CSGM - Chapter 144
Chapter 144: Street Go
Based on the advancement cards Chu Xi had already redeemed, the System Mall had now added new items related to "Other Talents."
The System simply said, "Host, the items for 'Other Talents' will refresh daily. You may choose to redeem them according to your needs!"
What Chu Xi saw in the redemption mall today was—
Item Name: Advanced Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 35 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Advanced" talent to "Expert".
Item Name: Expert Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 100 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Expert" talent to "Master".
Item Name: Master Advancement Card
Redemption Cost: 300 IQ.
Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Master" talent to "Supreme".
Item Name: "Mastery of Board Games"
Redemption Cost: 150 IQ.
Description: Use this item to activate the host's "Mastery of Board Games" talent.
Host's IQ Pool Balance: 210.
Chu Xi asked, "Mastery of Board Games? There are no levels for this one?"
The System replied, "That is correct, Host. Other Talents do not require level progression."
It seemed that "Other Talents" were just the icing on the cake, separate from the six-dimensional intelligence talents and the vision and hearing talents.
Chu Xi then asked about the "daily refresh" the System had mentioned.
"Will their prices change?"
The System replied, "The redemption price for items with the same name will not change, but the names of the items will change randomly."
Chu Xi: "Got it. You may go."
In other words, the last "Other Talents" item in the System Mall was like a vegetable rack with a random daily stock.
Today it was selling cabbage, tomorrow it might be radishes, and the day after, perhaps tofu.
Each vegetable would have its own fixed price, and they would appear randomly.
She decided to pass on today's "Mastery of Board Games." She had no need for this item at all.
Chu Xi was completely uninterested in today's mall.
After midnight, she summoned the System again.
The fourth item had indeed refreshed. Chu Xi no longer saw "Mastery of Board Games." In its place was—
Item Name: "Mastery of Lip-Reading"
Redemption Cost: 200 IQ.
Description: Use this item to activate the host's "Mastery of Lip-Reading" talent.
Oh? Lip-reading?
This skill, on the other hand, piqued her interest. After a moment's thought, she realized she could afford it and decisively spent the tuition fees she had recently accumulated.
System: "Redemption successful! Host's IQ Pool Balance: 10."
New information subsequently appeared on her personal panel.
"Other Talents: Mastery of Lip-Reading."
Another two weeks later, the third recording session for Idol Training Camp concluded.
Lately, drawn in by the allure of "Other Talents," Chu Xi had rekindled some of her enthusiasm for teaching students.
After class, she no longer bolted like she was in an earthquake drill. Instead, she showed a bit more patience, staying behind to answer the trainees' questions.
This place was even better than the Three Kingdoms training camp. Here, she could rake in IQ points without having to suffer through morning runs.
After some time, Chu Xi redeemed another new item from the System Mall—
Item Name: "Proprioception Enhancement Card"
Redemption Cost: 220 IQ.
Description: Use this item to grant the host a powerful "proprioception" ability.
It was more expensive than lip-reading, but there was a reason for the price.
Proprioception, also known as the deep sense, is a part of the brain's intelligence. It's just rarely mentioned because it's not commonly used or seen.
Many of the body's movements and changes rely on the brain's control; the brain is responsible for receiving, familiarizing, and reacting. When the body stores visual information in the brain, turning it into proprioceptive memory, and then executes higher-level motor organization and planning, this process is called proprioception.
It is further divided into position sense, movement sense, and vibration sense.
For example, if Chu Xi had redeemed this talent earlier, she would have been even more in her element while filming the blindfolded scenes for Jade-Carving Ballad.
This was because all the directional distributions and positional details of the objects on set had already been stored in her brain through her retinas.
With powerful proprioception, she wouldn't have easily tripped over obstacles on set, even with a blindfold on.
System: "Redemption successful! Host's IQ Pool Balance: 36."
The two hundred-plus IQ points she had earned were almost all spent again.
And under Chu Xi's "Other Talents," a new skill was added—
"Other Talents: Mastery of Lip-Reading, Proprioception."
Perhaps boosted by the enhancement of her proprioception talent, Chu Xi's performance in bed became increasingly better.
