Looking at the questions, a sudden inspiration struck Ziye. Many problems that had previously baffled her clicked into place—like why the boys sitting in front of her hadn't shown up, or why some people just couldn't stick things out to the very end. It was because they, too, were utterly lost when it came to 《》!

For every question, it felt as though she had seen it before, yet she couldn't recall the exact wording of the answers. Recalling the textbook, every key passage seemed shrouded in a haze, indistinct and blurry. As someone once said, the greatest tragedy during an exam isn't a sudden mishap, but knowing you should know the answer yet being unable to write a single word.

No matter how hard she racked her brain, Ziye had no choice but to list her answers based on knowledge points one by one, taking whatever she could get.

Still, she felt she had no chance.

Ziye stepped out of the examination hall, gazing at the various starships traversing the deep void, and let out a soft breath. Just then, her Chrono-Link buzzed; it was Chun Niu. A single, simple sentence flashed across: "Congratulations on successfully escaping 《》."

Ziye couldn't help but smile faintly. She typed back: "Thank you for poisoning me with 《》 for two months." Then, she pulled out the dormant little Sprout from her bag. "Come on, let's go for a spin."

She rented a mag-lev vehicle and toured the space station for a while. Satisfied after browsing the mecha market, she checked out and set off for other stations. Having just finished exams, she didn't want to be tied down; she jumped between stations, watching the evening fleet come and go—a vibrant spectacle.

Around evening, Xing Rui sent her a message, sounding utterly dejected. "Ziye, I'm leaving."

Ziye asked, surprised, "Where are you going?"

Xing Rui on the screen looked devastated, his eyes red. "I'm going home. I ran away from home because I was determined to get into Lingsi this year. Now that it's impossible, they won't let me stay out any longer."

Ziye didn't know the situation at his home and dared not offer hasty advice, so she simply consoled him, "The scores aren't out yet, don't worry."

Xing Rui turned his head away and sniffled, pretending to be unconcerned. "I didn't even get to finish half of the 《》 exam."

Ziye recalled her own Relationship Study paper, filled to the brim with answers she was unsure of, and felt a pang of melancholy herself. "Don't be sad."

Xing Rui covered his face. "How can I not be sad? I always thought if I got in this year, at the same age as Chun Niu, I could definitely steal his thunder later. But if I test again next year, I'll be seventeen. I won't even have a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as him."

Ziye’s grasp of 《》 was dreadful; she understood nothing of the complexities of human relationships, let alone how to comfort someone. Hearing Xing Rui say that, she didn't know what words to offer.

Xing Rui didn't want to say more and ended the conversation abruptly. "My family is here to pick me up. I’m leaving. Goodbye." With that, he disconnected the Chrono-Link.

Ziye stared blankly at the dimmed screen of her Chrono-Link and sighed. All her desire to have fun evaporated. She decided to take the shuttle back to Kila ③ Space Station.

She arrived back just before ten at night. Noticing her neighbor's light was off, she felt a little disappointed. She hurried over and knocked, but there was no answer.

Little Sprout swelled up from her head, projecting a light screen lazily. "See? His apartment is back in the rental system."

Ziye paused her knocking hand and sighed softly.

Most permanent residents in any given space station were few; the majority stayed only for a few days. Therefore, the rental system was extremely efficient. Robots cleaned the unit within an hour of a renter applying to move out, and within two hours, it was back in the system, ready for rent.

Since the apartment had already returned to the rental system, it meant Xing Rui had been gone for over two hours.

He had run away from home; going back now was probably the sensible choice! Even though she hadn't gotten a chance to ask him about the mecha manufacturing plants near Kila Station...

Ziye climbed onto the forum as she pondered.

Star Treasure was offline.

However, the moment she entered the chatroom, everyone immediately burst out in unison: "Congrats, girl, you're done with exams!"

Ziye couldn't help but smile; it was always lively here. Her heart felt warm. Just as she was about to speak, Cangyun Wolf suddenly cut in: "Since you're done studying, hurry back and take over our assignments! Ya Ya, we can't manage without you!"

Ziye instantly developed a darkened expression.

Chun Niu chuckled. "Don't listen to him running his mouth. You have fun for the next few days. The mentor has already found one for you; we'll discuss his terms together later."

Ziye let out a sudden laugh. "No rush, no rush, let's wait for the scores to come out."

Chun Niu sensed something was amiss and messaged her privately: "What's wrong?"

Ziye hesitated, then typed gently: "I feel... not good."

Chun Niu soothed her. "Preparing in advance is always better than waiting. For the Applied Mechanics major’s practical project, you can work on mecha modification. After you rest up, you can start working on it. Scores release on December 10th, and the practical project is due on December 20th. If you wait until you see the scores, you won't have enough time."

He was already thinking so far ahead. Ziye felt a touch of guilt, but more so, she was moved. She nodded. "Okay."

Ziye returned to the chatroom, chatted with everyone for a while, then logged off to sleep.

As for the assignments, Little Sprout had completed quite a few previously. Given Ziye’s claim of "no time for homework," she hadn't submitted them. These next few days, just sending out Little Sprout's current output would suffice.

