Huayu, my cheat code is a bit strange.

Chapter 8 Hiring People for Internet Cafes
After receiving that thick stack of test papers from Wang Ziming, Gu Xiao's life entered a fast-paced but monotonous rhythm.

Besides his unwavering two hours of daily practice to adapt to the new vocabulary, he devoted all his remaining energy to selecting vocabulary for the college entrance examination in English.

This is an extremely tedious and arduous task.

Wang Ziming is practically the Hamtaro of students, providing an astonishing number of exam papers spanning nearly five years.

Gu Xiao needed to flip through each page, circle every unfamiliar or important word with a pencil, and then manually count them according to their frequency of occurrence.

The desk lamp often stayed on from late at night until dawn.

……

……

Three more days passed without us even realizing it.

On the desk, test papers covered with dense circles and marks were piled up like a mountain, next to which was a draft paper filled with words.

Xiao Jiu's condition improved day by day, and he had transformed from a curled-up ball of fur into a lively, energetic boy who danced on Gu Xiao's desk.

Gu Xiao wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that its fur had become much more vibrant.

The incubator is now retired, and Xiao Jiu's territory is a simple little nest he built with old cardboard boxes and soft cloth, placed in a corner of his desk.

The little guy is incredibly intelligent; he not only expresses basic needs like "hunger," "thirst," and "sleepy" clearly and accurately, but he has even developed distinct preferences.

"I don't want pine nuts, I want apples."

When Gu Xiao handed over the pine nuts, Xiao Jiu pushed them away with its front paws in disgust, its bright black eyes staring longingly at the apples on Gu Xiao's porcelain plate.

"Fruits are too high in sugar, you should eat less of them."

Despite saying that, Gu Xiao still handed over the apple.

After spending a few days with it, he found a way to get along with the little guy. All he had to do was give it a piece of cuttlebone and a few cotton balls, and it could play with him all day long.

Besides eating, the little guy also showed great curiosity about Gu Xiao's ongoing money-making endeavors.

When he buried himself in the test paper, circling words with a pencil, he would quietly squat to the side, tilting his little head, watching the pen tip move swishing by. Occasionally, he would stretch out his little paws and try to pry at the pen. He wouldn't get angry when the pen was gently pushed away, and would just change his posture and continue reading.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Gu Xiao put down the manuscript paper, capped the pen, stretched out a big yawn, and his body made a series of soft cracking sounds.

In three days, I organized more than 100 test papers, 2000 core vocabulary words, along with accompanying phrases and example sentences, filling twenty sheets of draft paper.

Such high-intensity work, requiring extreme patience, would have been impossible for Gu Xiao to endure in the past.

He himself was somewhat surprised.

Is this sudden surge of intense focus a hidden benefit brought about by the "three-no" cheat code, or is it the result of the competitive spirit of a transmigrator who refuses to be outdone?

"It can't be a desire for money, can it?"

He rubbed his slightly sore eyes and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

After resting for about fifteen minutes and feeling somewhat refreshed, Gu Xiao began to work on packaging the "product".

During this process, he also took the opportunity to take stock of the funds he had on hand.

The initial 335 yuan was used to pay Wang Zimo 30 yuan for "materials". After adding the food expenses for the past few days, there is now 286 yuan left.

He didn't want to ask his cheap father for money unless absolutely necessary.

Gu Xiao carefully placed the manuscript paper into a clean, transparent folder and then solemnly put it into her schoolbag.

Next comes the crucial final step that will determine success or failure.

Most art students come from well-off families and can afford to send their children to art schools. They are at least not old-fashioned, but that doesn't mean they are easy to fool.

Humans are visual creatures, and even the most insightful handwritten manuscripts are inherently inferior to printed manuscripts in terms of authority and perceived value.

The art college entrance exam season was basically over by the end of March. Time was money, and every day wasted now was a sin. Gu Xiao put on her clothes, picked up her schoolbag, counted her keys and the stack of money that was crucial to her livelihood, and prepared to leave.

Just as he turned the doorknob, a red figure leaped up from the desk and nimbly darted up his arm and onto his shoulder.

Xiao Jiu gently tugged at Gu Xiao's hoodie hood with its two front paws, its bright black eyes filled with excitement:

"I'm going too! I'm going too!"

Gu Xiao's expression was somewhat strange. "Are you sure?"

The little guy stood on his shoulder, its head bobbing up and down, its fluffy tail brushing against his neck: "OK, OK!"

Gu Xiao pondered for a moment, then held up three fingers:
"I can take you there, but we need to agree on three rules."

He counted on his fingers and said, "First, you can't leave my sight without my permission; second, you're not allowed to bite anything, especially not people, and um, you can't bite money either; third, don't shout." So that he wouldn't be mistaken for a lunatic.

"Chirp!" Xiao Jiu answered with a whisper, and even raised its paw to give him a high five.

Gu Xiao checked the items one last time and whispered:
"Well, let's go."

……

……

The sky was overcast, and Gu Xiao, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans, stood at the entrance of an internet cafe.

Xiao Jiu was stuffed into the pocket, and curiously peered at the outside world through the gap in the pocket.

"Extreme Speed ​​Internet Cafe"

He muttered something to himself, and before he even stepped inside, a wave of heat, a mixture of cheap cigarette smoke, sweat, and the burnt smell of machine heat dissipation, hit him.

Unsurprisingly, the internet cafe was bustling with activity.

The entire hall was filled with smoke, and the sounds of clattering keyboards, excited shouts, and indistinct profanities filled the air.

Gu Xiao sighed softly.

If it weren't for the fact that scanning technology was so backward in this era and the text recognition rate was so low, he would never have stepped into such a place.

Little Jiu in my arms was also protesting loudly, her small body twitching in the pocket, every pore resisting the environment.

Gu Xiao adjusted to the polluted air, carefully protecting her belongings as she struggled to squeeze towards the bar.

Before the network administrator could speak, he preemptively said:

Two bottles of Coke.

This was the most popular drink among young people in 2002, bar none.

The internet cafe manager, a young man with a buzz cut, was engrossed in playing "Legend" with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Without looking up, he said, "Four yuan."

Gu Xiao counted out four crumpled one-yuan bills from his pocket and handed them over, receiving two bottles of cold-air-filled cola in return.

He pushed one of the bottles back to the network administrator.

"What do you mean?" The network administrator looked up from the screen, puzzled.

"I need your help with something."

Gu Xiao pried open the cap of his Coke bottle and took a big gulp.

The cool liquid, with its stimulating bubbles, slid down my throat, instantly dispelling some of the stuffiness and stale air of the internet cafe.

His gaze swept across the bustling hall. "I need someone to type a document, and time is of the essence. Could you recommend four reliable people who are fast and meticulous in typing?"

(End of this chapter)