Chapter 44

The Powerful Academic Genius System was basically usable at this point but still lacked something. Lin Yu had to link the points, reserve funds, and so on with money to truly form an effective numerical stimulation.

He was ready for this. After all, writing a program was not just a matter of typing; one would need to conduct trial runs for each function of the program.

It was an easy solution. He registered for Alipay with a new number, tied it to the bank account where he collected his video fees, and handed both the prepaid and bank cards to his stern dad.

It was impossible to memorize the number of a new prepaid card within such a short period of time and moreover, it was normal for lots of people to not remember their own phone numbers. On top of that, logging into Alipay required SMS verification so he wanted to completely eliminate the possibility of logging into Alipay himself.

If he wanted money, he could redeem reserve funds with the points he gained from completing Pomodoro Intervals. After selecting the redemption option, his Client System would send an SMS to his dad’s phone and the app would automatically complete the transaction.

“From today onwards, I’m no longer a slacker and a rich man as well. Please call me Lin ‘The Poor Academic Genius’ Yu.”

Lin Yu said to Zhou Jie and the others emotionally. With a determined expression, he started his Pomodoro Interval and began silently reading a book.

The Pomodoro clock proved to be effective. Since it was set to 25 minutes, Lin Yu subconsciously focused on the fact that it was merely 25 minutes of reading and was less agitated about it.

On top of that, he completed development of the Pomodoro clock on his app before anything else. He had to test it multiple times while working on other related functions over time and since he was interested and talented in writing programs, it was easy for him to stay focused for a longer period of time. The result was that he was now pretty used to working with Pomodoro Intervals.

But of course, he was not completely focused for the whole time and had only managed to keep his focus using his willpower due to the short timeframe. For example, Zhou Jie and the guys were trying to talk to him during the Pomodoro Interval at the moment but he ignored them.

25 minutes of focused reading went better than expected. The ringtone for the end of the interval rang weakly but to Lin Yu’s ears, it was as loud as the bell for the final class in high school.

He awarded himself with five minutes of resting time after completing one Pomodoro clock. On top of that, he had read that one should not work or study during the resting time, which was why he began playing with his phone at ease.

The ringtone for the next interval rang five minutes later…but he was still on his phone. He only snapped out of the devilish seduction after two to three minutes later.

“It seems like the hardest thing isn’t focusing during the Pomodoro Interval but it’s getting back into it after resting. These things would require willpower to overcome them.”

Lin Yu frowned and went to the last page of the Academic Genius System to read the motivational text on it.

Words like “I want to learn” were a kind of a self-hint. Things that one desired could be used as motivation to stimulate his passion but it was all up to oneself and these things were just complementary.

One could either have an interest in learning or rely on willpower to exercise restraint. One could also develop and change his own habits over a period of time.

The numerical stimulation from gaining points and reserve funds was supposed to strengthen one’s enthusiasm but this required time. It was impossible to make himself subconsciously link these elements to money within a short period of time—let alone to intuitively realize the importance of money.

After all, understanding and experiencing something were completely different things. One would usually see and hear things in a third person’s perspective—it was just like watching movies. No one would have a heroic realization by himself just from watching a movie about superheroes.

However, the solution was simple—he just needed to be broke for a few days.

Lin Yu decisively transferred his last bit of allowance left in his WeChat Pay and Alipay to his parents.

Thanks to WeChat and Alipay, the use of e-wallet in the country was so normalized that it was world-leading. One could even scan QR codes to pay for taking public transport that it was rare to use cash. That was why it was impossible for young men like him to carry cash on him. After transferring the money from his e-wallets, his wallet was cleaner than his face was[1].

“Study! It’s just four Pomodoro Intervals anyway. It’s not even two hours in total.”

Now that his wallet was empty, Lin Yu thought back to how he was blowing his own horn a while back. He decisively restarted the Pomodoro clock and continued studying.

Its effectiveness was better this time; although he did go overtime occasionally with the resting time, he managed to snap out of it within a short period of time. He took 1.5 classes’ worth of time to complete the four Pomodoro Intervals for the day.

It worked pretty well this time and the Pomodoro clock was very effective toward anxiety and distractions. Maybe his determination and execution were influenced by his ‘biggest lie ever’ as well but quantity aside, whatever he read in the past two hours actually did stick in his mind.

The moment four Pomodoro Intervals were over, Lin Yu looked over what he had just read and felt an indescribable relief.

If he were to describe the feeling, it felt like when a slacker successfully graduated or when summer homework was completed earlier than expected.

Worrying about consequences weighed pretty heavily on his heart before this so it did not help that he was trying to run away from the problem. Once he became determined to face it and worked hard, the feeling of relief was intoxicating.

At this moment, he was extremely thankful for Zhao Xiaolu, the female academic genius.

If it was not for her, he might have gone on with his Slacker’s Disease and would not have developed the Academic Genius System.

“Are you still out of it? Class is over. Are you stunned? Do you want to eat before going home?”

Zhou Jie, Feng Hai, and the guys briskly cut Lin Yu’s train of thankful thoughts.

“No, I’m going to jog a few rounds on the field and go home after that.”

Lin Yu waved his hand as a signal for the guys to go ahead without him.

For some reason, Xu Zhaoyang did not come to class today, which was why there was no crowd in front of their classroom. Lin Yu packed his bag in his own sweet time and was the only one left in the classroom.

Lin Yu walked to the field while carrying his new black backpack—which was the same brand as the one he previously had.

The evening sky was a little yellowish, and the campus was quiet. The field was empty as well.

This was what Lin Yu wanted. He worried more as he got older. He might have been wary about jogging here as well if there was someone here.

Although he was done with the daily task of completing four Pomodoro Intervals, he had one last daily exercising task that he added to the system at the very last stage.

As Zhou Shuren had once said, a person’s body was his asset. It was important to exercise.

His upgrading abilities did not do anything for his body at all and as for the dark energy Xu Zhaoyang was showing off about, he had yet to feel it as well, let alone being able to use it to strengthen his physique.

Without a strong body, it would be hard to wield any powerful props that he might upgrade in the future. The Mechanical Charge Blade was an obvious example; although its weight was decreased through black technology, he could not wield it freely with his otaku physique. He needed to exercise daily to strengthen his physique.

[1] A contemporary saying that signals one’s dire financial situation.