After eliminating the Sacrifice, Zhong Yan spent nearly half a month retrieving the other two machines Belobog Heavy Industries had lost in the Hollow.
With that, the commission was complete. Zhong Yan declined all forms of reward Koleda offered, only accepting ten million Denny after she insisted firmly.
If Denny didn't help him pursue his dreams, he probably wouldn't have accepted even that.
Shortly after, the end-of-semester exams rolled around.
The exams went smoothly—even Ellen, who had been hospitalized, showed up in the testing hall.
Despite having missed a large portion of the curriculum, Ellen, a secretly brilliant student, still managed to breeze through the exams and even deliberately kept her scores just around passing level.
That way, she maintained her energy-saving philosophy while avoiding drawing unnecessary attention.
As for Zhong Yan, he ranked first in his class, first in his school, and even first in the entire district.
In the entire unified test across New Eridu, his score placed him in the top five.
Why? Because the efficiency of using shadow clones for studying was just that ridiculous.
The immediate result of his outstanding performance was a wave of offers from prestigious universities. But Zhong Yan declined them all. He had his own plans—where he went would depend entirely on where Ellen chose to go.
Two academic powerhouses who could match their scores exactly could pretty much go anywhere they pleased.
…
Half a month after the final exams also marked the beginning of summer vacation.
Zhong Yan declined the school's invitation for holiday tutoring and chose to stay home and work on other things.
Summers in New Eridu were scorching. The electricity bills from air conditioning alone were enough to deter many average households.
But for Zhong Yan, that amount of Denny was insignificant. Plus, with the holiday season, viewership on his novels was skyrocketing.
Naturally, so was his income.
That day, at Ellen's house—
At the peak of noon, with the blazing sun hanging overhead, the dimly lit room hummed softly with the sound of a cooling AC unit.
On the bed lay Ellen, still fast asleep.
When Victoria Housekeeping Co. didn't have work—and it was a holiday—she loved sleeping in. It was, after all, extremely energy-efficient.
At exactly 12:30 p.m., Ellen finally woke up on her own.
Dressed in her adorable shark pajamas, the first thing she did upon waking was check her phone—not for just any messages, but specifically to see if Zhong Yan had messaged her.
On her wrist was the bracelet Zhong Yan had given her, a deeply sentimental gift that she never took off, even when bathing or sleeping.
"It's been nearly half a month since we last met..." Ellen rested her chin on her hands, scrolling through their chat history over the break.
They texted almost daily—sometimes Zhong Yan initiated, sometimes she did. But ever since the final exams, they hadn't seen each other in person.
It made her want to go see him. Still, with her personality, she needed a valid excuse. Telling the truth outright was just too embarrassing.
"I remember him saying something about wanting to see me in a maid outfit..." Suddenly, Ellen remembered what Zhong Yan had said when they'd skipped school and wandered around Lumina Square.
Back then, she'd promised to wear it for him. And now, it was the perfect excuse to pay him a visit.
With that thought, she sprang out of bed, washed up, and pulled out her work uniform from the wardrobe.
Though it was a maid outfit, Ellen usually saw it more as her battle attire.
Still, it should be more than enough to handle Zhong Yan. That shameless guy who stared at other maids on the street with zero subtlety—he'd be over the moon seeing her in it.
"Hmph, pervy guy," Ellen muttered with a pout. Her biggest gripe with Zhong Yan was how openly he ogled other women when they were out together.
She could tolerate it when she wasn't around, but if he did it with her there? Unforgivable.
Fortunately, her weapon of choice was a pair of gardening shears.
Gardening shears were still scissors, after all.
…
Later, at Zhong Yan's house—
He actually woke up later than Ellen. If Pei hadn't dragged him out of bed to eat lunch, he probably would've slept a few more hours.
He had pulled an all-nighter writing, only going to bed after breakfast. No wonder waking up at noon felt like murder.
Still, he couldn't waste Pei's effort—after all, the Denny used to buy groceries came out of his own pocket.
Waste anything, but not money.
Besides, it was summer break. Worst case, he'd just nap again after eating. Pei cared about his three meals—not how long he slept.
So after finishing lunch and leaving the dishes to Pei, Zhong Yan planned to head back to bed for a nap.
That's when someone knocked on the door.
It caught him mid-undressing, so he paused, alert. Activating the Sharingan, he scanned the door and confirmed the visitor wasn't carrying anything dangerous before moving to open it.
And standing at his doorstep—was Ellen.
She must have been waiting a while. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and her high-heeled feet trembled slightly from fatigue.
The moment Zhong Yan opened the door, she snapped, "What took you so long?"
Her sudden appearance stunned him. He stood there dumbly, not knowing how to respond.
Once he snapped out of it, he invited her in—only then noticing what she was wearing.
The uniform from Victoria Housekeeping Co. She had never worn it in front of him before, treating it almost like a secret.
It didn't reveal much skin, which meant wearing it in summer was torture.
That likely explained her earlier annoyance. She'd dressed up like this just to see him.
Of course, her trademark tsundere attitude probably played a big role too.