Chapter 26 Strategy: Day Twenty-Six - Bai Jiangxin, are you crazy...?
The old man's doubts were not unfounded, because when Bai Jiangxin first started school, he developed a dislike for school and didn't want to go because he kept hearing the thoughts of his classmates.
Even her parents couldn't understand it, but thankfully her grandfather knew why.
There's nothing we can do about it; toddlers these days are naturally talkative and their thoughts run wild. The older generation has traditional views and believes that people must go to school, and that if a teacher comes to their home to tutor, the child will only become more withdrawn.
Fortunately, we live in a peaceful era, and there aren't so many situations where people have no choice in what they do. So the old man told the school teacher that his grandson was precious, rather introverted, and very clean. He wouldn't use things that others had used or eat, so he asked the teacher to take good care of him.
The old man often lamented that in his time, everyone valued collectivism. People couldn't live apart from the masses, and they had to follow the crowd in everything they did. Now, times have changed. Young people are increasingly reluctant to socialize, unwilling to make friends, unwilling to fall in love, and unwilling to let others intrude into their private little world. Even though they don't have the mind-reading disease, they have become like Xin'er, resisting social interaction and contact with people.
The old man was naturally surprised; this was the first time Xin'er had taken the initiative to ask him how he could hear people's inner thoughts again.
"What happened to your classmate?" the old man asked. "Is he a good friend? Did you have a fight and want to make up, so you want to know what he's thinking?"
"No," Bai Jiangxin pursed her lips. "I'm just a little curious."
"If you don't know either, then forget it."
The old man snorted: "How could I not know? Have you forgotten what I did before liberation? Back then, my job was to listen to my heart. For the country and for the people, I had to know what the enemy was thinking, at all costs."
"Without us, you wouldn't have the happy life you have today."
Bai Jiangxin sighed, "Yes, you are great."
"Good to know." The old man got back to the point. "Your physics teacher must have said in class that the human body is a conductor. The human body has its own bioelectricity. When people make physical contact, an electric current is generated between them. The reason we can hear each other's thoughts through physical contact is because of the interaction between this electric current and the human body's magnetic field. This first converts the language signals in the other person's brain into electrical signals, which are then transmitted to our brain. Then, through signal conversion, they are converted back into language, just like making a phone call. So if the other person is speaking a foreign language, what you hear will also be a foreign language."
"But now that you've already had physical contact with the other person, it's like you've already received a vaccine and your body has developed antibodies. So when you have simple physical contact with the other person again, the electric magnetic field between you is weakened, and the current generated is too weak, so you naturally can't hear it."
Bai Jiangxin asked, "So the only way to hear again is through continued contact with bodily fluids?"
"No, didn't I say? You can't hear because the current is too weak. You just need to increase the medium through which the current is conducted, and that will work." The old man said, "For example, if you were just shaking hands with the other person, you were only in contact with the area of one hand. If you were hugging, you would be in contact with the other person's entire upper body. Increasing the area or force of your physical contact will allow you to hear again."
Bai Jiangxin frowned slightly: "Wouldn't this seem too deliberate?"
"Of course it would. If you suddenly hugged someone and it happened to be a girl, in our time, you would be considered a hooligan," the old man said. "Besides, people's hands have a stratum corneum, which is quite hard. If you use them a lot, you will get calluses on your hands, just like wearing clothes. If the clothes are too thick, it will also affect the effect of listening to your heart."
"So at that time, we learned Western etiquette from those foreigners. They had popular cheek kisses and hand kisses. Cheek kisses were a bit less effective, but hand kisses were very effective. The lips aren't considered skin, so you can hear them very clearly."
At this point, the old man sighed, "But this method can only be used on foreign women. It's not common for men to touch each other, and foreign men have a lot of hand hair and a strong body odor. After gathering information, I have to rinse my mouth for several days."
"..." Bai Jiangxin, who was a germaphobe, couldn't help but frown. He had no interest in foreign men, so he changed the subject, "Besides kissing hands, are there any other methods?"
"There are many methods, it just depends on whether you want to get them. Anyway, Grandpa has already told you the principle. Direct contact with body parts without skin tissue is the most effective. Although the effect is immediate, the conductivity is good and the effect is better than contact with bodily fluids."
"If you want to hear clearly and have a long response time, you still need to add bodily fluid contact. Bodily fluids are like water. The more water there is, the saltier the water is, the more concentrated the electrolytes are, the more types of ions there are, the more conductive it is, and the clearer you will hear your inner voice."
