Chapter 66
Chapter 66: In Physics, Ye Wan Lan Is the Sky
Since when could someone from the history-chemistry-biology track join a physics competition?
Since when could someone who only got into No. 7 High School through back doors and connections stand shoulder to shoulder with the physics class?
Ye Wan Lan—who’d dropped out in her first year, run off to the modeling world, and even worked as a stand-in?
After listening to Sheng Song boast about her “glorious deeds,” and then watching her violence firsthand, Su Xu Bai and Xue Yi Wei couldn’t understand why Teacher Ren had handed her the fourth spot.
He Jiao Jiao didn’t say a word, but her mouth hung open all the same.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Teacher Ren’s smile vanished. “You say you won’t participate and that’s that? Do you think physics is your toy?”
Physics was the crystallization of human wisdom. It deserved absolute respect.
“Teacher,” Xue Yi Wei said, refusing to back down, “then why did you choose Ye Wan Lan? She’s in the history track. You know that.”
Her gaze sharpened. “The summer camp spots are already precious. Did you really have to pick her just to disgust us?”
Every exam, Su Xu Bai and she traded first place in the grade.
And in physics, it was the same. The two of them locked down the top spots so thoroughly no one else could breathe.
He Jiao Jiao, meanwhile, was strong in physics but weak in biology and chemistry—lopsided in the opposite direction.
Teacher Ren treated physics like scripture, and he never spared even top students from a scolding. “I chose her because her physics is good. What else would it be? How exactly does that ‘disgust’ you? Tell me. Where?”
Xue Yi Wei’s expression tightened. “You’re saying her physics is good?”
Anyone with real physics talent would choose the pure science track. They wouldn’t treat university majors like a joke.
It was obvious. Connections. Nothing else.
“Her physics—” Teacher Ren began.
Knock, knock, knock.
He paused. “Come in.”
Ye Wan Lan pushed open the door and walked in. “Teacher.”
Her gaze met the other three. Even with two pairs of cold, hostile eyes on her, she didn’t so much as blink.
“Wan Lan, you’re here.” Teacher Ren’s cheer returned instantly. He held out a badge. “This is your summer training camp ID. What made you change your mind and decide to come?”
“My cousin is going,” Ye Wan Lan said, giving a small nod. “He wanted me to go. So I’m going.”
Teacher Ren’s smile froze.
“…That’s the reason?”
Snap.
Something shattered.
Oh. It was his heart.
Ye Wan Lan lifted a brow. “Otherwise, Teacher—”
“Teacher, we’ll go first,” Xue Yi Wei cut in flatly.
She had no interest in listening to Ye Wan Lan chat with Teacher Ren like they were close. Su Xu Bai turned with her, never sparing Ye Wan Lan a glance as they left side by side.
In the hallway, Xue Yi Wei kept her voice low and clipped. “Teacher Ren clearly likes her. He won’t make her give up the spot.”
Su Xu Bai’s brows were drawn, annoyance plain in his eyes. It was the first time he’d shown his irritation so openly.
“Xu Bai,” Xue Yi Wei said after a moment, “I suspect she joined the physics competition because her real target is you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Think about it. She even went to be a stand-in for the Zhou Family’s young master. How could she have studied seriously without an agenda?”
Su Xu Bai didn’t answer, but the thought made his mood sourer.
“And you told me she’s Su Xue Qing’s deskmate,” Xue Yi Wei continued, certain of herself. “Su Xue Qing’s been completely taken in. Ye Wan Lan must know you’re from the Yun Jing Su Family.”
The Zhou Family might be the ceiling of River City’s wealthy circles, but ten Zhou Families stacked together still couldn’t compare to the Yun Jing Su Family.
Even if Su Family wasn’t the most powerful force in Yun Jing, neither the Xiang Family nor the Lin Family dared provoke them.
The Yun Jing Su Family wasn’t only rich. After the fall of the Tai Yi Palace, they held the highest-tier medical resources in the world.
Latch onto the Su Family and you could enter the capital’s inner circles. Who wouldn’t want that shortcut?
Su Xu Bai’s voice stayed bland. “If she wants to join, let her. Just keep your distance.”
“Mm.” Xue Yi Wei let out a short laugh. “With her IQ, she probably can’t even understand what the questions are asking.”
Back inside the office, Teacher Ren finally let his temper erupt. “Those two! Do they think they’ve already reached the end of physics?”
He slammed the desk. “You can’t finish learning physics in a lifetime!”
Even someone with a doctorate like him was constantly being taught humility by physics.
After the flare of anger, all Teacher Ren could do was swallow it down. Su Xu Bai and Xue Yi Wei were too strong to lose—the team event couldn’t function without them.
“Go back and rest,” he said with an irritated wave. “In July, I’ll take you to the training camp to assemble.”
“Goodbye, Teacher Ren,” the two students replied, and left.
The door shut behind them.
Ye Wan Lan turned, only to see He Jiao Jiao step forward with her hand out.
“Classmate Ye Wan Lan, I’m He Jiao Jiao.” She smiled nervously. “Jiao Jiao—like the Jiao in ‘bright moon.’”
Ye Wan Lan took her hand. “Jiao Jiao is the moon in the heart of heaven; its reflection falls on a cold pool. That’s a beautiful name.”
He Jiao Jiao’s eyes widened. “Wow. Your language arts must be amazing. You can recite a poem with my name in it just like that.”
“I like poetry,” Ye Wan Lan said, her smile faint. “Reading it calms the mind.”
It calmed her urge to kill.
