9: Chapter 9 Don't Call Me Boss!!!

Meanwhile, in the Lin family mansion, about three kilometers away from Su Bai's dormitory.

Lin Xiao was sprawled over her desk, the light from her phone screen reflecting on her face, which wore an expression of utter hopelessness.

It took her a full two minutes to finish reading all the text Su Bai had sent.

It wasn't because the text was long; it was because she had to pause for ten seconds after every line to digest just how absurd it was.

720-degree spatial coordinate axis distortion. Stuffing a burly man into a loli dress. Extracting a soul and compressing it into a soul gem. Using shame as fuel to fire a light cannon.

Every single line was a public execution of common sense in card creation.

"As I thought." Lin Xiao buried her face in her arms, her voice muffled.

"Those books he bought during the day... they weren't for studying at all. They were for posturing. For going crazy in the group chat."

She recalled the expression on Su Bai's face when he walked out of the bookstore holding three master-level textbooks—an expression so serious it didn't seem like a joke. At the time, she had thought Su Bai was just buying books to make himself look good.

Now it seemed, not only had he bought them, but he had actually read them.

And after reading them, he had used the terminology inside to arrange and combine a "theoretical system" that sounded intimidating but was actually utterly ridiculous.

What was this called? This was called pseudoscience. High-level pseudoscience! Pseudoscience that played word association games using terms from master-level textbooks!

Lin Xiao rubbed her temples and typed in the group chat.

[Lin Xiao]: [Su Bai. You can't do this. That's not how you use master-level textbooks. Master the basic circuits first before looking at those.]

She typed it out, then deleted it.

[Lin Xiao]: [Su Bai, shut up. Let the finished product do the talking in three days.]

She typed it out, then deleted it again.

[Lin Xiao]: [...]

In the end, she only sent a string of ellipses. Because it was useless to say anything. Su Bai had gone crazy, and she had given this madman fifty thousand yuan.

It was hopeless. Completely hopeless. She had been scammed after all!!!

Just as Lin Xiao was considering whether or not to bang her head against the desk—a voice came from behind her.

"Xiaoxiao, what are you looking at? You look like you just swallowed a fly."

Lin Xiao turned around. Her cousin, Lin Weiwei, was standing behind her holding a mug.

Lin Weiwei. Twenty-three years old. A registered fourth-tier intermediate Card Creator at the Jinghai Cardmaker Association. She specialized in high-tier spatial cards. Her published papers had been selected as the best of the year in the "Jinghai Card Creation Journal" three times.

Simply put—she was the person in this world whom Lin Xiao least wanted to see her current chat history.

"It's nothing—!" Lin Xiao quickly flipped her phone over and placed it face down on the desk.

"Oh~" Lin Weiwei nodded meaningfully and then said casually, "By the way, did you know that your Monthly Exam this time is extraordinary?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment.

"There's a reason why this Monthly Exam suddenly escalated to high-difficulty card creation like Armament Cards. One of the judges will be the legendary god-tier powerhouse, Li Qingyue," Lin Weiwei smiled slyly.

"Li... Li... Li Qingyue!!?" Lin Xiao was shocked, "Sis!! Why are you only telling me this now??"

The rumored Li Qingyue, a ninth-tier powerhouse, a legendary myth-tier Card Creator, and the founder of space-time theory!

It could be said that any modern theory involving space-time magic cards could not exist without her influence!

This was a truly significant figure, and the power she represented was terrifying. Just thinking about such a powerhouse coming to observe their Monthly Exam made Lin Xiao's scalp tingle.

She had to perform well this time. Once noticed by such an existence, the entire magic card circle would be completely shaken! If she could really catch her eye, rising to the top in one step was no joke.

"I'm telling you as soon as I got back, aren't I? That's why the family decided to give you the best resources this time and promised you an unlimited allowance for the time being," Lin Weiwei said casually, then stood nonchalantly next to the desk where Lin Xiao had placed her phone.

"Unlimited allowance... doesn't that mean I can directly use ninth-tier materials?!" Lin Xiao's eyes widened, still immersed in shock.

Even though the money she usually spent seemed very extravagant to Su Bai, Lin Xiao, who was in a super wealthy family, knew that this was just a drop in the bucket.

