Qin Su felt rather depressed.
Back in Langfeng Sect, she had been the senior sister admired by everyone. With her exceptional talent and popularity, she had never had to worry about the spirit stones needed for cultivation.
Now, however, even the cleverest housewife couldn’t cook without rice. To set up a Spirit Gathering Array, she had no choice but to keep buying jewelry.
And jewelry burned through money.
She was gloomy for only a moment before quickly adjusting her mindset.
The transmigrator who had stolen her body had left behind so much trouble. It was only fair for Qin Su to collect a little interest in return.
Xin Ying had clearly not expected that answer. After a brief silence, she spoke with certainty.
“Hmph, I knew you were this kind of person. It’s only one million. I can afford it.”
It was Qin Su’s first time having someone throw money at her, and she found herself in an exceptionally good mood. She could not resist teasing her a little.
“Now that you mention it, I think one million really is too cheap. That’s hardly worthy of our campus heartthrob’s value. Let’s double it instead.”
A loud clatter came from the other end of the line, as though something had been knocked over.
Xin Ying practically exploded with anger.
“In your dreams! You’re way too greedy!”
Qin Su replied calmly, “Or do you think Ji Yuanye isn’t worth two million?”
“Two million it is. I just hope you won’t regret it.”
The call ended immediately.
Qin Su hurried online to check the current cost of living.
Had prices skyrocketed while she’d been gone? Otherwise, how could someone casually agree to pay two million without even trying to bargain?
After looking around, she found that prices had remained largely the same. Only housing prices had risen considerably.
She could only conclude that this young heiress, Xin Ying, was exactly what people called someone with more money than sense.
…
A while later, a text message arrived.
The meeting was set for May 20, on the weekend after the midterm exams, at a café near the university.
After reading the message, Qin Su froze.
Wait a minute.
It was currently the May Day holiday. Once the break ended, she would have to prepare for her midterm exams.
Before transmigrating, she had just started her freshman year as a French major.
Now she was already a junior.
The two missing years meant she would have to make up everything from scratch.
Her heart felt exhausted.
She would rather go through another heavenly tribulation.
Qin Su could only comfort herself.
Although her physical body was no longer suitable for cultivation, even her injured soul was far stronger than that of an ordinary person. Perfect recall was still well within her abilities.
At worst, she could spend all her free time catching up on the material she would be tested on.
She couldn’t possibly fail every single subject and end up taking makeup exams across the board.
There were four subjects in this round of midterms.
She had never imagined that the very first challenge awaiting her after returning would be catching up on coursework.
Qin Su immediately logged into QQ and opened a chat window with her roommate, Zhao Shiyu.
She remembered that Zhao Shiyu was somewhat obsessive about organization. The lecture slides for every course were neatly sorted and impeccably organized.
Before Qin Su had been forced out of her own body, the two of them had gotten along quite well.
After the transmigrator took over, however, the senior whom Zhao Shiyu secretly admired ended up pursuing Qin Su instead. Although Zhao Shiyu never said anything, a rift had inevitably formed between them. Their relationship gradually became distant and even somewhat strained.
Winning back a former friend would have to start all over again.
The thought alone made Qin Su even more tired.
Qin Su: “Xiaoyu, one of my relatives is planning to apply for the French graduate program at our university. Could you send me a copy of your course materials?”
For the sake of her grades, Qin Su was willing to go all out.
She even made up a nonexistent relative as an excuse.
Although Zhao Shiyu was no longer especially close to her, she still agreed.
Before long, she had emailed all the course materials over, making Qin Su sigh inwardly.
Her roommate was still the same as ever, cold on the outside but warm-hearted underneath.
Qin Su remembered that Zhao Shiyu had suffered from severe acne in middle school. Although the pimples had eventually disappeared, the acne scars remained, leaving her with lingering insecurities.
The cultivation world had never lacked beauty-enhancing pills.
Qin Su had always been close to her junior sisters. Whenever they discovered a new medicinal formula, they would always make a copy for her as well.
Perhaps she could try making one herself.
Most of the spiritual herbs did not exist in this world, but suitable substitutes should be available.
The final result would naturally not be as effective as the original formula from the cultivation world.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out.
“Su Su, I’ve got spiritual herb seeds!”
A huge hammer leaped out from her chest. The moment it landed on the floor, it transformed into an orange tabby cat.
Lifting its chin proudly, it said in a voice full of self-satisfaction,
“I ate a whole bunch of spiritual herbs from your mustard seed space before. I can poop them out for you now!”
Qin Su narrowed her eyes, grabbed it by the tail, and ground her teeth.
“So that’s what happened. I was wondering why things kept disappearing from my mustard seed space every so often. Turns out you were the one eating them all!”
She had no idea what had gone wrong with her natal spirit artifact.
It loved eating all sorts of random things and constantly raided her personal stash.
It spent all day eating, eating, and eating.
No wonder it had been so fat before.
Qianjin struggled desperately.
“I deserve credit! If I hadn’t eaten them, you wouldn’t have a single spiritual herb seed left now!”
After Qin Su returned to this world, her mustard seed space had remained behind in the cultivation world.
All the treasures she had painstakingly accumulated could only end up benefiting her sect.
Qin Su finally set it down and warned,
“You’re not allowed to poop them out. Spit them up for me instead!”
Coming out of its mouth was still better than coming out of its rear.
