Chapter 12: A Lingering Sense That Something Was Amiss

“Alright!” Chu Qiao smiled at Bai Lu.
“But I have a request.”

Bai Lu looked at Chu Qiao with some surprise.
She had imagined all sorts of reactions from Chu Qiao after being challenged by her—panic, fear, even a reckless confidence backed by Lu Jingtian.
But she never expected Chu Qiao to be excited, to be thrilled...
That feeling was like the exhilaration she used to get when conquering a difficult boss in a game!
This person was quite interesting!

Bai Lu smiled as well.
“What request?”

Chu Qiao said,
“If I win, you have to recommend both me and my friend Qin Fan to Doctor Lin!”

Qin Fan quickly turned to look at Chu Qiao, shocked, unexpectedly touched, and a little confused.
Her best friend was so kind, not forgetting to secure a recommendation for her too.
But she was a bit too bold...
Daring enough to say something as wild as recommending them to Doctor Lin!
By comparison, winning against Bai Lu seemed almost trivial.

But... when did Bai Lu even meet Chu Qiao?
What did their conversation mean?
Why did Bai Lu have the authority to recommend them to Doctor Lin?

Bai Lu was equally shocked.
This fraud was incredibly confident!
But that was fine—if this fraud had hesitated, her victory would have been meaningless.

Bai Lu nodded and agreed at once.
“Alright!”

On the way back to Luan University, Bai Lu felt that something was off.
Wait!
Wasn’t she supposed to formally challenge that fraud and defeat him honorably in the exchange competition?
How did it end up turning into a bet with that fraud, and she even agreed to recommend him to Doctor Lin?
Wasn’t this just doing favors for the fraud?!
When exactly had she been tricked into this?

Just then, Bai Lu’s phone rang again.
She picked it up and saw a caring message from a senior brother:
“Junior sister, how’s it going? Everything alright?”

Bai Lu’s expression grew serious as she replied:
“Senior brother, I was careless.”
“The opponent is cunning and unpredictable, a formidable rival.”
“I must prepare seriously!”

Although she didn’t think Chu Qiao’s skills could beat her, with Chu Qiao’s slyness and schemes, she couldn’t rule out any tricks to win.
She had to take this seriously!

Senior brother: ??
What exactly was the junior sister talking about?
Was she overthinking things again?

...

Xintai University.

Cafeteria.

Facing Qin Fan’s probing questions, Chu Qiao could only tell her about what happened yesterday.
However, Chu Qiao didn’t reveal everything—she concealed the system and embellished the story a bit, making it sound more like a modern miracle.
Which, in truth, it was almost like a miracle.

Qin Fan listened in awe:
“So, you just got lucky and cured Old Lady Lu all the way, becoming a benefactor of the Lu family head?”
“And Bai Lu is Doctor Lin’s student, but because you impersonated her and did even better, she came to challenge you out of jealousy?”

Was this some kind of fairy tale Chu Qiao had made up for her?

More importantly...
“You’re still a millionaire now?!”

Chu Qiao lowered her eyes, staring at the fragrant large chicken drumstick in Qin Fan’s bowl:
“So now you know why I’m so confident today, right?”
“With such extraordinary luck, I’m destined for greatness.”
“Treat me well now, and when I take off, I won’t forget you, my dear old friend.”

As she spoke, Chu Qiao’s chopsticks flew like the wind, aiming for the drumstick:
“Let’s start today with a tribute of a big chicken drumstick!”

Qin Fan slapped Chu Qiao’s chopsticks away with hers and bit into the drumstick:
“Get lost.”
“You’re a millionaire now, and you still dare to fight me, a poor person, for a chicken drumstick?”
“By the way, I forgot to ask for the twenty thousand yuan for the exam highlights and tutoring fees—transfer it to me quickly!”

After their playful banter, they finished eating and studied in the library until fifteen minutes before class started, then packed up and headed to the classroom.

