Genius Chapter 57: Rest

Chapter 57: Rest

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

When Yu Zhen realized it, he had already sent the friend request. Grandma Cheng asked, “Xiao Zhen?”

“Nothing.” Yu Zhen double-checked, and he hadn’t made a mistake. The contact number Grandma Cheng gave him was exactly the same as the one for Momo in the [Get Rich Quick] guild.

Grandma Cheng asked, “Did you add him?”

“Not yet…” Yu Zhen was about to say, but then he received a notification that the friend request had been accepted. He changed his response, “Added.”

Mo, was that Momo? Yu Zhen stared at Su Mo’s contact number for a while. How could Su Mo be Momo? Their personalities…

-mo: Hello?

Yu Zhen paused, about to reply, when he realized he had added Su Mo with his personal account.

The terminal had an intelligent system that automatically switched different representations for different occasions and grouped them accordingly. Yu Zhen’s terminal had three accounts: work, gaming, and personal. The intelligent match just now was in the gaming account’s group chat, but since he used manual input, the terminal added the friend with his personal account instead of switching to the gaming one.

He had to type his response: “It’s me, Yu Zhen.”

After logging off, Su Mo went to the lab to check on the progress of the data. He was about to have lunch when he received a friend request from an unfamiliar contact number. Upon adding it and asking, he found out it was from Yu Zhen.

Yu Zhen’s contact number was very simple, even the ID was the default user data string, without a proper nickname. Su Mo suddenly remembered that Yu Zhen had mentioned having a question for him when they met at the neighborhood station last time, but he had forgotten to exchange contact numbers when he returned.

Su Mo added a note “Yu Zhen” to the contact.

But Grandma Cheng had his contact number. Yu Zhen probably got it through Grandma Cheng. Su Mo was about to ask if there was a problem when he suddenly received a message:

Yu Zhen: Are you at home?

***

“Su Mo, what flavor of nutritional supplements do you want?” Lele pushed open the door and asked. When there was no response, Lele said, “Not only do I have nutritional supplements, but I also made your favorite meat buns!”

Su Mo replied, “I’m not having nutritional supplements anymore. Zhen Ge said he’s bringing chicken soup.”

Lele exclaimed, “!!” He immediately stopped him, “No, your nutritional intake this week hasn’t met the standard!”

Su Mo found an excuse, “It’ll go to waste if I don’t eat it!”

Soon after, the doorbell rang.

Grandma Cheng had made too much chicken soup, so after giving some to the neighbors, there was still a lot left. Yu Zhen asked if Su Mo was home and if he wanted to bring it over. Su Mo thought Yu Zhen meant to have the robot deliver it, but to his surprise, when he opened the door, he saw Yu Zhen carrying a thermos.

“Have you had lunch?” Yu Zhen asked.

Su Mo was slightly surprised but quickly regained his composure. “Not yet. Zhen Ge, come in and sit for a while.”

Yu Zhen hesitated for a moment but followed Su Mo into the house.

This was his first time at Su Mo’s house. The layouts of the apartments in the neighborhood were similar, but Su Mo’s house had a somewhat unique layout. The residential area underwent overall maintenance and upgrades every five years, replacing or upgrading home automation. With the rapid development of technology, the maintenance and updates in the neighborhood were very fast. Even though the construction in the residential area was old, the interior equipment and decoration were not outdated. However, the layout of Su Mo’s house seemed to have remained the same as ten years ago, with only one terminal for intelligent devices and just one robot in the house.

The robot wasn’t the popular model on the market; Yu Zhen, being familiar with robot parts, could recognize the type of exterior it was wearing. This robot should be the nanny robot that had taken care of Su Mo since he was a child and was also the repair target for Su Mo’s parts searching.

As soon as Yu Zhen entered, the robot politely took the thermos from him.

Su Mo said, “Lele, make some tea.”

The robot replied, “Okay!”

Despite the layout of the house being ten years old, it still exuded warmth. Yu Zhen could see many simple and old decorations at a glance, with several landscape paintings on the wall. But upon closer inspection, those weren’t just paintings; there were small grooves on them… They seemed to be puzzles.

It was a very warm home, filled to the brim with traces of family life in every corner. But Yu Zhen knew very well that Su Mo lived alone, with his parents long gone.

