The Lighter and Princess Gown

Overgrown Grassland

11. Chapter 11

“He’s a graduate student in our department.”

Li Xun didn’t react. Gao Jianhong at least asked, “A graduate student?”

“Mmh.”

“You’re sure you’re not mistaken?”

“I’m sure.” He was really ugly and thin as a skeleton, so he’d left a deep impression on Zhu Yun.

Gao Jianhong thought for a moment. Then he asked, “Do you remember who his advisor is?”

Zhu Yun shook her head. “I’ll have to ask Fang Shumiao.”

Gao Jianhong looked at Li Xun, who was lighting up a cigarette. He looked up and said, “What are you doing hanging around here? Let’s head back.”
　　
When they got back to school, Zhu Yun quickly found Fang Shumiao to question her.

“Who? What graduate student?” Fang Shumiao had entirely forgotten.

“When you went to that representative meeting, weren’t there a bunch of other people as well? It ended really late, so I went to pick you up.” Zhu Yun did her best to help her friend remember. Fang Shumiao was licking her lollipop as her eyes floated up.

“Ah! The skeleton!”

“Yeah, the skeleton. He’s a graduate student in our department, right?”

“That’s right. Han… What was his name?” Fang Shumiao took a bite off her lollipop. “He’s not a student rep though. He was there as stand-in for his advisor.”

“Who’s his advisor?”

“I don’t remember, but it was a female professor. Why do you ask?”

Zhu Yun shook her head. Fang Shumiao asked, “I’ve been really busy with the Student Union recently, so I haven’t had a chance to drop by the project base. How are things? Did you guys get the contract?”

Zhu Yun responded. “We’re waiting for the notifications, but it should…”

It shouldn’t be a problem, right?
　
Well, that she didn’t know. The next day, the skeleton graduate student came to visit their seminar group.

His name was Han Jiakang. After arriving, he called Li Xun out to talk for quite a long time. Zhu Yun hadn’t yet figured out the situation when it was time for her afternoon class.

Li Xun didn’t return during their C class, and Old Lin didn’t ask about him. Just before class ended, Zhu Yun saw that there was a female professor waiting outside the classroom who greeted Old Lin. Old Lin instructed Zhu Yun to take care of the class assignments, and then he walked away with the female professor after class.

Zhu Yun was still untangling the situation when Gao Jianhong walked up from the back of the room. He sat down in Li Xun’s seat and said, “We hit it.”

Zhu Yun asked, “Hit what?”

Gao Jianhong replied, “The project.” (t/n: I think he’s saying they won the contract.)

When Zhu Yun had seen Han Jiakang at Languan yesterday, she’d suspected as much. Gao Jianhong was simply confirming what she already thought.
　　
“We really saw a demon,” Gao Jianhong cursed. His eyes darted around the now empty room, and he quietly spoke, “I’ve heard about Zhang Xiaobei. She used to work in the automation industry. Don’t know who she’s got a relationship with at this school, but she came in as an associate professor this year.”

Zhu Yun asked, “Automation? How did she end up in the computer department then?”

Gao Jianhong sneered. “What kind of profits could she have earned from that old lab. She changed professions.”

When Zhu Yun didn’t respond, Gao Jianhong asked her a baffling question. “Do you know how much can be gained from this project?”

Zhu Yun shook her head, so Gao Jianhong traced two numbers on the table for her to see.

“……”

She’d wrongly accused Li Xun. He wasn’t being crude at all. It was only natural to be a bit guarded when it came to money.

Li Xun didn’t show up to their next two classes. Zhu Yun’s heart wasn’t in it either, but she pushed through the rest of her classes before grabbing her backpack to return to the project base.

The blond devil was sitting in his chair, typing up code as usual. Zhu Yun walked over to him and Li Xun looked up. When he saw her, he pointed to something on the desk. Zhu Yun picked up a sheet of paper, an official set of requirements and the timetable for the project.

“The green part is yours. This is a strict timetable.”

Zhu Yun looked over the contents roughly. “Why are so many items missing now?”

