Problems are like candied haws. When you solve one, there’s another one.

Lin Chaoxi took a bite, licked the candy on his fingers, and said to Bao Xiaomeng, "This is it."

They were standing on the old street near Yongchuan Middle School, and in front of them was an old bookstore. But rather than calling it a bookstore, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a waste recycling station.

The storefront is filled with old books. The wind blows through the pages, stirring up ripples and dust. The store is very dark, and filled with crooked bookshelves.

Lin Chaoxi chose to buy books here instead of Xinhua Bookstore because the owner had written a sign at the door saying "All 5 Yuan".

"It seems like there's a lot to cover in junior high school, but there's actually not too many difficult things. Math, physics, and chemistry are all basics, and you'll definitely be able to learn them with your abilities." Lin Chaoxi took out two books, flipped through them, and handed them to Bao Xiaomeng.

"How do you know that I can definitely learn it? I haven't even passed the exam..."

“The word ‘learn’ refers to understanding. Junior high school knowledge is very basic. As long as you can truly understand what those formulas and theorems are saying, it is not difficult to get a passing score.”

"Okay!" Bao Xiaomeng nodded.

“But my English is also very poor.”

"This is the easiest." Lin Zhaoxi pulled a book from the bookshelf, "Just memorize it."

It was a copy of New Concept English, Volume 3.

Whether in the past or now, when English masters share their learning experiences, there are generally only two points: 1. Memorize a dictionary, 2. Memorize New Concept English.

Many people know that memorizing New Concept English can greatly improve their English proficiency, but very few people actually memorize it from beginning to end.

"Have you...finished reciting?" Bao Xiaomeng stuttered.

"Um."

"Have you finished reciting it?"

"No." Lin Chaoxi was very honest.

Bao Xiaomeng's face drooped, and after a while, she said, "Then I'll try."

Lin Chaoxi was very happy. Someone who could say "I'll try" was much better than someone who said "I can't" at the beginning: "Boss, do you have this tape?" She pointed at the book in Bao Xiaomeng's hand and shouted to the boss.

——

What is always lacking is money, and what is always insufficient is time. This is also true for Lin Chaoxi and Bao Xiaomeng.

Junior high school students didn’t have much pocket money in those days, and their training team provided food and accommodation, so before she left, Lao Lin gave her 1,000 yuan and was done with it.

She had previously charged 500 yuan to her internet card in order to use the internet at the library. After buying the tutoring kit for Bao Xiaomeng, she only had 415 yuan left in her pocket money. The library required one card per person, which also allowed facial recognition, so this card could not be used by Bao Xiaomeng.

When she was out of money, she could of course call Lao Lin for help, but Lao Lin would definitely come in person to give her money. If she met Lu Zhihao or Chen Chengcheng, Lao Lin would definitely know her current situation.

She couldn't tell Lao Lin what she was doing, for fear of having to lie to him. She was even more afraid that Lao Lin would comfort her after he knew that her grades were not as good as before.

Therefore, as long as she could hold on, she would not speak to Lao Lin.

"I can only give you one hour a day. I will spend half an hour teaching you the basics of the subject and half an hour explaining the subject. The rest you have to learn on your own."

After a happy and relaxing day, Lin Chaoxi returned to his daily routine of getting up at 5 o'clock.

It was daybreak. Bao Xiaomeng was rubbing her eyes on the bed while Lin Chaoxi put twenty yuan in change on the table.

"Is it for me?" Bao Xiaomeng grumbled and got up.

"Yes."

"Just eating, I don't need that much in a day..."

"It's not for you to eat. Didn't we agree yesterday that you would go online to self-study the junior high school basic course? It costs three yuan per hour to go online. If you study for six hours, it will cost 18 yuan. The remaining two yuan is for breakfast and lunch. I will bring you dinner!"

"With that two yuan, I can buy two big steamed buns, which is enough for dinner!"

Lin Chaoxi rubbed her head: "No, how can my baby not eat enough!"

Bao Xiaomeng blushed instantly. Looking at the cute little girl, Lin Chaoxi ran out of the garage dragging his schoolbag.

The morning light was dim, and at around five in the morning, the sun was already shining brightly, foreshadowing that today would be another hot day.

Her cohabitation life with Bao Xiaomeng also began.

——

Lin Chaoxi had calculated before that if Bao Xiaomeng spent 20 yuan a day, her money would last her 20 days, which was almost enough for Bao Xiaomeng to complete the basic knowledge of junior high school.

Therefore, as long as she saves half of her three meals a day, she can survive with Bao Xiaomeng. Eating less can be regarded as losing weight.

The problem is...

Dreams are beautiful, but reality is hungry.

She bought an extra steamed bun for breakfast, and after lunch, she wanted to eat roasted chicken legs.

But when she thought about the fact that the training team only gave them 10 yuan a day in food allowance, a chicken leg cost 4 yuan, and she had to have dinner with Bao Xiaomeng in the evening, she couldn't bear to spend it.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, Lin Chaoxi took his lunch box back to their small garage. Bao Xiaomeng was reading a book at the small table in the room. The small electric fan was whirring, but she was still sweating profusely.

Lin Chaoxi opened the lunch box and pushed it in front of Bao Xiaomeng.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Eat it, this is for you."

"I think..."

"What?" Lin Zhaoxi looked up at her.