Yu Zhen saw the location of the dining table, where there were only two chairs, but there were three sets of tableware on the tray, and there were also two new cups, probably added later. The chairs weren’t pulled out, and there was a plate of buns and two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table.

There were no other guests in the house besides him, and the two sets of tableware had been prepared in advance… He saw the busy figure of the robot and suddenly understood. Momo often mentioned his family online, but his family consisted only of an old robot.

On the coffee table in the living room was a loader. Yu Zhen was very familiar with it; it was an F-class loader developed by the Firmament Group.

Su Mo says he casually played with it, but in reality, he played with it every day.

“Zhen Ge, have you had lunch?” Su Mo suddenly paused and then said, “Do you want some buns? Lele made some, and they taste really good.”

Yu Zhen frowned slightly, suddenly realizing that these buns might be Su Mo’s lunch. “…Did you only have this for lunch?”

Su Mo hesitated slightly but said, “I have a fixed nutritional intake requirement every week. Today’s main meal is the nutritional supplement, and the buns are Lele’s way of satisfying my cravings. Zhen Ge, please sit first and try the new tea leaves.”

Lele brought over the warm tea, and Yu Zhen took a few sips, chatting with Su Mo for a while.

He only knew that Su Mo had poor health and had a careful diet, but only now did he realize how meticulous his diet really was, from the standard nutritional intake to the recipes. Eating a little more or a little less was not allowed.

After just a brief conversation, Yu Zhen received a message from Grandma Cheng. He suddenly realized that he had been staying at Su Mo’s house for half an hour. With Grandma Cheng waiting at home, Yu Zhen couldn’t stay any longer and prepared to leave.

“Has Grandma been waiting for a long time?” Su Mo hesitated slightly and then said, “Zhen Ge, wait a moment, let me get something.”

Yu Zhen hesitated for a moment, watching as Su Mo hurriedly went to the kitchen to get something. He came back with a box of tea leaves.

“Last time, I brought the early spring tea home, but I haven’t brought the summer tea yet, so I didn’t give it to you.” Su Mo handed the tea box to Yu Zhen. “Try this one. It’s also Oolong tea that Grandma loves. The taste of summer tea is a bit different from spring tea.”

“Okay,” Yu Zhen replied.

Su Mo watched Yu Zhen leave. Once the door closed, he couldn’t wait to go to the kitchen and open the thermos. The aroma of the steaming soup filled the air, mixed with the scent of various medicinal ingredients, just like the kind Grandpa Yu used to make.

Lele ladled the soup for him and said, “If you don’t eat meat but drink the soup, you still need to take the nutritional supplements.”

Su Mo glanced at the bottom of the soup, which was filled with ingredients. “There’s so much meat. It’d be a waste not to eat it.”

Lele was a bit conflicted. “But if you eat the meat, you won’t be able to finish the nutritional supplements.”

Su Mo went ahead and scooped some for himself. “I can eat both. This is a single serving. After I finish eating, I’ll take the nutritional supplements in the afternoon.”

Lele nodded but then realized something wasn’t right. “But if you take them in the afternoon, what about the nutritional supplements for the evening?”

…

When Yu Zhen returned home, he handed the summer tea given by Su Mo to Grandma Cheng.

“Why did you bring something back?” Grandma Cheng asked.

Yu Zhen hesitated. “…Su Mo gave it to me.”

Grandma Cheng noticed and said, “That child, every time you give him something, he always gives something in return.” She instructed Yu Zhen, “Next time, don’t take it. Understand? He’s giving things again. We haven’t finished drinking the tea from last time, but that child never keeps anything for himself.” Grandma Cheng continued, “This tea was sent by his father’s friend, who owns a tea garden in another galaxy. They send tea to their family every year. Xiao Mo doesn’t drink much, so he always gives it away.”

“Xiao Mo’s parents were good people, with many friends. When news of the Star Navigation incident came back, those friends were worried about Xiao Mo’s future. It’s not that the child had no one to take care of him; he was mature and didn’t want to go through the adoption process.” Grandma Cheng reminisced and chattered, “They sent me so many things. But if you don’t take them, that child won’t accept anything from you. His heart is as clear as a mirror. He’s only 18, but he lives so transparently.”

Suddenly, Yu Zhen remembered the warm tea he had at Su Mo’s house.

***

In the afternoon, Yu Zhen logged in later and received a party invitation from Momo. It turned out that they were planning to earn some demon points.

