Returning to the dormitory after school, He Tianlong casually opened his computer and checked his email. To his surprise, someone had sent a letter to his oo mailbox. The subject line was "The Answer," and the sender was none other than "Ordinary as I!"
"Did this guy actually figure it out?" He Tianlong was startled and quickly clicked on the email to take a closer look. Then, he was completely dumbfounded.
"Pack five semiconductors, then create a layered, nested architecture? What the hell is this? Can this even compute normally using binary?"
"Oh, so it's using a base-5 system for calculation. That's utterly absurd!"
"This is truly ignorance is bliss; it's too presumptuous. How could such a structure possibly be realized? There's absolutely no realistic possibility!"
"And this base-5 system is the most crooked of all crooked paths. Why don't you just use base-10?"
"Unqualified! Absolutely unqualified!" He Tianlong said without mincing words. He planned to confront "Ordinary as I" directly that evening and refuse to refund the 20 yuan!
However, He Tianlong waited all night, but the person never came to find him.
He waited for another three days. "Ordinary as I" hadn't even logged in.
"This guy probably found a job and gave up!" He Tianlong muttered. Yet, for a considerable period afterward, He Tianlong could never forget what happened that day.
The email from "Ordinary as I," along with the solution method and the base-5 system mentioned in it, kept echoing in He Tianlong's mind like a nightmare. It even appeared in his dreams from time to time.
And in his dreams, "Ordinary as I" would even mock He Tianlong.
Furthermore, as He Tianlong's studies deepened, he suddenly realized that the base-5 architecture did indeed seem to have the possibility of realization. From the perspective of problem-solving alone, the answer appeared to be correct, as the problem statement had never restricted the solver from using only binary for the architecture.
These thoughts filled He Tianlong with increasing dread and surprise. He couldn't help but find that unopened email again. When he tried to see the specific content, he was astonished to discover that the email's content was now empty. Nothing remained except the subject line.
He tried to find "Ordinary as I" on oo again but found that it seemed he had never added this friend. The person seemed to have changed their name.
And then, the day that would shake the entire world arrived.
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The reason Zuo Sicheng didn't find He Tianlong that night wasn't that he didn't want the 20 yuan back. It was because he had a falling out with his father.
The reason was simple: Zuo Muli discovered the computer. This man usually only paid the phone bill after the telecommunications bureau settled it for the month and the landline was disconnected. He would only pay enough to reconnect the landline. Therefore, as long as the computer could access the internet, Zuo Sicheng didn't have to worry about his misuse of phone charges being discovered.
But today, while Zuo Muli was collecting scrap, he happened to pass by the telecommunications company. On a whim, he went in to pay the phone bill in advance. Then he discovered that their phone bill was hundreds of yuan higher than usual. After a closer check, he found out that someone had activated internet service.
Zuo Muli then directly cut off the internet service. When he returned home, he also confiscated Zuo Sicheng's computer and told him, "You're grown up now, and I can't support you anymore. Tomorrow, I'll find you an apprentice, and you'll go work at your master's house. Once you've completed your apprenticeship, you can access the internet however you wish."
"As for this computer, I'll sell it. Consider it compensation for the hundreds of yuan in internet fees!" Zuo Muli said unceremoniously.
"I don't want to be an apprentice!" After living in society for a few months, Zuo Sicheng had a rough understanding of his own intelligence and talent. So he said, "Give me a month. I'll take the Dragon Gate Plan examination. If I pass the Dragon Gate Plan, I can join the Jiangnan Group. In the future, I'll have plenty of money and earn far more than an apprentice."
"You, a scoundrel, want to join the Jiangnan Group? Don't you even look in the mirror to see what you are!" After Zuo Muli said this, Zuo Sicheng left immediately, without hesitation, leaving the scrap metal recycling station.
He felt that living with Zuo Muli was meaningless anymore. Zuo Sicheng knew that his father had embezzled an unknown amount of his medical expenses, yet he hadn't said a word. Now, his father wouldn't even give him this one ounce of respect and opportunity.
Zuo Sicheng never spoke about it, and outwardly acted filial at home. But being intelligent, he had long since discovered the truth. When he was hospitalized for treatment, the medical expenses were only 10,000 yuan per month, but Zuo Muli could receive 50,000 yuan from that household.
