Chapter 16: Befriending in Advance – “I’m Going to Run for Another Half Hour!”
Yu Xia was still feeling a bit unwell that day. After the mental power contest with Luo Dian, he bid them both farewell, intending to review for a while longer before turning in.
Yu Xia waved to the two of them. “I need to get into the habit of reviewing. There isn’t much time left before the exam, and I can’t afford to waste a single day.”
With that, his figure vanished from their sight, leaving only Qin Yizheng and Luo Siqi in the room.
Now that the tulip had left, Luo Siqi stopped hiding his thoughts. He draped an arm over Qin Yizheng’s shoulder. “Okay, Qin-ge, what exactly is the deal with you and the tulip? I’m getting a weird vibe from you two.”
Qin Yizheng glanced sideways at Luo Siqi. “What’s so weird about it?”
Luo Siqi scratched his chin. “It feels like you’re deliberately trying to hook up with him. Is it possible you’re interested? But that seems unlikely. I didn’t think you had that kind of thing on your mind, not even for people in reality. After knowing a guy online for barely three days, even if you like him, things shouldn’t be progressing this quickly…”
Qin Yizheng turned his head, looking at Luo Siqi with shock. “What kind of nonsense are you talking? How long have I even known the tulip? How could we develop that kind of relationship? I don’t know his name, what he looks like, or even if his gender is real. Have I gone mad?”
With his theory debunked by Qin Yizheng himself, Luo Siqi was stumped again. “Then why are you being so close to him? You won’t even show me those summaries, yet you give them to a stranger. Are you trying to make the tulip think you’re into him so he falls for you? Holy crap, Qin-ge, I misjudged you. You’re actually such a scumbag!”
Qin Yizheng was once again stunned by his childhood friend’s wild imagination. “What kind of weird stuff have you been watching lately? We’ve already confirmed that the tulip has at least SS-rank mental power and is heading for the Mechanical Department at Imperial Star Academy. People with high mental power always have excellent memories. Since the entrance exam has no practical component, I don’t think he’ll fail. Since I’ve already met him, what’s wrong with befriending him in advance? Or do you think people with SS-rank mental power are a dime a dozen? You only have S-rank yourself.”
Luo Siqi breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, I thought you’d finally met an SS-rank Omega and couldn’t control yourself. Glad to see you still have some self-restraint, otherwise I wouldn’t know whether to report you to Uncle Qin. But wait, why give the tulip the notes I’m not even allowed to see? Am I not your closest friend?”
Qin Yizheng was cold and heartless. “No. Besides, whenever you get my notes, you nag me incessantly. If I don’t discuss them with you, you go tell my mom. Other people don’t do that. I’d give them to anyone but you!”
Luo Siqi: “…”
“So… am I really the only one who can’t have those notes?”
Qin Yizheng nodded, speaking mercilessly. “Yeah. Anyone else who asked would get them; it’s just that no one else knows I have them. As for the concern you mentioned, there’s even less to worry about. Even an SS-rank Omega couldn’t withstand my mental power. I wouldn’t go out of my way to hurt someone. Besides, how do you even know the tulip is an Omega?”
“Just a feeling. But then again, he might just have been sick for too long. Mental Power Disorder is brutal.”
Qin Yizheng glanced at Luo Siqi and turned around. “Let’s go. Time to log off.”
Luo Siqi immediately followed. “Oh, coming. By the way, Qin-ge, did you see the school forum today? That post where Ye Zhichen provoked you is blowing up! Hehe, everyone’s saying he’s overestimating himself. Supposedly, Ye Zhichen wanted the admin to delete it, but since it didn’t break any rules, it stayed up. Then people dug up all his old similar posts and bumped them to the top. It’s a mess!”
Qin Yizheng was indifferent. “Ye Zhichen? Why bother with him?”
Despite his words, Qin Yizheng checked the post after logging off.
Just as Luo Siqi had said, most of the comments were calling Ye Zhichen out for overestimating himself. Being students of Imperial Star Academy, they didn’t use overly vile language, but the general sentiment was that the post, combined with the video of the duel, was just a massive face-slap. In contrast, Ye Zhichen was taking the loss poorly.
He was actually arguing with people in the thread.
Qin Yizheng: “…”
He truly couldn’t understand the logic. In a situation like this, if you just lie down and let people mock you for a day or two, it blows over. It was just a lost duel; while it looked bad, winning and losing are part of life. No one would keep harping on it unless they had a personal grudge.
