TYMIMA Chapter 39

Zhan Pingchuan pretended to be nonchalant on the surface, but his heart was turbulent. That bit of sleepiness had long been shocked away.

Why had his mom come?

Wasn’t he always hiding his missions from his mom?

Could it be that old Zhan had already been beaten to death?

He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that his mom came to Star University just on a whim to give a medical report.

Zhan Pingchuan quickly buried his head to text his mom. This phone number, longed for, sought after, and anticipated by countless recovery system ability users, was filled with Zhan Pingchuan’s daily trivial and nutritionless greetings.

[Mom?]

Zhan Pingchuan sent one word and stared at the screen waiting.

After a while, the busy and taciturn Dean Chu finally replied—

[If you have something to say, say it directly. Don’t just call me ‘Mom’ and then go silent.]

Hearing back, Zhan Pingchuan seemed to suddenly trigger a chatterbox system. Resting on one arm, he fired questions like a machine gun—

[Mom, you came to my school? Why did you suddenly come? What are you here for? I haven’t heard from Dad for a day, is he okay?]

[What do you think?]

Zhan Pingchuan’s heart sank. Old Zhan was probably in grave danger this time. He must not be implicated.

So Zhan Pingchuan very flatteringly typed—

[Dad was really too much this time. Mom, you did the right thing. I deeply, very, extremely agree with you. Let’s despise him together!]

[Don’t talk about your dad, talk about you.]

Oh no, he was implicated after all.

But Zhan Pingchuan would play dumb. He pretended to be confused and asked—

[Me? What about me? I’m eagerly waiting for you to release your pure, selfless maternal love :)]

[You little dog.]

Zhan Pingchuan grumbled inwardly, what a harsh mom, insulting him while including herself.

Unlike Tang Li’s delight and Zhan Pingchuan’s alarm, when Lance heard this name, six faint words floated in his mind—not a dislikable competitor.

He knew about Chu Fu, the dean of the Federation’s largest private hospital, the wife of Ghost Eye Guild chairman Zhan Qinghe.

It was said that this person had a cold temperament, spoke little and concisely, was very particular about efficiency, and most despised those who were all show with no substance.

Lance had no ill feelings toward this person, because Chu Fu was indeed a decent doctor. Moreover, he was also grateful that this matter diluted the strange atmosphere between him and Zhan Pingchuan from last night.

Lance nudged Zhan Pingchuan, who was buried with his head down, fiddling with something under the desk: “Are you going to the report this afternoon?”

Zhan Pingchuan raised his head from his hunched position, nervously tucking his phone back into his pocket, thinking, do I dare not go?

But he pretended to ponder for a moment, reluctantly saying: “Well, I’m not tired anyway, so it’s fine to go take a look.”

Lance paused, examining the dark circles under Zhan Pingchuan’s eyes and his obviously swollen eyelids.

Not tired?

He tried hard to open his bloodshot eyes, giving Zhan Pingchuan a smile.

It didn’t matter, as long as neither of them mentioned last night’s stupid mistake.

Chu Fu said she would speak in the afternoon, but she actually arrived at Star University at noon. She declined Yan Qili’s invitation to have lunch together and instead planned to meet the four students who had won the Challenge Cup competition this year.

Lance raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this.

Chu Fu actually requested to meet them, which was a treatment that previous Challenge Cup champions hadn’t received.

Most importantly, they were all freshmen from the Underground City College, with no connection to biochemistry and medicine. Chu Fu couldn’t possibly be selecting reserve talents for her hospital.

So the only explanation was that Ghost Eye Guild was recruiting, and Zhan Qinghe couldn’t appear in person, so he entrusted his wife to come to Star University to test the waters.

After Ghost Eye Guild lost a big contract to High Tower Guild last time, it was said that the entire guild, from top to bottom, had been biding their time and deeply reflecting. They concluded that in terms of business competition, Ghost Eye still had too many moral principles. They couldn’t even think of dirty tricks like stealing toilet paper while a bidding competitor was in the bathroom, no matter how hard they tried.

