Chapter 70: Auspicious with Minor Peril
Three pairs of eyes stared straight at her.
Xi Yu drained the last of his milk tea. It was sickeningly sweet. "Baby, pick one?"
Jian Yu swallowed hard.
She couldn’t tell if she was stunned by how handsome they were or just mourning the milk tea she’d barely touched.
She suggested tentatively, "Can’t we just stick to our own terms?"
"Whatever my baby says." Xi Yu still couldn’t hold back. He reached out, grabbed Jian Yu by her calves, and lifted her legs onto his lap.
He dutifully began to massage her legs.
Pei Yin found the scene dull. He started taking off his white lab coat. "Go back, study, and practice on your own. If you run into any problems, you can ask them for help."
Ling Yanzhi tapped the back of Jian Yu’s hand, giving a quiet, frustrated laugh.
’He knew Xi Yu wouldn’t keep his promise, but he hadn’t expected him to break it so quickly.’
’He couldn’t even last half a day.’
"Yan Qin wants to come in," Pei Yin suddenly said, by way of a warning.
Xi Yu didn’t react.
Ling Yanzhi shrugged. "You decide."
Not wanting the research to be abandoned midway, Pei Yin considered for a moment. Figuring it might be urgent, he decided to let her in.
Jian Yu had never seen Yan Qin in person.
They kept a tight watch on her, never letting her wander off, and had even forcibly disabled her ability to join temporary group chats.
Yan Qin had tried to add her as a friend through the school’s group chat, but Jian Yu hadn’t accepted. She didn’t dare initiate contact, either.
’A transfer student who never existed in the original story had replaced the female protagonist and was now living in Duan Feiye’s private territory.’
’It was hard to say where the future was headed now.’
Under the watchful eyes of numerous students, Yan Qin stepped into Zone Five, her passage unimpeded.
The moment the door opened, Jian Yu saw the composed, subtly arrogant expression on her face.
"Chief Ling, Chairman Xi, Chief Pei."
Yan Qin knew Jian Yu was here.
She despised any woman who tried to climb the social ladder by latching onto powerful men.
Even though these men were adored across interstellar space, specially groomed by the Alliance, and held the highest privileges, she remained disdainful.
After a quick glance at Jian Yu’s red-rimmed eyes and nose, Yan Qin immediately looked away.
She stood with her back perfectly straight and repeated the same line: "Chief Duan sent me to assist with the research."
Pei Yin couldn’t stand her holier-than-thou attitude. "I set the appointment for eight to eleven in the morning. Don’t change it without permission."
Xi Yu and the others were deliberately backing Jian Yu up. Even if no one discovered their whereabouts, they would have Lin Yu and his men proactively leak the information.
He had told Yan Qin that when he had company, she was not to disturb them, no matter what.
Pei Yin didn’t look up, methodically organizing the medicine on the lab bench. "I’m only available during that time slot. Do this again, and don’t blame me for throwing you out."
Jian Yu found herself breathing more quietly.
’It feels like I’ve walked into some chaotic scene.’
"Understood, Chief Pei." Yan Qin’s expression was grim; she couldn’t shake the feeling that Jian Yu was gloating at her expense.
She shot a glance over.
Her eyes met Ling Yanzhi’s as he lazily looked up, and she quickly lowered her head again.
Pei Yin approached with a syringe.
The physiology of Awakeners and the Half-awakened is vastly different from that of ordinary people.
The parameters of most advanced medical instruments were calibrated for ordinary human physiology and didn’t match their biometrics.
For the time being, they had to rely on traditional blood collection methods.
"Isn’t she leaving?" Yan Qin clutched her arm and glanced at Jian Yu.
’She wants privacy. I get it.’ Jian Yu tried to stand up, but Ling Yanzhi’s arm pressed her back down.
Ling Yanzhi wasn’t particularly bothered by the ambition Yan Qin displayed.
"She doesn’t have to."
’Weis Lan is too big; I can’t be bothered to make another trip.’
’Since Pei Yin said Yan Qin’s case is similar, I’ll just wait for the research results and compare them then.’
After her blood was drawn, Yan Qin sat down to the side.
Her head was bowed, her expression unreadable. "I want access rights to the inner region of Zone 3S."
