133: I'm going to die.

Time flew by, and it was June 2017. For half a year, she hadn't streamed live, with a ton of things to learn every day.

She even paid very little attention to BLACKPINK, and the number of times they contacted each other became fewer and fewer, as if she had returned to her days of studying acting.

“Ugh!!!”

Aria typed on the keyboard and said, “Zoe, what are you doing? If the data is wrong, we’ll have to start over. Be serious.”

“Senior! When can I end these hard days?”

“Who told you that your math is the best among us? You are naturally suited for the AI field. Come on, really.”

“No, I just want to finish my cybersecurity major and run away. I can’t take it anymore.”

“You can’t run! The professor won’t sign off, and you still want to run? Unless you continue to delve into AI, just accept your fate, kid. Hahaha~”

“I don’t care. If the old man holds up my degree, I’ll report him.”

“Who are you going to report? I was the one who went against all opinions to let you enroll early and skip a semester. Is this how you repay me?”

“Teacher! I wasn’t fully awake just now and was talking in my sleep. Don’t take it seriously. Hehe~”

Evel raised her hand and smacked her on the forehead.

“Ow! Again? You’ll make me stupid. Who will help you with the data then?”

“You won’t become stupid, and also! Let me tell you something.” She took out her phone, opened Xu Wen’s message, and showed it to her.

Xu Zhiyou finished reading, her face full of black lines. So, her older sister was behind her almost dying from exhaustion these past few months.

Evel spread her hands, “So! You can’t blame me.”

“But I met the standards, didn’t I?”

“So, aren’t you here in the AI lab now?”

“Pfft~~ I want to die!”

“Don’t dirty my lab. Go die in that corner.”

“Uh???”

Aria lowered her head, stifling a laugh, but her shoulders were shrugging. If she laughed out loud, the professor would kick her out. She didn’t have Xu Zhiyou’s guts.

Once the professor got angry, there would be endless data to verify, and she couldn’t afford to provoke her.

“Aria! What are you laughing at? Is the data verification complete?”

“No! Almost! Right away.”

Xu Zhiyou leaned back in her chair, doubting life. She had only applied to a random professor to get a degree.

Who knew her luck would be so bad, encountering Professor Evel? Evel was a doctoral supervisor and an expert in the field of computer science.

Originally, she had no chance at all. After being rejected, Xu Wen specifically introduced her competition history and academic achievements from childhood to Evel in detail.

Those Olympic gold medals also moved Evel, who went against all opinions to take her as a student.

“Get up and work, stop playing dead.”

Evel admired Xu Zhiyou’s high intelligence and diligence. Since coming to MIT in February, she had been studying day and night. It would be strange if he let such a promising talent run away.

“Teacher! I promised my little sister I’d go back after half a year. I can’t break my word. Please, be kind and let me go?”

“You can leave anytime! Am I holding you back?”

“But if you don’t give me my degree, I’ll be beaten to death when I go back. Wuwuwu~~” Xu Zhiyou now deeply regretted it. Wasn’t it better to just lie around? She had to go and make trouble for herself.

Evel flatly refused, “No way!”

“Ah! I can’t live! I haven’t touched a piano, but I’ve broken several keyboards instead. I can’t live like this, wuwuwu~”

“Indeed!”

Hmm? There’s a chance. She wiped her tears and looked at Evel. Aria also thought the professor was going to let her go, but she didn’t expect him to suddenly say, “Remember to compensate!”

It almost threw both of them off balance. Xu Zhiyou said speechlessly, “Teacher! You’re really humorous.”

“Average. Get to work.”

“Ugh!”

“Pfft~~”

Aria almost went crazy trying to hold it in. These two were simply too funny. Xu Zhiyou’s interpersonal skills were excellent.

People who are beautiful are treated well wherever they go, and this was fully demonstrated in her case.

After staying up all night verifying data and preparing to go out for a late-night snack, her phone rang. She saw it was Park Chaeyoung.

After connecting, the other side unleashed a machine-gun-like barrage:

“Yah! You left last November, and it’s June now. By any calculation, it’s been over half a year. Aren’t you coming back?”

“Wuwuwu! Chaeyoung! Zhiyou is going to die, wuwuwu~~”

The four on the other side never expected Xu Zhiyou to cry. They thought something had happened to her. Kim Ji-soo quickly said, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t get my degree!”

“Uh? If you can’t get it, then you can’t get it! You’re not someone who cares about this kind of thing, are you? Is it that serious?”

“Show Ge! You don’t understand. When I came to report, I signed a commitment letter with my Unnie that I would never go back if I didn’t get my degree, otherwise, she’d beat me to death. I didn’t get it, wuwuwu~”

“Are you seriously ill? Do you have to be so overconfident!” Park Chaeyoung was so angry after hearing her that she wished she could pry open her dog brain and see inside.

“I’ve already passed the exam; my supervisor is holding up my degree. Do you know? I originally studied piano, cough cough cough~”

“What’s wrong?”

“I spoke too fast and choked on my saliva. I’m fine!”

“Pffthahaha~~” The four of them laughed uncontrollably.

If Xu Zhiyou could get to them, she’d kick each of them to death: “What are you laughing at? Are you still listening?”

Kim Ji-soo forcibly stifled her laughter and said, “Listening, listening, you continue.”

“For the past half year, I haven’t even seen a shadow of a piano. Instead, I’ve broken several keyboards, and the key thing is that the old man wants me to compensate…”

For the past half year, she would hang up after a few words on the phone and wouldn’t read messages, making her seem like a missing person.

This was the first time she had heard her say so much, but listening to it, she inexplicably felt a bit miserable.

Park Chaeyoung didn’t understand, “You’ve passed the assessment, why won’t she give you your degree?”

“Who will work for him if I leave? It must be that, and she says it’s all for my own good. What should I do? If I don’t get my degree, Zhiyou will really die!”

Lisa thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you change supervisors?”

Xu Zhiyou found Lisa’s thought process peculiar and said speechlessly, “Lalisa, you’re good at finding bugs. If that were possible, would I be so melancholic?”

“Uh? Hehe! I didn’t know.” Lisa also felt she had made a foolish mistake and quickly tried to compensate.

“Alright, never mind for now. You all enjoy your good days; I’m going to continue my tribulation.” Xu Zhiyou’s stomach rumbled; she was truly starving.

Park Chaeyoung pouted and said, “We’re very busy too, okay? Jennie-oni has fainted several times from exhaustion. What good days?”

“What have you all been busy with?”

“We’ve recorded several variety shows, performed many concerts, and… if you don’t come back, I’ll be Waste too.”

“Why would you be Waste? Isn’t this pretty good? It’s better than me, no matter what!”

“No, not good at all. You’re so smart, figure out a way to come back quickly, or I’ll cry for you.”

“Too lazy to watch. I’m almost driven crazy myself. I’ll cry for you, and you help me figure something out.”

“Pffthahaha~~”

Park Chaeyoung looked at the three of them speechlessly, “What are you laughing at? Zoe can’t come back, and you can still laugh.”