Chapter 3: Preparing the Re-enrollment Letter, the Male Lead in a Meeting…

Chapter 3: Preparing the Re-enrollment Documents; The Male Lead at a Meeting...

Qi Heyin’s contacts were few, and only a handful of people regularly messaged her.

After a quick glance, she noticed that while others kept their messages brief, Shang Wenze had sent a flood of messages—too many to read all at once. So, she decided to reply to others first.

She sent messages to her parents to let them know she was safe, then assured Dr. Wen that she would keep up with her rehab.

Next, she replied to Jiang Yunxin, welcoming her to visit.

Jiang Yunxin was the original novel’s female lead, who had found her family with Qi Heyin’s help. During Qi Heyin’s treatment abroad, the two touched base now and then and became decent friends.

After replying to these messages, Qi Heyin opened his chat again.

When she first went abroad for treatment, she’d felt mixed about Shang Wenze and rarely responded to his messages.

At heart, he was just like her sister—distrustful of Wen Xinglian’s aggressive treatment plan. Qi Heyin understood. Without knowing the "script," he couldn’t have known that conservative treatment wouldn’t last long. He had only wanted to protect her with the highest probability of success.

But his actions had gone way too far, to the point where Qi Heyin, upon realizing his true nature, felt a strange distance from him and even some fear.

Now, after two years, she had finally gotten used to dealing with Shang Wenze.

Shang Wenze’s profile picture had recently been changed to a round, fluffy Little Snowy owl flapping its wings in a dance—a weirdly cute look that didn’t suit his usual demeanor at all.

Qi Heyin figured he was using this avatar to tone down his Celestial Noble vibe and blur her perception of him.

She scanned through his messages quickly before typing a reply:

"Qi Heyin: Got it. Thanks, but no need for flowers."

After a pause, she added:

"Qi Heyin: My rehab ends in two weeks, and then I’m heading back to school."

The school Qi Heyin referred to was Farro Academy, the prestigious school attended by the original novel’s Celestial Noble male leads. Over two years ago, at just fifteen, she had been admitted to this elite academy but had to put it off due to her overseas treatment.

Almost instantly, a reply popped up:

"Shang Wenze: You’re re-enrolling?"

"Shang Wenze: Isn’t that pushing it? The course load’s no joke. Going back right after recovery might not give you enough rest."

"Shang Wenze: Heyin, I’ll be back in two months. Why not wait for me so we can go together? It’s your first time attending formally—I don’t want anyone messing with you."

"Shang Wenze: Promise me."

"Shang Wenze: (Little Snowy rolling around.jpg)"

Qi Heyin: "......"

By now, Qi Heyin saw right through Shang Wenze. His cute-but-pushy act masked the fact that he wasn’t taking no for an answer, and she wasn’t having any of it.

Flatly, she replied:

"Qi Heyin: Two weeks. Didn’t you say you’d listen to me from now on?"

"Qi Heyin: ? [smile emoji x2]"

Sure enough, the moment she sent this, he went quiet.

Qi Heyin quirked her lips knowingly and closed the chat window, then sent no further messages.

Putting down her communicator, Qi Heyin told her sister Qi Yue that she would be returning to school in two weeks.

"Two weeks? Isn't that too quick?" Qi Yue hesitated. "Are you in such a rush to go back?"

Qi Heyin nodded and explained earnestly, "I've been on leave for two years and missed a lot of classes. But I don’t want to be held back a year—I want to graduate on time, so I need to complete all my credits within two years."

Qi Yue fell silent for a moment. Though she didn’t doubt her sister’s ability to catch up quickly, she was still puzzled:

"Didn’t you choose Faro Academy in the first place because you’d never experienced campus life before? You were so excited about going to school back then—why the rush to graduate now?"

"Two years is more than enough for me to experience campus life," Qi Heyin said matter-of-factly. "Besides, there's something I want to do more, so I’d like to wrap up my studies as soon as possible."

"Oh? Something... like what?" Qi Yue asked curiously.

"Becoming a Mimic researcher." Qi Heyin’s eyes curved slightly, her clear gaze sparkling like scattered starlight.

An unconscious smile ghosted across her pale lips—light and fleeting, yet strikingly beautiful.

