"Anyway, didn't you say we wouldn't graduate? I don't care..." Xiao Qicai smiled and continued dialing the next number, 2.
Mo Qiuyu and Jierenke couldn't hold back either: "You're just a new student. Are you really going to offend all of us today?"
"No, I don't want to offend anyone. If I offend you today, it's because you brought it upon yourselves, and it's only the three of you. Do all the students in this academy collude with you? Have you asked for their opinions? Can you represent everyone?"
"Do all of you want to join these three in humiliating us, the students of the Actuarial Science Academy?"
Xiao Qicai glanced at the surrounding students who were watching the commotion.
The crowd instinctively took a step back—who would compare themselves to them?!
"What do you want?" Zheng Hao asked through gritted teeth.
"Nothing much. Apologize, and promise not to foolishly come looking for trouble again!"
"That's impossible!"
"Then we'll call the Peace Officer."
"Fine, you're ruthless. I'll remember this!" Zheng Hao finally stood before the two, gritting his teeth, and let out a faint, mosquito-like whisper.
"Sorry."
"My ears aren't well-developed. I can't hear you. Speak louder!" Xiao Qicai sneered.
"You..." Zheng Hao was fuming but eventually shouted, "I'm sorry!"
The crowd burst into laughter.
Xiao Qicai then turned to Mo Qiuyu and Jierenke: "What about you two?"
In the end, the arrogant trio all apologized under the threat of the Peace Officer.
Before leaving, they even threw out a threat:
"Just you wait. Don't let me see you at the New Student Assembly!"
But as they slunk away, it was clear that Xiao Qicai had won this confrontation.
Qin Sanwan had always been humiliated by them, but she was good-natured and avoided trouble, so she had never stood up to them so firmly. She never expected Xiao Qicai to be so assertive on her very first day, leaving them speechless and forcing them to apologize. Especially when she cited legal statutes—it was just too cool.
So these bullies were actually afraid of the Peace Officer? Why hadn't she thought of that before?
Qin Sanwan's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"I was wrong, junior sister. Next time, I'm definitely eating with you!"
"But aren't you afraid of offending them? All three of them come from good backgrounds, and this Zheng Hao is the son of some district head on Planet 4628."
Yet Xiao Qicai didn't seem bothered at all.
"So he's just the son of a district head? I thought he was the son of the planet's governor. For the son of a mere district head to act so arrogantly, he must not be worried about his father getting dismissed too late!"
"Ah, the main worry is that they might resort to underhanded tricks! At the annual New Student Assembly, each academy has to send a representative to perform a talent—at least one act. You should be careful. You're definitely going to be our academy's representative this year, and they'll surely use that opportunity to cause trouble for you."
"A talent?"
"Exactly, because there are so few of us, sometimes we get assigned to collaborate with other colleges. I was once paired with Zheng Hao’s School of Political Science and Law. Back then, we were both freshmen, and he was so awful—he made me play a rock and stand on stage for two hours! I couldn’t help but curse at him a couple of times, and that’s how our feud started. Mo Qiuyu is from the Food Science College, and Jierenke is from the Mechanical Engineering College. Their colleges all have very large student bodies, so to balance things out, it’s highly likely you’ll be assigned to one of their performances. They’re used to throwing their weight around in their own colleges and will definitely seize the chance to give you a hard time!"
Xiao Qicai fell silent.
It seemed life at this prestigious institution wouldn’t be peaceful after all.
Sure enough, not long after returning that afternoon, members of the School Affairs Committee came knocking. They seemed to have already heard about Xiao Qicai’s glorious confrontation with Zheng Hao and the others, even subtly probing for gossip.
One of them particularly pushed for her to collaborate on a performance with students from the School of Political Science and Law.
Qin Sanwan, standing nearby, frantically signaled with his expression—this person was in cahoots with Zheng Hao. Although Zheng Hao wasn’t a freshman, he was from the School of Political Science and Law and would definitely cause trouble on purpose.
"You’re not signing? This is your last chance. Right now, only the School of Political Science and Law’s performance needs a collaborative act. Or are you planning to perform a talent solo? I doubt you have the money to buy an instrument. Even if you sing or dance alone, you won’t have any accompaniment or backup dancers!"
"I heard you’re from a barren planet, so you probably don’t have any talents anyway. Actuaries embarrass themselves every year—this year will be no different. Why not just go on stage and perform a striptease?" The one aligned with Zheng Hao spoke with a sarcastic, mocking tone.
Learning from Zheng Hao’s mistake, this person didn’t use a single swear word but was exceptionally sharp with their sarcasm—clearly handpicked for the task.
Xiao Qicai truly had no particular talents. Back on Earth, she was born into poverty and spent her youth focused solely on making money, with no time or resources to learn any skills. By the time she reached her position, she had even less time to pick up hobbies.
Aside from making money, she really didn’t have any talents.
As for Bai Yushan’s memories, there were some lessons in music and dance, but Xiao Qicai didn’t believe those skills could simply become hers through memory alone.
It looked like turning the tables wouldn’t be easy.
Just as she was pondering, her sharp eyes caught sight of the talent performance registration form one of them was holding.
"What are you looking at? This is for other colleges’ performances—you wouldn’t understand!" The person quickly pulled the form back.
But Xiao Qicai had keen eyes and a sharp memory. In that one glance, she managed to spot the talent performances listed for the three colleges: Food Science, Political Science and Law, and Mechanical Engineering.
