18: Chapter 18 [Learning Dimension Lv.1→Lv.2]

After resting for a while, breakfast was ready.

Chen Zhen, who had been sprawled out, climbed up and sat at the dining table to eat breakfast.

Father hadn't returned yet.

Mother served him a bowl of porridge and two poached eggs.

"Any news from Dad yet?"

"No." Mother sat down. "He might still be in line."

After finishing breakfast, Chen Zhen returned to his room to study.

Today's problems were difficult.

This was content newly unlocked by the System, a notch higher in difficulty than regular college entrance exam questions.

Actually, he hadn't intended to do these problems.

He felt his brain hadn't reached that height yet.

But the System had given...

He still wanted to try and get those experience points.

Chen Zhen opened the first problem; it was a comprehensive problem about function limits and infinite series, and the question statement alone took up more than half a page.

First reading of the question.

It was all Chinese, so why couldn't he understand it when it was combined together???

Second reading of the question.

He could understand the question statement, but then what?

Third reading of the question.

He felt like his brain was about to grow.

He took a piece of scratch paper and started trying.

Step one: Construct an auxiliary function for the proof.

Step two: Utilize the Sandwich Theorem.

Step three: Derive the limit value.

Step four...

He got stuck.

There was a key conversion he couldn't figure out.

He had calculated over a dozen lines on the scratch paper, but it was always slightly off.

What exactly was missing? Oh, geez.

system panel prompt: [ Thinking trapped in a local optimal solution; suggest jumping out of the current framework ].

Chen Zhen: ...

It was this again, a prompt that said everything and nothing.

It was just like him doing a long jump and asking the System how to jump three meters, and the System just telling him to just jump three meters.

Chen Zhen put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

He took a few deep breaths, using the Breathing Method taught by the old man, to let his brain calm down.

Alright, re-examine this problem.

Don't push forward from the beginning, but work backward from the result.

If one wants to prove that this limit exists and equals a certain value, what conditions need to be met?

Among those conditions, which are known, and which are unknown?

As he thought, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He could use Taylor expansion.

He picked up his pen and started writing rapidly.

Taylor expansion, take the first few terms, estimate the remainder, combine with known conditions... It worked.

[ Completed high-difficulty math competition problem; Learning Dimension experience + 6.8 ]

[ Breakthrough in thinking Bottleneck; extra reward Cultivation + 0.3 ]

[ Learning Dimension experience reached critical point ]

Refreshing!

The system panel popped up a prompt, and Chen Zhen looked at the progress of Learning Dimension: 99.7 / 100.

Problems of this difficulty were certainly generous.

Only 0.3 away.

Doing one more problem would definitely be enough.

He turned to the next problem, a physics problem. It was about the preliminary application of relativistic spacetime transformation.

The problem presented a thought experiment: a high-speed train, the front and back of the train are struck by lightning simultaneously, and the ground observer and the observer on the train see a different sequence of events.

Uh.

Uh?

This...

He finished reading the question.

And then, how to start???

Complaining aside.

Chen Zhen still continued to work on it.

This required proving this "relativity of simultaneity."

Chen Zhen had never studied relativity, but fortunately, this System still had some conscience.

It provided basic concept explanations: Lorentz transformation, the principle of constancy of light speed, spacetime diagrams...

He spent twenty minutes understanding these concepts, and another twenty minutes deriving.

Finally!

Done!

When he reached the conclusion, the Learning Dimension experience bar was full!

[ Learning Dimension experience: 100 / 100 ]

[ Satisfied upgrade conditions ]

[ Upgrade immediately? ]

"Yes!"

The system panel flashed again, turning into a pure blue.

A few seconds later:

[ Learning Dimension upgrade: Lv.1 → Lv.2 ]

[ Obtained ability: [ Deep Understanding ] ]

[ Effect: Understanding speed of knowledge points + 30%, memory retention time + 20% ]

[ Obtained upgrade reward: Cultivation + 5 ]

[ Learning Dimension upper limit increased to 200 ]

"Deep Understanding..."

Chen Zhen read the description, "This ability doesn't make one smarter, but it makes the learning process more efficient."

