Top Student: Experience Infinite Occupations

Chapter 10: What a Joke

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The next morning, Li Chengqian and Ding Ling came to school together.

Surprisingly, Jian Qingli followed the two of them.

However, the group dynamics had completely changed.

In the past, Li Chengqian kept trying to start a conversation with Jian Qingli, but she was as proud as a peacock, always ignoring him.

Now, Li Chengqian and Ding Ling walked shoulder to shoulder, chatting and laughing along the way. Jian Qingli couldn’t couldn’t get a word in.

When they arrived at the school gate, Li Chengqian and Ding Ling agreed to sign up with Teacher Tian Wenming together at one in the afternoon. Ding Ling then reluctantly parted ways with Li Chengqian.

Jian Qingli’s displeasure was written all over her face. She felt terrible.

In the past, when Li Chengqian was fawning over her, she didn’t feel anything.

Now that she saw Li Chengqian and Ding Ling being so intimate, chatting and laughing all the way, she felt miserable.

It was as if her toy had been snatched away by someone else.

“I’m just not used to it yet. Yes, I’m just not used to it yet.” Jian Qingli made an excuse for herself.

“I have Bi Jialiang now! He’s a better candidate. Let bygones be bygones.”

“Not only does Bi Jialiang have good grades, but he’s also very good at programming. He’s bringing me on his team to participate in the competition, so I might be able to skip the university entrance examination and gain admission to Divine Dragon University.”

“Whether it’s grades, sense of humor, or family background, Bi Jialiang is better than Li Chengqian.” Jian Qingli kept comforting herself in her heart. Gradually, she didn’t feel so bad anymore. The way she looked at Li Chengqian also became cold again.

“Li Chengqian has never fancied Ding Ling. He has always fancied...”

“Maybe it’s because of my relationship with Bi Jialiang that provoked Li Chengqian. That’s why he is purposely showing me how close he is to Ding Ling.” Jian Qingli’s mood completely improved when she thought of this.

Throughout the entire morning, Li Chengqian listened attentively during class. After class, he was focused on reading.

Jian Qingli did not say a single word to Li Chengqian the whole time.

When class ended at noon, two lines of notifications flashed on the translucent panel in front of Li Chengqian.

[You have accumulated 200 minutes of listening time in class. You have received 2,000 experience value points. You have 2,289 experience value points remaining in the Experience Pool.]

[You have accumulated 200 minutes of listening time in class. You have received 2,000 experience value points. You have 2,289 experience value points remaining in the Experience Pool.]

Learning from the experience of the day before, Li Chengqian was not in a hurry to upgrade his Senior High School Knowledge to Master level.

After having his fill in the canteen, he immediately went to the school library.

He had learned computing basics, operating system principles, and assembly language the day before.

The main focus of the Junior Informatics Programming Competition was C language programming.

In addition, when he signed up with Teacher Tian Wenming, he would be asking random questions about the C language.

If he couldn’t answer, he wouldn’t even be allowed to sign up.

A book on overview of C language, from novice to proficient, a book on the analysis of common C language functions, and one more on database case studies.

These three books were specially chosen by Li Chengqian. As long as he studied all three books and memorized them, while he wouldn’t be able to say for sure that he would emerge champion of the Competition, getting into the top 50 would definitely not be a problem.

“The three books add up to 1,478 pages. There is enough time.” Li Chengqian chose a quiet seat and sat down.

Master level Focus skill, activate!

Instantly, Li Chengqian felt extremely clear-headed and refreshed. He analyzed all the information he read immediately.

All types of surreal lights kept flashing non-stop in his mind.

The ability to speed read ten lines at a glance, a photographic memory, and the ability to internalize all the information acted together in Li Chengqian’s body.

Li Chengqian focused with great intensity as he flipped through the C language from Novice to Proficient book.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The pages were flipped at breakneck pace, making a rhythmic sound.

He only needed to take a glance at each page to memorize the contents.

As he quickly flipped through the first book- overview on C language, algorithms, data types, operators and expressions, functions, pointers, and other programming knowledge-603 pages were digested by Li Chengqian in 20 minutes. Then, he internalized the knowledge into his own knowledge system.

