City Exam

Chapter 4: City Exam

At that moment, Zhao Ning saw Su Ming put down his chopsticks, looking listless, and asked with concern.

"Good boy, are you still upset about that matter? Listen to your mother. Don't worry. Your father has already gone to deal with it. He'll definitely find the person who bullied you and send him in! As for school, if you don't want to go, then don't. I'll transfer you to another school."

Su Ming's expression became somewhat unnatural when he heard Zhao Ning's words.

For some reason, he felt as though he had somehow been handed the script of a cannon-fodder villain.

So Su Ming said to Zhao Ning,

"It's fine, Mother. There's no need to transfer me. Besides, the City Exam is about to begin. If I transfer schools at a time like this, it could easily cause problems."

"Good boy, it's fine. It doesn't matter whether you do well or poorly on the City Exam."

Zhao Ning was still somewhat worried about Su Ming, afraid that returning to school would put too much psychological pressure on him. After all, she knew very well that her son was introverted and had an extremely fragile and sensitive mind.

"Didn't you always want to return to Starlight City? Don't worry. I'll definitely work hard and test my way back."

Su Ming spoke with great seriousness.

The so-called City Exam was an extremely important entrance examination in the Old Federation. Saying that it was a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate would not be an exaggeration. At the same time, it was an important route for people from the various districts and residents of the other planets to enter the three major main cities.

As for Su Ming's family, they had actually moved down from Starlight City. The Su family was also a fairly renowned financial clan in Starlight City. His father, Su Yuan, was the ninth son of the current Su family head, Su Zhentian. Because of his mediocre talent, he had been assigned to live in the Thirteenth District.

The industry Su Yuan had been assigned was a share in the Thirteenth District's garbage treatment plant. Against the backdrop of the Interstellar Era, being assigned an industry like that made it abundantly clear how poor Su Yuan's talent and status were.

However, the industry was indeed extremely profitable, so their life here was fairly comfortable.

But if they had a choice, who would be willing to spend their entire life living underground?

Of course, it wasn't that Su Ming's family had no way to return to Starlight City. They simply had no way to return with honor and legitimacy. After all, being assigned to the Thirteenth District in the first place was essentially a form of exile.

Without a legitimate reason to return, there would certainly be no shortage of sarcastic remarks and mockery.

However, if Su Ming achieved excellent results in the City Exam and went to Starlight City for further study, Su Yuan and Zhao Ning would have a reason to return in glory. The old family head and the others would have no objections. Instead, they would be delighted, since it would mean that another talented person had been born into the family.

Zhao Ning was deeply moved after hearing Su Ming's words, but she knew better than anyone exactly how capable her son was.

Just as Zhao Ning was considering how to tactfully dispel Su Ming's grand ambition so that he would not suffer a crushing blow later, an excited voice rang out!

"Well said! Just like my son!"

Su Ming turned his head and saw Su Yuan walking over with a grin so wide he could barely close his mouth. He had just returned and happened to hear his beloved son's grand declaration, which filled him with immense relief.

At that moment, Zhao Ning glared angrily at Su Yuan, and the smile on Su Yuan's face immediately froze.

Zhao Ning then walked over to Su Yuan and complained in a lowered voice,

"Why are you adding fuel to the fire? Don't you know what level our son is at? What if he gets crushed later? What will we do then?"

"Uh, well, it's just the City Exam. Whether he does well or poorly doesn't really matter. If all else fails, coming back to inherit the family business wouldn't be bad either."

Su Yuan awkwardly changed his tune.

The corner of Su Ming's mouth twitched slightly when he heard Su Yuan's words.

At that point, Zhao Ning hurriedly changed the subject and asked Su Yuan,

"How did things go? Did you catch the person?"

Su Yuan felt a headache coming on when he heard that. He replied helplessly,

"No. We questioned the person involved, but she had no idea about the matter at all. When it happened, she was undergoing special training with her teacher. She only found out afterward. As for the person who set up our beloved son, he's an information expert. That fellow cleverly photographed the contents of the letter and uploaded them to the school network, while also sending them to all the students. He didn't leave behind many traces. You know that there are very few people who are proficient in information technology nowadays, but don't worry. The old family head already knows about this and specifically sent an information expert down. We'll be able to dig that fellow out then."

When Su Ming heard this, he could not help recalling the matter carefully. In his memories, the body had written the love letter during lunch break, when no one was around, then gone to the girl's class and secretly slipped inside to stuff the letter into her desk.

In theory, no one should have known about it. So how had he been set up?

"Why didn't you check the surveillance footage?"

Zhao Ning said angrily.

"There are only closed-circuit cameras in a few major areas, and they didn't capture anything useful. You know that surveillance isn't installed unless necessary."

Su Yuan explained helplessly.

In fact, the technological development of this world had taken a somewhat crooked path. Of course, the reason it had gone astray was that a century ago, the Old Federation had fought an epic war against the Mechanical Race, which was made up of silicon-based life-forms.

At the time, all the Old Federation's fleet communications, scanning devices, and information command platforms had been infiltrated and silently tampered with, causing a large number of weapons to malfunction and be turned against them.

In the end, the Old Federation's fleets suffered devastating damage and nearly never recovered.

After analyzing the war, people discovered that the Mechanical Race could easily capture signal sources, infiltrate information databases, and collect and alter all kinds of information.

After that, the Old Federation restricted the use of information-related equipment, using local area networks and closed-circuit lines whenever possible.

At present, communications within the three major cities and sixteen districts of the Third Planet were all carried out through closed-circuit lines. Signals were only available for civilian use in local areas, and surveillance equipment and the like were used as sparingly as possible.

Because once they went to war with the Mechanical Race, all of those things could become the enemy's eyes.

"Father, Mother, I plan to return to school tomorrow."

After thinking it over, Su Ming said to Su Yuan and Zhao Ning.

As for the investigation, he actually did not have much hope for it. The person who had set him up was definitely a student. If a student was an information expert, that meant the other party was exceptionally talented and absolutely no ordinary person.

Even if someone like that were caught, there would be no way to impose a serious charge on him. At most, his actions amounted to violating privacy laws; if one judged it more leniently, it was merely a prank.

Moreover, someone so outstanding would actually not withstand scrutiny. It would be easy to guess who it was. Since his father had investigated for so long without finding anything, that indirectly explained everything. In the end, he would still have to deal with this matter himself.

As for why he was not transferring schools and was instead eager to return, the reason was simple. There was not much time left before the City Exam, and he could not afford any more delays.

"Son, you're going back to school? Will that be all right?"

Su Yuan froze for a moment and asked worriedly.