The Federation government had regulations that, to prevent unlimited escalation and large-scale confrontation, various guilds could not use abilities during business competition, nor could they privately use abilities for retaliation.

High Tower Guild and Ghost Eye Guild, as the leaders of the seven major guilds, were closely watched, so they racked their brains for various unique strategies.

These strategies didn’t cause casualties, but the bottom line kept getting lower.

It seemed that Ghost Eye Guild’s research strategy was to absorb new talent.

Lance inwardly sneered. Unfortunately, Chu Fu would be disappointed, because the most unscrupulous person among the four champions happened to be the young master of High Tower Guild.

And he would never mix with people from Ghost Eye Guild.

Zhan Pingchuan and Lance each harbored their own thoughts, while Tang Li, upon receiving the news, was almost happy enough to faint.

He was so excited that his hands trembled as he stuffed the autograph paper, instant photo, and Chu Fu’s merchandise into his bag.

“I must take a photo with her later. I also want to ask her how one can develop a third-tier ability at the age of twenty. If she ignores me, you must help me.”

Zhan Pingchuan fiddled with his phone, saying casually: “No need to ask her. I’ll tell you, just frequently enter underground cities and kill higher-level beasts.”

Because he already had a third-tier ability at eighteen, although he hadn’t fully mastered the third one yet.

Tang Li was somewhat speechless: “Classmate Zhan, this is where you don’t understand. Recovery system Awakened ones don’t have many offensive abilities. Besides, even combat system ones find it difficult to kill higher-level beasts.”

Zhan Pingchuan shrugged, noncommittal.

Reality was like that, but his mom was truly extraordinary.

Though she was an A-level, and a recovery system at that, she could still beat his white tiger form animal system S-level dad to the point where he had no ability to fight back.

So he was puzzled about how his dad had conquered his mom and forcibly made her undergo secondary differentiation to conceive him.

Lance quite agreed with Zhan Pingchuan’s words, as this was also the experience he had gained from seeing so many Awakened ones in High Tower Guild: “Theoretically speaking, killing higher-level beasts is the fastest way to improve, but not everyone can take this shortcut.”

In other words, if Zhan Pingchuan encountered a real Golden Parasite Human-Faced Owl and successfully killed it, he would probably directly break through the bottleneck and advance to the next ability.

But speaking of which, he still hadn’t asked about Zhan Pingchuan’s attributes.

He couldn’t figure out which attribute that barrier and those razor-sharp silver threads were related to.

Seeing Lance standing on Zhan Pingchuan’s side, Tang Li silently thought, Mount Everest and Kilimanjaro hadn’t melted in vain; this was clearly a case of the wife following the husband’s lead.

Tang Li decided to ignore this topic: “Anyway, I’m too excited. What good fortune I have, getting the opportunity to intern in the restricted area and meeting my idol.”

Liu Bo: “Indeed, I’m envious.”

In the blink of an eye, a student council member notified them that Chu Fu had rested and was ready to meet them.

Chu Fu was now in the reception room on the seventh floor of the administration building. The dean of the School of Biochemistry, Kang Disheng, had just finished discussing employment issues for biochemistry graduates with her.

After Kang Disheng’s repeated requests, Chu Fu finally agreed to provide more internship opportunities for Star University undergraduates in the future.

The student council president led Lance and others into the administration building. Omega female juniors kept passing by. He suddenly turned his head and sternly instructed, seemingly from some unknown official authority: “When you meet Dean Chu later, you must show the basic quality of Star University students. Don’t desperately beg for job opportunities, and especially don’t blindly involve Ghost Eye Guild. Dean Chu is Dean Chu, and Chairman Zhan is Chairman Zhan. The outside world is spreading rumors that they’re about to divorce. You all should have some discretion!”

Zhan Pingchuan: “?”

Zhan Pingchuan’s face instantly darkened, the killing intent in his eyes almost impossible to conceal.

