This means that Yan Xi is a third-year student this year, while she is a first-year student. For at least the next four years, she will have a certain chance of encountering this nominal older sister on campus who has not inherited any of the physical characteristics of Yan Chen and Li Wanfang.
Yes, like right now.
For some reason, seeing Yan Xi's arrogant and domineering face, what came to mind was the warning from that beautiful yet terrifying woman in the prosperous era.
I had seen Yan Xi in her military uniform at breakfast. There were three girls standing next to her now. When they saw her, one of them exclaimed, "Hmm, she has a pretty high level of authority. Whose is she?"
[They've all kept their AI's detection running. Do you need me to give you some information?] Little Red Riding Hood was very interested in watching this kind of prime-time drama, her voice was much more lively than usual, and she even added fuel to the fire.
Yan Xi glanced at her, then turned her gaze to Chao Ge, as if she had seen something dirty. The contempt in her tone was so strong that it could be smelled from 800 meters away: "Although I really don't want to admit it, this guy seems to be from my family. I don't know what my parents were thinking. A wild child is a wild child, and being raised at home can't change his nature."
"No need, I'm face-blind, I wouldn't remember even if you told me." Chaoge replied to Little Red Riding Hood in her mind, her expression still indifferent. She glanced at the group with her brown eyes. This campus was full of third and fourth-year students, so there were quite a few people passing by at this time.
But when they discovered that the group had a higher level of authority than them, they completely lost their desire to meddle.
After Yan Chaoge understood Yan Xi's situation and her own childhood experiences, she naturally understood why her parents were not kind to her at all. Because of this, Yan Xi was confident that no matter what she did to her, she would have an excuse to deal with her parents.
When the original owner of this body in Chaoge was about five years old, she went through a period of time like she had gone mad and didn't recognize anyone. Once, Li Wanfang was going up the stairs and video chatting with someone when she suddenly rushed out of the room and pushed her mother, who had just stepped onto the last step and hadn't even stood up properly, down the stairs. Her expression was as if someone had invaded her territory.
After that, she was sent to a subsidiary planet of Tianzi Star. Yan Chen, who loved his wife dearly, was heartbroken after learning from the AI that the chances of curing the disease were very low and sent the child to live on the subsidiary planet M1.
Then he never mentioned letting her return to her family home again. If Yan Chaoge hadn't passed the entrance exam for Yuandu Military Academy on her own, and if her grandparents hadn't repeatedly assured her that she was cured, Yan Chen wouldn't have even let her come here to take the exam and successfully enroll.
Therefore, they never imagined that someone would poison her on her way back here.
In the eyes of the Yan family, their youngest daughter was someone who might go crazy at any moment. Therefore, the AI Brain No. 70 was separated from the Yan family's family security AI Brain and could monitor her 24/7.
Yan Chaoge knew that all of this had already happened, and all she could do was to make amends to her parents for the wronged man's death, but Yan Xi was not included in that.
After thinking it over and over, she stared at Yan Xi from head to toe, and suddenly blurted out, "Has anyone ever told you that you have the face of a bitch?"
Chapter 10: The Tenth Evaluation of General Qin
After she said that, everyone around her looked at Chaoge with a "Are you out of your mind?" expression. They were all family, and she shouldn't talk about someone like that just because they didn't inherit their parents' looks.
Yan Chaoge looked serious, her brown eyes seemed to speak volumes, full of sincerity. If her sincerity weren't used to insult people, it would be even more convincing.
Yan Xi's expression changed several times upon hearing her words, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. A few seconds later, she was brought back to her senses by the gazes of her companions around her, and only then did she realize that she had not yet responded. She just snorted and looked coldly at Yan Chaoge: "Mad dog."
Chaoge shrugged, preparing to turn around and walk back, but then stopped to deal with the most troublesome matter: "Since you know this is how it is, don't provoke me, especially don't gossip about it in front of Mom and Dad. Otherwise, I don't mind letting the whole world know about it."
Seeing that she had revealed her trump card, a strange smile appeared on Yan Xi's lips. For the first time in her life, she looked Yan Chaoge in the eye and heard her slowly ask, "Country bumpkin, do you know how serious it is to overstep your authority?"
