53: The other successor candidate

The other successor candidate

With Principal Wei's words, the room became silent. 

Luo Zhelan furrowed his brow as his attention shifted away from the old man to the girl. 

Does Principal Wei know Jiang Yue?

"Uh— did you mistake her for someone else, Principal Wei?" Gao Jing couldn't help but ask.

Wei Guozhi's life rotates around the University and the Research Organization.

So it would seem highly unlikely that he knew Jiang Yue, which is why Gao Jing questioned.

The old man didn't reply to him and asked the girl instead, "What? Are you not gonna greet your Master anymore?"

The room was once again deafeningly quiet and even a drop of a pin could be heard.

Goa Jing and Qin Zirui suspected there was a circuit in their brains that was burnt, or why else are their minds malfunctioning?

They just heard Principal Wei call himself 'Master'.

Luo Zhelan was also taken aback as he glanced at the girl. 

He would never have imagined Jiang Yue was Principal Wei's disciple. 

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

Was it Jiang Yue who Principal Wei wanted as the successor of the Research Organization all this time?

Jiang Yue pursed her lips as she lifted her head and bowed towards the old man, "Master."

Principal Wei nodded as he went inside the room without even being invited.

"Take a seat, I want to speak with you. I haven't seen you in a long time."

Jiang Yue pushed a chair for the old man to sit on first, then sat on a chair. 

Principal Wei looked toward Luo Zhelan, "The four of you go out first," he ordered as though he was the one who paid for the place.

Luo Zhelan looked at Jiang Yue and seeing her affirmation, he nodded and followed the other three out of the room. 

When the door was shut, Gao Jing and Qin Zirui turned to Jiang Xiu and immediately questioned, "Does Miss Jiang know Principal Wei?"

"How the hell did the two of them know each other?"

They went inside to another private room which was a lot simpler than the one they were in.

Jiang Xiu answered their questions, "We've known Grandpa Wei for years already."

Hearing her refer to him as 'Grandpa Wei' caused the two to twitch their lips.

Principal Wei, although he is already old, he doesn't act one.

He is eccentric and hard to get close to.

It was the first time they heard another person call him 'Grandpa' aside from his blood relatives, which were only a few.

"How long?"

"For....." Jiang Xiu mentally counted then answered, "...almost twelve years."

"You're not joking with us, aren't you?"

She shook her head, "No! What would I even gain from it?"

"How did Jiang Yue become a disciple of Principal Wei?" This time, Luo Zhelan asked because he couldn't keep his curiosity at bay any longer. 

"Oh... You are aware that my sister dropped out of school when she was six years old, correct?" 

While the other two shook their heads, Luo Zhelan nodded. 

He was aware of this since before the collaboration project, he had conducted a background check on Jiang Yue before talking business with her. 

He also knew that at the age of five, she was already studying first-year lower secondary curriculum and then dropped out at six years old.

"Sister had already completed every curriculum in middle and high school at the time, so she dropped out instead. Father wanted to find a teacher for her, but we were a little... tight on money, so he wasn't able to."

Jiang Yue was a genius yet children at her age at that time had called her a freak for being way too smart.

While kids who are older than her regard her as a threat and an annoyance.

Jiang Xiu was the only companion of Jiang Yue during their childhood.

Their father was afraid that being different and being excluded might take a toll on Jiang Yue's mentality, and he asked Jiang Xiu if she wants to accompany her sister and let her teach her instead.

Jiang Yue then became her sister's teacher.

However, one day when she was accompanying Jiang Yue for community service because she had beaten a boy, in an unexpected situation, Jiang Yue caught Wei Guozhi's attention.

He was there to see Mayor Kang at the time, and he overheard Jiang Yue talking about an advanced mathematics topic to Jiang Xiu.

Wei Guozhi approached the two and attempted to ask challenging questions on various topics, which she answered all effortlessly.

And that's how Jiang Yue became Principal Wei's disciple and how Mayor Kang knew the girl as well.

Wei Guozhi taught Jiang Yue for two years, and at the age of eight, she wrote her first research paper under the Research Organization.

Jiang Xiu informed them about these things except for the fact that Jiang Yue has already a published paper at the age of eight, because she didn't know about this matter.

"Fu—" Qin Zirui wanted to curse but he held himself in front of the girl, "—hell, if anyone tells me that girl isn't human, I'll believe it."

"You're exaggerating," Jiang Xiu couldn't help but comment so.

"Did something happen? Why didn't the two of them meet these past few years?" Gao Jing asked as he couldn't connect the points.

If someone became Principal Wei's disciple, that person would surely have a bright future in the Research Organization, yet Jiang Yue is just roaming around all these years.

Luo Zhelan knew the answer to his question.

"An incident happened which caused our father to be in a coma. After that, sister would only go home once a month, and then it became a few times in a year."

Jiang Yue stopped contacting Principal Wei but the old man had tried his best to try to contact her, however, he wasn't able to.

He could only contact Mayor Kang and ask the man to take care of the girl.

"Why is your sister still in middle school?" Qin Zirui questioned too.

That girl can already create Artificial Intelligence projects and sell them for hundreds of millions— or even billions!

Jiang Xiu scratched her head, "Oh, that's because I asked her to."

"You do know that your sister is a genius, right?"1

She nodded but then shook her head.

She knew her sister was too intelligent as a child, but years had gone and a lot had happened. 

As Luo Zhelan heard the details, if he wasn't certain before, then now he is.

Principal Wei's successor in the Research Organization is Jiang Yue.

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