Chapter 08: The Top Scholar

Ming Can felt a wave of exasperation wash over her—

If he couldn’t even afford to go to the swimming pool, could it be that the Chi family had gone bankrupt after more than a decade?

Fortunately, Miaomiao mentioned that the two of them didn’t live together, which meant that their marriage was most likely not ongoing, and the child belonged solely to her. Therefore, whether the Chi family went bankrupt or not had nothing to do with her.

Ming Miao’s round, grape-like eyes studied Ming Can intently. Her mother’s expression was complicated, as if she had a lot on her mind. However, his superpower only worked when his mother spoke. If she remained silent, he couldn’t translate anything.

At that moment, the system’s voice echoed in his mind: [Host, it has been detected that your use of superpowers has consumed too much energy. If you don’t want to fall asleep in class and get punished, it is recommended that you deactivate the ability.]

“Okay, Uncle 33.”

Ming Miao yawned and lowered his head to shovel a few more bites of breakfast into his mouth to replenish his energy.

Ming Can stewed in her irritation for a while but soon adjusted her mood, pushing all thoughts about Miaomiao’s father to the back of her mind and deciding not to inquire further.

After finishing the meal, Ming Can picked up the exquisitely wrapped birthday gift box from the corner of the table and gave it a gentle shake. A muffled, soft clattering sound came from inside.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that this gift was somewhat unreliable and couldn’t help but ask Miaomiao again, “Are you sure Zihao will like this?”

Inside the box were several fluffy, wearable animal tails—cat, fox, raccoon, and more…

A while ago, Miaomiao had taken Uncle System’s advice and chosen a classmate to practice his superpowers on, and that classmate was Zhao Zihao.

First-grade children had simple minds, and most of what they said came from the heart, leaving little to translate. That was until one day when the class went on a trip to the school zoo. Several raccoons were fighting inside the enclosure, with dead branches, rotten leaves, and clumps of feces flying everywhere. The classmates gathered around, cheering and shouting, while Zhao Zihao stood in the middle with a cold expression, muttering disdainfully, “So gross!”

Only Miaomiao heard his true thoughts:

“The tails… ahhh… such plump, striped tails, why don’t I have one… sob, Mom, I want one too…”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ming Miao stood on his tiptoes and took the gift box from Ming Can’s hands. With a determined look in his eyes, he nodded firmly. “I’m sure!”

–

In the afternoon, after school.

The autumn wind weaved through the long campus pathways, as ginkgo trees shed golden leaves that fluttered down to the feet of hurried students.

Ming Can and Xu Jiayun left through the east gate of University B, crossed a street, and entered the west gate of University A, heading toward the technology park. They met Rui Yiqing at the entrance of the technology park.

“So many people?” Xu Jiayun looked around, noticing groups of students streaming in, almost all heading toward the lecture hall in the technology park.

Rui Yiqing: “Don’t just stand there, let’s hurry in.”

Ming Can walked beside her, feeling uneasy until she saw someone checking tickets at the entrance of the lecture hall. She tugged at Rui Yiqing and asked, “Where are our tickets?”

“What tickets?” Rui Yiqing suddenly realized, “Oh, you mean the lecture tickets? We don’t have any.”

Ming Can: ?

Rui Yiqing: “By the time you said you wanted to attend the lecture, it was already too late to get tickets!”

Ming Can was speechless: “…Then how are we supposed to get in?”

“We’ll just walk in,” Rui Yiqing said, pulling her and Xu Jiayun to the entrance. She shrugged at the student checking tickets, who said nothing and simply let them in.

Once inside the lecture hall, Rui Yiqing explained, “Most of the tickets for this lecture were taken by faculty advisors and given to their graduate students. The rest went to the School of Information, and only a few were released for public booking. If you managed to grab one, you’re lucky and get a seat. If not, it’s fine—you just won’t have a seat. The lecture hall is huge, and as long as it doesn’t explode, anyone who wants to listen can come in.”

Ming Can: …

The three of them walked down the steps. Xu Jiayun looked around and asked Rui Yiqing where the seats for the School of Information students were.

Xu Jiayun never hid her youthful crushes, and Rui Yiqing, who already knew about it, eagerly helped her look.

“They should be over there,” Rui Yiqing pointed to the seats in the east section. “I see some familiar faces from the School of Information.”

Ming Can followed them to the east section.

The right side of the east section was an aisle, where several students without tickets had already staked out spots.

“Let’s stand here,” Xu Jiayun said. “There are steps here, so we can sit for a bit if we get tired.”

Most importantly, it was close to the seat of the person she liked.

Rui Yiqing nodded: “It’s just tough on our Miss Ming, who’s never squeezed onto a bus or subway in her life, but today she has to stand here with us.”

Ming Can rolled her eyes and instinctively replied, “Times have changed.”

It was true that she had never taken a bus or subway, but she was no longer a pampered young lady. Now, she was just a single mom, juggling responsibilities and taking care of her child alone!

Xu Jiayun: “What do you mean, times have changed?”

“Nothing,” Ming Can brushed it off. “Hurry up and see if your Classmate Cheng has arrived yet.”

Xu Jiayun’s attention was instantly diverted.

The lecture was set to begin in ten minutes, and the audience was gradually filling the hall. About eighty to ninety percent of the seats were occupied, and many people were standing in the open spaces at the front, as well as along the aisles on the sides and in the middle.

Ming Can and her friends had secured a spot that was somewhat off to the side, so the area around them wasn’t too crowded. The three girls leaned against the wall, chatting casually while their eyes wandered around the hall.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the front. Ming Can glanced over and asked, “Has the professor giving the lecture arrived?”

