CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 82: BAD NEWS

Yanjing.

After the third round of entrance exams ended, the young students emerged along with staff members holding long lists of results.

The Royal Academy’s entrance exam system is extremely peculiar. The only way to enter is to participate in three rounds of exams, with no other advancement systems in place. Moreover, each round is scored and ranked separately, and enrollment numbers are fixed. This means even if you just barely passed the first round, and all candidates scored full marks in the second and third rounds, it won’t affect your entry.

There are instances where talented students cluster in one round and fail, while average students get lucky due to less competition on another day’s exam.

Many question the fairness of this entrance system. However, decades have passed, and it remains unchanged. Some say it’s to cultivate students’ sense of competition, making them aware that the entrance exam is a battle of wits from the start.

Each year, in the month before the Royal Academy entrance exams, strategies on teaming up talented students, gathering intelligence on others’ exam schedules, and using intimidation tactics are even more intriguing than the nobility’s gossip.

Others say it’s merely the original dean’s sense of fun with a pinch of kindness, to make students understand the uncertainty of life, giving those lucky ordinary students a chance to change their lives by entering the Royal Academy.

The results of each round of exams are announced the next day. Today, the third round ended, and the admission list for the second round was freshly posted.

The crowd around the bulletin board was so dense that not even a pin could fit through, forcing Qian Yuya’s group to wait outside for their turn. Li Ying kept hopping around: "Hey? I think I see a character for ’Yu,’ let me take a closer look!"

Qian Yuya held a small cage covered with a black cloth, smiling: "Little Ying, find your name first."

"Hey, it’s your big day today, let’s not talk about unhappy things." Li Ying said nonchalantly: "Now it’s time for my enchanting eyes that can spot handsome guys in a crowd to shine their divine power, let me see..."

Hearing Li Ying speak so ’innocently,’ Qian Yuya immediately knew she must have been engrossed in the popular Yanjing illustrated novel "Charming Eyes: Husband, Don’t Run" recently. Unlike the remote Star Engraving County, where even the latest serials aren’t available, Yanjing’s literary industry is more developed, and the appearance of a bestseller can even cause a surge in the price of paper. Moreover, novels here often hire illustrators to create vibrant illustrations. It’s said that many male readers can’t resist buying the book after seeing the sultry heroine on the cover of "Charming Eyes."

He seems to enjoy reading such books; back home, he bought several and read them day and night. Coming to Yanjing, he definitely won’t feel bored...

"I saw it! Sister Lin is on the list!"

Li Ying suddenly grabbed Lin Xue’s hand and pointed to the left side of the list, excitedly saying: "Look, Sister Lin, you’re on the list!"

"Maybe it’s someone with the same name." Lin Xue wasn’t too excited, calmly saying: "My name is quite common."

However, Li Ying shook her head: "It’s definitely you; I recognized the candidate number, it’s indeed yours, Sister Lin."

Lin Xue looked at Li Ying in surprise: "From this distance, you can see clearly?"

They were seven or eight meters away from the list, and the names and numbers on it were small. Even the tallest Lin Xue couldn’t see clearly even if she stood on tiptoe.

Qian Yuya said: "Actually, Little Ying has excellent memory and eyesight; if only she would apply it to studying."

Li Ying proudly declared: "My eyes and brain are specialized for remembering handsome guys! Reading just makes me sleepy, unless a handsome teacher is teaching... Ugh, the quality of teachers in the national school is really too poor."

"It’s you who have too high demands."

Some cried, some laughed. Although many shamelessly stayed in front, trying to find their names in the blank spaces between lines, more left disappointed. As the crowd in front dispersed, Qian Yuya and her group finally stood under the list to check their results.

"Hey! I didn’t see wrong earlier, it really is Little Yu’s name!" Li Ying pointed to ’Qian Yuya’ on the list, "Awesome, you both got into the Royal Academy after all!"

Needless to say, having spent many days together, Li Ying also knew Lin Xue was actually a first-year student who had already been admitted to Star Engraving Military Academy but dropped out to take the Royal Academy’s exam. Although Star Engraving Military Academy wasn’t as prestigious as Royal Military Academy, Lin Xue’s admission indicated she was an outstanding talent.

Li Ying wasn’t surprised they both got into the Royal Academy. She pulled the others, saying: "Let’s go, we’ll celebrate at Yiqing Restaurant today!"

"Uh..."

Kui Nianruo gently pulled Li Ying’s hand and softly said: "My name is on there too."

"What!?" Li Ying was stunned and, following Kui Nianruo’s finger, found ’Kui Nianruo’ written on the list. She opened her mouth wide, instinctively stepping back, looking at Kui Nianruo in disbelief: "You... you... didn’t you say you were bad at studying!?"

