Li Xun expressed great discontent at hearing that Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong wanted to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion.

The way Gao Jianhong explained it, Li Xun had originally wanted to use this trip as an opportunity to take him and Zhu Yun out and around. At first, he hadn’t been interested in the event at all. Then he decided to take it as a chance for a vacation and also to reward his staff. But now…

In the cafeteria—

Zhu Yun asked, “Where is he?”

Gao Jianhong replied, “Out.”

Zhu Yun, “Out where?”

Gao Jianhong, “He left right after the event, probably out having fun.”

Zhu Yun curled her lips and sat down next to Gao Jianhong with her meal tray.

“Why did you suddenly change your mind?” Gao Jianhong asked.

Zhu Yun said, “Nothing really. I just want to partic.i.p.ate.”

Gao Jianhong said, “Since we’re going to partic.i.p.ate, we should do a good job and win. When we get back, we can talk to Teacher Lin about the specifics. But we still need a third member.”

“We need another member…” Zhu Yun’s mind wandered a bit. She inadvertently looked up and met Gao Jianhong’s eyes. The two both saw what the other was thinking—Another member? Why not Top Score? Hits every target without a miss; he’d make this a sure thing.

“It’ll be too hard,” Gao Jianhong spoke up first. “I asked him when we were in our room, but he didn’t have a single grain of interest. I think he’s pretty set against it. And since we suddenly decided to partic.i.p.ate, that messes up his plans for the project base.”

Zhu Yun expressed her agreement. For as long as they’ve known each other, Zhu Yun had never seen anyone who could convince Li Xun to do something he didn’t want to. On the other hand, Li Xun had a very high success rate convincing others.

“You should go ask him.”

“Ah?” Zhu Yun raised her head, and Gao Jianhong added, “You should try talking to him about it. I think we might have a sliver of hope that way.”

Zhu Yun replied with a chuckle and said, “You’re thinking too highly of me.”

Gao Jianhong persisted, “Try it out. Unless you have a better candidate in mind?”

After we ate, we returned to our rooms. The sky was already getting dark, but Li Xun hadn’t returned yet. Zhu Yun lied in bed, thinking. Then she texted Li Xun: Where are you?

There was no reply.

Zhu Yun called him, and after a few rings, a girl answered the phone. Music blared on the other end, and it was obvious that he was out someplace. Zhu Yun shouted a few things, unsure if she was being heard. Finally, she took a deep breath and shouted loudly, “h.e.l.lo?! Can you hear me?! Is Li Xun there?! Tall guy with blond hair!!”

She’d startled the senior she was rooming with, and she quickly turned to apologize.

There was a bit of static on the phone, like the sound of a door closing. And then there was silence.

“What do you want?”

Zhu Yun was take by surprise at the crisp, clear voice on the other end. She’d thought he’d have been dead drunk already.

“Speak.”

“……” Her woman’s intuition told her that if she gave the real reason she was calling right now, he would resolutely refuse. “…Um, the teacher told me to call you and tell you not to stay out too late. We still have things to do in the morning.”

“Got it.”

He hung up. Zhu Yun narrowed her eyes as her thoughts took off… How could she persuade Li Xun to get into the water with them?

In the middle of the night, her phone vibrated. Gao Jianhong had texted to let her know that Li Xun had returned: I’ll go over to a senior’s room for a bit. Go convince him.

Zhu Yun put down her phone and went into the bathroom. She stretched a bit, and after a five minute warmup, she retrieved her equipment and headed out.

Li Xun was staying in the floor above. The building was filled with students partic.i.p.ating in the events today, so even in the middle of the night, there were sounds of indistinct conversations.

Computer department, a lively night owl production camp.

Zhu Yun arrived at Li Xun’s door. She took a deep breath and knocked.

“Who is it?”

“Li Xun, it’s me.”

A few seconds later, Li Xun opened the door. “What is it?”

Zhu Yun lifted up something. “Did you drink a lot? I brought some yogurt.”

