Chapter 334: 128 genius gathered_2
“Ling Ziyao, roll B.”

“…”

“Song Min, roll C.”

“Ning Xiao, roll C.”

“Bai Lian, roll C.”

“Tang Ming, roll C.”

There were only a few with roll A, not many with roll B, the majority had roll C.

Bai Lian and her two companions had roll C in their hands.

Tang Ming looked down at the paper in his hand, “Even roll C is this difficult, I can’t imagine what kind of deity is capable of doing roll A.”

People gradually left the classroom, Tang Ming stood at the classroom door talking to several people.

When Bai Lian stood up with her cotton-padded coat, she saw the only other girl with short hair besides her, standing two meters away from Tang Ming and the others, glancing up at Tang Ming and the others, then fiddling with her bag strap over and over again.

She wore a white mask, glasses, and a hat, wanting to come forward but not daring to.

Bai Lian put on her coat and pulled Tang Ming aside, “You’re blocking her way.”

The other boys also stepped aside.

Seeing the way clear, the girl quickly lowered her head and walked by, not lifting her head as she went out the door.

Luckily, Bai Lian had sharp ears and heard a very quiet “thank you.”

“Huh?” Tang Ming only saw a blur, never catching a glimpse of the girl’s face, “Sis, Ning Ge, these are all people from the affiliated middle school.”

Tang Ming introduced these few boys to the two of them, clearly they were from the same class.

“This is Ling Ziyao, he has roll B, he’s very impressive, an IMO gold medalist!” Tang Ming finished with a heavy introduction of the leading boy.

Ning Xiao was amazed, staring at Ling Ziyao in surprise.

A gold medalist could only get roll B?

Ling Ziyao wore black-rimmed glasses, appearing honest and steady, accustomed to such gazes, he simply said, “Nice to meet you, if you run into any problems during the academic speech later, you can ask me.”

That was a polite decline to joining Bai Lian and her group for the academic speech team.

“Thank you,” Bai Lian said thanks.

They were thankful, surely, but asking was out of the question.

Otherwise, Young Master Jiang would remember them for a hundred days.

“Our sister is also very good at math,” Tang Ming added.

Upon hearing this, Ling Ziyao’s group glanced at Tang Ming, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the remark. They were different from Tang Ming; this wasn’t their first time at Boyuan Base, they saw different students coming here from various places each time—

Boyuan Base was a gathering place for geniuses, all these people were top students from their respective places, prideful at heart, but these top students from other places were quite different from them. After today’s exam, Tang Ming would start to become introspective and wouldn’t be so confident anymore.

**

In the afternoon, there was a three-hour academic exchange.

Those who were here were all favored children of the heavens, and some of them had befriended everyone in the class, Bai Lian and other “foreign students” from the four major cities had fewer adds.

After the academic exchange, Bai Lian didn’t stay at the base.

Ji Heng told her to go have dinner at Xu En’s place.

Bai Lian packed her things and left.

Song Min chased after her at this moment, his gaze complex, “Bai Lian, how come you’re here?”

He knew about Bai Lian’s grades.

She was almost clueless in science, vividly remembering when the homeroom teacher had moved her to the liberal arts class. Later, it seemed she had transferred to science, but back then Song Min didn’t care much about Bai Lian.

He hadn’t paid attention.

Recently, however, he heard from his mother that Ji Mulan had married into the Jiangjing family, possibly recommended by someone from Jiangjing, but… what qualifications did she use to get in?

He had many questions.

Bai Lian, looking at her phone with her head down, barely lifted her head, her face pale and expression indolent and cold, “Excuse me.”

Two words without emotion.

The past Song Min was extremely impatient with Bai Lian, preferring to solve a couple more math problems rather than talk more words with her, but the current Bai Lian now felt utterly unfamiliar to him.

Song Min subconsciously stepped aside.

Bai Lian passed by him toward the Boyuan Base gate.

At the gate.

Jiang Fulai was waiting for her.

While buckling her seatbelt, Bai Lian told Jiang Fulai the address, the Xu Family office building was in Yunxiao District.

Yunxiao District is the economic center of Jiangjing, right across from Chang’an District, with Xingjiang District in between. It is a bit far to cross the districts, but it’s not yet five o’clock, and the traffic isn’t bad.

“What did you send to Academician Ma?” Bai Lian leaned back in her seat with a relaxed posture, tilting her head to look at him.

