ABFMV Chapter 36 Part 2

Xu Linlang perked up her ears. As far as she remembered, there weren’t any major figures with the surname Gu.

With a serious face, Gu Yinghe continued, “My father is Gu Nian, chairman of the Military Department’s Mecha Evaluation Committee.”

That rang a bell. He was the elderly judge at the palace competition yesterday.

Looking at Gu Yinghe’s age, it must’ve been a late-life child for Gu Nian. Not easy.

Xu Linlang asked, “So, what do you need from me?”

Gu Yinghe snapped his fingers. His followers immediately pulled up a light screen showing a short video.

It was a compilation of Xu Linlang’s best moments at various events, set to high-energy music—basically one of those fan-made edits people post in idol fandoms.

The crowd gawked at him. Good grief, this guy just brought his stan edit to the actual person?

That’s bold.

Xu Linlang ducked her head in embarrassment, unable to watch. But then Gu Yinghe snapped his fingers again.

This time, his crew pulled out rose petals and scattered them into the air until the whole entrance of the digital archives was filled with fluttering petals.

With the music swelling, the scene practically screamed “marriage proposal.”

After working up his courage, Gu Yinghe pulled out a huge bouquet of roses. “Xu Linlang, I like you. Please go out with me!”

The onlookers, thrilled by the drama, burst into applause.

Xu Linlang: “…”

Xu Linlang asked flatly, “Did you get these classmates to hype things up for you?”

Gu Yinghe shook his head earnestly. “No, they were probably just moved by my sincerity and gathered here to cheer me on.”

The crowd: “…”

Mortified, Xu Linlang asked, “Can you recite all the properties and principles of C- and D-grade components?”

Gu Yinghe blinked and shook his head.

Most people in manufacturing only remembered the commonly used ones. Even his father couldn’t claim to know them all.

Xu Linlang let out a pained sigh. “Then I can’t be with you. You’d get in the way of my studies.”

Flustered, Gu Yinghe stepped closer. “I might not know them now, but I can study hard!”

His urgency didn’t move Xu Linlang—but it did draw the archives’ gatekeeper over.

The old man’s eyes went red at the sight of petals everywhere. Not from being touched, but from rage.

“I just cleaned this place today! Littering like this—fine: ten thousand credits!”

Gu Yinghe: “!”

After a pause, he asked, “If I pay the fine… can I keep going?”

The old man put his hands on his hips. “Keep going, my ass. Get out of here! Who even uses roses to confess these days? How tacky can you get?!”

Gu Yinghe: “…”

In the end, he and his crew slunk away, three parts bitter, seven parts resentful.

Some students wondered aloud—why had the usually half-asleep gatekeeper, who ignored everything, shown up so quickly this time?

When asked, the old man scowled. “Someone filed an anonymous complaint. Two of them, actually. Woke me right up.”

The crowd quietly turned their eyes to the two obvious culprits. Both looked away, hands shoved in their pockets, acting like nothing had happened.

Unbelievable.

Couldn’t stop him in person, so they sicced the gatekeeper on him. Genius.

Qi Ye was the first to speak up. “Xu Linlang, want to grab dinner together?”

She waved him off. “I’m eating with Duoduo tonight. There are a lot of basics I still need to ask her about.”

Lu Xiao followed with, “I need to talk to you.”

Xu Linlang’s patience had run dry. “I’m not repeating myself.”

Watching her walk away with such composure, the crowd felt oddly deflated. They’d been sure she would at least choose between the two.

But Xu Linlang had chosen neither—she was actually that devoted to studying.

The story spread quickly. Soon, embellished rumors were flying through the academy: tales of unrequited love, a messy love quadrangle, even soap-opera titles like Military Academy Love and Regret: The Xu Linlang Saga.

And on the school forum, several threads immediately shot to the top—

[Can someone spill the tea on Xu Linlang, Lu Xiao, Qi Ye, and Yao Mo’s love drama? Do we add Gu Yinghe to the mix now?]

[A buddy in manufacturing told me Lu Xiao asked him tonight for info on all C- and D-grade components!]

[Breaking! Qi Ye just bought a second-hand book at the flea market titled Mastering C-Grade Components in Three Days!]