Chapter 76

In the following days, Yu Xiaoli discovered that Zhai Da was a bit different.

He was working harder.

It wasn't that he wasn't working hard before... but he had taken a step further.

He got up an hour earlier than usual in the morning, and he held his notebook while eating. One day, when she got up at two o'clock in the morning, there was still light in Zhai Da's room, though she didn't know if it was one person or two.

However, she didn't interfere with Zhai Da; she just silently increased the nutrition of his daily meals, rotating chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and fresh fruit was always on the table.

Her mindset was a bit like that of a programmer in later generations.

If a program is running, and you don't know why... then you'd better not mess with it.

Zhai Da's progress was achieved through his own hard work, at most with the addition of Lu Wei's efforts; it was best for her, as a mother, not to cause trouble.

She just went to work at the factory every day, smiling like the Maitreya Buddha.

On the way to school, Zhai Da played with an ordinary coin with one hand.

This was his only time to relax... just messing around.

The coin flipped and moved rapidly between the gaps of his fingers on the back of his hand, as if it had a life of its own.

From left to right, from right to left.

The eyes of the people walking to school nearby were fixed on him.

Seeing a boy who looked like a junior student staring with wide eyes, Zhai Da smiled at him.

With a flick of his wrist, the coin flew up, and when it fell, he grabbed it in his hand.

He stretched out both hands: "Which hand is it in?"

The junior student pointed at the right hand hesitantly, having just seen with his own eyes that the right hand had grabbed it.

Zhai Da opened his right hand; it wasn't there.

He opened his left hand; it wasn't there either.

The junior student was stunned.

Zhai Da let him cup his hands together.

Then he showed his clean hands again, placed his palms above the student's, and rubbed them continuously.

Coins... coins fell down one by one, like rain.

The junior student was dumbfounded.

Subconsciously, he started clapping...

He didn't know why either... but it was as if someone was whispering in his ear: There should be applause here!

Even the other few students who had stopped earlier started clapping.

Amidst the applause, Zhai Da took back all the coins, threw them up like a long dragon, then grabbed them in mid-air and turned to leave.

When he opened his hand again, there was only one coin left in his palm, continuing to flip and move on his knuckles.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that the [Set Effect] was great...

Although "Dexterous Hands" was an effect that was hard to quantify, from his own physical sensation...

It was quite invigorating!

It even smoothed out the difference in dexterity between his left and right hands... both his hands were now "dominant hands."

Precise, flexible, and fast.

To be honest, even his handwriting was better than before because his control over his hands had become stronger.

None of the bonuses brought by the [Magic Regalia] were as important as this one.

You have to know, the most important organs for humans are the brain and the hands; this is the greatest reliance for humans to stand at the top of the natural world.

The benefits he gained were by no means just that his magic tricks were smoother.

Compared to this, the other two set effects, "Mr. Magic" (magic props won't fail or reveal flaws) and "Center Stage" (easier to get applause), basically only acted on the magic performance itself, so they didn't matter as much...

This gave Zhai Da a reminder: don't look down on a [Set] just because its "category" is niche; who knows, there might be surprises!

For example... maybe there's a [Manga Boy] set that could give a boost to manga creation?

Or perhaps a [Beast Tamer] set—are humans not beasts too?

Isn't that very reasonable?

With a beautiful longing for "sets," Zhai Da arrived at the overpass he passed every day on his way to school. Subconsciously, he looked at the side of the road, but he didn't see the familiar Mercedes S350; Lu Siwen would wait for him with high frequency.

But when he walked onto the overpass, he saw Lu Siwen and a man leaning against the edge of the railing. Lu Siwen was very close to him, and they seemed to have a close relationship.

"Classmate Zhai! Morning!"

Zhai Da looked at the other person curiously, and only when the other party turned around did he realize the person's identity.

The man pushed up his glasses and took the initiative to extend a hand.

"Hello, Classmate Zhai, I am Lu Siwen's father, Lu Zetao."

Zhai Da was a bit surprised, thinking to himself, I haven't done anything to your daughter; are you blocking me on the way to school?

I only used Lu Siwen's pen...

Lu Zetao smiled: "Don't be nervous, I'm just dropping Siwen off at school."

Although this person looked to be in his forties, his physique, clothing, and height didn't have any signs of aging. Just now, looking at his back, he would have thought he was in his early twenties.

Moreover, his appearance was very handsome, even giving a feeling of "Lu Yi." Time had left marks but hadn't destroyed his overly excellent foundation, and he hadn't even gained weight.

When he was young, he must have been absolutely successful in deceiving girls, Zhai Da couldn't help but think...

It seems that Lu Siwen's beauty is mostly due to her father's genes. Although Qian Yarong is also good, she is much worse than Lu Zetao.

Of course, besides being handsome, he was a little bit greasy... not the middle-aged greasy kind, but a residual state of the "handsome guy" from the previous era.

A kind of deliberate "gentleness and elegance."

"She always mentions to me that this overpass can give people inspiration, so we climbed up together to take a look."

"Looking for inspiration?"

Lu Zetao smiled and pointed at himself: "Because, for the time being, your uncle can be considered a writer."

Although he added "for the time being," Lu Zetao's eyes were full of pride and seriousness, as if he expected Zhai Da to be shocked!

Zhai Da: ??

He turned to look at Lu Siwen; this girl had never mentioned this, even when they usually exchanged writing experiences.

But in fact, the situation might be a little different from what Zhai Da thought...

In a broad sense, Lu Zetao could be considered a "writer," a member of the Writers Association, and he was also a significant figure in the provincial writers association, having published several physical books...

But in a narrow sense, those were all self-published...

How was his level... it was probably to the extent that even Lu Siwen was embarrassed to praise it.

But he was rich, and even if he was only occasionally generous, the provincial writers association, a clean and poor government office, could be overjoyed, so naturally, he was a significant figure...

Of course, part of the reason was that Lu Siwen's grandfather also had some accumulation in the writer circle.

However, Lu Zetao really liked writing and considered himself a writer.

He probably had some cognitive impairment, just like some people might appear to be a black male on the surface, but actually consider themselves a white female who is homosexual and has racial discrimination.

On the surface, Lu Zetao was a boss with a successful career and a happy family, but in reality, he considered himself a "writer" whose works were just not understood by the world.

However, before reading Lu Zetao's masterpiece, Zhai Da couldn't figure out the situation of this person, so he just maintained the basic etiquette for a classmate's parent.

He always felt that meeting Lu Zetao today was intentional on Lu Siwen's part, but he couldn't guess why.

Until he heard Lu Zetao say:

"I also saw your 'Street Lamp and Wine' when I was browsing blogs. It was written very well. It wasn't until Siwen let it slip later that I knew it was written by her classmate."

Zhai Da was polite: "Just wrote it casually..."

He thought to himself, and then what... please hurry up, I still have to study!

Lu Zetao looked at Lu Siwen dotingly:

"I heard from Siwen that you are writing a long novel? She said that without your permission, she shouldn't show it to others, so I'm waiting here today to see if I can get your consent. Your uncle is very curious."

"If it's suitable, perhaps I can recommend it to a few publishers I'm familiar with."