“I didn’t drink.”

Stay calm.

Zhu Yun changed tactics. “Do you want to go for a midnight snack? The cafeteria must have something delicious.”

“I already ate.”

That’s okay.

Zhu Yun pulled out a plastic bag from her bag. “Did you bring enough clean clothes?”

Li Xun, “……”

After some silence, Li Xun waggled his finger. “Bring the bag here.”

Zhu Yun obediently handed the bag over. Just as she was about to speak, Li Xun cut her off. “Alright, you can go back and sleep.”

Boom! The door closed.

Zhu Yun wanted to cry but had no tears. She’d just bought that bag. This must be the kind of situation the ancients described as ‘gave away a bride, and lost an army on top of it.’ (t/n: to suffer double loss after trying to trick the enemy)

The next day, the teachers rounded up for a meeting. The host school’s students were also holding an important networking event in the afternoon. Unless something came up, Li Xun wouldn’t be attending.

The social event organizer was a third year student. The preparations were well done. They’d set up a special directory on the computers in the multimedia lab, with all the winning projects for everyone to peruse and discuss together.

Zhu Yun didn’t check anyone else’s, except for Fang Zhijing’s. He’d worked on a screen capture and playback software. The source code wasn’t available, so she had to make an educated guess on the quality of the code based on the sophistication and fluidity of the program.

It went without saying that there was quite a gap between first and second place… A peaceful feeling pa.s.sed over Zhu Yun.

She really wanted to widen this gap in a formal compet.i.tion.

Li Xun ah, Li Xun…

Zhu Yun started cooking up plans again.

After a short while, someone pat Zhu Yun from the back. She turned around to see a pretty girl. Her smile was sweet as she greeted Zhu Yun, “Hi, how are you.”

Who are you?

Li Xun politely replied, “h.e.l.lo.”

“I’m Xu Lina. I go to this school.” The girl was very cheerful. “I saw your project, and it’s really amazing. No wonder you guys won first place. It was so complete.”

Zhu Yun, “…Thank you.”

Xu Lina moved closer and Zhu Yun smelled a light, fruity fragrance.

“I’m a first year too,” she said. “There aren’t many first years here, just the few of us. Like a rare species.”

“Yeah, there aren’t many.”

Their exchange went on for awhile, and when it ended, Xu Lina offered an invitation to Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong. “Since you guys are leaving tomorrow, we should have some fun together before then.”

Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong exchanged glances. Just then, the organizer, Guan Rong came over. “Come join us in the fun.”

Zhu Yun had thought that they’d invite all the students out, but they’d only invited some ten or twenty. All those invited had done pretty well in the compet.i.tion. After a simple meal, the group went out to karaoke.

Guan Rong had reserved a large room. Xu Lina told Zhu Yun that their advisor had payed for it. His beloved students had to make friends with impressive people for there to be a chance for innovation.

“How magnanimous,” Gao Jianhong told Zhu Yun with a laugh. Zhu Yun also laughed and replied, “Our guy’s pretty magnanimous too.”

His temper’s just a bit rotten.

Gao Jianhong grabbed two beers. The room was filled with people, mostly boys, and everyone was pretty friendly. After people had some drinks, the place livened up a bit, but the atmosphere was very relaxed.

Zhu Yun’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t that great, so Xu Lina specially ordered two c.o.c.ktails. They were a light color and not too strong. And so, Zhu Yun got careless. She was thirsty so she drank both gla.s.ses in a row. And then she started to feel dizzy.

The people around her were boasting about Fang Zhijing, and Zhu Yun’s mouth dropped open to her chin.

Zu Lina stayed beside Zhu Yun and she whispered, “Fang Zhijing’s also a first year. Their project was pretty good, but I think yours was better.”

I guess you have good eyesight.

Xu Lina said, “Guan Rong and them demolished your program. Your code was really clean, and the logic was really clear. Your main programmer is just too strong.”

