Silence. Utter silence. Absolute silence.
Jiang Yan looked to his left at Lu Renyi, who was watching a video while charging his phone, then to his right at Lin Shubei, who kept looking at Lu Renyi with a complicated expression, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Apparently, he had chosen a poor seat.
"So you didn't know I'd told Lu Renyi that Zhou Cheng was poisoned?"
Lin Shubei nodded.
"And you didn't tell him that I was the one who told you?"
Lu Renyi nodded.
Jiang Yan sighed deeply. What kind of mess was this?
"Don't underestimate the power of communication. Once you're classmates, you'll inevitably have team assignments. How are you supposed to complete practical missions if you don't communicate?"
Jiang Yan had all but stated outright that Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei could make the selection, but neither of them seemed particularly interested.
He could understand Lu Renyi's lack of interest, but Lin Shubei had clearly cared a great deal about this before. He had even come to ask Jiang Yan about it in private.
Tang Hui watched the show for a while, but in the end, she could not resist Jiang Yan's pleading look. She walked over, turned off Lu Renyi's phone, and made Lin Shubei raise his head.
While the two were still confused, she pulled their hands together.
"Shake hands and be friends again. You were both at fault. Once you've talked it out, no more fighting. Both of you behave, understand?"
Lu Renyi: ...
Lin Shubei: ...
After an awkward exchange of looks, Jiang Yan finally lost control. He rushed to the window and turned his back on them, shoulders shaking. Lu Renyi could even hear his stifled laughter escaping.
"Understood, Principal. I'm not that childish. It was my fault for not explaining myself clearly, and now that I have the video, I certainly won't hold anything against him."
Lu Renyi tried to pull his hand back. When he found that he could not move it, he could only wave his phone helplessly at Tang Hui, offering the first sign of goodwill, then glance at Lin Shubei.
Lin Shubei immediately responded once he received the signal.
"This time, I also didn't trust my classmate enough. If I'd asked a few more questions, maybe he would've told me, and I wouldn't have said those hurtful things."
Zheng Jue watched the two of them behave so obediently, then silently walked over to Jiang Yan.
"Are you sure you want to submit their names first?"
"Why? Don't you think the two of them are interesting?"
Being interesting was one thing. Being qualified was another.
Zheng Jue did not believe Jiang Yan could be unaware of that. The only other explanation was that Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei had something else they had not disclosed.
"Did you search through all their memories the moment you met them again?"
Jiang Yan merely smiled without answering. Since he possessed this ability, of course he had to make the fullest use of it. He was responsible for the academy, after all, and even Tang Hui had no objections. The academy was crawling with moles. If the people sent to represent the country in the tournament turned out to be among them, then they would truly be finished.
"Let me make this clear. Lin Shubei is one thing, but I don't agree with putting Lu Renyi on the selection team. He isn't someone you can trust to watch your back."
"I'll tell them."
While Jiang Yan and Zheng Jue muttered together on one side, Tang Hui worried about the children's mental health on the other.
"Have you two sincerely made up?"
Tang Hui did not look convinced, but Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei were nodding fast enough to snap their necks. Only then did she release their hands, still half doubtful.
"It's easy to see whether they're sincere. Doesn't the midterm exam have a five-person team assignment? You two can form a team then and prove it."
In just a few words, Jiang Yan settled their assignment for the exam. Jian Yi and Qi Yue were close to Lin Shubei, and now with Lu Renyi added, all four happened to be people he planned to observe.
"No refusing. Otherwise, I'll fail both of you outright."
Jiang Yan exercised his privilege as their teacher and smothered Lu Renyi's newly kindled dissatisfaction.
"The midterm exam, final exam, and holiday practicum all include team assignments. Your combined individual and team results will be used as the basis for selection."
"No slacking off, and no deliberately holding back your score during the practical assessment. Do your best."
Jiang Yan glared at Lu Renyi when he began muttering under his breath.
"I know you don't want to stand out, but joining the selection team isn't a bad thing. No one will force you to work in this field afterward."
Jiang Yan knew what Lu Renyi was worried about. He was simply afraid that he would later be forced into some related department and lose his freedom.
"Well? Do you agree?"
Jiang Yan asked the question purely for show, covering Lu Renyi's mouth with one hand while pressing Lin Shubei's head down with the other.
"Wonderful. Now that you've agreed, I can stop worrying."
Jiang Yan was gratified. Everything was developing in the direction he wanted. After deliberately ignoring Lu Renyi's resentful glare, he added one more thing.
"Once you've formed a team, the sum of everyone's average scores will be your total score. That means if one person slacks off and gives up, it will hurt everyone else's grades. The consequences will be serious."
That shut off Lu Renyi's final escape route.
Under Jiang Yan and Lin Shubei's gazes, he could only nod helplessly.
"Got it. I won't slack off during the practical assessment."
The System felt that something was not right.
