Chapter Fourteen: Persuading Little Ralts

Tang Yi dialed Gu Qingyue’s voice chat again.

“Are you planning to enter the selection tournament?” Tang Yi asked first, but he guessed the answer would most likely be no.

“I’m not going. Haven’t you been saying lately you’re preparing for university entrance exams? You should give it a try, even though you’re not exactly reliable. But our province isn’t a major exam province, so the competition isn’t that fierce. Who knows, maybe you’ll bluff your way into the top ten?”

“Uh, how am I unreliable?”

“Hmph, the college entrance exam is just around the corner, and you still have the energy to binge dramas. Even in your spare time, you don’t practice enough problems.”

“I’ve already decided. Starting today, I won’t watch any more dramas. I’ll devote myself to preparing for the entrance exam selection tournament, for the extra points. I’m going to strive and work hard.” Tang Yi’s spirits rose.

At the computer, little Larulath glanced back, face full of confusion. Her trainer had just finished watching the entire drama—how could he have the audacity to say that?

A helpless sigh came from the other end of the phone. “Alright. What’s Larulath up to? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your Spirit Empress.”

“There’ll be a chance someday. She’s been busy writing novels lately.”

Another long silence.

“You… you really intend to be a complete slacker, don’t you? Are you hoping Larulath will recite novels in the tournament and mesmerize your opponents? You’d be better off not registering!” Gu Qingyue felt Tang Yi was simply wasting his time.

“Relax, there’s still time. My Larulath just mastered telekinesis!”

“Yeah right! Do you know how hard it is for psychic types to learn moves? Do you know Wang Xingyang in the next class? His Slowpoke has been in training for over two months—all the highest-grade classes—and still hasn’t mastered telekinesis. The selection tournament is coming up and he’s so anxious he’s nearly in tears.” Gu Qingyue didn’t believe him at all.

“Fine, believe whatever you want.” Tang Yi was resigned.

“I won’t bother talking to you. Anyway, good luck.”

The call ended.

Tang Yi checked some information. The difficulty of the selection tournament for the college entrance exam was actually related to the number of candidates and their overall strength in each province. Provinces with fewer people and weaker overall ability had lower difficulty, but these were usually very remote areas. Most provinces didn’t differ much.

At dinner, Tang Yi shared his thoughts with his parents.

Tang’s father was shocked, his chopsticks frozen in midair. “Son, we’re actually quite happy that you want to get into university and have ambitions. There’s no need to force it. Ordinary universities are just as good.”

Tang’s mother hesitated. “I chatted with some old colleagues at work, and they said you could pull some strings to temporarily transfer your household registration to a few remote provinces out west. Apparently, the selection tournaments for the entrance exam are especially easy there.”

The two were just short of telling Tang Yi directly: Don’t dream, there’s no way you’ll place.

Tang Yi rubbed his forehead and sighed, “At least have a little faith in your son.”

Father and mother exchanged glances, each reading the same meaning in the other’s eyes: It’s precisely because he’s our son that we don’t have any confidence!

Still, they didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm.

Mother hesitated. “What about the household registration?”

“No way!” Tang Yi and his father refused in unison.

Father said seriously, “We can’t do anything illegal.”

Tang Yi shook his head. “If that’s the case, I’d rather not sign up. Cutting corners is pointless—if I’m entering the selection tournament, I want to win fair and square.”

Mother muttered, “I was just saying, it’s not like we’d really transfer the registration, besides we don’t even have the connections. It’s all for you, son!”

Tang Yi smiled. “You have to believe in me. I’ll work hard for those extra points.”

“Finished binge-watching?”

“……”

Alright then.

Tang Yi felt that he really needed to stick to his training plan this time.

After dinner, Tang Yi took little Larulath’s hand and sat at the edge of the bed, heart-to-heart. “Do you know why you don’t have any inspiration for your writing?”

Larulath replied, “Because my skills aren’t good enough.”

“No, it’s because you haven’t seen the outside world, nor met many Spirit Empresses. Since you were born, except for that day at the training class, you haven’t really gone out much, have you? You don’t know what’s happening in the world, so how could you write a good novel?”

“So, what should I do?” Larulath still trusted Tang Yi.

“You can come with me to university. If I get accepted to a top university, the companions you’ll meet will be the best trainers and Spirit Empresses nationwide. You know the saying: ‘One becomes red by being near cinnabar, black by being near ink’—do you understand?”

“I kind of get it.”

Tang Yi praised her, “Larulath, you’re so smart. That’s right, it’s the same principle. The more you interact with outstanding Spirit Empresses, the more inspiration you’ll naturally have for writing.”

“That… sounds reasonable. Then, you have to work hard and aim for a top university.” The girl already had a basic understanding of the entrance exam and university.

“Ahem, I need extra points from the selection tournament to have a shot at a top university. The tournament is a Spirit Empress battle, so I need you to work hard with me. For your novel, we’ll have to train well from now on.”

Little Larulath hesitated, tilting her head, the ruby eyes behind her bangs flashing with confusion. “Are you… trying to fool me?”

Tang Yi’s heart skipped a beat—Larulath even knew the word “fool”?

He immediately put on an even more radiant smile. “How could I? Look at my expression—so sincere!”

“A little fake… But you’ve always treated me well, so I’ll trust you.”

Tang Yi relaxed a little. This little girl was growing up—it was getting harder and harder to fool her.

With Larulath’s agreement, the training plan could continue.

By common opinion, the fastest way to master skills was to send her to high-quality training classes. After all, the trainers invited to those classes were veterans of domestic World Cup qualifiers, with rich nurturing experience.

But after the call with Gu Qingyue, Tang Yi had his doubts.

He happened to know Wang Xingyang from the next class. Wang was from an ordinary family, unlike himself—a self-proclaimed slacker. Wang truly hoped to change his family’s fate through Spirit Empress, to make them wealthier.

It was said that Wang signed Slowpoke up for a preschool training class the day after it hatched, and over the next two months, kept adding more classes.

After such intensive training, Slowpoke, also a psychic type, still hadn’t learned telekinesis.

And with Larulath’s unconscious use of telekinesis, Tang Yi couldn’t help but feel that the training class method wasn’t necessarily optimal.

Of course, he knew Wang Xingyang was probably an exception—most Spirit Empresses could master skills in a short time at those classes.

But surely, there must be other, even better ways.