Chapter 21: (1k Nutrient Solution Bonus) Fan Association…

Chapter 21 (Bonus Chapter - 1k Votes) The Fan Club...

The next day, Monday.

The morning passed uneventfully. After lunch in the cafeteria, Qi Heyin was walking along a campus pathway when she ran into two classmates.

The two girls' eyes lit up slightly upon seeing her and immediately approached: "Classmate Qi, you left class in such a hurry earlier. Shortly after, our homeroom advisor came looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Qi Heyin was puzzled. "Did the teacher say what it was about?"

"...Not exactly," one of the girls thought for a moment. "Anyway, she just asked you to go to the Administration Building during lunch break."

"The monitor should have already sent you a notification online," she added.

"I see, thank you." Qi Heyin nodded, checked her phone, and indeed found a DM from the monitor instructing her to head to Room 1911 in the Administration Building after lunch.

The nineteenth floor—the shared floor with the administration office of Faro Academy.

After a moment's thought, she guessed it might be related to last week's quiz team selection.

Had they announced the team...?

After bidding farewell to the two classmates, Qi Heyin turned and walked toward the Administration Building.

Behind her, the two girls watched her departing figure, their faces lighting up with excitement.

"Hey, Xiaoran, are you in that too? Qi Heyin's fan club at school?" one girl whispered.

"Yeah," Xiaoran nodded naturally, pausing before adding, "...You too?"

The two exchanged an excited glance: "Same fandom!"

"Last week, when I found out Qi Heyin had been hired by Veritas, I decided to become her fan. My god, why is someone so amazing in our class? Why doesn’t the academy let her teach us?"

"People naturally admire excellence..." Xiaoran chuckled softly. "Plus, Qi Heyin is beautiful and polite."

She then waved her phone excitedly. "This morning, my FF account was reinstated! No idea why... but our group leader, Miss Jiang, said there won’t be any more account bans!"

"The forums are always full of gossip about those privileged kids—how boring. Hehe, I’m going to make sure the whole academy knows about the true star from our program!"

Following the monitor's instructions, Qi Heyin arrived at the Administration Building and found Room 1911.

She knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," a firm female voice called from inside.

Pushing the door open, Qi Heyin saw two people already seated at the long conference table—one a student, the other a composed, authoritative-looking woman in black with red-framed glasses.

The dean of academics at Faro Academy. Qi Heyin recognized her.

"You're Qi Heyin, correct?" The typically stern expression softened slightly as she looked at her, speaking kindly. "Take a seat."

Qi Heyin nodded and sat down beside the unfamiliar student.

Once seated, a form filled with names was slid toward her.

"Qi Heyin, you scored exceptionally well in this selection exam for the competition," the dean said warmly. "The academy has decided to include you in the Faro delegation. Congratulations."

"Thank you, teacher." Qi Heyin smiled at her and lowered her gaze to the form on the table.

...It was the overall score sheet from the selection exam.

She ranked first, leading second place by dozens of points. Her results in the Mimic and mathematics sections were both perfect.

The dean used a red pen to circle a few details at the bottom of the score sheet and explained to Qi Heyin, "Qi, for being selected this time, the academic office will award you bonus points. If you win an award in the competition, the academy will also offer a cash prize."

A prize?

Qi Heyin recalled that in previous years' competitions, the academy had been quite generous, awarding the champion team 500,000 star coins per person.

For noble students, this might not be a significant amount, but it was enough to greatly improve the family circumstances of a scholarship student.

"The others haven't arrived yet... Qi, let me introduce you to one of your teammates." The dean gestured toward the girl beside her. "This is Su Qingyue, a sophomore from the literature department."

"Su scored highest in the humanities section of the selection exam. Many professors at the academy consider her the top literature student in the past decade."

The dean paused and smiled. "For this competition, you two are my top picks—one strong in arts, the other in STEM."

"The judges are also looking forward to your performance. They believe that with your collaboration, Faro could score the highest ever in the Imperial University Comprehensive Knowledge Competition."

This was undoubtedly high praise. Qi Heyin glanced at the girl named Su Qingyue, who was nervously pursing her lips, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush, seemingly flustered by the compliment.

"Hello, I'm Qi Heyin." She blinked and extended a friendly hand.

"H-Hello!" The girl shook her hand nervously and whispered, "I'm Su Qingyue."

Another shy one... Seeing her like this, Qi Heyin couldn't help but think of Wen Zhimo.

In last night's phone call, Dr. Wen had described his younger brother as a hard-to-handle little rascal. She had been completely baffled, unable to tell whether this was an elder's humble joke or a serious remark.

Wen and troublemaker... The two words felt completely unrelated.

As her thoughts wandered aimlessly, the person in question arrived.

"Sorry, Dean, I'm late." Wen Zhimo stepped in and apologized softly.

"It's fine, Wen. Come in and take a seat." The dean welcomed him kindly.

