"Gao Neng, dinner’s ready! Huh? Why haven’t you prepared a bowl for the cat yet?" Xu Zilan happened to walk out of the kitchen at that mont, carrying three dishes.
"It’s fine. This cat is actually pretty smart, so let’s just let it eat with us at the table." Gao Neng winked at the silver cat.
The silver cat imdiately got the hint.
"ow!"
It brought its two paws together.
Absolutely adorable.
Watching the silver cat’s cute display, Xu Zilan was stunned for a mont. Then, whether it was because every woman has a natural soft spot for cats, or for so other reason, she actually agreed.
"Mom, this cat doesn’t have an owner. Let’s keep it."
"We have to be certain it really doesn’t have an owner. If it does, we have to return it," Xu Zilan said after a mont’s thought, but nodded nonetheless.
"Great! How about you give it a na, Mom?"
"A na? Hmm... This looks like a female cat. Let’s call her Gao Xiaong," Xu Zilan said after a mont of thought.
"ow..." The silver cat, Gao Xiaong, seed quite pleased. Her eyes sparkled and her paws waved about. In no ti, she had scraped her bowl clean. Then, her two deep-blue eyes fixed on Gao Neng’s bowl. "ow... ow, ow, ow..."
"Gao Xiaong?" Gao Neng wore a strange expression as he looked at the silver cat. "Mom, are you sure this is really a female, not a male?"
"Of course. I, Xu Zilan, have seen countless cats. How could I be mistaken? By the way, I can get the one thousand Alliance Coins for your exam registration fee together by tomorrow. Aunt Li has her eye on my jade bracelet and said she’d take it as paynt..."
"Mom, I already have the registration fee!"
"You... you have it?"
"Yeah. The school said my grades are good and that I have a great shot at getting into a Military University, so they specially applied for a scholarship for . It’s ten thousand Alliance Coins. After paying the one-thousand-coin registration fee, I’ll still have nine thousand left..." As he spoke, Gao Neng pulled a stack of Alliance Coins from his nearby backpack and placed it in front of Xu Zilan.
"..." Xu Zilan glanced at the Alliance Coins but said nothing more, simply picking at the food in her bowl. A mont later, two tears fell into the bowl.
"Mom, your son is all grown up. I can earn my own money now," Gao Neng continued.
"Yes... my son really has grown up."
"Also, about the entrance exam—I’ll definitely get into a Military University. I can’t promise one of the ’Big Four,’ but I’m confident I can get into a mid-tier one. Once I’m accepted, how about we move to the City of Hope together?" Gao Neng had never been to the City of Hope, but his childhood dream had always been to get into a Military University and take Xu Zilan away from the slums of the Forgotten Land.
"Go to the City of Hope..." Xu Zilan’s expression seed distant, as if she were lost in thought.
"And about what happened with Dad..."
"I’m finished. You and Gao Xiaong can have so more; there’s still food in the kitchen. I’m going to my room to rest." Without waiting for Gao Neng to finish, Xu Zilan went straight into her room.
Gao Neng watched Xu Zilan enter her room and, in the end, said nothing more.
"ow!" Gao Xiaong pointed at the bowl in front of her.
"Can’t you use your words?"
"This ow wants another bowl!"
"You glutton!" Gao Neng got up and went to the kitchen to fill another bowl with rice. When he returned, he found his own bowl was empty.
anwhile, Gao Xiaong had already scampered onto Gao Neng’s bed. She was lying on her back, patting her belly with both paws.
"ow, I’m so, so full..."
"..." Gao Neng.
’If I were to kill this cat and make soup out of it, would that be equivalent to indirectly eating that intelligent liquid life form? And would my intelligence then increase a hundredfold?’
Gao Neng wasn’t sure.
But the way he looked at Gao Xiaong gradually started to turn strange.
"ow! This Cat King has over a hundred underlings, you know! I dare you to lay a finger on !" Gao Xiaong seed to sense the danger, her deep-blue eyes growing wide and round.
