Chapter 599 – Boarding the Cruise Ship (3.5k)
“I’m going to be late,” Su Jiu said.
After leaving the vicinity of her home, Su Jiu decided not to take a taxi. Following the route, she quickly reached the Huawen City train station with Xiao Yezi on her back, as only by train could they reach Fangcheng Port City in the south.
After crossing the not-too-long highway, Su Jiu arrived at the prearranged station in about ten minutes. On the spacious platform, there weren’t as many people as Su Jiu had expected.
However, she soon understood why. Not many parents would agree to their children going overseas to another country.
On several rows of benches at the station sat over a dozen students from Zhiyuan High School. Some were sent off by their parents, while others sat alone playing on their phones. Their cultivation levels were generally only at the Initial Stage Warrior level, clearly indicating they were students from less affluent families.
“Please rest assured, parents. I will safely deliver them into your hands a month from now,” the man in the suit was saying, communicating with some parents with a smile, gesturing with his arms, his face filled with devotion.
The parents were generally not well-dressed, some even wearing military boots, they worried about their children but couldn’t find a reason to refuse this trip. This was a trip that could change the destiny of their entire family.
“Daddy, that silver person is scary…” Xiao Yezi, perched on Su Jiu’s back, blinked her green eyes as she looked at the man in the suit. In them, a black cloud churned continuously, as if lightning was hidden within.
“Later, we’ll play a game. We’ll quietly draw the psychological states of these people, okay?” Su Jiu whispered, glancing back. She then smiled, took out a small drawing board and paper from her ring, and handed them to Xiao Yezi, allowing the child to play with her talent.
Secondly, it would also help understand the mindset of these people from Shendai Pharmaceutical Company.
“Okay.” Xiao Yezi tilted her head. Her shoulder-length hair, which had grown after eating Bai Zhi’s leftover Floating Life Blossom, swayed slightly. Although she didn’t understand her daddy’s meaning, she was in obedient mode for now.
Temporarily subdued (Crayon Shin-chan’s half-kneel.jpg).
With her chubby little hands, she picked up the pen and began drawing everyone she saw, displaying an intelligence beyond that of a ten-year-old.
“Why did this girl bring a child?”
“Did she have a child before even going to college? I feel like her future life will be very difficult.”
“Fat Liu, stop minding other female classmates. Your family still owes hundreds of thousands in loans…”
Su Jiu’s “child-carrying” attire naturally attracted a lot of attention. Many people noticed that she had also signed the agreement. However, since these students were usually considered outsiders, no harsh words were spoken.
The students who were dragging their suitcases alone glanced at each other and then looked away. Everyone had their own struggles, otherwise, they wouldn’t risk going to the Cherry Blossom Country.
“Sister Su Jiu!” A voice suddenly called out from not far away. The short-haired figure waved and approached. Su Jiu turned to look and saw Xiao Guang, whom she had arranged to meet.
“Alas, Miss, the master has investigated. This Shendai Group often operates between the underworld and the legal world. You mustn’t go causing trouble; it’s very dangerous,” an old butler followed behind her, his face filled with helplessness. The sigh just now came from him.
Pausing, Xiao Guang turned to the old butler, nudged Su Jiu with her face, and rolled her eyes, saying indifferently, “Uncle Da, this person here is much stronger than my father. She is the Miss Su I often talk about.”
“The Night Watcher has really come?” The old butler was slightly surprised by Su Jiu’s information. He sized up Su Jiu, and after confirming, he blocked Xiao Guang’s view, took out a storage bag from his pocket, and said helplessly:
“Please take care of the young lady. She’s impatient and fierce. If there’s no one to watch her, she’s likely to suffer a loss.”
“I’ll try my best.” Su Jiu didn’t refuse the storage bag. It contained only Magic Crystals and the like. She could roughly guess the situation: The young lady’s plan to travel across the ocean had been discovered by her family, so they sent the butler to follow. If she couldn’t see Su Jiu, she would forcefully drag her back.
“Madam, Master, we have met that adult.” The old butler instructed Xiao Guang a few more times, then spoke to someone on the phone before bowing to Su Jiu and leaving. Those people also noticed this scene and couldn’t help but marvel in secret.
“Xiao Guang, why are you here? With her strength, she could easily get into the top five!”
“Who knows? Rich people are like that.” In their minds, Xiao Guang was considered a wealthy family’s eccentric child. Not only was her academic performance excellent, but she was also the strongest in Class A, the top student of her grade.
Xiao Guang also noticed Xiao Yezi on Su Jiu’s back. She leaned forward, finding the child inexplicably cute. After teasing her for a bit, Xiao Yezi continued to show her crescent-like smile, grabbed her finger, and said in a milky voice, “…”
Su Jiu chuckled, turned back, and gently tapped Xiao Yezi’s head, winking to imply she should give her some face outside. She said softly, “Say ‘Sister Xiao Guang’.”
Xiao Yezi also blinked: “Sister Xiao Guang.” Seeing how obedient Xiao Yezi was, Xiao Guang’s face lit up with joy. Realizing something, she looked at Su Jiu with disbelief and asked tentatively, “Sister Su Jiu, is this child your sister?”
Su Jiu shook her head and replied quite seriously, “She’s mine.” Xiao Guang’s face still showed surprise. but realizing that it was normal for Su Jiu, with her strength, to be married and have children, she asked again, “Then who is the child’s father?”
Her gaze fell on Xiao Yezi, and Su Jiu calmly replied, “Me too.”