By working together on the three science subjects of physics, chemistry, and biology, which cover almost all the laws of nature, Bai Jiangxin, with his pure science mindset, quickly understood.
What parts of the human body are not covered by skin tissue?
That's the area covered by mucous membranes, the oral cavity, digestive tract, respiratory tract, and other internal structures of the body? And these internal structures themselves secrete bodily fluids.
Before Bai Jiangxin could figure it out, the old man sighed, "Luckily, I was already engaged to your grandmother at that time and couldn't do this job. I used your grandmother as an excuse, and the political commissar was understanding and didn't make me sacrifice myself to that extent."
Bai Jiangxin: "..."
I understand now. No wonder those in intelligence back then received special training in this area. Whether man or woman, once lust takes hold, they become uncontrollable and say whatever comes to mind, let alone their true feelings.
If he continued to ask, he would probably hear about the old man's romantic escapades in his youth. Not wanting to hear it, Bai Jiangxin chose to remain silent.
After talking for a while, the old man finally belatedly asked, "Hey, Xin'er, your classmate is a boy, right?"
Bai Jiangxin lowered his eyelashes slightly and gave a perfunctory "hmm".
“That’s easy. We can have a meal together, but just don’t use serving chopsticks,” the old man said. “But you have to be careful. You’re not from my generation anymore. I have no choice, but you must respect other people’s privacy.”
Bai Jiangxin agreed.
The grandfather and grandson exchanged pleasantries for a while. The old man's voice sounded noticeably tired. Before hanging up, Bai Jiangxin said, "I want to ask you something else."
The old man yawned: "Go ahead and ask."
Bai Jiangxin: "Are you still listening to your grandmother's feelings?"
"I haven't heard of it in a long time," the old man said.
"Why?" Bai Jiangxin asked. "Aren't you tired of hearing this already?"
"No, your grandma is so simple-minded. She's always thinking about this and that. One minute she's thinking about how to sneak out to play cards without me knowing, and the next she's thinking about how to get my allowance. I listen to her like she's doing a comedy routine. I've been listening to her for decades, and I'm used to it."
At this point, the old man chuckled twice, his words conveying both helplessness and enjoyment.
Amused by his grandfather's tone, Bai Jiangxin smiled and asked, "Then why aren't you listening anymore?"
The old man hesitated for a few seconds, thinking that his grandson was eighteen years old anyway, it was only a matter of time, so he lowered his voice and said, "What else could it be? I'm old, I don't have the energy for that anymore."
"..."
You shouldn't have asked.
After telling his grandfather to take care of himself, Bai Jiangxin hung up the phone.
Although I learned from my grandfather how to hear my inner voice again, it doesn't seem to be working.
Moreover, he is still hesitant about whether to try to hear Xiang Di's inner thoughts again to alleviate his current anxiety.
If the thoughts in her mind were as simple and innocent as his grandmother's, he could indeed treat them as a comedy routine.
But the key point is that she doesn't have crosstalk in her mind.
It's actually rated 18+.
His 18+ content.
Do we really have to jump into the same person's fire pit twice?
Bai Jiangxin covered his forehead and sighed heavily.
-
After changing seats, the week ended in a seemingly peaceful routine.
The new student, Zhou Linxiao, became familiar with most of the students in just one week. Xiang Di was also very satisfied with her new deskmate. He was handsome, eloquent, had excellent emotional intelligence, could tutor her in English, and would occasionally teach her a few Spanish phrases. He was simply the perfect deskmate.
As for Bai Jiangxin, his relationship with Wang Sichen was surprisingly peaceful. Although Wang Sichen was usually talkative, he dared to bother anyone but Bai Jiangxin. Whenever he couldn't hold back and wanted to say something to Bai Jiangxin, a cold and indifferent look from the other party would immediately deter him.
Moreover, this week, there were weekly tests for physics, chemistry, and biology. Chen Jinghua looked at Bai Jiangxin's perfect scores in physics and chemistry, and his near-perfect score in biology, and nodded in satisfaction.
Xiang Di has also made great progress. Even in chemistry, which she is least good at, she actually scored 80 points on the weekly test this time.
This girl is indeed worthy of having dated Bai Jiangxin; she can resist the temptation of a handsome guy. Arranging for her to be Zhou Linxiao's deskmate was definitely the right move.
It seems that changing seats twice was a wise move, and now both children can finally study properly.
Chen Jinghua was very proud and felt that he would definitely be on the list of outstanding teachers again this year.
