The Lighter and Princess Gown - Chapter 33

Chapter 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 .