“Ah?!” This answer made Xiao Guang feel somewhat baffled. Just as she was about to ask, Xiao Yezi, as if to cooperate, reached out and patted Su Jiu’s face, giggling, “This is my daddy.”
“Okay.” Xiao Guang was completely stunned, feeling like her CPU had overheated. She then decided not to think about it. People with strength had many ways to reproduce, and perhaps Su Jiu was using one of them.
After more than half an hour, the man in the suit had finished his pleasantries with the parents. He called out the agreements he had received, and noticing many were missing, a hint of gloom flashed across his face. He muttered to himself:
“Nearly a hundred students came back then, and now there are only a dozen. The performance of Huayang City probably can’t compare to other places.”
“Classmates, I’ve bought first-class tickets for everyone. Those without tickets, come here to collect them…” Looking up again, a gentle smile appeared on his face, giving a friendly impression as he beckoned the students to board the train.
The students started moving and boarded the train one by one. Su Jiu was the last to get her ticket under the strange gaze of the man in the suit. She followed Xiao Guang to the assigned seats. Since both of them collected their tickets last, they were seated next to each other, with a small round wooden table between them, on which sat a small potted flower. Opposite them were a plump boy and a thin, sallow-faced girl. On their faded school uniforms were two rather nervous faces, their heads bowed, pretending to be busy playing on their phones.
“Fat Liu, your application for poverty assistance that you asked me to handle last time has had some news. It’s a Class II subsidy. If your Gaokao results are good, you might even get a Body Refining Liquid,” Xiao Guang seemed to know them and greeted them enthusiastically, smiling at the plump boy opposite her.
“Thank you, Sister Guang. Once the subsidy comes through, I’ll treat you to a meal…” After someone spoke, Fat Liu also looked up, his small eyes squeezed by the fat on his face filled with excitement. Xiao Guang just waved her hand, indicating it was no big deal.
As soon as Fat Liu finished speaking, the girl with the sallow face next to him also looked up, her eyes showing some confusion. She asked Fat Liu, “Brother, I remember you applied for Class I before, and your grades and our family situation met the requirements, so why did it change to Class II?”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Guang couldn’t help but look at Fat Liu and said in a low voice, “Why wouldn’t you apply for Class I if you could?” Su Jiu also looked over with some curiosity. Being the mayor’s daughter in high school, such trivial matters never involved her.
“A Ying, the Class I subsidy includes a bonus Magic Crystal for high Gaokao scores. Our school can only nominate five people. Besides the two children of inner-circle relatives and two orphans, there’s also the child of the ‘skinny monkey’ from Class C whose old mother needs money for treatment…”
“It’s pretty good to be able to apply for Class II smoothly. If it weren’t for Sister Guang, even Class II would probably take a long time to review.” Faced with their repeated questioning, Fat Liu could only spread his hands helplessly, looking out the window at the moving scenery, lost in thought. The girl with the sallow face simply sighed and stopped asking.
“Inner circle… There’s favoritism even in this.” Su Jiu listened quietly and sighed softly. A mere poverty subsidy could trouble so many people, no wonder the Ancient God Sect could flourish.
Just then, Xiao Yezi’s voice rang out. She pointed at Fat Liu and whispered in Su Jiu’s ear like a little secret agent, “Daddy, he’s also a white cloud, a good person.”
“Sigh…” Su Jiu sighed lightly. She sent a message to the local Law Enforcement Hall to investigate Zhiyuan High School, but she didn’t plan to interfere further, as she would be investigating Shendai Group later, and it wouldn’t be good to be exposed.
After watching Su Jiu for a while, A Ying shifted the heavy topic to Su Jiu, saying somewhat uncertainly:
“This classmate gives me a very familiar feeling…” She couldn’t be sure, after all, that person was once a legend in Huayang. How could she be going for drug trials with them?
“Coincidence?” Wu Yi Qi Xia Ba Ling Ling (F7) Lu Yi Ling*meng. Putting away her gaze, Su Jiu smiled and continued to play with Xiao Yezi. Time passed by, and when she looked up again, she could already see the seaside.
“Is this the sea?” Feeling the salty sea breeze, Xiao Yezi couldn’t help but want to stretch her head out, but Su Jiu pressed her back down like a whack-a-mole.
About half an hour later, after the train stopped, everyone got off at the station and was led onto a huge ship. Looking at the distant ocean, their faces were filled with excitement; this was their first time at sea.
However, once they boarded the cruise ship, they realized that they were not the only ones who had received this drug trial opportunity. On the deck were students from other schools, looking at them with appraising eyes.
“These are students from other regions. Like you, they are responsible for the drug’s efficacy. Since only those who have just reached the Warrior Class can better demonstrate the drug’s efficacy, most of them are students,” the man in the suit explained with a smile, then led them to their accommodation rooms, allowing them to arrange small or large rooms for three or five people.
Su Jiu and her companions were assigned to a room for three. Since she didn’t know anyone, she shared a room with A Ying and Xiao Guang. During their rest time, while Su Jiu was changing Xiao Yezi’s diaper, she picked up the drawing. As her gaze swept over it, she noticed a dark mass. Most of the drawings were white, a small portion was yellow, and the strangest was a little bit of flame-like red.
“Black is evil thoughts, white is peace, yellow… uh, is a tendency towards violence? Red is danger?” Just as she was about to ask Xiao Yezi what was going on, a piercing scream suddenly sounded from the next room, as if something frightening had happened.
“Ah! There’s a monster!”
