Needle Against Wheat

After leaving the exam hall, Tang Yu finally relaxed. He had thought the college entrance exam was nothing much, but when he had actually entered the hall and received the paper, he had found it hard to calm the emotions in his heart. Now that he was out, his whole body felt much lighter.

"Tang Yu?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. He stopped, turned around, and saw that familiar figure.

She wore a white floral dress, her long black hair flowing over her shoulders. She was still as quiet and elegant as ever as she walked toward him.

"Linlin!" Tang Yu took a deep breath and slowly called her name.

"I didn't expect to run into you here!" They spoke almost at the same time, saying exactly the same thing. For a moment, the atmosphere was a little awkward.

"Let's have a meal together. You wouldn't refuse an invitation from an old classmate, would you?"

Xia Linlin was still the first to speak, breaking the silence between them.

Old Street Restaurant was located on the outskirts of Lincheng District. Back then, whenever they had the time, they would come here to eat. First, because the food was good, and second, because it was close to Tang Yu's home.

Xia Linlin ordered all the dishes Tang Yu liked. Only she knew these things. Even Tang Wei probably did not know that his son liked vegetables, disliked meat, and would not eat eggplant.

"How have you been lately?" They sat facing each other in silence again. Xia Linlin was the first to speak, breaking the deadlock.

"Mm, and you?" It seemed he did not know what to say. After holding it in for quite a while, Tang Yu finally managed those three words.

"I've been fine. It's just that I don't have any familiar friends at Second High School, so it gets a little boring sometimes." As if she had expected Tang Yu to ask that, Xia Linlin answered lightly, as though she had forgotten the unpleasantness and awkwardness between them.

"..."

"Ring, ring..." Tang Yu had just wanted to say something else when his phone suddenly rang. He looked at it and saw that it was Meng Xuanxuan.

Tang Yu gave Xia Linlin an apologetic look before answering the call.

"Hey, where did you run off to? The moment I left the exam hall, I rushed straight to Third High School, but I still couldn't find you!"

"I'm having a meal with a friend. What is it? Did you need something?" Tang Yu asked evenly.

"Huh? Eating with a friend?... Is it Xia Linlin?" Meng Xuanxuan immediately guessed who it was. She had not expected the two of them to meet at the exam hall. That really was something.

"Mm. If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up." Tang Yu could tell from Meng Xuanxuan's tone that she had nothing important to say, so he hung up directly.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Xia Linlin had naturally heard every word of Tang Yu and Meng Xuanxuan's conversation. She had thought she had already let go, but upon learning that Tang Yu might have a girlfriend, she still could not suppress the feelings in her heart and could not help asking.

"No, she's just a classmate. She transferred in after you left."

"Oh!" Hearing Tang Yu's answer, Xia Linlin relaxed. Tang Yu never lied. If he said no, then it definitely was no.

"Which university are you planning to apply to?" Since Tang Yu still did not have a girlfriend, that meant she still had hope. Once that thought arose, she could no longer suppress it, and Xia Linlin could not help asking about his plans again.

"Of course, Asian Military Academy. That's my goal!" When Asian Military Academy was mentioned, Tang Yu's face filled with longing. Humanity's continual expansion had led more and more people to explore the sea of stars. Universities received government funding to form exploration squads that ventured into the endless cosmos, scattering human civilization across every living planet.

"To conquer the sea of stars is the aspiration in every Federation citizen's heart. I hope we can fight side by side when the time comes!" Xia Linlin expressed her feelings in a very tactful manner. Having been hurt once, she understood better how to protect herself from being hurt again.

"I'm looking forward to it!" Tang Yu seemed not to understand the meaning behind Xia Linlin's words and readily agreed.

Just as the two finished eating, Meng Xuanxuan called again.

"Tang Yu, come save me!" Meng Xuanxuan's anxious voice came through the phone.

"What happened?" Hearing that, Tang Yu was full of confusion. What trouble had this girl stirred up now?

"Come to my house, quick! I'm about to die!"

After hanging up, Tang Yu felt that he should still go over. After all, Meng Xuanxuan had saved him before.

"I have something to take care of, so I need to go first," Tang Yu said to Xia Linlin, raising his head.

"I'll take you there!" He had hitched a ride with Xia Linlin to get here, so when she said that, Tang Yu did not refuse.

"Rainbow Bridge Residential Compound!" After he gave her the address, Xia Linlin drove over.

"Your classmate's family must be quite wealthy." Xia Linlin naturally knew that most people who lived in Rainbow Bridge Residential Compound were either rich or powerful. The classmate Tang Yu mentioned clearly had quite the background.

"The young miss of Dream Domain Network." There was nothing to hide about that, so Tang Yu told her the truth.

Tang Yu had the access card Meng Xuanxuan had given him, so he and Xia Linlin easily entered Meng Xuanxuan's apartment. However, when they reached Meng Xuanxuan's laboratory, they were both startled by the scene before them.

