"What! Genius Academy?! THE Genius Academy?!" Rong exclaimed in excitement.
"Yes, but let me finish. It's on the other side of the continent so I wanted to talk to you guys about moving to a place nearby the school. They also reserved a job in a weapon forging unit for dad, it pays double what we get right now. They even gave us free access to a teleporting device, meaning Rong could hang out at a friend's place on a random weekend despite living thousands of miles away. So what do you guys think?" Lin said, holding his breath as he awaited their response.
"Hmm. Do we have to pay for the residence and if we do how much is it? I just want to make sure we can live comfortably there. Genius Academy is located in the capital of the Lianhua empire and everything is expensive there." Qiang asked, clearly seeing moving there as an option.
Wen looked at her husband in bewilderment. She slapped his arm with a bit of force. "My son is getting personally picked for the most prestigious school on the continent and you're still on the fence? Lin-lin, when can we move?"
It was now Lin's turn to be bewildered. "Erm, to answer dad's question, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't make you pay for a residence they picked but I'll contact them real quick."
He pulled out his phone and texted the number Xiao Hua had given him. 'Do we have to pay for the residence?' He typed. Literally one second after he sent the text a reply came.
'No everythings free.' The number sent back.
"Everything's free they said." Lin confirmed a second later.
"Again, when can we move?" Wen asked, clearly excited for this golden opportunity.
'When can we move?' Lin asked the person on his phone.
Suddenly, his phone started dinging with notification after notification.
'So you accept'
'Great!!!'
'The movers will be there in a sec'
'Once everythings packed you can leave right away youll use our teleport station'
'Dont worry we'll take care of everything you guys wont need to do anything at all!'
"Ah! They're coming right now!" Lin said with nervousness.
"What?! That was fast!" Wen yelled in surprise.
The house became chaotic as everyone tried to prepare to move in less than 5 minutes. Rong made a group call with all his friends telling them he was moving to Lianhua empire. The phone screeched with his friends in an uproar.
"Right now?! Like today?!"
"When did this happen?!"
"Bro, why would you ever move to the Lotus?"
"How the hell are we supposed to hang out?!"
Rong hurriedly explained that he can still hang out since he'll have access to a teleportation station, but that only raised more questions for his friends and they continued bombarding him with remarks. Eventually he had to hang up and he swiftly started to text in the group chat, explaining everything at lightning speed.
His phone dinged with multiple messages, but he proceeded to silence his phone.
At the same time, Qiang called his boss to tell him he's quitting his job. The man on the line started begging Qiang to not quit, saying things like "You can't leave, your weapons always sell at the highest prices!" And "Please don't go! Our income will drop significantly!" But he didn't budge and proceeded to seal the deal.
Wen informed family members about the move, and then called her friends that lived in the capital of Lianhua empire. They squealed in excitement at the prospect of seeing each other again after many years.
Soon, the movers mentioned by the person Lin texted arrived and they immediately started to collect all the belongings inside the house. The movers just had to put their wrist into a room and a bracelet with an azure colored gem would suck the things inside into it's storage. The people were clearly adept at using the bracelet since they could control what went inside as well as what went out. They left the furniture while taking everything else, and in less than 10 minutes the house was bare except for the furnishings.
"Follow me." A tall man said to Lin and his family before walking out and heading towards an expensive looking car parked on the side of the road. The family followed the man to the car, standing awkwardly in front of the vehicle not daring enough to touch it.
The man opened the car door and gestured for them to go in. They stepped into the car carefully as if one mistake would make it fall apart, before sitting in stiff positions as the automobile slowly drove away from their old home.
The four people were still processing what was happening even after they reached the teleportation facility. They stepped out of the car with expressionless faces. They all simultaneously decided to just go with the flow and think about it when everything was over.
They were led through the entrance of the facility and down a long hall. Doors with metal numbers nailed onto their surface lined the walls on either side of them. The person leading them stopped in front of one of the doors and stepped inside, gesturing them to follow. They all walked into a small room with a capsule like machine in the middle.
"Please step inside and you'll be sent to the personal teleportation station of Genius Academy."
They stepped inside together and waited. Suddenly, they felt a tingling sensation and a feeling like they were floating. The next second they were standing in a large warehouse with people waiting to greet them.
"Welcome!" A middle aged man greeted them with a wide smile.
***
Lin and his family stood in front of a large, two-story house, staring at it in awe. After a long moment they stepped inside, eager to see the interior of their new home.
The inside of the house consisted of pure white walls and modernized furniture. Huge windows filtered sunlight into the wide space giving perfect lighting to the place. Their belongings were organized neatly on shelves and inside cabinets. Rong raced around the house, amazed by its size and cleanliness.
They all began exploring the house finding their rooms, an office, a lounge, a small library, and a huge backyard. To Lin's surprise he found a bedroom filled with his stuff. He assumed that he would be staying at the dorms of Genius Academy, but maybe he was mistaken. Lin jumped onto the comfy bed, relieved that he didn't have to live apart from his family.
Suddenly someone knocked on the front door to their house. Lin went to answer the door, only to find the middle aged man from before standing there.
"Hello Hao Lin. I hope the home is to your liking." The man said.
"It's a truly nice house. Thank you for allowing me and my family to live here." Lin responded with an appreciative smile.
"No problem. Now, I was requested to bring you to your school dorms so please come with me."
Lin had a look of confusion. "Aren't I living here?" He asked.
"No, you'll be living in the dorms but you can stay here on the weekends and you can also see your family anytime you want outside of school hours."
"Can't I stay here? I have a choice right?" Lin persisted.
"I apologize, but students are required to live in the dorms. There are no exceptions." He said with an apologetic smile.
"Oh, ok. Let me tell my parents." Lin said as it seemed he had no say in the matter.
Lin went to tell his parents before saying his goodbyes. He then went with the middle aged man towards Genius Academy. They soon arrived at the campus and went to the male dorms. Lin was brought to his dormroom before being left to get acquainted with the place. Genius Academy uniforms were folded neatly inside the dresser drawers and daily essentials were left in the bathroom.
Lin stared up at the ceiling of the room, going over all the things that happened in his mind. So many questions arose in his head, but none of them could be answered at the moment. He just decided to go to sleep and think about it tomorrow, declining the option to use his ability a second time in a row.