To her surprise, the so-called "talents" were nothing like what she had imagined.
They were as follows:
Food Science College: Performance Talent — Food Carving!
School of Political Science and Law: Performance Talent — Group Recitation of the United Government Basic Law.
Mechanical Engineering College: Performance Talent — Controlling Robots to do Calisthenics.
Wait, if these counted as talents, then she…
Xiao Qicai’s eyes instantly lit up.
"Who says I don't have a talent performance? This year, the Actuarial Science freshmen have their own separate talent show. We don't need to piggyback on the School of Law and Political Science's event."
"What, you? Are you going to perform digging dirt or something?"
"No. Perhaps you're aware of a highly challenging skill in culinary arts called wok tossing?"
The other person: "?"
"Are you from the Food Science School? Performing wok tossing?"
"No," Xiao Qicai shook her head, enunciating each word clearly, "I'm going to perform reciting the United Government Citizen Rights Law while controlling a Smart Robot Wok Fried Rice!"
The other person: "!"
—
Xiao Qicai's individual talent performance directly incorporated elements from three major schools, undoubtedly serving as a bold provocation towards all three.
Of course, the average freshman actually envied the fact that an actuarial science student had enrolled this year.
After all, actuaries aren't ordinary professionals—only one in a million or even ten million has the potential to become one. However, since the two previous actuarial students recruited by the academy never graduated or obtained their actuarial certification, some people had gradually begun to look down on the profession.
In the past, most would show respect when encountering a genius from the Actuarial Science School.
This year's new student was reportedly a genius from a barren planet, which piqued many people's interest. That was also why Zheng Hao and his two companions were the first to observe her.
However, upon discovering that Xiao Qicai was an F-class citizen, the trio couldn't help but speak arrogantly and provoke her directly, convinced that she would never graduate.
The three major schools had always held prestigious status, so they never imagined that Xiao Qicai would dare to provoke all three schools just because of Zheng Hao and his friends' provocation.
For an actuary, even reciting hundreds of digits of pi on stage would be better than controlling a wok-tossing robot while reciting legal statutes.
In short, their only thought was that Xiao Qicai truly had no fear of death or causing trouble.
A freshman with no background, and an F-class citizen at that—it was quite rare.
However, upon some investigation, it became clear that Xiao Qicai really had no reason to be timid or afraid of trouble, since fighting and brawling were prohibited on campus, and student safety incidents were almost impossible.
As for trying to find leverage to control or threaten her...
"Sorry, Young Master Zheng, Xiao Qicai's parents both died on a barren planet. She has no relatives and apparently no friends either."
"Then what weakness does she have?!"
Thinking of Xiao Qicai's argumentative demeanor, Zheng Hao was so angry he felt dizzy.
"Maybe... poverty?" the person tentatively suggested.
Zheng Hao: "Get lost!"
—
Meanwhile, Qin Sanwan was earnestly advising Xiao Qicai to change her talent performance, as it seemed like she was opposing the three major schools. Such provocation might make the next few years very difficult for her.
Moreover, people like Zheng Hao might resort to any means to threaten her friends and family.
She herself had been like that once—she hadn't needed to fear them either, until one time, after cursing at Zheng Hao, her father lost his job despite having made no mistakes. Only then did she become compliant.
So now, aside from meals, she hardly ever left the Actuarial Science School. If they wanted to humiliate her verbally, she just let them.
Xiao Qicai knew Qin Sanwan meant no harm and was only worried she might be taken advantage of. Instead of feeling annoyed, she asked, "Senior Sanwan, have you ever heard the saying, 'Those with nothing to lose fear nothing'?"
"What do you mean?" Qin Sanwan was puzzled.
"I have no parents or relatives, and outside the academy, I have no close friends either," Xiao Qicai said indifferently.
Well, it wasn’t entirely true that she had no acquaintances—Xi Yuance and the others could barely count. They might just be able to test whether they could afford to provoke this big shot.
Hearing this, Qin Sanwan was stunned.
After staring at Xiao Qicai for a long time, she finally burst into tears, hugging her tightly.
"Wahh, my poor junior sister!"
From then on, the usually possessive Qin Sanwan even started actively sharing her snacks with her.
Of course, Teacher Wen and Guo Fenghua also heard about the incident. Fortunately, their academy adopted a hands-off approach, and Teacher Wen believed Xiao Qicai was an exceptionally honest and well-behaved child. He simply told her that if she ever felt wronged, she must let him know.
Although their academy had only one teacher, he was someone who could walk sideways across the campus without anyone daring to stop him.
"Teacher Wen, don’t worry. Just wait and see my performance at the freshman talent show."
"Do you need any help with that?"
"I might need an ordinary Precision-Controlled Smart Robot, a wok, a ladle, some rice, and a few ingredients. It’d be best if I could have a kitchen…"
Teacher Wen: "…"
The Actuarial Science Academy hadn’t had a solo talent performance in years. The last individual talent show, it was said, was eight years ago when a remarkably talented senior performed Brain-Controlled Data Dancing and won first place in the freshman talent show.
Although he suspected his new student just wanted to take the other three major academies down a peg, he thought her determination was admirable. Teacher Wen was naturally willing to support her.
The Actuarial Science Academy had plenty of dormitory space. In the end, Teacher Wen generously allocated an entire room for Xiao Qicai to use as a kitchen.
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