Wen Nan quickly moved beside her, lifted the spine, and took the freezer into his hand.
Jun Beibei turned to glance at him, opened her mouth to say something, but catching a glimpse of her mother on the other side, she ultimately said nothing.
Wen Nan, now closer, could clearly see those numbers disguised under the dazzling light on the side of the white shell. At some point, they had changed again—
[Candidate: No. 1; Testing Phase: Phase One; Obsession Value Accumulation Progress: 60%.]
It appeared that during the brief conversation between Jun Beibei and her mother, her obsession value had increased by another 15%.
Just as he was lost in thought, Jun Beibei's mother spoke up: "Are you also from this school?"
Wen Nan turned his head to find the other party looking at him. He smiled and said, "Yes, Auntie, my name is Ye Shenshen, and I'm in the same class as Jun Beibei."
The brown-black Arctic Clam responded, its somewhat yellowish skirt wrinkling up, "Why don't I remember a student like you in class two?"
This comment was somewhat judgmental, causing Jun Beibei to get a little upset, and she warned softly, "Mom!"
Wen Nan wasn't offended. He had heard similar questions many times and was used to it. He continued to smile gently and said, "I just transferred today."
Her mother nodded, gave a response, and murmured as if to herself, "Just transferred today, and already skipping classes with our Beibei…"
"Mom!" Jun Beibei couldn't take it anymore, "I took him to the staff dormitory."
Her mother looked incredulously at the white shell beside her.
Jun Beibei glanced at the brightly lit teaching building nearby, withdrawing her skirt from her mother's "hand", "Mom, let's go up by ourselves. You go back first, check how much ice is at home, stock up as much as possible, and be ready for extreme heat within a day, or it'll be too late."
Her mother gave Jun Beibei a deep look, nodded, "Alright," and added, "You two head up first, I'll watch you return to the classroom, then go home and prepare immediately."
Jun Beibei led Wen Nan, turning towards the teaching building.
As they stepped onto the stairs, entering a blind spot from her mother's view, Jun Beibei's previously innocent student demeanor faded away completely, replaced by a cold expression.
In a deep voice, she said, "My mom doesn't trust me."
Wen Nan paused in his steps, once more looking at the white shell of the Arctic Clam—
[Candidate: No. 1; Testing Phase: Phase One; Obsession Value Accumulation Progress: 70%.]
In just a few short minutes, it increased by another 10%.
While Wen Nan was in a daze, Jun Beibei continued, "She thinks I'm sick like everyone else.
"She just agreed on the surface to appease me, but once I return to class, she'll use the evening self-study period to apply with Mr. Liu to withdraw me from the dorm, making me live at home.
"This way, she can personally watch my every move, not allowing me to make any more 'mistakes'."
Wen Nan let out a soft sigh.
It felt as though this pair's relationship was less like mother and daughter, and more like a pair of enemies in a spy drama.
They spoke as they reached the classroom door.
Jun Beibei intentionally walked to the side of the corridor, leaning over the rail to look outside, and indeed saw her mother still standing there, looking towards the direction of class two.
Jun Beibei waved her skirt at her, and the other party waved back, indicating for her to return to class first.
Finally, Jun Beibei and Wen Nan returned to the classroom, and the brown-black Arctic Clam standing downstairs sighed gently, retracting her gaze, and headed towards the other side of the teacher's office.
"She's gone."
After returning to the classroom, Jun Beibei remained vigilant, watching the door. Not long after, she stood up again, intending to leave once more.
Wen Nan immediately stood up, ready to leave with her.
Jun Beibei, however, raised her skirt, blocking him, "I'm heading back to the girls' dormitory, it's inconvenient for you to go in."
Then, worried that Wen Nan might be disappointed, she quickly added, "I'll sort out the dormitory stuff and be back to find you immediately. I promise to fulfill the promise I made to you earlier, won't break—oof."
Before she finished, the spine from across was inserted into her soft flesh, halting her words.
"If you keep making those flag-raising statements, even if Qiaozi doesn't want to take you away, she'll be forced to in the future, you know?" said Wen Nan, shaking his head with a sigh.