If he didn’t have to hide his identity, he would have rolled up his sleeves and taken action right then.

It’s your parents who are about to divorce, your whole family is divorcing!

Tang Li, hearing that his idol was in the midst of a divorce crisis, felt worse than if he were divorcing himself. His face turned pale: “Is it true?”

Lance glanced at the student council president who was casually spreading rumors, saying indifferently: “It sounds fake.”

Chu Fu’s private hospital was invested in by Zhan Qinghe. She did so many charity projects, even had her own R&D team, spending money like water every day. If not for Ghost Eye Guild’s strong financial chain as a backing, Chuan Hospital couldn’t have reached its current scale.

Zhan Pingchuan was moved.

The little red fox indeed understood his future in-laws. His parents’ love was stronger than gold, their family harmonious, their income stable, their retirement worry-free, with extremely strong risk resistance capacity, truly a rare marriage partner.

The student council president refuted angrily: “How do you know it’s fake? Young age, big talk.”

Lance had only condescended to say something for Tang Li’s sake. He couldn’t be bothered to argue with the student council president. After all, Chu Fu had nothing to do with him.

When boarding the elevator, Lance instinctively glanced at the button for basement level one.

That was where the confidential archives room was located, only accessible with a card swipe.

The student council president pressed the number seven with a “pa” sound. The display numbers in the elevator jumped upward, getting further and further away from the confidential archives room. Only then did Lance unhurriedly withdraw his gaze.

Zhan Pingchuan lazily moved closer to Lance. Taking advantage of the other two not paying attention, he lowered his voice and asked: “Little classmate Lance, are you nervous? If you’re nervous, hold my hand.”

Lance’s gaze passed over the edge of his glasses, looking at Zhan Pingchuan once, saying puzzledly: “I’m fine.”

What was there to be nervous about? Although Chu Fu had high combat power, she didn’t know his identity, let alone would she take action against him in broad daylight.

Zhan Pingchuan rubbed his hands, saying sincerely: “Then I’m nervous. Can I hold your hand?”

Lance: “……………………”

Zhan Pingchuan was truly nervous. What was this equivalent to? It was like bringing his future wife to meet his mom who had died heroically and been reborn! And his future wife didn’t even know that was his mom!

Zhan Pingchuan couldn’t even imagine what magical scene it would be when he came clean with Lance.

The elevator finally reached the seventh floor. As the elevator doors slowly opened, Zhan Pingchuan grabbed Lance’s soft, warm palm and took a deep breath.

Lance gave him a speechless yet amused glance but didn’t shake him off.

The encyclopedia was indeed correct; Desert City had always been a cold and barbaric place. The little idiot was usually very arrogant but started getting nervous when meeting important figures.

In the future, he should take the little idiot to see more of the world when there’s a chance.

The brown wooden doors of the reception room slowly slid open. The bright sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling windows directly hit their eyes. Lance squinted, then saw Chu Fu sitting on the sofa.

He even had the illusion that the bright light just now was emanating from this person.

Chu Fu didn’t have the small frame typical of Omegas. On the contrary, her shoulders were broad, her figure tall and slender. Even sitting, one could see the standard inverted triangle silhouette. She wore a restrained, business-like black suit. Her arm muscles were thin yet powerful, with whale-tail cufflinks close to her distinctly contoured wrist bones.

She casually crossed her right leg over her left, her knee creating a neat and sexy crease in her trousers. From Lance’s direct view, those legs were straight and long, not at all inferior to Zhan Pingchuan’s physique.

The rumors were indeed true; Chu Fu had once been an Alpha, and a highly sexually attractive one at that.

Lance’s gaze moved slightly upward, falling on Chu Fu’s face.

Chu Fu’s appearance wasn’t the delicate and weak type either. She had phoenix eyes, but they had nothing to do with coquettishness. Her eyelid creases were deep, her pitch-black eyes habitually devoid of emotion. If anything, it was contemplation and consideration. At forty, she had shed the stubbornness and arrogance of youth, settling into introversion and dignity.

