Generally, Ziye wouldn't meet online friends, let alone share her personal comm code with them, but Chun Niu gave her a natural impression, and he was very kind to her. Surely the young genius from the Huaxia Legion, Li Chunyu, couldn't be a bad person?

For safety's sake, she logged onto the light net to search for his photo. Little Sprout was faster than her; as soon as she logged in, it displayed the picture. In the photo, Li Chunyu stood on the award stage next to his prize, the "Platinum Tycoon" model, beaming with a brilliant smile.

The opulent appearance of the Platinum Tycoon made her recall the pilot she had encountered at the pilot training base. Could that person be Li Chunyu?

Li Chunyu had a gentle and endearing face, wearing black-rimmed glasses. His hair was naturally black, neither dyed nor grown long; his scalp wasn't deliberately tanned, nor did he wear any accessories. In a society where everyone loved to dress up, he was a rarity—a true treasure.

The young genius, Li Chunyu, was surprisingly so mild-mannered.

She glanced at the specialties she had bought at the Qila Space Station. She had opened one bag for road snacks, and of the remaining two, one was specifically for Chun Niu.

He should be trustworthy, right?

"Little Dou, do you think he can be trusted?" Ziye poked Little Sprout and asked.

Even if he didn't seem malicious, space was rife with sensational headlines about online acquaintances: "Meeting an Online Friend Turns Out to Be a Pirate Robbery!" "First Meeting with an Online Friend Leads to Being Robbed and Abandoned in Space!" "Terrifying Online Friend Scam!" In short, "online friend" had become something akin to a ravenous beast.

During the height of the factional wars, "online friends" even became a potent weapon capable of causing internal strife for certain powerful families.

As soon as Ziye activated her silver talisman, she was inundated with such news, making her reluctant to let her guard down.

Little Sprout tilted its head in thought. "His appearance is proper, his features harmonious, lacking any sinister energy. Moreover, his forehead is broad—he has good bone structure. Doesn't the Huaxia Legion have a saying, 'A general’s forehead is wide enough to stable a horse'? That’s exactly the kind of forehead he has."

Ziye surprisingly seized it and turned it over, examining it from all angles. Finding nothing unusual, she said, "Where did you learn such things? You sound like a fortune teller!"

Little Sprout proudly spun once in her palm. "I just hacked into the Huaxia Legion's archives and found a book called Physiognomy. It speaks quite brilliantly. I compared it to what I saw, and I understood immediately!"

Ziye couldn't help but chuckle. "If I ever can't make it one day, how about I take you to a tourist spot in Siatu, set up a stall, and hoist a big banner saying, 'Optical Brain Fortune Telling'? What do you think?"

Little Sprout "whooshed" up the small sprout on its head. "Great idea!"

Ziye pinched its little cheeks on both sides. "You little rascal."

Little Sprout looked aggrieved. "I really can tell fortunes. Wait a moment." As it spoke, it infiltrated the Huaxia Legion's historical database again, absorbing all the information, and excitedly asked Ziye, "Hey, hey, I've got it figured out. Give me your birth year, month, day, and hour, and I’ll calculate it for you."

Ziye looked blank. "What are birth year, month, day, and hour?"

Little Sprout shook its head with feigned profundity. "This 'Bazi' stuff is profound! It refers to a person's year, month, day, and hour of birth. Calculated using the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, each time point is represented by two characters, totaling eight characters." After speaking, seeing Ziye utterly confused, it poked her. "Hey, did you get that?"

Ziye stared at it for a long time before spitting out two words: "Charlatan!"

"Waaah, Ziye says I'm a charlatan!" Little Sprout threw itself into her arms in distress, snuggling close, then suddenly popped back out, looking at her with shining eyes. "I calculated it! You will meet a benefactor when you arrive at Kaga."

Ziye glanced at it, grabbed it, squeezed it tightly, but ultimately sent the estimated arrival time from the bus attendant to Chun Niu. Chun Niu quickly replied, "Okay, I'll come pick you up."

Ziye happily kissed Little Sprout and waited for the bus to jump-warp to Kaga Station 5.

When applying for docking, the attendant broadcasted in a soft, melodious voice: "The vessel will enter the station in ten minutes. Current station temperature is 14 degrees Celsius, 57.2 degrees Fahrenheit. All passengers, please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark. Welcome aboard the Qila Interstellar Bus again."

14 degrees Celsius? Ziye felt severely wounded. Qila Space Station was 23 degrees Celsius; she didn't have thick clothes! Still, she couldn't stay on the bus once they reached Kaga.

Ziye wore her backpack in front, hugging it with both hands. Little Sprout automatically scrambled onto the top of the pack to lie down, afraid Ziye might accidentally misplace it.

As soon as she stepped off the ship, Ziye gave a sudden, sharp shiver.

Forgetting to check the weather was possibly the most tragic thing in the world, bar none.

She tremblingly opened her personal comm screen. Before she could even dial the number, the comm rang—it was Chun Niu. Upon answering, Chun Niu apologized, "Something came up on my end, and I'm still on my way. My apologies."