Little Red Riding Hood was afraid that Chaoge might not know the full story, so she immediately crammed the relevant laws of the Crystalless Empire into her mind.
Chaoge was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. After taking a moment to process it, he discovered that exceeding authority was an S-level offense for the entire Crystalless Empire. This was because the AI system was the foundation of the entire Celestial Star's development, and possessing hacking technology capable of threatening its operation would be tantamount to disrupting the entire world's order.
While inwardly thinking how amazing Little Red Riding Hood was, Chao Ge remained outwardly composed, returning Yan Xi's gaze with a hint of amusement: "You're putting such a huge accusation on my head; it's too much for my neck to bear. Since you're praising me so highly, why don't you first consider from whom I learned about this with sufficient authority?"
Many people passed by, but not many stopped. Yan Xi wouldn't lose face in public, and since Yan Chaoge had already turned the tables on her at the start, she'd wait for next time. Anyway, as long as the Yan family's affairs remained under her control, watching Yan Chaoge cause trouble for a few more days wasn't a bad thing.
Yan Chaoge seemed to understand what she meant. In short, as long as she didn't see her acting out any more of those kinds of things in the future, she would be satisfied, right?
When she got home that day, Chaoge experienced a peaceful and quiet family atmosphere for the first time, although she only appeared at the dinner table during dinner time. Yanxi was lost in thought, and given her personality, she didn't seem like someone who could tolerate such things, but Chaoge was too lazy to figure it out, treating it as a chance to relax.
The notification from Yuandu Military Academy came quickly; Chaoge received the notice that evening that classes would begin in three days. She had already checked out the dormitory conditions; although there were no robot butlers or AI services, the temperature was constant year-round, warm in winter and cool in summer, and the style was uniform.
It's a very large double room, equipped with a private bathroom and other basic necessities.
Suddenly I'm filled with anticipation for my future roommates; as long as they're not weirdos, anything is fine.
With this in mind, Chaoge got up very early on the morning of the third day. When she opened her wardrobe, she found that she hadn't brought any clothes with her. The clothes she was wearing were made of only the most basic dustproof and waterproof materials. The housekeeper had bought several sets of the same clothes as her during the same shopping trip.
After talking to Little Red Riding Hood, I found out that the money in the crystal card included 10,000 deep blue crystals that Yan Chen had recently transferred. That would be enough to buy a lot of ordinary clothes, but forget about buying high-tech cars or the like.
She wondered if her father would send her money every week... Just as she was thinking about this, she saw Yan Chen walking out of the house on the other side and going to the restaurant to eat.
"Dad," she called out from afar, her expression unsteady. For a moment, she wanted to truly treat him as her father, but when her gaze met his eyes, which held little emotion, she swallowed the words back.
So her expression looked a little stiff. When Yan Chen stopped and looked at her, she forced herself to compose herself and continued what she had been saying, pretending to be cheerful: "I went to Yuandu to report today! I probably won't be back until the end of the semester."
"Yes, I'll give you living expenses on the first of every month." Yan Chen nodded after hearing her words and continued walking towards the restaurant.
She opened her mouth to say that wasn't what she meant, but Yan Chen's military uniform silhouette was imprinted on her retina, so she could only look down at the floor tiles, think for a moment, and then turn and walk towards the gate.
Those were clothes that her ordinary father would never wear in his entire life.
[Little Red Riding Hood.] She carried a simple bag and got into the car driven by the driver who picked her up.
【Hmm?】That's the good thing about Little Red Riding Hood. Except when she's doing quests, she's always there for you and a truly caring daughter.
Chaoge raised her hand to shield her eyes, instinctively leaning back in her chair, pretending to block the light. She let out a soft breath, and she could almost hear her own voice echoing in her ears: "I'm a little homesick."
I miss my mom, who would often ask me what I wanted to eat when I came home and then cook it for me; I miss my dad, who was introverted and didn't talk much, but when he wanted to talk to me, he would be in my room, pretending to look at the decorations around him, and finally just ask me how my school life was going.
