Shawn Zhao heard the sound and instinctively glanced toward the office door.
The next second, the door swung open.
Standing there was a teenager, looking utterly lazy.
"Who do you think will regret it?"
The boy's voice was calm, drifting in from outside.
The moment he stepped into the office, Shawn Zhao's face twitched, his smile instantly turning into a miserable grimace. His legs shook, and before he could help it, he slumped right into his chair.
"When did you get back? You didn't even tell me!"
Autumn Zheng's face lit up with joy as she saw Lin Yi walk in.
The heart she'd been worrying about these past few days finally relaxed.
Autumn Zheng had been terrified that Lin Yi might run into the Lin family in Beijing and stir up unnecessary trouble—which would be extremely dangerous.
Even if the entire Zheng clan pooled all their strength, they'd still be no match for the mysterious Lin family.
After all, the Lin family produced someone like Azure Dragon.
Autumn Zheng didn't fully grasp how powerful Azure Dragon truly was—since she'd never reached that level herself—but there was no doubt: a single word from Azure Dragon could wipe out the Zheng clan completely.
That alone showed just how terrifying the Lin family's power really was.
Luckily, Lin Yi came back safe and sound, so Autumn Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just got here."
Lin Yi nodded at Autumn Zheng, feeling a bit guilty inside.
He'd promised Autumn Zheng not to stir up trouble, but things had definitely gotten out of hand.
The Shang family was wiped out, Lin Yi broke into the Ancient Martial Rowe clan, then tangled with Nightstar, stomped Blake Lin from the Upper-Grade Lin Clan, and finally joined Moonshade.
Add up all those twists and turns, and it's clear Lin Yi stirred up way more trouble than anyone expected.
The only thing that didn't make waves was the incident with Blake Lin—it seems Yvette Ye managed to keep that under wraps.
But the story of Master Lin from Seacrest crushing Nightstar? That couldn't be suppressed at all.
Maybe it's because Lin Yi is officially considered part of Moonshade now.
If Nightstar lost to an outsider, their reputation would take a serious hit. But if they lost to Moonshade, even if word got out, people would just think Moonshade's power is terrifying.
Besides, everyone already sees Nightstar as weaker than Moonshade, so it doesn't really hurt Nightstar's reputation—in fact, it feels kind of expected.
"Lin Yi, you did great on the exam this time. You brought honor to the school."
When Director Chen saw Lin Yi walk in, his expression flickered, but he quickly composed himself and said, "I was just talking with your counselor about you."
"So, what do you think? Interested in picking up a double major?"
"A bachelor's degree from the Department of Mathematics at Rivercrest State University is still pretty valuable in the real world."
"Normally, if you wanted to add our math degree, you'd have to apply in advance, take an exam, and only then—if your scores were good enough—would the school approve it. That's the usual process."
"But I think you're talented, so I'm planning to bend the rules and admit you directly. What do you think?"
Director Chen finished speaking and looked at Lin Yi.
"Sure, I'm a genius—but that doesn't mean you're good teachers."
Lin Yi shook his head. "You two sitting here—what do you think you could possibly teach me?"
"Teach me how to accuse people of cheating, or teach me how to lose a math modeling competition?"
Lin Yi's tone was flat.
As soon as he finished, Director Chen's face darkened. "I only said the probability was very low. We're mathematicians—rigor is our thing. In probability theory, the odds aren't zero, but that doesn't mean I think you cheated."
"That's right!"
Hearing Director Chen, Shawn Zhao jumped in, seizing the chance: "If you use mathematical thinking, anything that's not absolutely impossible is possible."
"So you can't call it slander—we're just thinking dialectically!"
Shawn Zhao finished, then quickly looked at Autumn Zheng: "Ms. Zheng, you studied math too—tell us, isn't that how it works?"
His face was full of pleading.
But Autumn Zheng didn't budge, completely ignoring his words and expression.
"Enough."
Lin Yi shook his head, glancing at Director Chen: "I'm not interested in you, so stop wasting my time."
"I'm a horticulture student and I stomped your whole Math Department. As the department head, you've lost plenty of face. If you don't like it, go complain to the university president."
Lin Yi's words left Director Chen's face alternating between green and pale.
Everyone knew that last time, the president of Rivercrest State personally escorted Victor Li, and Victor Li went out of his way to walk half the campus with Lin Yi.
Complain to the president?
Director Chen might not even keep his position if he tried.
"That was my mistake."
Director Chen quickly changed the subject: "The mathematical logic is sound, but we still need to judge things based on reality."
"I'll have someone check where this rumor started."
Director Chen gave in fast. At his age, losing face was annoying, but if he didn't, he'd feel even worse inside and in life.
"Director Chen..."
Seeing Director Chen fold so quickly, Shawn Zhao's face changed.
The rumor didn't spread by itself—Shawn Zhao played a big part. But he only did it because Director Chen told him to, hoping Autumn Zheng would convince Lin Yi to go for a double major.
But now, what the heck?
Lin Yi didn't even lift a finger—just a few words and Director Chen threw him under the bus.
Shawn Zhao felt his heart trembling.
"I don't care where the rumor came from. I'm here for one simple reason."
Lin Yi yawned and walked forward.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Shawn Zhao trembled as Lin Yi approached.
"Shawn Zhao, I stomped your whole Math Department in the modeling competition. What, you forgot to celebrate?"
Lin Yi looked at him, squinting: "Come on. With all that blubber, you should get some exercise and lose a few pounds."
"Go ahead, strip down and sprint around the track."
"Let everyone see how fast you can run."
As Lin Yi spoke, Shawn Zhao's face turned ashen. He looked to Director Chen for help, desperate.
"A wager's a wager."
Director Chen watched his nose, watched his heart, and sipped his tea: "Not my problem."
He had no intention of interfering.
"Lin Yi... can we talk about this...?"
Shawn Zhao's voice trembled as he tried to speak.
But Lin Yi had already stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, and casually tossed him out of the office.