Over there, a crowd had gathered, and the overlapping figures blocked the view. Rui Yiqing stepped up onto a higher step to get a better look. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she said, “It’s the campus heartthrob. No wonder those girls are so excited.”

“Campus heartthrob? Did University A hold a campus heartthrob contest this year?” Xu Jiayun asked curiously. “I didn’t see anything about it on the forums.”

“No, there wasn’t a contest,” Rui Yiqing replied, stepping back down to her original spot. “He’s the heartthrob from Ming Can’s and my high school.”

Ming Can was puzzled. “Our high school had a heartthrob?”

“You didn’t know?” Rui Yiqing sighed helplessly. “Well, I guess that’s not surprising.”

Ming Can had always been the type to focus solely on her studies, even though she had a stunningly beautiful face that could captivate any guy. However, she had zero interest in men.

Rui Yiqing decided to explain it differently. “Do you remember the top science student from the year above us? The one who aced the college entrance exam?”

Ming Can sifted through her hazy memories and found a faint trace of recollection. “Vaguely… I think it was a guy.”

“…” Rui Yiqing sighed. “Yes, a guy. Extremely handsome. Now he’s practically a legend in the School of Information, topping the GPA rankings every year and winning scholarships left and right. Oh, and remember how Xiao Fu used to have a huge crush on him?”

At this, Ming Can’s memory suddenly cleared, as if the clouds had parted.

Xiao Fu was another close friend from high school. The three of them had been inseparable during their three years of high school. Back then, Xiao Fu had indeed had a crush on a senior who was a year above them. Unfortunately, he hadn’t reciprocated her feelings. That senior’s name was…

“Senior Chi Xiao!”

Rui Yiqing waved enthusiastically toward the front and called out.

When Ming Can heard his name, her mind buzzed, and her gaze involuntarily slid forward, landing on the face of the young man who was walking gracefully out of the crowd.

The lecture hall was overly heated, and the dry, warm air rushed against her face, carrying the chaotic hum of voices. It felt as though the oxygen in her brain was being squeezed out inch by inch.

The young man was exceptionally tall, his slender and upright frame draped in a loose, hoodless sweatshirt. It was pure black, with only some tie-dye patterns at the cuffs, simple yet sharp. The fabric of the clothes was soft, but he wore it effortlessly, revealing a well-proportioned and sturdy build.

Just by his physique, it was clear he was a rare kind of handsome. But what truly caught the eye was his face. His skin was as pale as cold jade, with perfectly balanced and handsome features that seemed almost sculpted. Beneath his narrow, deep-set double eyelids were amber-colored eyes. When he slightly lifted his gaze to look at someone, there was an indescribable coolness and clarity.

Many people around were sneaking glances at him, but Ming Can’s gaze was firmly fixed on him, blatantly obvious, like a scanner or an X-ray, as if she wanted to carve into his very bones and see straight into his DNA.

He looked so similar.

His brows, nose bridge, eye shape, face structure… some parts were six or seven out of ten similar, others three or four out of ten. But when combined, he was practically a more heroic, enlarged version of Miaomiao!

Compared to her previous misidentification, Ming Can felt inexplicably more certain this time. Both her intuition and rationality pointed to the person in front of her.

She watched intently as he walked up to them and nodded in response to Rui Yiqing’s greeting.

Both of them were part of University A’s high school alumni association. Rui Yiqing was a social butterfly who never missed an alumni gathering, while Chi Xiao attended less frequently but still recognized this lively and sociable underclassman.

However, compared to Rui Yiqing’s enthusiasm, his response was decidedly cool.

Rui Yiqing was well aware of his temperament. The fact that he nodded to her, a mere acquaintance, indicated that he was in a relatively good mood.

“Senior, let me introduce you,” Rui Yiqing said, slightly turning and gently pulling the arm of the girl beside her. “This is Ming Can, my best friend. We were in the same class in high school, and now she’s in the finance department at University B. She was super famous back in our high school—I don’t know if you’ve heard of her.”

The faint traces of expression on Ming Can’s face gradually faded away as Rui Yiqing made her grand introduction, leaving her features as still as a stagnant pool of water.

Her facial muscles had never felt so stiff before. Her eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly, and she seriously considered turning around and walking away.

For a moment, no one responded, and Rui Yiqing felt a bit awkward. She poked Ming Can from behind, urging her to say something.

Ming Can stood motionless like a wooden stake.

At least she and Chi Yao had been classmates. Even if their relationship wasn’t particularly close, they could still exchange a few words. But she was completely unfamiliar with the guy in front of her. The moment her intuition told her he was Miaomiao’s father, Ming Can felt nothing but utter disbelief from the inside out. If she were forced to speak to him, she might not be able to stop herself from questioning his intelligence…

A low, clear voice, like snow covering a quiet landscape, interrupted her thoughts.

“Junior Ming Can, long time no see.”

Chi Xiao looked down at her. His eyelashes were long and straight, casting a faint shadow when half-lowered, his amber eyes hidden within, their emotions unreadable.

Ming Can didn’t remember ever meeting him before.

Before today, her last impression of the name “Chi Xiao” had been on the college entrance exam honor roll.

After eliminating the wrong candidates, the father of her son, who scored a 2 on his test, turned out to be the top science student in the college entrance exam?

This world was truly a bewildering rabbit hole.

Chi Xiao’s hand, extended toward Ming Can, had been hanging in the air for a while now.

Out of politeness, Ming Can reluctantly raised her hand and lightly touched his fingertips. Under her breath, she muttered, “Are you really the top science student?”

“Are you sure you didn’t cheat?”

The surrounding noise was overwhelming, the chaotic flow of sounds drowning out her words. Almost no one heard her.

Sometimes.

Chi Xiao found it quite troublesome that his hearing was so sharp.