Chapter 12: Guess

Inside an office decorated in a simple and elegant style.

Ning Qing sat in the boss's chair, leaning back, yet she was not doing anything; her eyes were unfocused, looking diagonally upward as if she were thinking about something, while her hand unconsciously squeezed a very small beige pig, which let out a sound with every squeeze:

"Squeak-squeak..."

The long-haired white cat on the side had been attracted by the Jiaojiao Pig, wanting to get closer to see what that thing was.

"Bang!"

The office door was pushed open all of a sudden.

A young girl wearing straight-leg pants and dad shoes pushed the door open and walked in, glanced at Ning Qing, and then glanced at the Jiaojiao Pig in her hand:

"Qingqing, explain a problem to me."

"?"

Ning Qing turned her head to stare at her, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Squeak-squeak!"

The young girl shrank her neck under her gaze:

"Sister, explain a problem to me."

"Get lost."

"..." The young girl was silent for a moment, "I'm going to tell Brother-in-law!"

"Then go find him."

"You admit it?"

"Your skin is itching for a beating."

"..." The young girl dared not make a sound, and after a while, she said, "Brother-in-law is busy."

"I am also at work."

"You're just playing while at work."

"I'll explain it to you when I go back."

"Oh."

The young girl glanced at the Jiaojiao Pig in her hand again, which was still being squeezed to make noise, and she really couldn't resist her curiosity:

"What is that?"

Her sister completely ignored her.

"Meow!"

The white cat stretched out its claws, wanting to grab the thing, but Ning Qing raised her hand to a position where it could not touch it.

The young girl looked thoughtful.

"Then I'm going back."

Her sister still did not pay her any mind.

The young girl was already used to it and turned to leave.

Not long after, Ning Qing's Mobile Phone vibrated—

Chen Shu: Taking a day off / sigh

Ning Qing picked up her Mobile Phone, glanced at it, and typed a reply.

Ning Qing: The results came out today

Chen Shu: They haven't come out yet

Ning Qing: Oh

Chen Shu: What are you doing

Ning Qing: Working

Chen Shu: Hello, Secretary Ning

Ning Qing: Do you want me to ask for leave

Chen Shu: Slacking off isn't good, is it

Ning Qing: Do you want me to

Chen Shu: Then go ahead and ask for leave

Ning Qing: Where to

Chen Shu: No one is at your place, right

Ning Qing: No

Chen Shu: Let's go to your place, look at the flowers

Ning Qing: Okay

Ning Qing tidied up her things, mainly stuffing the white cat into a cat bag, carried it on one shoulder, and walked straight out.

Just as she reached the door, a man who looked somewhat like Ning Qing and also wore a poker face walked in; he was holding documents, and seeing Ning Qing looking like she was about to go out, his brows immediately furrowed:

"Where are you going?"

"Taking a day off."

Ning Qing said as she walked out.

President Ning's brows furrowed even tighter: "There is more work today than yesterday, I still need you to..."

He turned his body and head as he spoke.

Because Ning Qing had absolutely no intention of stopping her steps, his words were left unfinished, and he saw Ning Qing enter the elevator, press the floor button, and then turn around, calmly meeting his gaze.

"Ding."

The elevator door closed.

Walking out of the office building, Ning Qing got on her small motorcycle.

This small motorcycle was long since unsuited for her height; when she rode it, she looked just like Chen Shu, like someone riding a dog. But the small motorcycle was exceptionally agile when weaving through the city, and its power was not at all inferior to a normal-sized motorcycle.

So much so that when she arrived outside the residential complex, Xiaoxiao, who had set off before her, had only just arrived as well.

Ning Qing stopped the motorcycle at the entrance, propped it up with one foot, and tilted her head to look to the left, where a little girl was riding a shared scooter, driving up briskly and stopping at the designated parking spot.

Ning Qing got off the motorcycle.

When the little girl locked the scooter and turned her head, she saw her older sister standing beside her holding a helmet, and was stunned for a moment.

"Qingqing is back too?"

The little girl tilted her head slightly to look at her sister.

"Aren't you a minor?"

"Almost, almost there."

"How did you ride the motorcycle?"

"I sat on it and rode it."