For nearly two years, Zuo Muli had saved at least 1.2 million yuan in huge sums. All of this was money Zuo Sicheng had exchanged for his life.
Later, Zuo Sicheng also discovered that even though he had recovered, the other party seemed completely unaware of this, and still sent 50,000 yuan every month. Zuo Muli was purely profiting from this money.
But he never mentioned this money. Just because he assembled a computer and spent a little on phone bills, he wanted to kick him out and make him an apprentice for someone else, a ridiculous proposal.
Twenty years ago, an apprentice might have been a more desirable status, truly acquiring a solid skill.
But now it was different. Apprenticeships were the most scammy jobs in the world. Following a master meant working for free, receiving no salary for a full three years. The only benefit was being able to eat and live at the master's home. But this also meant that the apprentice had to take responsibility for taking care of the master's daily life, treating them like a servant.
Moreover, after finally completing the apprenticeship, the master was still that superior figure. You had to treat them like your own father. If they told you to go east, you absolutely couldn't go west, otherwise, society as a whole would look down on you, considering you an ungrateful wretch.
Not to mention, becoming an apprentice now usually meant learning traditional crafts like operating machine tools or carpentry. To Zuo Sicheng, who had already mastered programming, this was an utterly laughable prospect.
All of this made Zuo Sicheng despair of his father and this family. When Zuo Sicheng was a violent boy, he didn't care about these things. But now that he was an intelligent person, he cared deeply about them. He felt his heart aching.
But where could he go after leaving home?
Zuo Sicheng wandered aimlessly on the streets. He eventually found himself on a somewhat dilapidated street. This had once been one of the most prosperous streets in the city, but as the city changed, it gradually became deserted. Zuo Sicheng didn't know why he had ended up on this street.
"Boss Cheng, they really weren't lying. You're out of the hospital!" Suddenly, a voice exclaimed in surprise, followed by the thin young man speaking excitedly.
"You are..." Zuo Sicheng looked at the young man in front of him. He felt a sense of familiarity but couldn't place who he was.
"Boss, you really have amnesia! I'm Monkey! I was the one following you around and making a name for myself back then!" Monkey introduced himself excitedly.
"Oh, I have some recollection!" Zuo Sicheng nodded. It seemed this skinny monkey was one of his followers when he was a hooligan, and also a friend.
"Boss, you still can't forget this place, can you!" Monkey suddenly sighed. "Actually, I can't forget it either. If it weren't for this place, I wouldn't have left my hometown and dared to return secretly only after that man seemed to have completely forgotten these things."
"And you wouldn't have been so badly injured, spending so many years in the hospital, nearly dying!"
"What do you mean?" Zuo Sicheng blinked in surprise. "You know why I was beaten back then?"
"Ah..." Monkey's expression suddenly changed, and then he quickly shook his head, saying flusteredly, "No, I don't remember anymore... No, I don't know who beat you at all. The police couldn't catch anyone, how could I possibly know?"
"No, you do know. Your eyes betray you!" Zuo Sicheng grabbed Monkey's collar, drawing the attention of people around them. But Zuo Sicheng didn't care. His body was still strong and tall. He unceremoniously pushed the frail Monkey against the wall, staring at him with murderous eyes, and said, "Monkey, you know how ruthless I was back then. I don't want to use these methods on my brother."
"You just need to tell me who harmed me back then, and I promise I won't say anything about it. In the future, I'll give you many benefits!" Zuo Sicheng said.
"No, Boss, please don't force me. This person is too powerful now, so powerful that we can't even imagine. If you still want revenge, it's suicidal. You should give up this dangerous idea!" Monkey's eyes and tone conveyed infinite helplessness.
"Don't worry, I'm very smart now. I know how to endure, how to be a venomous snake. If I really can't confront that guy, I'll kneel before him respectfully, find his weakness, and search for an opportunity to defeat him. I won't reveal myself until I have absolute certainty."
"Can you tell me now, who is the person who harmed me!" Zuo Sicheng said.
"It... it was... it was... it was Huang He! The chairman of Jiangnan Group, Huang He! The richest man in Huaxia, Huang He! He was the one who had people beat you into a vegetative state!" Monkey finally said with great reluctance.
"What!" Zuo Sicheng staggered back a few steps in confusion. He never expected to hear this name.
"Impossible, you're lying to me. How could a small hooligan like me offend Huang He?" Zuo Sicheng asked incredulously.