Inside the carriage, Qi Heyin casually dropped a bombshell with a smile:

"Sis, right before my flight this morning, I received a job offer from the Velitas Research Institute in my inbox."

Late at night, Milo Villa in the southern suburbs of the imperial capital was aglow with lights.

As the most renowned private club in the capital, it covered nearly 150 acres. Its grand, elegant interiors included a heated pool, spa, KTV, billiards room, bowling alley, and other recreational amenities, while the surrounding grounds boasted picturesque fountain gardens and an expansive golf course.

With every amenity imaginable, it had long been the go-to hangout for the capital’s elite.

"Brother Li Chen, I heard Velitas forcibly assigned you a Mimic researcher?"

In the most luxurious VIP suite on the top floor, the man standing by the floor-to-ceiling window flicked his gaze up at the question.

He was an exceptionally tall man, broad-shouldered and long-legged, standing nearly two meters tall.

With thick black brows and chiseled features, his hair was neatly combed back, and a black high-collared trench coat draped over his shoulders. His powerful chest rose and fell subtly beneath a white dress shirt, his entire presence exuding dominance.

Glancing at the speaker, Li Chen nodded tersely and replied, "The military has already issued the notice. I’ll be serving as an observation subject to assist the institute’s new research project."

"...What?! It’s actually true?!"

On a nearby leather sofa, a pink-haired boy widened his eyes dramatically. "No way—our Brother Li Chen is being reduced to a lab rat for the institute?!"

His tone grew indignant. "How does the Empire give those science fanatics at Velitas so much power? They just pick whoever they want to experiment on—it’s insane! Even the son of a military marshal isn’t spared! Damn it, do they even respect our families?!"

"Xiao Che, don’t put it so harshly."

A gentle voice chimed in from the blue-haired man beside him, who was focused on a chessboard.

Dressed in an immaculate white suit tailored to his tall, slender frame, his porcelain skin and narrow, emerald-green eyes exuded a tranquil warmth, like early spring.

Eyes lowered, he surveyed the chessboard with a calm smile, placing a piece as he spoke:

"The Velitas Research Institute is the Empire’s beacon of 'progress,' after all."

At this, the pink-haired boy grumbled, "President Zhu, you always take the side of those who challenge us."

"Even at the academy, you’ve made it so all those commoner scholarship students seek you out at the first sign of trouble..."

He looked at the man, his striking azure eyes flashing with displeasure, and said sarcastically, "After all, you *are* Faro's Kindest Noble Scion, President Zhu Xuan—"

"Xiao Che." Zhu Xuan remained unfazed, smiling lightly. "As the student council president, it's my duty to mediate conflicts between special admits and regular students."

The pink-haired boy folded his arms and clicked his tongue.

Not wanting to engage further with Zhu Xuan, he pulled out his communicator and began scrolling through videos on *CONT* idly.

After a while, he suddenly grinned, a hint of schadenfreude in his tone. "No wonder Brother Ningye’s late—he got mobbed by reporters at the airport!"

"Tch, no surprise there. The man has more fans on *CONT* than some B-list celebrities... And he’s got the patience for it too. If it were me surrounded by those pesky commoners, I’d have had my bodyguards haul them all to the police station!"

Speak of the devil.

The boy hadn’t been laughing at the videos for long before the private room door swung open, and Ji Ningye strode in.

The flamboyant and striking man glanced around, raising an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. "Why are there so few of you today?"

"Brother Ze went abroad with his dad—two months. Zhi Mo didn’t feel like coming," the pink-haired boy said with a grin. "So, Young Master Ji, how was your vacation abroad? Was Verona fun? You only came back now that summer’s almost over—seems like you didn’t want to leave at all."

"It was alright." Ji Ningye’s lips curved faintly.

He paused. "Shang Wenze is gone for two months? He never told me."

With that, he pulled out his communicator from his pocket, ready to send a message to ask.

But the moment he opened the chat, his fingers froze above the screen.

He let out a displeased hiss, shooting the pink-haired boy a look of utter disdain. "Jiang Yanche, when the hell did he change to this dumb profile pic?!"

Jiang Yanche leaned over and saw that Ji Ningye was referring to the Little Snowy in Shang Wenze’s avatar.

"He’s had that forever. How long has it been since you two talked?" he said. "And what’s so dumb about it? It’s cute."

