Standing Out Among Peers

In a tastefully decorated room, beige wallpaper and soft lighting dispelled the darkness, making the room beneath the night sky feel especially warm.

Xu Yunshuang sat before her desk, rapidly typing on a silver-white laptop.

"Sister Xue said that a somewhat strange girl had moved in next door to A Sheng. Yunshuang did not pay much attention to it until some things happened this week."

"A pitiful yet kind Referee, even while suffering under that thing's torment, did not use violence to harm others. Instead, he chose other ways to vent his anger and hatred. A Sheng and Yunshuang worked together to dispel the darkness clinging to this gentleman."

"After helping the Referee, A Sheng and Yunshuang went to their favorite Xinyuan Restaurant to celebrate, where they spent a warm afternoon together."

"However, the matter was not truly over. It was a chain of incidents. After working through the night, A Sheng and Yunshuang finally discovered the truth."

"At that point, Sister Xue sent over that girl's information. She was unexpectedly connected to this chain of incidents. With Yunshuang's comfort, the kind and courageous girl voluntarily cooperated with the two of them to find evidence against the true culprit behind it all."

"In the end, the matter was resolved. It was a tragedy involving two families, another tragedy brought about by that thing. Yunshuang grieved over it, while A Sheng comforted her as he always had. The two leaned against each other. Perhaps that was the only meaning behind that thing's existence—it had bound together two people who should have remained parallel, supporting each other as they passed through the darkness."

After typing this, Xu Yunshuang wrote down the date—2019/7/6.

Just then, a gentle boy's voice sounded from outside the door. "Sister Shuang, the gathering is about to begin. Dad asked me to invite you downstairs."

Xu Yunshuang stood, closed her laptop, then walked to the door and opened it.

"Okay, Brother Chen. Everyone should have a happy weekend tonight too."

After Wenren Sheng put down President Zhao's call, he began thinking. Many figures played through his mind like slides.

Feng Youlin, Feng Jingjing who had approached his father, the Five Colors Group, Xu Yunshuang...

Once the slideshow ended, he made a call.

"Shan Shan, help me look into the Five Colors Group."

"Heh, whenever I asked you to look at this stuff before, you always said you had no time. Now you finally remember?"

"Is that how you speak to your teacher?"

"That's how I speak to my husband."

"Uh, even a genius only has twenty-four hours a day. I'm concentrating my limited time on my core strengths, where I have the greatest advantage," Wenren Sheng explained solemnly.

"All right, I'll tell you a little. The Five Colors Group is the Xu Family's inherited enterprise. It has had its ups and downs over more than two hundred years. The people in charge of this generation are Xu Yunshuang's father and her eldest uncle, and their relationship is rather... delicate. I have more detailed information too, but..."

"Tomorrow's Saturday. Want to go out together?"

"You pass. I'll send it to your phone now."

Wenren Sheng put down the phone and stared at it. A red notification appeared: a new email had arrived.

After opening the email and reading it for a while, he came to a realization.

So that was it. It seemed that to fully unlock the secrets surrounding Xu Yunshuang, he would have to delve into her family.

Other than what had happened two years ago, they had only truly known each other for a little over half a year.

Normally, he only had opportunities for close contact while teaching her or supervising her internship. He had been busy training his abilities and supplementing his knowledge, so naturally he had had no time to concern himself with her family background.

After all, he was not her homeroom teacher...

Perhaps tomorrow would be an opportunity.

With that thought, he called Feng Youlin.

"It seems Mr. Wenren has made up his mind?" The voice on the other end sounded somewhat pleased.

"Yes. I agree to your request, but I'll bring someone with me. There's no need for you to come pick us up," Wenren Sheng replied.

"Very well. Please be careful on the way," the other party said with concern.

"Thank you. Then that's all."

"All right, get back to your work."

After hanging up, he continued reading before the bookshelf.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, a voice finally sounded outside the study.

"Young Master, it's time for dinner." It was Li Shuangyue's voice.

Wenren Sheng put down his book and went to the dining room.

Skipping food and sleep was the mark of diligence, the standard tactic of last-minute crammers before an exam, but he would never do that. People who did usually went bald faster.

When he arrived at the dining room, the round table held dishes that were barely presentable: somewhat thick rice porridge, shredded meat fried to a dark, burnt color, overcooked vegetables...

When Zhao Han saw the two of them arrive, she sat down after them uneasily.

However, she soon relaxed. Wenren Sheng did not say anything. He simply sat down and ate, looking as though he enjoyed it very much... It seemed Brother Li had been right.

Naturally, she had tasted her own cooking after making it. Her own assessment was that it was "edible," and nothing more. Expecting a high school student to be highly skilled at cooking meant either they were an orphan or they had awakened an Otherworldly ability related to the field.

"Father went back to sleep?" Wenren Sheng asked as he ate.

"Yes, I took Master back to his room. Also, Madam came back briefly earlier and specifically brought you a book. I've placed it on the bedside table in your bedroom," Li Shuangyue said while eating.

"Okay. I'll take a look before bed." Wenren Sheng nodded and said nothing more.

The three quietly finished their meal, then went about their own business.

Wenren Sheng returned to his bedroom. He had already committed the books in the study to memory, so there was no need to go back there.

Sure enough, an old thread-bound book lay beside the bed.

He picked it up and saw the title on its cover—Those Years' Trifles. It was a very ordinary title.

When he opened it, he found that it was a diary written by a veteran Otherworldly Expert. Much of its content concerned the Otherworldly Qualification Exam.

She really was his mother.

After sighing to himself, Wenren Sheng quickly began browsing through it.

Since arriving in this world, he had never regarded himself as someone who had possessed another body or had his soul transmigrate. He believed that he had been reincarnated and awakened memories of his past life. That was the fundamental reason he had adapted so well.

His father was his father, and his mother was his mother. Beyond that, he did not think too much about it.

Of course, he understood the knot in their hearts, but before the right opportunity came, it could not truly be resolved. He was not worried about his mother. He merely needed to ensure that Brother De did not go astray before then.

The book was highly valuable. Its age did not mean it was outdated; on the contrary, it meant that it had been read repeatedly.

Books of this sort were never publicly published. Usually, only a few copies were privately printed as gifts for close friends or for exchange.

Without entering that person's circle, it would be difficult even to see one.

This Otherworldly Expert had written about the first time he became an examination judge, devoting much ink to it. It offered excellent reference material for those who came after, and of course, excellent psychological comfort as well.

That was because the expert's first performance had actually been quite dreadful, though he had embellished it considerably in the book. He had been utterly crushed by his opponent in the Martial Exam, but under his pen, it became a tale of great resilience and repeated defeats followed by renewed battles.

His written exam had been somewhat better, but still only mediocre. He had even misremembered the traits of two Otherworldly abilities and mixed them up.

In the end, he had only managed to pass because his peers made him look good. Two experts from the same branch had urgent matters come up and gave up their positions as judges, allowing the role to fall to him.

In the book, he said that luck was also part of one's strength.

But Wenren Sheng felt that those two people's withdrawal was probably not so simple.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, accompanied by Early Morning sunlight, Wenren Sheng got up smoothly.

After washing up and tidying his appearance, he called for Li Shuangyue, and the two left the house early.

Zhao Han naturally remained home to study and clean up.

She had only just awakened her Otherworldly ability. Though she also had to take the exam, its difficulty would be much lower. The older one was and the longer it had been since awakening, the harder the exam became. That was a basic rule.

The fields remained while the oxen changed; Otherworldly abilities were the fields, and she was the ox.