Chapter 96: Discrimination

From a rational perspective, temporarily removing An Siyao’s slot, going to learn a foreign language, and then coming back is not a big deal.

Letting him leave You Xue to study a foreign language for two weeks would not provoke any special reaction—not only from him, but also from You Xue. If You Xue can do it, there’s no reason why An Siyao cannot.

Unless An Siyao stops participating in the three competitions ten days from now and the final competition at the beginning of next month, transfers schools from Dongzhi Township, and moves to another city, it would be difficult for Xia Yu to restore her slot.

Even if the above situation occurs, there are still remedial measures.

If An Siyao’s slot is gone, Xu Youxiang’s remains. Let Xu Youxiang lead An Siyao to a certain place and then mark her again.

Therefore, it is impossible for An Siyao’s slot to be unrecoverable; he will only be away for about ten to fifteen days.

Now, he can temporarily remove An Siyao and add her back for the three competitions or the final. Opportunities like this might not exist in the future.

Foreign language skills are definitely necessary; helping Tina is just an optional matter. In modern society, girls don’t really face much danger.

But why is it so hard to make a decision?

Rational thinking poses no problem. Therefore, the issue might not lie in rationality.

Is it the unease from the sudden loss of contact?

Sitting on a chair in the art studio, Xia Yu rubbed his forehead.

What he had told Yan Wei earlier—that he didn’t want a relationship in high school—was not a lie. In fact, not only during high school, but even in this life, Xia Yu had no intention of considering romance, having seen too much of it in his past life.

Just like a song goes, it’s not that easy to find a compatible partner, especially after witnessing so much betrayal.

What exactly is his feeling towards An Siyao?

Initially, he was clearly only interested in her because she had value to exploit and was easy to deceive.

If he truly set the girl as a target, it would not just be about making a little money.

Just maintaining the lifestyle of the villa, the monthly expenses An Siyao incurred were numbers Xia Yu currently couldn’t even hope to earn.

Having someone unexpectedly inserted into life plans requires some mental adjustment.

Perhaps he should carefully discern his feelings.

After thinking for a while, he stood up, walked to a floor-length mirror, reached out and touched its surface: “I have something that will take up half a month. During this time, you won’t be able to reach me.”

An Siyao’s voice did not immediately respond. After a minute, she said gloomily:

“I understand.”

“If something happens, you can post a missing person notice for Akalin in the Polaris Daily,” Xia Yu added.

“What characters?” An Siyao cautiously asked.

Picking up a paintbrush, Xia Yu wrote down the characters for Akalin on a piece of paper.

“Well then, it’s settled,” Xia Yu said.

“Okay,” An Siyao replied, her mood clearly downcast.

“Ten days from now, at the latest by the time of your final competition, I will return. I will also watch your performance on TV. Don’t lose, okay?” Xia Yu tried to comfort her.

“I won’t lose!” An Siyao’s tone indeed became a bit more cheerful.

In the remaining time, Xia Yu wandered around An Siyao’s art studio. When the time came, he returned to his own body.

Lying on the bed, he opened his panel and deleted An Siyao’s slot, then got up and went downstairs to a newsstand to buy a copy of the Polaris Daily.

The newspaper’s advertisement section featured a toothbrush factory and a novel advertisement.

Xia Yu’s gaze lingered on the novel advertisement for a while.

Was “White Bird” about to be adapted into a film or TV series?

“White Bird” was a novel, and Xia Yu still had a copy of it on his bookshelf.

The author was actually a junior of his.

She must possess novel-writing skills, but unfortunately, he had no need for such skills.

A hundred years ago, writers had great influence, but now, it’s far less prestigious than being a pianist and holds little social influence.

Writing novels doesn’t earn much money unless managing the copyright, but if one has the time to manage copyrights, it would be more profitable to develop a few apps.

Even with perfect timing and conditions, a popular book barely earns 100 million. However, a popular mobile game can earn more than 100 million in monthly revenue.

For example, a famous mobile game from Xia Yu’s past reportedly earned 3 billion yuan a month.

Moreover, writing books requires gradual practice and climbing the ranks.

Putting the newspaper into the drawer, Xia Yu rubbed his forehead again.

If the monthly revenue is three billion, that should be enough to support An Siyao?

Even enough to support Xu Youxiang and Tina together.

Wait, why did his thoughts drift back to An Siyao again?

Shaking his head, Xia Yu sat at the desk and opened his notebook.

These two weeks apart from An Siyao were not just about freeing up a slot to learn a foreign language, but more importantly, a time for Xia Yu to reflect on himself.

If he decided not to get deeply involved with An Siyao, he could just live a relaxed life. But if he decided to get closer to her, he would have to work much harder.

After all, the An Group of An Tianfeng and the Daliang Capital of Yu Liang were not ordinary companies.

Still, he should first focus on learning a foreign language.

The plan had already been written in the notebook earlier. The current problem was how to meet the translators.

He soon had an idea.

After confirming that there were no oversights, Xia Yu closed the notebook.

The wall clock ticked steadily.

After completing a full circle, the hour hand pointed to eight in the morning. He entered Xu Youxiang’s body.

Opening her eyes, she saw the washbasin.

Luckily, he arrived a bit later.

After washing his hands, Xia Yu returned to the bed with a cane and said:

“I need you to help me with something.”

“What?” Xu Youxiang asked. “Are you going to learn programming again?”

“No, I need some people’s information.”

“What people?” Xu Youxiang didn’t ask why.

“People in the publishing industry.” Xia Yu intentionally kept it vague.

With Xu Youxiang’s help, Xia Yu successfully collected this information online.

Putting the data into a table, Xia Yu uploaded it to a small forum.

After finishing the task, he played games until the gaming time ended.

After Xia Yu left, Xu Youxiang found the webpage with the table and thought for a while.

Since it was posted here, it meant that guy would come to retrieve it.

Then, couldn’t she wait for the hare?

If it were a big forum, I wouldn’t be able to do anything, but this small forum… Heh.

The entire night, the girl kept watching this forum. The post was clicked by five people, but only one downloaded the table.

After tracking it, Xu Youxiang smiled.

Turns out it was someone from Fangzhang City.

Accessing that computer might reveal more information.

Five minutes later, she left satisfied.

That person had little respect for the internet, leaving a lot of information on the computer.

Next time that person comes, she’ll scare her.

Back home in Zilang City, Xia Yu smiled. He knew that, given Xu Youxiang’s personality, she would definitely monitor that table. He wondered what kind of misunderstanding she would have.

In his previous life, Xia Yu already knew how unreliable the internet was. He had no intention of downloading that table at all. The information of the four translators he needed was already memorized.

Putting up the table was just a way to play a trick on Xu Youxiang.

From memory, he wrote down the information of the four people.

He selected the one with the highest reputed skill and the youngest one, deciding to try contacting these two first.