke ring. "Don't drop your ruler in there, these walnuts are for eating."

Zhang Qiang ignored him.

He took a deep breath, and his eyes sharpened.

He imitated Chen Zhuo by pushing up glasses that weren't actually there.

He stretched out his chubby little hand and carefully picked up one from the pile of walnuts.

First step: Size screening.

Zhang Qiang squinted one eye, holding a walnut in his left hand and a ruler in his right, aligning the chipped "0" mark with one end of the walnut.

His expression was as serious as if he were measuring the length of an atomic bomb fuse.

"2.8 centimeters..."

Zhang Qiang frowned, his face full of disgust.

"No, too small, underdeveloped."

"If this were at No. 1 High School, it would be a failing grade. Zhuo Ge's brain is full of grand principles, the kind of calculation that involves... the kind of cumbersome symbols. This little thing wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap."

Throw away.

The walnut rolled back into the pile.

He picked up another one and compared it with a ruler.

"3.2 centimeters. Hmm, the size barely meets the standard."

Next is the brain sulcus depth test.

This is the most important thing.

Zhang Qiang turned the ruler to the side.

I used the sharp corner of a ruler to scratch the crevices of the walnut shell twice.

He was feeling that resistance.

"Too shallow."

Zhang Qiang sighed, looking disappointed, and shook his head at the walnut.

"The lines are too shallow; it's like a smooth cerebral cortex with no depth at all."

"If you eat these, your thinking will definitely be superficial. What Brother Zhuo is doing now is... calculus! That requires depth! These shallow-shelled walnuts are only good for addition and subtraction at most, and even then, only within ten."

Throw away.

They grabbed another one.

This is big and ugly.

Its surface is pitted and uneven, full of bottomless ravines, like the wrinkled face of an old man.

Zhang Qiang's eyes lit up.

The sharp corner of the ruler went in and got stuck.

"Great! This is great!"

Zhang Qiang couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"Look at this groove! Look at its depth! This is incredibly thoughtful! If you ate this, wouldn't the wrinkles in its brain grow two feet longer?"

He carefully placed the ugly walnut aside; that was the shortlisted section.

The bald boss finally couldn't hold back any longer.

He put down his palm-leaf fan, rummaged through the pile of walnuts on the stall, leaned out, and looked at Zhang Qiang with an expression as if he were looking at a lunatic.

His cigarette was almost burning his butt.

"Hey hey hey! Little fatty!"

"Are you picking a wife like this? Measuring her with a ruler? And judging her depth?"

"Are you buying them or not? If not, don't mess them up! These are all graded! You keep throwing one in and then another in, you're going to make my walnuts look patina!"

Zhang Qiang raised his head.

He looked at the boss with a look that said, "You can't talk about ice with a summer insect."

That's a kind of pride that only scientists' assistants can have.

"Boss, you don't understand."

Zhang Qiang pointed to the pile of walnuts with a ruler, his tone calm and steady.

"I'm not just picking and choosing for fun. I'm doing scientific research by selecting candidates."

"Scientific research?" The boss chuckled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "You're doing scientific research with a broken ruler? Which research institute are you from? Yuhong Elementary School Research Institute?"

"Though the ruler is broken, the standard remains strict."

Zhang Qiang looked serious and spoke in a loud voice, causing the elderly women who were buying groceries around to stop and watch the commotion.

"I'm buying supplies for a future great scientist. Do you know how precious a scientist's brain is? It's like... like those sophisticated instruments shown on TV!"

"Most of the walnuts in this pile are defective."

Zhang Qiang casually picked up a smooth, paper-shelled walnut.

"Look at this, the skin is so thin and smooth. It's obviously a brain that can only think about simple questions like 'What should I eat for lunch today?' That's what ordinary people eat."

"These are the ones I chose..."

He pointed to the small pile of oddly shaped, cracked walnuts at his feet.

"These are all rigorously selected elites! They're the Einsteins of the walnut world!"

"I'm helping you categorize your products, helping you increase their technological content! Don't you understand?"

These words, with their grand language, unique logic, and resolute attitude, left the bald boss completely bewildered.

Especially the phrase "the Einstein of the walnut world," which sounds impressive but incomprehensible.

The middle-aged women who were watching also started to discuss it:

"What this child said seems to make some sense."

"Yes, those wrinkles really do make it look like a brain."

"Oh my, this child is so thoughtful, he even knows to buy walnuts for the scientists."

The boss was put in a difficult position by this wave of public opinion.

He looked at the chubby boy who was only 1.5 meters tall and suddenly felt that the boy had an irrefutable aura about him.

That was Zhang Qiang's persistent aura.

"Fine, fine, fine..." The boss laughed in exasperation, threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. "You pick, you pick. I want to see what kind of 'treasures' you can come up with."

"But let me make this clear from the start: you can't haggle over these items!"

"rest assured."

Zhang Qiang waved his hand with a flourish.

"Money is no object when it comes to science!"

With official authorization, Zhang Qiang was able to act completely unhindered.

He was like a tireless sifting machine, rummaging through a pile of walnuts.

Twenty minutes later.

Zhang Qiang's legs went numb from squatting, and his hands were stained dark brown by walnut shells.

In front of him, on a slightly cleaner open space, were two small piles.

On the left is a pile, weighing about two pounds. Each one is oddly shaped, with deep lines and huge size, looking like Devil Fruits that grew out of hell.

The pile on the right, the remaining pile, was ruthlessly judged by Zhang Qiang as "naive and innocent walnuts."

"Boss, I'll take this pile."

Zhang Qiang stood up, dusted off his hands, and pointed to the pile of elite walnuts on the left.

"Weigh it."

The boss looked speechlessly at the pile of misshapen and deformed fruits that had been selected.

When people buy walnuts, they usually choose those with thin shells, round shapes, and good appearance.

That brat only picks the ugly, thick-skinned, and heavy ones.

Isn't that just stupid? Thick skin means little flesh! Isn't that just paying money to buy a shell?

"Alright, you know your stuff." The shopkeeper muttered as he packed the walnuts into bags. "These are all old tree walnuts. The shells are a bit thick, so most people don't like them because they're hard to peel. But they're very oily and fragrant."

"Absolutely." Zhang Qiang proudly put away the ruler. "How could my scientific standards be wrong? Thicker skin means a better protective layer, which means the brain inside is safer."

"It weighs two and a half pounds in total, but I'll give you two and a half pounds. That'll be twelve yuan."

The boss sighed and gave them two more handfuls.

Zhang Qiang generously pulled a handful of change from his pocket.

It was a huge sum of money, a mix of coins, one- and two-cent bills, and a crumpled five-yuan note.

He counted them clearly and handed them to the boss.

"Thanks, boss! When the scientists win the award in the future, I'll have them write an inscription for you—'Walnut Base'!"

After saying that, Zhang Qiang, carrying the heavy bag of brain-boosting supplies, walked out of the market with an air of nonchalance, braving the rain.