Senior high school students only have one precious day off a week, Sunday. Moreover, boarding students have to return to school on Sunday afternoon and attend evening self-study sessions, so this one day off is especially precious to them.
The bell was about to ring for the last evening self-study session on Saturday. Xiang Di couldn't concentrate at all and all she could think about was getting home. She was counting down in her mind when Zhou Linxiao next to her gently tapped her shoulder with a pen.
Zhou Linxiao asked her directly, "Do you have time tomorrow?"
Xiang Di nodded: "Yes, what's wrong?"
"How about I treat you to dinner tomorrow?" Zhou Linxiao said. "I have to thank you for treating me to so many delicious meals these past few days."
Xiang Di invited him to eat, not to reciprocate. She politely waved her hand, saying, "No need, no need, it's not much money."
Zhou Linxiao said, "This is not about money, it's about reciprocity. My mother said that when Chinese people make friends, they don't care about giving expensive gifts, but they do care about giving and receiving. If you treat me to something, as a friend, I must treat you back."
With such an exotic face, he uttered such profound life wisdom, making it difficult for Xiang Di to refuse him for the time being.
She scratched her head and asked tactfully, "So... is it just the two of us eating?"
I don’t know if his mother taught him that Chinese people are very cautious about interactions between the opposite sex, and that men and women rarely go out for meals alone unless it is necessary for social situations.
Zhou Linxiao instantly sensed her thoughts, raised an eyebrow and smiled: "You seem afraid to have dinner alone with me?"
Before Xiang Di could answer, he lowered his eyes again, his chestnut eyelashes obscuring his clear olive eyes, and sighed, looking heartbroken.
"We've been deskmates for several days now, miss, what do you expect me to do to convince you of my character?"
He spoke those words clearly and distinctly, and even addressed her as "Miss," giving it a distinctly dubbed film feel.
Xiang Di quickly said, "That's not what I meant... I just..."
After all, he was a mixed-race guy who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with a body full of hard muscles. Although she trusted his character after spending a few days with him, what if...?
She had read a lot of news reports, and many wanted murderers appeared harmless to those around them before they were arrested; no one would have imagined that they would actually kill someone.
The size difference between her and Zhou Linxiao was too great; he could easily snap her waist with one hand.
Seeing her anxious expression, Zhou Linxiao smiled and said, "It's okay, I understand. How about this, invite a few more people, and I'll treat you all to dinner."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and tapped on Ye Minjia's desk.
Ye Minjia was teaching Liang Qianqian a math problem when he heard the noise and looked up: "What's up, bro?"
Then Zhou Linxiao invited Ye Minjia and Liang Qianqian.
Upon hearing that Zhou Linxiao was going to treat them to a buffet that cost several hundred yuan per person, Ye Minjia felt his mouth watering, but he still shook his head regretfully.
"Tomorrow won't work, it's my grandma's birthday tomorrow, I have to go celebrate with her." Ye Minjia sighed, "You guys go ahead and eat, remember to take a couple of pictures for me to enjoy later."
Xiang Di approached Zhou Linxiao to discuss, "If the class monitor is busy, how about we eat next week?"
Zhou Linxiao said, "Sure, it's up to you guys."
So we decided to go out for dinner together next week when we have the day off.
Zhou Linxiao knew that Ye Minjia and Bai Jiangxin were good friends, so he asked him if he wanted to invite Bai Jiangxin along.
To everyone's surprise, Ye Minjia shook his head immediately: "No thanks, he never participates in these kinds of gatherings."
Zhou Linxiao knew that Bai Jiangxin had severe mysophobia, so she nodded to show her respect.
Xiang Di, who hadn't said a word, pursed her lips in disappointment. Zhou Linxiao and the others were still discussing where to go after dinner next week. Xiang Di didn't care; she would just go with them.
She cupped her face in her hands, turned her head, and couldn't help but glance at Bai Jiangxin.
As it turned out, Wang Sichen, who was blocking Bai Jiangxin's view, spotted her and raised an eyebrow at her: "What, are you peeking at me because I'm handsome?"
Xiang Di made a vomiting gesture, then quickly turned his head away.
Upon seeing her, Wang Sichen remembered again: "Hey, don't forget to buy me cream puffs tomorrow."
Xiang Di exclaimed, "I know, you don't need to remind me every day."
"I was just afraid you'd forget."
"No, I don't," Xiang Di said. "I have a very good memory."
And she still has to buy cream puffs for Bai Jiangxin tomorrow; she could never forget this, even if she had forgotten everything else.
