Chapter 71

The Lu Nan Yuan in the photo looked exactly like the Nan Yuan from another timeline.
Tao Shushu studied Lu Nan Yuan's photo and thought, there were still some differences. That Nan Yuan struggled to survive in the apocalypse, his bright eyes like a leopard's, always ready for battle. His hands were always at his sides or gripping a particle gun, his stance like an arrow ready to be fired.
But Lu Nan Yuan stayed indoors year-round, his skin pale, his gaze drifting vaguely into the air, only focusing when he saw something that interested him.
Tao Shushu gently touched the temple of Lu Nan Yuan in the photo.
Even without the memories of that other Nan Yuan, Lu Nan Yuan had subconsciously chosen a safe position in the group photo, his body posture naturally defensive.
These two Nan Yuans must be connected in some way.
Tao Shushu's heart raced wildly, her thoughts scattering like untamed threads.
As if confirming her suspicions, Xun started looping the animation of defeating the pixelated character again.
Tao Shushu chuckled, "Xun is great, very cute, and smart too."
Everything he created was wonderful.
"Shushu is the best." Xun immediately responded, its electronic voice filled with unwavering conviction.
Xun eagerly moved closer to Tao Shushu's hand. She reached out and patted its electronic head. "Mm."
Shen Yichen asked, "Do you know Nan Yuan?"
"I know him, but not completely," Tao Shushu said.
The Nan Yuan she knew was the one who always praised her earnestly.
The one who, despite the language barrier, secretly learned to write her name.
The one who used light to create fireworks for her.
And the one who compiled code and used pixel animations to make her laugh.
Shen Yichen was a bit curious. Nan Yuan had autism; if it weren't for their shared pursuit of coding, Nan Yuan wouldn't even have acknowledged him.
But seeing that Tao Shushu didn't seem to want to talk about it, Shen Yichen didn't press further and simply reminded her, "Old Master Lu, Nan Yuan's grandfather, has always taken good care of me. Qin Rui wouldn't dare touch him. I can take refuge at Nan Yuan's place for now, but Nan Yuan is in a rehabilitation center, not at home."
"Mm." Tao Shushu wasn't disappointed. She believed that Nan Yuan would eventually recover one day.
That day might have to wait until she defeated the Academic Genius System and until Nan Yuan found a way out in the post-apocalyptic world.
Shen Yichen continued packing his things, while Xun proudly played various pixelated characters on a loop.
The pixel-art images, displayed on the smart AI's expensive screen, looked like kindergarten scribbles.
Shen Yichen chuckled, "Sorry about that. I have no idea why Xun is suddenly obsessed with playing these outdated codes."
"Hmph. You just don't appreciate art," Xun retorted.
"No, I really like them," Tao Shushu said, gazing intently at the pixelated figures. "Each one is adorable."
After packing two large boxes full of professional books, Shen Yichen was about to call for a driver to help when he turned around and saw Tao Shushu effortlessly lifting both boxes and starting to walk.
"Let's go," Tao Shushu said.
"Take me with you!" Xun called out.
Tao Shushu walked with ease, not even slightly out of breath.
Shen Yichen wanted to help but couldn't find an opening. He paused for a moment, impressed, and said, "You and Nan Yuan are both incredibly strong."
He didn't know what part of his statement pleased Tao Shushu, but she smiled and replied, "Mm."
Xun immediately chimed in as a praise machine, "Yes, yes! Nan Yuan and Shushu are both amazing. Shen Yichen, you should learn from them and work on your arm strength."
Shen Yichen suddenly felt as though he, the person who had helped create Xun, was being left out.
Shaking off the strange thought, Shen Yichen quickly got into the car.
As soon as the car reached the main road, a truck suddenly accelerated and swerved toward them.
Tao Shushu, who had been observing carefully the entire time, immediately used a Primary Clarity Card.
The truck driver looked frightened and said, "I suddenly zoned out just now. Thankfully, no accident happened."
With the danger averted, the driver, still shaken, slowed down.
For the rest of the journey, Tao Shushu repeatedly used Primary Clarity Cards to snap drivers out of inexplicably dangerous driving behaviors, ensuring they arrived safely at the Lu family residence.
Shen Yichen sensed something was off. "The accident rate today is abnormally high. Could it be that my luck has been terrible lately?"
Tao Shushu patted Xun's head.
Xun, who was about to speak, fell silent.
"Senior Shen, you should just focus on your research in seclusion for now," Tao Shushu joked.
Considering one possibility, she still explained, "Qin Rui might claim that I'm using dark arts again, but I stand on Nan Yuan's side."
Shen Yichen smiled, "Shushu, I trust Xun. It likes you, so I trust you too."
After reluctantly saying goodbye to Xun, Tao Shushu remained deep in thought on her way home. Qin Rui and the Academic Genius System would definitely not easily give up their schemes.
Shen Yichen wouldn’t be easily swayed by provocations.
Jia Xu’s recent behavior had become too erratic, and he was now under close scrutiny by the teachers at Yancheng No.1 Highschool, leaving Qin Rui with fewer opportunities to interact with him.
Wang Tianba had already fallen from grace and was no longer the domineering school bully from the original novel.
Qin Rui’s available allies were dwindling.
The Qin family had close ties with the F County royal family. Tao Shushu had spoken to Gu Lanchun, asking her to remind the princess not to trust strangers too easily.
Having once experienced the loss of her talent and knowledge, Gu Lanchun hesitated and asked, "Shushu, that Jia Xu in the news, did he go through the same thing I did?"
