You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 58: The Importance of Participation

The morning mist had just lifted, light rain drizzled down, and the Star Engraving National Academy rang with the sounds of students reading aloud.

But in the third-year classes, every classroom was at least half empty. After the results of the third-year graduation exams came out, even though there’d already been entrance and advancement screenings, there were still plenty of students whose scores meant they’d never get into the two National Academies of Star Engraving County: the Military Academy and the Literary Academy.

Among the students qualified to take the National Academies’ exams, those in the Combat Technique stream applying to the Military Academy didn’t need to study for the liberal arts courses anymore; it mattered more for them to focus on training their bodies and combat skills. So the ones left sitting in the classrooms were either the culture students or the repeaters preparing to try again next year.

During the break, when Li Ying dragged Qian Yuya to the restroom, Fang Wenhua suddenly blocked their path. He summoned his courage and, trying to sound casual, said, "Yuya, I’m going to apply for the Medical Officer stream, how about you?"

"I’m also applying for the Medical Officer stream." Qian Yuya gave a polite smile.

"What a coincidence!" Fang Wenhua couldn’t hide his excitement, "That means we’ll be classmates again. Oh yeah, the Medical Officer in the Literary Academy, Dr. Di, is actually my uncle. He’s one of the top three tutors in the department. Maybe we can study under him together in the future."

The National Academy’s teaching system was divided into two levels. The first was the traditional teacher-student model, where the teacher lectured and the students listened in the classroom, and outside of class, everyone just needed to be respectful. The second level was the master-apprentice system, which was more like an ancient apprenticeship—teachers were supposed to impart everything to their apprentices, even considering them as heirs, while apprentices had to always defend the interests of their mentor.

Like Qian Yuliu and Lin Jinyao—they had this kind of apprentice relationship. "That’s also why, after Qian Yuliu shot Lin Jinyao and earned his infamy, people saw his behavior as no less than stabbing your own father for glory."

The master-apprentice system wasn’t mandatory; in fact, a lot of National Academy students never joined it, and you couldn’t just apprentice yourself to anyone you wanted—teachers had to be willing to accept you. But the Medical Officer stream was a special case, because it required practical skills—hands-on work with patients. Otherwise, "you could read all the books you wanted and still just be a theory expert but never a practicing Medical Officer. Like, reading dirty magazines still doesn’t make you a veteran driver."

And finding patients to practice on depended on the Medical Officer’s own reputation, so whether you got along with your teachers really mattered: if you were close, you got to treat minor injuries; if you were just average, "you’d be stuck holding the light for the therapy lamp."

Most students in the Medical Officer stream would seek a tutor, and the teachers were used to this tradition, so the bar was low—unless the student was utterly hopeless or had a terrible attitude, they’d usually get accepted as an apprentice.

"I know Dr. Di!" Li Ying said in a small voice, "Last time he even came to my house to treat my dad! I heard he’s amazing!"

A single sentence revealed everyone’s social status—everyone else went to the Medical Bureau for treatment, but in her case, the doctor made house calls.

Qian Yuya nodded politely, "Thank you, but I probably won’t be studying in Star Engraving County."

"Huh?" Fang Wenhua froze, "Then... where will you go?"

"Yanjing."

Suddenly, Li Ying got hyped and hugged Qian Yuya’s arm, saying, "Xiaoyu, are you going to Yanjing too?"

"Too?" Qian Yuya instantly picked up on the key word.

Li Ying clung to Qian Yuya and bounced around, "Haha, my dad found a connection to get me into the Royal Academy. I don’t even really like studying, but I heard there are a ton of hot guys there... I was afraid I’d never see you again, but it turns out we’re just inseparable besties!"

The two girls walked past a dazed Fang Wenhua and kept going to the restroom. "Frankly, you couldn’t blame Fang Wenhua for being so stunned. After all, Yanjing only had one National Academy—that sacred place all outstanding students dreamed of, the Royal Academy!"

He knew Qian Yuya had great grades, but he hadn’t expected her scores to be that high, high enough to get into the Royal Academy! "He’d always been distracted by her looks anyway, never paying enough attention to her talents."

Wait, if she could apply, why not me?

With that thought, Fang Wenhua’s spirits soared. He went to catch the homeroom teacher who was about to leave, and asked, "Mr. Xie! If I sign up for the Royal Academy, is there any hope?"

Instructor Xie thought for a moment, "There’s hope, you definitely have a lot of potential."

"Really?"

"Of course it’s true, you have a lot of room to improve."

"If I actually take the exam?"

"You’ll gain a lot, and you’ll meet all kinds of amazing young people."

Fang Wenhua pumped his fist in excitement, "Great, I’ll go home and tell my dad right now."

Instructor Xie laughed and patted him on the head, "Go for it, just make sure you show up."

...

...

Outside the Star Engraving County’s designated slaughterhouse, Le Yu led a few agents on a patrol around the factory. Chen Fu and Ai Lili were both pinching their noses, "Captain, can’t we just pretend to do this? Who in their right mind would rob a slaughterhouse anyway?"