Xiang Di thought to herself, "You should be glad you're benefiting from my husband's fame."
Time flies when you're chatting with someone. The bell rang unexpectedly, signaling the end of evening self-study, and everyone was suddenly free.
The teacher in charge of supervising evening self-study was also freed up and quickly left the classroom.
"Go home! Go home! Liberation! Liberation!"
"I'm going to stay home and lie around all day tomorrow!"
Wang Sichen didn't need to get up early tomorrow. She had made plans to play games with someone today, so she rushed home to turn on her computer, grabbed her backpack, and ran off.
Without Wang Sichen, Xiang Di finally saw Bai Jiangxin.
It's so annoying. Wang Sichen is in the middle of me. I want to catch a glimpse of him during class, but he's completely blocked. And to make matters worse, Wang Sichen is so narcissistic that he always thinks I'm looking at him.
Unfortunately, he's going home soon, so I won't see him until Monday.
Just as she was feeling regretful and leisurely packing her schoolbag, Bai Jiangxin suddenly turned around and met her gaze.
Xiang Di's heart skipped a beat again. She quickly put on a smile and made an excuse to start a conversation with him: "Um, do you remember when I said I would treat you to cream puffs?"
Bai Jiangxin hummed in agreement and said, "If you have something to do this weekend, then forget it."
"It's nothing, I'm free this weekend," Xiang Di said. "I just wanted to ask you, are you eating it today, or should I bring it to you on Monday?"
Actually, she hoped he could eat the freshest food of the day, which would only cost a few dozen yuan more for delivery. It was no problem; she was willing to pay that money for Bai Jiangxin.
And this way... she can also find out where Bai Jiangxin lives.
She swore she absolutely didn't want to be a stalker! She simply wanted to know him a little more.
Bai Jiangxin said, "It's from that day, right? Didn't you say it tastes best when it's from that day?"
"Yes, yes, the food tastes best that day. Shall I send a delivery guy to bring it to you tomorrow?" Xiang Di hummed in agreement, her tone hesitant. "Could you... give me your home address?"
Bai Jiangxin succinctly replied, "No need."
"..."
Caught off guard by the rejection, Xiang Di lowered her head, her face flushing.
He certainly wouldn't easily tell her his home address.
"No need to send someone else, I'll come to you directly tomorrow."
Xiang Di suddenly raised her head again: "Huh?"
"I said I'll come to your place tomorrow to pick it up," Bai Jiangxin said calmly. "Is that convenient for you?"
Xiang Di said blankly, "It's convenient, I'll be home all day tomorrow."
Bai Jiangxin: "Okay."
After making the appointment, Bai Jiangxin picked up his schoolbag and prepared to leave.
She was standing in the aisle when she saw him about to leave, so she quickly turned to the side.
Her figure was already slender, and by making way, she completely cleared the space for Bai Jiangxin, avoiding any contact with him.
In the instant they brushed past each other, Bai Jiangxin looked down and saw her stunned expression; her long, straight eyelashes were motionless, and her lips were slightly parted.
There was a full centimeter of space between the two people's bodies.
He stared at the distance, and Xiang Di thought he was annoyed by the narrow aisle and didn't want to touch her, so he moved his feet back further and pressed himself against the edge of the desk.
She thought, "This should get him through."
Bai Jiangxin called her name: "Xiang Di".
Xiang Di was stunned, looking at the school badge printed on the left chest of his school uniform, and then heard him say calmly, "Actually, you don't need to be so concerned about the distance between us."
Only then did she look up at him.
Because her mind was still racing, analyzing his words word by word and trying to understand them, the girl's lips were still slightly parted, revealing a bit of the edge of her upper teeth.
It hadn't rained all week, so the classroom was very dry. The teacher had to drink some warm water to moisten her throat every few words during class. To prevent her lips from getting chapped, Xiang Di carried lip balm with her. The lip balm was very moisturizing, like a full dew covering her lips.
Her eighteen-year-old face was fair, clear, and delicate, needing no elaborate makeup; a little dew was enough.
Bai Jiangxin's breath hitched.
The next second, he practically fled, quickly leaving the classroom.
He wasn't frightened by Xiang Di's inner thoughts, but by his own.
Fortunately, only he knew how absurd a thought had flashed through his mind just a second ago.
When his grandfather told him how to hear his inner voice again, he had never even considered any other way besides using his hands.
But now.
Bai Jiangxin closed his eyes.
How could you possibly touch that area? Bai Jiangxin, are you crazy?
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