Chapter 104: Come Back, Don’t Run Around
"I need to talk to you."
’Male, about six feet tall, black school uniform, yellow brooch.’
’Name unknown, hostile gaze.’
’No visible weapons.’
’Not an Awakener.’
Jian Yu had considered many possibilities.
She had taken three days off and missed the last quiz.
And right at this moment, the spot for the research project had fallen into her lap.
’Would someone come looking for trouble, thinking she got in through the back door and was just taking up a spot without doing any work?’
Before two other theories could even form in her mind, the person in front of her spoke again.
"My name is Guan Dan. Xie Li is my aunt."
He blocked her path. "Please give me two minutes. This is important for you, too."
Jian Yu silently sat back down.
’Abandoning her own daughter, then turning around to adopt Qin Xianzhao to solidify her position as Mrs. Qin.’
Jian Yu had heard the name Xie Li from Ling Yanzhi once or twice.
Afterward, once it was confirmed that it had nothing to do with her, the name was never brought up again.
She never expected to hear that name from someone else today.
"I’m sorry, but I don’t know the Xie Li you’re talking about."
Guan Dan spoke quickly, his eyes filled with urgency. "She’s not just my aunt, she’s also the one who gave birth to you. You are her biological daughter."
He glanced at the door.
"The leaders won’t let anyone get near you, and they won’t let the Qin Family talk to you either. My aunt had no other choice, so she asked me to come tell you."
Jian Yu stared at him for a moment, observing.
’Can’t tell if he’s being used as a pawn, trying to use this opportunity to climb the ladder, or if he’s genuinely just being kind.’
’Tentatively harmless. Suspected of trying to sow discord.’
’Too lazy to analyze.’
Jian Yu lowered her gaze. "They won’t let you people get close to me, and yet Xie Li still chose to have you come find me."
She looked up, her expression innocent. "What does your aunt take you for?"
"Looks like you already knew, huh?" Seeing her lack of surprise, Guan Dan snorted coldly.
His posture was a little awkward. He wasn’t a big shot, but he was trying hard to put on the airs of one.
"You have a dirty mind, so you see everything as dirty. My aunt didn’t abandon you on purpose. Why do you have to think so badly of her?"
"You don’t actually think they’ll treat you well for the rest of your life, do you? So you think it doesn’t matter whether you acknowledge your family or not?"
"Even if an ordinary person has a strong incubation ability, you still need someone to back you up. The leaders are high-status and powerful. They’re not in the same class as you. Acknowledging your family means they can support you. What’s so bad about that?"
Jian Yu gave him a strange look.
"I know lineage is a big deal these days, but have you never even heard of a paternity test?"
Guan Dan froze. "What do you mean by that?"
"It means I have no connection to your Xie Family, and I have no connection to the Qin Family either."
Her fingers clenched under the table. With a cold expression, Jian Yu’s mouth ran a mile a minute.
"You yourself said they’re powerful, but the Qin Family’s influence is average. What kind of backing can they give me? Do you think the Qin Family can compare to the families of the leaders?"
"You’re blind, so you can’t see anything straight. I don’t even look like anyone from their family. You don’t even have a paternity test, yet you run over here telling me to acknowledge them, babbling about whether my mind is dirty or not. It’s ridiculous."
’He gave me a scare. I thought he was about to get physical.’
Lin Yu came over to deliver her meal and was rather surprised to see her telling someone off with that face of hers.
He bent down, arranged the food for her himself, and skillfully adopted a gentle tone. "Jian, why don’t you eat first? I’ll take care of this person."
Before Guan Dan could even react, he was flanked by a few people and escorted out.
’How is this completely different from what Qin Xianzhao said? How is she soft, cute, and easy to trick?’
A wave of panic washed over him.
He didn’t know if the bright future Qin Xianzhao had promised him still existed, but he probably wouldn’t be able to stay in Class 3 anymore.
Sure enough, he soon received a notice of class transfer.
Despair.
Class 1 was considered a semi-special admissions class. The resources used to be average, so transferring wouldn’t have been a big deal.
