Listening Comprehension┃You Can Fucking Do That?!

Aside from the room where Black Granny lived, there were four vacant rooms next to it.

Each was cramped and covered in old knitted blankets, with just one bedroom and one bed, decorated like the canopy of a carriage.

The village chief said, "Sorry for the trouble, but you'll have to squeeze in."

The newcomers, Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao, would naturally share a room. It would be inconvenient for Yu Yao, a young woman, to share with the others, so she got a room to herself.

That left Yu Wen, Old Yu, Mike, You Huo, and Qin Jiu to split between the two remaining rooms.

You Huo thought for a moment, then asked Qin Jiu, "Do you have a little invigilator's villa here?"

Qin Jiu said, "Thanks to you, I'm invigilating the whole time, so there's no little villa for me to stay in. I have to squeeze into this narrow, cramped, not-so-clean place."

You Huo pretended not to hear him and said to the village chief with a perfectly serious face, "You decide."

Yu Wen said, "How about Old Yu, my cousin, and I squeeze into one room? We're all family!"

Mike glanced at Qin Jiu and refused to go along with it no matter what.

Everyone was afraid when they saw an invigilator. Counting them all up... You Huo was the only exception.

Two minutes later, everyone watched warily as You Huo and Qin Jiu entered one of the rooms.

Just as they were about to sit down, a familiar voice suddenly rang out in the room.

[It is now 7:00 a.m. Beijing time. The examination has officially begun.]

[The first examination: listening comprehension.]

[The listening passage will begin playing in 30 minutes. Each question will be played only twice. Candidates are expected to answer the questions carefully.]

[Additionally, candidates and invigilators are forbidden from engaging in inappropriate relationships. Please reassign the rooms.]

Everyone: "???"

You Huo: "..."

The system must have had a death wish.

Chapter 18: Listening Comprehension┃You Can Fucking Do That?!

Waiting for the questions should have been a tense affair.

But the system's out-of-the-blue warning had somehow wiped that tension away.

The candidates were stunned, but no one dared say anything out of turn.

Yu Wen had been about to follow them inside for a look, but now he stood with one foot raised, unable to decide whether to go in or stay out.

The atmosphere between the two big shots inside was a little frightening...

You Huo glanced at Qin Jiu, then looked away again, his face expressionless.

Wearing a face fit for a funeral, he searched the room along the walls and finally found the source of the voice.

It was a taxidermied crow, standing stiffly on a copper stand with its wings jutting out and its beak wide open.

When they had first entered a dozen seconds ago, the beak had still been closed.

Without even bending down, You Huo lowered his eyes to the crow. "Who operates the Examination System? Who programmed that bullshit? Is there somewhere I can file a complaint?"

Crow: "..."

You Huo turned to look at Qin Jiu.

A beep sounded from Qin Jiu's wrist, and a red light flashed.

Touching his wrist, he winked at You Huo. "A friendly suggestion: if you can avoid asking about these things, don't ask. The first time was a warning that I can't violate the rules by divulging confidential information. Ask again, and you'll be expelled from the examination hall."

You Huo patted the crow on the head.

Crow: "..."

Qin Jiu's eyes were a deep black. His gaze rested on You Huo's face for a moment before he turned to the crow.

"All right, we'll switch rooms. I'll share with that mixed-race candidate, then," he said, staring into the crow's eyes.

This time, the crow was silent for two seconds.

Everyone thought the matter was settled, but then it suddenly spoke again, repeating what it had said before:

[Candidates and invigilators are forbidden from engaging in inappropriate relationships. Please reassign the rooms.]

For Mike's benefit, it repeated the warning in English.

Mike: "..."

"Or how about him?" Qin Jiu casually pointed at Yu Wen.

[Candidates and invigilators are forbidden from engaging in inappropriate relationships. Please reassign the rooms.]

"..."

As the voice droned on like a broken record, everyone realized it probably wasn't targeting Qin Jiu and You Huo specifically. The damn thing thought they were all horny poodles.

Yu Wen quietly nudged his father. "Has this system been traumatized or something? It's so sensitive... If being in the same room counts as fooling around, wouldn't sharing a bed mean having a house full of kids and grandkids?"

Old Yu said, "No dirty jokes!"

Yu Wen: "???"

Qin Jiu also walked up to the crow. "Why don't we forget about invigilating the whole time, too, and let this candidate do as he pleases?"

Beep-

Rule violation warning.

Invigilator 001 was so angry he laughed.

They weren't allowed to share a room, but he still had to invigilate the whole time.

Did that make any fucking sense?

Qin Jiu rubbed his wrist, looking at the crow.

At that moment, everyone could plainly feel the tension in the air.

He looked as though he might do something, but a moment later, he merely said, unhurriedly, "How about this? The candidate takes the room, and I'll put up with a little inconvenience and make do on the sofa."

This time, the crow finally remained silent, tacitly accepting the arrangement.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

You Huo gave Qin Jiu a puzzled look.

Although he and this invigilator didn't get along at all, he had to admit that Qin Jiu had a particular air about him. It was as though all those rules and restrictions simply couldn't hold him back.

Even when Invigilator 001 stood there smiling, casually negotiating with the Examination System, he gave the impression that... he might bring the rules crashing down at any moment.

His concessions and compromises were like a lion lazily taking a nap; they did nothing to diminish his aggression.

If a sleepy lion said it wanted to give someone a little nibble, who would dare let it?

The lodging issue was finally resolved.

After going all the way around in a circle, the final room assignments were hardly any different from the original ones.

They had still suffered plenty of frustration, though.

The decorations in these houses were much the same, and an identical crow stood in each room.

These were the system's mouthpieces, used to convey information. Apart from You Huo and Qin Jiu, who had each touched one on the head, no one dared touch the crows in the other rooms.