"Have you read the stories of Bao Gong? You are a bit like Qin Xianglian in the story, who starved herself to support her lover in the imperial examination..."

Lin Chaoxi dropped the chopsticks he was using to pick up some vegetables. "What kind of analogy is that? I take back what I said about your Chinese being okay!"

She felt something was wrong and then angrily shouted, "And I'm your boyfriend!"

——

Lin Chaoxi may be motivating Bao Xiaomeng, but in fact, Bao Xiaomeng is also motivating her.

It was still the hottest time of the year, and even with the electric fan on in the classroom at noon, it was still so hot that it was a bit hard to breathe.

There was a book called "Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics" on the desk. Lin Chaoxi did not feel as impatient as he did when he first read it.

The last time she read this book, the version on Lao Lin's list was borrowed by someone else, so she couldn't concentrate while reading it. It was as if she had no confidence to finish reading the book without Lao Lin's guidance.

But now, thinking about the little girl in the broken garage who was even more helpless than her, she suddenly gained confidence.

She took a tissue and wiped the sweat off her arms. The moment she opened the book, Lin Zhaoxi inexplicably felt that the answer she was looking for might be hidden in this book.

——

The days progressed like a snowball.

Although the food is not very good, living with Bao Xiaomeng is still very interesting.

Summer rainstorms often come suddenly, and it is rare for Lin Chaoxi to experience a leaking house again.

The first time she came to the garage, she wondered why the ground was wet. Now, as it rained heavily outside and a drop of rain fell on her forehead, she finally found the reason.

Bao Xiaomeng jumped up to move the table, and Lin Chaoxi looked up to observe the location of the leak.

The place they lived in was too small, with only the bed area not leaking, and moving the table didn't seem to solve the problem.

At this moment, there was a flash of lightning outside the house, thunder roared, the light bulb flickered for a moment, and then went out.

It is normal for power to jump after being struck by lightning, but Lin Chaoxi and Bao Xiaomeng were standing face to face at the time and were unable to react for a while.

There was another bolt of lightning outside the window, illuminating their faces as they looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What should we do?" Bao Xiaomeng asked.

"It looks like there are frequent power outages here. Can you go ask Auntie if she has any candles?"

"good."

With the help of the street lamps and the dim light, Bao Xiaomeng groped her way to the next door. When she came back, she was holding a candle and a lighter in her hands.

On the dry place on the table, Lin Chaoxi lit the candle and placed it upright. When he turned around, Bao Xiaomeng actually brought a small mirror and placed it opposite the candle.

Lin Zhaoxi was shocked.

"Didn't the textbook say that this is how Beethoven saved his mother when he was a child?" Bao Xiaomeng saw that she was stunned and explained to her.

"That's Edison..." Lin Zhaoxi thought for a moment and said, "Besides, the light from the kerosene lamp, no matter how much it is refracted, is not enough for surgery."

——

The conditions in the rental house were harsh, but for Lin Chaoxi, having a place to sit down and read at night was actually much better than the dormitory toilet.

At 9 o'clock in the evening, she would leave the classroom, sign in at the dormitory building, and then sneak out to the rental house to find Bao Xiaomeng.

The school was very safe. There were all kinds of stalls along the long road outside the school gate. She always ran quickly through this tiring road, breathing in the aroma of various foods.

Sometimes when she was extremely hungry at night, she and Bao Xiaomeng would borrow the stove from her aunt to cook some noodles.

A handful of dry noodles for 2 yuan can last for a whole week. Add some oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar to make it very delicious.

She flipped through a book and took a few puffs of noodles. The mosquito coils in the room were very thick. There was a large patch of eczema on her elbow, which might be due to the hot summer or the long-term contact of her hands with the table. In any case, it was red and swollen. She had to pinch it every time she wrote a few words, and it was still itchy even if the skin was broken.

"Or I'd better tie your hands." Bao Xiaomeng put down the pencil and went straight to find the rope.

"No, no, I'm doing my homework." Lin Chaoxi wrote a "p" on his exercise book.

This is a common question for doctors to diagnose diseases. According to her normal speed of answering questions, she should be able to write it down immediately.

But now, she has already finished half of the exercise book in front of her. From mechanically solving problems with formulas to now, she has a deeper understanding of some problems that she thought she already understood.

For example, there is a philosophy behind Bayes' formula.

It may not be appropriate to say this, but she spent four years in college learning this and can't help but use it to analyze things.

According to classical probability theory, based on a large number of experimental observations, it can be inferred that the probability of landing on the front side when tossing a coin is 50%.

This is an objective result.

But the Bayesian school believes that probability is not objective, but actually subjective.

You don't need objective evidence; you can just generate an estimate and then revise it through actual observation.

In order to predict car accidents, her previous framework plan was to divide the map of Anning City into many small grids, calculate the probability table of small car accidents in each small grid based on previous statistical results, and then analyze Lao Lin’s daily behavior habits to infer where Lao Lin was most likely to have a car accident that day.

But using Bayesian reasoning, she can value each grid, observe the traffic conditions of the day, and combine Lao Lin’s route of action to continuously correct the probability map and obtain the time and place where Lao Lin is most likely to encounter a traffic accident.

The mosquito coil at his feet was burning with a little red flame, and Lin Chaoxi took a deep breath.