Chapter 55: I Think It’s You Who Likes Her
On the forums, the video Lin Yu had posted hadn’t even cooled down when rumors of a "Primordial Beast invasion" started stirring up another storm.
[Is it really a Primordial Beast? Couldn’t it just be a regular Poisonous Beast?]
[There is! I advise regular people not to stick their necks out. You’ll get insta-killed if you do. I saw Chief Duan lead a team to investigate with my own two eyes.]
[I’ve never seen a Primordial Beast. Aren’t they supposed to keep to themselves and us to ours? Why would one come into human territory and attack Xuzhou?]
[The academy’s announcement is out. How sanctimonious. Since when has the school ever given a damn about bullying?]
Weis Lan Noble Academy Announcement
To all faculty and students:
Following an investigation, it has been determined that Teacher Xuzhou and student Xu Shaoqing colluded to bully other students. The offense is severe, and both individuals are hereby expelled.
Furthermore, we would like to clarify: After the two met privately off-campus, Xuzhou was attacked by a Super A-level Alien Beast. The online rumor of a "Primordial Beast attack" is false. We urge you not to believe or spread this misinformation.
The Weis Lan Noble Academy Board of Directors
Interstellar Calendar Year 3072, October 15.
Jian Yu finally let out a sigh of relief after reading the announcement.
The first thing she did was reward herself by reading a thread full of praise.
Title: What’s the deal with the special admission student who’s always with the Chief?
[A cold-faced cutie. I saw her in one of the general-ed classes. Everyone was saying her green dress was pretty, but I didn’t really get the hype. But seeing her in pinks and blues these last few days... they suit her perfectly. The more I see her, the better she looks.]
[Her beauty is distinctive; you don’t immediately forget her face after seeing her. A lot of people have great photos and amazing bodies, but I can never remember what they look like afterward.]
[Such pure, innocent beauty. This angle is adorable. She’s just so pleasant to look at.]
Jian Yu rolled over onto her stomach, her face blushing as she lay on the bed.
[The transfer from your Alliance Star Coin Card ending in 1952, made to XXX on October 6, has been returned. Amount credited: Fifty million Star Coins.]
She quickly sat up and sent Xu Jianjuan a message.
At that same moment, Xu Jianjuan had also just finished reading the announcement.
She switched back to her bookmarked threads and, as if possessed, clicked on Lin Yu’s video again and again.
’To think that in this new life, Xu Shaoqing would be driven out of Weis Lan Academy so early.’
A message popped up on her Star Brain.
Jian Yu: Why did you send it back to me?
Xu Jianjuan: It was more than enough. Don’t send any more.
Xu Jianjuan stared at the message, her expression complex.
’This fool probably only knows how to thank people by wiring them money,’ she suspected.
Lin Yu had sought her out after that day.
She hadn’t held back with him. After receiving a huge sum of money, she also demanded an invitation to the Elite Beast Taming Challenge.
The next day, the first-year medicine labs were opened to her completely.
The third day, a set of high-precision pharmaceutical instruments appeared in her personal research lab.
Xu Jianjuan understood this was all Ling Yanzhi’s doing.
She knew his type. Once he took a liking to someone, he would shower them with endless benefits.
It wasn’t like with Sheng Yue and the others. No matter how much she did for them, she wouldn’t even get a second glance.
Jian Yu: Thank you so much, really.
Staring at the new message, Xu Jianjuan felt as if she were clutching a life-saving straw, unable to look away.
Jian Yu had already said those two words, "thank you," six times now.
In her previous life, Xu Jianjuan had heard "thank you" countless times, but never with such genuine sincerity as Jian Yu’s.
Even when she gave her all to everyone, they only ever gave her hypocrisy in return.
No one cared whether she was in pain, and no one cared if she got hurt. All those people knew was how to take and take from her, endlessly.
Duan Feiye always said she had terrible judgment, that she only ever helped worthless people.
Xi Yu would scold her for keeping those people around, saying they were rotten to the core and reeked of filth.
Every time Ling Yanzhi so much as glanced at her, he would let out a small, derisive laugh.
Pei Yin would threaten her from time to time.
One by one, they turned on her, until at the end, even Sheng Yue couldn’t stand the sight of her.
They criticized her from their high horses, until one day, when they couldn’t take it anymore, they dragged her to a secluded part of the city and locked her away.
The place was filled with strange equipment. All she could do every day was read, research medicinal herbs, and concoct new medicines...