She grew more and more capable of making the correct corresponding postural adjustments in response to Ren Zhi's reactions. One night, Ren Zhi was thoroughly satisfied, nibbling on her ear and sweetly calling her "baby" several times.
"Xiao Xi, you're getting better and better, my baby..."
Chu Xi's damp ear flushed red with embarrassment, yet her heart swelled with immense satisfaction and pride.
Chu Xi hadn't been peacefully accompanying her baby and moonlighting as a teacher at Idol Training Camp for many days before she received an urgent call for help.
The show Our Restaurant was currently live-streaming its second season, and the Director, helpless and frantic, sent Chu Xi a flying guest invitation.
The reason was quite comical: the permanent cast members for this season of Our Restaurant were just a bit too incompetent.
After operating the restaurant for over twenty days, their funds had become severely insufficient, and they were on the verge of having to disband.
The Director of Our Restaurant was sighing heavily when he called Chu Xi.
"If only they were half as smart as you! Now I don't even dare to make the game segments too difficult, for fear that their restaurant won't be able to open tomorrow!"
"Although I threatened them that they'd have to disband on the spot if they ran out of money, if they really do disband, where am I going to find enough content for the remaining ten-plus days of live broadcast?!"
"Are you busy? Could you come be a flying guest for a day? Just think of it as me adding a support guest for them. I can't just openly cheat and give them funds, can I?"
It just so happened that Chu Xi had no class the next day. Ren Zhi, who was beside her, suggested, "You should go. Just consider it doing someone a favor."
The Director of Our Restaurant heard her voice.
"Huh... Ren Zhi? Zhizhi, are you two together again?"
Ren Zhi chuckled and chatted with the Director.
"Yes. When are you planning to have her come over? She's free tomorrow."
The Director tutted twice, his voice tinged with envy over the speakerphone.
"Does she only listen to you? I noticed that a long time ago. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were her boss. Chu Xi, if it's convenient, just come over tomorrow. Thanks for this!"
Out of consideration for their friendship from last year, Chu Xi agreed to be a flying guest on Our Restaurant to help with the emergency.
The next day, she rushed from the airport to the live set of Our Restaurant. The familiar RV gave her a sense of time rewinding.
However, this nostalgic feeling was quickly shattered by the five new faces that emerged from the restaurant.
The only one she had a vague acquaintance with was this year's fringe restaurant chef, Fan Yuzhe.
—This was the young actor who was filming for the Vanguard of Major Cases crew last year, whom she had scared three times, from the barbecue stall to the hotel corridor.
When Fan Yuzhe saw her, he was incredibly excited. He ran up, wanting to give her a hug. "Teacher Chu Xi—"
But Chu Xi took a step back and dodged him with a look of disdain. "Stop. No need to be so enthusiastic."
Seeing that today's flying guest was actually Chu Xi, the remaining four permanent cast members also came over to greet her one by one, but their feelings were mixed.
Some felt ashamed that their restaurant's performance this year was so poor that they needed a guest from last year to bail them out. Others thought it was a good thing; the show's popularity would surely double today! This was Chu Xi! The newly minted top-tier star among female celebrities. She had been soaring in popularity these days!
Someone couldn't help but think, it's really not easy. For Chu Xi to be this famous and still be willing to come back and make an appearance on a small live variety show from her past was quite rare.
Of course, all these miscellaneous thoughts were soon overshadowed by the single predicament before them—
Today's restaurant funds, after paying for yesterday's tent rental, had been completely wiped out!
Chu Xi picked up their account book and raised an eyebrow.
"Wiped out? You're all being too modest."
She beckoned to the cameraman with her finger. The camera moved closer, and she held the bill up to the lens.
The live-stream chat, which was exceptionally lively today, immediately erupted in laughter.
【Hahahahahahaha, Xixi, it's been a year, and you've learned sarcasm!】
【How is that wiped out? Brothers and sisters, you still owe the production team three hundred yuan!】
【Sob sob sob sob, I finally get to see Xixi on this show again!! Who understands my excitement!!!!】
【I get you!!! Last year I didn't appreciate our dear Xi, treating her like a weed! Ahhhhhhh—Our Restaurant has its soul back today!】
The tables had turned. One could only say that the ways of the world were truly lamentable.
