Chapter 139 - 134: The Blind Date

"It is a bit early," Zhou Wenshan agreed with a nod. "But Mr. Ning is anxious. He started worrying about his granddaughter’s marriage years ago."

"That anxious? How old is Mr. Ning’s granddaughter?" Su Ze asked.

"Let me think." Zhou Wenshan counted on his fingers. "She just graduated from Dongli University not long ago, so she should be around twenty-three or twenty-four."

"That’s still young. What’s there to be anxious about? Could it be that she’s... rather plain-looking?"

"Not at all." Zhou Wenshan shook his head. "The girl is gorgeous, no question. She takes after a young Mr. Ning."

’She’s good-looking and young, so what could possibly be the reason for Ning Yushen to start worrying about his granddaughter’s marriage years ahead of time?’

’Is he that afraid she won’t be able to get married? Or does he just want to get her off his hands?’

Su Ze had a gut feeling that something was off.

Zhou Wenshan seemed to recall something, the smile on his face growing even brighter. "Don’t overthink it. You’ll find out once you meet her. That girl, Jin, is really quite nice. She’s pretty, has a good temper, and most importantly, she’s exceptionally polite. Who knows, maybe you two will hit it off?"

Su Ze studied Zhou Wenshan’s wrinkled old face, which was creased with laughter, and thought, ’This old man is definitely up to no good. He just wants to see me make a fool of myself.’

Still, he had to go. Not for the blind date, but for that vial of Tier-3 extract—one of even higher quality than the Deep Sea Electric Eel Extract.

’Ning Yushen really hit my weak spot, forcing my hand...’ Su Ze was already looking forward to what kind of extract it would be.

After leaving the chancellor’s office, Su Ze and Liou Wenxin returned directly to the villa.

Liou Wenxin went to the kitchen to cook. Su Ze popped a Future Flower Petal into his mouth and started performing the Swan Dance to accelerate the digestion of the extract.

As he danced, he mulled over when he should leave for Lihai Navy Base.

"I’ll wait a couple of days. It’s not like I’m in a rush to absorb the next extract anyway. Besides, since the semester started, I don’t think I’ve attended a single class. It’s probably a good idea to show my face."

"Oh, right. Since Ning Yushen’s granddaughter graduated from Dongli University, some of the upperclassmen and teachers must have known her. I’ll ask around tomorrow and see what the deal is."

...

「The next day.」

Evolution Class 2, Year 1.

Han Xiaoke and the other students looked shocked when they saw Su Ze.

’This guy actually came to class!’

The semester had been going for nearly half a month, and Su Ze hadn’t attended a single class. He had even skipped military training.

Su Ze looked at his classmates. Other than Han Xiaoke, everyone else was a stranger to him.

He didn’t even know where he was supposed to sit.

Seeing the empty seat next to Han Xiaoke, Su Ze sat right down.

"Senior Su Ze, where have you been these last few days?" Han Xiaoke asked curiously.

Even though she knew Su Ze wasn’t actually a senior, the address had become a habit, so she stuck with it.

"Oh, I was out hunting mutated beasts," Su Ze said. "Have those kids been sent back to the orphanage? How are they doing?"

He was asking about the children who had been abducted by the Evolution Divine Teachings.

Han Xiaoke smiled. "They’ve all recovered very well. Xiaomeng still mentions you often. Are you free this weekend? Mrs. Qin wants to invite you and Professor Liou over to properly thank you both."

Su Ze smiled too. "I might have to go on a long trip in a couple of days. I’ll go see them when I get back."

"Going out again? Doesn’t that mean you’ll have to ask for more time off?"

Su Ze also felt he was asking for leave a bit too often. He planned to explain the situation to his counselor in person later... ’Not that he’d dare refuse, since the Guardian God of Dongli is the one who asked me to go.’

Before long, a male teacher wearing black-framed glasses walked into the classroom and began the lesson.

He did a routine roll call, holding a list and reading out the names one by one.

Su Ze waited with bated breath for his name to be called, but the teacher finished the roll call and set down the list without a single mention of him.

’What the hell? Did I get kicked out of the class?’

The male teacher scanned the classroom, his eyes landing on Su Ze next to Han Xiaoke. His gaze lingered for a couple of seconds before he spoke, surprised. "So, student Su Ze decided to join us today. Let me introduce myself. I’m Cheng Yong, your advanced mathematics teacher."

"Hello, Mr. Cheng."

After the greeting, Su Ze quietly asked Han Xiaoke, "We have to take advanced math?"

"Of course. Mathematics is the foundation of all sciences."

Su Ze knew, right then and there, that he had already preemptively failed a class.

He got through the class in a daze. After it ended, the counselor, Jiang Hong, arrived. He was also a bit surprised to see Su Ze; he’d almost forgotten this big shot was in his class.

Su Ze went over to greet his counselor. "Mr. Jiang, I might need to take another long leave of absence."

Jiang Hong was already used to it, but he still had to ask for the details. "What is it this time?"

"Ning Yushen asked me to go to the naval base. Said he needed me for something."

Jiang Hong nodded numbly. "All right, I’ll approve seven days of leave for now. If that’s not enough, just let me know."

’The Guardian God of Dongli had spoken. What more could he, Jiang Hong, say? Just cooperate and get it over with.’

"Thank you, Mr. Jiang." Su Ze paused. "By the way, Mr. Jiang, I wanted to ask you about something. Do you know Mr. Ning’s granddaughter? I heard she was also a student at Dongli University."

