July 29, 2077.
Outdoor temperature 28℃
Cloudy turning clear.
Simon looked at his special skills column, long-term exercise had given him three special skills.
[The Flop of a Salted Fish (Common)]: Extensive turning over has granted you this special skill. Upon witnessing your exquisite movements and elegant posture, people will involuntarily compare you to a creature known as a salted fish (?). It is said to be a marvelous object capable of high-intensity flopping twenty-four hours a day.
Effect: Enhanced limb coordination
[I Want to Be Quiet (Common)]: You don't cry or fuss, making you your parents' worry-free little darling. Of course, sometimes you also make them suspect there are certain issues with your intellectual development.
Effect: Reduced presence
[Rhythm Controller (Common)]: You always clap to the rhythm of music. In your parents' eyes, this is direct evidence of your musical talent, though we all know it's just an illusion.
Effect: Toughened palm skin
Simon: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
What kind of crappy system is this? If you can't speak properly, just shut up!
And what's the use of that effect that toughens palm skin?!
With his little heart pounding, Simon silently set the table back upright.
Don't be angry, don't be angry.
It's time for a fun brain-digging game.
Simon clicked on the system's character panel. By doing tasks daily, he averaged eighty action points a day. Due to developmental issues, his current action point limit was one hundred, so digging for brain holes was Simon's nightly ritual before bed.
He didn't know why, but he just felt especially good digging for brain holes before sleep, feeling the various strange air currents flow into his body after each attribute bubble burst.
The intelligence bubble was green; after popping, a cool current lingered in his cerebral cortex, like chewing a mint.
The emotional intelligence bubble was red, warm and strawberry-flavored.
The physique bubble was blue, like water flowing through his trunk and limbs, with a tingling, electric sensation.
Memory was yellow, room temperature, orange-flavored, sometimes mango-flavored, or banana, pineapple, and other yellow fruit flavors.
The comprehension brain hole was a light bulb, giving Simon a sense of transparency as light illuminated darkness, uncomfortable but very strange.
Digging for brain holes before bed was like putting eye drops in before bed, giving him a psychological illusion of indirectly enhancing the effect of brain holes.
Unlike the quantified attributes in games, the system did not provide Simon's detailed attributes. To gauge attribute levels, he could only indirectly estimate based on how many comprehension points were needed to learn a skill. The higher the attribute, the fewer comprehension points needed, but there would be upper and lower limits.
The game experience is very realistic!
Simon now had many knowledge and skills he could learn. He could acquire them through his own practice or by spending comprehension points to instantly master them.
His younger brother had once briefly mentioned the primary education content for underage citizens in the new era to Simon.
Preschool education began with Chinese Language, English, mathematics, and physical education. Of course, the intensity was not high, and class hours were few, but typically, after school, there were still online interest classes. At this point, it sounded quite ordinary, and Simon expressed that he had no problem with it.
Six years of primary school required Chinese Language, English, a third language, mathematics, science, moral education, social studies, physical education, art, and practical skills. The average Chinese primary school student had to spend ten hours a day at school, five days a week, with weekends off, but there would definitely be online classes.
The standard for Chinese Language, if only looking at essays, required coherent writing and substance.
The learning standard for foreign languages was fluent spoken and written language.
Science learning had to include both theory and experiments.
Humanities learning had a lot of memorization content…
Simon remained calm upon hearing this, but he was already feeling uneasy inside. He could only comfort himself: It's okay, I have a cheat, these subjects are just a piece of cake.
Four years of junior high school: Chinese Language, mathematics, and physical education were compulsory. One foreign language was elective. For humanities, there were history, politics, and geography. For sciences, there were physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. Three out of seven were to be chosen.
Simon shuddered; this was a bit difficult to handle!
Three years of high school: The compulsory subjects remained compulsory. Foreign languages no longer had exam requirements. For humanities and sciences, the choice changed from three out of seven to one out of seven, but this one subject would have four to eight different sub-courses.
Simon: ≡(▔﹏▔)≡
What's there to handle?! Send me back to the early 21st century now!
…
September 1, 2081.
Light rain turning cloudy.
Outdoor temperature 23℃
Preschool enrollment day arrived. It was the familiar September 1st, spreading its familiar shadow to children nationwide.
His younger brother led Simon to take the capsule train.
Simon went out carrying a 3D-printed small backpack. The backpack was blue, printed with the head of a character from a children's cartoon. It was empty inside; nothing was stuffed into it. In this era, paper books had been squeezed out of the market by e-books, so the backpack became an identity marker: I carry a backpack, I am a student, not a bored little kid wandering the streets.
The streets were very clean, with black asphalt roads and white sidewalks neatly arranged. This street—which, to be fair, was the size of a small city in the early 21st century—had high-rise buildings covered with holographic glass curtain walls. Under the management of the city administration, these screens were interconnected, essentially using the buildings as projection screens, capable of creating spectacular, grand scenes. Normally, the curtain walls displayed various advertisements, but they would be temporarily requisitioned during festivals.
Simon's private phone OS constantly pushed messages to him via his Bluetooth headset. This was his daily habit; he liked to listen to current events while walking, even though he didn't really pay attention, he just liked the feeling of someone talking in his ear.
Sun Hui had enrolled her son in a preschool called Chun Ya New Kindergarten, a rather ambiguous name, located in a concentrated school district twenty kilometers from home. There was little traffic around it—mainly construction vehicles, as private cars were all levitating, so it was very quiet. Additionally, there were few high-rise buildings and good greenery, making it suitable for children's growth.
On the first day of school, there weren't many children like Simon who were brought by bionic robots. Most were mothers with their children, fewer fathers, even fewer older siblings, and fewer relatives. Besides Simon, only two others were brought by robots.
Class assignment took some time. Mothers gathered in small groups, asking the teachers in charge all sorts of questions. Men gathered less, most of them scrolling on their phones, or smiling patiently while talking to their children despite their impatience. As for the older siblings, they were all playing on their phones.
Simon registered, then quietly waited in the auditorium. A little girl walked over and greeted him.
"Were you also brought by a robot?"
"Yes, he's called Younger Brother."
"How strange," the little girl smiled at Younger Brother, "I'm not saying your name is bad, it's just… Oh, my robot is called Baiyang Yangzhen."
She pointed to a HOME Type 4 with an orange and red color scheme behind her.
Simon retorted, "Your name is clearly stranger, isn't it!"
"Names should be pretty. Oh, right, Mom said when you introduce yourself to others, you should say your name. My name is Su Xiangli, Xiang from Xiangfei bamboo, Li from leaving, but you can call me Pear, or Fragrant Pear, I don't mind."
"My name is Simon, Lu from the animal, Zheng from correct, Kang from recovery. You can just call me Simon."
"Okay, Zhengzheng."
Simon complained again, "Is it really okay to give people nicknames as soon as you meet them?"
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