Last year, when Chu Xi stood here, she was a disliked, fringe nobody.
This year, she returned as a flying guest, and this season's cast members voluntarily gave her the center position. They spoke to her politely, knowing she was a top-tier star now.
For some reason, seeing Chu Xi standing here being treated with such respect, the Director sat behind the camera today with a particularly happy smile on his face.
Perhaps it was because the gold he had his eye on had finally begun to shine.
After a brief discussion with this season's five members, Chu Xi raised her head and looked toward the Director.
"Director, we're out of money. Aren't you going to give us another side job selling wine?"
After all, last year when all the members were broke, the restaurant's initial capital was earned by selling the sponsor's red wine.
The Director immediately wiped the wide, happy grin off his face.
"Impossible! The production team has no more side jobs for you. Please figure out how to earn today's funds yourselves."
Today's live broadcast was taking place in the downtown area of a major city. All the jobs in the shops were planned out; they couldn't even find a day-labor brick-moving job to sell their labor.
One of the members frowned under the sun, looking troubled.
"Director, you're being too unreasonable..."
Chu Xi glanced at her and teased, "Is this the first day you've known him?"
The Director: "Hmph."
Fan Yuzhe asked, "Then what do we do if we can't earn any money?"
He muttered to himself, "We don't even have money to buy ingredients today, my god..."
The Director threatened, "If you don't have any, this season of Our Restaurant will disband on the spot!"
As the members' sense of urgency kicked in, the show's entertainment value went up.
Chu Xi chuckled, seeing through the Director's routine but not exposing it. She returned the bill to the restaurant's treasurer and looked toward the main road behind them.
"Let's go. Isn't there a Times Square out here? Let's go look for some opportunities first."
The six of them arrived at the dazzling and decadent Times Square in the city center. Crowds bustled beneath the towering silver shopping mall. Photos of various major brands hung on the building's exterior, vying for attention like competing beauties. Above the main entrance was a large rectangular LED screen, which happened to be playing Chu Xi's endorsement advertisement.
Fan Yuzhe sighed with emotion, looking up and offering a sincere compliment, "Teacher Chu Xi, we all have to look up to you here."
A slightly embarrassed Chu Xi said, "...Shut up."
A member pointed at the shopping mall and asked, "Should we go in? There are usually a lot of shoppers inside this building."
Chu Xi now understood why they had managed to run the restaurant into a deficit.
So foolish. The more formal a place is, the harder it is to earn extra cash. Don't they even understand that?
She said, "We're not going in. There aren't many opportunities inside. Let's look around outside."
Outside, on the other hand, there were scattered small stalls everywhere, like carts selling handmade goods, people selling balloons on the spot... and passersby of all shapes and sizes. These were the hidden opportunities to strike gold.
Chu Xi saw that two of the members were looking worried and downcast, while another was sighing with anxiety.
She smiled nonchalantly. "Don't worry. Now that I'm here, could I really let you disband on the spot? Look, isn't that an opportunity right there—"
Chu Xi felt her luck was pretty good today; she had actually encountered a stall that was "giving away money."
A crowd of onlookers was gathered by the roadside. In the center of the crowd, a middle-aged man and a young woman sat on small stools, with a Go table between them.
The two were playing a match, watched by dozens of people. At the edge of the outer crowd stood a sign with words written on it. Some people were pointing at the sign and laughing—
【Street Go, Challenge Sign.】
It said that the stall owner was a Go enthusiast who had set up the stall seeking challengers. The entry fee for each game was 50 yuan, and winning a game would earn a prize of 500 yuan.
The number of challenges was unlimited.
A one-to-ten payout ratio. Good heavens.
And he dared to write "number of challenges unlimited." It seemed the stall owner was highly skilled and bold. A member immediately went over, squeezed through the crowd, and went up to check the situation.
Two minutes later, he squeezed back out, looking both nervous and excited. "I heard the stall owner has already won several thousand yuan this morning and hasn't lost a single game!"
Hiss—
What the permanent members heard was: hasn't lost a single game.
What Chu Xi heard was: he has several thousand yuan.
She turned her head and immediately commanded Fan Yuzhe, "Go, get me in line."
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