She was locked up for decades, and died without ever getting out.
’No, that’s not how it was supposed to be.’
There was a gap in her memory.
Xu Jianjuan’s eyes were vacant. She swallowed hard, again and again, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists.
She clearly remembered being locked up until she breathed her last, but she...
"Why did they lock me up?"
Her body shot backward, her spine pressing hard against the cold wall.
Xu Jianjuan crouched down, clutching her head in her hands.
Her eyes swirled with terror, resentment, confusion, and a barely perceptible trace of madness.
Voices echoed in her ears, all of them cursing her.
’Stupid. Incompetent. Megalomaniac. Uncouth. You shouldn’t have been so ambitious. As if you were ever worthy.’
Her fingernails dug into her palms again and again, until thin lines of blood began to well up.
Xu Jianjuan slowly raised her head, a lingering darkness clouding her eyes.
She had forgotten.
But Yan Qin might know.
’She fought tooth and nail to squeeze into the upper echelon, building up her own hype the moment she arrived, desperate to take my place.’
’She even came to probe me a couple of days ago. It’s obvious she was reincarnated too.’
’Compared to Jian Yu, Yan Qin is more like a stand-in for my past self.’
’Just as stupid as I was.’
Jian Yu: If you ever need anything, just ask! I’ll definitely help if I can. Let me know what you want, okay? You should take advantage while I still have some pull with them.
The long message was a mixture of earnest and playful.
The characters leaped into view, shimmering with a faint light.
Xu Jianjuan calmed herself and replied with a simple "Okay."
She raised a hand to her own cheek. Her eyes were numb, but her lips stretched into a stiff smile.
’Some pull? They’re head over heels for her.’
’I was the one who overthought things before. Without that medicine, Sheng Yue and the others would have never even noticed me.’
’So, the person who drank the medicine from Duan Feiye’s hand wasn’t Jian Yu... it was Yan Qin?’
She mulled over Jian Yu’s message again.
Xu Jianjuan let out a gleeful laugh.
’The men are interested, but the woman feels nothing.’
’So they get to have a taste of their own medicine.’
「Zone 5」
"Your lab seems to have gotten bigger," Duan Feiye remarked, strolling in.
His eyes surveyed the area.
Pei Yin frowned. "What are you doing here?"
’I’ve had to spread the test subjects out over several floors. Of course it’s bigger,’ he grumbled to himself.
"All of Zone Five is mine. I can make it as big as I want."
"Whatever makes you happy." Duan Feiye tapped his fingers on the edge of the lab bench and raised an eyebrow. "Care for a chat?"
Leaning back in his chair, Pei Yin cradled his head in his hands.
"What is it now? Did that special admission student ask you for something else? You need to know when to stop. I’ll admit she has significant research value, but her appetite is getting a little too big."
He shot a sideways glance. "What’s gotten into her? Does she really have to live in your villa? It’s like she’s trying to match someone else’s treatment, perk for perk. Oh, don’t tell me she’s comparing herself to the ’baby’... Xi Yu and the others’ precious ’baby’?"
’What a load of crap.’
A strange look came over Duan Feiye’s face.
Pei Yin’s brow furrowed. "Don’t tell me she wants to live at my place, too."
He sat up with a clatter of metallic sounds.
"I’m telling you, Duan Feiye, forget a guest room—I wouldn’t even have space for her in my living room. If she dares to ask, you can tell her to go jump in the Bei River and snap out of it."
Duan Feiye simply raised an eyebrow, not pursuing the topic.
"Is Jian Yu special in some way?"
’Oh, so that’s what this is about?’ Pei Yin stretched out his long legs, sinking gracefully back into his reclined position.
Words rolled off his tongue effortlessly. "Special? You’ve got two different guys calling her ’baby.’ It’s bizarre as hell. How could she not be special?"
Duan Feiye couldn’t read his tone. After a moment of silence, he nonchalantly goaded him, "Do you like Jian Yu, too?"
Pei Yin instantly bristled.
He dropped the pose, leaping to his feet. "Are you kidding me? Me, like her? I think you’re the one who likes her!"
Duan Feiye stared intently into his eyes. "True. We’re all adults now. Snatching things from each other as kids was one thing, but we wouldn’t be so classless as to go after a friend’s girl."
"Don’t be so sure about that. What if one day you decide you want to steal her away?" Pei Yin’s face flushed, then paled.
Duan Feiye’s expression was teasing. "I don’t know about you, but I know I won’t."