Zhu Yun really wanted to laugh, but she also felt that laughing right now would be too immodest. She couldn’t act like Li Xun.

How should she respond so that it sounded modest but didn’t sound fake… Zhu Yun’s mind was in a mess, and in the end, she simply replied with two words—

“That’s right!”

Gao Jianhong had a great laugh.

Xu Lina continued, “But he doesn’t seem to have the best personality. I greeted him on the day we distributed the awards, but he doesn’t really seem to look at you when you speak.”

Zhu Yun pointed to herself, and then pointed to Gao Jianhong at her side, an experienced expression on her face. “If we’re talking about him looking down on people, the two of us have the most experience. We’re seniors in that topic.”

Gao Jianhong laughed and drank some more. Zhu Yun said, “But when I think about it, we’re pretty amazing too.”

Xu Lina asked, “Really?”

Zhu Yun answered, “Because not only were we able to program, we even matched his rhythm.”

Xu Lina excitedly asked, “What’s his rhythm?”

Zhu Yun raised a single finger—

“I am the boss.”

Gao Jianhong laughed so hard that he started shaking. After a moment, he coughed twice and sat up straight. Xu Lina also stifled her laughter and pressed her lips together as she looked at Zhu Yun.

Only Zhu Yun continued spewing words as if no one else were present. “You know? In our group, he’s known as Emperor Flying Fingers.”

In the end, Gao Jianhong couldn’t help himself. A mouthful of beer splashed out from his mouth.

Zhu Yun was going to continue speaking, when suddenly the back of her neck tightened and she was dragged up.

Gao Jianhong spoke up, “Hey, be careful.”

Xu Lina looked at the person behind Zhu Yun. “Why are you only coming now? We contacted you awhile ago. Sit! Do you want to eat anything?”

Li Xun didn’t pay any heed to the others. Without saying a single word, he dragged Zhu Yun out of the room.

“Hey!” Xu Lina was about to follow them when Gao Jianhong stopped her. He told her, “Our boss is admonis.h.i.+ng a subordinate. Just wait.”

In the corridor—

Zhu Yun was pushed against a wall, her back to the cold surface. Through the colorful lights in the hall, she saw Li Xun’s unhappy face.

“You really do go crazy after a single drink…” Li Xun was chewing gum and he spoke quietly.

Zhu Yun looked directly at him.

“Li Xun.”

Li Xun frowned.

Zhu Yun whispered, “Join the compet.i.tion with us.”

Li Xun remained silent.

“It’ll be a piece of cake for you.” Zhu Yun rubbed two fingers together. “You just need to concentrate a little bit, and then you can win the contest and line your pockets, easy as pie.”

Li Xun asked, “Why should I waste time on something that’s a piece of cake?”

Zhu Yun couldn’t think of a reason. So she changed tactics.

“You know, the people in that room look down on you. And—”

“Zhu Yun,” Li Xun cut her off. “Am I crazy?”

“On what front?” When Li Xun’s face remained serious, Zhu Yun quickly said, “No, not crazy.”

Maybe because he felt it was pointless trying to talk to a drunk person, but Li Xun moved to leave. Reflexively, Zhu Yun extended her hand to block him.

“Don’t (you) leave—!”

Li Xun’s jacket was unb.u.t.toned, and he wore a cotton T-s.h.i.+rt inside. Before he had the chance to turn around, Zhu Yun grabbed onto the collar of his s.h.i.+rt.

Since she was drunk, she moved rather carelessly. She pulled on Li Xun’s collar and stretched it out, turning a fas.h.i.+on item into an old s.h.i.+rt.

Li Xun shouted angrily, “Let go!”

Zhu Yun didn’t care about anything else. She responded loudly, “Join the compet.i.tion with us!”

Everyone pa.s.sing in the hallways looked over at them. Li Xun cursed under his breath, wanting to pull away. And then, a drunken and unsteady Zhu Yun slipped and fell flat on her face.

