Bai Youwei came back leading the others, and immediately sensed that the atmosphere was off.

“What happened?” She looked at Li Li, then at Yan Qingwen, lips curving in gleeful curiosity. “Did you two fight?”

“No. We had a conversation.” Yan Qingwen said with a smile. “Why — were you hoping we’d fight?”

“Kind of.” Bai Youwei said, without the slightest pretense of tact. “You two obviously aren’t cut from the same cloth. Being brought together without any friction would be the strange thing~”

“You—!…” Li Li bristled.

“Did I say anything wrong?” Bai Youwei looked at him in genuine puzzlement. “You really aren’t from the same world, you know. If Yan Qingwen hadn’t gone into that maze to rescue you, you two would never have crossed paths.”

Li Li shot back through gritted teeth: “And what about you, Shen Mo, Tan Xiao, Teacher Cheng, and Pan Xiaoxin? You all aren’t from the same world either! You’re…”

He held up five fingers childishly to drive home his point: “You’re from five completely different paths!”

“Ha ha!” Bai Youwei laughed. “So what if we’re from five different paths? At least we share one goal right now — do you? Do any of you?”

Li Li felt the jab hit somewhere tender, and his face went through a rapid sequence of green and white, deeply unpleasant to look at.

Lu Ang clapped him on the shoulder with sympathetic resignation. “You’d be better off arguing with Su Man. Don’t argue with her — you won’t win.”

“Who’s arguing! I was trying to reason with her!” Li Li shook off Lu Ang’s arm, craned his neck, and strode forward. “All of you, follow me! The banquet is about to start!”

Tan Xiao made a disapproving sound. “Four-eyes sure has a lot of nerve.”

Li Li clenched his fists, swallowed his irritation, and kept walking forward without engaging.

But today he seemed exceptionally out of luck. After having his invitations to his companions rebuffed, he then ran straight into trouble from Su Man.

Simply because he had helped steady a female colleague who nearly tripped, Su Man made a scene that went on and on, and it wasn’t until both Yan Qingwen and Lu Ang stepped in to mediate that things finally settled down.

And that wasn’t even the end of it.

When they reached headquarters and he tried to bring the group to see Professor Song, they were stopped by members of the security division. No matter how he explained himself — those infuriating security personnel were stone-faced and refused to let anyone through!

Li Li felt thoroughly humiliated!

“How many times do I have to explain this?!” He said furiously. “I’m Li Li of the SCO research group! I’m Professor Song’s research assistant! I left my pass in the dormitory!”

He pointed to the escorts standing behind him: “Don’t you recognize these men?! Every single one of them can vouch for me!”

The other person glanced at the group behind Li Li and said stiffly, “Professor Song just convened an emergency meeting. No one without a pass is permitted to approach the conference center. If you insist on entering, I’ll need to check with my superior.”

Li Li said irritably: “Then go check right away!”

The security person took out a walkie-talkie and spoke a few brief words.

About three minutes later, a woman in a brown tactical uniform appeared at the far end of the corridor. She had short hair and a slightly dark complexion. Though she said nothing, there was a sharp, severe quality to her brow — the kind of person you’d know at once not to mess with.

“Organization leader, this person insists on entering. He claims to be Professor Song’s assistant, says Professor Song sent him to bring these people in. He has no pass on him — the people behind him are the security escorts assigned by the research group.”

The woman in the tactical uniform glanced at Li Li with a frown, her tone cool: “The meeting isn’t over yet. Let the men in. Women and elderly wait outside.”

“Why?!” Su Man was the first to push back. “When you were inviting us to join, that wasn’t your attitude! Why can men enter and women can’t?!”

“Why?” The woman let out a cold laugh, took two steps toward Su Man.

She was tall, and standing before Su Man — who herself stood around one-seventy — she still had half a head on her, looking down from above with contempt:

“Let me tell you exactly why —

Because women like you who do nothing but make noise and pick fights belong in a marketplace or a dance hall, not here, in the conference center.”

—