He could now answer the question that Teacher Tian Wenming asked on pointer the night before .

“The pointer refers to the memory address. It describes the location of the data in the memory and indicates the relative distance value of an entity occupying the storage space at the beginning of this section of space.”

Analysis of common C language functions, 507 pages, took him 17 minutes!

The book on database case studies was the thinnest. It was 368 pages and was read in 13 minutes.

[You have accumulated 50 minutes of reading time. You have received 50 experience value points. You have 2,379 experience value points remaining in the Experience Pool.]

Li Chengqian did not immediately stand up after reading all three books.

He began to recall the information on computer basics, principles of operating systems, assembly languages, C language, and database knowledge. He summarized and classified the information in his mind to form a complete knowledge system.

Three minutes later, Li Chengqian stood up with a confident smile on his face.

“In terms of theoretical knowledge, even those who specialize in programming might not be as good as me.” Li Chengqian was confident that even Teacher Tian Wenming was not as strong as him in terms of theoretical foundation.

His only shortcoming now was his actual hands-on experience.

“Let’s sign up for the exam first and get the slot to participate in the competition.” Li Chengqian was not worried at all about lacking hands-on experience. The previous year competition questions were all available online. As long as he read and practiced more, he would improve very quickly.

...

The teachers’ room was especially crowded today because of the Junior Informatics Programming Competition.

...

Many students who knew programming felt that this was a rare opportunity. They signed up with the mentality that even if they didn’t win, the experience would be beneficial.

When Li Chengqian got there, there were still 11 people queuing up in front of him to register.

Everyone was asked a question on C language before signing up.

The person in front of Li Chengqian was Bi Jialiang.

Jian Qingli was standing beside Bi Jialiang, chatting while queueing.

Jian Qingli was surprised when she saw that Li Chengqian really came to sign up.

When Li Chengqian said that he wanted to participate in the competition, she didn’t believe him for a second. That was because she genuinely doubted that he had the ability.

Could someone who didn’t even manage his studies learn how to program well?

“Li Chengqian, you actually came to sign up? I thought you were just fooling around and you only said it out of spite.” Jian Qingli’s voice was filled with astonishment.

“I said I will sign up, so naturally I have to come,” Li Chengqian replied. He looked around trying to spot Ding Ling.

“Qingli, signing up and being accepted are two separate matters. Don’t be so surprised.” Bi Jialiang sneered and deliberately leaned closer to Jian Qingli and whispered into her ear.

...

“If Li Chengqian were capable, he would have signed up last night. Why did he have to wait until today to queue up here?”

“I’m guessing that he must have crammed last-minute and then come here to try his luck.” Bi Jialiang’s tone was very disdainful.

While Bi Jialiang and Jian Qingli were whispering to each other, Ding Ling spotted Li Chengqian. She walked over with a smile on her face and stood with Li Chengqian.

Jian Qingli’s mood turned foul instantly.

“Li Chengqian, it’s fine if you’ve come to just try your luck. But it would be very embarrassing when you don’t have an answer for the teacher’s question later.”

“It doesn’t matter to you, but Ding Ling is a girl. It’s not good for her to be embarrassed together with you,” Jian Qingli couldn’t help but say, as if she was thinking about Ding Ling’s face.

“I believe in Li Chengqian!” Ding Ling smiled and didn’t say much.

Just like when Li Chengqian had told her to participate in the competition, she had no doubts.

In any case, what she cared about was Li Chengqian and not the competition. If he lost, so be it. If he lost face, so be it. It was that simple.

“Jian Qingli, besides Ding Ling, there is one last vacancy on my team. Are you joining?” Li Chengqian looked intently at Jian Qingli. He had decided to invite her one last time, after which, his conscience would be clear.

He was absolutely confident that he could emerge in the top 50 in the country. One spot meant one qualification to enter the Divine Dragon University.

“What a joke!” Jian Qingli shook her head with disdain.

She would have to be stupid to abandon Bi Jialiang, who was good at programming, and team up with Li Chengqian.

She even felt that Li Chengqian wouldn’t succeed in signing up.