The only regret was not seeing Su Tang.

She wanted to tell Su Tang, "I did my best."

Two months of exam preparation, for someone who had absolutely no prior exposure to the subject, was genuinely not easy. Ziye wasn't a genius; the only thing she could do was work hard.

Now that she had tried her best, she felt she had a clear conscience.

Of course, she felt it was a pity. If she had known about the university entrance exams earlier, if she had started reviewing sooner, perhaps her 《》 score wouldn't have been so terrible.

Indeed, there was no regret potion available for sale, so she smoothed over that small knot in her heart.

After an exam, one had to truly unwind.

Ziye had had a bad experience and been attacked by pirates on Siyatu Star, leaving her somewhat averse to the place. Consequently, she had zero desire to go to Siyatu to watch the meteor shower. She asked Little Sprout, "How about we go travel on the surface of Kila Star?"

Little Sprout finally had a chance to venture out and happily lifted the small sprout on its head. "Oh yeah!"

Ziye woke up early, ran, showered, and dressed meticulously for the outing.

She hadn't had the opportunity or the means to dress up before, but now that the exams were over, the young woman felt a desire to beautify herself, deciding to make herself look stunning this one time.

Kila was a very warm planet; even in November, the climate was pleasant. Ziye checked the weather and pulled out all the clothes she had recently purchased, trying them on.

She hadn't been out since going for the exam, so these clothes hadn't had a chance to debut. Now that the opportunity was rare, she happily selected a few outfits from the pile: shorts and ankle boots paired with a long-sleeved top. She threw on a vest, put on a hat, struck a pose she thought was very cool, and asked Little Sprout, "Is this set okay?"

Little Sprout had no sense of aesthetics regarding clothing; it preferred hard, cold, clean lines of metal. It shook its head.

Ziye glared at it in annoyance, defeatedly stripped off the clothes, and changed into a long dress. The dress was distinctive, featuring pine needle paper-cut style prints carved onto the wide fabric. She swept the voluminous skirt, looking utterly captivating, and asked.

Little Sprout circled her once, its small eyes darting around. After thinking, it activated the recording interface and snapped a picture of her, displaying the effect for her to see.

Ziye stared at the screen, seeing herself looking a good ten years older, and sighed helplessly.

Fine, she truly had no talent for coordinating outfits!

Little Sprout patted its transparent little wings and searched the Net for some examples of skillfully coordinated looks. "Look closely."

Ziye leaned in, realizing that their styling was better by dozens of times compared to her own! She studied them carefully, found her rhythm, and then selected another style from the pile of clothes.

This time, the result of trying on the outfit was completely different. She wore a double-layered, ruffled bubble skirt on the bottom, a coral-colored close-fitting top, and a hollowed-out little shawl over it. She switched her shoes to ruffled vintage boots. Fully dressed, she stood before the mirror, exuding a unique, delicate charm.

Ziye made a playful face at her reflection in satisfaction, grabbed the pink polka-dotted parasol she had impulsively bought, took Little Sprout, and headed for the door. Before leaving, she remembered something, rushed back inside, retrieved the pink bow Little Sprout had hidden in a crevice, and fastened it onto its little sprout.

Little Sprout shook its head violently, curling its sprout tightly to try and dislodge the bow, but it wouldn't come off. It could only nudge Ziye to ask for help. Ziye ignored its plea and skipped toward the interstellar bus station.

"Kila Star, here I come!"

The morning on Kila Star was crisp, a sensation that became even more distinct once she stepped onto the ground. Ziye hadn't stood solidly on soil in a long time; the moment she landed, she felt an urge to roll around on the ground.

All that space, all those sectors, felt illusory; only the earth beneath her feet felt real.

Kila Star was both a tourist destination and an agricultural hub. As far as the eye could see, there were endless fields of Immortal Vegetable Blossoms, their pink petals carpeting the land. The pale golden light illuminated the dewdrops clinging to the pristine flowers—a breathtaking sight.

Little Sprout was even more excited than Ziye, diving into the flower patch like a butterfly and smiling broadly at Ziye. Ziye ran over to catch it, her beautiful skirt fluttering behind her.

The girl and the Sprout walked along the Immortal Vegetable Blossom fields until they could no longer see any other tourists. Then they stopped, released the Peacekeeper-class Mecha from the spatial button, boarded, and powered it up.

She wasn't yet of the legal driving age to operate a mecha in space, but on the surface, there weren't as many restrictions. She planned to use the mecha as her transport; it should be fine, right? Ziye thought happily, maneuvering the mecha like a large bird bobbing gently over the sea of blossoms.

Ziye had repaired the Peacekeeper-class mecha as soon as she arrived at Kila Space Station. Since she lacked nano-reconstruction robots, its exterior was still battered and rough, but as long as the performance wasn't affected, Ziye didn't care how ugly it looked.

Piloting a mecha on the surface was much safer than in space; there were no pirates to encounter, no need to stick to interstellar navigation routes—everything was done as she pleased. She reveled in the sensation of soaring speed, feeling as though she were back on Silver Crest Star, filled with absolute freedom! RS