The materials needed by Card Creators were already astronomical in cost, and some top-tier cards were things she didn't even dare to imagine.

But now her family said they would give her an unlimited allowance. This was simply... simply too outrageous. Were they planning to make a big gamble?

That's right, as long as she could create a high-rated card, like an A-rank, it was possible to be noticed by Li Qingyue. If she could be taken on as a disciple, the benefits would be infinite...

While Lin Xiao was lost in thought, Lin Weiwei suddenly reached out, moving as fast as lightning, and grabbed Lin Xiao's phone.

"Haha, let me see what you're chatting about, are you dating someone~?" Lin Weiwei opened the phone with a mischievous grin.

"Sis, you!" Lin Xiao realized her cousin's ulterior motives and tried to stop her. But it was too late!

Lin Weiwei's gaze had already swept over the long string of green text Su Bai had sent on the screen. She tilted her head, her eyes—which were somewhat similar to Lin Xiao's but sharper—narrowing slightly.

A rant? Clearly not.

"720-degree spatial coordinate axis distortion? Heteromorphic isomorphic folding?" She read it out loud. She read it very slowly. Then she paused. "Pfft." She laughed out loud.

"Xiaoxiao, who is this? Your classmate?"

Lin Weiwei pulled up a chair and sat down, her fingers scrolling through the group chat history. "This guy is posturing in a field I'm familiar with. These theories he's talking about are exactly what my senior is researching. Let me take a closer look..."

720-degree spatial distortion to stuff a burly man in. soul gem to remote control a physical body. Shame to fire a light cannon. After reading it all, Lin Weiwei was silent for about three seconds. Then—"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

She laughed so hard she swayed back and forth, almost throwing the mug in her hand. "Amazing! This is truly amazing!"

"Xiaoxiao, where did this weirdo come from? He just took terms from high-tier spatial studies, arranged them randomly, and said them with such a straight face!"

"720-degree spatial coordinate axis distortion?! Hahaha—the domain of a spatial coordinate system is 0 to 360 degrees! What the hell is 720 degrees? Rotating two circles and twisting yourself into a pretzel?"

"And stuffing a burly man into a loli dress? This doesn't just violate the laws of card creation; it's rubbing biology into the dirt!"

"And this one—shame converted into a light cannon? Hahahaha, did he read the formulas in 'Micro-Spiriton Transition' completely backwards? The conversion efficiency of emotional energy is related to spiriton density; it has nothing to do with whether it's shameful or not! The spiriton density of anger is the highest—that's the basics of the basics!"

"I'm dying of laughter... which mental hospital did your classmate escape from? This isn't even pseudoscience anymore; this is performance art."

Lin Xiao buried her face deeper. She didn't refute it. Because she completely agreed with what her cousin said. That's right. That was it. Su Bai was just talking nonsense.

Holding three "heavenly books," using the terms inside to combine a theory that looked intimidating, and then bringing it to the group chat to show off. What was this? Wasn't this just a weirdo!

But she couldn't say it. She couldn't tell her cousin—that she had given this weirdo fifty thousand yuan!!

"Xiaoxiao?" Lin Weiwei finally stopped laughing, noticing her cousin's unusual silence. "What's wrong? Why is your face so red?"

"...It's nothing."

"Really nothing?" "Really nothing."

Lin Weiwei shrugged and stood up with her mug. "Fine then. But if you know this weirdo, remember to stay away from him. People like this—" She paused and took a sip of water. "Probably aren't quite right in the head."

Then she walked out of the room. The sound of the door closing echoed. Lin Xiao was sprawled on the desk. Motionless.

After about ten seconds, she raised her hand and sent a message in the group chat.

[Lin Xiao]: [@Su Bai, three days.]

[Lin Xiao]: [If I don't see the finished product of that ragdoll you mentioned after three days.]

[Lin Xiao]: [You are truly dead.]

[Su Bai]: [Received. Boss.]

[Lin Xiao]: [Don't call me Boss!!!!!]

Lin Xiao threw her phone onto the bed, then buried her face in her pillow, letting out a muffled, incredibly long scream.