Paleography

At 6:30 PM, Zhang Shuai set off and hailed a taxi to head back to the Louzhonglou Restaurant.

When Zhang Shuai arrived at the restaurant, Sun Xiaoya and Lin Xiuwen were already waiting for him at the entrance.

Both women had clearly dressed up for the occasion. Sun Xiaoya wore a black hip-hugging skirt that looked incredibly sexy, her fair, long legs encased in black stockings and high heels catching everyone's eye. Lin Xiuwen's style leaned toward pure and cute; with her delicate features and hair tied in a ponytail, she wore a beige dress that radiated a youthful charm.

The three of them went to a private room on the second floor. After they sat down, Sun Xiaoya asked Zhang Shuai and Lin Xiuwen to order. Zhang Shuai casually picked one meat dish and one vegetable dish, while Lin Xiuwen ordered only a green vegetable. Seeing this, Sun Xiaoya took the menu and added a few more dishes, specifically warning Zhang Shuai, "Brother Zhang, you are not allowed to rush to pay the bill today, or I will be angry!"

Zhang Shuai laughed, "Don't worry, I definitely won't fight you for the bill today."

The three chatted as they ate, though Zhang Shuai mostly listened to Sun Xiaoya and Lin Xiuwen talk about interesting things happening at their university.

"Xiuwen, that Li Feng from the student council who's been chasing you—are you still not ready to accept him?"

"I have no feelings for him. It's so annoying; he's so self-righteous, always acting like everyone has to like him. I've told him so many times that I don't like him, but he just keeps pestering me. It's infuriating."

"Isn't Li Feng pretty good? He's 1.87 meters tall, handsome, and on the school basketball team. I heard he's even ranked as one of the top ten campus heartthrobs by the girls in private. How do you not have any feelings for him?"

Lin Xiuwen replied, "I don't have a spark with him, and I don't even think he's that handsome. Uh..."

At this point, Lin Xiuwen glanced at Zhang Shuai and said, "Strictly speaking, he's not even as handsome as our Brother Zhang. Just looking at appearances, Brother Zhang is much more dashing than him."

Hearing the conversation shift to him, Zhang Shuai quickly interjected, "Hey, don't drag me into your chat. Even though my name is Zhang Shuai, I really don't count as a handsome guy. I have enough self-awareness to know that."

Sun Xiaoya giggled, "You're not handsome? You won't find many guys at our school better-looking than you. If you don't believe me, ask Xiuwen. She has the pickiest taste; if even she says you're handsome, then you really are."

Zhang Shuai didn't want to dwell on the topic, so he quickly changed the subject, "Let me ask you both a question: does your school offer courses in Paleography?"

Sun Xiaoya replied, "We actually do. Although our school isn't the top university in the country, our Paleography program is ranked number one. In the second half of last year, several of our professors in the department were secretly recruited by the state to work on a project of great national importance."

Hearing this, Zhang Shuai's heart skipped a beat. Could the state have recruited these Paleography professors to decipher the Small Heavenly Cycle Art?

After all, if this cultivation technique were real, its significance to the state would be immense. Especially for those in the ruling class—who wouldn't want immortality and eternal wealth? For the authorities, deciphering the Small Heavenly Cycle Art would require the most professional personnel. Since it was a cultivation technique, there could be no room for error; one mistake, and one might end up like Ouyang Feng practicing the Nine Yin Manual in reverse—falling into a state of demonic obsession.

Perhaps the state's promotion of the Big Dipper Long Fist was a way to screen for talent. Cultivation surely required innate aptitude; only those who could develop a sense of qi through the Big Dipper Long Fist could cultivate. Wasn't that Japanese female spy using that very excuse to infiltrate the 749 Bureau?

"Does your school allow outsiders to audit classes?"

Sun Xiaoya asked in surprise, "You want to go to our school to audit Paleography?"

Zhang Shuai nodded, "I want to learn something."

"But why would you want to study such an obscure subject? Usually, only archaeology and history students take Paleography."

"I'm very interested in ancient scripts and want to study them."

Sun Xiaoya frowned, "Generally speaking, only public electives or open lectures allow auditors. Paleography is a specialized course, so auditing isn't usually permitted."

Lin Xiuwen chimed in, "Actually, it's not entirely impossible. You just need to talk to the professor in advance. Usually, if you're genuinely passionate about the course, they'll agree to let you sit in. If that fails, you can pay a fee to register as an auditor. It's not that difficult."

Zhang Shuai understood; if he had money, the problem wasn't hard to solve.

In today's realistic society, there were very few problems that money couldn't solve.

It seemed he needed to find a way to earn some cash. Although he had stumbled upon an unexpected windfall of 200,000 yuan from that Japanese spy, he had already spent over 10,000 on paying off debts, buying clothes, and signing up for his driver's license. The remaining money wouldn't even be enough to buy a decent car, and he might need to spend quite a bit on his cultivation in the future. He had to find a way to make money.

Seeing Zhang Shuai remain silent, Lin Xiuwen said, "Brother Zhang, if you really want to study Paleography, I can help you talk to our school leadership to get you an auditor's status. After the summer break, you can just come to school with us."

Sun Xiaoya's eyes lit up at this, and she said excitedly, "That's right, Brother Zhang! Xiuwen's uncle is the vice-principal of our school. With her help, you can definitely become an auditor. Then we can all hang out together at school!"

Zhang Shuai was silent for a moment. To decipher the contents of the Small Heavenly Cycle Art as quickly as possible, he had to systematically study Paleography to ensure he didn't make any mistakes.

Zhang Shuai thanked Lin Xiuwen solemnly, "Alright, then thank you for your help, Xiuwen. If there's an opportunity in the future, I will definitely return the favor!"

Lin Xiuwen smiled, "It's nothing. We've known each other for a while now, and we've been practicing driving together; helping out is no trouble at all. School starts on September 5th, which is over a month away. When the time comes, the three of us can just go together."

As they ate and chatted, the conversation somehow drifted back to the topic from the exam room that morning.

"Brother Zhang, be honest—how many days did you spend memorizing the names of all those Japanese AV actresses? It couldn't have been easy to memorize such a long string of tongue-twisting names just to show off."

Zhang Shuai was left speechless; Sun Xiaoya was still hung up on that.

"I already told you, I really have a photographic memory. It wasn't something I specifically memorized to show off!"

"Fine, you say you have a photographic memory, right? Do you dare to be tested?"

Zhang Shuai sighed, "Sigh! To prove my innocence, I suppose I have no choice. Tell me, how do you want to test me?"