Chapter 45: Retort

Ye Moxi brushed it off with a casual laugh. You can't please everyone! This mentor likes chocolate mousse, that mentor prefers mango mille-feuille, and someone else fancies something entirely different.

For Starnow Snow Ink to become such a massive sensation, aside from its strict quality control, wasn't it also due to a brilliant execution of hunger marketing?

Starnow Snow Ink?

With her back turned to the crowd, the aloof young lady wore an inscrutable expression.

She knew that two of the bosses behind Starnow Snow Ink were Xing Miao and Lu Xue, but could this final mysterious partner actually be Ye Moxi?

She really did come from a fringe galaxy, always scheming and buttering up to others! By clinging to the Feng family, her social standing had truly skyrocketed overnight!

Who knows what plans the Feng family has for her future... No! Major General Feng was the marriage candidate she had set her sights on; he could not be snatched away by these uncouth nobodies!

And as for that Leng Baihe who claimed to be Major General Feng's betrothed, she would make sure to "pay her a visit" shortly...

"What is that kid doing over there?"

"They say she has business with the Chief, and the Chief told her to wait here..."

The Chief? There was only one Chief in the Academy of Talents! Chief Michael!

The absolute ceiling of the Guide Department!

Ye Moxi suddenly felt a wave of tension!

For some inexplicable reason, she... really didn't want to run into this Chief right now.

"Chief!"

"Chief!"

Speak of the devil!

Dressed in an off-white trench coat, his pale golden hair tied back with an off-white ribbon, Chief Michael walked over, his expression gentle yet carrying an undeniable aura of authority.

I so badly want to rush over and cling to him...

She was already with Feng Yanting, so why on earth did she still harbor such a shameful thought?

Recalling how she had once been misunderstood as deliberately trying to get close to him, Ye Moxi stiffened and quietly rose to slip away.

"Chief, I..." That young lady stepped forward, stammering out expressions of adoration and worship.

Chief Michael's gaze drifted past the young lady, sweeping over that somewhat hurried, petite fleeing figure. What on earth was this sudden, overwhelming urge surging within him to chase after her?

...

"Are you Leng Baihe?"

"I am, you are—"

*Crack.*

A resounding slap directly distorted Leng Baihe's delicate, pitiful face.

It hurts so much!

With tears welling up in her eyes, Leng Baihe clutched her cheek and glared at the glamorous, arrogant young lady standing before her.

"How can you just hit people like this?"

The young lady, He Mingzhu, flicked her hand dismissively.

She let out a cold scoff: "So what if I hit you? Do I need to send you a formal notice in advance?"

"We are not acquainted at all, what gives you the right to hit me? If you cannot give me a satisfactory explanation, I will definitely take this to the Dean's Office to seek justice..."

He Mingzhu sneered.

"Do you know who I am? You think I'm afraid of taking this to the Dean's Office?"

Leng Baihe's fake best friend tugged anxiously at her sleeve.

"She is He Mingzhu, a 3A-grade Guide from the Guide Department."

A 3A-grade...

A flash of malice crossed Leng Baihe's eyes.

So what if she's a Guide? Is being a Guide all that great?

"Senior Sister hit me for no reason. When all is said and done, what on earth did I do wrong to offend you?"

He Mingzhu retorted: "Coveting something that is destined to never belong to you, and spreading rumors everywhere that you are dating Major General Feng... and you actually have the nerve to ask what you did wrong?"

Word had it that Major General Feng rarely visited the academy, yet this woman had clung to him shamelessly...

He Mingzhu felt that a single slap was letting her off way too easy!

As a 3A-grade Guide of the Guide Department, even she hadn't dared to chase after Major General Feng claiming to be his betrothed.

"True, someone in the Feng family is currently going on arranged dates, but your Leng family comes from humble origins with such a low ability rank that you don't even qualify to wait in line. This slap is a warning to you: stop mistaking your delusions for reality! With a delusion-chaser like you around, Major General Feng probably wants to throw up in his dreams..."

