E-Books and Webnovels (Ming'er)

Ming'er reads the translated Chinese text.

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One Part-Time Student Research Assistant Needed!

The School of Humanities is currently inviting suitable applications for one part-time Student Research Assistant on a 6-month contract at the Education and Learning Research Office.

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"The School of Humanities?" Ming'er Murmurs under his breath, "Does that mean that this school only teaches the humanities...?"

/I guess it kinda makes sense. I mean, why else would this place be called the Humanities Building?/

Ming'er furrows as he recalls the place that reminded him of Qilin Alley, as well as the rest of the buildings that he'd passed on his way to the Humanities Building.

/Those other places...there's no way that they can be 'Humanities Buildings' too. Otherwise, Tian Gou would've simply taken me to one of them instead of all the way here.../

/That must mean this academy teaches more than just the humanities. I don't know what they are yet, but those other places probably have different names.../

Ming'er frowns at the word 'contract'. He'd never seen nor heard of that word before.

/A contract? What's that?/

/And why does it last for six months?/

Ming'er ponders about what the term could possibly mean while taking his own experiences into consideration.

/Well, just like any other empire, the Zhao Empire has a set of codified laws that everyone is expected to follow.../

/After all, society needs a set of commonly recognized rules to govern daily transactions.../

/So, based on what I know...I guess a 'contract' is some sort of agreement?/

"That means," Ming'er murmured, "Yuying must've agreed to be a Research Assistant for six months..."

His eyes then glaze over the term 'Education and Learning Research Office'. This time, Ming'er doesn't think too much about it.

/It's probably one of the places that I'd passed earlier./

/Based on its name, I guess the place specializes in research on education, just like how the School of Humanities specializes in the teaching of the humanities.../

Ming'er moves on to the next few lines.

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Project Title

Mandarin E-Book App and its Effects on the Home Reading of Bilingual Singaporean Children

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Even though the text had been translated into Chinese, Ming'er felt like it may as well have been in English, or any other foreign language.

/Mandarin E-Book App?/

/What the hell is that?/

/Heck, of course I know what books are, but what the hell is an 'e-book app'...?!/

Ming'er has a feeling that the project is going to be a headache even though he hasn't even started.

/Why does it sound so intimidating..?!/

/How complicated could a book possibly get...?!/

/Books are just words written on papers that have been binded together! It's as simple as that, really!/

Just then, Ming'er recalls what Jiawen had said to him earlier this day.

/"You've been stressing out over your webnovel the entire week."/

Ming'er furrows at the unfamiliar term, 'webnovel'. He doesn't know why, but he has a feeling that it has something to do with this 'e-book' thing.

Ming'er isn't sure why, but he suddenly feels inclined to take his mysterious-looking box out of his pocket.

After Ming'er keys in the password and unlocks the phone, he swipes the screen. Sure enough, there's an app with the word 'Webnovel' beneath it.

/Ah, this must be the 'webnovel' thing that Jiawen mentioned earlier...!/

Ming'er taps on the square with the blue and pink W-shaped logo without hesitating.

The first thing that Ming'er sees is a webnovel recommendation. It's called "The President's Woman is a Little Bit Naughty".

There's an illustration of a tall man in a suit with dark hair and dark eyes on the cover. He looks just ike your typical hot, young, and filthy rich fictional CEO.

There's also an illustration of conventionally pretty lady with long, dark locks, and long lashes. She has bright, doe eyes that were just as big as...

Ming'er immediately goes red in the face when he fully processes the cover of the webnovel.

Ming'er internally splutters at the outrageous illustration of the lady's...assets. He instinctively clasps his hand over his eyes so that he wouldn't stare at the lady's cleavage even though she's just an illustration.

The lady's assets were so huge that they were practically spilling out of the front of the dress that the lady was wearing.

As if it wasn't bad enough, the man has his arm wrapped across her torso and tucked right under them.

Ming're splutters internally at the thought of him doing that to one of the ladies back in his world.

Just then, Ming're imagined himself wrapping his arm across her.

/No, Ming'er, stop it...!/

Ming're immediately shakes the thought out of his mind and chides himself internally for having such atrocious and dirty thoughts.

/Scandalous, scandalous, scandalous...!/

/Why do all the people in this world seem sick in the head...!/

/I bet these two people, whoever they are, aren't even married...!/

Ming're glances at the screen through the gaps between his fingers and quickly taps the 'read' button. He just wants the cover to disappear from the screen as soon as possible.

Lines and lines of texts appear on the screen as Ming'er does this. He blinks, not expecting them to appear.

/What is this...?/

Ming're start to scroll through the text. Even though he couldn't read most of it since it was in English, there were a few Chinese terms here and there that he caught since the story was set in China, albeit not the ancient China that he knew.

Ming're puts two and two together and realizes that he must be looking at a story. A story of the two people that he'd seen earlier on the cover, to be precise.

/Oh...!/

/So this is a webnovel...!/

/It's like a book, but instead of having words that'd been written on paper, the words are keyed in using the keypad...!/

/And it can be read on inventions in this world, such as this mysterious-looking box!/

Ming're lets out a soft 'oh' at this revelation. He then turns to the laptop and notes that just like the mysterious-looking box, it has keys with letters on it as well.

/It must be accessible via the laptop too...!/

Ming'er shifts his gaze between the mysterious-looking box and Professor Williams' laptop as he silently marvels at them.

/So people can read and write stories by using the inventions of this world...!/

Just then, Ming'er taps on the screen to exit the app. He smiles as he looks at the 'Webnovel' logo.

Ming'er then glances at the word 'e-book' on the laptop screen and grins.

/I guess this 'e-book' thing, whatever it is, shouldn't be that far off from a webnovel...!/

Just like that, Ming'er feels less worried about the project. Even though he hasn't even confirmed whether or not an e-book is actually similar to a webnovel, he has feeling that he's on the right track.

It feels better to have some semblance of knowledge about what he's about to do on the behalf of a stranger whose body he'd transmigrated into.

Just as Ming'er was about to continue reading the file, the door opens to reveal Professor Williams.

"Ah, Yvonne, I'm so sorry about that," she apologizes, "Anyway, I hope you've refreshed your memory on the project!"

Ming'er grins at Professor Williams, this time slightly more convincing than the last time. After all, he wasn't completely lost anymore.

"So, Yvonne," Professor Williams hums as she settles back onto her seat and turns her laptop back towards her.

"Are you ready for your first task?"