Chapter 46: Rumors

It was deep into the night and the courageous Zhang Mei Xing was still outside, sitting on a roadside bench under a lamppost. The place was near the basketball court. No moon could be seen above, even though stars decorated the sky densely.

More than a month already passed since the incident at the police station.

Zhang Mei Xing pursed her lips as she looked at the countdown timer at the topmost right corner of the panel. 501 days left. Roughly one year and five months.

"So the number of days I have to stay in the Test World is the same as the number of days spent watching the memories?"

Zhang Mei Xing cupped her face. She had come out with her real body, and her current spot was pretty famous for being a haunted spot in the university. Yet she acted like ghosts were nothing extraordinary. Perhaps it was because she knew her body now faintly carried the air of the Temple which could scare away low-level ghostly beings.

This how the bored girl who had nothing to do for the meantime took a stroll and ended up in this place. The darkness and the lack of people nearby did not scare her as she knew nothing in this world could harm her, at least none in the current phase of the test. If a malicious person appeared, she could just escape to the Static World.

"Maybe it depends on where the examinee's test started…" After a while, she answered the question in her mind.

She remembered that Xiang Lingxin's examination began from where her father disowned her, not from when Song Heng, her scumbag ex-fiance, dissolved the engagement between them. That was why Xiang Lingxin's only lasted for a month.

Chen Fang began from the day of the breakup. His death would happen 542 days later.

"So examinations always end on the day the examinee is supposed to die," she murmured.

Recalling her own exam, she suddenly felt awkward as it did not feel like an exam at all. Liu Yang must have been treating her case as a vacation. Nothing major happened. Plus it was very far from the point where she died.

The Temple's vision for selecting her as a trainee guide was really questionable.

Zhang Mei Xing closed her eyes and crossed her legs, her arms folded below her chest.

...

Regarding the case at the Blue Pearl Hotel, Chen Fang was only punished with community service. The university only imposed such a light punishment due to the sympathetic stance of the student government and his other classmates. Surprisingly, those people he hardly interacted with before sided with him and petitioned for a lighter sentence for him.

After a week, he was back to his regular schedule and he was not bothered by Qin Li and Long Lingqing. Or rather, he did not let them bother him as he kept avoiding them.

No one but Chen Fang himself knew how emotional he was every time he woke up and found himself able to attend classes. He himself never expected that such a stupidly small thing could actually render a grown man so moved.

He really took his studies seriously and even began to plan which companies he would apply for an internship. One could say that his thinking was advanced for an entire year. The seriousness he showed gained his professors' approval.

In fact, in the Faculty Room, the professors once discussed.

"Professor Gu, do you know Chen Fang?

"Chen Fang? Who's that?"

"It's the third-year male student from the Electronic Engineering course."

"Oh, yes. I remember now. He's attending my Calculus classes. I recently took up a business elective and he also signed up for it. I don't know that happened but that kid suddenly became unusually diligent."

"Yes. I have student Ma Xiaotang in one of my classes. Remember her? That girl is really a headache sometimes, but her mouth is indeed the largest bank of gossips in this university and that's how I became familiar with the name since Qin Li's case last month is still pretty fresh in my memories. The kid must have been stimulated."

The other professor laughed, "Well, this is why romance should not be mixed with studies. Let's hope this Chen guy's case would become more famous so more couples would split up."

No matter which learning institution, it was always a good thing to be remembered in a positive light by professors and admins. It mattered not if the reason for being etched in their mind was something. embarrassing.

Anyway, the next few weeks were spent studying.

In the beginning, Chen Fang was struggling. Most of the things he learned were already forgotten. Even before his dropout, he was at best average in grades and intellect. When he went back in time, it was already good that he still knew his classrooms' locations and who taught which subject.

Because he constantly got poor results in the first two weeks, he became more 'famous'.

'Poor guy. Heartbreak must have affected his motivation to study so his grades dropped.'

'Look, he seems to be reading the book, but the bad results spoke enough of it, I think the words printed there don't really get in his head that is still full of sad thoughts.'

'This is what happens when you chase after a goddess, although that Qin Li is also no good.'

Chen Fang only laughed for a full minute before ignoring the gossips about himself. He let the rumors fly. He even thought it would better if he got painted as a pitiful ex-boyfriend given the short end of the stick in his previous relationship.

After all, he had a feeling that the spoiled bastard would not let him go just like that, and opinions being on his side might help him in the future.