Chen Fenghe didn't give a clear answer.
And not giving a clear answer meant no answer at all.
So, nine times out of ten, that meant Li Tianming hadn't thought about arranging it yet.
Qin Siyang knew this kind of thing could never be brought up first by the woman, Chen Fenghe.
He'd have to find an opportunity to push Li Tianming a little.
Maybe… they could hold Old Li and Director Chen's wedding at the same time as Little Zhao and Gu Yunxuan's.
He could be the flower boy at one, then run over to be the best man at the other.
Just thinking about it felt so efficient.
Perfect.
However, Li Tianming had a lot on his plate right now. He had just joined South Glory University and also owed Zhao Longfei a favor, so he naturally had to do a few things in return.
Most importantly, if Old Li could figure out the method to turn Water Glazed ore into Water Glazed star ore, and then apply that to yellow-silver ore to produce yellow-silver star ore, then Qin Siyang could hand over all the materials directly to him.
That way, Li Tianming could study that ultimate, unbeatable, supreme, sacred, whatever-it-was, project and make a glorious comeback.
By then, Qin Siyang could finally relax and just follow Old Li to eat well and live easy.
After running around taking care of things, Qin Siyang turned his focus back to his sequence level breakthrough.
He called Hu Chan again, asking when he'd have time to make another trip outside the Safe Zone.
["President Qin, I'm still busy right now, I can't get away."]
"Busy? With what? Don't you need more Titan Foxtail inner leaf fragments?"
["I do, badly! But I'm busy praying for the students' exams. I really can't leave."]
"The college entrance exams are over, aren't they? Why are you still praying?"
["They're over, but the results aren't out yet. Until they come out, Chris, Jin Shengyu, and I have to pray for them every few days, so that the light of the Savior God's grace keeps shining upon them."]
"Oh, come off it. If that Savior God's real, maybe shine some light on yourself first. Or on your sick friend. If the Savior God can't even take care of His own Saint, what makes you think He's helping anyone else?"
["..."]
"Hey, Hu Chan, I'm curious, do you actually believe all that Savior God stuff yourself?"
["..."]
"What, cat got your tongue? Relax, I'm not recording this."
["Anyway, I don't have any long stretches of free time until after the exam results come out. You're planning to go somewhere far outside the Safe Zone, right? Who knows how long you'll be gone. Let's just wait until the results are out before we contact again."]
Beep—Beep—Beep—
Qin Siyang frowned, "Paranoid to the extreme, this guy. Always thinks everyone's out to get him. And with that kind of mental state, he's supposed to be a Saint?"
He shook his head.
Then he turned off the recording device.
Turned off the lie detector.
And started thinking about what to do next.
All this time, it had always been one of two things. Either he found things to do, or things found him. There was never a moment of peace.
Just as he was lying there, thinking about life, his phone rang again.
It was the Red-Robed Protector of the Savior Church, Chris.
"Speak of the devil… Hu Chan just mentioned him, and now he calls."
"Hello, Protector Chris. What's the matter?"
["Mr. Qin, long time no see. How have you been recently?"]
"Same as usual."
["Oh, well, we discussed before about trading the Blood Moon Blind Spider's eyes for the Corroded Black Centipede remains, right?"]
"Mm."
["I've got everything ready now. Would it be possible to trade in seven days?"]
"Seven days later? You're arranging this that early? I thought we could do it tomorrow."
["Yes, it might be a bit early. But traveling from Zone 8 to Zone 7 takes several days round trip. And I also have to perform the Savior Church's blessing ceremonies for the students' exams, so I only have certain time windows free. I'm letting you know in advance, in case you're not in the Safe Zone when the time comes."]
Qin Siyang nodded. That matched what Hu Chan had said earlier.
"Alright then, five days later. Come find me in South Glory."
["Uh… I don't have the Saint's ability to change my appearance. If I enter South Glory University and get recognized, it could cause trouble. Could we maybe trade somewhere near South Glory instead?"]
"Near South Glory University? No way. To tell you the truth, I don't even dare step outside the campus gates right now. One careless move and I might bump into someone trying to kill me."
["Ah… alright, I'll think of something."]
"Okay, that's that then. Let me know when you arrive."
["Understood."]
After thinking it over, Qin Siyang realized there wasn't much else he could do for now.
So he took two days off.
But on the afternoon of the third day, Li Tianming called him.
He didn't say much on the phone, just told him to come to the Miracle Building.
When Qin Siyang arrived, he saw all the professors sitting in the first-floor hall, chatting leisurely.
Everyone looked relaxed.
Especially Li Tianming, his gloom from a few days ago was completely gone.
Looked like he had fully accepted his situation.
Qin Siyang felt a bit relieved too.
"Old Li, what did you call me for?"
"You're here. Sit down, let's talk."
Li Tianming pointed to the small sofa beside him.
Qin Siyang plopped down and asked, "Did you make some progress with the Water Glazed star ore research?"
"The Water Glazed star ore thing won't move that fast. It'll take time. This time, we're here to talk about you."
"Me?"
"That's right. We were thinking, now that everything's back on track and things have settled down, we all owe you quite a bit. So we figured it's time to consider a development plan for you."
"Development plan? What kind of plan?"
"To teach you some things about research."
"Oh, great!"
"There are a lot of different fields related to research. What do you want to learn?"
"I don't know anything right now. Whatever you're willing to teach me, I'll learn, as long as it helps me get stronger in combat."
Chang Tianxiang said, "I can teach you Theology."
"Theology? Sounds like just learning about gods. Does that have anything to do with fighting?"
"Of course. You're not wrong, it's about studying the characteristics of gods, learning their abilities, and when fighting against God beings in the future, it'll help you find their weak points faster."
"How long would that take to learn?"
"Two or three years just to get the basics."
"Too long. Nope, not learning that. Both Professor Chang the First and Professor Chang the Second's research is already in my recognition app, way more convenient than studying it myself."
"Besides, learning that wouldn't improve my combat strength against other Sequence users."
Li Tianming asked, "Didn't you say you'd learn anything?"
"I said anything, but it still has to be something that improves fast and has strong practical use. Old Li, you know me, I'm all about efficiency."
"Theology takes time and effort. Even if I spent a year on it, I might not even surpass the app's recognition ability. Wouldn't that just be a waste of time?"
[T/N: There's a 🎉 discount 🎉 ongoing in my P@treon till Dec 6. Consider joining if you want to read more chapters, read new fanfics, and appreciate the effort I put in. Have a great read~]