On the way, Qin Fan suddenly asked in puzzlement:
“How did you know Bai Lu would definitely agree to recommend us to Doctor Lin if you win?”
Bai Lu was impersonated and obviously came to settle scores fiercely—how could she agree to help them?
Even betting on that didn’t make much sense!
Chu Qiao had never contacted Bai Lu before, so how did she know her so well?

Chu Qiao was even more confused than Qin Fan:
“I didn’t calculate anything! What’s there to calculate?”
“I just said it casually. If she agrees, great; if not, I lose nothing, right?”
“But I was quite surprised she agreed so readily.”

Qin Fan: ...
That actually makes sense!
Hopefully, Bai Lu wouldn’t realize what she had done... Amen.

...

Three days flew by.

Driven by the relentless system, Chu Qiao studied day and night, finishing all the exam points Qin Fan had marked.
To her surprise, under such intense study, not only didn’t she collapse from exhaustion, but her energy and clarity improved.
Her mind became sharper.
Even her memory seemed to have improved slightly.
For example, what the teacher said in class—she used to have to record and repeatedly review it to memorize.
Now, although she still needed the recording, she only had to listen twice to remember everything.

Could it be that the system couldn’t tell if she was truly cultivating, so it directly gave her the benefits of cultivation?
But this was just a guess for now; it had to be verified later.

During this period, Chu Zhen and Liu Xinyao called her several times, and Chu Han also sought her out a few times.
All were manually blocked by Chu Qiao.
She was now focused solely on achieving her grand goal, with no interest in the Chu family.

...

Three days later, the test began.

In the exam room, Chu Qiao found the questions only a little harder than 1+1=2 and wrote her answers with ease.
Afterward, she and Qin Fan compared answers and only missed two multiple-choice questions, so ranking in the top eight was assured.

“Alright, besties for four years, we can finally team up to crush those noobs from other schools!”
Qin Fan held Chu Qiao’s hand.
“Qiao Qiao, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this day?”

Chu Qiao was surprised, then felt a bit guilty.
So Qin Fan’s expectations of her had been so deep and hidden?
She hadn’t noticed at all and had wasted three years in a daze, betraying those hopes...

Qin Fan said,
“For such a memorable moment, how can we not celebrate properly?”
“I know a newly opened Japanese restaurant that’s amazing. Let’s celebrate there!”
“Though it’s a bit pricey, about five hundred per person, it’s worth it.”
“You’re treating.”

That last sentence was the key, wasn’t it?

Chu Qiao’s guilt vanished instantly as she gave Qin Fan a sideways glance:
“The celebration is a pretense—you just wanted to eat there all along, didn’t you?”

Qin Fan, caught, didn’t feel embarrassed at all:
“Isn’t it worth your treat after three years of waiting finally paying off?”

Chu Qiao:
“Heh.”

In the end, at the Japanese restaurant costing two thousand per person, Qin Fan’s usually cool and composed expression nearly broke from shock.
Chu Qiao was very pleased with the effect.
As a millionaire with tens of millions in assets, if she couldn’t earn her best friend’s envious glance, what a pity life would be!

...

The test results and rankings were released quickly.
The next day, the school posted them online.
They also announced the ten students selected for the exchange competition.

Chu Qiao arrived early at school, ready to check with Qin Fan, but was stopped by Chu Han.
“Chu Qiao, Mom and Dad want to talk to you.”
Chu Han sighed, “You haven’t contacted us these days—they’re all worried.”
“Even your older brothers studying abroad have been calling to check on you.”

Chu Qiao sneered:
“Is it because my phone’s out of service that they can’t reach me?”

Chu Han was stunned.
Before she could even react to Chu Qiao’s implication, Chu Qiao brushed past her and headed into the school.
“I have nothing to say to them.”

Seeing her about to leave, Chu Han bit her lip and suddenly said,
“We all know you ranked eighth in the whole school and were selected for the exchange competition!”
“Mom and Dad are waiting in Director Zhao’s office... you’d better go see them!”

Chu Qiao paused.
Director Zhao was their department head.
And the student who was pushed to ninth place was Director Zhao’s nephew.