Gao Wu: I'll enjoy the benefits, but you'll bear the side effects.

Gao Jie had nothing to hide and no ulterior motives.

Since we had already made the appointment, I decided to make some simple preparations. I bought some bread to fill my stomach and then went to the small garden to find the person.

After arriving at the small garden, he carefully searched the entire path.

Her eyes searched every corner for Huang Muran's figure, but she couldn't find him anywhere. She couldn't help but wonder, where did he go?

Just as he was searching around, by sheer coincidence, he was spotted by a patrolling teacher.

The teacher, seeing him wandering alone in the abandoned little garden, assumed he was a student who had secretly come to date.

We need to take him to the disciplinary office right now and give him a good talking-to.

Gao Jie took off running at lightning speed. Luckily, he was fast; otherwise, if he had been taken to the disciplinary office, he would have received a severe reprimand and probably wouldn't have had the chance to worry about forming a team again.

While panting heavily, Gao Jie was quite puzzled, wondering to himself what on earth was going on.

I sincerely kept my promise and came to keep the appointment, so how did it end up like this?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became; a surge of anger welled up inside me.

Without further hesitation, he ran straight downstairs to where Huang Muran lived.

I was determined to get to the bottom of this today and find out exactly what the other person meant.

Meanwhile, Huang Muran was completely unaware of all the events unfolding outside and was enjoying a comfortable afternoon nap.

Gao Jie waited and waited downstairs for a long time, and his anger grew stronger with each passing moment. Finally, he managed to get the person to come down.

He was furious, his eyes wide open, staring intently at Huang Muran, and said in a tone full of resentment.

"Didn't you tell me to wait for you there? Why didn't you go to the small garden? What on earth are you up to?"

He became increasingly angry as he spoke, and his voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"You've gone too far! Even if you don't want to see me, please give me an explanation. Stop playing me like this!"

Hearing Gao Jie's series of angry questions, Huang Muran was not angry.

He simply pointed to the seats next to him, indicating that the two of them should sit down first.

After the two sat down, she slowly and cheerfully revealed her meaning.

"Actually, I didn't mean anything by it. I just happened to run into you and chatted with you for a bit. I didn't expect you to actually wait for me in the little garden."

She had a somewhat indifferent expression on her face, and then she continued.

"Of course, I didn't mean anything by it. I just didn't take what you said to heart. But let me warn you, I should have graduated a long time ago. It's because of teaming up that I ended up like this today. Don't blame me for not warning you."

Her expression turned serious, and she spoke earnestly.

"Illegal team formation is not advisable. If we get caught, we're all finished. Our results will be invalidated, and we'll be in big trouble. So don't do anything reckless."

Gao Jie, however, refused to give up. He was well aware of the importance of this matter. In his view, this test involved too many things, and it was absolutely impossible for him to give up now.

He knew all too well how serious the problems would be if he didn't handle things properly, so he had to seize this opportunity. No matter what, he would never give it up and would hold on to it tightly.

Seeing his serious and stubborn expression, Huang Muran couldn't help but sigh and kindly offered a reminder.

"I know you have a complex perspective on this matter, but I hope you won't make a hasty decision. You need to understand that many things are completely different from what we think, understand?"

She frowned slightly, a hint of worry in her eyes, and continued.

"You think the test is just a small formality, but let me tell you, there are many experts watching us. If anything goes wrong, those experts won't let us off the hook. Do you understand?"

His words were full of admonition to Gao Jie, hoping that he would consider the matter carefully and not make a wrong decision on a whim.

Huang Muran knew very well that if this stalemate continued, who knew what unexpected and terrible things might happen.

In short, the situation has already escalated to this point, and it seems that what I say and do is predetermined and difficult to change.

She thought to herself, "Anyway, given the current situation..."

There is absolutely no way I could work with these reckless guys.

After all, if something happens, there will be no way to escape, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Moreover, I had learned a painful lesson before. I was once reported for illegally forming a team, and that incident caused quite a stir.

The school gave me a very severe punishment, so much so that I stayed at home for a whole month and it took a lot of effort for me to report back to school.

Huang Muran understood all too well just how serious the hidden pitfalls were. They were like traps lurking in the shadows, and if you weren't careful, you would fall in and suffer terribly.

Therefore, no matter what, I absolutely cannot fall into this trap again; I must not repeat the same mistake.

