Chapter 5: Entrance Examination

The moment the door slammed shut, Jiang Yao immediately stepped forward to try to pull it open, but no matter how hard she tried, the door wouldn’t budge.

Ji Yuanyuan’s face turned deathly pale. “Are we trapped in here?”

Jiang Yao felt something was terribly wrong; everything here was suffused with strangeness!

So many people had vanished into thin air—where had they gone?

At that moment, the system’s voice rang out:

[Welcome students Jiang Yao and Ji Yuanyuan to the entrance exam. Loading in progress…]

Both of them froze. Ji Yuanyuan widened her eyes in disbelief. “What on earth? The world’s ending and we still have to take an exam?! Besides, I’m already a senior!”

The system remained indifferent to her protests.

Jiang Yao felt her vision darken for a moment. When she came to, she found herself in an unfamiliar place—and Ji Yuanyuan was nowhere to be seen.

Her instincts on high alert, she began to carefully observe her surroundings. It was a study room, bright and tidy, with bookshelves neatly lined with numerous history books.

But on closer inspection, the order was all wrong—books from different dynasties were mixed together, triggering Jiang Yao’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

System: [Candidate Jiang Yao, the subject of this exam is Professional Knowledge and Ability. Please arrange these books in chronological order by dynasty within ten minutes! Countdown begins!]

Ten minutes?

Jiang Yao twitched her eye. There were easily over a hundred books on the shelves!

No time to hesitate, she sprang into action.

Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han…

…

Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing.

She didn’t need to read each book in detail; some she could identify by title alone, and for those uncertain, she quickly flipped through a few pages.

Jiang Yao didn’t dare pause for a moment; her hands moved so fast they left afterimages, and she managed to finish arranging all the books just as the last second ticked away.

[Ten-minute countdown has ended. Verifying results—]

A rare flicker of anxiety struck her heart. Though confident in her expertise, the tight time limit left room for error.

Fortunately, her worries were unfounded.

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the task!]

Jiang Yao finally exhaled. She couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask if all history students get only ten minutes?”

Wasn’t that a bit harsh?

System: [Certainly not. The system sets reasonable requirements based on each student’s overall qualities and abilities.]

Jiang Yao was left speechless.

---

She waited a few more minutes, still in the study room.

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but wonder, “Shouldn’t I be allowed to leave now that I’ve finished the exam?”

The system offered no reply.

Pondering, she noticed a subtle detail—the system said, “You have successfully completed the task,” not that she had passed the exam.

Could it be that the exam wasn’t over yet?

With no answer, Jiang Yao decided to explore on her own. She found a door and turned the handle. Upon seeing what lay beyond, she was momentarily stunned.

It was a living room—exactly like the one in her own home!

Her pupils constricted. She quickly searched every corner but was disappointed to find that, despite the perfect resemblance, it wasn’t truly her home.

Several books on the coffee table confirmed her suspicion.

She picked one up and leafed through it; it was about artifact restoration—a book she clearly had never purchased.

While she was reading, the phone on the coffee table suddenly rang.

Before she could be surprised that her phone was here, she unlocked it. A new message popped up—

[Shunfeng Express] Hello, your package has been assigned to courier Zhang Qiang for delivery. Please be ready to receive it! If you are unavailable, contact 139xxxxxxxx.

A delivery?

Jiang Yao checked her shopping app and saw she did have a package coming—but not from Shunfeng, rather from another company.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

The courier’s voice came from outside: “Hello, you have a delivery!”

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Hello? Is anyone home?”

The persistent knocking continued. Soon, an incoming call appeared on Jiang Yao’s phone, but she had already muted it.

She tapped to answer.

The man sighed in relief, polite but insistent: “Ms. Jiang, are you home? Your package has arrived. Please sign for it in person.”

Jiang Yao replied leisurely, “Sorry, I’m not home right now. Could you leave it by the door?”

The courier sounded troubled: “No, this item is valuable. Company policy requires a signature in person. Could you please make some time—”

“What did I buy?” Jiang Yao interrupted.

The courier hesitated, then said, “I think it’s an antique vase.”

Jiang Yao responded, “Alright, please open it and send me a photo, can you do that?”

“No problem,” the courier readily agreed.

Shortly after, Jiang Yao received a picture.

She zoomed in and saw a blue-and-white porcelain plum vase decorated with floral and bird patterns from the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty. The rim was chipped.

A blatant fake.

Ignoring glaze and clay quality, the patterns were miles away from the authentic ones!

Moreover, the real piece was in the Palace Museum.

Jiang Yao clicked her tongue. “Fake. When you leave, just toss it in the trash for me, okay? What level is this? One from the Palace Museum and one from me? If you’re going to make fakes, put some effort into it.”

The man on the other end was probably taken aback by her bluntness. After a few seconds of silence, he hesitantly said, “Ms. Jiang, we can’t dispose of your items. You really should come pick it up yourself.”

Jiang Yao: “But I’m not home right now.”

“How is that? I clearly heard noises inside your house…”

A hint of amusement appeared in her eyes. “You weren’t eavesdropping by the door, were you?”

Her voice was low. Given the usual soundproofing, only someone pressed against the door could have heard.

The man seemed caught off guard, turning angry and cursing: “Are you opening the door or not? I’ve got another delivery to make! Damn woman, open up!”

The door was being pounded so hard it rattled, making one fear he might break it down any second.

But Jiang Yao remained calm. The man’s desperate attempts to lure her out only proved he couldn’t get in by himself.

Just then, a new message popped up on her phone—a WeChat message.

Jiang Yao opened it. The contact name was Ji Yuanyuan.

[Yao Yao! Don’t open the door! There’s a murderer outside!!!]

[I’m on my way! Remember, don’t open the door before I arrive!]

Jiang Yao stared at Ji Yuanyuan’s profile picture, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

Outside, the man made a commotion for a while, but seeing no response, he kicked the door hard and left.

The silence returned.

Ten minutes later, Ji Yuanyuan’s voice came from outside the door: “Yao Yao, open up! It’s me! It’s Yuanyuan!”

Jiang Yao stood up and walked toward the door.