At this time, the political teacher on the podium seemed to be about to start the lecture. Jiang Ling pretended to sit upright, but she soon discovered that the teacher didn't care about the students below at all. The guys hiding in the back row were doing all kinds of things.
"...Please turn to page 59. Today's class will continue with the topic we left unfinished."
Ahead of Jiang Ling, the rustle of pages rustled sporadically, and the more frequent noise of others slacking off, she opened her schoolbag and found, besides some snacks she'd used to bribe classmates, only an old-fashioned clamshell laptop. It was clear that Yu Nuanxin, who had prepared these things, hadn't fully grasped the school's realities. Lacking pen and paper, she listened to the lectures with her head resting on her head. Unfortunately, she soon lost interest in the course—it was too superficial, lacking any real substance.
"Hey—Jiang Ling!" Sun Yixin, who was on the right, had already moved the desk and chairs over and was using an open book as a shield. "Think about it? I promise you won't suffer any loss!"
Jiang Ling actually found this person asking for money on their first meeting amusing. She didn't respond immediately because she simply didn't see any sincerity. "Sun Yixin, a transaction is about mutual consent. What you see is what you get. You're exchanging information for me, so you have to let me know the value of that information, right?" she said.
Sun Yixin was silent for two seconds, then held up two fingers and said, "You're being too cautious, but your request is reasonable. You can ask two questions now. I'll answer any questions you have."
"Okay, first question, how well do you know me?"
"This... classmate, we've only known each other for less than ten minutes, how would I know what you did before?" Sun Yixin paused, pulled out her own student terminal from under her desk, fiddled with the screen for a few times, and continued, "You didn't lie just now. Your name is Jiang Ling, you're sixteen years old, your assigned dormitory address is Building 11, Row 215, 7th Street, and you were a hibernator who revived 94 days ago. And... Hey, why is it gone?"
Jiang Ling smiled and nodded. It seemed that the child's energy was far from reaching the level of omnipotence. In this way, she could go further without violating the confidentiality regulations.
"Then the second question is, how did you get into this school?"
"Uh, can I not say it? You can change the question." Sun Yixin wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Go ahead, tell me! I'm very tight-lipped." Jiang Ling stared into her eyes.
"Okay! I'm a mediocre hacker, and also an Awakened one. Someone is tracking me down, so I can only hide in the school's LAN."
"Hackers can also count?"
"This is the third question, but I'm willing to give in." Sun Yixin exhaled. "The cost of hacking into the school payment system is too high. I don't want to attract attention until the people outside stop."
"Okay, okay." Jiang Ling took out a brick, followed the instructions in the "communication" software to add this classmate as a friend, and then transferred 100 points to her.
Sun Yixin visibly brightened up, as if life had regained its momentum. "Then the deal is done. You can ask me about everything about this school today."
"Wait, only today?"
"Yes, today will last until the lights-out bell."
Okay, so we'll leave the hole we dug here? Jiang Ling immediately understood what she meant - if she kept asking irrelevant questions, she wouldn't get much useful information by the end of the day.
She thought for a while and asked the most critical question she wanted to know at the moment: "What is the use of this point?"
"On the surface, payment points can be used to purchase services and improve your status, but behind the scenes, they're a symbol of your strength. The more the better. This school is quite unfair, and you'll learn about it later." Sun Yixin spoke these words at a very even pace, neither too fast nor too slow, as if she had received professional training. "This transaction between you and me is a form of service. In theory, you can use points to pry open the mouths of anyone in the school, but some people's asking prices are higher. As for improving your status, there are many places in the school that limit the minimum number of points you can obtain, such as the aristocratic section of the cafeteria..."
That sounds a bit like the old points system, Jiang Ling thought. "I understand. How do the points come from?"
"On the surface, it's like a fixed subsidy, paid out monthly. 100 per month for first grade, 200 per month for second grade, 300 per month for third grade, and so on. But in reality, it also has two reward and punishment systems and an additional amount." Sun Yixin gestured to Jiang Ling to look up at the top of the room. "Those surveillance cameras will record our behavior, and through complex calculations, they can determine the monthly weighting, which is also a necessary basis for promotion. This weighting has maximum and minimum limits. For first grade, it's 100% plus or minus 10%, for second grade, it's 100% plus or minus 20%, and so on. If there are major problems after tenth grade, there's always the possibility of a deduction.
"By the way, the promotion method is to multiply the product of the twelve weights for the year by the individual's current points, and then compare it to the promotion benchmark. The benchmark was developed by the Mothership Countermeasures Agency, and it hasn't changed much in the few years I've been here. First grade to second grade is about 1,000 points, second grade to third grade is about 2,000 points, and third grade to fourth grade is about 4,000 points. I don't know what happens after that, but it seems to follow an exponential pattern."
"Yeah, what about the other system?" Jiang Ling acted very serious.
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