The Acceptance Letter

"Of course. Weiwei has always been our pride and joy."

The speaker was Chen Xuewei's mother, Li Weiyang.

She wore a sapphire-blue silk qipao, its sheen flowing like water and accentuating her graceful figure. Her hair was meticulously swept into a low bun, revealing a smooth forehead and elegant neck.

A bright-green jade necklace adorned her neck, and matching cabochon earrings dangled from her earlobes. The set radiated a warm, expensive glow.

A smile played on her lips, and her eyes held just the right amount of reserve and pride.

"Since Weiwei did so well this time, about that Zone 1 spot..."

Li Weiyang glanced at her husband, her eyes questioning.

Chen Runse gently rubbed the rim of his teacup. After a moment's thought, he spoke slowly.

"With Weiwei's results, as long as we put in a little effort, that Zone 1 spot is definitely hers."

At that, Chen Zhihao suddenly paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked at the results sheet in his hand.

"Didn't I tell you before the exam to have Weiwei team up with that boy from the Shen Family? Why are they on different teams?"

Li Weiyang froze at his words, then hurried over and took the results sheet from Chen Zhihao.

As she looked it over, she asked in confusion, "They aren't together? I made a point of reminding Weiwei before the exam."

Li Weiyang carefully scanned the results sheet. The name of the young master from the Shen Family was indeed absent from the first-place team, but there was another name she despised more than anything.

"Xiao Fan! How could he have teamed up with Weiwei?"

Li Weiyang's voice turned shrill, nothing like the elegant, gentle woman she had been moments earlier.

"Xiao Fan? Who's that?"

Chen Zhihao frowned. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember why.

"Have you forgotten? He's the nephew of that servant who once tried to ingratiate himself with our Weiwei!" Li Weiyang ground out.

That reminded Chen Zhihao.

Back when their daughter, Chen Xuewei, was little, she had not only befriended a servant's nephew, but had even argued with her parents over him. Chen Zhihao had been so furious that he sent someone to beat the servant.

"That kid just won't leave us alone. I let him get close to Weiwei once when I wasn't paying attention, and after all this time, he's still clinging to her. We should've kicked that whole family out of Sea City back then!"

Looking at that grating name on the list, Li Weiyang suddenly had an idea.

"Old Chen, can we alter Xiao Fan's score and send him to District 18 Novice Village?" A malicious glint flashed across her face.

At present, the Dragon Nation had established a total of eighteen Novice Villages in Cloud Sea. Each had different resources, facilities, and surroundings.

District 1 Novice Village had the best resources, while District 18 Novice Village was the worst. Safety there was not even guaranteed.

Xiao Fan would never be able to enter District 1 Novice Village like their daughter, Chen Xuewei.

But—

She wanted to cast the man who had been pestering her daughter into the abyss for good!

She wanted to make sure he could never rise again!

Better yet, she hoped he would die in District 18 Novice Village!

Chen Zhihao fell silent for a moment, his tone hesitant. "The situation in the country is a little chaotic right now, but the authorities still take the college entrance exams seriously. Ultimately, the country is looking for promising players. Changing someone's score probably won't be easy."

Li Weiyang snorted at that.

"Xiao Fan is just a servant's nephew. He probably won't even learn a single Mystic Rank skill in his life. What potential could he have? He only came first in the entrance exam because of Weiwei. Even if we change his score, what can he do about it? Is our Chen Family supposed to be afraid of him?"

Chen Zhihao thought it over and decided his wife had a point.

Besides, with their daughter Chen Xuewei's talent, she might one day become a top player on the Leaderboard. She would meet even better people and lead the Chen Family to greater heights.

A man like Xiao Fan deserved nothing more than to be a servant, just like his uncle.

"I'll take care of it." Chen Zhihao's expression darkened.

On Blue Star, students did not choose their preferred Novice Village. Placements were based entirely on their college entrance exam rankings.

Acceptance letters would be sent out over the fifteen days after the exams ended.

Xiao Fan had spent the past several days at home browsing the internet. He now had a thorough understanding of the game Cloud Sea.

After his discharge, his uncle, Xiao Yi, had gone straight back to work without taking time to rest. His aunt, Liu Xiujuan, had also found a part-time job.

Xiao Fan felt sorry for them. Though he wasn't the original Xiao Fan, he had truly felt the warmth of family these past few days and had become part of the household.

He still had 630 Core Power in the game, but he could only exchange it for yuan after entering a Novice Village.

Thinking of that, Xiao Fan couldn't wait for his acceptance letter to arrive so he could enter Cloud Sea again.

He checked online and saw that, with his results, getting into Zone 2 Novice Village would be no problem.

"Once I get into the game, I need to find a way to make money and improve things at home."

Just then, Xiao Fan noticed that Fatty had updated his Moments.

He opened it and saw a picture of an acceptance letter for Zone 2 Novice Village.

The caption read, "Your man Fatty got into Zone 2!"

Then he saw posts from Zhang Yuanyuan and Zhang Chao. They had also received acceptance letters for Zone 2 Novice Village.

"Looks like the acceptance letters are arriving today." Xiao Fan could barely contain his excitement.

However, even after his uncle and aunt came home from work that evening, Xiao Fan still hadn't received an acceptance letter.

"Maybe it'll come tomorrow."

Xiao Fan didn't think much of it.

Then five days passed, and he still hadn't received his letter.

Acceptance letters were sent out by region, with the higher-ranked regions receiving theirs first.

When Xiao Fan saw classmates posting acceptance letters for Zone 15, he realized something was wrong.

At dinner, Xiao Yi learned that Xiao Fan still hadn't received his acceptance letter. He felt even more guilty.

Xiao Fan hadn't said anything about his results since the exams.

Xiao Yi assumed that Xiao Fan had done poorly because he hadn't had the money to buy him a Novice weapon.

The mood at the table was heavy. Xiao Fan kept his head down and said nothing. After dinner, he greeted them and went back to his room.

After a long silence, Xiao Yi sighed.

"Ah, it's all my fault. If I hadn't spent that money on my hospital stay, Xiao Fan wouldn't have had to take the exam without a Novice weapon. He wouldn't have done so badly."

Liu Xiujuan put down her bowl and watched Xiao Fan leave. Though she felt sorry for him, she still tried to reassure her husband.

"Don't think that way, Yi. We couldn't help it."

Silence fell over the table again.

Xiao Yi gazed out the window, making up his mind.

Today was the last day acceptance letters would be sent out, and Xiao Fan had finally received his.

The letter clearly stated District 18 Novice Village.

"How could it be District 18? We all came first, but Fatty and the others got letters for Zone 2. How could I end up in District 18?"

"The school must have made a mistake."