Chapter Forty-Eight: Jialuo Teresa

"Careful. Watch your leg—hey, take it easy..."

At the Research Department hospital in Seven Luminaries' Technology Development Zone, Mo Heng was directing people as they transferred Xilin from his wheelchair to the bed.

Xilin had said he could move on his own, but Mo Heng flat-out ignored him. He looked as though Xilin were a huge nuisance, yet kept issuing instructions without pause, making sure they didn't bump or jostle him.

Xilin was practically in tears. He could easily kill ten black rats with his bare hands without getting so much as a scratch, but what could he do when he was pretending to be sick? Pretending to be ill was torture. He'd brought this on himself!

Although the medical equipment showed that Xilin was fully fit to leave the hospital, Mo Heng still insisted he rest for another ten days. During that time, no one was allowed to visit.

This was punishment for Xilin suddenly taking leave to join a dangerous Training Department mission!

All Xilin could do each day was chat with people on his microcomputer. Seven Luminaries had its own internal communication platform, and Xilin's friends list showed only five people: Knight, Long, Ci Jincheng, Hard, and Saqi. There were only five of them, but his chat window flashed nonstop every day.

One morning, Xilin woke up and opened his microcomputer to find several new messages, all about the same thing—the five of them taking part in the rat extermination mission.

The situation at the Bio-chemical Base had been resolved, so there was no longer any need to keep it under wraps. And even if every Training Department student kept quiet, anyone outside the department who wanted to know could always find out something.

Once news about the base broke, the names of the five students who had taken part in the mission came out too. Someone had even ranked them by strength.

Xilin followed the forum address Knight had left him and opened the Qiyao Forum. Sure enough, several of the top trending posts were about them. There were pictures of the black rats, and plenty of replies beneath them, both praise and criticism. Of course, some people were there just to look at the rats.

As for the five-person ranking, the order from first to fifth was Knight, Pride, Saqi, Hard, and Xilin. There was a reason they'd been ranked that way.

Why were Hard and Xilin at the bottom? Because when the five of them got off the aircraft that day, they were the only two sitting down. Hard had been discharged the next day, while Xilin still needed a few more days, so he ended up in last place. Pride should have been glad he'd insisted on not using a wheelchair that day. Otherwise, he'd have been stuck behind Saqi and would've been furious.

But the farther Xilin scrolled, the more absurd the discussions became.

Where had the thread gone off track?

It all started with the user "Shasha" on page 1626. Once she posted, the replies veered off course until they had nothing to do with the original topic. This was probably what Knight and the others had really wanted Xilin to see.

That "Shasha" had said:

"Actually, I'm more interested in the one ranked fifth."

The replies began pouring in, and judging by the timestamps, everyone had been incredibly quick. In less than a minute, they'd filled more than five pages.

"Sha Meiren spotted!"

"Sha Meiren, did you see the heartfelt vow I wrote you fifty-seven days, twelve hours, thirty-eight minutes, and three seconds ago?"

"So this is the legendary Sha Meiren?"

"Could it be that Sha Meiren has a thing for the guy ranked fifth?"

"What? Sha Meiren has a thing for the guy ranked fifth!"

"Sha Meiren, have you given your heart to the guy ranked fifth?"

"Breaking news: Sha Meiren has a secret crush on a first-year junior!"

"Who's the bastard ranked fifth? Drag him out and strip him naked!"

Xilin was speechless. He had to admire their ability to twist someone's words. He'd witnessed them turn a grape into a durian—and each person had sounded more convinced than the last.

As Xilin stared at the replies, at a loss for words, his chat window started flashing again. Long and Knight's avatars were blinking nonstop.

Now what?

He opened the messages. Both had sent him the same large picture. It showed a girl in a light-colored, casual outfit, her hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a sunhat that obscured her expression and held a bouquet of flowers. The key detail was the background: it was the hospital where Xilin was staying.

"Xilin, check the Qiyao Forum homepage," Ci Jincheng messaged him.

