NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Evil Old Man
Old man Shen handled the cooking the next day. A couple of hours passed, and the other employees noted his absence,
"Uh… boss, did you send Zhi Luan out to get supplies, I haven't seen him all day.'
John asked.
"He's studying for an exam. He'll be down by noon."
~Upstairs~
Zhi Luan had long been awake since dawn. As a cultivator, sleeping wasn't a necessity. All they had to do was meditate and let Ryu flow through their body. This revitalizes and strengthens their body, and as a habit, Zhi Luan spends most of his time meditating. Even if his energy was dormant, meditating always helped clear his mind. At this moment, he needed a clear mind to study.
He picked up the first material and flipped through it. After flipping through the introductory pages, the next page had bold letters written on it
'Arithmetic Reasoning'
Zhi Luan didn't know what those words meant and was eager to find out, but he soon regretted his decision when he flipped the page.
The page revealed a combination of numbers and symbols. At first, Zhi Luan thought it was another language entirely but soon doused the thought when he read further. He quickly flipped through more pages and realized that the numbers and symbols continued, becoming more intricately complex.
Zhi Luan took a deep breath, assumed a sitting position on the bed, and began to meditate. It was only after an hour passed that he opened his eyes and looked at the book again. Unlike the cultivation scripts he studied in his era that could be understood after brief meditation and a clear state of mind, the numbers and symbols in the book remained unchanged and no less difficult to understand.
Numbers swirled in his head like a jumbled puzzle, refusing to align into logical solutions. Zhi Luan was lost in a sea of numbers, struggling to find a lifeline of understanding. But the more he tried, the more his mind wandered, like a traveler lost in a dense forest. Thus, his study session that morning was fruitless.
By noon, Zhi Luan came down to the restaurant wearing a defeated expression. Old man Shen saw Zhi Luan's expression and snickered,
"What's with that look? Didn't studying go so well?"
Zhi Luan initially wanted to avoid the question if he was asked, but seeing old man Shen's smug look, the veins on his face popped out.
"You. Are. Evil…"
He enunciated every word, not hiding his displeasure.
Old man Shen chuckled diabolically,
"They're just books, not the ends of the world. Since you're done, you can take over."
Zhi Luan took over the kitchen the moment he arrived, while old man Shen resumed his duty as a full-time manager, making sure everything went well in the restaurant. By 8 pm, Zhi Luan rounded things up in the kitchen before going upstairs to study. But before he did, he complained to old man Shen.
"I can't help you either," replied old man Shen as he shook his head after hearing Zhi Luan's complaint.
"I thought you'd choose something I could relate to, but you did not."
He then thought for a moment before speaking up again.
"I can enlist someone's help to teach you, but I'll have to ask her first to know her schedule. You can continue studying until I talk to her…"
There wasn't any change in understanding the material no matter the number of times Zhi Luan read it. Aside from Arithmetic Reasoning, other courses like General Science, Mechanical Comprehension, and so on, were not any better. They were different yet intricately similar in some respects. Hence, one had to understand the basics before moving on to the next one.
Zhi Luan raked his brain, almost pulling his hair out in his attempt to understand. Aside from old man Shen's goodwill, Zhi Luan had a personal interest in Military Science, hence why he agreed to enroll in the first place. Now, it was clear that what he had expected was different from what it was.
~Three Days Later~
It's been three days since Zhi Luan started studying but he had made no progress whatsoever. These days, his usual languid expression was mixed with that of defeat, becoming more intense, and this change didn't go unnoticed by old man Shen. Zhi Luan normally wasn't chatty, but he always had something to say if asked. But three days had gone by, and he had gone silent most of the time, even when spoken to.
Old man Shen started thinking that he might have underestimated how unlearned Zhi Luan might be, and thus overlooked some things that could help Zhi Luan study. He had asked Yan Qincheng for help, but she hadn't come by the restaurant in days. Today, he couldn't bear seeing Zhi Luan in that state and walked up to him,
"You've been unusually moody lately… what's that about?"
Zhi Luan immediately shot him a glare,
"Like you don't know why…"
"Quit being a damsel in distress. I told you to pick something you could do. If you can't study for the entrance exam, how then can you hope to complete the course?"
"Why don't you out rightly call me a buffoon and get it over with?"
"I thought I already did… you probably didn't understand it the same way you don't understand what you're reading…"
Zhi Luan's eye widened as he was about to say something but was cut off,
"That's it, I cannot allow you to ruin my business with your bad energy. Go clear your head some other place and come back when your attitude has changed, get going!"
"That is if I come back at all," retorted Zhi Luan as he stormed off the kitchen.
"You better not get lost, you punk!"
Old man Shen chuckled diabolically after Zhi Luan left and then sighed afterward.
"What a dramatic young man…"
Zhi Luan only knew a handful of places within the city, so now, he was just aimlessly walking around. He took the entrance materials with him, thinking a change of environment was all he needed.