"Get paid, do your job." Le Yu replied offhandedly, pinching his nose while sneaking a peek at the ’spectacle’ inside through the window. "The others could only curse him out in their heads while grinning and praising the captain for ’being so dedicated.’"

After all, Chen Fu and the others didn’t know what was really going on—they thought guarding the slaughterhouse was just a punishment. "If Le Yu hadn’t known how to unseal the Saint’s Relic, he never would have imagined a Divine Weapon could be unlocked by killing pigs."

But over the past couple days, as Le Yu scouted the area, he noticed that within 100 meters of the slaughterhouse, "there was a temporary Linhai Army outpost, and not far beyond that, the City Guard Department’s northwest garrison."

Together with their team from the Statistical Department, it formed a pincer defense for the slaughterhouse—it was clear Ding Yi had already set things up thoroughly for unsealing the Saint’s Relic.

But stationing heavy troops at a slaughterhouse sounded bizarre, and since the Divine Weapon’s unsealing was a secret, Ding Yi still hadn’t put visible forces on-site. Instead, Le Yu’s team running into this gig provided the perfect excuse to use them as a visible outer defense for the factory.

On top of that, Le Yu discovered the slaughterhouse boss was no ordinary guy. "Shiny bald, pale face, no beard, squinty middle-aged eyes—classic villain profile. Add in the fact that Chen Fu found out his last name was Ding, and Le Yu’s suspicions seemed confirmed—the pig butcher was probably the true master of the Saint’s Relic."

Thinking back on it now, Le Yu finally understood the political significance of the city gate incident. In terms of fame, battle skill, and achievements, "if Ding Yi had a Divine Weapon, it should’ve been equipped to Lan Yan, just like you give the strongest character in a game the best equipment."

But Ding Yi smuggled the weapon, with blatant motives—this Divine Weapon was not intended for Lan Yan. "Real life wasn’t a game; when you gave the best weapon to the prettiest character, your other units didn’t lose morale, but in real life, they absolutely did."

After Lan Yan saw through him, Ding Yi had two options—give the weapon to Lan Yan, or stick to his plan. It was obvious Ding Yi didn’t care about keeping his top fighter happy and chose to go his own way.

"Guess being a fuckboy and being a politician have a lot in common—you need a thick skin, never look back, and if your main squeeze gives you the stink-eye you’d better not stop with your pants halfway down, or you’re not cut out for politics."

Since the Divine Weapon wasn’t for Lan Yan, and Ding Yi wouldn’t fight on the battlefield himself, then someone else had to be the ultimate recipient. "That slaughterhouse boss was the most suspicious candidate."

Why? Simply because Le Yu had stayed at the plant for two days and never saw the boss leave the second floor.

"Who, except for dreamers, would voluntarily stay somewhere so nasty this long? Why not go to the dance hall, hit the casinos, or listen to some songs on Flower Street?"

"For a boss to live like a proletarian, there’s got to be something fishy going on!"

Back at the makeshift camp outside the factory, the agents all gulped down air like they’d never breathed oxygen before. Unlike those slackers, Chen Fu quickly took out a cold honey Five-Flower Tea for Le Yu, "Brother Qian, rinse your mouth out!"

Le Yu nodded in satisfaction as he sat down and drank, saying, "Show me the duty roster."

Since Le Yu was in charge of security at the slaughterhouse, White Night had adjusted their plan. Originally, they’d planned to storm the place, but now that they had an inside man, he could just let them in quietly.

The impact of the Saint’s Relic on the situation was even greater than Le Yu had imagined. Because White Night didn’t know which Illusion, Extreme, or Absolute Divine Weapons the Ding Family had touched, "if they’d tried an Absolute Divine Weapon, it’d be game over. Even if the Saint’s Relic simulated a weakened version of an Absolute Divine Weapon, the Ding Family would gain a powerhouse no one could stop."

So White Night had only two options—seize the city before unsealing, or strike while the weapon was being freed!

To maximize their odds—and tie up the slaughterhouse’s defenders—White Night finally chose to strike the night of the unsealing.

According to White Night’s intel, the Saint’s Relic could only absorb so much living Spiritual Power—"like Baidu Cloud without a paid account, you had to trickle-feed it to unlock." The estimated time to unseal it was the night four days from now.

So, the time to seize the city, and the Divine Weapon, would also be that night!

At the same time, the White Night Walker at Chenfeng District Governor Lv Zhong’s side would launch an assassination! The Linhai Army’s White Night Walker would stir up public opinion to keep the Linhai Army on the sidelines!

The plan was tight and flawless. But as Le Yu put down the duty roster, he sighed and pulled a letter from his pocket to check the date.

There was one piece of bad news—the train to Yanjing left in the afternoon, exactly four days from now.

"Le Yu hadn’t planned on running anyway—he had a sense of honor. Besides, you could run for a while, but not forever. He hadn’t forgotten Yanjing was White Night’s base. Running there would just be throwing himself to the wolves."

But not planning to run and not being able to run were two totally different moods. "It’s like shouting ’I don’t want to do homework!’ versus whispering, ’I forgot my homework,’—the result’s the same, but the first is heroic defiance while the second is just being a wimp."

But there’s one bit of good news...

Qian Yuliu’s tribulation would finally end tonight.