Perhaps because of her secondary differentiation from Alpha to Omega, her dignity didn’t carry a sense of oppression. Instead, it made people overlook her indifference out of sympathy for her complex experiences.

Zhan Qinghe was quite lucky to find such an Alpha to bear his child. Who knows what kind of silly appearance that child grew into. It was said that he was kidnapped several times as a child for being too ostentatious, and then there was no news.

Tang Li unconsciously held his breath, the sound of his wildly beating heart clearly reaching his ears.

So charming, this mature and steady temperament, this imposing presence without anger, even the fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes from the passage of time were so flavorful.

Tang Li’s gaze fell blankly on Chu Fu’s Adam’s apple. Of course, he wouldn’t presumptuously think he would have anything with Chu Fu, but he suddenly discovered his own potential.

Age didn’t seem to be an obstacle to attraction, and damn it, neither did gender!

Zhan Pingchuan pretended his arm was sore, pressing his shoulder and lifting it slightly, trying hard to block Tang Li’s infatuated gaze toward his mom.

Dude, even if you’re eager to date, you can’t go after both mother and son!

Chu Fu nodded slightly to Kang Disheng, then swept her gaze indifferently toward Zhan Pingchuan.

Zhan Pingchuan immediately lowered his arm properly.

From the moment he entered, he had felt awkward all over. This feeling was like going to school and finding your homeroom teacher is your own mother. You have to address her as “teacher” all day, but you know this person just scolded you and your dad that morning for refusing to get out of bed.

Kang Disheng stood up: “The students have arrived, so I won’t stay any longer. These are the four freshmen who won the championship.”

Turning his head, Kang Disheng said to Zhan Pingchuan and the others: “Learn seriously from Dean Chu. Such opportunities are rare; make good use of them.”

With that, Kang Disheng waved goodbye to Chu Fu and left.

“Hello, Dean Chu!” Liu Bo stood exceptionally straight, greeting Chu Fu with clear pronunciation.

“Hello, Dean Chu. My name is Tang Li, also a recovery system Awakened one. I’ve always admired you.” Tang Li’s face grew redder as he spoke, until finally even his voice began to tremble.

Lance’s acting had always been good. He lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze not direct, and greeted in a modest, neither humble nor arrogant voice: “Hello, Dean Chu.”

His reddish-brown hair covered his ears and half his face, making him appear like a well-mannered, reserved, uncompetitive good student.

Using hair to cover his face helped interfere with Chu Fu’s judgment of him. He had to be more cautious in front of Chu Fu, because she had seen him when he was young.

After all, it was that dog of an Outer God’s fault.

Normal humans would awaken their abilities at sixteen or seventeen, but Lance had sensed the existence of the Outer God at the age of three. The Outer God, on the grounds that Lance was too weak to be of use, constantly internalized fear and darkness in him every day, and he couldn’t express himself.

When he was four or five, he often had hallucinations, couldn’t distinguish between reality and fantasy, and even his language system began to become confused. Lan Wendao realized he had a major problem.

With no medical solution, Lan Wendao was forced to swallow his pride and find Chu Fu.

Chu Fu didn’t turn Lan Wendao away because of the business competition between the two guilds.

She took Lance from Lan Wendao’s hands, skillfully held him in her arms, her palm emitting a faint green healing light.

However, her ability, in Lance’s eyes, looked like peanuts being swallowed one by one by the Outer God.

The reason he thought of peanuts was because, with Lance’s cultural level at that time, that was all he could think of.

Faced with the power of the Outer God, Chu Fu was also helpless. She could only regretfully return Lance to Lan Wendao.

“I’m sorry, his problem is in the realm of consciousness, a place I cannot reach. Either he has to find his way out himself, or he needs another encounter, someone who can pull him out of the abyss.”

Lance’s memory of this episode was already very vague. The conversation was later relayed to him by Lan Wendao. He only remembered Chu Fu holding him.