"I said I was bad at learning the Wolf Eagle Fist combat technique." Kui Nianruo whispered: "But I did well in other areas... Dad even got me past Royal Academy entrance exam papers to do, and I thought this year’s difficulty was actually average, only three years ago the first round was truly hard—"

"Stop! Just stop!" Li Ying shouted to the sky, grabbing Kui Nianruo’s shoulders, tears sparkling as she said: "I originally thought you were like me, just here to experience the exam atmosphere, travel to Yanjing, and find handsome guys to have fun with, but to think... to think you just happen to have both the brains and the size! How infuriating!—"

"Ah!" Caught by Li Ying’s playful attack, Kui Nianruo blushed, covering herself instinctively, the two girls playfully tussling, drawing even the boys focused on the list to sneak glances.

Qian Yuya pulled back the openly angry, secretly touchy Li Ying, saying: "Stop it, everyone’s watching, save it for later."

"Hmph, tonight I’ll switch with Little Rain, I want to sleep with Nianruo!" Li Ying stretched out her hand, seemingly reminiscing the touch from earlier, her face showing a mix of happiness, envy, and jealousy.

Kuinian’s expression turned anxious, but not daring to say anything, he hid behind Qian Yuya, tugging at her sleeve.

At this moment, Lin Xue suddenly said, "Xiaoying, you made the list too."

"What!?" Li Ying looked over, completely trusting in her own abilities, so she hadn’t even checked her name. But now, a quick glance revealed her name and candidate number, "Xiaoyu, hit me!"

Qian Yuya gave Li Ying’s bottom a hard pinch, making Li Ying jump with pain, yet her expression remained excited, "I’m not dreaming, I actually made the list too!? I’m a genius female scholar of the Royal Academy too!?"

No, you only fit one character of ’genius female scholar’... Although she wanted to interrupt Li Ying’s excitement, Qian Yuya saw her so happy and nodded, saying, "Congratulations."

Kuinian was also very happy, "That means we’ll be classmates from now on!"

"Come, come, let’s go to Yujing Restaurant for a good meal!" Li Ying boldly announced, "Today the treat is on Li Ying, the genius female scholar!"

Everyone passed the entrance exam, and smiling and laughing, they walked out of the crowd. Qian Yuya suddenly asked, "By the way, you all go to the restaurant first, I need to go home for a bit."

She lifted the black cloth cage in her hand, "I need to settle Xiaoliu first."

They had gone to the Glorious National Museum together this morning, then went to Dieyi Building to see a light show (a drama using light explosions for visual effects). On their way back, they passed the marketplace where Qian Yuya saw someone selling rabbits. For some reason, she suddenly locked eyes with a male rabbit, feeling he resembled someone, and decided to buy it as a pet.

Lin Xue asked, "Shall we go back together?"

"There’s no need, you guys go to Yujing first, I’ll join you once I’ve settled Xiaoliu."

Since Qian Yuya said so, the others had no objections. After all, it was still early in the day, and their alley was close to the main road, surrounded by kind and good-natured families, with no safety concerns.

Parting ways, Qian Yuya felt her joy slowly bubbling up as she made her way home. Though she said she didn’t care, the fact that she had been admitted to the Royal Academy made her extremely happy inside.

Should I write about this in my letter too?

But the letter is already filled...

Perhaps I should write another one, and erase the last sentence from the previous...

How embarrassing, what was I thinking last night, why did I write it like this...

Qian Yuya walked home with light steps and found the door unlocked, so she pushed it open.

Her expression unchanged, she calmly entered the house and immediately saw a young woman sitting in the living room chair, "Sister Nai."

"Yuya, you’re back?"

During the day, at home, was naturally Nai Qingni who lived and ate with them and was responsible for taking care of their daily lives. Originally, Li Ying’s two maids were supposed to live in too, but in Yanjing, space is precious, so small here that the maids live elsewhere, coming over during the day to clean.

Nai Qingni looked behind Qian Yuya, "Them?"

"They went ahead to Yujing Restaurant." Qian Yuya opened the cage to introduce the little rabbit to its future home, "This is my pet Xiaoliu, which I bought today. I’m back to settle it first before joining them. Sister Nai, you’re coming tonight, right?"

However, Nai Qingni was staring at the little rabbit, lost in thought. It took two calls from Qian Yuya to snap her back to reality. She brushed her hair aside and said, "Yes, I’ll be there later."

"Why don’t we go together?" Qian Yuya suggested.

Nai Qingni nodded and stood up, "Alright... By the way, did you check the results of the announcement? How did you do?"

Qian Yuya smiled, "We all passed."

"That’s good, that’s good..." Nai Qingni let out a long breath.

As Qian Yuya was about to leave the house, Nai Qingni suddenly called out to her:

"Wait a minute."

"What is it, Sister Nai?"

"I have something to tell you," Nai Qingni said seriously, looking at her, "Something very important..."