But still, she didn’t let go. And so, everyone heard a ripping sound. Rather than an old s.h.i.+rt, half of Li Xun’s chest was now exposed.

Zhu Yun, “……”

Li Xun, “……”

Everyone else, “……”

Zhu Yun fell into the wall.

Although Li Xun’s complexion was never exactly white, it had never gotten this dark before.

“Zhu Yun.” Li Xun was very, very close to her, so close that she could even hear his teeth grinding. “If you were a guy, I’d have already hit you.”

Zhu Yun knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn’t dare talk back.

Li Xun looked at her staying silent with a lowered head. After a few seconds, he quietly asked, “Why do you want to win the compet.i.tion? You don’t seem like the kind to be interested in this kind of thing.”

Zhu Yun remained silent.

Li Xun waited and when she still didn’t reply, he turned to leave.

“Hey!” Just then Gao Jianhong walked out from the room. From behind Li Xun, he said, “Let’s do it together.”

Li Xun didn’t turn around. He gave the simplest and clearest answer, “No.”

Getting Li Xun to join their team seemed to have ended in failure.

It wasn’t really unexpected. Zhu Yun had already said that she’d never seen anyone convince Li Xun, whereas Li Xun was a master.

But… It still felt really bad.

Zhu Yun held back a fire within her, though she knew that she couldn’t blame Li Xun. He never tried to hide who he was. From the first day of school, when he introduced himself, everyone knew about the kind of person he was.

And yet… Zhu Yun didn’t know why she was wasting her efforts on this issue, but she couldn’t rid herself of the resentment. She buried her head in her pillow and banged her head a couple of times.

“Are you okay?” Fang Shumiao turned around to ask. She looked at Zhu Yun with concern. “Ever since you came back from the capital, you seem possessed. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Zhu Yun climbed out of bed and changed to go out.

“Where are you going?”

Zhu Yun responded weakly, ” I don’t know…”

“It’s Sat.u.r.day. Aren’t you going to the project base? Strange.”

“……”

If she went there, she’d just sit around and do nothing. Gao Jianhong was meeting with Old Lin, and Li Xun wouldn’t have any work to give her. Life suddenly felt so empty and meaningless.

Zhu Yun %regretfully headed out. Just as she walked out the door, she ran into someone. Ren Di. The weather was getting hotter each day, so Ren Di had started wearing T-s.h.i.+rts. Zhu Yun looked at her arm.

“You got a tattoo?”

“Mmh.” Ren Di showed her the tattoo. “Does it look nice?”

A hornet.

Zhu Yun nodded. “It looks nice.”

Ren Di had her guitar on her back; she must have just returned from her studio. Seeing Zhu Yun looking a bit out of it, she said, “What are you so preoccupied with?”

“Nothing. What are you doing back here?”

“I came to get some clothes.”

Zhu Yun nodded. Just as she was about to leave, Ren Di stopped her. “Hey, wait for me. Let’s go get something to drink.”

The view from the library rooftop was beautiful.

“When you said get a drink, you meant milk tea?” Zhu Yun didn’t have anything to say.

“Yeah.” Ren Di poked a hole in one cup and handed it to Zhu Yun. “I wouldn’t dare let you drink alcohol.”

Ren Di probed curiously, “I heard from Li Xun that you’re a crazy drunk.”

At the mention of Li Xun, the fire inside Zhu Yun started burning again. Her breathing grew rapid, and bubbles filled her milk tea.

Finally, Ren Di chuckled. “What, you finally can’t stand him now?”

Zhu Yun narrowed her eyes. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re rejoicing in someone else’s misfortune?”

Ren Di gave a big laugh, and slapped Zhu Yun’s shoulder. Zhu Yun choked on her milk tea and started coughing as she gasped for breath.

“Watch it!” Zhu Yun’s face had gone completely red as Ren Di had an arm around her shoulder, shaking from laughter. Somewhat apologetic, she asked, “Come on then, tell me. What is it?”