"Content that previously required reading three times to understand, now might only need two."

"Formulas that were previously easy to forget, now can stay in the brain longer."

A very practical ability.

Not bad, not bad.

The 5 points of Cultivation from the upgrade reward arrived, and the total jumped to 21.92.

Progress 21.92%.

One-fifth of the way there!

At noon, Father returned.

His complexion was even more exhausted than in the morning, and there were bloodshot eyes.

He put down his bag and sat on the sofa.

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

"How was it?" Mother sat beside Father and asked.

"It didn't work out."

"I submitted over a dozen resumes, and only three places told me to wait for notification; the rest were like stones sinking into the ocean."

"Take it slow." Mother poured him a glass of water. "This is only the first day."

"And look on the bright side, there are still three places that said to wait for notification. Old Chen, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Hmm." Father took the water and took a sip. "In the afternoon, I'll go check out a few more factories and ask in person."

"Eat first, the food is ready." Mother gently patted his shoulder.

Lunch was still three dishes and one soup.

While eating, Father still spoke very little.

Chen Zhen looked at Father and suddenly spoke up, "Dad, is there anything I can help with?"

Father looked up at him.

"I mean..."

"I mean I can also go find a part-time job, like a summer job."

"No need." Father shook his head. "You just focus on your studies. As for money, the adults will handle it."

"But—"

"No buts." Father's tone was very firm.

"Your most important task right now is studying. Getting into a good university is better than anything else."

"There are still many years of work waiting for you in the future; why are you in such a rush to enter the workforce now?"

"It hasn't reached such a dire point yet."

"Your dad is right, Xiao Zhen. Listen to your dad. You don't need to think about these things, just focus on your studies." Mother agreed with Father's words.

"Okay, I understand."

After the meal, Father lay on the sofa to rest for twenty minutes, then got up and went out again.

While Mother was cleaning up the dishes, Chen Zhen walked over and said, "Mom, I'm planning to go out this afternoon."

"Where to?"

"The Bookstore."

"I plan to go buy some reference books."

Actually, it was an excuse.

He wanted to go around and see if there were any opportunities to make money.

Mother didn't suspect anything. "Okay, be safe, go early and come back early."

"Hmm."

Waiting until two in the afternoon, Chen Zhen went out.

He didn't go to the Bookstore, but walked slowly along the street.

He knew this street very well, having walked it since he was little.

When passing a milk tea shop, he saw a recruitment notice posted at the door:

Looking for summer workers, 15 yuan per hour.

Should I go work at the milk tea shop?

Chen Zhen stopped, hesitated for a moment, and pushed the door open to go in.

The shop was very cool, with the air conditioning running at full blast.

Behind the counter stood a young girl, about twenty-something, who was wiping a cup.

Seeing Chen Zhen, she looked up, "What would you like to drink?"

Chen Zhen shook his head, "I saw the recruitment notice at the door, and I wanted to ask about it."

The girl sized him up, seemingly judging his age from his appearance: "How old are you?"

"Eighteen, second year of high school."

"Do you have a health certificate?"

"...No."

"Then that won't work." The girl shook her head. "We work in catering, we must have a health certificate."

"Health certificate... how do I apply for one?"

"Go to the Center for Disease Control for a physical examination, and if you pass, they give it to you." The girl said, "But it takes time to process. By the time you get it, we might have already hired someone."

"Okay, thank you."

He walked out of the milk tea shop and continued walking forward.

It's okay, if working at the milk tea shop doesn't work, he'll look at other things.

Chen Zhen continued to take it one step at a time.

On the road, he saw a few more shops hiring:

Convenience stores needed night shifts, internet cafes needed internet cafe managers, fast food restaurants needed delivery drivers...

But they either needed a health certificate or work experience.

When he reached the end of the street, Chen Zhen stopped in front of an old Bookstore.

The Bookstore was very old, the storefront was narrow, and the characters on the sign had faded.

On the glass door was a handwritten piece of paper: Hiring temporary sorter, daily settlement.

Let's go in and ask.

If this one doesn't work out either, then he'll look for the reference books he needs here, buy them, and go home.

He pushed the door and went in.