CSGM - Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Developing Talent

There were only ten days left until the official premiere of Three Kingdoms.

The movie hadn't received much attention from netizens. It could even be said that most people had never even heard of this film starring young actors and new artists.

The predicted box office performance of Three Kingdoms was still uncertain, like a layer of gray fog shrouding the hearts of every staff member and lead actor.

Wasn't there some way to make their movie a household name overnight?

Sigh, getting famous was just too difficult!

Only the carefree Chu Xi, on the set of Jade-Carving Ballad, was single-mindedly thinking about wrapping up filming. Soon, she would finally be free from "wandering" with the crew.

Chu Xi finished a solo scene of a sword dance in a bamboo forest. As soon as the director yelled "cut," his eyes filled with appreciation. The cinematographer and the martial arts director applauded from the side.

The sword dance was as soft as a spring silkworm spinning silk, yet as firm as steel tempered a hundred times. It was a perfect blend of hardness and softness, flowing like clouds and water without losing its aesthetic appeal. Working with an actress with such strong professional skills was truly a pleasure!

Even the martial arts director had to admire Chu Xi's quick grasp; she was able to learn and apply the martial arts choreography so quickly.

Little did they know, this was because Chu Xi had already built a solid foundation after attending that six-month training camp.

The action scenes here were much easier than those on the Three Kingdoms set, where she had to wear dozens of pounds of armor while wielding a spear and riding a horse.

After more than two months, the initial dissatisfaction with Chu Xi within the crew—from when she was parachuted in as a mid-project replacement—had gradually faded as everyone got to know her. Now, the negative opinions most people had of her had almost completely disappeared.

After interacting with her, they realized this actress really wasn't as terrible as the rumors made her out to be.

In fact, after getting to know her a bit, they found her to be surprisingly nice!

She had professional skills when needed, adaptability on the spot when required, resourcefulness when necessary, and when it came to speaking tactfully... well, Producer Ren was there to keep her in line... ahem.

Everyone had actually discovered that although Chu Xi's words could be unpleasant at times—too blunt and jarring—Ren Zhi's presence was even more powerful.

Every time Teacher Ren spoke, Chu Xi would obediently listen and comply.

So this was the legendary "one thing conquers another."

During a break on set today, Chu Xi couldn't be intimate with Ren Zhi. To avoid suspicion, Ren Zhi didn't allow her to be too clingy in public, so she could only wander aimlessly around the set during the break.

While wandering about, she would sneak a few glances to see what Ren Zhi was doing. This was a common trick of hers.

Suddenly, she saw Wen Huixiang engrossed in work at a table.

Wen Huixiang was holding a pen, pressing down on a piece of paper, and scribbling something on it. From time to time, she would wear a thoughtful expression. Chu Xi glanced over and saw that the paper was covered in numbers.

Things like 1267758.3 (crossed out), 24188469... and so on.

This piqued Chu Xi's interest, and she went over to see what Wen Huixiang was calculating.

Wen Huixiang unlocked her phone, entered the string of numbers from the paper into the calculator, and quietly began to work through the formula she had written out...

Chu Xi's voice suddenly drifted over. "The result of the equation is 3466874.64."

Startled, Wen Huixiang looked up at her.

Chu Xi sat down and asked, "Sister Xiang, what are you calculating?"

Actually, she had already figured it out for the most part.

The numbers were all in the hundreds of thousands and millions, with a few smaller ones in the low hundred thousands. The multiplication was all by percentages, and there was very little division—the only divisor that appeared was "12."

Based on these patterns, it looked like she was calculating investment interest.

Sure enough, Wen Huixiang glanced around to see that not many people were nearby, covered her mouth, and whispered with a shy, delighted expression:

"I'm managing my investments, hehehehehe..."

Suddenly, Chu Xi heard the "ding" of the System connecting in her mind—

"Special environment detected. Issuing a limited-time mission: Host must teach the actress Wen Huixiang techniques for adding and subtracting large numbers within 72 hours and ensure she can apply them practically. Mission reward: one-time use of a 'System Mall Discount Coupon'!"

The next second, a timer appeared in her mind, visible at any time.

Mission countdown remaining: 71 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.

Seventy-two hours, three days, to teach Wen Huixiang how to add and subtract large numbers?

Although Chu Xi was a bit dissatisfied with this mission, at least it didn't require multiplication and division, so the System's demand wasn't too terrible.

Her dissatisfaction stemmed from the fact that while teaching was easy, sparking the target's desire to learn was more difficult.

Previously, she had always looked for opportunities to teach the right target artists. Now, with the System's limited-time mission, it felt a bit like being forced into a situation. She would have to quickly create the opportunity herself.

After receiving the mission, Chu Xi didn't immediately reveal her intentions to Wen Huixiang.

Instead, she spent 24 hours discussing investment tips with Wen Huixiang, subtly demonstrating the convenience of mental arithmetic when browsing the investment market.

Mission countdown remaining: 47 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds.

Seeing the longing, star-like sparkle in Wen Huixiang's eyes, Chu Xi smilingly extended an invitation to teach her.

She said that as long as Wen Huixiang was willing to learn, she could make her feel a qualitative change in her sensitivity to numbers in just two days.

Because Chu Xi's limited-time mission only had two days left.

