The Lighter and Princess Gown

The young painter was quickly pushed to the back of Zhu Yun’s mind.

When she got back to school, she headed straight to the practice base. She’d wanted to talk to Li Xun about some software capabilities, but when she arrived, Li Xun’s girlfriend from the broadcasting school was sitting in her seat, chatting to him.

His girlfriend was looking at him with utter adoration as she said, “How did you find this place?”

Li Xun, “Love.”

He looked over the script once, memorized it, and started reciting his lines. “It was love that led me. I’m no sailor, but if you were on a distant shore, I would bear the storm to earn a treasure as you.”

His girlfriend, “I confess. Had you not overheard my sincere confession while I was unawares, I would have acted more aloof! So, excuse me. It was the dark night that leaked out my deepest secret. Do not take my promise to be unashamed frivolousness!”

Li Xun, “Lady, I swear by the sacred moon above…”

“No—!”

His girlfriend’s voice cracked, as she got caught up in her emotions. She coughed and cleared her throat. Then she continued, “Do not swear by the moon, for the moon is ever-changing. If you swear by it, your love may be just as changing!”

“What should I swear by?”

Li Xun’s girlfriend grabbed his hand. “If you must swear, swear by your amazing person! You are the only one whom I am infatuated with, whom I worship!” (t/n: You can also read “person” to mean one’s self and also physical body)

“Truly? Is that what you truly want?”

……

How did Shakespeare’s words become so vulgar when you two recite them?

Zhu Yun walked over and sat down next to Wu Mengxing. He, and all the other members of the practice base, had long gotten used to Li Xun’s changing girlfriends. They were unaffected by the scene.

“Amazing person… Pfft!” Zhu Yun snorted in contempt.

“Mmh?” Wu Mengxing looked up from the computer screen. “Person?”

Zhu Yun shook her head. A few seconds later, lightning struck her thoughts. She suddenly recalled the acupuncture map that the teacher at the Chinese medicine institute had used.

“A body…”

Zhu Yun got up and walked over to Li Xun’s girlfriend. She grabbed onto her waist and pulled her away. “Come here, sit over here a minute.”

His girlfriend’s impassioned performance had been cut short. She stamped her feet, her face burning red in indignation. “This is the second time!”

Li Xun comforted her, “Let’s talk tomorrow.”

His girlfriend grabbed her scripts and harrumphed before strutting off. Li Xun watched her walk away and then he lit a cigarette. He glanced over at Zhu Yun. “Having fun?”

“Do you make it a joke to find girlfriends?”

Li Xun leaned against his chair and said, “Of course you should enjoy your time when you’re dating.” He raised his chin at her. “Didn’t I give you the day off? What are you doing here?”

Zhu Yun tidied her thoughts, and then responded, “I went to a Chinese medicine institute and I saw a map of human acupuncture points. Didn’t you keep saying that the interface for the program was too complicated? Why don’t we use a diagram of the body?”

Li Xun was curled up in his chair. He responded, “Mmh. Continue.”

Zhu Yun grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started drawing a body. “Using a human body would definitely make it more intuitive. Let’s say the pen is the cursor.” She moved her pen in a circular motion around the diagram. “When the user sees the body diagram, they can click on the area of their body that feels uncomfortable, and then a list of ailments and their descriptions will pop up. This creates a better sense of guidance for the user. We can also section off different parts of the body—head, limbs, back, abdomen, etc.—to create a sense of uniformity.”

Zhu Yun put her idea out there and waited for Li Xun’s appraisal.

Li Xun continued smoking, his eyes glued together by the smoke. Then, he turned to Gao Jianhong and asked, “When will the motion capture system be ready?”

Gao Jianhong replied, “Installation and testing will take at least a week.”

Li Xun nodded.

Zhu Yun’s heart skipped a beat at his mention of a motion capture (mocap) system. They wanted to use mocap to create animated effects?

“Perfect. We can use this project to practice,” Li Xun said. “Just studying theory is useless. You learn much faster with practice.” Zhu Yun nodded. She was deep in thought, and when she raised her head, she was met with Li Xun’s “amazing body.”

“You contact Liu Sisi,” he said to her.

Zhu Yun paused.

Why would you tell me to contact your ex-girlfriend?

Li Xun said, “Tell her to find me an expert in 3D (animation) from the animation college. The can name their price.” His words made Zhu Yun’s blood boil.

They can name their price.

Tsk, tsk.

With such grand words, Liu Sisi quickly found two fourth-year seniors in the animation college. After seeing the mocap program, they were stunned. “Woah… Even our school doesn’t have this!”

Not having it is the normal thing.

At the time, motion capture was a pretty new technology. Forget about a small art school, in the entire country, there were no more than five schools equipped with it.

