"Qing Tian!" Er Ya waved excitedly from a distance as she spotted Xia Qing Tian.
Xia Qing Tian walked towards Er Ya, scrutinizing her appearance. "What is this..."
"How is it?" Er Ya tugged at her black security guard uniform. "Cool, right?"
"Hmm... As long as you're happy," Xia Qing Tian patted Er Ya's arm. "I'm going to class now. Let's have lunch together during the break."
"Okay!" Er Ya, still buzzing with excitement, waved Xia Qing Tian off. She then placed her hands on her hips and stood imposingly at the entrance of Z University.
Before Xia Qing Tian even reached the classroom, she heard Li Xiaoxiao's voice behind her. "Qing Tian!"
"Xiaoxiao." Xia Qing Tian turned around and waved with a smile. "I brought you a gift, I'll give it to you later."
"Thanks~" Li Xiaoxiao giggled and asked, "Did you see the new female security guard at the entrance? Her eyes are so big, she's really pretty, but she looks a bit young... Is she an adult?"
"You can ask her yourself during lunch," Xia Qing Tian replied helplessly.
"Huh? You know her?" Li Xiaoxiao's curiosity was immediately piqued by Xia Qing Tian's response.
"It's a long story, let's talk later. Help me go to the advisor's office to sign in first." Xia Qing Tian took Li Xiaoxiao's hand and led her to the advisor's office.
After completing the sign-in process, as Xia Qing Tian was about to leave, the advisor called Li Xiaoxiao back. "Li Xiaoxiao, the posters for your Campus Star competition award have been made. They will be posted this afternoon. Don't forget to check them out."
"Hmm?" Xia Qing Tian remembered Li Xiaoxiao mentioning the Campus Star competition. That was before she went to Kyoto.
The selection was at the end of March, with results announced in early April. The first place winner would receive 10 academic credits.
"Okay, teacher, thank you." Li Xiaoxiao's expression was a bit awkward. She directly pulled Xia Qing Tian away from the advisor's office.
"Campus Star?" Xia Qing Tian looked at Li Xiaoxiao, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Not bad, you're a Campus Star now~"
"Shush shush!" Li Xiaoxiao's face flushed red. "Don't laugh at me!"
Li Xiaoxiao then explained the whole story. It turned out that not many students had signed up for the competition, so the department implemented a policy: anyone who participated in the Campus Star competition would receive 2 activity credits, regardless of whether they won.
She figured since she was just filling a spot and could get 2 credits, she might as well sign up.
When she registered, several girls in the class had made sarcastic remarks. Thinking she was only after the credits, she ignored them.
Then came her accidental kidnapping and hospitalization, and her parents' affairs were reported.
Suddenly, everyone showed her the utmost friendliness. Even the girls who usually mocked her acted like close confidantes.
This made her feel mortified to the extreme.
After she was discharged from the hospital, she thought she could return to campus and everything would go back to normal.
Only then did she find out that she had been voted the [Campus Star] with an overwhelming majority!
Oh my goodness!
When Li Xiaoxiao found out, she heard people enthusiastically congratulating her. She saw the girls who had mocked her, looking unwilling but still putting on a facade of "This is what you deserve." Li Xiaoxiao knew exactly what they would say behind her back without even thinking.
She felt like she could dig a basement with her toes, a three-bedroom, two-living room one at that...
Hearing Li Xiaoxiao's words, Xia Qing Tian expressed her sympathy and then let out a slightly inappropriate laugh.
Li Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks and said helplessly, "I must be the most undeserving [Campus Star] in our school's history..."
"Don't worry, everyone is just excited for a while. Do you know who last year's Campus Star was? No, right~" Xia Qing Tian, after having her fill of laughter, put her arm around Li Xiaoxiao's shoulder and comforted her. "Calm down, it will be fine after this excitement passes."
"Qing Tian, hearing you say that makes me feel so much better. I've been so stressed I couldn't sleep these past few days!" Li Xiaoxiao buried her face in Xia Qing Tian's chest. "You're the best... I don't know what I would do without you!"
"There, there~" After coaxing Li Xiaoxiao, Xia Qing Tian was about to lead her towards the classroom when she bumped into the rushing head of department.
"Oh dear, be careful." The head of department said this, then immediately pushed open the advisor's office door and asked, "How is it? Do you have any leads on the talent Professor Tang needs?"
"Head of department, this is the Finance department. Where would we find talent in biology? Please stop joking. Can't you find someone from Z University's biology department? If not, can't you hire an external expert for Professor Tang!"
"Easier said than done. Professor Tang's project cannot be cheap for outsiders! If the biology department could handle it, would we need to canvass the entire school? It's just three questions. Find someone to answer them casually, so I can hand it in!" the head of department said. "Anyway, just print them out and distribute them. Hopefully, someone can answer them."
"Sigh..."
Hearing the sighs emanating from the advisor's office, Xia Qing Tian became a little curious and asked Li Xiaoxiao, "What's this new development?"
"It seems to be an old professor in the biology department who is developing a serum. It requires some kind of strange biological knowledge. I don't really understand it. He's short on people right now, and this project is very important. Professor Tang has also explicitly forbidden any capital intervention, so it's quite difficult." Li Xiaoxiao didn't fully understand it herself.
Xia Qing Tian just gave an "oh" and returned to the classroom with Li Xiaoxiao.
The classroom had been noisy, but after Li Xiaoxiao and Xia Qing Tian entered, a brief silence fell upon it.
Xia Qing Tian was long accustomed to this situation. After sitting down with Li Xiaoxiao, she took out her stationery and they chatted.
When the class bell rang, the advisor entered first. She was holding a thick stack of papers and handed them to the student sitting closest to the door. "Pass these down, one per person."
"Class, you can take a look at the three questions inside. Those who finish them this afternoon can directly hand them to the class monitor. They should be submitted to me by the class by 4 PM. As long as it's not a blank paper, everyone will receive 2 bonus credits." After making the announcement, the advisor hurried off to notify the next class.
Soon, the questions were distributed to everyone.
Upon seeing the questions, everyone found them a bit absurd. What were these even about? They couldn't even read and understand them.
Xia Qing Tian took a look and knew these were probably the three questions they had overheard at the advisor's office.
Although she didn't understand them either, the prospect of 2 credits was very tempting.
So, she simply wrote her name and tucked the paper into a book, thinking she might be able to find related knowledge points in the library during lunch break.
Li Xiaoxiao wasn't very interested, as she already had enough credits.
After the morning classes ended, Xia Qing Tian first called Er Ya. Upon learning that Er Ya had also just started her lunch break, the three of them agreed to meet in front of a prominent building on campus.
Soon, Er Ya arrived, smiling carefree. "This place is so fun. Qing Tian, do you guys hang out here every day?"
"Only when we have classes," Xia Qing Tian said as she tidied Er Ya's hair. "As long as you're happy."
After introducing Er Ya to Li Xiaoxiao, the three of them headed to the cafeteria. As soon as they entered, Er Ya held up her meal card. "Let me treat you! I heard employee cards get discounts, and I haven't used mine yet!"
Seeing Er Ya's enthusiasm, Xia Qing Tian and Li Xiaoxiao had no choice but to agree.