Chapter 18: Interview

Everything was pitch black.

A long, melodious chime rang in her ears, ancient and distant.

Then, the chime morphed into a buzzing, like hundreds of flies swarming around her head.

Seconds later, a hazy scene flickered into view.

It was a forest.

The girl didn’t know why she was there.

Instinctively, she looked down—and nearly screamed.

A long blade pierced her soft abdomen, its silver-white edge steaming with mist, warm blood pooling in her vision.

Thud, thud, thud!

In an instant, the blood, the blade, the chime, and the strange buzzing vanished.

The girl opened her eyes.

No unfamiliar forest—just a snow-white ceiling.

Xueqiu woke up.

It was her first morning in this dorm, Xia Yin’s dorm.

Thud, thud, thud!

The sound persisted.

Xueqiu glanced at its source—a deep blue front door, styled like something from the early 2000s.

Someone was knocking.

Her first thought was Xia Yin.

Checking his bed, she saw he was gone.

“Boss! You up? It’s almost nine! Didn’t you say you’re all about early to bed, early to rise?”

A raspy, duck-like male voice mixed with the knocking.

It was unfamiliar—not Xia Yin, Carlos, or Bing Shi Nagi’s icy tone.

More like a buddy swinging by to drag someone out or game together.

Xueqiu hesitated for a few seconds, then got up to open the door.

Xia Yin wasn’t here, but if he was, he’d probably let the guy in.

“Ouch… ow, ow! Boss? You’re already out? Breakfast? Two portions? Damn, you’re hungry. Split half with me?”

Xueqiu’s hand was on the doorknob, but before she could turn it, a key clicked in the lock.

Two seconds later, the door swung open—fresh air, sunlight, and Xia Yin flooded in.

Along with the guy who’d been knocking.

“Awake? Why’re you just standing there? Hurry up and get ready. I gotta take you to Professor Chen by 9:30, then rush to class.”

Xia Yin tossed a breakfast bag aside, striding to the computer.

Xueqiu caught the milk he’d thrown, noticing the boy behind him, frozen in place.

“Boss… you’re living the dream,” the boy stammered after a moment.

“Dream? Don’t get the wrong idea. She’s early admission, like you. You’ll both take the entrance exam with that girl from Japan.”

Xia Yin slapped the boy’s back, then turned to Xueqiu.

“Oh, you two haven’t met. This is Chang Mu. Chang as in ‘often,’ Mu as in… whatever, sounds like ‘wood.’ You get it.”

“Mu as in ‘drizzle,’ like light rain,” the boy added dryly.

“Xueqiu,” she said softly.

“Right, Boss, back to business. I came here to…” Chang Mu trailed off, miming a gun with his hands.

He’s borrowing a gun? Xueqiu thought.

She’d seen Xia Yin’s gun—he’d shot her hand without mercy.

But since arriving yesterday, she hadn’t seen it.

“Account and password are here. Got a pen? Write it down. No pen? Memorize it. No security questions. Don’t play ranked, don’t mess with skins.”

Xia Yin seemed used to this, stabbing a straw into his milk carton and gulping it down.

“Got it!”

The boy pulled out paper and a pen, scribbled the details, and slipped out without a goodbye, like his sole mission was to nab that login.

“Don’t zone out. Did sleeping make you dumb? Jet-lagged? It’s Youdu, no jet lag. Must be you didn’t wake up properly…”

Xia Yin mumbled, chewing a pancake like a hamster with a sunflower seed.

“Early admission—that’s me and him?” Xueqiu asked fifteen minutes later, leaning cautiously against the desk, sipping milk, her eyes flicking timidly to Xia Yin.

Xia Yin had invited her to enroll, but he hadn’t clarified what kind of student she was—transfer, prep, or regular freshman.

“Yup. You, Chang Mu, and a girl we just recruited from Japan. Your Senior Carlos met her this morning at a maid café,” Xia Yin said, swallowing the last bite of his pancake and yawning lazily in his chair.

“This year’s early admission… just you three.”

His words made Xueqiu think of the blond, blue-eyed young man.

After dropping her and Xia Yin at the train station last night, Carlos said he was flying to Japan—apparently for the same reason.

“Anything I need to watch out for during the interview?” Xueqiu asked.

“Interview? Pfft, you sound like a senior job-hunting. That’s not our problem…”

Xia Yin’s dead-fish eyes blinked rapidly, a rare shift.

“Just some questions, maybe a crash course on basics. Worry about the entrance exam—subjects one, two, three—and what comes after. But that’s simple.”

“What comes after?”

“We’ll talk about that later. Eat, don’t talk. I’ll handle it.”

Xia Yin pointed at the wall clock: 9:23 a.m.

The interview location wasn’t far from the dorms—a six-story office building.

Unlike the teaching buildings Xueqiu had seen, this one looked ancient.

Peeling paint and walls draped in emerald-green ivy stood out.

Does a place called “Youdu” even have ivy? Xueqiu wondered, startled, as she followed Xia Yin into the elevator.

“I’m not going up. Head to room 401, find Professor Chen. Hunchbacked old guy, nothing fancy. Relax,” Xia Yin said, pressing the floor button and patting her shoulder reassuringly.

To Xueqiu, it looked like he was gearing up for a head-pat.

“401, hunchbacked old guy, 401, hunchbacked old guy…”

Xueqiu meant to repeat it mentally but muttered aloud, all the way to the door of room 401.

The office door, the entire floor, and the weathered exterior gave off a vibe of something not built in the last twenty years.

It felt like a freshly abandoned old school—aged, but not fully dilapidated.

As Xueqiu’s fingers brushed the door, a voice came from inside.

Low, laced with a spirited edge, aged but not hoarse.

It made her think of “playful old sage” for the first time.

“Come in. The door’s unlocked.”

ps: Moon tickets, more moon tickets! Tips, more tips! (crossed out)*