Wen Zhimo nodded, biting his lip shyly as he walked in slowly.

His gaze swept across the room before settling on the familiar girl by the conference table. His voice carried a hint of surprise. "Qi-senpai?"

Wen Zhimo walked straight to Qi Heyin's side and sat down, whispering excitedly, "You made the team too, Senpai?"

Qi Heyin hummed in response and looked at him calmly.

She'd spotted Wen Zhimo's name near the top of the score sheet earlier, so she wasn’t surprised.

Today, the boy was still wearing Faro Academy’s standard uniform: a simple white shirt, black pants, and black shoes, without any flashy accessories.

Despite his impressive family background, he always dressed more plainly than any noble student at the academy.

With soft chestnut-brown hair, warm tea-colored eyes, and a gentle, harmless appearance, his shy demeanor even revealed adorable dimples that made everyone want to protect him.

In every way, he looked like a character straight out of a fairy tale—as if donning a crown would transform him into a sweet, innocent storybook prince.

...Dr. Wen was definitely joking, right?

"Qi-senpai, what a surprise meeting you here. I was actually thinking of finding a chance to invite you to this week's club activity..." Wen Zhimo edged closer to her.

He murmured shyly, "The club is going to sketch in the academy's small garden in a couple of days. You'll come, right, Qi-senpai?"

The boy's breath lightly brushed against Qi Heyin's ear, making it tingle slightly.

A gentle breeze drifted in through the window, and Qi Heyin caught another faint trace of formaldehyde on him.

...Another anatomy class? She instinctively wondered.

"I'll go," Qi Heyin nodded in response.

Wen Zhimo looked down, taking in her face just inches away, and smiled softly.

Eagerly, he said, "Great, then I'll wait for you, Qi-senpai."

Then, he casually settled back and turned to politely greet another student present.

Under the dean's guidance, the three team members made their first introductions.

Now, only the last student was missing.

Qi Heyin scanned the roster and knew it was a boy named Yi Weiqiu, who was also strong in liberal arts.

In their small team, both Su Qingyue and Yi Weiqiu were top scholarship students.

"Please wait a little longer," the dean glanced at her device. "Yi Weiqiu just sent me a message saying he's on his way from the teaching building."

As soon as she finished speaking, the conference room door was gently knocked.

"...Huh? That fast?" The dean looked up in surprise. "Come in, please."

The door opened, and a calm, measured voice followed.

"Apologies, Professor Wang," the speaker said courteously. "I hope my arrival isn't interrupting anything."

Hearing the familiar voice, Qi Heyin immediately looked up, startled, toward the doorway.

A tall, poised man stood there, his shimmering teal hair framing a strikingly handsome and gentle face. His eyes twinkled as they scanned the room.

The student council president?!

"Brother Zhu Xuan?" Wen Zhimo, sitting beside Qi Heyin, widened his eyes slightly, just as shocked.

Hearing this, Qi Heyin glanced at him, realizing they knew each other.

The dean, however, didn't bat an eye. Seeing Zhu Xuan, her expression softened into a gentle smile, her tone noticeably softening. "How could it be a bother? Your early arrival actually saves me some trouble, *Young Master Zhu*."

Qi Heyin: "..."

If even the no-nonsense dean addressed Zhu Xuan as "Young Master" at school—just how much influence did Faro's student council command?

"As long as I'm not intruding," Zhu Xuan said airily with a nod. "Then, Professor Wang, feel free to attend to your work. I'll take over from here."

"Of course, of course..." The dean hastily rose, offering her seat to Zhu Xuan before excusing herself and leaving.

The conference room door closed again, and an awkward pause followed.

"Zhu Xuan, why are you here?" Wen Zhimo was the first to ask.

His lips parted slightly as he frowned, looking at him with hesitation. "Don’t tell me you..."

Qi Heyin also gave him a skeptical look.

Noticing their expressions, Zhu Xuan paused for a moment before letting out a helpless chuckle. "I think you two might have misunderstood something..."

"I’m not a contestant—I’m the team leader for your competition this time."

He explained in a gentle tone, "Starting now, I’ll be fully in charge of all your pre-competition preparations."

"Oh, so that’s how it is, Zhu Xuan..." Wen Zhimo tilted his head, looking sheepish. "I thought I remembered you participating in this competition last year."

"That’s right," Zhu Xuan replied with a faint smile.

His eyes briefly flicked to the silent girl beside Wen Zhimo before settling on him. "Long time no see, Zhi Mo."

"I haven’t seen much of you lately. Xiao Che also mentioned he could never manage to meet up with you."

Zhu Xuan paused briefly, his voice carrying a hint of amusement. "Have you been cooped up at home again, busy tinkering with your little projects?"

Wen Zhimo looked up calmly, his eyes flickering slightly as he met Zhu Xuan’s gaze.

A few seconds later.

He curved his lips, dimples forming as he replied softly, "Zhu Xuan really does understand me."