Instead of the gentle, refined lady who gives her heart to outsiders, nor the general who never pays attention to me.
As she got out of the car, she smiled and thanked the driver. The sunlight shone on her, but she knew that even with such warm light, she could not share it with her real family, because they were separated by a truly vast distance.
She had already familiarized herself with the campus. The school mainly provides two types of transportation. One is the same as the car she took last time, which uses a crystal card to set the route and can be used for single or double passengers. The other is a suspended bus, which is cheaper and has more stops.
Most first-year students are located in the South Campus, which has the basic facilities for all majors. However, some majors will be transferred to other campuses after the second year. Because the campus is so large, it's not easy to bump into upperclassmen during the first year.
Unless some courses are set up here, they are basically separated to avoid the situation where senior students bully freshmen.
After learning this, Chaoge felt even better, which meant that unless Yanxi was really bored or extremely unlucky, she would basically never have to see that face.
The dormitory building is large and beautiful, with a European garden feel. Each building has a gray-blue pointed roof and light-colored tiles. There are stairs inside, and it has seven floors.
Her dormitory was 305. After registering her information by swiping her wristband downstairs, she gained the right to come and go freely. When she entered the room, she was filled with anticipation and looked forward to meeting her future roommates.
The room was spotless, without a trace of anyone having stayed there before. The bed, table, and floor were all clean, requiring no cleaning from her. All she had to do was put her meager collection of clothes into the small-looking but ridiculously large closet.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she swung her legs and browsed the websites Little Red Riding Hood had somehow gotten for her. She found a post about the global news broadcast from the day she arrived, and curiously clicked on it... Her expression was just like this: =口=!
Holy crap, that Qin pervert has so many people's prestige and brainless fans! _(:3)∠)_ It's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder.
There were even a string of comments like, "General, I want to have your babies! Even if I can't have them, I'll still have them!" Yan Chaoge's lips twitched, and she silently exited the interface, feeling like she could no longer fit into this world.
Just then, the door made a notification sound and opened automatically. She looked up and, regardless of the person's appearance, that eerie feeling that she only had when meeting a certain woman resurfaced in her heart.
Her first reaction was to ask Little Red Riding Hood to scan the information. After seeing a bunch of question marks, her lips twitched involuntarily.
Seeing her eyes light up for a moment before turning speechless, Qin Muge's eyes flashed with amusement. He turned around and closed the dormitory door, looked around at the surroundings, and then smiled at Chaoge: "Judging from your expression, you already know who I am. Let's get along well for the next semester, roommate."
Chaoge: ...Is it too late to apply for a dormitory change now?
After a long silence, Chaoge finally found her words: "Although I know you might not be able to tell me, I still want to ask, how did you end up here?"
Qin Muge walked to her own spot, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at Chaoge with a smile, "If I tell you, will you help me?"
She is often asked for help by powerful figures who never tell the truth, and in the end, even a nobody like her dies a terrible death.
But Chaoge knew that this situation stemmed from the difference in their social status, and she had no choice in the matter. "If I said that as long as you don't lie to me, I will do my best to help you, would you believe me?" For some reason, she just didn't want to hear another lie from the other person. She didn't even know why, but hearing her lie made her feel betrayed.
Qin Muge, who had prepared a long speech, suddenly lost interest in speaking upon hearing her question. Quite boring, isn't it? Thinking this, she said, "Okay, I won't lie to you."
Looking at the warm smile in her eyes, Chaoge suddenly had the illusion that she was being coaxed like a child.
"So the first step in becoming friends is introducing yourself, right?" Chaoge casually threw out the question, her expression remaining unchanged when she met Qin Muge's 'I knew it' look on his face.
Chaoge heard the sound of a heartbeat in her ear. She could never figure this woman out, and she never knew when she would step on her landmine. But when she thought about spending so much time together, if she couldn't even show this much sincerity, they might never cross paths again.
