CH 33

Overgrown Grassland

33. Chapter 33

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 Saturday. 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-shirts. 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 competition. When she finished, Ren Di nodded.

“That’s normal.”

“What’s normal?”

“He wants to make money.”

“The competition 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 passed 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 class.”

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 fucking 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 competition 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 competitions 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.