Beneath the Lonely Deep Sea

Huang Xiu wrote down “Beneath the Lonely Deep Sea” as his answer to the first question.

Then he looked at the second question.

“What do you think of yourself? (Please write down your main traits, such as: strong, smart, kind, evil, irritable, etc.)”

Wait, who in their right mind would write negative traits like evil or irritable?

You’re supposed to write good things!

There can’t be anyone that stupid, right? Huang Xiu found it amusing.

But what if it were Shi Lei? Maybe he would?

Huang Xiu pursed his lips, twirled his pen, thought for a moment, and wrote: “Kind, really good at playing games.”

This answer was very generic, but he couldn’t think of anything better.

Having been ordinary his whole life, his greatest strength was being good at games.

Or was his main trait being ordinary?

Huang Xiu silently mocked himself, then turned his attention back to the test paper.

This special test paper had an overwhelming number of psychological questions, filling two sheets of paper totaling eight pages, covering all aspects. It was a very complete psychological evaluation test.

As Huang Xiu worked through it, he grew more and more flustered. Some questions required repeated deliberation to avoid contradicting his previous answers.

By the time he wrote the last character of the essay, there were less than ten minutes left until the end of the exam.

He looked up and observed the others around him. They were all still furiously writing their essays.

In the entire exam room, only he had finished the paper.

“If you’re done, check your work carefully!” The proctor had somehow appeared behind Huang Xiu.

The voice was soft and airy, but very clear in Huang Xiu’s ears.

Students fearing teachers was instinct. Without thinking, he lowered his head.

He carefully checked the questions he had answered and actually found a few careless mistakes.

“Damn, I can’t believe I made mistakes on such easy questions.” Huang Xiu was speechless and quickly corrected them.

Ding ding ding!

The bell signaling the end of the exam rang on time from the broadcast. The proctor stood up. “Time’s up. Everyone stop writing and leave your seats.”

Most examinees stood up and walked out of the classroom, but a few were still writing furiously. They were eventually kicked out by the proctor with the threat of having their scores canceled.

Huang Xiu was naturally among the former and followed the crowd out.

Although he wanted to ask the proctor about the reason for his own changes, the exam room wasn’t a good place.

Besides, since he had caught their attention and was one of the special people they needed to screen, even if he didn’t take the initiative, they would definitely come to him.

Outside the exam room, it was chaotic. High school students who had been cooped up for four hours were like dogs let off their leashes, eager to say everything they’d held in all day.

“f*ck! Four hours! My ass is numb. It’s finally over.”

“How did you do? The preliminary test was really hard! I couldn’t figure out any of the questions. Good thing there were multiple choice.”

“I did worse than you, what do you think? By the way, what did you pick for question four? I picked A.”

Huang Xiu noticed that no matter what, after every exam, there were always people checking answers and complaining about difficulty. And the ones most eager to compare answers were always the average or below-average students.

He called it the First Law of Exams.

“Xiu Ge, how was the exam?” Guan Shuai from the next exam room spotted Huang Xiu immediately.

Their grades were similar, so their exam rooms were close.

“Ah… it went okay, okay.” Huang Xiu scratched his head. The questions were all examples, most of them psychological test questions. How could it not be okay?

“Did you solve the first math short-answer question?” Guan Shuai was still excited after the exam and kept asking. “The one about the conic curve!”

“Haha, that question was too hard. I didn’t solve it.” Huang Xiu laughed nervously, feeling sweat starting to form on his back.

Don’t ask! Please, bro!

In the past, he used to be part of the answer-checking crowd too, grabbing people as soon as he left the exam room.

But this time… his test paper was different from everyone else’s!

If it wasn’t necessary, Huang Xiu didn’t even want to talk about the exam at all.

If he said something that didn’t match up, it would be over. It would be a real-life game of “Who’s the Spy.”

Seeing Guan Shuai’s excited face, as if he was about to discuss the test questions in detail, Huang Xiu quickly used the excuse of needing to pee, then dashed through the noisy crowd and ran outside the teaching building.

“I can’t go to places with lots of classmates for now!” Huang Xiu wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. “I have to wait until they calm down from the exam excitement.”

He just needed to get through this initial period. After that, aside from when the papers were handed out, no one would discuss the exam details.

What he had to do was avoid being discovered as different before then.

“It’s already 12:30! I’m so hungry!” Huang Xiu rubbed his growling stomach. “Should I go to the cafeteria?”

“No, I can’t!” He shook his head.

Now was when the cafeteria was most crowded. If a lot of classmates gathered, it might turn into a discussion meeting about the preliminary test.

He couldn’t take that risk.

“I’ll go to the convenience store, get a cup of noodles, and eat in the dorm!” Huang Xiu decided to go back to the dorm first.

Dealing with those three dumb roommates was much easier than dealing with others.

He walked lightly toward the convenience store, but was stopped by an unexpected person in front of the playground.

“Hello, Classmate Huang. My name is Yue Zhengyang. I am a recruitment teacher from Tian Du University.” Teacher Yue pushed up his glasses, his demeanor gentle.

“Could you spare me some time? There’s a very important person who wants to meet you.”

“Hello, Teacher Yue.” Huang Xiu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

They had come much faster than he had imagined. They sought him out right after the preliminary test ended.

He had thought it would be at least the next day, or during the re-examination.

But this also seemed to indicate that his importance in their eyes was greater than he had thought.

Why?

Huang Xiu was a bit puzzled. Was it because of his special blood? Was the blood effective on humans too?

“I would be delighted!” He suppressed his excitement. “I also have many things I want to ask you.”

“Let’s go. Where to?” Huang Xiu asked.

“Well…” Yue Zhengyang looked troubled. “Classmate Huang, do you have any good restaurant recommendations?”

“Just a home-style restaurant is fine,” he added.

“Uh.” Huang Xiu was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he replied, “There’s a place called Xiao Tian Family Feast across the street. It’s okay.”

“Okay, let’s go there!” Yue Zhengyang replied cheerfully. Seeing Huang Xiu’s surprised expression, he suddenly laughed. “Where did you think I was taking you?”

“It’s meal time now. Where else would I go?”

“I turned down the principal’s lunch invitation. I hope your recommendation won’t disappoint me!”