After putting down his phone, Ning Wangshu couldn't help rubbing his chin and muttering, "I didn't think of that before. I remember seeing news every year after the College Entrance Examination results came out about Qingbei's Enrollment Office teachers trying to recruit top scorers by showing up right at their front doors."
"Hmm... When Ruoxuan gets back, I'll have to give her a heads-up, in case they can't find me and go asking her instead."
His earlier remark to Lin Qingzhu about going into hiding had just been a joke.
When he wanted to avoid people, he didn't need to run away at all. He could simply cast a Concealment magic spell on himself. No one would be able to see him, even face-to-face.
After Ning Ruoxuan got back from evening study, Ning Wangshu told her about it.
"Ruoxuan, if anyone asks where I am over the next few days, just tell them I went traveling. Also, I'll be turning off my phone for a while. If anything comes up, just come home and find me."
Hearing Ning Wangshu, Ning Ruoxuan couldn't help being taken aback. "What's wrong, Brother?"
She'd thought he really was going traveling, but his next sentence clearly suggested otherwise. Why would he tell her to come home and find him if he were away?
Ning Wangshu smiled. "It's nothing. Just a precaution."
After a pause, he explained, "The College Entrance Examination results became available today, and I'm worried some college recruiters might come looking to snap me up in the next couple of days. I wanted to give you a heads-up."
Ning Ruoxuan understood. "Oh, right. It's already the twenty-seventh. By the way, Brother, what was your exact score?"
Ning Wangshu smiled. "708! Seventh in the province!"
"Seventh in the province?!"
Ning Ruoxuan looked delighted. "Brother, you're incredible! You came seventh in the whole province!"
Ning Wangshu smiled. "That's why I'm worried some college recruiters might come looking to snap me up."
"Got it, Brother! Don't worry. Whoever asks, I'll tell them you went traveling!" Ning Ruoxuan replied at once.
"Mm."
Ning Wangshu nodded, then added, "If they don't believe you and want to come inside and look around, let them in. I'll cast Concealment magic, so they won't be able to see me."
"Okay!"
Over the next few days, Ning Wangshu had nothing much to do, so he stayed home and passed the time on his phone.
As the scores and rankings of the previously withheld top scorers were released, things unfolded just as Ning Wangshu had expected: teachers from Qingbei's Enrollment Office really did come looking for him...
Blue Mountain Club.
"Boss, that Mister Ning is incredible! Look at this year's rankings for Jiangnan Province..."
Song Guowei was playing golf when his bodyguard, Acheng, hurried over.
"Oh? What about them?"
Song Guowei paused his swing and asked curiously.
Acheng quickly explained, "Boss, Mister Ning came seventh among this year's science students in Jiangnan Province! He scored a whopping 708 points, just six short of the Provincial Top Scholar!"
As he spoke, he handed over his phone.
Song Guowei hurriedly took it and looked. Sure enough, in the official rankings for this year's College Entrance Examination in Jiangnan Province, Ning Wangshu's name appeared in seventh place among the science students.
He was astonished. "Brother Ning is that impressive? He's truly a man of both letters and arms!"
"Exactly! If Mister Ning had lived in ancient times, he'd have been the sort of extraordinary man who could bring peace to the land with his learning and secure it with his martial prowess!" Acheng praised.
Song Guowei glanced at Acheng and smiled. "Acheng, look at you, throwing around literary turns of phrase."
"Heh..."
Acheng gave an awkward grin. "Boss, I might not have read many books, but I did graduate from junior high, you know!"
Song Guowei laughed, then continued, "But now that you mention it, when you told me before that Brother Ning was taking this year's College Entrance Examination, I was pretty surprised. I hadn't realized he was even younger than I thought."
"I didn't think much of it at the time. Who knew his grades would be this good too? Seventh in the whole province! Tsk, tsk. That's not something you can achieve just by studying hard. You really have to be smart."
Acheng chimed in, "Yeah, I never expected Mister Ning to do this well either. With these results, he's definitely getting into Qingbei!"
"Mm!"
Song Guowei nodded, then suddenly said, "Acheng, go prepare a gift for me later. This is a great opportunity. I'll call Brother Ning and invite him to dinner so I can congratulate him."
"Pick whatever you think is suitable. It's a gift to celebrate Brother Ning's academic success, so it shouldn't be too tacky or too shabby. As for the price, choose anything between one million and ten million."
"Got it, Boss!"
Acheng answered quickly.
Song Guowei immediately picked up his phone and called Ning Wangshu, but a message saying the phone was switched off came through. Song Guowei couldn't help feeling surprised.
"What's going on? Brother Ning's phone is switched off?"
After thinking it over, he turned to Acheng and asked, "Acheng, I remember you said you found Brother Ning's home address, right?"
"Go to his place yourself and invite him on my behalf. See when he's free!"
After a pause, Song Guowei added, "Go now."
"All right, Boss. I'll get going!"
Acheng answered and hurried off...
Before long, Acheng arrived at Ning Wangshu's front door. He knocked and called out, "Mister Ning, are you home?"
At that moment, Ning Wangshu was stretched out on the living-room sofa, reading a book.
Hearing someone outside, he was taken aback. He immediately released his Divine Sense to check and saw it was Acheng, which left him puzzled.
"Why is Acheng here? Does Manager Song need my help with something again? Or... has Wu Shengtian's master already come looking for me?"
After thinking it over, Ning Wangshu got up to open the door.
"Mister Ning, you're home!"
Seeing Ning Wangshu, Acheng immediately smiled.
"Mm, I'm here!"
Ning Wangshu replied softly, then invited him inside and asked, "Did Manager Song send you? What's the matter?"
Acheng hurriedly replied, "The boss sent me. After hearing that you got such an excellent score—seventh in the whole province—he wanted to invite you to dinner and congratulate you. Would that be convenient, Mister Ning?"
After a brief pause, he added, "The boss called you earlier, but your phone was switched off, so he sent me over to invite you in person."
At this, Ning Wangshu smiled. "My phone is switched off. The teachers from Qingbei's Enrollment Office have been trying to find me these past few days, and I got annoyed, so I turned it off."
In fact, teachers from both universities' Enrollment Offices had indeed been looking for Ning Wangshu these past few days. First, they got his contact information from Qin Feng.
Unfortunately, Ning Wangshu's phone had already been switched off, so they couldn't reach him.
After that, they went straight to Ning Wangshu's home, but he pretended not to be in and ignored them.
Later, they approached Ning Ruoxuan, but she did exactly as Ning Wangshu had instructed and told them he'd gone traveling.
She even let them come inside and look around.
Ning Wangshu had already cast Concealment magic. They searched all over, but still couldn't catch sight of him...
Hearing Ning Wangshu's explanation, Acheng understood. "So that's what happened!"
"Mm."
Ning Wangshu nodded and added, "Please tell your boss that I can't show myself just yet. The teachers from Qingbei's Enrollment Office haven't left Linchuan."
"If I show myself now and they find out, I'm afraid they'll come looking for me again. Then I'll have a real headache..."
Hearing this, Acheng quickly said, "That's no problem, Mister Ning. Before I came, the boss told me you could meet whenever it was convenient for you."
"The boss is in Linchuan these days. Since you don't want those Enrollment Office teachers bothering you, we can just set a time after they leave."
Ning Wangshu thought it over. It would be awkward to refuse again, so he replied, "All right. We'll talk after the teachers from Qingbei's Enrollment Office leave Linchuan."
"Great! Then I won't keep you any longer, Mister Ning. I'll let the boss know right away."
Acheng said at once.
"Okay!"