Teach You a Lesson

"What? The leader wants to see me? Asking for my opinion?"

Lin Mo sat in his room, playing a game while chatting with Oriental Leaf.

"Yep, Director Long told me to tell you. It's a secret mission. No one else knows about it."

"Why does he want to see me though? What if..."

Lin Mo had his own concerns. After all, if the Ancestral Dragon's feedback color turned out to be... what then?

Oriental Leaf naturally understood what Lin Mo meant.

He said bluntly, "Director Long also asked me to convey this: if you go, you'll be able to confirm a few things as well."

That was true.

After all, this leader had just taken office this year.

If Lin Mo could get a clear reading, then taking a look would be a good thing.

Lin Mo stroked his chin.

In just over a year, he'd be meeting a top leader?

Didn't that mean the position of "ball chief" was practically his?

Still, Lin Mo figured it might be worth meeting them. If their aura was bright red, then he could entrust his back to them.

Sure, he seemed like a lone wolf, but there was that family with three women, his little apprentice, and even his classmates at school.

These were the bonds tying him down.

As long as he lived in this world, these bonds probably couldn't be cut in these few years.

"Alright, I'll go see him. But if—"

"Whoa, whoa, don't tell me! I don't want to know! I'll just go tell the director you agreed. She said she'll come pick you up tonight if you said yes."

With that, Oriental Leaf plugged his ears and walked off.

His current job was as a network administrator at the training base.

Basically, it meant fixing computers and networks. Strictly speaking, he was pretty much like a cybercafé tech support guy.

Lin Mo had been pretty free since coming back. He'd set aside the matter of Cai Junhuang for now.

After all, that guy was clearly planning something long-term.

Over here, Lin Mo made his way back to the math floor of the training base.

There were still plenty of students there, all buried in their calculations.

Competitions banned the use of calculators, so everything had to be done by hand.

Lin Mo walked past without disturbing them.

Li Tong, who had clashed with Lin Mo before, was also writing furiously.

Today, Qi Ming wasn't playing games. Instead, he was reading a book. Lin Mo walked over and saw the title clearly: Housekeeper Oral History.

That title sure sounded intriguing.

Lin Mo swept his spiritual sense over the content.

Sure enough, it was a housekeeper's oral account of clever tips for cleaning an entire house.

Then Lin Mo glanced at the stack of books piled up nearby.

Decoding the Double Color Ball, 3D Lottery Winning Tactics, Lottery Winning in Just a Few Moves, Blackjack Ultimate Strategy.

It seemed Teacher Qi was quite a learned fellow—though maybe a bit financially strapped too.

Sensing someone approaching, Qi Ming put down his book and looked up to see Lin Mo, who had a strange expression on his face.

"Lin Mo, here to pick up some new problems?"

"Nope, just dropping by. Teacher Qi, I didn't expect you to read books like these."

Lin Mo was straightforward.

"Oh, well, I live alone, so I have to handle the cleaning myself. But I always find it such a hassle, so I thought I'd read up on some methods that are both physically efficient and not too tiring."

That was very typical of a top student—before doing anything, they'd search for detailed instructions.

Many top students would even read the entire instruction manual for medication before taking it, just to check the contraindications.

"And these..." Lin Mo pointed vaguely at the lottery books.

"Oh, those. I saw they were published, so I started studying their mathematical models. And about that blackjack—there's a movie about a mathematician who goes to a casino and plays blackjack entirely by calculation, right? I'm learning that too, so I can use it if I go to Macau someday."

Qi Ming's expression was serious.

He seemed genuinely intent on making a trip to Macau.

Just then, Teacher Bai walked over, holding a new notebook.

"I saw you come in just now. Some of us compiled problems we thought were really tough—try them out first."

Lin Mo took the practice book and flipped it open. The problems were all extremely complex.

"Having you teachers come up with these problems must be quite the challenge," Lin Mo said with a resigned shake of his head.

For ordinary people, a single problem like this could take one or two hours—or even longer.

Even Tong Dong would probably waste a lot of time.

"These problems are all within the contest's scope. In competition, there won't technically be unsolvable problems, so no matter how hard we make them, we keep them within bounds."

Teacher Bai patted Lin Mo lightly on the shoulder. "You're a promising talent. How about coming to Tsinghua in the future? I know plenty of math big shots there, and they..."

Before Teacher Bai could finish, Lin Mo had already executed a tactical retreat.

He really had no plans to go to Tsinghua.

Clutching the practice book, he went to the classroom to find Tong Dong.

Tong Dong's dorm was already full—all big Shandong guys, each a head taller than him.

That made Tong Dong look tiny in comparison.

But everything was fine. No disharmony had occurred.

The three big guys actually took good care of Tong Dong, though they kept trying to get him to eat raw garlic.

Tong Dong couldn't handle that stuff—he said it was too spicy.

It wasn't until evening, after dinner, that Lin Mo received a message from Long Tianqi.

"Come downstairs!"

Long Tianqi sure didn't sugarcoat his texts.

Lin Mo took the elevator down.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw a man standing at the entrance, staring right at him.

It was Qin Suishou. Lin Mo had observed him with his spiritual sense before—he was assigned to keep an eye on Lin Mo.

Not that it mattered much. The guy had never spoken to Lin Mo, but he rarely stared so openly either.

So Lin Mo couldn't help but ask, "Never seen a good-looking guy from eastern Guangdong before?"

This caught Qin Suishou off guard, and his expression darkened.

"I hope you know your place. Beijing isn't a place where you can do whatever you want—"

Before Qin Suishou could finish, Lin Mo walked over and raised his hand to pat him on the shoulder.

Qin Suishou reacted, of course, but when he tried to raise his arms to block, he found he couldn't move them at all.

All he could do was watch helplessly as Lin Mo's hand landed on his shoulder.

A surge of energy flowed through his body.

"Consider this a lesson. Don't let yourself be used as a pawn."

With that, Lin Mo turned and walked away.

Qin Suishou stood rooted to the spot.

He wanted to step forward and land a heavy blow on Lin Mo, but then he realized—his abilities had completely stalled.

It was as if he had become an ordinary person.

Had his abilities been sealed?

Qin Suishou looked at Lin Mo's retreating figure, and a chill of fear rose in his heart.

"Hey! What are you staring at?"

A hand landed on his shoulder, startling him.

He turned his head to find Oriental Leaf standing right behind him.

"When did you get here!" Qin Suishou couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Right when Lin Mo patted your shoulder," Oriental Leaf said. For some reason, he could see genuine fear on Qin Suishou's face.