"I'm asking how you unlocked it?"

"I scanned the code with a Mobile Phone to unlock it."

"..." Ning Qing stared at her for a while, "How were you able to unlock it? I suggest you answer properly."

"I used Brother-in-law's ID card." The little girl quieted down honestly.

"He gave it to you?"

"Mm."

"What about the facial recognition?"

"I made something with an Illusion function."

"Do you know that Illusion is a Level 1 Controlled Spell? Items of this type are also illegal."

"I know."

"Then do you know that you look like a minor, and what would happen if you were caught by the police?"

"I'm already about to grow up..." the little girl said weakly.

"What would happen if you were caught by the police?"

"I would be caught by the police."

"..."

The little girl lowered her head, not daring to meet her sister's eyes.

Clearly, she was answering very seriously, yet for some reason, her sister was angered; she felt a bit uneasy inside, but not knowing what else to say, she could only keep her head deeply lowered. While she was at it, she thought about whether to eat sour and spicy potatoes or sweet and sour potatoes for lunch today.

Arriving at Qingqing's courtyard again, it was still as quiet as ever.

Chen Shu couldn't even remember how long ago it was since he last saw Ning Qing's mom and dad; when they were neighbors in childhood, he saw them often—no matter how busy, one still had to come home after work, right? In his impression, the tempers of these two people were extremely strange, they were hard to get along with, and they were extremely unqualified as parents.

Truly, there were very few parents more unqualified than them.

They were the type where it was already pretty good if they could even come home.

It was fortunate that Qingqing had been raised and trained by him since she was small, so she hadn't been influenced by her parents' bad habits. It was just that this training couldn't exactly be called a success.

Chen Shu's initial idea had been to train this little girl into a gentle and virtuous young woman.

When she was little, she was indeed quite obedient...

Now, heh.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu displayed some exhaustion in front of this childhood sweetheart; being dragged into such a big matter, he truly felt very mentally tired. He lay on the sofa and peeked at Ning Qing:

"Isn't Xiaoxiao on break today? Where is she?"

"Upstairs doing homework." Ning Qing tilted her head to look at this person, "Did you give your ID card to her to use?"

"Ah? I don't know."

"?"

"Pfft, I thought she took it to play games."

"Didn't you say you didn't know?"

"Pfft! My memory isn't good!"

"..." Ning Qing was silent for a moment, "You are not allowed to give it to her again in the future."

"Xiaoxiao is very obedient."

"Obedient in front of you."

"Alright, alright, I know."

Ning Qing looked at this person and finally sighed, then asked: "Is the archaeology going smoothly?"

"I just went to join in the fun."

"So?"

"It's alright, some strange things happened, but overall it was still very smooth." Chen Shu said, "Every Square Body is about the same; several have already been opened before."

"What happened?"

"It's just that..."

So Chen Shu gave her a rough account of the situation that occurred with the Square Body over there, but he didn't mention the connection these had to himself, then he lay there and said to Qingqing: "Do you think it's possible that I've been dragged into some incredible matters?"

Ning Qing squinted at him:

"Possible."

"Qingqing, I'm under pressure."

"Perhaps."

"Lend me your legs to relax for a moment."

As he said this, Chen Shu crawled toward Ning Qing, intending to use her long legs as a pillow and rest his chin on them.

A palm pressed against his face, stopping his action; Chen Shu could feel the softness and warmth of her palm, and then he saw her turn her head to look behind her.

Chen Shu also raised his head to look behind him.

A young girl wearing loungewear was walking down the stairs holding a water cup, heading straight for the water dispenser, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Ning Qing continued to press on his face, pushing him back to his original position.

The young girl arrived in front of the water dispenser.

"Gulp, gulp..."

Chen Shu sighed and said to Qingqing, "You are so heartless, you don't even know how to comfort me."

Ning Qing turned her head and said, "The results are out."

"Really?"

"Check them."

As the two spoke, they both glanced to the side.

They saw the young girl focused on the water dispenser, remaining silent and looking straight ahead. Generally speaking, at this time, she could not hear the conversation between her sister and brother-in-law, nor could she see any actions of her sister and brother-in-law.

She filled a full cup of water.