Without feeling bashful, Zhu Yun told Ren Di about the matter of the compet.i.tion. When she finished, Ren Di nodded.

“That’s normal.”

“What’s normal?”

“He wants to make money.”

“The compet.i.tion won’t take up too much of his time.”

“He has his own plans.” Ren Di comforted her, “Let me tell you. We once asked him for help with a music remix program, but even after a month, he didn’t have time. In the end, we payed him and gave him some business.”

Zhu Yun bit her straw and muttered, “I’ve never seen someone as money-loving as him.”

After a moment, Ren Di said, “It seems like he’s saving up money.”

“He’s still a student? Why’s he in such a rush to save money?”

“He must want to start his own company. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t trust others, so he probably won’t accept investments easily. He’ll want to save his own money. Moreover…” As she spoke, Ren Di grew quiet. “Once, he went to a concert, and he was in a bad mood. After he drank a lot, he let slip that he has a debt to pay.”

Zhu Yun nearly bit her tongue. “What?!”

She could understand wanting to start his own company, but what was this about paying a debt?!

“Hey, be quiet!” Ren Di glared at her. “I’m not really sure either. He just mentioned it casually.”

Zhu Yun had truly been surprised.

A debt. To who?

Thinking of the high and mighty Li Xun, Zhu Yun suddenly felt dizzy.

“Don’t come up with any weird ideas either. It probably isn’t anything major. He knows what he’s doing.” Ren Di also reminded her, “Don’t let any of this get out, or else Li Xun’s going to kill me.”

Zhu Yun raised a hand and swore, “I won’t say anything even when I’m dead!”

In the afternoon, Zhu Yun obediently headed over to the project base. Since there was nothing to do, she would read.

The room was quiet. The sound of the wind blowing the bamboo trees echoed.

Gao Jianhong hadn’t returned from speaking with Old Lin yet. Sitting in her seat, Zhu Yun snuck a glance at the golden haired demon, curled up in his chair, writing code.

This guy seriously wasn’t a naive kid. Zhu Yun’s thoughts were running wild. Li Xun was an audacious fellow, but had upright ideas. Who knows how far he may have taken things?

But… Zhu Yun’s thoughts suddenly took a turn. She’d worked with Li Xun for quite awhile, and altough he was bossy and domineering, he was also very dependable. He took care of things calmly, and Zhu Yun could only concede defeat in the end.

“Hey.”

Zhu Yun trembled and quickly recovered.

Li Xun impatiently pointed at the desk. “What are you thinking about now?” Zhu Yun shook her head, and Li Xun pointed at a cup. “Water.”

Zhu Yun pa.s.sed the cup to him.

Shortly after, Gao Jianhong returned and discussed the outcome with Zhu Yun. “Teacher Lin gave us a few options. A vulnerability scanner, malicious activity detecter, or the school has a firewall designing—”

Zhu Yun nudged Gao Jianhong’s arm, cutting him off. She quietly asked Li Xun, “Is our discussion disturbing you?”

Since we’re at the same table, we shouldn’t disturb your productivity.

Master Li didn’t even look up as he generously replied, “Whatever.”

Zhu Yun asked Gao Jianhong, “Did you find anyone to fill the team?”

Gao Jianhong replied, “No. Do you have any suggestions?”

Zhu Yun said, “I do have someone in mind.”

“Who?”

Zhu Yun glanced behind him. He turned around and then asked, “Wu Mengxing?”

Master Golden Hair sneered from beside them.

Zhu Yun, “……”

She did her best to ignore him, and instead said to Gao Jianhong, “Yeah. His foundation is very solid. And since he was able to remain here so long, his perseverance is also first cla.s.s.”

As she spoke, Li Xun glanced at her.

Gao Jianhong replied, “Okay, I’ll go ask him.”

Zhu Yun grabbed onto his arm. “No need to rush. We’ll ask him when we get everything else sorted.”

Gao Jianhong, “Okay.”

Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong’s discussion went pretty smoothly. They decided to just pick a topic and try working on it. Old Lin had told them not to feel too rushed, since there was plenty of time anyway.

