NOVEL WEB Chapter 107 - Stubborn
Erica’s spread of the rumors about Mai Dongzi was merely a spur-of-the-moment decision, intended to irritate her.
After all, since Mai Dongzi and Zhuang Huiya were cousins, once their relationship was exposed, the rumors would quickly die down.
In reality, even if Zhuang Huiya were not Mai Dongzi’s cousin and they were truly in a relationship, it wouldn’t significantly impact Mai Dongzi’s reputation.
Therefore, after the rumors were released, Erica left the matter aside and no longer involved herself.
She didn’t have much spare time, with her daily training tasks being very demanding.
Although her cultivation was not on par with that of Mai Dongzi, to survive the dangers predicted in her mother’s dreams, she needed to become stronger.
Even if that woman’s cultivation is higher than hers, it doesn’t mean she can survive the apocalypse. Luck is what really counts, and her mother knows how to avoid danger.
Erica didn’t need to participate in the first round of preliminary selection, but she had to compete in the second round of elimination.
After the list of winners from the preliminary selection was released, the list for the elimination round was announced, and Erica checked it.
Although Lin Qingzhou from the Combat Department had a slightly higher level of cultivation than her, she was a fire-type ability user, which gave her an advantage over pure martial artists.
However, to win, it would be a life-or-death battle. Heavy injuries would affect her performance in subsequent matches, so she hoped not to face Lin Qingzhou in the elimination round.
It was likely that the school instructors also considered this. She and Lin Qingzhou were not in the same competition zone, so even with random drawing, they wouldn’t face each other in the elimination round.
Just as Erica was about to close her light brain, she received a message from her father.
“Why are you provoking Lucy again? Didn’t I tell you not to mess with her?” Nigri was nearly furious.
Last month, Zhao Fanni somehow provoked Mai Dongzi, leading Mai Dongzi to post evidence of Zhao Fanni’s schemes against the Zhuang family on the Xi family’s network, causing Zhao Fanni to lose face in the Xi family.
Nigri thought that Mai Dongzi’s move was a counterattack using Zhao Fanni’s own tactic of guiding online sentiment to mock her as useless, using Zhao Fanni’s methods to retaliate.
However, this child still had some feelings for the Xi family; otherwise, the evidence wouldn’t have been posted on the Xi family’s network but rather on StarNet, causing them to lose face throughout the entire Blue and Black Empire.
After Lucy returned from Water Blue Star, Nigri repeatedly instructed Zhao Fanni and Erica not to provoke Lucy anymore.
But the mother and daughter just wouldn’t listen. After provoking Lucy, Zhao Fanni not only embarrassed herself but was also forced to pay several hundred million credits in compensation.
The daughter didn’t learn her lesson and stubbornly went after Lucy again.
Nigri didn’t know whether the mother and daughter were simply brainless or insane, relentlessly provoking Lucy despite repeated failures. It was truly embarrassing.
Since Lucy posted information about her mother in the family group, Erica had felt that their family’s standing in the Xi family was very awkward.
Especially for her, since she had been raised away from home and had almost no interaction with the younger members of the family, she hadn’t visited the family network in over a month.
Hearing her father’s words, she quickly opened the family group. As soon as she entered, she saw two pinned posts, both concerning her.
After reading the two pinned posts, Erica trembled uncontrollably. Even she couldn’t tell whether she was shaking from anger or hatred.
Mai Dongzi was truly insane, using this tactic to embarrass her mother within the family, and now employing the same tactic against her.
Her father even said that Lucy posted the information only in the family group to protect the Xi family’s reputation.
In Erica’s view, that despicable woman wasn’t concerned with the Xi family’s reputation at all. Posting such information on StarNet could easily lead to its removal, but placing it in the family group network meant only the family head and a few elders had the power to delete it.
And now, in the Xi family, it was clear who the family head and elders favored.
Moreover, the person who provided Mai Dongzi with this information was Prince Arthur himself. Seeing the signature on the evidence made it clear why the family head and elders wouldn’t dare delete it.
Erica had initially wanted to argue, but after seeing the signature on the evidence, she felt a sense of despair.
Prince Arthur had personally communicated with Mai Dongzi. Before her true identity was revealed, Prince Arthur only allowed his subordinates to provide minimal assistance, never intervening personally. Why was it different with this despicable woman?
…
Mai Dongzi’s special training for Zhuang Huiya and the fact that they spent the night alone in the training room instead of returning to the dormitory became a hot topic.
Since Zhuang Huiya had to spend the nights in the treatment pod during the special training, Mai Dongzi had to stay in the training room with him to prevent any issues.
Thus, they not only sought prior approval from Instructor Fang but also informed him that they were cousins. Otherwise, the instructors wouldn’t have allowed them to spend the night alone in the training room.
Besides the instructors, only the Phantom Team members knew about this.
Not to mention whether the instructors would be so loose-lipped, in a situation where the instructors knew they were cousins, they would never say they were a couple.
So the origin of the rumor must have been that someone from the Phantom Team first spread the news, which then sparked the rumors.
Initially, Mai Dongzi suspected Yu Lan, especially since Yu Lan had looked enviously and jealously at her during Zhuang Huiya’s special training, her eyes practically turning red.
However, when Jin Zhongxing was replaced by Instructor Fang with a new female student, who happened to be a fan of Mai Dongzi, Mai Dongzi found herself at a loss.
Looking at this girl, who was only at the mid-level of the fourth stage of cultivation, Mai Dongzi exchanged an inscrutable glance with Instructor Fang, who seemed equally at a loss.
Mai Dongzi’s confusion was due to the fact that among the 200 first-year students in the Command Department, all were fourth-stage cultivators with similar levels. Replacing a fourth-stage mid-level student should logically involve bringing in another student of comparable cultivation level.
Since the fifth-place student was replaced, it would make sense to bring in someone from the sixth or seventh place. Why was someone ranked at least ten places lower in the year replaced instead?
If Instructor Fang and the others were ambitious about achieving a good ranking in the team competition, why not choose someone more outstanding?
Mai Dongzi’s confusion was apparent, and Instructor Fang quickly noticed it. However, in public, he couldn’t explain.
With a stern face, Instructor Fang instructed the new student, Chen Xinhe, to follow Mai Dongzi’s directions. After the girl obediently nodded, he called Yu Lan aside.
Given Instructor Fang’s serious demeanor and the fact that they were changing personnel mid-training, it was clear something significant had happened. Yu Lan, who was sensitive to authority, quickly followed Instructor Fang outside, eager to comply.
Out of curiosity and a desire to understand what was happening, Mai Dongzi used her mental power to “snoop” on what Instructor Fang was doing when he called Yu Lan outside.