Chapter 71: The Debt Collector
Yan Qin’s smile didn’t waver.
She had won over quite a few nobles these past few days. A commoner like Jian Yu wasn’t actually someone she would normally associate with.
She wouldn’t follow in Xu Jianjuan’s footsteps, mingling with the specially-enrolled students in a vain attempt to break down the class barrier between nobles and commoners.
’Even if a commoner could successfully Awaken, that commoner had better be me.’
"Weis Lan is a wonderful place. You should make more friends. You may not have seen me before, but I’ve seen you many times."
Yan Qin stared into her eyes. "Boys and girls think differently. It must be so boring always hanging around male classmates like Lin Yu and Shen Gu. Why not let me take you under my wing?"
Pei Yin sneered.
’She’s so two-faced. Does she think I’m... that *we’re* invisible? Stirring up trouble right in front of us.’
Pei Yin was furious. "Whether she’s juggling two guys or four, what business is it of yours? Even if she were juggling ten, there’d be no room for you on her boat!"
’I haven’t even gotten on board yet!’
’He hadn’t learned how to swear yet, otherwise he would’ve definitely let a few choice words fly.’
"I’m sorry, Chief Pei. I misspoke and caused a misunderstanding." Yan Qin was quick to apologize, her expression tight.
Her expression was one of innocent helplessness.
"I didn’t mean anything by it. I’ve just seen a lot of photos of Jian and Senior Lin Yu on the forums. And I often hear people say that Shen Gu and Jian are always whispering in class and seem very close."
A strange look came into Xi Yu’s eyes.
’His mind was filled with boats, boats, boats. Shen Gu and Lin Yu wanted to get on board.’
Ling Yanzhi nonchalantly lifted his gaze.
His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but after a moment’s hesitation, he decided to leave the choice to Jian Yu.
Yan Qin breathed a sigh of relief. "I know Shen Gu and Senior Lin Yu are both with the Chief, so it couldn’t be that kind of relationship. But boys aren’t as perceptive as girls. There are probably a lot of things you can’t communicate with them about."
Jian Yu looked up for a moment. "You’re very perceptive?"
"That’s what many people say." Yan Qin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Jian Yu’s tone was neutral. "A perceptive person would be particularly mindful of others’ emotional ups and downs."
Her eyelids drooped listlessly. "At least they wouldn’t force me to reject them a second time after I’d already refused once."
Yan Qin’s smile froze on her face.
"Is today some kind of special occasion?"
Duan Feiye, ever one to take the road less traveled, dropped in through the skylight.
His timing was delicate.
His gaze swept over the faces of everyone present. "What are you all doing here?"
Yan Qin hadn’t yet had a chance to compose her expression.
She stood frozen in front of Jian Yu, turning sideways to meet Duan Feiye’s surprised gaze.
"What are you doing here?"
It dawned on Pei Yin. "You didn’t ask her to come?"
"Hm?" Duan Feiye froze.
A rare look of confusion crossed his usually placid face.
Pei Yin said snidely, "So it seems she came knocking to collect a debt."
He raised his finger, then lowered it.
Finally, he clenched his fist and crooked his index finger. "She said you asked her here to assist with your research. The moment her blood was drawn, she got greedy and asked Ling Yanzhi for a special pass to the inner sector of Zone 3S."
Yan Qin’s face flushed red. ’So what if they curse me out? It’s not like it’ll actually hurt me.’
Duan Feiye didn’t press the issue. "You can go now."
Once Yan Qin had left, his gaze flickered to Jian Yu.
"Why did you bring her here?"
Ling Yanzhi put an arm around Jian Yu. "I brought my baby to see the doctor."
He lifted his chin. "Doctor Xiao Pei is usually swamped, but he happened to be free today, so we came over."
Pei Yin’s breathing grew ragged.
Duan Feiye gave him a strange look. "Why are you panting?"
"Huh? My nose is stuffy." Pei Yin rubbed his nose, drawing attention to the conspicuous red mole on the bridge of it.
Jian Yu glanced at it before lowering her head.
Before Yan Qin arrived, Pei Yin had had her try to switch between and channel several different emotions.
Her emotions weren’t intense, so she usually calmed down easily.
The smoke in the research lab had long since dissipated.
But Pei Yin and the others couldn’t see it; they could only rely on their sense of smell.
His erratic breathing was a result of taking frequent, forceful, deep breaths.