Gao Jie genuinely felt that Huang Muran joining their team was very important, and twice tried his best to persuade her to change her mind.

However, the woman remained adamant and refused to agree. No matter how much Gao Jie talked, he couldn't persuade her.

In the end, Gao Jie realized that there was no point in forcing it any further, and he had no choice but to give up.

When Gao Jie returned home dejectedly, he had just entered the dormitory when he heard Huang Xu speak loudly.

"Oh, by the way, a girl came looking for you earlier. Her name is Xu Rourou. She asked you to go there as soon as you got back, but we don't know the specifics of what it was about."

As soon as Huang Xu finished speaking, Gao Jie hurriedly ran out and jogged to the agreed place.

Upon seeing Xu Rourou, he looked at her with a strange expression. Xu Rourou's face was red and slightly swollen, which looked quite odd.

Gao Jie couldn't help but ask, "Why is your face so red? What happened?"

When Xu Rourou heard Gao Jie say that, she immediately felt furious and felt like she was about to explode.

She felt so wronged; in fact, she had been waiting there for quite a while.

There were many mosquitoes around, and she was bitten several times. The itchy and uncomfortable feeling was already making her feel upset.

As a result, Gao Jie arrived so late, and when he did, he asked her that question. How could she not be angry?

Upon seeing Gao Jie approaching, Xu Rourou couldn't help but glare at him and huffed angrily.

"You have the nerve to come all the way here to see me? Do you even know what you were up to back then?"

She became increasingly angry as she spoke, and her voice unconsciously rose a few decibels.

"You're really making me speechless. Aren't you going a bit too far with this?"

Gao Jie was completely baffled by the scolding. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why was he being scolded for no reason?

Although he felt a little wronged, he knew he couldn't argue with Xu Rourou at this time.

So he quickly calmed down, first sincerely apologizing to Xu Rourou, and then hurriedly explaining that he hadn't been running around.

Instead, he went to discuss team formation with Huang Muran, which is why he was delayed.

After listening to Gao Jie's explanation, Xu Rourou gradually calmed down, but she still gave a cold snort, her temper still lingering.

She pouted and said, "I don't care about anything else. Anyway, things have come to this point, you have to give me an answer."

As she spoke, her eyes darted around, and she continued.

"You're making me really uncomfortable right now. I'm punishing you by making you come with me for ice cream, you hear me?"

Looking at Xu Rourou's angry yet adorable expression, Gao Jie couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Before they could even say much, Xu Rourou took his hand and led him straight to a nearby ice cream shop.

Once inside the ice cream shop and after buying ice cream, Xu Rourou couldn't wait to take a bite. The sweet taste seemed to instantly dispel all her unhappiness.

A sweet smile finally appeared on her face, as if all the unpleasantness from before had melted away with that bite of ice cream.

That's when I remembered to ask about the related matters.

"Tell me the truth, what's going on right now? Why do you guys have to team up?"

"While it's true that there's strength in numbers, I think that might not be the case right now, because I've heard from many people that teams formed at the testing site don't actually get very far."

"Gao Jie, we're just here to study. There's no need for us to get involved in that kind of shady stuff. I understand your feelings, and I get your perspective, but let's try not to do anything we shouldn't, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Jie frowned.

"I understand what you mean, but what are you doing?"

"Actually, you don't need to say that. I know all about it in my heart, and I understand what you mean."

"But if we want to successfully pass the test, we have to do this. I know how serious this is, but unfortunately, we don't have many other options right now. Do you understand?"

The two chatted casually for a while, but in the end they didn't get any answers. Xu Rourou just went back to her dorm in a huff, and Gao Jie happened to find Huang Xu and the others playing games when he got back.

"Why are you guys playing video games again? It's a bit late, why aren't you practicing your martial arts?"

Huang Xu chuckled and said.

"We don't need to think about anything else right now. As long as we successfully team up and prevent others from ambushing us, that's enough. Let me tell you, this time it's not just us who secretly teamed up."

Huang Xu explained the general situation. It turned out that besides them, there were quite a few other people secretly forming teams.

Because everyone has heard about this test, which is centered around adaptability, and isn't adaptability what everyone lacks most right now?

Moreover, the core issue of adaptability is how to prevent others from attacking you.

It has to be said that, given the current situation, the problem is quite troublesome.

Gao Jie thought for a moment.

"My friend just came to me and said that he doesn't seem to want to team up."