Hearing this, Ziye also felt a bit sheepish. "You take care of your business first; I can manage on my own."

Chun Niu urgently countered, "It's fine, I'll be there soon. Just wait for me a little longer."

Ziye looked around and spotted a passenger lounge to the right. "Okay, I'll wait for you." She walked into the lounge, sat down, drank a cup of hot water, and finally felt less cold. Breathing out gently, she watched the various types of passengers milling about.

The waiting time was tedious and long. As her body stilled, her mind couldn't help but race. Frankly, her confidence in Chun Niu was shaky. He promised to be there, but then abruptly claimed an emergency. What was the real reason?

Did something happen to him on the road? Or was he orchestrating something to happen to her on the road?

She felt she had nothing worth robbing or hijacking, but the current times were too chaotic, and she lacked a sense of security. Still, no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't pin anything negative on Chun Niu.

Ziye paced irritably in the lounge, watching passengers enter and exit, one group replacing another.

She looked up at the clock—forty minutes had passed.

Ziye scratched her head. After such a long delay, he must genuinely have something important to deal with. Perhaps she should just leave on her own first and meet him after she was settled.

"Little Dou, let's go." Ziye picked up her backpack and was about to step out of the lounge door when her comm rang again. Ziye saw it was Chun Niu and answered. Chun Niu immediately blurted out, "Where are you, sis? I’m wearing the black uniform and carrying the white bag. I'm standing right in front of the first water dispenser past the lounge entrance."

Ziye walked to the door and looked ahead. A young man hurried towards the water dispenser, wearing exactly the black uniform and carrying a white shopping bag. His hair was neatly slicked down, his complexion clean and fair, and even his frame was rather slender; if he were cosplaying, he could certainly pass as an effeminate boy.

Ziye scorned her own thought, then smiled. "I see you." With that, she slung her backpack on and hurried towards the young man. The young man looked surprised, then bewildered, upon seeing her. "Meng Ya Ya?"

Ziye extended her hand with a bright smile, speaking formally. "Hello, I am Meng Ya Ya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Chun Niu had absolutely not expected Meng Ya Ya to be so young; she looked like a student from a junior academy. Her attempt to act mature was even more amusing. Chun Niu couldn't help but laugh, extending his hand as well and shaking hers gently. "Hello, Meng Ya Ya, I am Li Chunyu. I apologize for making you wait so long. Welcome to Kaga."

As he spoke, he handed her the shopping bag he was holding. "I forgot to remind you to check the weather. Cang Yun Lang mentioned you might not have brought warm clothes, so I quickly bought this. Put it on; it's cold outside."

Ziye froze, a wave of warmth washing over her heart.

On their very first meeting, Chun Niu had actually bought her clothes.

The first time anyone had bought her clothes.

The first time someone had cared for her in such a detailed way.

Ziye was so moved that tears almost welled up. She pretended to look down at the clothes to secretly wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes, pulling out the garment from the bag: a little pink jacket, slightly mature for her age, perhaps because Chun Niu assumed she was close to his own age.

She put the jacket on. It was a standard size, so it hung a little loosely on her, but since it was just a jacket, it didn't matter. Once she wore it, she felt much warmer, and Ziye finally stopped shivering and getting goosebumps. Following him out, she said, "You were delayed because you went to buy clothes, right?"

A trace of shyness appeared on Chun Niu's face. His skin was fair, and his blushes were particularly noticeable, making it hard for him to hide. He tried to cover his face in embarrassment, but Ziye saw it and burst into unrestrained laughter. Chun Niu was almost angered into exasperation by her laughter. "Actually, there was enough time to buy the clothes. I... I accidentally got lost."

Ziye paused for a moment in shock, then her laughter grew louder.

Lost?

In an era where all ships and mechs could navigate automatically, someone actually got lost?

Ha ha ha ha...

Seeing his face grow redder, Ziye suddenly felt a bit uncharitable and managed to swallow her laughter, though the effort was painful.

Ziye had always believed Chun Niu was a genius, but after spending time with him, she realized he was also a genius when it came to navigation—so much of a genius that he could take a wrong turn on a three-step path. The exit was clearly straight ahead, but somehow, halfway there, Ziye discovered the exit had vanished. Looking back, she realized he had unconsciously led her around a corner.

That wasn't all; he could even mess up the automatic navigation system.

The reason was simple: he misremembered the name of the destination station. The interstellar bus had arrived at Station 5, and they needed to go from Station 5 to Station 12. Only when the attendant made the announcement did Chun Niu realize they had accidentally boarded a bus heading for Station 2.

This time, Ziye finally understood a crucial lesson: absolutely never let Chun Niu lead the way. She confirmed the address and had Little Sprout navigate directly, which finally brought them successfully to Station 9.

Lingsi University comprised five space stations in total, spanning from Station 7 to Station 12, possessing seven large control towers, one planet, and a campus area exceeding 73,000,000 cubic meters. Ziye felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden; her eyes couldn't take everything in.