Jiang Lijin shook the bag in her hand. "Have you had breakfast? I brought you some steamed buns."
In reality, her heart was bleeding. She could only bear to buy two of such expensive steamed buns for herself, yet she had brought two for Chiron. If it weren't for the fact that Chiron was a 3S-grade big shot and she wanted to get on his good side, she would never have been willing to part with her precious money!
Chiron merely cast a faint glance at the oiled paper bag and nodded. "Put it on the desk."
Jiang Lijin walked over and placed the bag on the corner of his desk. As she set it down, her gaze inadvertently swept across the desktop, and she froze.
An open file lay on the desk, cover facing up, with her name clearly written on it:
Jiang Lijin
Citizen ID: SQL-1030332-J
Attached to it was a form filled with dense data she didn't quite understand, but she clearly saw a line of small text next to it: Mental Energy Fluctuation.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Chiron followed her gaze. His expression remained unchanged, and he didn't even reach out to cover the file.
Jiang Lijin blinked and suddenly smiled. She walked over to the sofa, plopped down, and looked back at him, the corners of her lips curling into a half-smile. "What? Is Lord Chiron interested in me?"
Chiron didn't even look up at her, as if he hadn't heard her teasing remark at all.
Jiang Lijin clicked her tongue in her mind. This man was way too cold.
Too lazy to say anything more, she simply pulled out her newly bought portable optical computer, opened a video app, and prepared to kill this boring hour by scrolling through videos.
To her surprise, Chiron picked up the file, read it for a moment, then looked up at her and spoke.
"A female... I knew before also experienced a sudden fluctuation in mental energy, jumping from C-grade to S-grade."
Jiang Lijin's fingers paused, and she looked up. She felt a bit confused; the terminal shouldn't have detected that her mental energy had already risen to S-grade, right? At most, it should only have sensed the fluctuation.
She felt a little nervous as she saw Chiron's gaze land on her face. There seemed to be some emotion surging in his light gray eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
"She participated in an experiment, one about forcibly raising mental energy, and used a lot of forbidden drugs." He paused. "In the end... she died."
Jiang Lijin was stunned. Her mind raced: experiment, forbidden drugs, died?
Was he warning her? Warning her not to use crooked methods to enhance her mental energy?
Upon realizing this, Jiang Lijin instantly flared up.
"Lord Chiron," she began, her tone turning cold, "what do you mean by this?"
Chiron looked at her without speaking.
Jiang Lijin sat up straight, looking directly into his eyes. "Do you think I used some drugs I shouldn't have, and that's why my mental energy is fluctuating?"
Chiron opened his mouth as if to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Jiang Lijin.
"What?" Her voice was laced with thorns. "Is Lord Chiron afraid that I'll die right in front of you and dirty up your office?"
Chiron continued to look at her, his expression as calm as usual, as if this outburst wasn't directed at him at all.
But that calm demeanor only made Jiang Lijin angrier.
"Let me tell you!" She stood up. "You can go ahead and investigate. I have never used any illegal drugs. Besides, with the net worth of a C-grade piece of trash like me, I couldn't even afford forbidden drugs. I don't need your sarcastic reminders."
"I didn't mean it like that." Chiron's voice was soft.
He remained seated, his posture composed and his gaze tranquil. In those eyes, there was no defensiveness, no anger, only a gentleness that Jiang Lijin couldn't understand.
"I didn't think you used forbidden drugs." His tone remained faint. "People who use those kinds of drugs show specific chaotic traits in their mental energy fluctuations. But your fluctuation is very stable, like a state of natural growth."
Jiang Lijin was left speechless. Wasn't he suspecting her of using mental energy drugs, which was why he pulled up her mental fluctuation records in the first place? But why would he say all this to her after seeing that her mental energy fluctuation was a natural growth?
She continued to look at him with a vigilant gaze, but that vigilance was now mixed with a bit of confusion.
"I just..." Chiron paused, his gaze shifting from her face to somewhere outside the window. "Wanted to confide in someone."
The room instantly fell silent.
Standing there, Jiang Lijin suddenly felt she saw a trace of loneliness in Chiron's eyes. For a powerful 3S-grade beastman like him, standing at the pinnacle of power, possessing overwhelming combat strength and endless wealth, what could make him show such a lonely look?
Could it be that C-grade female he just mentioned?
Jiang Lijin instantly concocted a poignant love story in her mind: a C-grade female and a 3S-grade big shot fell in love. To stand side by side with him, she was willing to participate in dangerous experiments and use forbidden drugs to forcibly raise her mental energy. In the end, she died from the drugs, and this 3S-grade big shot could never forget her, being reminded of her by every C-grade female he saw.
Although the transmigrated book worlds Jiang Lijin had experienced herself were unbearable, she always believed that true love still existed in this world. So in this moment, she suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for Chiron.
She slowly sat back down on the sofa, her voice dropping. "I'm sorry, your tone just now... I thought you were warning me."
Chiron withdrew his gaze, his eyes returning to their usual calmness. "I should be the one apologizing. I don't interact much with outsiders, so my tone might have been a bit cold."
He paused, then added, "I am very interested in you."
Jiang Lijin frowned and was just about to say something.
[Wow wow wow wow!] Xiao Yi's voice exploded in her mind. [Host, he said he's interested in you! Oh my god, oh my god! He's interested in you!]
Jiang Lijin scolded in her mind: [Can't you act a bit more mature?]
But Xiao Yi had learned to talk back: [I can't be mature, Host, I'm still a little baby who was born just a few days ago!]
Jiang Lijin facepalmed.
She then saw Chiron pick up another file, glance at it, and say, "I don't think it's necessary to continue your psychological counseling."
Jiang Lijin was taken aback. "Why?"
"Because you don't need it." Chiron looked at her, his tone certain. "You are an optimistic and strong female. The divorce didn't cause you any psychological trauma."
Jiang Lijin blinked and suddenly smiled. "Are you praising me?"
Chiron didn't reply. He simply placed the file back on the desk and said, "You should go to the Mental Energy Department for a test and get your true grade confirmed."
Jiang Lijin's smile froze on her face.
A test?
[Host,] Xiao Yi's voice chimed in right on cue, [Your mental energy is still unstable right now. It's best to wait a few more days and go when it stabilizes.]
Seeing her troubled expression, Chiron slightly raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to go?"
Jiang Lijin snapped back to reality and gave a dry laugh. "It's not that I don't want to go, it's just that I have something to do today."
"What is it?"
"So many things." She began counting on her fingers. "The divorce proceedings aren't finalized yet, the compensation is supposed to hit my account today so I have to confirm that, and I still need to find a house and move. Oh, right, do you know which areas on the Capital Planet offer the best value for renting? Nothing too expensive, but it can't be too remote either."
Chiron watched her rambling, the corner of his lips twitching slightly.
"You don't need to rent a house," he said. "Isn't there a resettlement policy for all females? Once your mental power test results come out, if you score an A-grade or higher, you'll be assigned excellent housing. It's free to move in; you only need to pay for basic utilities and maintenance."
