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The campus was much quieter. Final exams for most majors had already ended, and students like Ji Mo who lingered on campus were ultimately a minority. Even the security guards had relaxed their control over outside vehicles, and this time they even made an exception and allowed Jiu Chonglou to drive his car directly to the men's dormitory.

"Here." Jiu Chonglou honked the horn, and the car window rolled down two-thirds. She was wearing a loose hoodie and black sunglasses perched on her nose, making her almost unrecognizable unless you got closer.

Ji Mo opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, then heard her ask, "Didn't we agree to stay until the last day of the school's clearance process?"

Mo Ruqiu left the school on the same day she finished her last exam. Actually, there was no need to leave the school immediately after the exam. Ji Mo had been staying alone in the empty dormitory for the past few days.

"I ran into Professor Jiang yesterday when he came back to school to pick up some materials, and he brought up the internship again." Ji Mo sighed softly. "If I hadn't had any contact with the extraordinary, I probably would have followed his arrangements and entered the system after graduation."

He could tell that the old professor valued him highly and might even be interested in taking him on as his last disciple.

But he was destined not to become a pure archaeologist; instead, he would have to flee home in a sorry state because of the other party's enthusiasm.

"Why don't you just become the second-generation Cheng of the archaeological world?"

"Impossible, and you're just trying to take advantage of my seniority." Ji Mo had no doubt that Jiu Chonglou would reply "good grandson" as soon as he called him "father".

She never cared about age, only whether she could outdo others in terms of how she addressed them.

As they get older, they should realize the differences that come with gender, and under the influence of hormones, they may develop different thoughts, making it impossible for them to return to their original way of getting along.

Thanks to Jiu Chonglou's silver tongue, they didn't have any of these problems.

As she grew older, she made Ji Mo blush and feel blood rush to his head more easily, often accompanied by physical enhancements such as his fists hardening.

The fact that the green plum itself is a debuff is absolutely true. Ji Mo recalled Mo Ruqiu's attitude towards game characters. In every game, Mo Ruqiu's favorite character was never the first one he encountered, the mascot character. But when it came to the person with the strongest general affection and who made him feel most at ease, it was none other than the mascot character.

"Here you go." Jiu Chonglou tossed over a key.

"This is?"

"It's the same as the one at headquarters, but this one goes directly to the company. I'm taking you back now, are you planning to commute 300 kilometers every day to film the show?" she complained as she drove. "It's because someone just can't learn how to teleport."

Chen Zhuzhu also received the same key.

Ji Mo put away the key and noticed the two cups of milk tea in the storage basket, one of which was already mostly drunk.

"I bought this on a whim while it was on a buy-one-get-one-free deal at your school gate. I can't finish this one, so I'll let you have it."

He caught a glimpse of the brand logo on the glass and recognized the store. He'd taken a special look at it as his car drove by earlier—

There were no event banners hanging outside the store.

I took a sip, and it was so sweet it was almost cloying.

……

As dusk approached, they arrived at a third-tier city.

The security booth at the apartment entrance was empty, and Jiu Chonglou easily drove the car in. Ji Mo opened the car door, and a whiff of earthy air rushed towards her.

Before me stood three old, six-story apartment buildings, their exterior walls badly peeling, looking even more dilapidated than when I last left. Most of the streetlights in the complex were broken, with only two or three still lit, flickering occasionally. Very few windows in the entire building were lit, suggesting that there were hardly any residents left.

The area outside the residential compound was equally desolate, with a scene so backward it looked as if it had regressed decades, and there were hardly any people on the streets.

Ji Mo took his luggage out of the trunk. He, who was usually indifferent to emotions, felt a sense of desolation as he felt left behind by the times.

During the summer vacations of the past two years, I studied with Professor Jiang. Besides genuinely wanting to delve into the subject, I also had a bit of an escapist mentality, not wanting to come back.

This city, though not as bustling as first- or second-tier cities, still had a considerable population. But ever since the incident, officially defined as a "chemical pollution leak," residents have been moving away one after another, claiming to feel unwell. No matter how much the government assured them the pollution was under control, they refused to return. The already quiet city has been reduced to a desolate shell.

Jiu Chonglou also got off the bus, looking around and noticing that one apartment's lights were off: "Did that chubby kid move out too?"

There was only one unlucky guy here who could be called "Little Fatty" by Jiu Chonglou, and Ji Mo remembered it very clearly.

He was able to meet Jiu Chonglou and become childhood sweethearts not because they were neighbors or their parents knew each other, but because they had similar pasts.

Both were orphans, and for various reasons, neither was sent to relatives nor to an orphanage, relying on their parents' inheritance to live independently. At least, Jiu Chonglou used this as an excuse to rightfully enter his world.

However, the two took completely different paths due to their personalities.

Ji Mo is the kind of child other parents always talk about—quiet, studious, and with strong self-discipline. Jiu Chonglou, on the other hand, is active and playful, gave up her studies early, and has always been quick-witted. Even the old ladies in the neighborhood who love to take advantage of their age don't dare to nag her.

For example, as an orphan, one is bound to be ridiculed by peers for not having parents. A normal orphan's choices would be to endure it, report it to others afterward, or retaliate on the spot.

But Jiu Chonglou is different; she will choose to distort the other party's logic.

The three logical questions—"Do you like reading novels?", "Novel protagonists need backstories, but most authors are too lazy to make them up, so most protagonists are orphans" and "Your parents aren't dead, so you deserve to be a background character who will never get a chance to appear in the story"—triggered a gentle and persuasive approach, guiding and inducing the peers of that time.

Given that Jiu Chonglou has always had a strong desire for material enjoyment since childhood and has always been associated with having plenty of money, it is easy for him to lead his peers astray.

In the apartment complex, a chubby boy named Jiu Chonglou of the same age had distorted the truth. In addition, his grandparents usually spoiled him, so he spoke recklessly. The incident ended with Ji Mo listening to pig-like screams all night.

"Little Fatty? Didn't he move away last year? You asked about him before." Because of that mixed doubles beating, Little Fatty held a grudge against Ji Mo and would glare at him fiercely every time they met. So, for a while after Little Fatty moved away, Ji Mo always felt that he was receiving less attention.

"Did I ask? Maybe I forgot." Jiu Chonglou paused for a moment, then casually changed the subject.

Despite the house being empty for so long and the neighborhood seemingly unguarded, it has never been burglarized. Before leaving each time, Jiu Chonglou would cast an anti-theft spell, and the floor where the program crew was located was also protected by her spell.

"Pfft...cough cough, it's all dust, move aside."

With a casual wave of her hand, the dusty room was instantly spotless.