The marble floor was covered in pits and craters, as though it had been corroded by acid rain. An unknown silver liquid covered the ground, leaving no place to stand in the entire laboratory, while the culprit stood on top of a table on tiptoe in an undignified pose.

"Tell me, what exactly did you do?" Tang Yu could not understand how Meng Xuanxuan had turned her home into this!

"Stop talking nonsense. Get me out of here first!" Meng Xuanxuan said impatiently. She had not expected the thing she made to be so powerful.

"This stuff won't corrode a mech, will it?" Tang Yu pointed at the unidentified silver liquid on the floor and asked Meng Xuanxuan.

"The concentration isn't high enough, so it probably won't!" Meng Xuanxuan froze when she heard Tang Yu's question. After thinking it over, she answered him, but her gaze lingered on Xia Linlin.

Before long, Tang Yu had put on Meng Xuanxuan's Johnson mech. He swaggered into the laboratory, grabbed Meng Xuanxuan, and carried her out.

"Couldn't you be a little gentler?" Meng Xuanxuan had been thoroughly startled when Tang Yu lifted her up. If that guy slipped, she would be finished!

"What happened here? How did you turn your home into this?" Tang Yu asked speechlessly.

"Well, Ruins City has Mutant Corpsefolk, right? Those monsters have incredibly strong healing abilities, and ordinary bullets are useless against them. So I was wondering whether highly corrosive bullets could deal with them. Who knew I'd make one little mistake and end up with this!" Meng Xuanxuan was also a little embarrassed. When she learned that Tang Yu was with Xia Linlin, she had inexplicably felt uncomfortable. One moment of carelessness later, the experiment had gone wrong. Fortunately, she had reacted quickly. Otherwise, even if she did not die, she would have been disfigured!

"Mutant Corpsefolk! A level-four mutated creature! Meng Xuanxuan, you actually have designs on one? Are you crazy?"

"You don't understand. Mutant Corpsefolk may contain genes with super self-repair capabilities. If I can uncover that secret, it would be an enormously significant discovery for human biomedical science!" Meng Xuanxuan was right. Although humanity's genetic shackles had gradually been lifted since the Great Cataclysm, allowing more and more people to cultivate, many ordinary people still suffered from illness. If she could apply this discovery to medicine, it would indeed be an immensely beneficial thing for humanity.

"You're a pharmacist?" Xia Linlin suddenly asked Meng Xuanxuan.

"Oh? You figured it out. I almost forgot—the Xia family is a family of medical experts. You've produced countless Origin Force warriors through medicine alone! What your Xia family does is completely contrary to humanity's cultivation of Origin Force. You're always thinking of using drugs to replace step-by-step cultivation." Meng Xuanxuan's words carried a hint of mockery.

"Different paths can lead to the same destination. As long as the intended goal is reached, the process does not matter!" Xia Linlin shook her head after hearing Meng Xuanxuan, clearly disagreeing with her.

"So what you mean is, the end justifies the means?"

"Isn't it better if there's a faster and more convenient method?"

The two girls' words were like needles against wheat, neither willing to yield.

"Hey, you two started arguing the first time you met?" Tang Yu had no choice but to step in. They had only just met—how had they already started fighting?

"Hmph!" When Tang Yu spoke, Meng Xuanxuan snorted coldly and stopped arguing.

"I was merely stating a fact. Miss Meng is being too extreme." Xia Linlin looked at Tang Yu gently as she spoke.

"The science exam is tomorrow. How well prepared are you?"

"There shouldn't be any problems." After thinking it over, Tang Yu replied to Xia Linlin. He was still confident in his own abilities.

"You skip class every other day, and you still have the nerve to say there won't be any problems!" Meng Xuanxuan curled her lips, clearly unconvinced by Tang Yu's words.

"Skip class?" Xia Linlin was stunned when she heard Meng Xuanxuan. She knew Tang Yu occasionally did that, and whenever it happened, she had always helped him ask for leave. But after she left, was there someone else helping him ask for leave?

"And you claim to like Tang Yu. Last time he went to Ruins City, he nearly died in there. This young lady was the one who saved him!" Meng Xuanxuan deliberately said to Xia Linlin, ignoring Tang Yu's iron-dark expression.

"Thank you." Xia Linlin took a deep breath, bent at the waist, and solemnly thanked Meng Xuanxuan. It was as if she had already forgotten their earlier unpleasantness, which made Meng Xuanxuan feel a little embarrassed instead.

"No need to thank me. I think if it had been you, you wouldn't have stood by and done nothing either!" Meng Xuanxuan waved her hand magnanimously, but there was a deeper implication in her words. Xia Linlin understood perfectly well that Meng Xuanxuan was provoking her.

Xia Linlin merely smiled bitterly and shook her head. In this world, no one understood Tang Yu better than she did. Anyone who liked him was destined to be hurt by him, even if it was never his intention.