Chapter 2: A Good Beating

Qingcheng Jiayuan.

Building C, 606.

When Qiao Sang returned with her mother, she was still a bit dazed.

After all, she had endured nearly two hours of baptism by the teacher's spit; if the teacher's stomach hadn't growled, he probably would have continued his criticism and education.

Qiao Sang went to the bathroom and washed her face twice.

She looked at herself in the mirror; her face had delicate features, exactly the same as in her past life.

It was just much younger, with a fleshy face and baby fat.

"Come out and eat." Her mother's voice came from the living room.

"Coming."

Qiao Sang responded and silently washed her face one more time.

Coming to the living room, her mother Ye Xiangting's sharp gaze looked over. "The food is cold; I just finished reheating it. Eat quickly."

Actually, the original Qiao Sang's family had many similarities to her own; not only did her parents look the same, but they were both single-parent families.

The original owner's father wasn't missing or dead young; they were simply divorced.

They divorced when the original owner was 3. Her father, Qiao Wangyang, remarried the year of the divorce and had a daughter, now 14.

This was quite intriguing...

Perhaps knowing he felt sorry for her mother, he left the child and the house to her during the divorce.

Her mother, Ye Xiangting, didn't remarry, earning money and raising Qiao Sang alone.

Fortunately, her mother was an E-rank beast-tamer, with a Faith-Wavering Crane and a Fat House Pigeon.

She usually relied on renting them out to take others flying for fun to earn money, living a relatively relaxed and comfortable life.

Life hadn't turned her into a haggard woman, but it had turned her into a strong woman who was soft on the outside and firm on the inside.

Qiao Sang had deep experience with this.

Her mother accompanied her through two hours of scolding from the teacher and still managed to refrain from beating her when they got home.

Too strong!

But this really wasn't her fault; the Beast-Taming Codex couldn't be taken out of the brain domain, and she hadn't contracted any extraordinary creatures. Without going to the Beast-Taming Center for an examination, she really couldn't prove she had awakened autonomously.

Qiao Sang ate her meal, not daring to speak.

Although her mother was a strong woman, there was no guarantee she would stay strong forever.

"Ask for leave tomorrow; I'll take you to the Beast-Taming Center," her mother said, looking at Qiao Sang.

Qiao Sang paused for a long time. "What are we going to the Beast-Taming Center for?"

"Didn't you say you already awakened autonomously? We'll go get an examination and a certificate so we can go to the pet base to pick a pet beast," her mother explained.

Since she had already awakened, the sooner she chose a pet beast, the better.

Qiao Sang was shocked. "You believe me?"

A smile flashed in her mother's eyes. "You're my daughter; how could I not know you? Although you're a bit stupid, you wouldn't lie about this at such a critical moment."

Qiao Sang's heart was complex; she couldn't describe the feeling. In fact, her mother in this world was quite similar to her own, not just in appearance but in personality.

"Mom, since you believe me, why did you watch me endure two hours of scolding without saying anything?"

Her mother smiled, and this time the smile was quite chilling. "Autonomous awakening is one thing, but scoring zero on an exam is another. I haven't asked you yet: why did you score zero?"

Qiao Sang: "..."

The next morning.

Entrance of the Hangzhou Beast-Taming Center.

An extraordinary creature with a fat body, about three meters long, brown all over with red tail feathers, descended from the sky.

Qiao Sang excitedly got off the Fat House Pigeon. It was her first time experiencing such close contact with the sky; it was simply too exciting.

She decided: she must contract a Flying-element pet beast in the future!

"Fat House Pigeon, thank you for your hard work." Her mother stroked it.

"Jiu Bi~"

The Fat House Pigeon shook its wings, pushed its big head against her mother, and rubbed against her like it was acting spoiled.

Her mother waved her hand, and a faint light shone on the Fat House Pigeon; the next moment, it disappeared on the spot.

No matter how many times she saw it, Qiao Sang felt it was magical.

These things couldn't be explained by science in her past life.

Walking into the Hangzhou Beast-Taming Center, her mother took her directly to service counter 37.

Before the staff member could speak, her mother spoke first. "Hello, we are here for a brain domain test." As she spoke, she signaled for Qiao Sang to take out her information card.

Qiao Sang obediently took out the information card.

The staff member finished scanning. "Hello, that will be 500 Alliance coins."

Today's humans, relying on the ability of beast-taming, had already walked out of Blue Star and developed and occupied three other habitable planets.

The unified currency used on all four planets was the Alliance coin.

Her mother finished paying, and the staff member finished registering and handed the information card back. "Just follow the Clever Fruit inside."

A green Clever Fruit, less than a meter tall, appeared behind the staff member.

Its head was round, with a pair of green antennae with yellow tips, and it wore a staff ID badge on its chest.

As a Plant-element pet beast, the Clever Fruit had a gentle temperament and was always loved by everyone, especially girls.

"Clever."

It came to Qiao Sang, and its three-toed right hand made a "please" gesture, looking very professional.

As the provincial capital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou's Beast-Taming Center was naturally the largest in the province.

Qiao Sang followed the Clever Fruit for a full half-hour before reaching the place for brain domain testing.