But now, because of Jian Yu, it had become the class with the best provisions in every aspect.
’It would have been so much better to just lie low until graduation!’
’Damn that Qin Xianzhao!’
「District 3.」
Jian Yu followed Lin Yu into the academic lecture hall.
He led her to a seat in the third row.
The location was neither too far forward nor too far back—relatively speaking, it was perfect for her.
Lin Yu bent down slightly. "It’s crowded at the sign-in desk, so I’ll sign in for you later. When the meeting is over, don’t rush off. I’ll have someone take you back."
Jian Yu sat down. "Thank you, senior."
"Don’t mention it. I’m going to get busy now. Contact me on your Star Brain if you need anything." Lin Yu twisted open a water bottle, put the cap back on loosely, and handed it to her.
People gradually filled the hall. After sitting for a while, Jian Yu felt a bit thirsty and tried to twist the cap of the water bottle.
Good grief. It probably wasn’t that tight to begin with, but Lin Yu had screwed it on ridiculously tight.
Holding her breath, she finally managed to open it with some effort. Just as she did, she realized someone was standing in front of her.
"Need some help?"
Long legs were encased in uniform trousers. The all-white uniform was accented with a few blue ribbons.
The voice was pleasant and deep. Following the legs upward, Jian Yu lifted her head, her gaze meeting Sheng Yue’s ice-blue eyes.
She shook her head hesitantly. "I can manage."
Yin Jiu was tossed onto the desk by Sheng Yue.
That’s right, tossed.
Very quickly.
But Jian Yu saw it.
Before she could figure out what was going on, she saw Sheng Yue frown and call out, "Come back. Don’t run around."
Yin Jiu tilted its head up, its fluffy cheeks showing a flash of confusion. "???"
Jian Yu rarely felt secondhand embarrassment for others.
She looked at Yin Jiu, then at Sheng Yue.
Yin Jiu belatedly twitched its ears.
It slumped limply on the desktop, its gaze wandering, and flicked its tail at Jian Yu twice.
"Sorry," Sheng Yue said, pressing his lips together.
He spoke again, his tone polite yet distant. "I might have to trouble you to look after it for me for a bit."
Jian Yu’s fingers curled. "Okay."
The two of them sat down in their respective seats, an aisle between them.
Yin Jiu closed its eyes, pretending to sleep.
Jian Yu’s hands itched just looking at it.
After a moment’s hesitation, she placed her hand nearby, about half an arm’s length away from it.
’Masters and Soul Beasts share sensations. I can pet a cat, but I can’t just pet someone else’s Soul Beast.’
’After Sheng Yue kissed me that one time, there was no follow-up. Maybe he regretted it.’
’These guys are really strange.’
’Their affection came on too quickly, making it impossible to see what they were thinking.’
’Ling Yanzhi could barely be considered love at first sight, but his every move is calculated.’
’Xi Yu just mindlessly calls me ’baby’.
’Sheng Yue is hot and cold.’
’Pei Yin is mostly just playing around. It was likely an impulse, a fear of being left behind, maybe mixed with a bit of lust and curiosity.’
’But mostly, it was the attitudes of Xi Yu and the others that made Pei Yin subconsciously see her through a filter of perfection.’
Jian Yu rubbed the veins on her wrist. ’My golden finger... it can’t actually bewitch people, can it?’
’Something like a Mary Sue aura?’
’Doesn’t seem like it.’
’At least, not Ling Yanzhi.’
The professor’s voice sounded from the stage.
Jian Yu lifted her eyes.
Yin Jiu suddenly rolled over.
Her fingers brushed against a patch of soft fur.
Its fluffy tail swept across her wrist.
As if frozen, neither dared to move.
Jian Yu flinched her fingers back slightly.
She glanced at Sheng Yue out of the corner of her eye.
The man’s expression was one of restraint. His blue eyes narrowed slightly, his long neck tilted back, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slowly.
His fingers moved to his chest, then upward, and he abruptly undid the top two buttons of his uniform, revealing a sliver of his delicate, pale collarbone.
The ascetic air was tinged with sensuality, tempting one to fall.