The clock on the wall continued to tick away.
Ji Chuying stood by the door, watching her in silence.
The identification card on the desk showed that the female teacher’s surname was Zhao.
Seeing that she still hadn’t said a word, Teacher Zhao’s lips curled upward again.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Did you forget to bring your luggage, or—”
“Do you not have any luggage at all?”
Her voice rose excitedly as she spoke the last few words.
No one in the office moved.
But Jiang Nuan clearly heard a faint scraping sound from beneath the desk, hidden behind a stack of documents.
It sounded as though something had pressed a fingernail against the wood and slowly dragged it across the surface.
Jiang Nuan shifted her gaze away, no longer staring at that mouth stretched almost to the woman’s ears.
Suddenly, she remembered what Ji Chuying had said moments ago.
[We were just in the dormitory together. How could you possibly have forgotten me so quickly?]
The dormitory.
Jiang Nuan looked up at Teacher Zhao.
“My luggage is in the dormitory.”
The smile on Teacher Zhao’s face froze.
Jiang Nuan continued, “I went to the dormitory first to put my things away, and only then came to register.”
Teacher Zhao narrowed her eyes. “In the dormitory? How can you prove that?”
Jiang Nuan turned toward the doorway. “Ji Chuying can testify.”
Ji Chuying blinked slowly.
She blinked far too slowly. After her eyelids closed, a full second passed before those dark, sunken eyes appeared again.
Then she smiled. “That’s right. Her luggage is still piled beside her bed.”
Teacher Zhao said nothing.
Suddenly, the only sound in the office was the clock.
Tick.
Tock.
Behind the desk, half of Teacher Zhao’s face was still hidden by the upright stack of documents. Her exposed eye looked at Jiang Nuan first, then shifted toward Ji Chuying.
Her eyeball moved, but her head remained perfectly still.
A few seconds later, she finally lowered the documents and raised her head.
Teacher Zhao looked at her, the slight curve of her lips gradually fading.
It was like having prey at the edge of her mouth, only to be forced to let it go.
“I see.”
She nodded.
“Since your luggage has already been placed in the dormitory, that doesn’t count as a violation.”
“Go back and get it. Without all the required materials, we can’t continue processing your student registration.”
It seemed that obtaining “student status” would not be as simple as bluffing her way through with a few words.
She might as well return to the dormitory and take a look.
Since Ji Chuying had dared to claim that her luggage was there, perhaps a suitcase belonging to “Jiang Nuan” really did exist in the dormitory.
Though she still had no idea what might be inside once it was opened…
She stood and turned to leave.
Teacher Zhao’s voice came from behind her. “Wait.”
Jiang Nuan stopped.
Teacher Zhao asked casually, “Student, what’s your name?”
Another question.
Before Jiang Nuan could answer, Ji Chuying by the door had already smiled and replied for her.
“Her name is Jiang Nuan.”
Teacher Zhao slowly raised her head. “…Jiang Nuan?”
Jiang Nuan nodded. “Yes.”
Teacher Zhao abruptly yanked open the bottom drawer of her desk.
The movement was so quick that it was almost frantic.
…Judging by the teacher’s reaction, could her name trigger some hidden event?
Teacher Zhao rummaged through the drawer twice before taking out a kraft-paper file folder whose edges had already yellowed.
Two characters were written on the front:
Jiang Nuan.
“So it really is you.”
When Teacher Zhao spoke again, her tone had changed completely.
The uncomfortable excitement from before was gone. Her voice had suddenly become respectful—almost deferential.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Jiang Nuan didn’t answer.
She didn’t think this sudden honorific was a good sign.
Compared with the teacher who had wanted to catch her violating the rules, this woman—who seemed to have known her for a long time—made Jiang Nuan even more uneasy.
“Your student registration doesn’t need to go through the ordinary enrollment process.”
The teacher had already opened the folder. She drew out a document bearing a red seal and handed it to Jiang Nuan with both hands.
“Your records have been kept for you all this time.”
“Identity verification approved.”
The teacher looked at her and smiled again.
“Welcome to the school.”
Jiang Nuan hesitated for a moment. Only after confirming that her tactical gloves were still securely covering her hands did she reach out and take the document.
…What was going on?
She had merely given her name, and the process was already over?
This restricted zone was far too easy. It was easy enough to feel wrong.
She lowered her head and looked at the document in her hand.
[Student Registration Certificate.]
[Name: Jiang Nuan]
[Student ID: 0001]
[Enrollment Status: Suspended]
[Date of Enrollment: Three years ago]
[Guardian: Bai Siyuan]
*
Jiang Nuan folded the student registration certificate and placed it in the inner pocket of her clothes.
She could barely understand why Bai Siyuan appeared under the guardian section.
In the sealed memories of the Bai family years, he might indeed have been her guardian.
But why was the enrollment date three years ago?
This student registration, marked as suspended, was like a place someone had reserved for her at this nonexistent school three years earlier.
She didn’t leave with Ji Chuying.
Instead, she followed the route preserved in her memories and headed alone toward the dormitory building.
If this campus truly came entirely from the memories she had before crossing over, then the dormitory area should be on the western side of the campus, not far from here.
At that moment, a sharp burst of electrical static came from the broadcast speaker hanging overhead.
Bzzzt—
Jiang Nuan stopped and looked up.
A series of chaotic crashes came through the speaker.
It sounded as if someone had knocked over tables and chairs, then impatiently kicked open a door.
“What identity verification? I’m not going to register as some damn freshman.”
Qinian’s voice came through the broadcast.
His familiar, arrogant tone was full of vigor.
Some of the tension in Jiang Nuan’s heart eased.
“Hello?”
There were two taps against the microphone from the other end.
“You can tell who I am, right? My brother and I are—”
Before he could finish, a dull bang came through the broadcast.
Immediately afterward came Qinian’s low complaint.
“Brother, why did you hit me?”
After a brief burst of static, Qi Sui’s warm voice came through.
“We’re waiting for you in my office.”
“Remember, don’t answer strangers’ questions on the way.”
The broadcast fell silent again.
Across the campus, the “students” who had been busy with their own activities all stopped at once. They mechanically raised their heads and looked toward the broadcasting station.
Several figures in the crowd silently crouched down.
They dropped to all fours, their joints twisting at unnatural angles, and scurried rapidly across the ground toward the broadcasting station.
Qi Sui hadn’t specified a meeting place.
But in this school, there was hardly any need to guess where a medical officer’s “office” would be.
The school infirmary.
He had deliberately reminded her not to answer strangers’ questions.
That meant they had already encountered the rules.
But she had answered Ji Chuying’s question just now, and at least so far, nothing unusual had been triggered.
Or had she missed some more crucial clue?