Xilin returned to the forum's main page. One post after another was marked in red, all about that "Sha Meiren." Countless replies were denouncing Xilin as the beauty's rumored boyfriend. One pinned post was titled "Live: Sha Meiren Visits Her Rumored Boyfriend."...

The more Xilin read, the more bewildered he became. He didn't even know who Sha Meiren was. What rumors were they going on about?!

The little speaker icon beneath the chat window kept sounding, so Xilin started a group call.

"Hey, Xilin, did you meet Sha Meiren?"

"Xilin, you've been keeping a secret girlfriend from us! No, a secret beauty! You've got something going on—spill!"

While Long and Knight, two big mouths, were still squabbling, the door to Xilin's hospital room beeped open. A medical robot walked in, followed by the "Sha Meiren" Xilin had seen in the picture.

"Hi, Daongs Xilin!" The newcomer greeted him with a bright smile.

"Ohhh, it's Sha Mei—"

The voice on the other end cut off abruptly. Xilin had shut down his microcomputer and turned to face his visitor.

At the same time, Long in the Trade Zone and Knight over in the Training Department were stomping around in frustration. Xilin had actually dared to turn off his microcomputer! Could it be... that he was about to do something naughty? Their imaginations were already running wild.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Jialuo Teresa, a fifth-year student from the Design Institute in the Research Department."

She wasn't alluring, but had a fresh, natural beauty. Every movement carried an air of confidence, and she was easy to approach. That was the first impression people got when they met Teresa.

Xilin had no idea who people meant when they said "Sha Meiren," but he knew the name Teresa. The Qiyao Handbook had a section introducing famous people on campus, and Teresa was one of them.

Teresa was a celebrated prodigy at the Research Department's Design Institute and a Special Recruit. After entering the academy, she'd advanced straight to the fifth year in just three years. She studied under the famous "Queen" of Seven Luminaries: Professor Lin, the wife of the Seven Luminaries Academy principal, Old Mrs. Lin.

Professor Lin was an old acquaintance of Mo Heng's, so it was no wonder he'd made an exception and let Teresa in.

"Have you finished Professor Lin's project?" Xilin asked. He'd heard Linglong mention that Queen Lin had gone to Planet A Sector for a project and would be away for a while. Judging by this, Teresa must have gone with her.

Teresa placed the flowers in a vase nearby. "Yes, we only got back today. Professor Mo had plenty of praise for you over dinner. There aren't many people who can earn such a high opinion from him."

Xilin shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Glancing at the microcomputer beside Xilin, Teresa smiled. "I've been away for quite a while. Today I was browsing the Qiyao Forum and saw your post, so I replied without thinking. I didn't expect such a huge reaction."

"But, senior, you don't look the least bit sorry."

"Hehe." Teresa didn't deny it.

After chatting for a little while, Teresa got up to leave. She'd been away from Seven Luminaries for some time because of the project, and Old Mrs. Lin was waiting for her to take care of some academy business. She couldn't stay long.

"Thanks for coming to see me, senior. I'll treat you to a meal once I'm discharged."

"Sure. I'll look forward to it."

Teresa had been in and out of the hospital in less than five minutes, but the Qiyao Forum was already in an uproar. There were pictures of her entering and leaving the hospital, and that alone was enough to set everyone's imaginations running wild. Then someone somehow confirmed that Teresa had indeed visited Xilin's room, and the entire Qiyao Forum erupted.

Xilin ignored all the commotion. After Teresa left, he opened his hand. A Savings Card lay in his palm. Just before leaving, Teresa had patted him and slipped him the card.

No wonder something had felt off. So she was the contact after all. That was why Xilin had told her he'd treat her to a meal after he was discharged. Xilin smiled meaningfully. Besides realizing that she was the contact, he'd also uncovered a secret.

No wonder Aifulan was such a strong contender to inherit the Daongs Family. He'd really kept himself well hidden!