In Person

In Person

The one who appeared at the classroom door this time was the rotund Department Chair.

Several people stood beside him.

At their head was a woman wearing a sharply tailored wool coat over a gray women's suit. She looked like a delicate, graceful little lady, yet carried an overwhelming presence. Simply standing there, she radiated an aura that warned strangers to stay away.

Who else could it be but Tong Xiaolei?

Whether the First Consortium's name was too intimidating or his round body was simply afraid of heat, sweat kept beading on the Department Chair's forehead.

After calling out and seeing no response from the classroom—those watching the show kept watching, while those clustered together kept fooling around—he grew anxious and casually asked the nearest students, "Do you remember that student I stopped and questioned before class? Where did he go?"

He hadn't expected an answer.

Among first-year students at The Academy, plenty of people from the same department didn't know each other.

Unless someone was fairly well-known.

Otherwise, not being able to call someone by name face-to-face, or knowing the name but not the person, was perfectly normal.

To his surprise, the students in the first row cautiously turned and pointed at the group that was "clustered together and fooling around," indicating that he was among them.

"Isn't this holding things up?!" The Department Chair pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, then hurried over to the group himself and shouted, "Move aside, all of you! Stop playing around! Where's Wang Wen?"

The girls on the outskirts turned at the sound and saw the Department Chair. Their heads immediately cooled down, and they hastily backed away to both sides.

The battle at the center was rather fierce, and everyone was too engrossed to react in time.

When the Department Chair pushed through the crowd and saw Wang Wen's blood-covered face, his expression darkened as though water might drip from it.

He took out clean tissues and pressed them against the wounds on Wang Wen's and the skinny boy's heads and faces, then coldly swept his gaze over the surroundings.

The girls around them stood dumbfounded.

Not one of them dared make a sound. They stood awkwardly to the side with their hands bound, so to speak.

"Outrageous!" The usually kind-looking Department Chair was even more terrifying when angry. His furious roar scared the girls into silence.

"Everyone who laid a hand on someone today!" The Department Chair pointed around with his short, chubby fingers and said mercilessly, "Every last one of you will receive a demerit and write a self-criticism! I'll handle this matter personally. Don't think any of you can get away with it! I want to see your written apologies before class tomorrow, or you'll report to the Discipline Office. Do you hear me?"

Once the girls slunk away obediently, even Yu Zhi, who was still staring blankly into space, was dragged off.

The Department Chair asked Wang Wen with concern, "Are you all right?"

Wang Wen asked the skinny boy with concern, "Are you all right?"

The skinny boy wiped his nose and said indignantly, "The teacher only got here early, or they'd have been done for! I was just about to fight back for real!"

"Oh, give it a rest! If he'd come any later, you'd be dead!"

Wang Wen and the Department Chair exchanged a glance. Both saw that unspoken jab in the other's eyes.

Wang Wen nodded and said to the Department Chair, "Thank you, Teacher. What did you need me for?"

The Department Chair slapped his forehead. "Those brats made me so mad I nearly forgot. Come with me, quickly. An important guest came looking for you by name."

Following the direction he was walking in, Wang Wen spotted the woman at the door, smiling with pursed lips, and understood at once.

He patted the skinny boy on the shoulder to signal him to rest first, then followed the Department Chair toward the door.

His face was injured and flecked with blood, but his expression remained calm and indifferent, as though he did not care in the slightest. Under every classmate's gaze, he walked steadily through the classroom toward the front, as if the chaos just now had merely been children playing around and had never entered his mind.

Yu Zhi, seated in the middle of the classroom, stared at the figure passing before her, her gaze unfocused.

Why?

He was clearly just a poor student with bad grades—neither outstanding nor talented, someone who had never attracted attention and possessed virtually no presence.

He was clearly a boy who looked like a joke, one who had even ridiculously written her a love letter.

Why did he feel different lately?

Nothing had clearly changed.

Why was Cheng Queyi looking for him? Why was the Department Chair looking for him too?

Shouldn't that sense of distance, that feeling that someone had changed beyond recognition after just one day apart, be the "privilege" of girls like her?

On graduation day, she'd let down her long hair, put on beautiful makeup, changed out of her long-sleeved school uniform into a skirt or shorts that showed off her straight, fair legs, and stunned classmates she'd known for years. She had done all of those things before!

She had always been the one to leave others behind. She had only ever seen regret on other people's faces while she moved forward proudly.

What was happening today?

Nothing had clearly changed!

Why?

Yu Zhi stared silently at the doorway where that figure had long since vanished.

Outside the classroom.

Wang Wen and Tong Xiaolei lightly shook hands, then let go.

Tong Xiaolei smiled as she stared at his face, trying to spot some sign of discomfort.

To her surprise, Wang Wen merely wiped himself off with a tissue and nodded. "Don't worry. They're just superficial wounds. They won't affect my ability to collect payment."

"What do I have to worry about?" Tong Xiaolei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She extended a hand toward the distance. "This way, Mr. Seller?"

Wang Wen glanced at the Department Chair in surprise. "Where are we going? Wasn't she looking for me?"

The Department Chair kept wiping sweat with his handkerchief, only managing to nod along with a string of "Yes, yes."

That finally piqued Wang Wen's curiosity.

The group marched grandly toward the Dean's Office.

On the way, the Department Chair even found a Lecturer to excuse Wang Wen from his next few classes.

With the Department Chair personally asking for leave, what was there left to say?

The Lecturer immediately nodded in agreement and said he would keep the class records so Student Wang could review and study whenever he wished.

Even though, before this, the Lecturer had never known there was a Student Wang in his class.

For the first time, Wang Wen truly experienced the First Consortium's power in the "mortal world."

He hadn't had an opportunity like this in his previous life.

By the time he joined the group, he had already left The Academy for many years.

The circumstances were different.

Naturally, the feeling was different too.

How could the fawning of those businesspeople reeking of money outside compare to the special treatment from Academy teachers?

This was treatment only top students used to receive!

The Central Group Leader of the First Consortium Intelligence Department?

From the corner of his eye, Wang Wen glanced at Tong Xiaolei in the distance.

No.

They were already familiar with each other. Anything that needed saying could be said face-to-face; there was no need to specifically discuss it in the Dean's Office.

Did that mean the test results were in, and the mysterious Upper Group Leader had come personally to meet him?

That didn't seem right either. The Upper Group Leader's status was certainly worthy of respect, but it shouldn't warrant such solemnity.

The remaining answer was already obvious.

Wang Wen felt somewhat startled.

No way, right?

It was only intelligence about the sixty-ninth floor.

Maybe it was somewhat obscure.

But there was no need to make such a huge fuss over it, was there?

When they reached the Dean's Office and Wang Wen saw the white-haired old man seated in a chair, he finally couldn't help feeling truly shocked.

The Dean's Office was packed with people.

Even the Dean was standing.

The Department Chair who had led them there wasn't even qualified to enter. He stopped outside the door, wiping sweat.

Tong Xiaolei, who had smiled silently with pursed lips all the way there, slowed before entering. In the instant she lowered then raised her head, every trace of her smile vanished.

Only after ensuring that neither the corners of her mouth nor her eyes revealed the slightest flaw, and that everything was ready, did she lead Wang Wen to a spot one meter before the old man.

"Department Head, Wang Wen has arrived."

Tong Xiaolei straightened her back flawlessly, lowered her head, and reported.