Serie gave an noncommittal hum, swatting away her restless hand, and suddenly thought of something: "So, what was your classroom score during your freshman period?"
"How much?" Claudia casually adjusted her cuffs, as if discussing something trivial. "I don't remember. I'm not interested in that stuff."
She glanced at Serie, adding lightly, "Anyway, I was ranked first that time."
"Huh?" Serie's eyes widened in surprise. No wonder Claudia was so confident in her scolding. So she was a super academic overachiever?
No... she always thought Claudia was on par with her, or even worse.
After all, this girl either zoned out in class or played with her... hair.
So... the clown was me?
Serie silently covered her face.
Serie always thought Claudia was trying to hinder her studies.
But unexpectedly, it was she herself who was dragging down this future star of the Control Bureau.
If Serie were in ancient times, she would probably be the type to bring disaster to the nation and turn an emperor into a tyrant.
However, weakening the Control Bureau's strength through such a method, wasn't it a form of indirect salvation for the country?
Let's all stop studying and become slaves to my skirt, Serie ~
Serie teased inwardly.
"Click."
Finally, amidst everyone's eager anticipation,
That dark wooden door, separating countless expectations and ambitions, was opened from the inside.
The hubbub in the corridor ceased abruptly.
Doctor Lynette stood inside the doorway.
Her pristine white research coat made her figure appear even more slender and aloof.
Her long golden hair was meticulously tied into a simple bun at the back of her head, revealing a smooth, full forehead and beautifully sculpted jawline.
Her face was pale, unadorned, and lacked color, like exquisitely fired cold porcelain. Only her eyes—deep like cobalt blue sapphires sunken into the ocean—scanned calmly over the young faces outside the door, each filled with tension.
However, when that calm gaze touched Serie at the edge of the crowd, her pupils contracted slightly.
Time seemed to have stolen an extremely tiny fraction of a second.
Beneath Lynette's indifferent expression, her heart suddenly leaped, almost hitting her throat, bringing a hint of surprise—she had come!
The gaze did not linger, moving away quickly, so fast that one might think it was an illusion.
Only Lynette herself knew that, at the moment she lowered her eyes, a subtle curve quietly spread at the corner of her tightly pressed lips.
She raised her eyes, looking back at the crowd, her voice clear and steady, without a ripple: "My personal research project will only recruit one freshman student as an assistant this month."
As soon as her words fell, a suppressed stir immediately arose in the crowd.
Qin Shiyu subconsciously straightened his back, a look of determination flashing across his face, his gaze fixed intently on Lynette, as if that sole position was already within his grasp.
He had specifically researched it; all others who scored higher than him had chosen other mentors.
This meant that among these people, his classroom score was the highest.
This position belonged to him!
One by one, the students submitted their evaluation forms.
Lynette's slender fingers flipped through each student's evaluation form.
Every rustle of the paper seemed to strike the taut nerves of the students outside the door.
Her gaze lingered briefly on a few forms, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she were making a final deliberation.
Only Lynette knew that she was actually pretending to think...
The air was so thick it was almost suffocating.
Qin Shiyu almost held his breath, the smile on his lips barely contained.
Finally, the flipping fingers stopped.
Steadily, she pulled out an evaluation form.
Lynette looked up, her gaze precisely cutting through the crowd, past countless hopeful or nervous eyes, and locking onto that slender figure with her head bowed.
Her voice was still steady, but carried a subtle warmth, imperceptible to others, detectable only by the specific target.
It was like an undercurrent quietly surging beneath the ice.
"Student Serie," she clearly pronounced the name, "please come in."
The next second—
"Whoosh—!"
Suppressed gasps and incredulous whispers, like boiling water exploding, instantly engulfed the corridor.
"Wh-what?!" The smile on Qin Shiyu's face instantly froze.
He was as if struck by an invisible electric current, lunging half a step forward, crying out in a voice that became sharp and piercing due to extreme shock and disbelief, "Impossible! Doctor Lynette! Did you make a mistake?! Her... her score was clearly so low!"
"How could she... this is illogical!"
"What right does she have?!"
His glasses slipped to the middle of his nose due to his overly agitated movements, his eyes behind the lenses wide and round.
Other students also gathered, looking at the top evaluation form on the stack by the table—Serie's evaluation form—and all showed expressions of disbelief. The score was shockingly low; anyone's score was more than just a little better than hers.
Lynette ignored the questioning. With her status and position, she had no need to explain her decisions to anyone.
Even if an employee of Heinuma's level stood there questioning her, she might not even spare him a glance, let alone these small fry.
She didn't even look at Qin Shiyu or anyone else again. After speaking, she turned and returned to her office.
"Hehe, Little Butterfly, hurry up! The Doctor is waiting for you!" Yuki chuckled, pushing Serie's back lightly with a relieved joy.
"Mhm." Serie nodded, her face calm and unruffled, as if all of this was perfectly natural.
She didn't even look at Qin Shiyu's crumbling expression, her lips merely curving upwards with a hint of smugness.
If Lynette didn't choose her, who would she choose~?
If Lynette dared not choose her? Hmph hmph...
Despite their mutual suspicions, Serie and Lynette, at least in their mutual selection as teacher and student, ultimately moved towards each other.
That dark wooden door, under the gaze of countless astonished, even resentful eyes, opened for Serie.
Then, it silently closed behind her, completely isolating all the noise and doubts from outside the door, as well as that frozen figure.
Inside the door was another world.
Soft artificial sunlight streamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, filling the room.
The air was filled with the scent of old paper, hardcover book pages, and a hint of the crisp jasmine that belonged to Lynette.
Serie stood at the doorway, clearly hearing her own heartbeat.
She looked up, her gaze cutting through the empty office, precisely catching the figure behind the desk who seemed to be busy organizing documents.
Lynette had her back to the door, but the lines of her shoulders revealed a subtle stiffness.
"Doctor?" Serie spoke sweetly.
Serie's voice seemed to make Lynette's straight back stiffen a little more: "Mhm, have a seat."
Serie's lips couldn't help but curl up even higher.
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