Qin Muge seemed to find the distance between them too great, and simply looking at Chaoge wasn't enough to satisfy her. She got up and walked towards her. Seeing the evasive look in Chaoge's eyes, the corners of her lips curved up again. She sat down close to her, supporting herself on the bed with one hand. Seeing that Chaoge, despite her stiffness, didn't choose to move away, she said, word by word, "Well then, listen carefully. My name is Qin Muge."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Yan Chaoge was completely dumbfounded.
☆ Chapter 11: The Eleventh Evaluation of General Qin
Chaoge knew her expression must look silly, but she felt her face was out of control. A chill ran up her spine, and she tried to make a sound, but no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't utter a single word.
The name Chaoge was just something she came up with casually while playing the game. She originally thought that she might never hear that name again in her life after she finished Little Red Riding Hood's quest.
Qin Muge was unusually patient. He leaned back slightly, one hand supporting himself on the side of the bed, as if he wanted to carefully appreciate Chaoge's expression at this moment.
"Now, do you know why I'm interested in you?" Having finally had enough of her silly look, Qin Muge parted her red lips slightly, her eyes, which had somehow turned black, revealing a gentle meaning.
It was as if Chaoge had regained his ability to speak, and he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Uh, this name is pretty good."
Seeing that she was pretending to be stupid, Qin Muge nodded slightly, then leaned closer to her, staring into her brown, almost black eyes, "So, this is your answer?"
"Little Red Riding Hood." She lowered her head, looking at the floor, and called out in her heart, "About this, are you...?"
"I never knew." Little Red Riding Hood interrupted her question, answering very honestly.
Oh, I see.
She seemed to suddenly breathe a sigh of relief, lying back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, pouting and then licking her lips, glancing sideways at General Qin, whose posture had remained unchanged from beginning to end except for his gaze following her: "I finally understand why I always have a strange feeling whenever I see you. That's not my answer. My answer is, if you need it, I will help you."
Because I simply cannot imagine that if even you would harm me in this world, then who else can I trust?
Chaoge's gaze fell on her, but this time it was no longer filled with inexplicable fear as before. Although she still had psychological trauma from the previous intimidation, the thought of having a magical connection with such a person transformed all that fear into envy.
"Is your access level the highest on Tianzi Star?" Recalling the incident Little Red Riding Hood had found in the military, Chaoge looked at her with burning eyes.
Qin Muge smiled. Sure enough, after learning who he was, this guy had completely lost his fear of him. His mood inexplicably improved, and he became more patient, seemingly willing to answer any question Chaoge might ask. "Are you asking about Yan Chen and Yan Xi?"
With a slight raise of his eyebrows, Qin Muge's expression already gave the answer.
“Then…” Chaoge frowned, trying to figure out how to phrase it.
“Same.” Qin Muge had already understood her meaning and continued during her pause. “You’re not the only one who’s troubled by this, because I’ve also struggled with the fact that they look exactly like my parents.”
Chaoge shifted her gaze from her face to the ceiling and sighed, "I see."
"Don't worry too much about Yan Chen, it's pointless." Qin Muge moved closer, his face, whose features were no longer recognizable, only his eyes still held that inexplicable smile, and only when he looked at Chaoge did they contain a gentle meaning.
Images of Yan Chen and Li Wanfang, along with their coldness towards her, flashed through Chaoge's mind. Interspersed within these images were memories of her original world. Gradually, the appearances of Yan Chen and Li Wanfang separated from her memories, and upon closer reflection, they only felt increasingly unfamiliar.
But—"If Yan Xi's goal is not so simple..." what kind of scene would the military, which holds absolute power on this planet, be like?
"It's alright." Qin Muge replied with a smile, her cheerful mood spreading to the surrounding air, causing Chaoge's lips to also curl into a smile.
In fact, Qin Muge was thinking, "It doesn't matter, because I will make you stronger."
And so, Chaoge was led astray and completely forgot that what she originally wanted to ask was what kind of trouble she was in.
The revelation of their identities finally thawed the ice between the two, and Chaoge no longer felt that the life ahead would be unbearable. Every time she was in the same space as Qin Muge, she had a wonderful feeling, as if she were touching another version of herself from another world across time and space.
Something almost impossible in the universe happened to them; she didn't know if it could be considered a kind of luck.