He Jiao Jiao pretended she hadn’t heard that last part and hurried on. “Xue Yi Wei said if you came, they wouldn’t come. That’s why Teacher Ren got so mad.”
Ye Wan Lan tilted her head. “If I come, they won’t?”
“Don’t take it to heart.” He Jiao Jiao sighed. “No. 7 High School’s been getting worse at recruiting every year. The really talented students all go elsewhere.”
She counted on her fingers. “Last year, the physics camp gave our school ten spots. This year, it dropped to four. If no one makes it into prelims again, we might not get even one spot next year.”
“I see.” Ye Wan Lan’s gaze sharpened slightly. “Then we should win a few more awards this time.”
“Exactly.” He Jiao Jiao nodded. “Their physics is strong, but I still don’t understand why they didn’t go to No. 1 High School.”
She hesitated, then added, “In the last joint exam, Su Xu Bai tied for first with a student from No. 1 High School. I think his name was Lin Wen Li.”
“Not anymore,” Ye Wan Lan said evenly.
He Jiao Jiao blinked. “Huh? Not anymore what?”
“In the future, their rankings won’t be tied.”
Lin Wen Li’s current physics level had already improved by leaps and bounds. Ye Wan Lan wouldn’t be stingy with the hundreds of years of physics knowledge she’d learned in the Time Loop—she’d teach it all to Lin Wen Li.
When it came to physics, she didn’t just know a thing or two.
She’d mastered it.
“That’s possible,” He Jiao Jiao said, misunderstanding completely. “I heard Su Xu Bai’s family hired him another teacher, one from the Global Center. His physics will probably get even scarier.”
Ye Wan Lan patted her shoulder. “Come on. Lunch break is over. We should go rest. We still have afternoon classes.”
—
A summer breeze drifted past, scattering white clouds and dropping specks of gold across the ground.
Yan Ting Feng had just finished an online meeting for Bureau 723 when another call came in.
“All right, good brother—so you actually gave me the Dragon-Shaped Pendant?” The voice on the line whistled. “Not bad, Boss Yan. Generous.”
Rong Yu walked into the counseling room in time to hear that and went briefly blank.
That brat from the Xiang Family changed his tune fast.
An hour ago it was “Yan” through clenched teeth, and now it was “good brother” and “Boss Yan”?
“But seriously,” the caller went on, excitement fading into confusion, “where did you get this thing? I went to the Library Pavilion and dug through records before I finally found something. It says Emperor Zhaozong of Ning once gave the Dragon-Shaped Pendant as part of a gift to Shen Xiao, the tower lord, to keep peace between Jiang Hu and the court.”
Shen Xiao—the tower lord—was the youngest Wu Lin alliance leader.
His name shook the martial world while he was still a teenager. Jiang Hu’s number one. His martial arts were unmatched; the Six Great Sects followed him as their master.
He climbed over mountains of corpses to become a generation’s Cold-Blooded Supreme.
He was the first—and last—person to truly unify Jiang Hu.
Compared to Princess Yong Ning, Shen Xiao was far more mysterious. He wasn’t a court official, and the history books barely recorded him.
Yan Ting Feng neither confirmed nor denied. He only said calmly, “Don’t return it.”
“Return it? Of course not!” The caller sounded delighted. “This is the Dragon-Shaped Pendant. What Xiang could refuse?”
Then his tone turned earnest. “But it’s too valuable. You only took a few dozen armor fragments from me. I don’t feel right accepting this. Good brother—what else can I do for you?”
“Keep collecting the remaining fragments,” Yan Ting Feng said. “Find them all. I have a use for them.”
“What?!” The caller sounded genuinely horrified. “Do you have any idea how many pieces our Old Ancestor Sect’s armor shattered into? What use could you possibly have for it?”
“Stop asking pointless questions.”
Four calm words—enough to make the other party swallow hard.
“Fine, fine. I’ll look, but don’t get your hopes up,” the caller grumbled. “Some fragments are still buried in the dirt. Some were lost at sea. But I heard the armor has a spirit, so maybe… maybe there’s a chance. Good brother, where are you these days? On my end—”
Yan Ting Feng ended the call.
Beep, beep, beep.
The noisy voice vanished. The room fell quiet again.
—
After school, Ye Wan Lan went to the Lin Family’s old residence to visit Lin Wei Lan.
She brought medicine with her, intending to help Lin Wei Lan’s body recover a little.
The Lin steward hurried to greet her at the entrance. “Miss Wan Lan, we have a client visiting Old Madam today. Would you like to—”
“I’ll wait,” Ye Wan Lan said, lifting a hand.
Voices drifted out from the hall.
“Old Madam, the agreed time is almost here,” a middle-aged man said. “You still can’t produce the Spirit-Congealing Grass?”
Lin Wei Lan’s voice was cold. “Don’t mention the main family to me. I’ll find the Spirit-Congealing Grass myself. And we still have a full week before the deadline.”
“Old Madam, you’re being naive.” The middle-aged man sighed as if pitying her. “If you could find Spirit-Congealing Grass in a week, wouldn’t you have produced it long ago? Why fight the main family like this?”
His tone turned coaxing. “Just make one trip to Yun Jing. The Spirit-Congealing Grass will be in your hands immediately.”
Lin Wei Lan’s cough turned violent. Her body swayed, her heart tightening in waves. “You—”
A hand steadied her shoulder.
“Grandmother, you’re not well. Rest.” Ye Wan Lan guided a cup of water into her hands. “I’ll talk.”
“You?” The middle-aged man laughed. “How are you going to talk? Do you even know what Spirit-Congealing Grass is? And you think you can speak for the Lin Family?”