“Ahhh!” Melina trembled with excitement the moment she received the news.
She rushed straight to the Outlets Grand Hotel, not caring about her image at all, and shouted, “Lin Xiaohe! Lin Xiaohe!”
Lin Xiaohe happened to be coming downstairs to pick up some mutated beast meat. “Madam Melina?”
Melina’s face was glowing, the muscles in her cheeks quivering with radiance as she said in a trembling voice, “Lin Xiaohe, you absolutely must pass the special recruitment exam!”
Huh?
A flicker of hesitation passed through Lin Xiaohe’s eyes as she said honestly, “I haven’t decided what to do yet. You know, this whole thing feels a bit unreliable.”
The way everything was unfolding was just too strange.
She had handed in a blank paper, yet she was still being specially recruited by the Central Military Academy.
If it weren’t for the dangerous situation her family was in at the time, Lin Xiaohe would never have agreed to take some special recruitment exam in the first place.
“No! It is reliable! It’s incredibly reliable! Extremely reliable! There’s nothing more reliable than this!” Melina was gesticulating wildly, having lost all the composure she’d shown when they first met.
The hotel lobby was full of guests.
They remembered Melina and the hero Lin Xiaohe well, so they paused in their steps and pricked up their ears to listen.
Melina placed both hands on Lin Xiaohe’s shoulders, her eyes gleaming brightly as she looked at her as if she were the most precious treasure in the world.
“Lin Xiaohe, I confirmed it with the Central Military Academy. One hundred percent certain—you are exactly the kind of specially recruited talent they are looking for.”
Melina’s grin spread wide like a blooming sunflower, her voice brimming with pride and excitement. “You’re a genius! Your talent is unparalleled! Even Marshal Chu would stop in his tracks for you! Dear Lin Xiaohe, do you know who specially recruited you?”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t understand why Melina was so worked up, but judging by her reaction, it seemed to be good news.
“Who?”
“It’s Marshal Chu!”
“Marshal Chu?” Lin Xiaohe’s mind buzzed.
If her memory served her correctly, there was only one person in the entire Federation who could be addressed as Marshal Chu.
Melina put her hands on her hips, her eyes glistening with tears of excitement. “That’s right! It’s Chu Huaizhi, Marshal Chu!”
The entire hotel lobby erupted into an uproar.
Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs, shouting themselves hoarse.
They didn’t even know what they were yelling about; they just knew that their emotions were surging wildly in their chests, and if they didn’t let it out, they felt like they would burst!
The manager of the Outlets Hotel stumbled over to Lin Xiaohe, his eyes red. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
The excitement inside him surged like a torrent straight to his head, finally manifesting as a deep ninety-degree bow.
“First Lieutenant Lin, please, I beg you, you must pass the exam! All expenses for your stay at the Outlets will be completely waived. We will assign five butlers to handle all your trivial matters. Whatever you need, just give us your orders.”
Holy black hole.
First Lieutenant Lin wasn’t just any ordinary special recruit—she was a special recruit personally favored and recruited by Marshal Chu!
No wonder she was so incredibly strong, no wonder her moral character shone as brightly as the stars, no wonder her assessment was astronomically difficult!
What did it mean to have a powerful young person, a graduate of the Central Military Academy, who could be considered Marshal Chu’s last disciple?
It meant that as long as she grew smoothly, she was certain to earn the rank of general, and might even enter the Military Council!
Oh my god, he was so happy he felt like he might faint.
He absolutely had to preserve the suite Lin Xiaohe was staying in—available for viewing only, not for lodging!
Lin Xiaohe was flushed with excitement, feeling dazed and confused.
She didn’t know how she got back to the suite, nor could she remember what happened next.
When she finally came to her senses, she saw the Lin family members frozen in place, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Lin Xiaohe said flatly, “Melina told me my special recruitment notice was issued by Marshal Chu.”
“Oh.”
Seeing her family react to such explosive news not with shouting and yelling like everyone else, but with calm composure, Lin Xiaohe began to wonder if she was the one making too big a deal out of it?
Actually, maybe this wasn’t such a big deal, right?
Lin Xiaohe started to get up to pour herself a glass of water.
She needed to drink something to calm down.
“Little sister! Don’t move. I’ll get it!” Lin Chiyang sprang up from his seat, swiftly went to get purified water, and even thoughtfully warmed it to 36 degrees.
“Little sister, please, have some water.”
Lin Xiaohe looked at the glass of water being held up to her lips and blinked.
Was her big brother trying to feed her?
It was a little embarrassing; she was already eighteen.
“Big brother, just give me the water. I can drink it myself.”
“No, no, no. Little sister has worked hard. How can we let you do even such a small thing yourself?” Lin Chiyang was adamant.
His little sister’s hands were meant for piloting a mech. What if she got scalded? What if she got tired?
Suppressing a slight feeling of embarrassment, Lin Xiaohe drank the water her brother brought to her lips.
Maybe because she was too nervous, after drinking the water, Lin Xiaohe felt the need to use the bathroom.
Lin Jingqiu also stood up and followed behind her.
Lin Xiaohe said, “Second sister, do you need to use the bathroom too? You go first, I’m not in a hurry.”
Lin Jingqiu shook her head and looked at Lin Xiaohe tenderly.
Lin Xiaohe’s face instantly turned bright red. “Second sister, I’m a grown-up now. I don’t need you to accompany me to the bathroom.”
When she was little, the original Lin Xiaohe had been afraid to go to the bathroom alone and always needed her second sister with her.
But Second Sister was firm: what if something happened to Little Sister in the bathroom?
This bathroom trip was excruciating; Lin Xiaohe felt like she was sitting on pins and needles and almost couldn’t go.
Back in the living room, the family looked at each other.
How could Lin Xiaohe not understand now? Her family wasn’t calm at all—they were completely overwhelmed with joy!
“Alright, if you have something to say, just say it.”
Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to look at the person in the family who was best at talking.
Grandma Lin’s hand, resting on Grandpa Lin’s leg, unconsciously pinched a fold of soft flesh.
Grandpa Lin grimaced in pain but didn’t dare make a sound.
Grandma Lin cleared her throat and asked in a gentle voice, “Xiaohe, what are your thoughts on the exam?”
Participate or not?
Lin Xiaohe glanced at her family. They clearly wanted her to take the exam, but they didn’t say so. They were trying hard to control their expressions, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary, as if the notice hadn’t come from Marshal Chu himself.
“Grandma, do you all really want me to take the exam?”
Grandma Lin hesitated for a moment, then said honestly, “Setting aside other considerations, of course we hope you can enter the Central Military Academy and strive for a bright future. But considering the danger level of the assessment, we’d rather you live a healthy life.”
Lin Dad added, “Yes, Xiaohe, you’re already a First Lieutenant. That’s incredibly impressive.”
So, please, don’t go taking risks just for the sake of pride or anything.
Lin Jingqiu put her arm around Lin Xiaohe, as if to tell her that no matter what decision she made, her family would support her unconditionally.
Lin Xiaohe asked herself: did she want to take the exam? Did she want to go to the Central Military Academy?
She thought for a long time, and in the end, her answer was yes.
She didn’t want to be toyed with like an ant anymore. She wanted to climb to the highest point and live the way she wanted!