Jiang Fulai was quite unperturbed, “Nothing.”

The corners of his lips, slightly pursed, appeared extremely aloof.

If it were someone else, they wouldn’t dare to glance at him at this moment.

The only connection Bai Lian had with Academician Ma was through Jiang Fulai, which she didn’t believe for a second. It wasn’t until a two-minute red light that she spoke up, “Open WeChat.”

Jiang Fulai: “…”

He silently took out his phone to show Bai Lian—

Academician Ma: “Give me Jiang He too.”

Jiang Fulai: “?”

Academician Ma: “It would be best if you come along.”

Jiang Fulai didn’t pay him any attention.

Academician Ma: “Bai Lian is also studying quantum mechanics, did you know?”

Academician Ma: “Odd, she actually isn’t studying dark matter.”

Jiang Fulai: “(Smile)”

Jiang Fulai: “[Photo]”

Jiang Fulai: “I’m going to help her get clothes now, don’t bother me.”

Academician Ma: “…”

Bai Lian, having read the entire conversation: “…”

Much to her relief, Young Master Jiang was quite polite.

She handed the phone back to Jiang Fulai, whose phoenix eyes swept indifferently over her before reaching out to take the phone, his right hand elegantly resting on the steering wheel, noble yet forbidding, “Although you’ve gone to study quantum mechanics, if you’re unhappy, I won’t send any more messages. It’s all right.”

Bai Lian replied, “No… send whatever you like.”

“Oh.”

**

Yunxiao District.

The largest hotel there is Yunxiao Hotel, towering into the clouds.

With over seventy floors, Xu En had reserved the top-floor private room. At this moment, Shen Qing sat on the luxurious sofa in the private room, extremely restrained, not daring to shift even a bit.

The butler represented the elderly lady, standing to one side with a smile, “Ms. Shen, there is afternoon tea over there — Yunxiao’s speciality. You might like to try some.”

He pointed to the cakes displayed on the left.

Shen Qing eyed the cakes, attractive in appearance, and the various wines, uncertain of how to proceed, “I’m not hungry.”

She picked up a cup of tea.

The butler withdrew his gaze.

Ji Mulan glanced at Shen Qing and pursed her lips slightly, the smile at her mouth fading somewhat.

Xu En and Ji Heng stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, observing the lights slowly coming on outside. Ji Heng looked down at the bustling streets, “Jiangjing is still so lively.”

It was almost in a different world compared to Xiangcheng.

“The lights aren’t fully on yet,” Xu En pointed to the square below, “after seven o’clock, this place turns into a city that never sleeps.”

“Some live in a drunken dream, while others are in constant anxiety.”

Hearing what Ji Heng said, Xu En couldn’t help but give him an extra glance. He and Xu’s assistant had always known that Ji Heng was exceptional in his conversation, but he was still curious about the Ji Family members.

Downstairs.

“Such nonsense,” Xu Shujie had just got off work and ran into Xu Wenyao, her brow furrowed in disapproval, “Are these Ji Family people really worth putting down your books for?”

Xu Wenyao’s efforts, particularly those of Zhiyue, were well known to her. Especially Zhiyue, during the New Year when a bunch of people visited the Xu Family, she would stay in her room working on assignments, avoiding social interactions.

Xu Wenyao, preparing for graduate school, also reduced the frequency of his home visits; the elderly lady was so afraid of disturbing his studies that she couldn’t bear to bother him with even the smallest matters.

“Auntie,” Xu Wenyao spoke as amicably as ever, “after all, Auntie Ji is about to marry my dad… ”

“Enough, don’t give me that official talk,” Xu Shujie glanced at him, uninterested in the affairs of the Ji Family, “I don’t care about the rest, just don’t let their matters interrupt your and Zhiyue’s studies.”

The Xu Family had grown to its current state, where the elderly lady paid great attention to the social status and background of potential spouses for Xu En. She didn’t approve of Xu En’s previous partner either; that woman left Xu En eventually and swiftly married a foreigner.

It was clear that Ji Mulan didn’t meet the elderly lady’s expectations, as she was quite critical of her.

But Xu En didn’t care for her opinion at all, moving out to live with Ji Mulan, which made the elderly lady even more displeased with Ji Mulan.

“Would you like to come up?” Xu Wenyao asked.