"Host, I showed you the information on later developments before. It says that during the midterm exam, the protagonist's group teams up with Xie Qin. They're the only four-person team. But now that you've joined them, the plot will be affected, and your later score may fall as well."
There were three hundred first-year students in total. With Zhou Cheng gone, one team was bound to have only four people left. In the original plot, that team was the protagonist's group. After all, being different suited them better.
But with Lu Renyi joining them now, it would probably be some other team.
"My score is mainly based on the readers' opinion of me, along with your assessment of how much I'll influence the future plot. The former accounts for most of it, right?"
"Now that I'm already on the protagonist's team, I definitely won't be short on appearances. The readers have probably even started treating me as a member of the protagonist's group. Teaming up later will only deepen that impression."
As Lu Renyi replied to the System, he moved the video he had just recorded into a private album. He clearly intended to keep it for a long time, making Lin Shubei want nothing more than to snatch the phone away.
"So if I appear often and the readers see me as a member of the protagonist's group, will my discussion be low?"
Of course not.
"Then there's no problem. Don't worry, System. I know what I'm doing. Like I said, if I'm going to change things, I might as well change them in a big way."
That was how it should be.
***
This was not how it should be at all!
Lu Renyi removed the weights from his body and flopped onto his back on the athletic field without a care for his appearance. His heaving chest revealed just how agitated he was.
"I must've been crazy. No, I must've been stupid to agree to train with you here."
The sunlight overhead was dazzling. Lu Renyi raised a hand to cover his eyes, unwilling to pay any attention to the energetic Lin Shubei beside him.
Lin Shubei did not care whether Lu Renyi had been crazy or stupid. He pulled up the data from their endurance run and nodded in satisfaction.
"I already said we need to train properly. Neither of us can hold the other back, so of course we have to understand each other's true capabilities."
Lin Shubei sat down beside Lu Renyi. Watching his breathing gradually steady, he could not resist mocking him.
"Was that really necessary? We only ran two laps."
"You call a ten-kilometer weighted run two laps? I'm not joining the military, so why do I need to practice this?"
Provoked by Lin Shubei's claim that it had only been two laps, Lu Renyi immediately sat up. He wanted to pry open Lin Shubei's skull and see whether his brain had filled with water.
"Why put this much effort into training? I'd be better off figuring out how to use the time to earn extra money. It was depressing enough when Teacher Jiang said he didn't handle company affairs and refused my request for an easy life. Now I have to waste my time training with you under the blazing sun."
Lu Renyi muttered for ages, glancing at Lin Shubei every so often. He looked exactly like some pitiful soul oppressed and exploited by a vicious slave owner.
"What if I pay you the market rate?"
Lin Shubei came up with a reasonable compromise. He was not short on money, and unless Lu Renyi had some reward dangling in front of him as motivation, he would run away sooner or later.
Lu Renyi caught the key phrase. His ears twitched, and he suppressed the upward curve of his lips.
"How much are you planning to pay?"
"Name your price. I can afford it."
The aura of wealth radiating from Lin Shubei washed away every trace of Lu Renyi's weakness.
"Since we're classmates and roommates, I'll give you a discount. Five hundred yuan an hour until winter break. Whatever you want to train, I won't complain."
Lu Renyi was fully aware that he was naming an outrageous price and taking advantage of the opportunity.
Although Lin Shubei was somewhat speechless at how Lu Renyi's eyes lit up at the sight of money, he still agreed. He was not short on money, and getting Lu Renyi to train obediently with them, deepen their understanding of one another, and build teamwork was a good thing.
"Thank you, boss! How generous!"
Lu Renyi sprang to his feet, suddenly bursting with energy as though he could run several more laps. Lin Shubei found it amusing instead.
"Aren't you a little too greedy for money? A moment ago, you were half dead and refused to move. Now you're full of life again."
"Thanks for the compliment. I really am a man with clear goals. My greatest dream in life is to earn fifty million yuan and then travel the world."
Lu Renyi felt that his dream was very ambitious, but fifty million was still too much. After some thought, he revised his final target.
"Five million would do too."
"If you want to make money that badly, take a few missions dealing with aberrants. Forget five hundred yuan an hour. Plenty of them pay fifty thousand."
Lu Renyi adopted an air of profound secrecy and wagged a finger at Lin Shubei.
"Having an ability isn't necessarily a good thing. I would never take a job related to abilities. That would just be asking for suffering."
Lin Shubei himself belonged to the group asking for suffering, so he simply offered no opinion. He held out a hand for Lu Renyi to pull him up, and the two prepared to meet Jian Yi and Qi Yue at the cafeteria.
"Jianjian and Old Qi said we should discuss the details of the midterm exam together. Are you free?"
"The midterm exam? What's there to discuss? Don't we just take English and calculus first, plus theoretical exams on aberrant research and ability use?"
That was technically correct, but theory and practice were always different. As a result, many students did poorly on assessments of theoretical knowledge.
