Jiang You returned to the villa.
Yu Lin and the others immediately sent messages asking how she was doing.
Jiang You gave a simple reply, saying she was fine and already home.
Only then did Yu Lin and her friends stop their message bombing.
However, Yang Qi kept sending her messages to apologize.
Yang Qi: Sister You, I’m so sorry. Did our uncle chew you out? Are you really okay?
Yang Qi: I didn’t get a clear grasp of the situation this time. Next time, I’ll definitely organize a more private and secure auction.
Yang Qi: Sister You, please reply. Please, please reply.
When Jiang You saw the first message, the corner of her mouth twitched. ’My uncle is *my* uncle. When did he become *our* uncle?’
Jiang You: I’m fine. Send one more message and I’m blocking you.
After seeing that, Yang Qi finally stopped the message bombing. He just sent one cautious reply: Then, Sister You, get a good rest tonight.
Jiang You didn’t reply again.
She switched to her chat with Teacher Zhou, having gotten used to sharing her life with him.
Jiang You: Today was the worst. I ended up at the police station, and my uncle even caught me there.
Teacher Zhou: What happened? Are you okay?
Jiang You: It was nothing major. I’m fine. I just went through the motions and got out.
Jiang You usually didn’t reveal too much personal information, and Teacher Zhou, for his part, knew not to press further when she didn’t answer. He was very tactful.
Jiang You: Teacher Zhou, what are you up to right now?
Teacher Zhou: Working my part-time job.
Jiang You: That’s tough. Make sure you get a good rest after you’re done.
Teacher Zhou: Mm, you too.
Jiang You: Eating this today! [Image]
Teacher Zhou: Looks delicious.
Teacher Zhou: [Image] I’m eating this.
Jiang You: That looks so good! I want some too!
Teacher Zhou: I can order it for you right now.
Jiang You: No need! This is enough for me tonight. But next time I’m craving it, you can’t say no, Teacher Zhou!
Teacher Zhou: Okay, I’ll remember that.
Jiang You’s lips curled into a smile when she saw his message.
After chatting for a bit, she put down her terminal and started to eat.
On the other side, Zhou Yu was at his part-time job at a supermarket. He had been unloading cargo but stopped when he received Jiang You’s message. He wore a black baseball cap, its brim pulled low. The light cast stark shadows across his face, and beneath the dark hair, his gloomy eyes, shrouded by the cap’s shadow, seemed to thicken with a cloying affection.
The light illuminated the area below his high-bridged nose.
His lips were a vivid red, their corners gently turned up in a smile.
The next day, Jiang You still had class and also had to do her tasks.
She deduced that the system would probably start issuing tasks around this time.
And indeed, Shen Lan didn’t come to class that day.
Jiang You didn’t pay it much mind.
"Sister You, quick, look! Did you get a notification?" Yu Lin turned her head to look at Jiang You.
"What notification?" Jiang You asked.
"God Xi’s research group has been finalized! Everyone who applied and was selected will receive a notification," Lin Xue explained to Jiang You, subconsciously pulling out her own terminal to check.
"Hey, I’ll check too and see if I got a notification," Chen Yu said, also lifting her terminal to look.
As the news spread, a small commotion rippled through the classroom. Many students subconsciously raised their wrist terminals, tapping them open with a mix of hope and anxiety to see if they had received a message.
Watching them, Jiang You felt neither excitement nor anxiety.
’I already know the outcome,’ she thought. ’There’s really nothing to look forward to.’
’I’m definitely going to be rejected.’
"I didn’t get one," Yu Lin sighed.
"Me neither," Chen Yu chimed in. She wasn’t too upset, though. After all, she had only applied on a whim and had no real interest in the research project; she just wanted to pad her overall score.
"Same here." Lin Xue, however, sounded a little disappointed.
Jiang You had a good grasp of her three followers’ personalities. Yu Lin and Chen Yu weren’t particularly ambitious, while Lin Xue had aspirations and was also a bit smarter than the other two.
It wasn’t just Yu Lin and her friends; sighs of disappointment could be heard from other students throughout the class.
’Could it be that not a single person in the entire class was selected?’
"Sister You, did you get one?" Yu Lin and the others asked, looking at Jiang You cautiously.
Jiang You wasn’t particularly interested. In the original story, she wasn’t selected.
Her thoughts paused on that. ’Could this time be different from the plot?’
With this in mind, she finally raised her terminal, intending to check.
An indignant cry rang out.
"Ah! On what grounds? How did *you* get a notification!" a girl yelled, snatching Zhou Yan’s terminal. She glared at Zhou Yan furiously. "I wasn’t even selected! You’re just a special admission student, what right do you have to be chosen!"
The commotion drew Jiang You’s gaze.
Zhou Yan snatched her terminal back. "If you have a problem, you can go ask God Xi yourself."
"Did you cheat!" The girl kicked Zhou Yan’s chair.
Zhou Yan shot to her feet. "God Xi made the selections personally. Are you saying *he’s* the one who cheated?!"
"I—I never said that!" The girl obviously didn’t dare to offend Xi Cheng. "You’re slandering me!"
Jiang You watched the farce unfold, unsurprised that the female lead had received a notification. That’s how it was written in the novel.
The girl got into a shouting match with the female lead, and the female lead won.
The girl left in a huff, and from the look in her eyes, she was definitely going to cause trouble for the female lead later.
Jiang You noticed that Zhou Yan’s aura had grown sharper. ’Clearing a Secret Realm really does make a difference,’ she thought. ’And she even evolved her soul beast to have both healing and combat abilities. Of course she’d be different.’
’She’s a protagonist who’s designed to grow.’
"She must’ve stepped in dog shit to get that lucky. Can’t believe she was actually selected," came Chen Yu’s sour remark from in front of her.
But she quickly turned to look at Jiang You. "Sister You, what about you? Did you get one?"
Yu Lin and Lin Xue also squeezed over to see.
Jiang You lifted her wrist and tapped open her terminal, preparing to put on a grim face and say she hadn’t been selected either.
She tapped it open. "I..." ’...wasn’t selected either.’
There was a message.
Jiang You’s voice died in her throat. ’It’s probably just spam.’
She tapped it again. "I..." ’...wasn’t selected either.’
Dear Student Jiang You:
Congratulations on your successful admission into the Beast Soul Research Project’s Research Group 1. Please attend a meeting tonight at 19:00 in Research Building, Room 602.
Beast Soul Research Group [Golden Rose Seal]
Jiang You was utterly speechless. The message bore a special Golden Rose Seal, which was impossible to imitate.
’I... was selected? I was selected?’
"Sister You, you were selected!" her three followers exclaimed excitedly.
"That’s amazing, Sister You! I heard God Xi is super strict. You’re so incredible for getting picked!" Chen Yu added, sucking up to her.
"Yeah, God Xi is really serious about his research. He wouldn’t just pick someone randomly," Lin Xue said, her voice a mix of envy and excitement.
Jiang You’s mind went adrift. She reread the message several times.
’Ah, applying just meant sending in your information and resume. Any discerning person could see that while my resume lists a lot of research projects, I was never a primary initiator. They should know how much I padded it.’