Ji Ningye: "..."

Ji Ningye’s lip twitched slightly.

Jiang Yanche waved his own communicator at him, showing the interview video he’d been engrossed in earlier. "Forget Brother Ze—let’s talk about you. You really didn’t hold back, huh? That desperate remark is going to make it hard for Miss Xie to keep her reputation in the social circle!"

Ji Ningye scoffed coldly. "Her own choice. If it were Zhu Xuan, he might’ve saved her face. I won’t."

"Not necessarily," Jiang Yanche muttered. "With our president’s *style*, she might’ve ended up even worse..."

Hearing his name, Zhu Xuan glanced up at the two, his expression serene. "Xiao Che, are you badmouthing me again?"

Jiang Yanche: "Heh."

He let out a dry laugh, then turned back to Ji Ningye, dropping his voice, like he had gossip. "Brother Ningye, did you know about Brother Ze’s childhood friend—the one from the Qi family, the one who wrecked him two years ago—"

"Qi Heyin?" Ji Ningye arched a brow.

"Yeah, her!" Jiang Yanche nodded excitedly. "You actually know her name!"

Ji Ningye’s face tightened briefly, feigning indifference. "Caught the name once and remembered."

After a beat, he added, "So... what about her?"

"She's back in the country! Just today. And in two weeks, she'll be going to Faro to study with us..." Jiang Yanche couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh my god, I finally get to see her. I'm so curious about what she looks like."

"If I remember correctly, the Qi family has been in decline for years, almost kicked out of the aristocracy, right? A young lady from a lesser family and the son of a duke—how the hell did they become childhood friends?"

Frankly, Ji Ningye's stunned expression went unnoticed as he continued sarcastically, "The Qi family is even worse off than the Xie family you mocked earlier."

"Brother Ze is way too possessive. For so many years, he's kept this real person hidden away, refusing to let anyone see her! Luckily, he's gone for two months now. Heh, while the cat's away, I really want to see what all the hype is about this legendary childhood friend of his."

Jiang Yanche's voice unconsciously grew louder, and apart from Ji Ningye, the other two in the VIP room also heard him, casting mixed glances his way.

Among their group, everyone had heard bits and pieces about Shang Wenze's mysterious childhood friend.

"Xiao Che, don’t pull any stunts with that Miss Qi," Zhu Xuan reminded with a wry smile. "She’s not one of those scholarship students you love to tease."

"Of course I won’t do anything!" Jiang Yanche muttered. "I just want to see her. And I know she’s frail—no matter what, I wouldn’t bully a patient, would I?"

A dark look flashed in Ji Ningye's eyes as he slowly asked, "She returned today—where did you get this information?"

"Zhi Mo told me," Jiang Yanche said matter-of-factly. "His older brother, Wen Xinglian, is her attending physician."

"What time did her flight arrive?" Ji Ningye pressed.

"...How would I know? Just search for today’s flights from Axo."

Ji Ningye said 'Oh.' He lowered his gaze and searched for today’s flights on his communicator.

The flight from Axo in the southern hemisphere to Aurora, the imperial capital, was scheduled to land at...

9:10 p.m.

Ji Ningye’s eyebrow jumped slightly, and he abruptly snatched Jiang Yanche’s communicator from his hand.

"Huh? What gives?"

The screen still displayed the interview video from earlier. Ji Ningye dragged the progress bar, watching carefully from the start until, at one point, he spotted a girl in a wheelchair wearing a mask, hidden in the bustling crowd at the corner of the frame.

It really was her...

Jiang Yanche curiously leaned over, but seeing Ji Ningye still focused on his interview video, he shrugged and leaned back.

"Never thought I’d actually be excited for school to start," he said lazily, propping his chin on his hand with keen interest. "I really want to see what all the hype is about Brother Ze’s childhood friend."

"By the way, Brother Ningye, you’ve known Brother Ze for so long—have you never met her in all these years?"

At this, Ji Ningye narrowed his eyes slightly, fleeting memories flashing through his mind.

Under Jiang Yanche’s expectant gaze, after a long pause, he let out a soft laugh. "I have."

Ji Ningye smiled, his striking crimson bangs framing his vivid, charming eyes, radiating charm.

He looked at Jiang Yanche and said meaningfully, "Just a bookworm, that’s all."