The academy also knew that most of them had little interest in such things. It generally turned a blind eye and did not deliberately make life difficult for them.
But it was entirely different for students with excessively poor grades. If they failed too many subjects, even a high practical score would be dragged down when the final results were calculated.
"Qi Yue's grades aren't very good."
Lin Shubei tried to find a suitable description for his good brother that would not make him sound unintelligent.
Lu Renyi looked puzzled. Lin Shubei held a stopwatch, tossing and catching it several times before speaking tentatively.
"I remember your grades are excellent. Teacher Jiang even mentioned you in our class before. He said you have a strong mind for science and solid logic, which makes you especially suited to a command role. He told all of us to learn from you!"
Lin Shubei heaped praise on him until he ran out of words. Lu Renyi, by contrast, took it perfectly naturally and even seemed to want Lin Shubei to continue.
But the rapport between Lu Renyi and Lin Shubei clearly had not reached the point where Lu Renyi could read his expression and act accordingly. Lin Shubei could only give up regretfully.
"So?"
"So could I trouble you to tutor Qi Yue in the theory subjects?"
They had formed a team now, and according to the System, their final member would be Xie Qin. Their individual scores would take the team's overall performance into account. If Qi Yue performed poorly, Lu Renyi's grade would be affected as well. Leaving the readers with a bad impression would make things difficult.
"Besides, the rules require teams of five. The practical assessment will take place after the grades are released. If his grades aren't good enough, we'll probably have a hard time finding anyone else by then."
Seeing Lu Renyi sink into thought, Lin Shubei knew there was hope and continued magnifying the problem. If Lu Renyi refused to help, neither he nor Jian Yi knew whether they could drag Qi Yue up to a passing grade this time.
"Don't worry about forming the team. Maybe if we keep walking, a teammate will come crashing into us on their own."
Lu Renyi had long known that Xie Qin was also a member of the protagonist's group, so he was not worried about being unable to find someone to join their team.
"No problem. The exam is next week. Which subject is he worried about? I can help predict the likely questions."
"He's worried about every subject."
Lu Renyi: ?
An ominous premonition rose in Lu Renyi's heart. He planned to ask the System whether it had any information on Qi Yue's past grades, but because he was distracted, he walked straight into Xie Qin the moment he entered the cafeteria.
"Sorry, I was distracted just now. Are you all right?"
Xie Qin's conspicuous white hair and sleepy expression made Lu Renyi wonder which of them had actually run into the other.
"It's fine. I wasn't watching where I was going either, but since you ran into me, shouldn't you compensate me a little? Your team happens to have one spot left, doesn't it? You don't mind adding me, do you?"
"..."
Lu Renyi was a little bewildered. How were those two things connected?
"Didn't you say you weren't watching where you were going either? Why am I the only one who has to compensate you?"
Xie Qin thought Lu Renyi made a good point. He nodded thoughtfully, looking entirely convinced.
"Then how about this? To compensate you, I'll join your team and protect you during the exam. How does that sound?"
No matter how much they talked, it still came back to forming a team. Out of options, Lu Renyi turned to Lin Shubei, hoping he would decide. Lin Shubei was the team captain, after all.
He had expected it would take some effort. Instead, the moment Lin Shubei saw that Xie Qin wanted to join, his eyes lit up. He stepped forward, clasped Xie Qin's hand, and shook it vigorously.
"Welcome to the team, Student Xie Qin!"
"Huh? Oh. Okay. Thank you."
Now Xie Qin was the bewildered one. He had the persistent feeling that Lin Shubei was scheming something beneath that enthusiastic smile.
"Now that we've formed our team, let's go meet our other two teammates over there. They and I have been looking forward to meeting both of you."
What the hell.
Xie Qin had just finished eating, only to be pushed back into the cafeteria by Lin Shubei. People stared at him the entire way. Before he even had time to cover his face, he was pressed into a seat beside a small table.
Lu Renyi was forcibly seated beside him. The two instinctively exchanged a look and saw the same sense of foreboding in each other's eyes.
Lin Shubei signaled to Jian Yi and Qi Yue. Both indicated that they understood, then sat up straight and gave Lu Renyi and Xie Qin their most perfect smiles from across the table.
The ominous feeling in Lu Renyi's heart intensified, while Xie Qin's eyelid twitched several times.
Once Lin Shubei felt the mood was right, he cut straight to the point.
"Now that we're all teammates, we should help one another. Everyone understands that, right?"
Lin Shubei seemed to be using his position as team captain to deliver a pre-match lecture.
But there was nothing wrong with what he said. Despite their deep misgivings, Lu Renyi and Xie Qin both agreed.
"So..."
With lightning speed, Lin Shubei thrust several quizzes that Qi Yue had presented with both hands in front of Lu Renyi and Xie Qin.
The several red crosses on the papers and the scores that did not add up to a passing grade dealt the two of them the heaviest psychological blow.
"The top-ranked student and the seventh-ranked student in the year should be able to handle this, right?"