Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Dean and an Unexpected Encounter with Aivana (First Release)

Knock knock knock —

“Oh, Goddess! I said no, no! The budget is only so much! You want to hire an orchestra here, a ball over there, and then you need desserts in between — oh Goddess, the desserts still have to be bought from that damned Jazz Bridge! Why don’t you just say we should hold the graduation ceremony at the theater?!!!”

The deep brown wooden office door in front of Xia’er was half-open, and from inside came a somewhat sharp complaint, indicating that the person inside was not in good spirits.

When the complaining inside ceased, Xia’er spoke softly, “Dean Jenny, it’s me, Xia’er.”

“Oh!”

A sound of rummaging through drawers echoed, and soon after, an old woman leaned on a cane, pulled open the wooden door, and looked at Xia’er: “Sorry, sweetheart, I thought it was those vampires. Come in, what are you waiting for?”

Xia’er helped the old woman, dressed in plain gray attire, enter and sat her down on the sofa in the reception area.

“It was only yesterday’s graduation ceremony, did you sleep for two whole days?” Dean Jenny picked up her round-framed glasses from the desk and looked at Xia’er, “Your complexion looks good; you must have slept well.”

Dean Jenny’s attempt at humor left Xia’er momentarily speechless, so she continued along with what the other person said: “Yes, Xia’er, who overslept, came to see the Dean to inquire about the recommendation letter matters.”

“Recommendation letter?” Jenny assumed a surprised expression, looked around, and then whispered, “They told you?”

“Who?”

“The vampires!” Jenny smiled and stood up, slowly walking to the desk, picking up a sealed envelope with red wax already applied, “Come here, Xia’er.”

Xia’er walked over to Jenny with a puzzled look, looking at the envelope she handed him.

“Don’t open it,” Jenny patted Xia’er’s shoulder and smiled, “I was planning to give you a surprise tomorrow.”

“This is…” Xia’er was confused, unsure of the purpose of the envelope.

“You don’t know?” This time it was Jenny’s turn to be confused. If Xia’er didn’t know about it, why would he come to get the recommendation letter?

“This is a recommendation letter from the Law School of An Su University,” Jenny said softly after clearing her throat, “The teachers knew your family’s financial situation was limited and decided, after discussion, to abandon Augus University and write a joint recommendation letter for An Su United University. Take this letter to the Dean of the Law School, and they will arrange for your scholarship.”

“I calculated it for you. The accommodation and meals are a bit more expensive, but the tuition is almost halved. Added together, it’s about the same as here.”

Seeing Xia’er’s silence, Jenny feared Xia’er was dissatisfied with An Su United University and quickly explained:

“Although An Su United University was recently established, it has a dedicated law school. As for Augus College, you know, it’s exclusively for nobles. They become officials right away, and although there are good teachers, there isn’t a good atmosphere.”

“Dean Jenny, it’s not like that. I don’t think An Su University is bad,” Xia’er took a deep breath and placed the recommendation letter on the desk.

According to what Dean Jenny said, with the scholarship covering half the tuition, plus accommodation and meals, the final price would be about the same as here.

But to attend school here, it was only possible because his sister had used her compensation money for her disfigurement, along with working overtime, barely managing to afford it.

Now, the compensation money had been completely consumed, and relying solely on one’s own strength…

The salary of an ordinary worker couldn’t possibly support a college student who didn’t contribute to production.

She also wanted to enjoy a peaceful life in college, but not now. At least she had to arrange everything first, clean the money, and then consider going to college.

“I came here this time for a letter of recommendation for a position at the Borough City Police Station,” Xia’er lowered her head, not daring to look up at Principal Jenny.

The air remained silent for a while before Xia’er felt Jenny pushing the envelope back onto her desk.

Then, Jenny slowly sat back behind her office desk, rummaged through some papers, and took out another letter, writing on it.

She wrote very slowly, and even made a few rare mistakes with some words. At the end, after stamping her signature, she sealed the letter into the envelope and started melting wax to seal it.

Throughout the entire process, neither of them spoke. They remained silent until Jenny finished sealing the letter with the school stamp and handed it to Xia’er.

“Thank you, Principal Jenny.” Xia’er reached out to take the envelope, expressing gratitude, but failed to take the letter from her hand.

Xia’er looked at Jenny, only to find that Jenny was staring at her seriously.

“You haven’t given up on your studies, right?” Jenny asked.

“…Yes.” Xia’er nodded.

If circumstances allowed, she also wanted to continue down the normal path.

“That’s good.” Jenny let go of the letter, no longer looking at Xia’er, but muttered to herself, “The recommendation letter for An Su University remains valid, but if you miss this academic year, you’ll have to wait until next year… You’re a girl with a plan, so go ahead and do it…”

Xia’er bowed slightly, then put away the two letters and turned to leave.

Although she felt that she had disappointed the expectations of the principal and other teachers, she had no choice.

If she wanted to, she could exchange several hundred gold pounds using dozens of fate points, and live a secluded life with her sister, out of the world’s affairs.

But who could be sure which would come first, tomorrow or an accident? Fate points couldn’t be used recklessly, and she couldn’t exchange gold pounds without finding a way to clean them.

Xia’er walked towards the Borough City Police Station in the central area. The school wasn’t far from the police station, and after about twenty minutes, Xia’er arrived at the entrance of the police station.

Xia’er pushed open the door and entered the police station’s front hall, registering her intentions at the reception counter.

“Applying for a clerical position?” The receptionist looked surprised at what Xia’er had written, asking, “Do you have a letter of recommendation?”

“Yes.” Xia’er took out the recommendation letter from her bag and handed it to the receptionist.

“Please wait, I will show the recommendation letter to the governor for review.” The man stood up and pointed to the public waiting area, saying, “You can sit there for a moment, miss.”

“Okay, thank you.” Xia’er walked to the public waiting area and found an empty seat. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something and turned her head to look at the police station entrance.

A black-haired girl wearing a police cloak, boots, and a black uniform skirt pushed open the main door of the police station.

Almost instinctively, she scanned the public waiting area, as if her subconscious reminded her to do so. Then, she saw a beautiful girl sitting on a bench in the reception area, smiling at her.

The expressionless girl rarely ignored someone’s greeting; she gave a slight nod toward the red-haired girl and then bypassed the reception desk, heading towards the stairs to the second floor.