Holding it with both hands, she shuffled upstairs.

Chen Shu checked his results, and sure enough, they were out.

His mood was completely calm.

Chen Shu did not immediately show them to Ning Qing, but instead placed his Mobile Phone face down on the sofa and said to Ning Qing, "Guess what score I got?"

"Not guessing."

"You have to guess."

"How could I possibly guess that?"

"Aren't you very good at guessing? You can guess anything." Chen Shu thought for a moment, "Like the weather, like heads or tails on a coin, like the relationship between two passersby, like which scratch-off ticket will win how much money; you've never been wrong guessing these before... Anyway, you know my grades, it's roughly in that range, not much fluctuation, it's easy to guess."

"No interest."

"You do!"

"Boring."

"Not boring!"

"..."

Ning Qing was silent for a while, as if thinking, and after glancing at Chen Shu's enthusiastic expression, she finally relented: "What if I guess it right?"

"I'll give you a kiss?"

"No."

"Then you say it!"

"After you finish your work and are free, bring me lunch every day for a month."

"And if you don't guess it?"

"You say."

"You give me a kiss, it's a bargain for you."

"..."

Ning Qing slanted her eyes to look at Chen Shu again, seeing the light in his eyes; she did not refuse, and she was more direct than Chen Shu had imagined:

"Between 1250 and 1290."

"Even the head teacher could guess that."

"Between 1260 and 1280."

"This is your last chance for elimination; I can confirm for you that it is indeed in this range."

"I'm not eliminating, I'm very certain."

"Fine, fine, fine, hurry up and guess."

"It sounds like you're quite impatient to bring me lunch."

"Is your spell-casting wind-up always this long?"

"1270."

Ning Qing did not bicker with him any further; her voice was clear and firm, and if Chen Shu had been more careful, he could have even detected a hint of a smile in the depths of her eyes.

But Chen Shu was only focused on his Surprise; visibly, his eyes widened.

"I guessed it."

"How did you guess so accurately?"

"I am very good at guessing."

"What kind of Daoist path do you actually cultivate? I suggest you resign from your Secretary position and go develop your career under the pedestrian bridge; you'd earn more."

"You know what flavors I like, try not to repeat them."

"Haha..."

Chen Shu laughed out loud twice: "Too bad it's off by one point. But if you want to eat the food I make, be a little sweeter, and I'll still bring it to you."

"?"

Ning Qing turned her head to stare at him.

Chen Shu was extremely pleased with himself: "I got 1271."

"Let me see."

"Take it and look."

Chen Shu handed the Mobile Phone to her.

Literature: 136/150

Mathematics: 149/150

Spirit Logic: 150/150

Rune: 150/150

Spirit Power Talent: 150/150

Physics: 125/150

Biology: 72/100

History: 100/100

Geography: 98/100

Physical Fitness: 50/50

Morality: 42/50

Art: 49/50

Total Score: 1271/1350

No one had ever achieved a perfect score in the Yiguo Grand Exam, but even so, Chen Shu's total score could not be considered high among the students admitted to Yujing Academy over the years; there were many people with over 1300 points. However, if Chen Shu applied for the Spell Principles major, he had perfect scores in all three subjects of the second screening.

It is extremely difficult to get three perfect scores in Spirit Logic, Rune, and Spirit Power Talent.

In the Double Screening System, the total score is not that important.

Ning Qing returned the Mobile Phone to Chen Shu, expressionless, yet she turned her head to look upstairs again.

Chen Shu also turned his head to follow.

The little girl walked down again, carrying a water glass.

Chen Shu could not help it anymore; he scratched his head and asked: "Didn't you just pour a glass of water? Why did you come down again?"

The little girl walked toward the water dispenser in silence.

She couldn't hear.

After finishing pouring the water.

She held it and went upstairs.

Chen Shu flipped over, lying on his back on the sofa, looking at Ning Qing, and pointed to his own face: "Qingqing, based on my understanding of you, you definitely won't go back on your word."

Ning Qing turned to her side and pursed her lips.

A hand covered Chen Shu's eyes.

She leaned over calmly.

That touch of lips, which left as soon as it met, was the greatest tenderness in the world.