"Mr. Ning’s granddaughter... You mean Ye Jin?" Jiang Hong’s expression suddenly became awkward.

"So you do know her. Is there something special about her? Why do you get that strange look on your face when she’s mentioned?"

"She..." Jiang Hong hemmed and hawed. "She’s... great. Pretty, a good student, good-tempered, and most importantly, exceptionally polite."

"Then she must have had a lot of guys chasing her at school, right?"

"Well... there were quite a few at first. But after a while, you didn’t hear about anyone anymore."

Su Ze could already tell something was clearly wrong. A girl like Ye Jin, so outstanding, should have had enough suitors to form a line around Dongli University.

Even if she weren’t so outstanding, even if she were ugly and useless, her family background alone would have had plenty of boys who knew what’s what flocking to her.

Unfortunately, when Su Ze pressed for more, Jiang Hong refused to elaborate. As far as he was concerned, this Ye Jin was seemingly flawless.

Su Ze didn’t stay in the classroom for long and left soon after.

He already knew after just one class that he wasn’t suited to wasting time in a classroom.

He was quite interested in learning about evolution. To that end, he could understand studying zoology, botany, or even geography. But he never expected to have to study advanced math, foreign languages, and ethics...

’Looks like if I want to graduate smoothly without failing any classes, I’ll have to find another way.’

"Not a big deal. Once I bring glory to the university at that Six-Nation University Exchange Tournament, failing a few classes shouldn’t be a problem. If I become a Saint-level powerhouse while I’m still a student, the university will be chasing me down to hand me my diploma."

...

For the next two days, Su Ze didn’t go anywhere, simply staying home and diligently practicing the Swan Dance.

He, Mrs. Yun, and Mr. Ya formed their dance troupe once more. The three of them all needed to digest extracts, so they spent their days in the villa courtyard, popping vials and practicing their moves.

They were just one person short of forming the "Four Little Swans."

When Liou Wenxin came home in the evenings, she would also join the three of them in their dance practice. She had also recently absorbed an extract and needed to digest it. Her talent was actually quite good; the main issue was that she spent too much energy on evolutionary research, which resulted in her low evolution level.

Among the four of them, she was the only one who actually looked like a swan when she danced. It was as if one swan were leading three big geese.

Liou Wenxin was still very busy during this time, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night.

She had already finished handing over the results from her previous research, and her collaboration with Life Pharmaceutical had been finalized. Now, she was mainly busy with a few new projects.

Officials from the Dongli Kingdom had recently busted an underground lab belonging to the Evolution Divine Teachings, acquiring a massive trove of research data related to "human mutation." Liou Wenxin was now participating in the effort to sort and analyze it.

In addition, she was intensely interested in Bloodline Crystals and the fourth evolution of the Dung-Eater, but she was spread too thin at the moment and didn’t have the extra energy to research them.

"By the way, Xiao Ze, regarding that hypothesis you proposed last time, I’ve been collecting data to verify it recently. However, mutated beasts with Ultimate Mutation are very rare, and the Dongli database has limited information. I’ve already requested to borrow relevant data from evolutionists in other countries," Liou Wenxin suddenly said to Su Ze.

"Sis, please don’t call me ’Xiao Ze.’ It gives me the weird impression that I’ve entered the adult film industry," Su Ze said, torn between laughter and tears. "You can just call me by my name, or even ’little brother’ is fine."

The "Ultimate Mutation" Liou Wenxin was talking about referred to mutated beasts that had become extraordinarily powerful, like the Mutated Giant Crocodile and the Mutated Upright Ape.

And Su Ze had once discovered that mutated beasts with an Ultimate Mutation lose their other Talent Skills, retaining only their single strongest skill.

However, due to a lack of sufficient examples for verification, this discovery could only be considered a hypothesis for now.

Su Ze didn’t pay much attention to this, because mutated beasts with an Ultimate Mutation were too rare. Even if his discovery were confirmed, it wouldn’t be of great value.

Seeing Su Ze’s lack of interest, the corners of Liou Wenxin’s mouth curved up slightly. She said, "Students on the research track who produce sufficient research findings during their studies can be exempted from graduation exams and directly recommended for master’s programs, or even doctoral programs."

This finally piqued Su Ze’s interest. He didn’t care about being recommended for a master’s program, but being exempt from graduation exams sounded pretty good.

Liou Wenxin continued, "Additionally, every time research results are published, you’re rewarded with national contribution points, and it helps raise your access level for the national treasury exchange."

"Now *that’s* interesting." Su Ze’s eyes lit up. He had a decent number of contribution points already, but his access level was too low to redeem them for the really high-end goods.

"Those with major research breakthroughs also receive rewards from the Sovereign Country. I’ve heard of direct rewards of Tier-4 S-Rank extracts, as well as high-level Wondrous Items. The former chancellor of Dongli University received a Tier-5 Wondrous Item as a reward before he passed away."

"Research is that lucrative?" Su Ze was shocked. "In that case, I should just skip school and go work as your assistant in the lab, sis."

’Su Ze knew he wasn’t cut out for research, but his ’sister’ was. If he just rode Liou Wenxin’s coattails... well, forget receiving an award from a Sovereign Country, but snagging a master’s or a Ph.D., raising his treasury exchange access level, and earning some contribution points should be no problem at all.’