ScarletFruit asked, “Bro, why the sudden rush to upgrade your equipment?”

“My equipment is lacking, and my damage output isn’t satisfactory.” Su Mo’s equipment wasn’t bad, but during the recent hunts in the wilderness and demon dungeons, there were several instances where his predicted skill combos didn’t deal enough damage. His calculations were correct, so the problem should lie in the resistances and defenses of other players’ equipment. His current equipment was usable, but it was still lacking. Occasionally, it didn’t feel quite right.

When Yu Zhen joined the team, ScarletFruit said, “Brother Wanderer, you missed out this morning!”

“This morning?” Yu Zhen was taken aback.

ClearWind added, “Brother Wanderer, where did you go this morning? Let me tell you, a few of us went to the Northern Desert this morning, and it was so exciting. We beat [Zenith Expanse] so badly.” He couldn’t help but boast about his glorious deeds, “We needed someone, and hey, eight of them came, but they were still chased away by us. My big brother controlled them perfectly…”

Yu Zhen was speechless. He couldn’t help but look at Su Mo, who remained indifferent, clearly not taking it seriously.

Su Mo said, “Let’s go to the highest-level demon dungeon. We can earn more points there.”

ScarletFruit prepared the potions and distributed them to the team. “Let’s bring ZenSlasher along. More people make it easier, especially for the highest-level demons with thicker blood. Do you want to take some defense potions?”

“No need, I can handle it,” Su Mo replied, checking his equipment. He noticed the curious glances from the others and looked at Yu Zhen in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

Yu Zhen averted his gaze. “Nothing.”

The demon dungeon was a standard dungeon with similar monsters and mechanics. Su Mo had coordinated with them many times, so he was proficient in the mechanics. Clearing the demon dungeon was mostly a matter of time and wasn’t particularly challenging.

However, as they started fighting, Su Mo felt fine, but the others kept shouting.

“What’s wrong with you, Fruit???”

“I wanted to ask you, what are you doing?! Haven’t you noticed that your health is fluctuating like a roller coaster?”

“Damn it! You almost died!”

“I didn’t do anything wrong! I usually play like this in dungeons! What’s wrong with your healing? Did your lucky equipment fail?”

“Brother Wanderer! You set up the defense array wrong! Help!”

ScarletFruit said, “Could it be that my lucky equipment isn’t working? Wait, let me check my gear. I didn’t equip anything wrong.”

ZenSlasher glanced at the DPS output and then checked her own status. “It seems like we’re missing a damage boost array…”

The array master then added another layer of array to their teammates. “Don’t panic, the healing is sufficient.”

Su Mo paused slightly, looking at the two layers of defense array and two layers of damage boost array on him. He found the fight quite easy and didn’t even need to activate Black Tortoise to reduce damage or share damage.

After finally clearing the demon dungeon, three out of the five members of the team were exhausted.

ScarletFruit seriously suggested, “I think I wasn’t lucky enough today. Should we lower the difficulty for the next run?”

ZenSlasher looked at ClearWind and asked, “Is your sword dull?”

“What do you mean, dull sword?!” ClearWind couldn’t help but retort, “I was fighting with all my might!”

ScarletFruit opened the DPS list, unable to resist boasting, “Where were you fighting with all your might? Look at my brother; he’s still dealing high damage even with tanking!”

ClearWind retorted, “Look at your healing output. How much of it actually went to me?”

Meanwhile, Su Mo glanced at his own output and then at UnchainedWanderer next to him. Could it be that UnchainedWanderer didn’t rest well at noon? His array placement accuracy today seemed off; why was everything leaning toward him?

“Let’s do another one! The demon points in the wilderness haven’t reached the limit yet. Shall we go kill a few more?” ClearWind excitedly suggested. “My friend told me they spotted a Zenith Expanse team near Sunset City. Shall we go intercept?”

Su Mo’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “Let’s go.”

He was just short of points; killing a few more should be enough.

At that moment, the array master next to him suddenly spoke up. “We just finished three dungeons. Let’s rest for a bit before we go.”

Su Mo: “?”

The other teammates, ready and excited, replied, “Ah?”

Author’s note:

ClearWind: ??? Resting after just three dungeons?

ScarletFruit: Let’s go!! Wooo!!

Momo (confidently): He’s probably tired.

Yu Zhen: …