The days to follow were especially busy. Of course, they’d been busy when they were working on the projects that Li Xun procured, but these were two different situations.

How did that famous line go?

Only when you’ve lost something do you realize how important it was.

Only when you no longer have Top Score Li do you realize how f.u.c.king useful he was.

“Ah….” Zhu Yun sighed as she lied on the small balcony of their room, smoking and admiring the view.

Her mother’s call came. “Zhu Yun, how have you been recently?”

“Good.”

“Guess who contacted me today.”

“Who?”

“Fang Zhijing. You remember him, don’t you? He said that he hasn’t seen me in a long time, and he also mentioned that the two of you would be attending some kind of computer security compet.i.tion together. We haven’t spoken much since he graduated, but he’s still so polite.”

“……”

He’s just trying to take any opportunity to get close to you.

“I asked your cousin, and he said that attending these kinds of compet.i.tions will be helpful for studying abroad. Make sure to work hard. Fang Zhijing even told me that he wanted to beat you.”

Resting with her chin in hand, Zhu Yun lazily replied, “He should have the ability first.”

“Aiyo, look at yourself. You leared a few things and now you’re showing off.” Her mother seemed to be in a good mood. After chatting a bit more, she told Zhu Yun to watch out for her health, and then she hung up.

Zhu Yun put away her phone and turned around.

“He needs to have the skills first…”

She blew out a mouth of smoke that disappeared into the air. Zhu Yun stretched and looked up toward the sky. “Right, Xiaoyan?”

After putting out her cigarette, Zhu Yun was about to head back inside, when something caught her attention. She returned to the railing and looked down at a certain street.

Who else could that dazzling, golden head belong to but Li Xun?

He was on the small road by the woods, with a woman.

A new girlfriend?

Zhu Yun yawned.

Zhu Yun rolled her eyes, turned, and quietly headed inside.

From the balcony to Zhu Yun’s dorm room was about 15 meters. Zhu walked for the first five, and then ran for the second ten.

She pushed open the room door, stormed in, and grabbed Fang Shumiao by the shoulders. “Do you have binoculars?”

Fang Shumiao looked at her blankly. “What? Binoculars? For what?”

“…To look at the stars.”

“Are you crazy?” Fang Shumiao pat Zhu Yun. “Go shower and calm down.”

Zhu Yun sighed. She knew that most people wouldn’t have such equipment. She went to sit down, but before her bottom even touched her chair, she suddenly thought of something and ran out.

Fang Shumiao shouted from behind, “Zhu Yun, what’s going on with you lately?!”

She didn’t know what was going on with her either.

When she returned to the balcony, Li Xun was still standing in the same spot. She opened up her phone camera and zoomed in as much as she could. Though the image was blurry, it was still better than looking with the naked eye.

There really was a woman. But, wasn’t she a bit…

Zhu Yun had seen the girls that Li Xun dated, for example Liu Sisi and Juliet. Not a single one wasn’t a bright, stunning beauty. But the woman she saw on her phone… Though her features weren’t clear, Zhu Yun could still make out her clothes. There was one word to describe her appearance: unsophisticated. Incomparably unsophisticated. And her stooped posture completely lacked character.

His tastes changed a bit too quickly, no?

Li Xun had his hands on his waist, his face turned to the side.

Zhu Yun was very familiar with this posture. It meant he’d already used up all his patience. When this stance came out, it meant Li Xun was about to chase the other person away.

But, even though his patience was gone, he still hadn’t left.

The woman was speaking to him, though he offered no responses. While Zhu Yun was thinking how strange it was, Li Xun finally turned to go. The woman grabbed onto him, but he pulled away. His actions weren’t gentle. And that woman didn’t try to stop him again.

Zhu Yun remained on the balcony until her phone ran out of battery. She hadn’t discovered anything either. Then the woman left too.

Zhu Yun curled her lips.

What was going on here.