"Oh right, boss—" Fang Sisi was about to say something else.
"Can you stop calling me 'boss'?" Qiao Sang cut her off directly.
"Then how about 'beautiful legs'?" Fang Sisi asked.
Qiao Sang: "..."
Under Qiao Sang's death glare, Fang Sisi finally changed her tune. "Qiao Sang, have you already contracted a pet beast?"
No newly awakened beast tamer could resist the temptation of contracting a pet beast as soon as possible.
Qiao Sang nodded, not denying it.
"Then you—"
Just as Fang Sisi was about to continue, the noise in the classroom suddenly dropped as if someone had pressed the mute button.
Looking up, it turned out the homeroom teacher had arrived…
The next second, Fang Sisi's face turned deathly pale.
Oh no, oh no—she hadn't finished copying her homework yet!
"We'll gather on the sports field in five minutes," the homeroom teacher said, then glanced in Qiao Sang's direction.
Over four thousand students and more than three hundred teachers of Wencheng Junior High all gathered on the field, a dense sea of people.
"Why is the entire school here?" Fang Sisi, standing in the back, poked Qiao Sang with her finger.
"No idea," Qiao Sang replied.
Third-year students were in the sprint phase and usually didn't attend morning assemblies together with first- and second-years. Even if the school required assembly, there were always one or two classes exempted.
Qiao Sang glanced toward the podium and realized that all the school leadership—principal, vice principals, director of studies—were present. This was a rare sight for a regular morning assembly.
Principal Chen Yongfeng was giving his usual speech on stage. Every morning assembly sounded the same—nothing new at all.
Qiao Sang was bored stiff and didn't listen to a word.
More than ten minutes later, thunderous applause rang out. Qiao Sang subconsciously clapped along.
A petite figure walked up to the podium from the third-year section.
"Respected teachers, dear classmates, hello everyone. I'm Dai Shushu from Class 9, Grade 3. It's a great honor—"
What Qiao Sang had thought was an ordinary morning assembly turned out to be Dai Shushu's personal commendation ceremony.
Qiao Sang had never interacted with Dai Shushu, but after hearing people talk about her so often, she knew a thing or two.
Dai Shushu came from a poor family and was the only student receiving school financial aid. She had ranked first in the grade for three straight years, later awakened independently, and was recommended directly to a Beast Taming High School—a textbook inspirational figure.
"So what if she got recommended? With her family background, can she even afford a pet beast?" a boy standing to the right sneered.
"Neither of her parents are beast tamers. Who knows how they gave birth to a self-awakened beast tamer," someone else muttered.
Qiao Sang was a little surprised. With the development of beast-taming society, humanity had long realized that children born to two beast tamers had a much higher chance of becoming beast tamers themselves.
The higher the level of the parents, the greater the chance of producing a gifted child.
On the other hand, if both parents were ordinary people, the probability of their child becoming a beast tamer was only about 2%.
If it was already rare enough for ordinary parents to produce a beast tamer, then producing a self-awakener was practically close to impossible.
Qiao Sang became interested and pricked up her ears to listen.
"This time, being recommended to Shengshui High School is not only due to my own efforts, but also thanks to my teachers—"
Qiao Sang's eyelashes trembled.
They were both self-awakeners. Now with Shengshui High School involved, it was hard not to compare herself with Dai Shushu.
Once she did, her mood instantly soured, and she lost interest in the rest of the speech.
Back in the classroom, Qiao Sang focused entirely on her books.
As a third-year junior high student nearing the entrance exam, all courses had already been taught. What remained was revision and practice tests.
[Over 3,000 years ago, calamity descended from the heavens. Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and other super disasters plunged the world into an apocalyptic atmosphere. Which beast tamer stopped this catastrophe?]
[A. Chen Jiading]
[B. Sen Xiaoman]
[C. Wang Wenyu]
[D. Wang Yao]
Qiao Sang had seen plenty of these history questions over the past few days. The catastrophe 3,000 years ago wasn't a natural disaster—it was man-made.
It was Wang Yao who had used his pet beasts to create the calamities. As an SS-rank beast tamer, he already possessed the power to alter nature itself.
As a beast tamer's codex awakened repeatedly, once they reached D-rank, they would receive feedback from their pet beasts, enhancing lifespan and physique.
The higher the rank, the stronger the feedback.
Unless directly attacked, it was extremely difficult to be harmed by mere aftershocks.
Relying on his SS-rank physique, Wang Yao had forcibly broken through the Alliance's encirclement, killing 223 beast tamers in counterattacks, including eleven S-rank beast tamers.
An S-rank beast tamer represented at least a century of effort. The Alliance's losses were devastating.
In the end, it was the SS-rank beast tamer Wang Wenyu, who had returned from Yan Tian Star, that subdued Wang Yao. But in that battle, five pet beasts that had accompanied him for years died.
Wang Wenyu withdrew from the world thereafter.
This question was easy to get wrong if you didn't read it carefully.
The last mock exam had included it. Qiao Sang hadn't misread it back then—she'd just chosen D because of the "longest option" rule.
Now, looking at the question, she corrected her previous answer.
"Qiao Sang, someone's looking for you," a girl sitting by the door called out.
Qiao Sang looked up and saw a girl in a faded, well-washed uniform smiling at her from the doorway.
"It's Dai Shushu! When did you get to know her?" Fang Sisi asked in surprise.
As a prominent figure at school, Dai Shushu naturally drew attention. Heads all around turned to look.
"I don't know her," Qiao Sang said, equally confused.
She walked out.
"Why are you looking for me?" Qiao Sang asked, puzzled.
She was sure her former self had never interacted with Dai Shushu. One was a top student, the other a bottom student, from different classes. With graduation so close, she couldn't imagine why Dai Shushu would seek her out.
"I'm apologizing on behalf of my mom for what happened last time," Dai Shushu said.
She had a delicate, white-flower appearance. Coupled with malnutrition, she looked frail and fragile, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
"What happened?" Qiao Sang raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't Auntie tell you? Last Friday, my mom said some unpleasant things to Auntie. There were teachers around at the time, so I couldn't get a word in. How is Auntie now?" Dai Shushu asked softly.
Qiao Sang fell silent for a moment, then asked, "What did your mom say?"
Dai Shushu showed an apologetic expression. "Just some nasty words. My mom didn't mean it. Auntie said some things back too." She paused. "It's just that the teachers saw they were about to fight and asked Auntie to leave directly. I feel rather bad about it."
Qiao Sang said expressionlessly, "The teachers asked my mom to leave. What does that have to do with you?"
Dai Shushu tucked her hair behind her ear. She was already half a head shorter than Qiao Sang; lowering her head made her expression impossible to see.
"If it weren't for me, the teachers wouldn't have asked Auntie to leave," she said.
"I see," Qiao Sang said, then asked again, "What exactly did your mom say?"
Dai Shushu lowered her head further.
"My mom said your poor grades were because you didn't have a father to discipline you. That you only awakened independently because of sheer dumb luck. She also said Auntie was so fierce that it was no wonder she got divorced."
She raised her head, looking innocent and curious.
"So… did you really awaken independently?"
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