Zhan Pingchuan didn’t know about this curious connection. He cleared his throat and after a long while, finally ground out an indistinct “Dean Chu.”

Chu Fu nodded perfunctorily, her gaze falling on the hands of Zhan Pingchuan and Lance.

Her son was holding the Omega’s small hand, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the delicate back of the hand, quickly making the fair knuckles turn red. The Omega was very obedient, neither avoiding nor dodging.

Chu Fu also saw Zhan Pingchuan’s dark circles that hadn’t receded, and Lance’s drowsiness that couldn’t be concealed even with lowered eyes.

On Lance, she also keenly detected her son’s pheromones.

That scent had already dissipated a lot, probably a temporary mark that was about to disappear.

So what happened last night? As someone who had been through it all, Chu Fu didn’t need to think much.

Secretly taking on a life-threatening mission without telling her, yet still having the mood to flirt with an Omega, being lovey-dovey to the point of unleashing his animal nature, not sleeping all night.

What a useless thing.

Chu Fu shifted her gaze and finally spoke: “I heard you’re the only group of examinees who cleared Frightening Bird. Your courage is commendable.”

Liu Bo said embarrassedly: “Actually, we were just lucky, encountering the Frightening Bird and not that…”

Chu Fu folded her hands on her knee, saying indifferently: “Is that so.”

Tang Li quickly glared at Liu Bo, utterly disappointed.

For someone like Chu Fu, who habitually demanded strict standards from herself and those around her, she most despised words like “fortunate” and “lucky break.” In her eyes, this was a display of pride in success based purely on luck.

However, Tang Li knew they weren’t like that. It was clearly Lance’s precognitive ability and Zhan Pingchuan’s formidable combat power that led their team to victory. Liu Bo had no right to be humble on others’ behalf.

Tang Li quickly added: “Dean Chu, Classmate Liu Bo is being modest. Actually, our team always held the firm belief that we would take first place. Even when facing danger, we didn’t retreat like others. In the end, hard work pays off, and our efforts weren’t wasted.”

Chu Fu indeed showed a bit of interest. She slightly raised her eyes: “Oh, where did this belief come from?”

She knew well that her son was definitely not a person who harbored such beliefs.

Tang Li’s emotions surged. He suddenly felt that his years of immersion in talent shows had found their use. Well-versed in the ways to capture a mentor’s heart, he spoke with passion: “Because we’re all children from poor families. We learned early on that to reach a higher stage, we must put in more effort than others. When others retreated out of fear, we thought, this might be the only chance in our lives.”

“Children from poor families.” Chu Fu lowered her eyes, pondering these words.

Tang Li nodded vigorously, using exaggerated rhetoric like someone playing clever: “My father lost a leg in an underground city when I was young. The guild dismissed him on the grounds of insufficient combat power. To this day, they haven’t given any disability compensation. So I’m determined to become the best recovery system Awakened one, to prevent any of my teammates from getting injured in underground cities in the future.”

“And then there’s Lance, who entered Star University with the top grade in his year. Just because his level is F, he was bullied by other high-level students. What’s wrong with being F-level? What a great torment for an Omega!”

“The most inspiring is our team’s classmate Zhan Pingchuan.”

Zhan Pingchuan: “?”

He suddenly had a bad feeling, as if a pair of abyssal giant hands were tightly gripping his throat.

Tang Li choked up: “He was born in a remote area. His father raised him by collecting trash and stealing bicycles. His mother died young while saving a drowning child. It was the hardships of life and firm belief that led him out of the mountains!”

Zhan Pingchuan: “…………………..”

At this moment, Zhan Pingchuan desperately wished time could flow backward. He would slap himself twenty times in the cafeteria that day, then grab the shumai and leave, not saying a single extra word.

Chu Fu’s habitually cold facial expression finally showed a subtle change. She looked at Zhan Pingchuan with lowered eyes, the veins on her folded hands on her knee visibly tensing.

After what seemed like a century, Chu Fu narrowed her eyes, her thin lips slightly parting: “My condolences.”