That Child Has Good Potential, He Is Gold and Will Shine

It has been twenty days since the college entrance examination ended.

Zheng Huai had spent these days in relative leisure.

With school out and most teachers returning home to be with their families, he remained in the school dormitory. He spent his days practicing fist techniques early in the morning, reading interstellar news at noon, grading backlogged exam papers in the afternoon, and occasionally chatting with old comrades via voice calls or playing a few rounds in the Virtual Combat Room to satisfy his itch for action. Life was quite pleasant.

As for the matter concerning Lin Ye, he had kept it on his mind.

Several days had passed since he called his old friend Jiang He. He hadn't followed up, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. He trusted that regardless of the outcome, his old comrade Jiang He would give him an answer.

However, as time went on, the anticipation in his heart grew dimmer.

At noon that day, Zheng Huai had just finished lunch and was resting on the sofa in his dormitory.

Outside the window was the bright summer sun. In the dormitory area's green belt, an intelligent sprinkler robot buzzed, spraying a fine mist of water. The air was filled with the freshness of soil and vegetation, making him feel drowsy.

Suddenly, the smart terminal in his pocket vibrated. Zheng Huai took it out and saw that the caller was his comrade, Jiang He.

He tapped the projection, and Jiang He's image appeared in mid-air.

"Old Zheng, the student you recommended last time, Lin Ye—the preliminary review results from our expert panel are out."

As the projection manifested, Jiang He got straight to the point.

"And?"

Hearing this, Zheng Huai's heart tightened, though his expression remained calm.

"I'm sorry, he didn't pass our expert panel's assessment."

Jiang He paused slightly in the image, seemingly choosing his words carefully.

Zheng Huai frowned at this, though he wasn't overly surprised. He knew the threshold for Canglan was high, and it was normal for a kid like Lin Ye not to pass. Still, he felt a bit unconvinced, so he leaned back on the sofa and spoke in a calm voice.

"It didn't exceed my expectations. Canglan's standards are as high as ever. What is the reason?"

Hearing this, Jiang He caught the slight dissatisfaction in Zheng Huai's tone. He could understand it; his comrade hadn't tried to pull a fast one on him, and the kid really was a good prospect. But Jiang He couldn't change Canglan's standards, so he could only offer a wry smile.

"His Blood Qi Value is too low. It doesn't meet the minimum requirement; the minimum is 360 points."

"But I should have explained the Blood Qi Value issue to you already. That kid Lin Ye had a late start, and Blood Qi Value is something that gets harder to improve the further you go."

Zheng Huai frowned again, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

"I know, but the expert panel doesn't care about that. In their eyes, the child's performance didn't reach the level required for them to make an exception."

Jiang He explained.

"Even though this little guy has decent fist technique and has even grasped a trace of momentum."

"Wait, what did you say?"

Zheng Huai was stunned, his voice involuntarily rising a notch. "Fist momentum?"

"You didn't know?"

Sensing his old friend's surprise, Jiang He continued, "Our expert panel watched the recording of Lin Ye's combat and discovered that the child had mastered a trace of fist momentum. But as I just told you, our minimum Blood Qi Value for special admission is 360. He doesn't meet this hard requirement. Conversely, among the students entering Canglan every year, quite a few have grasped a trace of momentum before enrollment. So, while the child has good potential, he hasn't reached the level where we 'must' offer special admission."

Jiang He's words were blunt and cruel.

The meaning was clear: although Lin Ye's potential was quite good, in the eyes of Canglan, it still didn't reach the standard for them to make an exception.

Zheng Huai listened and remained silent for a moment.

The dormitory was so quiet that only the buzzing of the sprinkler outside the window could be heard.

"Alright, I understand."

"Sorry to have troubled you with this, Old Jiang."

A moment later, Zheng Huai collected himself and thanked Jiang He, though his voice carried a hint of regret. "I knew Canglan's threshold was high, so my expectations weren't that high to begin with. The kid really does have a thin foundation and limited time; being able to perform like this has already exceeded my expectations."

This was indeed his honest sentiment. He had originally thought his student Lin Ye was just diligent and had potential; he hadn't expected the kid to be hiding so much, even having grasped a trace of fist momentum.

He felt a sense of regret mixed with a hint of pleasant surprise.

"There's no need to be so polite between us."

"To be honest, I didn't expect the kid you recommended to have grasped a trace of fist momentum either. If it were in the past, he would have had a chance, but unfortunately, there is a Challenge Stage this year, and the scores have risen, so the standards have increased accordingly."

"The scores have risen?"

Zheng Huai was startled.

"That's right, you wouldn't know. Actually, because of the existence of the Challenge Stage this year, the seventh stage was actually lower in difficulty. Many people passed, and their performance scores were higher, so the cutoff lines for all the top universities this year will be higher than in the past. Our Canglan's cutoff line is expected to rise by seven or eight points this year."

Jiang He sighed.

"Rise by seven or eight points?"

Hearing this, the last flicker of hope in his heart vanished completely.

"Yes, don't spread this around."

Jiang He nodded and comforted him, "But don't be anxious. The kid has good potential; he's a piece of gold, and he will shine."

"Of course, although he didn't reach the level for us to make an exception for special admission, our school has categorized him as a prospect with potential. As long as his college entrance exam score reaches our school's minimum admission cutoff, he will be accepted."

Hearing this, Zheng Huai could only offer a bitter smile. He estimated that with Lin Ye's score, he wouldn't even meet the threshold for Canglan from previous years, let alone this year, where the cutoff was set to rise by seven or eight points. It was easier said than done.

"Alright, I understand."

"Thank you."

"Oh, don't mention it. Anyway, come find me in Canglan City for a drink when you have the time; it's on me."

"I have things to attend to, so I'll hang up now."

"Sure."

Zheng Huai smiled again, and then the connection cut off.

Looking at the disconnected call, he remained silent for a moment before placing his terminal on the coffee table and standing up.

He let out a long sigh, walked over to the window, and watched the robots working in the green belt outside.

Recalling the sight of the surging crowd of students twenty days ago, along with Lin Ye's satisfied response over the phone, he felt as if it were all still vivid in his mind.

He had clearly promised himself deep down that he would find a way to help that kid, so was he really unable to do it after all?

For a moment, Zheng Huai couldn't help but lament that he was getting old.

"Kid... the rest of the road is something you'll have to walk on your own."

By the window, he muttered to himself.

On the other side, at Fenglei Martial University, in the conference room on the top floor of the main administration building.

The School Personnel Recruitment Meeting was held as scheduled.