Li Xun seemed to have mistyped something. He pressed the backspace button with his pinky, and then he placed his laptop on the table. He stretched his legs. Li Xun rubbed his eyes and asked, “Is Gao Jianhong here yet?”

Just then, Gao Jianhong walked into the room and said, “Here.”

Li Xun motioned for him to come over.

Gao Jianhong put down his bag. “Are we having a meeting?”

Li Xun said, “Wait a minute.”
　　
Not long after, a group of people walked in. The group was led by Zhang Xiaobei and Old Lin. Behind them were Han Jiakang and several other older students. Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong subconsciously straightened their backs. Li Xun opened the door to the classroom next door and a row of people walked inside and sat down.

Zhu Yun looked over to Zhang Xiaobei. Her makeup was light, her stature was tall, and she had long hair. Her expression appeared good-natured.

Old Mr Lin rubbed his hands together and smiled. He said, “I’ve brought together our two groups for one main purpose. Our seminar group has recently been contracted to outsource a software project. It just so happens that Teacher Zhang’s graduate students also signed on to this project. Teacher Zhang and I just had a discussion, and we came to the conclusion that both groups should join forces and cooperate with each other! You lot can learn from your seniors as well. As for who the project head will be, we should leave that to Teacher Zhang. After all, the graduate department would be a bit more experienced.”

None of the students spoke a word. Then, Zhang Xiaobei said, “The point is that this was a coincidence. Director Liu was on a business trip at the trip and my students were also busy with their other work, so we weren’t able to communicate well. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this kind of situation.”

Zhu Yun glanced behind her. Han Jiakang’s expression was even and calm while he sat at the back of the room.

Old Lin said, “There’s no problem. Working together is a good thing too. You can benefit from each other’s strengths as well as make up for each other’s shortfalls. It will be good for my students to get along with others—” He pointed to Li Xun. “A temper that’s so high into the skies needs to be dragged back down to earth.”

Li Xun scratched his chin. Even if Old Lin didn’t say it directly, everyone could hear his flaunting, praise-filled voice.

Zhao Xiaobei looked at Li Xun. “This must be Old Lin’s favorite pupil. Your name precedes you.” Her eyes curved as she chuckled. “One look and I can see that Old Lin’s students are not ordinary.”

Old Mr Lin waved away her praise. “No, no. He’s like a wolf cub. When he starts working, even I grow scared of him!”

Zhang Xiaobei laughed again.

Then Old Lin pointed to Zhu Yun. “If you need anything, please bring it up with my class representative. She’s very reliable.” Taken by surprise, Zhu Yun quickly turned to Zhang Xiaobei and nodded.

After a bit more discussion, Old Mr Lin excused himself as he had a class to attend.

Zhang Xiaobei turned to Li Xun and said, “Though you’re all undergraduate students, Teacher Lin has told me you’re quite outstanding. Working on this project will be good practice for you. If you run into any troubles or difficulties, you can come to find me. You can also seek out your seniors. There’s no need to feel bothersome.”

Li Xun nodded his head leisurely.

“Alright then. Han Jiakang, you stay behind to discuss a bit more. Everyone else, get back and start working. Life is about efficiency!”
　
There were only four people remaining.

Skeleton Senior still had a calm expression on his face. “Do you guys have any questions?”

Li Xun shook his head.

“Then I’ll be leaving too.” He pulled out a pen and paper, and then he wrote down a string of numbers. “This is my number. Save it. If you have any questions, you can call me.” He got up, about to leave.
　
Suddenly, Zhu Yun asked, “When did you guys register?”

Han Jiakang turned back.

Zhu Yun asked, “The companies listed on the participants list didn’t seem to have your names on it.”

Han Jiakang examined her.

Zhu Yun laughed and continued, “If we knew there would be graduate students leading the team, we wouldn’t have worked so hard.” She turned to Li Xun. “Right? So many all-nighters was tough work.”

Li Xun slowly nodded.

Han Jiakang’s tensed brows relaxed. He said, “When registration opened, we were busy with another matter. Even though registration closed later on, with our advisor’s help, the company accommodated us.”