But by jumping into the fray, he was just showing everyone how much he couldn’t handle losing.
Qin Yizheng watched for a bit before closing the forum.
He couldn’t understand what Ye Zhichen was thinking. Rather than wasting time on a forum, he’d be better off organizing more materials for the tulip to use after his exams!
The following month was an extremely full one for Yu Xia.
After waking up each morning, he would first go to the hospital’s fitness center and spend half an hour on the treadmill. Yu Xia now had a good grasp of his body. Although running was still painful, he had grown accustomed to it; he just ran very slowly.
During his morning runs, he used to run into Mo Wen, but the man preferred outdoor running, usually doing several laps around the inpatient building. He only came to the fitness center if the weather was bad. Lately, however, he was nowhere to be seen. Yu Xia asked Dr. Yu and learned that Mo Wen had been discharged.
After all, not everyone needed to stay in the hospital for weeks of observation like he did. Even after he went to school, he would still need regular checkups from the school doctor.
Specifically, that “Body Detection Capsule”—the contraption that left him feeling miserable every time. He had to climb in once every few weeks.
Life was hard.
After his morning run, the rest of the morning was spent reviewing in the virtual community. After lunch and an hour of rest, he would do two more hours of exercise, including but not limited to jump rope, dumbbells, and various other fitness routines.
His daily training didn’t end until four in the afternoon, after which he could return to his studies.
It was a classic case of balancing work and rest.
On this day, a month later, Yu Xia underwent another physical examination. After the checkup, he skipped his entire afternoon workout, wanting nothing more than to lie in bed like a salted fish.
He didn’t even want to roll over.
Xiao Jin circled his bed anxiously, looking as though it were waiting for the test results.
After a while, Dr. Yu walked in looking very happy, holding a report. “Yu Xia, I have good news! Your comprehensive constitution has improved. After a month of hard work, you’re now at D+!”
Hearing the news, the previously “salted fish” Yu Xia did a kip-up and sat bolt upright. “Really? Let me see, let me see!”
When he finally saw the “D+” in the comprehensive constitution column, he felt like he was going to cry. “All that exhaustion was worth it!”
Dr. Yu patted Yu Xia on the shoulder. “Of course it was. It’s only a small step, but it’s a significant milestone for you. I told you before—during the body’s growth period, everything is possible. You’re at D+ now, but next comes C-rank, then B, A, and maybe even S. You still have seven years. You need to have confidence in yourself, okay?”
At that moment, Yu Xia was overflowing with confidence. “I’m going to go run for another half hour!”
Dr. Yu grabbed him by the collar. “Get back here. Your body just went through an exam; even if you want to run, you won’t last long. Half an hour? You’d be lucky to hit five minutes, and that’s only if you push your limits. If you have that much energy, go review in the virtual community. You only have a week until the exam!”
Yu Xia thought about it and realized Dr. Yu was right.
Although the good news had him pumped up, his body was indeed flagging. “Fine. I’ll go review then—and tell someone the good news while I’m at it!”
Dr. Yu gave Yu Xia a strange look. “Tell who? Someone you met in the virtual world? Be careful; there are plenty of scammers in there. Some pretend to be pretty girls just to trick naive college students like you out of money or… other things.”
Yu Xia blinked. “I’m a kid from an orphanage; what money could they possibly steal? Don’t worry, Dr. Yu. It’s just a senior from Imperial Star Academy I met. I think he’s in the Command Department. He’s helped me a lot with my study notes this past month!”
As he spoke, Yu Xia pulled on his holographic helmet.
Dr. Yu raised an eyebrow. “Well, you might not have money, but you’ve got looks…”
Still, if it was a senior helping him study, it probably wasn’t a big deal. After all, you can customize your appearance in the virtual world; while there’s a resemblance to the real person, it’s quite different. Even if it were a scammer, they surely wouldn’t spend a whole month helping a future student study just to pull a con, right?
If they were capable of helping Yu Xia study, wouldn’t it be more profitable to just get into Imperial Star Academy themselves?
So, it was likely just a senior from the academy. He probably knew Yu Xia wanted to study mechanics and was just befriending a talent in advance. After all, the Mechanical Department was severely lacking in talent, even at Imperial Star Academy. If he could recruit a personal mechanic, it would be the best-case scenario.
Satisfied that he had decoded the mindset of Yu Xia’s online friend, Dr. Yu relaxed.
Meanwhile, Qin Yizheng, who had logged in on a whim before the tulip’s usual time, let out a small sneeze.
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