During the breaks on set over the next two days, she spared no effort in teaching Wen Huixiang the techniques for mental addition and subtraction of large numbers.

In addition to a few common mathematical methods, she also incorporated some of her own insights.

Wen Huixiang mainly learned addition and subtraction of six, seven, and eight-digit numbers, which was directly related to the figures involved in her investments.

Wen Huixiang herself was enthusiastic about learning, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

Mission countdown remaining: 5 hours, 6 minutes, 22 seconds.

Just then, the System "dinged" again.

"Limited-time mission complete!"

"Congratulations, Host. The mission reward has been distributed!"

Chu Xi let out a breath and lifted her head from the table.

"Sister Xiang, that should be about enough. What you've learned is sufficient for your needs."

Wen Huixiang also nodded with a brilliant smile on her face.

"Yes, yes, yes! I feel much sharper now even when looking at the numbers on my bank card, hehehehe..."

She felt she could now make some investment forecasts without a calculator, which indeed improved the efficiency of her financial choices to a certain extent.

Chu Xi looked at her.

Name: Wen Huixiang.

IQ: 105.

Compared to two days ago, her IQ value had also increased a little.

Killing two birds with one stone, Chu Xi had also earned a bit of IQ this way.

Now, Chu Xi fell into thought as she looked at the "System Mall Discount Coupon" the System had rewarded her with.

【System Mall Discount Coupon: Use this coupon to receive a 40% discount on items worth 200 IQ or less. For items worth more than 200 IQ, the discount is 20%.】

Interesting.

200 IQ was the dividing line where the discount standard changed.

For 200 IQ and below, the maximum discount was '0.4 x 200,' which was 80 IQ points.

For 200 IQ and above, the upper limit of the maximum discount was still unknown.

But what was known was that to make the coupon worthwhile for the higher tier—that is, to get a discount exceeding 80 IQ points—the item purchased would need to have a minimum value of more than 400 points. Only then would it be more cost-effective than buying a 200 IQ item.

However, Chu Xi's current System Mall only had the 35 IQ 'Advanced Advancement Card,' the 100 IQ 'Expert Advancement Card,' and the 300 IQ 'Master Advancement Card.'

This was very interesting. There were no items worth exactly 200 IQ, nor were there any worth more than 400 IQ.

If she used the discount coupon to redeem an item now, the maximum discount she could get was 60 IQ points. Coincidentally, the amount saved would be the same whether she bought the 'Expert Advancement Card' or the 'Master Advancement Card.'

The only items she hadn't seen yet were those related to 'Other Talents,' and she didn't know their value yet either.

Perhaps the 'Other Talents' items that would be unlocked later would be worth 200 IQ or more than 400 IQ?

Nothing was certain.

It could only be said that this was an old trick used by most malls—

Buy early, enjoy early; buy late, enjoy a discount.

Faced with this problem, Chu Xi let out a soft laugh.

Sometimes, a choice didn't require too much thought.

She said, "I'm going to use the discount coupon to buy a 'Master Advancement Card' right now."

Waiting was out of the question. If you have money, spend it. 'A thousand gold coins scattered can be regained.' She would have plenty of opportunities to earn more IQ in the future.

Chu Xi still preferred to have the talent in her brain first.

After using the 20% discount coupon and spending 240 IQ to successfully purchase the 'Master Advancement Card,' her IQ pool balance was left with only 28 points.

Shopping could always make a person poor in an instant.

Days of accumulation were wiped out in an instant, back to square one.

But it didn't matter. The first 'Master Advancement Card' was now in Chu Xi's hands.

This meant she would soon have her first "Supreme" level talent.

It would be among the three talents that had already reached the 'Master' level: 'Reasoning Talent,' 'Spatial Talent,' and 'Memory Talent.'

The System was also eagerly awaiting her choice, asking, "Host, which dimensional talent do you wish to advance?"

Chu Xi: "Be quiet!"

The System muted itself: "............" So fierce.

Chu Xi was deep in thought.

It wasn't that she felt it would be difficult to earn back the IQ she had spent; rather, the choice itself was of utmost importance to her.

After all, she was a normal human with a mortal body. How could every aspect of her brain be at its zenith?

Her talents needed to have a focus. If she really developed all six dimensions to the "Supreme" level, the energy her brain required would be like a black hole. The energy stored in her entire body probably wouldn't be enough to sustain just her brain.

That was why when the System had told her last time that "in theory" she could max out all her talents, she had sneered, thinking the System was a cunning old schemer.

In reality, she had to consider the upper limit of energy her body could supply to her brain, and maintain a state where she was sharp but also comfortable. Of the six dimensional talents—Reasoning, Creativity, Spatial, Memory, Observation, and Calculation—she could at most develop two or three of them to the "Supreme" level.

Chu Xi agonized over it for a while.

The "Master" level was enough for her Memory Talent; this level already surpassed the top competitors in this world. Besides, if her memory were too good, it would become a burden, easily increasing the load on her brain.

So, it was best to stop here.

She didn't want to have to eat a hundred pieces of candy to provide energy every time she revisited her vast Memory Palace.

That left "Reasoning Talent" and "Spatial Talent." Chu Xi hesitated between these two, both of which she favored.

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