The Clever Fruit scanned its ID badge on the identity recognizer outside the door.

"Clever."

After the door opened, it called out to Qiao Sang.

Her mother said calmly to Qiao Sang, "Go in."

Her mother was calm on the surface, but her eyes were mixed with expectation; it was clear that although she believed her, she was still nervous until the result came out.

Qiao Sang followed the Clever Fruit inside.

What met her eyes was a short-haired female researcher in a white coat and a Bubble Bell floating in the air.

Qiao Sang had just read about this kind of extraordinary creature in a book the day before; she hadn't expected to see a live one so soon.

The Bubble Bell had no gender difference, belonged to the Psychic element, and was a relatively rare pet beast.

In fact, extraordinary creatures like this Psychic-element one were all relatively rare.

Naturally, there weren't many at the pet base; there might only be five or six a year, and they started at a million Alliance coins, which ordinary families couldn't afford.

*She's a rich woman. *

Qiao Sang directly labeled the short-haired female researcher in front of her.

The short-haired female researcher was typing non-stop in front of the computer, looking very busy. She wasn't surprised to see the Clever Fruit and Qiao Sang walk in, clearly having received Qiao Sang's login information in advance.

"Go sit over there." She pointed to the single sofa next to her.

Qiao Sang went to the position she mentioned and sat down.

It was just an ordinary sofa, nothing special.

"Bubble Bell." The short-haired female researcher didn't look up, just called her partner.

"Bell."

A blue light suddenly appeared on the Bubble Bell. Before Qiao Sang could understand what it was going to do, a silver helmet connected to a dozen device wires floated over from ten meters away and landed on her head.

This scene made Qiao Sang's eyes light up.

This ability was too convenient; it was simply a lazy person's artifact!

"Don't move."

The short-haired female researcher still didn't look up, but Qiao Sang knew this sentence was for her.

The silver helmet on her head didn't block Qiao Sang's view; she clearly saw the short-haired female researcher slowly frowning at the images and data transmitted to her device.

Qiao Sang tensed up instantly.

There wouldn't be any problems, right?

The short-haired female researcher had a serious face; when she had no expression, she looked like the dean of students at school, not to mention the way she was frowning now.

Especially with her identity and what she was doing, it made Qiao Sang's heart jump to her throat.

"Are you autonomously awakened?" The short-haired female researcher suddenly spoke.

"Yes, sister, is there a problem?" Qiao Sang asked nervously.

"No, don't be nervous." The short-haired female researcher saw the girl's unease and pulled an unnatural arc on her stern face, which counted as comfort.

*Scary... *

Qiao Sang was even more nervous.

"Including you, there are currently only 6 children in our city who have awakened autonomously this year. Your grades must be very good, right?" The short-haired female researcher asked.

Top students might not be able to awaken autonomously, but those who could awaken successfully on their own were all top students.

Qiao Sang: "..."

You could say she was smart or talented, so why bring up grades?

Qiao Sang knew she was trying to ease her nervousness, but if you don't know how to chat, really don't force it...

"I'm basically third in the class." Qiao Sang didn't blush or skip a beat.

"Third in the whole school is not bad; many first and second place students can't awaken." The short-haired female researcher's smile was stiff but her voice was soft.

"I was first in this mock exam." Qiao Sang wasn't nervous anymore.

"After awakening, the brain domain will develop by 2%. People like you who awaken autonomously are basically around 5%. It's very normal to suddenly improve." The short-haired female researcher explained Qiao Sang's first-place score.

Qiao Sang: "..."

About two minutes passed.

The short-haired female researcher looked up and called out, "Bubble Bell."

"Bell."

The Bubble Bell used telekinesis to put the device on Qiao Sang's head back to its original place.

"Congratulations, your autonomous awakening was very successful. There are no other problems with your brain domain, it's just that the fluctuations in your brain domain are a bit large. You should rest well recently and eat more dried fruit."

The short-haired female researcher took out a certificate, signed it, stamped it, stood up, and handed it over.

"Thank you."

Qiao Sang took the certificate, and the stone in her heart finally settled completely.

"How was it?" As soon as she went out, her mother stepped forward and asked nervously.

Qiao Sang sighed and handed the result in her hand to her.

Her mother's face turned pale instantly, and for a moment, she didn't dare to take it to look.

"Mom, look." Qiao Sang handed the certificate forward a bit more.

Ye Xiangting felt cold in her heart. Not autonomously awakened and scored zero...

Actually, even if she hadn't scored zero, her daughter's previous grades wouldn't have gotten her into any beast-taming high school. The prerequisite for getting into a beast-taming high school was to awaken a Beast-Taming Codex through magnetic wave stimulation and then reach the score line.

The entrance exam was out of 650 points, and last year's minimum score line was 332.

If she had studied hard and failed, that would be one thing—at least she had tried. But her daughter had actually scored zero and lied...

Ye Xiangting questioned her own education for a moment.

*A good beating. *

This child needed a beating.

Qiao Sang saw her mother take the certificate and look down, and she couldn't help but straighten her back.

"Smack."

Qiao Sang was stunned. ===== CHAPTER 3 =====