Of course, if you were to judge solely on looks, Anderson was also exceptionally handsome.
Qu Yan steadied herself and walked decisively downstairs, reaching out to give Chloe a hug.
Chloe's face radiated with a genuine smile as she tightened her arms around Qu Yan's back.
While the two of them embraced passionately, Daniel and the others behind them were somewhat bewildered.
First was Daniel, who was rather slow-witted and forgetful. Apart from instinctively waving his hand in greeting at the beginning, he spent the rest of the time trying to figure out who this person was.
Daniel's poor memory meant he truly couldn't remember this person's name.
He secretly glanced at the girl with neat black short hair, not daring to interrupt Chloe's enthusiastic reunion. Instead, he turned to Qin Huaibei:
"Who is she? I can't remember."
He spoke in a hushed voice, seemingly genuinely afraid that Chloe might overhear and pick on him.
Qin Huaibei frowned slightly: "You don't know? We were so close before."
"Were we?" Daniel asked, puzzled. "You mean during the Joint Military Academy Competition? At most, we were just collaborators, not that close."
Qin Huaibei looked at him speechlessly, ultimately unable to resist punching him: "My cousin."
"Oh."
With that explanation, Daniel finally remembered a bit.
After careful consideration, he had a sudden realization: "Oh, it's her, Qu Yan, right?"
"I'll remember now."
Daniel's claim to remember was as useless as a fart; it held no weight. If he didn't see her for a while, he'd probably forget again.
Naturally, Qin Huaibei didn't expect him to remember anything useful with that memory of his.
With all those muscles, being able to fight was enough.
"It's been a long time," Qu Yan said as she took out a pen and a notepad from her chest pocket. "I'll write down my terminal number for you. Add me when you get back."
Chloe was about to suggest adding her right away, but then she thought better of it and glanced down at Qu Yan's empty wrist.
She had almost forgotten that students at Tagar Military Academy weren't allowed to carry terminals during regular days.
Chloe sighed inwardly once again, then took the notepad: "Alright."
"I'll definitely remember," Chloe vowed solemnly. "If I don't add you to my contacts when I get back, I'll immediately eat a hundred pounds of dog food."
Qu Yan laughed: "There's no need for such a dire oath."
Still the same as before, always talking nonsense.
Looking at Chloe, who had grown proportionately, Qu Yan couldn't help but feel a sense of pride.
It was strange, considering they were about the same age.
But Chloe had the ability to make those around her want to take care of her instinctively.
Qu Yan shifted her gaze from Chloe to Qin Huaibei:
"Cousin, it's been a while."
Qin Huaibei pushed up the glasses on his nose: "It has been quite some time."
After years apart, even the closest relationships need some adjustment.
But with Chloe around, even the most distant relationships could be forcibly revitalized.
Chloe, half-hanging on Qu Yan, heard their conversation and said with a mischievous grin:
"Oh, so formal in front of family, Qin Huaibei, you're so lame."
Qin Huaibei: "..."
"Would it kill you to say less?"
Chloe exclaimed in mock surprise: "How did you know!"
Qin Huaibei simply stopped talking, finally giving Qu Yan a sincere warning: "Don't hang out too much with Chloe, she's naturally missing a screw in her head."
The young people soon fell into a chorus of laughter and banter.
The Tagar Academy Principal watched them and remarked with a sigh: "I didn't expect them to get along so well."
Ren Yunying's face remained expressionless: "They're getting along decently enough."
At least in Chloe's eyes, as long as she wanted to, she could become best friends with anyone within three minutes.
Seeing them chatting away enthusiastically, the Tagar Academy Principal waited for a while, but finally couldn't wait any longer and said:
"It's time, children. Let's head to the arena."
As soon as he finished speaking, the noisy chatter instantly stopped.
Chloe hesitantly raised her hand: "Weren't we just here to have fun this time?"
There was even a music festival tomorrow night.
Ren Yunying raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a half-smile: "Am I so kind-hearted that I'd specially bring you out to play?"
Chloe immediately deflated.
Indeed, she wasn't.
If Ren Yunying ever did something like that, it would be truly horrifying.
As it was, this was very good. This was exactly Ren Yunying's style.
Chloe looked at Qu Yan dejectedly, and Qu Yan returned an apologetic smile.
At this moment, the other Tagar students who had been waiting on the side for who knows how long also approached.
There were five of them in total. Chloe looked them over one by one and found them quite familiar.
They seemed to be the same old acquaintances from the previous Joint Military Academy Competition.
One of them, a handsome young man, even smiled and waved at Chloe.
Chloe tilted her head slightly, raising her hand to wave back half-heartedly.
The young man clearly became even happier.
Seeing this, Daniel narrowed his eyes slightly and exchanged a glance with Qin Huaibei.
Just as Chloe was about to say something, she felt something hard being pressed into her palm.
She turned to look and saw it was a candy from Anderson.
Chloe looked at him appreciatively: "Not bad, you're on the ball. I like young people like you who are quick on the uptake."
Anderson didn't shy away, his emerald green eyes steadily meeting Chloe's gaze, the corner of his lips curling up: "It's my pleasure."
...
This time, The No.1 Military Academy and Tagar Military Academy were having a sort of team-building exercise, with the purpose of allowing the outstanding students from both military academies to engage in friendly competition.
This time, Tagar Military Academy had the advantage, as the event was taking place on their home turf.
After walking for about ten minutes, they finally arrived at Tagar Military Academy's arena.
By now, nearly a thousand people had gathered outside, all there to watch this competition.
Looking at the surrounding spectators, a flash of shock crossed Chloe's face:
"So everyone else knew about our competition, and we were the only ones who didn't!"
Daniel chimed in, indignant: "We didn't even get to prepare in advance!"
Ren Yunying looked at him mercilessly: "Even without preparation, you train every day. That's enough."
She continued to deflate their spirits: "Although Tagar Military Academy's training regimen is indeed terrifyingly intense, you lot who only put in sporadic effort shouldn't feel too much pressure. After all, don't you pride yourselves on being rare geniuses?"
Ren Yunying's words carried a mocking tone, aiming to give a good reality check to this group of military academy troublemakers led by Chloe.
But she forgot one thing: these people all had skin thicker than city walls.
Give them an inch and they'd take a mile. Tell them they're good at one thing, and they'd think they're masters of everything.
Sure enough, as soon as the words left her mouth, Chloe was the first to speak up:
"That's right! We're a bunch of geniuses. How could we possibly lose a competition?"
With those words, Qin Huaibei and the others instantly gained confidence.
Indeed, being geniuses as they were, how could they possibly lose a competition?!
Watching the young people's eyes light up like bulbs, Ren Yunying couldn't take it anymore. She hissed menacingly:
"I think you all need a good smack. Now get up on that stage, quick!"