Silence.

Han Jiakang continued, “Although we didn’t make a presentation that day, our materials had already been prepared. Teacher Zhang’s intent was for us not to get worked up with internal conflict, as it would just waste our resources.”

More silence.

Han Jiakang’s bony face didn’t betray any other emotions. “Any more questions?”

Everyone was looking at Li Xun. He slowly shook his head.

Han Jiakang left.

Li Xun straightened up and yawned. Beside him, Gao Jianhong also got up from his chair. His expression didn’t look good as he said, “Li Xun, let’s talk a minute.” Li Xun followed Gao Jianhong out to talk, and Zhu Yun started playing games on her phone.

By the time their afternoon class started, Zhu Yun had already looked up some information about Zhang Xiaobei. She was 32 years old this year. Her passage into this school had gone very smoothly and she’d been promoted quickly. She didn’t have any particular achievements, and despite being an associate professor, she’d never published a single individual paper in any of the core scientific journals.

As Zhu Yun rested on the desk, her body and mind both felt very tired. All her exhaustion had piled up and was pressing down on her now. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When she opened her eyes, the sky was dark. Gao Jianhong had gone off somewhere, but Li Xun was leaning against the windowsill, smoking.

Perhaps it was to keep from suffocating Zhu Yun to death, or perhaps he just wanted to feel the breeze, but Li Xun was standing at the window, very far from her. If not for the smoke floating around, she’d have thought the scene before her was a painting.

“Li Xun?”

Li Xun looked over. “The reliable class representative is awake?”

Zhu Yun, “……”

She walked over to him as he put out his smoke. It had just rained outside and the air smelled of moistened earth.

“Where’s Gao Jianhong?”

“He went to do some work.”

Zhu Yun was taken aback.

Li Xun looked at her and asked, “What, did you think he wouldn’t work anymore?” Zhu Yun didn’t say anything. That was precisely what she had thought.

Li Xun lazily leaned against the windowsill and laughed.
　
The view out the window was nice. There was a bamboo forest. Dark green leaves, a grey shirt, golden hair, and incandescent lights. Once again, it seemed as if they’d become old friends.

Li Xun had his arms crossed. He glanced over to her and said, “He said everything he wanted to say. If you have anything you want to say, go ahead.”

Zhu Yun was quiet.

Li Xun laughed. “Again? If you have something to say—”

“Are you just going to do it?”

Li Xun’s brows jumped. “Mmh?”

Zhu Yun turned to him. “Teacher Lin has always been focused with academic research, so he’s never dealt with these kinds of dishonest practices. He doesn’t know, but surely you know what that Zhang Xiaobei did. She’s even going to be the project leader. So, are we just going to work for her? I’ve been hearing about advisors like this for a long time. We don’t have to give in so easily. There must be some other way of resolving things. Even without them, with our abilities, finishing this website wouldn’t be a problem.”

When she finished, Li Xun smiled. “Her Highness, the princess, is full of confidence.”

It was the first time that Zhu Yun wasn’t affected by his teasing.

Her back heated up. Who invested the most into this project? Who made the plans for it? Who spent days and nights working on it? Who built the solid framework for it?

How could he still joke at a time like this?

Zhu Yun tried to find even the smallest trace of anger on his face, but she couldn’t.

“You’re not angry?”

“Why would I be angry?”

You’re always looking down on this and on that, so why are you so afraid now that you’ve hit a hard wall?—Of course, she kept such mocking commentary to herself. She couldn’t say it. If just for the fact that he’d spent so many nights working for this project, she couldn’t say it.

Zhu Yun felt like she was suffocating, and she couldn’t help turning to the side.

After several minutes of silence, Li Xun bent over. “Did you cry?”

Zhu Yun turned and glared at him.

Li Xun said, “Your eyes are all red.”

I was holding back!

Li Xun smiled. The sound of swishing bamboo leaves in the wind came from outside the window. While Zhu Yun remained quiet, Li Xun asked quietly, “Princess, have you seen evil people before?”