That was an area only Xi Yu and Ling Yanzhi could enter.
Duan Feiye’s privileges only granted her access to the outer sectors.
Jian Yu blinked, stunned.
’She’s making demands right away?’
’She’s even bolder than the original protagonist.’
Xi Yu leaned over to get a closer look at her dazed expression. "Cute, baby."
Yan Qin sneered inwardly. ’Men’s sweet talk is worthless. It’s much better to ask for tangible benefits.’
’Aren’t actual resources more valuable than them calling you ’baby’ a few times?’
’The inner region of Zone 3S? What was in there again?’ Xi Yu couldn’t recall.
He only remembered that it contained a lot of expert notes on the incubation major and Genetic Potions. It was also the place he usually went to nap, and no one dared to get close.
Pei Yin reminded him, "She’s in Incubation, Class 3."
He turned on a secondary console and focused on his research.
Jian Yu froze. ’She’s in the same major as me?’
The information on the forums was a mess, and very few people had mentioned it.
’She’d thought Yan Qin was a pharmaceutics major, just like the original protagonist.’
Ling Yanzhi granted Yan Qin the privilege. "Three days."
"Understood. I’ll remember that." Yan Qin lowered her head, her mind racing.
’Three days. That’s it?’
’How am I any worse than Xu Jianjuan?’
’The difference, most likely, was Jian Yu standing in the way.’
’I thought drinking that medicine would secure my position. But in the end, the treatment I should have gotten was snatched away by someone else.’
In her previous life, she had died rather early. All she remembered was overhearing a conversation between Xu Jianjuan and her friends at an inter-school mixer.
’Xu Jianjuan... what a dazzling figure she was. The center of everyone’s universe, with more resources than she knew what to do with.’
’Once she caught their eye, she had all the power and status she could ever want.’
’Unfortunately, she was saddled with friends who did nothing but hold her back.’
While hiding from some nobles’ game of cat and mouse, Yan Qin had slipped into a medicine room.
’She clearly heard Xu Jianjuan say that she’d only gotten her current status because she’d drunk some kind of medicine, so she couldn’t agree to her friend’s request.’
’Even if she did agree, she couldn’t guarantee it would work.’
’But despite saying that, the next moment, Yan Qin saw Xu Jianjuan go before Duan Feiye and the others to plead for that same friend and ask them for something.’
’Soft-hearted, impulsive, naive, and easy to fool.’
’That was Yan Qin’s impression of her, formed after learning that she’d been backstabbed by that very friend.’
"My baby is an incubation major, too." Xi Yu’s voice cut through Yan Qin’s thoughts.
She heard him say in a fawning tone, "The incubation notes... I’ll have someone send them over for my baby."
Alarm bells went off in Jian Yu’s head, and she quickly refused. "I don’t want them. I don’t want to read them. Ask me again after I’ve finished my textbooks."
Xi Yu’s heart ached for her. "My poor baby, working so hard. You have to read so many books."
Yan Qin’s eyes instantly turned cold.
’If it happens once, it’ll happen again.’
Unlike Xu Jianjuan, who held privileges from seven chiefs and had free rein of the villa...
She only had Duan Feiye by her side.
She didn’t want to get involved in their little love affairs, but Jian Yu’s presence was clearly becoming an obstacle.
It was interfering with her exclusive privileges and might even derail her upcoming plans.
"No significant changes. Come back in a week." Pei Yin rubbed his forehead wearily.
Yan Qin’s gaze was intense.
’She didn’t know when these men would lose interest in Jian Yu, but she hoped she could speed up the process.’
Jian Yu frowned. "Why are you looking at me?"
’The familiar words, once again.’
Yan Qin gave a friendly smile. "You’re very pretty. I’d like to be friends with you."
"Sorry, I’m not interested." Jian Yu had a sharp instinct for danger and always managed to make the choice that benefited her most.
’Even with Xuzhou, her judgment hadn’t actually been wrong. She had just been seeing him through the idealized filter of a ’teacher,’ which lowered her guard and made her realize the truth a little too late.’
’The original protagonist: mostly good fortune, with a hint of misfortune.’
’Yan Qin: gravely dangerous.’