Jun Beibei was stunned for a moment, then her eyes smiled, bending. Her skirt rippled gently, and she mumbled, "Oops, my bad."
As she spoke, her soft skirt brushed against Wen Nan's "palm," bringing a warm, itchy sensation, making Wen Nan feel that ticklish sensation spreading up his entire "arm," quickly pulled his spine back, wiping it on himself.
Jun Beibei gave him a curious look, then turned and left.
After walking two steps, Wen Nan still caught up with her, "I'll wait for you downstairs at the dormitory."
Jun Beibei paused, looking at him with a hint of scrutiny.
Wen Nan coughed, a bit uncomfortable, explaining, "You've raised too many flags, a lone shell running around easily attracts danger, you need my male lead aura to neutralize the flag magic on you."
Jun Beibei shook her head, her smile deepening.
She found Ye Shenshen to be a truly amazing sea cucumber. Why was he so calm when doomsday was imminent? Why was he unbothered by being treated as an outcast by classmates and teachers?
Yet, this strange sea cucumber brought her unprecedented happiness, making her feel less alone.
...
...
In the girls' dormitory, various seafood were moving in and out. The dormitory attendant was an elderly tiger prawn, and upon seeing Wen Nan, she immediately fixed her eyes on him and extended her antennas towards him like two sharp swords.
Wen Nan wisely stopped at the door, handed the freezer back to Jun Beibei, and said, "You go up, I'll wait here. If there's any problem, just shout from the corridor."
Jun Beibei smiled, nodded, grabbed the metal box, and quickly walked into the dormitory corridor.
The girls' dormitories here were all four-person rooms, with bunk beds lined up on either side of the dorm windows.
However, Jun Beibei's dorm had only two girls living there—two girls found excuses to move out one after another less than a month after Jun Beibei moved in.
Jun Beibei's only roommate was named Yu Xiaoluo, a flower snail with a relatively light color and beautiful patterns.
When Jun Beibei returned to the dorm door, Yu Xiaoluo had just finished showering, with a towel on her head and a small basin in her hand, coming out from the communal shower at the end of the corridor.
Seeing Jun Beibei at first glance, she smiled and called out "Beibei" and quickly walked forward, asking, "Why are you back so early today?"
Jun Beibei responded ambiguously, asking, "Did any teacher come by to talk about moving out of the dorm?"
Yu Xiaoluo was taken aback, shook her head, "No, I was in the shower the whole time, didn't notice. Why, are you moving out, Beibei?"
Jun Beibei glanced at the corridor and said, "Let's talk inside."
The snail and clam opened the door and went in.
Upon entering the room, a round little thing quickly darted from the balcony to her "feet".
It was a Xun's muscle clam, commonly known as a Sea Gourd.
The Sea Gourd only reached Jun Beibei's "ankle" height and was, like Jun Beibei, entirely snow-white.
At this moment, the white Sea Gourd acted like a little puppy, circling excitedly around Jun Beibei's "feet" and constantly waving its shell, calling out, "Mom! Mom!"
Hearing this inexplicable address, Jun Beibei gave Yu Xiaoluo a suspicious look, "Did you train its model? Why is it calling randomly again?"
Yu Xiaoluo shook her head, "No, isn't it AI? Probably trained itself?"
Jun Beibei picked up the white Sea Gourd, pressed several buttons at its base.
The Sea Gourd immediately changed its address: "Beibei! Beibei!"
Jun Beibei sighed in relief, but before she could fully let it out, the Sea Gourd in her arms started calling randomly again, "I saw my father on the balcony!"
Jun Beibei halted her breath.
Yu Xiaoluo looked towards the balcony with a gossiping face, "What father?"
Jun Beibei said coldly, "Its chip has issues, don't listen to its nonsense."
This time, the Sea Gourd fully demonstrated its intelligence, loudly insisting:
"I'm not spouting nonsense! I saw him, he's downstairs, perhaps he has a conscience, deciding to visit his long-lost illegitimate child!"
Jun Beibei: ...