Leng Baihe covered her burning cheek, resentment festering in her heart. She wasn't qualified? And you, He Mingzhu, do you possess that qualification?

If the Feng family had any regard for you, would you need to come running over here specifically to warn her? Clearly, you're just another person the Feng family rejected!

"Does Senior Sister think a mere warning is enough? She, she, and they—let me ask you, with someone as peerless and dashing as Major General Feng, which young girl wouldn't have romantic fantasies? Shouldn't Major General Feng be the one to decide whom he chooses as his betrothed? For Senior Sister to storm over and strike me without reason, isn't it simply because I'm from the Planting Department and thus easy to bully?

Right! We come from humble backgrounds, and we belong to the Planting Department, but does that mean we can never excel? Does that mean we aren't worthy of being loved, or that we don't deserve a good marriage match?"

Leng Baihe's theatrical performance successfully won the sympathy and admiration of quite a few surrounding students.

Indeed! Their talent ranks might be lower, but they worked hard, kept to themselves, and weren't as flagrant and arrogant as those in the Guide Department. Why shouldn't they have a good marriage prospect? Why must all the prime marriage matches exclusively belong to the Guide Department?

He Mingzhu sneered.

"Such a sharp tongue! And what kind of excellence do you speak of? As if I wouldn't know that your Planting Department actually admitted an S-grade student this year! But so what? People from your Planting Department are only ever fit to pick over the scraps left behind by us Guides!"

A warning glare was simultaneously shot toward Ye Moxi, who happened to be walking past and found herself catching stray bullets.

Huh?

"Classmate Ye Moxi, don't you have anything to say? Our ranks are low, so Senior Sister looking down on us is understandable. But you are the only S-grade in the Planting Department!"

What was she supposed to say? One of them was so used to being fawned upon that she openly looked down on the Planting Department, while the other was desperately trying to use her to redirect the hostility?

However, she wasn't someone who shied away from trouble. Ye Moxi straightened her posture.

"I think Classmate Leng makes a valid point. Senior Sister is probably so used to being up on a pedestal and showered with adulation, but with so many outstanding sentinels in the Mo Yun Galaxy, do you expect them all to bow down at your feet, Senior Sister? Or to put it more bluntly, is your family background even substantial enough to support your ambition?"

She left the other Guides out of it and focused entirely on targeting He Mingzhu.

He Mingzhu's face flushed crimson with anger.

This Ye Moxi, how dare she?

"Don't think that just because you're currently Instructor Feng Xun's direct personal student, there's nothing I can do to you!"

Ye Moxi shrugged.

Anyway, ever since she stepped foot into the Academy of Talents, her life was destined to be embroiled in endless friction.

"Senior Sister is more than welcome to try. Although I haven't changed my last name, aside from being my mentor's direct student, I am also the adopted daughter of the Ye family!"

Her gaze shifted sideways to sweep over Leng Baihe.

She was just used to keeping a low profile; she wasn't a naive pushover. What the Academy of Talents valued wasn't just individual talent—family background mattered just as much!

Weren't these people always looking down on her simply because she came from a fringe galaxy and thought she was easy to bully?

The adopted daughter of the Ye family...

The bridge connecting the Feng family and the Ye family was Madam Feng Xi, the younger sister of Instructor Feng Xun, an S-grade Guide...

He Mingzhu thought of the affectionate warmth Madam Feng Xi had shown toward Ye Moxi, and a terrifying thought suddenly flashed through her mind... No! It couldn't be!

She was about to be accepted as a direct personal student by Chief Michael herself; Madam Feng Xi surely knew who was truly better suited as a marriage match for Major General Feng!

The adopted daughter of the Ye family?

What was so impressive about that?

Leng Baihe's eyes darted around erratically.

Yet, seeing the look of apprehension on He Mingzhu's face, she began to rethink her stance. No! She couldn't let Ye Moxi steal her thunder!