"Shushu, I’m very grateful you helped me get my things back. So, if you agree, I’d like to try explaining things to Jia Xu and convince him not to blame you," Gu Lanchun said nervously.
Tao Shushu didn’t want to make another enemy. If Jia Xu continued to see her as a foe, the likelihood of him being manipulated would greatly increase.
With Gu Lanchun, the only person who could truly empathize with him, persuading him, Tao Shushu thought it was the most suitable approach.
But Tao Shushu still wanted to ask, "What if he says I deliberately helped you to gain your favor and secure the Gu family’s support?"
On the other end of the phone, Gu Lanchun chuckled softly, "Shushu, I believe you’re not that kind of person. You’re upright, kind, and very smart. You don’t need my knowledge, you can achieve things on your own. I also really admire your debating skills."
While waiting, Gu Lanchun suddenly received a message from Tao Shushu:
"Three Sentences to Make You a Master of Retorts"
"One Hundred Techniques for Sarcastic Comebacks"
"Teach You to Crush PUA with Logic"
"Five Minutes Before Work: Teach You to Make Your Sleazy Boss Cry and Shut Up"
Tao Shushu replied, "Thank you. But first, study these materials before you go."
These materials were recommended by Xun in a hurry. After reviewing them, Tao Shushu found them feasible and forwarded them to Gu Lanchun.
She trusted Xun’s ability to find information.
Suddenly, Tao Shushu thought of something and asked Xun, "If there’s someone who’s really good at arguing, can you shut them up so they can’t say a word?"
"Of course. Do you want me to make them so furious they turn away, or do you want me to shut them down so thoroughly they never dare show up again?"
On the screen, Xun tied a "Fighting Spirit" headband around its head and rubbed its hands together eagerly.
"Either is fine. I’ll let you try when there’s a chance." Tao Shushu remembered that in the original novel, there was a male supporting character who argued with everyone, was rude to all, but gentle only to Su Momo.
If she ever encountered him, she could let Xun give it a try.
After going out, Tao Shushu felt even more energized.
Like a fully charged robot, she tackled her weekend homework with vigor, quickly finishing even the extra challenging problems assigned by Li Xin.
After completing her homework, Tao Shushu hummed a tune.
She cleared her throat and asked the system, [So, Nan Yuan can come to this world, and may have even existed here before?]
The system sounded a little proud, [Hmph, you won’t even let me handle the task of gathering information anymore.]
[Hurry up and tell me.]
[That’s right.] the system said.
The system wanted to elaborate on the difficulty, but it saw that Tao Shushu had already excitedly opened a game.
The Nan Yuan that Tao Shushu was most familiar with was still busy.
It seemed to have become a consensus to let Nan Yuan take on the most dangerous part of the plan. The ability users from the eastern base no longer caused trouble for Nan Yuan; instead, they began to yield to him in every way.
Meanwhile, Dr. Xie assigned Nan Yuan even more tasks.
Installing the signal communicator was technically challenging. Dr. Xie said, "When the time comes, I'll arrange for two of the artificial intelligences I created to accompany you, but some steps will still require your assistance."
Nan Yuan did not object and diligently followed Dr. Xie's instructions to learn various types of knowledge.
In terms of academic expertise, Dr. Xie was highly professional, if only he didn’t interrupt his teaching from time to time to ask Nan Yuan whether Man Qian had taught him anything.
Nan Yuan had already become capable of compiling more machine commands.
In the world where Tao Shushu had lived in her previous life, she had also learned some programming.
From her understanding, Nan Yuan’s approach was very professional.
When he compiled programs, he was highly logical, assigning each module’s function in an orderly manner.
Tao Shushu loved watching Nan Yuan write code. Whatever he wrote flowed smoothly from start to finish, and the delete key became practically useless because the code he typed was flawless.
Tao Shushu decided that the next time she took a physics exam, she wouldn’t scribble all over the paper but would instead present the neatest paper possible.
Tao Shushu waited for quite a while before Dr. Xie went off to attend to other matters.
Seizing the opportunity, she poked Nan Yuan and said, "Nan Yuan, you’re so smart."
"I was only gone for a little while, and you’ve already learned so much," she praised.
"You’re the fastest learner I’ve ever seen, aside from myself," Tao Shushu added.
Nan Yuan’s progress was truly faster than expected.
Based on what Dr. Xie had said, Tao Shushu knew that the C1 Star System hardly required any programming. The AI database contained rich and powerful datasets, and as long as one learned the simplest compilation logic, they could freely download code to expand AI functions.
Nan Yuan smiled, "Maybe it’s inherited from my mother."
Tao Shushu ruffled Nan Yuan’s hair, "But you’re still the best."
Nan Yuan paused for a moment. Shushu seemed much more affectionate toward him today.
He had no way of guessing what had happened while Shushu was out.
But he liked this change.
Remembering her intention to give Dr. Xie a small punishment, Tao Shushu asked, "Nan Yuan, is Dr. Xie going out to announce the plan to everyone? Then we should hurry over too."
Although Dr. Xie’s plan and Nan Yuan’s role in it were no longer secrets within the base, Dr. Xie still wanted to make a public announcement. His excuse was to let everyone know about Nan Yuan’s choice, but Tao Shushu had long seen through him, he just wanted to morally pressure Nan Yuan.
Nan Yuan pondered for a moment, realizing that Dr. Xie was the one who dared not escalate the conflict.
Moreover, Shushu wouldn’t be harmed by Dr. Xie.
He indulged her and said, “Alright. Should I prepare something too?”