Jian Yu realized they must have known when Duan Feiye was approaching Zone 5.
Their actions had been abnormal and rushed.
Xi Yu had helped her put the book from Pei Yin into her Space Ring.
Ling Yanzhi had also sent his Red Snake zipping around the lab, coiling around various paper reports and locking them in the main server cabinet.
It wasn’t moving fast; she saw it all clearly.
The strange thing was, Yan Qin didn’t seem to see any of it.
Even though several projections of the Red Snake flew over her head and slithered past her feet, Yan Qin hadn’t sensed a thing.
Duan Feiye confidently walked over to the Incubation Chamber. "An A-level ling beast. This is what hatched from that egg at the Imperial City auction? It hatched rather quickly."
A-level eggs are rare, and ling beasts are even more so.
Pei Yin said smugly, "Guess they have a good eye after all. They didn’t buy a fake. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to hatch it, no matter how much time you gave me."
Duan Feiye remembered why he had come. "Does it have an owner yet? Which Half-awakened are you planning to have Contract with it?"
No one spoke.
Seeing that they were all looking at her, Jian Yu timidly raised her hand. "Me."
Xi Yu grabbed her hand and suckled her fingertips.
"..."
Duan Feiye walked over, his steps light, exuding an aura of calm composure.
His gaze was somewhat detached. "Do you have any plans to sell it?"
Xi Yu shot him a sideways glance. His neurotic expression faded, replaced by a vicious glint in his eyes. "Say another word and I’ll sell *you*."
"My apologies. Pretend I never asked." Duan Feiye shrugged, his demeanor nonchalant.
He kept an eye on Jian Yu while making small talk with Pei Yin.
"You mentioned before, how many Star Coins did Xi Yu and his group spend on this at the auction?"
Pei Yin frowned. "10.7 billion. Your memory’s getting worse. Want me to check and see if your brain is degenerating?"
"Thank you for your concern. I’m fine."
Duan Feiye calmly glanced at Jian Yu’s sparkling eyes.
He politely posed another question. "Little Pei, what were the odds of a commoner successfully Contracting with an Alien Beast again?"
Pei Yin looked at him as if he’d lost his mind and blurted out, "Infinitesimally close to zero, but not zero."
As soon as he said it, he frowned and avoided Jian Yu’s gaze. "There have been successful cases."
"Yes. Only a handful of cases in the entire interstellar community." The corners of Duan Feiye’s lips curled into a faint smile.
Pei Yin snapped back to reality and slammed a fist on his shoulder. "Stop beating around the bush! Do you think I’m an idiot?"
Jian Yu pressed her lips together. ’He is a little dense,’ she thought.
’At first, I’d thought they were just putting on an act together.’
Xi Yu scooted closer. "Don’t be sad, baby. If it fails, I’ll let Yang Zhang be your Contracted Beast."
The little black octopus crawled up her arm.
Having seen it for so long, Jian Yu was actually becoming a bit immune to it.
She opened her hand.
Yang Zhang nestled in the center of her palm.
Perhaps knowing which part of itself she feared, it tucked in its eight tentacles, making its head look comically large.
Jian Yu poked it with her finger.
Inky-black.
Ling Yanzhi chuckled. "Butt-ugly."
The Red Snake shrank, shifting into its red form and coiling around Jian Yu’s wrist.
From a distance, it looked like a red jade bracelet adorned with butterfly wings.
Jian Yu froze.
’I’m not afraid of dying, because death means I can return to my original world.’
’But if I’m not even afraid of death, is it a bit pathetic to be afraid of snakes?’
Her fingers twitched, and Jian Yu leaned back into Ling Yanzhi’s embrace, her eyes drooping listlessly.
Xi Yu comforted her, "Baby, your hatching affinity is high. It’ll definitely be fine."
Pei Yin didn’t know what had happened during Jian Yu’s class.
"The few previous successful cases all involved high hatching affinity. Shi Zhao from Emperor Source Star is one of them."
Ling Yanzhi leisurely chimed in, his pale pink lips moving as he spoke, "I never doubt my baby’s abilities. If the Contract fails, it will only be because there was a flaw in my plan, preventing my baby from showing her true potential."
The tips of Jian Yu’s ears turned red.
’What is he even saying? God, he’s so handsome!’
’That was what I thought too, but hearing it from someone else’s mouth still felt a bit strange.’