The orange tabby looked thoroughly unhappy and made an exaggerated retching motion.
A moment later, the floor was covered with a pile of assorted items.
Qin Su’s eyelids twitched as she looked at the pile.
It wasn’t just spiritual herbs. This glutton had also eaten quite a few of her spirit artifacts. Most of them had already been reduced to broken fragments. Only one remained intact, the Mandarin Duck Shears that she had “borrowed” from an enemy.
Back when she had been Langfeng Sect’s senior sister, an ordinary spirit artifact like this would never have caught her eye.
But times had changed.
She picked out the Mandarin Duck Shears and the spiritual herb seeds. Two of the herbs happened to be the main ingredients for the Beauty Pill, while the remaining ingredients could be substituted with medicinal herbs from this world.
Qin Su breathed a sigh of relief.
She was in no hurry to plant the herbs.
Growing spiritual herbs properly required an abundant supply of spiritual energy. It would not be too late to plant them after she had set up a Spirit Gathering Array.
Feeling much better, she instructed Qianjin to guard the house while she took a USB drive downstairs to the supermarket to print out her lecture materials.
For the next several days, Qin Su devoted herself entirely to studying, with no time for anything else.
Although she possessed perfect recall, there was simply too much material to catch up on, so she could only make every second count.
As for the men the transmigrator had become acquainted with, she did not contact a single one of them.
While she remained perfectly composed, someone else clearly could not keep his patience.
When the doorbell rang, Qin Su was tempted to pretend she hadn’t heard it.
Unfortunately, whoever was outside was incredibly persistent, ringing the bell over and over as though determined to continue until the end of time.
Qin Su rubbed her temples, her lecture notes still in hand.
“Qianjin, go answer the door.”
She still hadn’t finished memorizing the grammar rules. At least the vocabulary was almost done.
The orange tabby swaggered over to the door, then leaped onto the handle, using its weight to push it down.
The door swung open, revealing a handsome man with sharply defined features.
His gaze settled gently on Qin Su, and his expression softened.
“Even if you’re upset, you shouldn’t take it out on yourself. Those online reports are nothing but baseless rumors. Xia Jiayi and I aren’t involved. She’s just deliberately using me to gain publicity.”
“I heard you’ve stayed inside the house for several days without going out.”
Xu Xiao strode into the apartment on his long, straight legs as naturally as if it were his own home.
His words reminded Qin Su of something.
The apartment she was currently living in really had been a gift from this CEO to the transmigrator.
Looks like moving out needs to be moved to the top of the agenda.
She replied flatly, “You’re overthinking it.”
Xu Xiao curved his lips into a smile, his good mood obvious.
“If you don’t like her, I’ll have someone blacklist her from the industry.”
The words were spoken casually, yet carried an unmistakable air of authority.
Although Qin Su had no idea who Xia Jiayi was, she suddenly felt a little sorry for her.
She put down her lecture notes and said calmly,
“It’s good that you came. That saves me the trouble of looking for you.”
“Let’s break up.”
Xu Xiao had been the transmigrator’s boyfriend.
He was not hers.
She was already busy enough with cultivation, studying, and making money. She had no spare time for romance.
Xu Xiao froze for a moment before smiling knowingly, mixed with obvious delight.
“Su Su, are you jealous?”
Qin Su looked at him expressionlessly.
“You’re overthinking it. I just don’t think we’re suitable for each other. It has nothing to do with Xia Jiayi.”
She thought for a moment, then raised the lecture notes in her hand and said earnestly,
“Compared to dating, studying is more important.”
“I’m going to study hard and improve every day.”
Xu Xiao had always been surrounded by women, and it wasn’t as though he had never been dumped before.
However, this was the first time he had ever heard such an unconventional reason for breaking up.
Although he was irritated, he also found it rather intriguing.
She had proposed breaking up without the slightest attachment to his wealth or status. She was unlike the other women around him, and even her excuse was strangely adorable.
Even so, he disliked women using a breakup to threaten him, and he had no intention of indulging such behavior.
“Do you really want to break up with me?”
Qin Su nodded.
“I never joke about things like this.”
After a brief pause, she continued,
“If you refuse, I’ll simply announce it on Weibo myself. Then everyone will know that I dumped you.”
For someone of Xu Xiao’s status, he was always the one doing the dumping.
Being dumped by someone else was a humiliation he could not afford.
He looked deeply into Qin Su’s eyes.
“I hope you won’t regret this.”
Even after breaking up, he was convinced that sooner or later she would come back and ask to reconcile.
She could never escape from the palm of his hand.
He would prove to her that he was the man best suited for her.
Without his protection, she would find it impossible to survive in this circle.
Judging from his words, Qin Su concluded that he had agreed to the breakup.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
“I hope you find a girl who’s a better match for you.”
Xu Xiao had originally come to invite her to meet several investors.
Now that they had broken up, the plan was naturally abandoned.
After he left, the orange tabby licked its paw and said,
“Su Su, his affection level for you has gone from seventy to seventy-five.”
“Affection level?”
The orange tabby rolled onto its back, exposing its belly.
Qin Su instinctively reached over and began scratching it.
The cat happily narrowed its eyes, purring contentedly.
“Didn’t I swallow that system? It could see every man’s affection level toward this body of yours.”
“Humans are so strange. You rejected him, yet he likes you even more.”
The corner of Qin Su’s mouth twitched.
Could Xu Xiao possibly be a masochist?