"Haha... Don’t worry. Your last na is Gao now, so we’re family." Gao Neng chuckled, deciding to shelve that idea for the ti being.
’At the very least, I need to observe her for a while longer. See if she develops any side effects, or if her lifespan is shorter, or sothing like that.’
...
「Two days later.」
The preliminary test for the college entrance exam officially began.
Location: The Physical Training Base in the very center of the Forgotten Land.
Starting at six in the morning, the Forgotten Land’s Public Security Bureau had already set up iron barricades and a human wall around the periter of the Physical Training Base.
At seven o’clock, the principals and teachers from the various schools began organizing their students into groups in their designated areas.
Li Qingping looked at the nearly 200 students who had all assembled before him, feeling a wave of emotion. His face was filled with relief and pride.
In previous years, the number of students from Third Senior High School willing to pay the 1,000 Alliance Coin registration fee had never surpassed 40. Sotis, it was even lower.
The situation at the other high schools wasn’t much different. First High had more applicants, but even in their best year, it was only just over 60.
This year, however, not only had Third High’s numbers reached nearly 200, but the other high schools also saw an explosive increase in applicants.
First High had 322 applicants, Second High had 258, Third High had 196, Fourth High had 188, and the Girls’ High School had 303.
The total number of applicants reached over 1,200!
This was the highest number of exam applicants in the history of the Forgotten Land, shattering a ten-year record.
How could Principal Li not feel gratified?
"Students... I... I sincerely hope that every single one of you passes the preliminary test and performs to the best of your abilities!" After a few coughs, Principal Li finally managed to get these words out.
"We will devote our light and heat to the Alliance!" The nearly two hundred students were full of spirit, all traces of their forr despondence gone. They were agitated, they were excited, and their hope for the future had been rekindled.
Li Qingping watched all of this, his heart a mix of excitent and anxiety.
He was excited because the Forgotten Land was finally changing. But he was also anxious. If, just like in previous years, only two or three students managed to pass, would this newly kindled hope be extinguished?
It was a contradiction, just like Gao Neng’s mood at that mont.
He, too, was conflicted.
His eyes were fixed on the description of his mission.
Ostentatious Luxury. Mission Completion Conditions:
"On the day of the preliminary test, successfully attract the attention of all examinees and loudly curse the Examiner ’Are you a moron?’ three tis. Finally, you must successfully pass the preliminary test and achieve the highest score in the entire venue. (P.S. You are aloof and proud; you can’t let anyone see through you. Rember not to expose your hidden talent!)"
"System, I’ve thought about this for two days and two nights. If I promise to stop calling you a moron from now on, could this mission be adjusted? Like, could you just give a different one?"
"Once a mission is issued, it cannot be changed!"
"You moron!" Gao Neng cursed. He then glanced at the groups from the other schools. He had already figured out the system’s whole shtick. In short: don’t be a coward, just get it done.
’In that case, there’s no point in holding back. As the morning sun rises, I’ll let everyone witness my ostentatious luxury.’
"Principal Li, you want to be the chairman of the Supervisory Committee, don’t you? If you do, just say the word, and I, Gao Neng, will casually snag the top score in this year’s exam for you! And to the principals and students from the other schools, listen up! Just be good little bystanders and don’t get any funny ideas!" Gao Neng took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
In an instant, the gazes of the onlooking crowd and the more than 1,200 examinees all snapped toward him, their eyes flashing with fire.
As for Principal Li, his face instantly flushed beet-red.
The contest for the chairmanship of the Supervisory Committee was already an open secret among the five schools. After all, even if the principals kept quiet, the teachers would inevitably spread the news.
The goal was to motivate the students to fight with everything they had in the exam.
But for soone to announce it so brazenly like Gao Neng... he was definitely the first.
"[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully completing the ’Attract the Attention of All Examinees’ step! A vibrant youth requires one to be bold and even bolder! Please keep up the good work!]"
*(Author’s Note: The first thing I do when I open my eyes is write and post an update! My goal is to beg for a few more recomndation votes, a small tip, and for you to add this to your collections. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Sob, sob...)*
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