Zhu Yun quietly snuck a glance at Li Xun. When they’d first been introduced to the equipment, she and Gao Jianhong had both been shocked as well. They didn’t feel they had any particular need for the system, but Li Xun stood his ground against them and insisted on purchasing it. Li Xun enjoyed trying stuff, and he was always seeking out new things.

Being able to learn this system for free, the seniors were extremely happy. Having this experience on their CV would definitely be helpful after they graduated and were searching for jobs. Both of them expressed that they didn’t need any payment, and that they would work passionately to complete the project, as if it were their own graduation project.

After all the plans were set, Li Xun’s work picked up speed.

Zhu Yun realized that, after she joined the practice base, she seemed to have been infected with Li Xun’s tendency to go overboard with her work. All her academic achievements seemed to have just been a dream. When she was in non-core courses, she was either coding or searching up information. On a quiz before the finals, she dropped from fourth in the class to ninth.

What made it worse was that Li Xun actually rose from 11th to 10th. He was seriously fucking stable.

Looking at their names next to each other on her grade report, Zhu Yun felt indignant. She folded the paper and put it away.

After her morning English class finished, Zhu Yun decided to drop the homework off to Old Mr Lin.

As she walked over to his office, she thought about how the (3D) model would render. Since mocap wasn’t something people had used before, so she wondered if there would be any compatibility issues. She felt she ought to have a discussion with Li Xun about it… To remind him, lest they only realize it later on and have to re-do everything.

As she was thinking about it, a flash of blond hair passed by her.

Zhu Yun’s steps stopped…

Li Xun?

He must have been there to ask Old Lin some questions again. Zhu Yun pursed her lips. Although she was Old Lin’s class representative, it was obvious to everyone that he favored Li Xun more.

She walked into Old Lin’s office with the class’ homework in her hands. Old Lin was drinking tea, and there was only another teacher in the room with him.

After handing over the homework, Old Lin asked her, “How are things at the project base? Are here any difficulties that you need my help diagnosing?”

Zhu Yun replied, “We’re still holding down the fort.”

Old Lin chuckled. Then Zhu Yun asked him, “Did Li Xun come by earlier?”

“No.”

“Oh…” Then Zhu Yun said her goodbye to Old Lin and left.

After leaving his office, she felt that it was a bit curious. Li Xun was the only one in their entire school to have that color of hair.

She walked over towards the place she’d spotted Li Xun. The offices there were very small, and the corridor was very still. Zhu Yun subconsciously lightened her steps.

In the office furthest in, she heard a quiet conversation.

Zhu Yun looked around her, and then, as if she were a ghost, she snuck over and crouched down, pressing her ear against the door. Even though Li Xun and Zhang Xiaobei’s voices weren’t very loud, since the hallway was very quiet, she could hear their conversation clearly.

“Have you finished thinking it over?” Zhang Xiaobei asked.

“Not yet.”

“Li Xun, I recommended you to Treasure Technologies because I saw that you were talented and qualified. Treasure, as you know, is a very famous software company.”

“I know.”

“Their projects are very competitive. If you can complete it, you might be able to get an internship with them.” Zhang Xiaobei laughed and continued, “Originally, they didn’t want to accept an undergraduate student, but I talked with their representatives for more than a week until they agreed to accept you.”

“Thank you.”

Pfft. Outside the door, Zhu Yun couldn’t stop a slight laugh from escaping her lips.

Zhang Xiaobei seemed to have heard how halfhearted his response was, and she sighed.

“I know that you’re busy with your project group, but everything has its level of importance. You don’t need to feel conflicted. I’m someone with experience, so more than anyone else, I know which projects will be helpful to your future. You can ask Teacher Lin about his opinion as well.”

Li Xun nodded. “Okay, I’ll think about it again. Uh… If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”

Taken by surprise, Zhu Yun’s face scrunched up.

Don’t leave in such a hurry! Give me some time to evacuate first!

Just as she was about to run off, she heard Zhang Xiaobei speak again. “Your family’s in a difficult situation, aren’t they?”

Huh?

Zhu Yun stopped in her steps, as did Li Xun in his.

Zhang Xiaobei said, “Your registered residence is in the countryside, isn’t it?”

What?

At the start, Zhu Yun had felt that Li Xun’s shining bright hair gave off a very rural aura. But after getting to know him, she couldn’t possibly imagine how Young Master Li’s extravagant and (monetarily) wasteful mannerisms could be in any way connected to the countryside…

Or had rural villages been upgraded to this degree now too?

While these thoughts flew around in her head, Zhang Xiaobei continued, “But your information’s been changed since you registered for classes, including your family’s contact info and address, and all your other information.

“You requested student aid from the school, and they gave it to you. I’m not sure how you made it through the auditing, but if you were to be investigated thoroughly, your student aid would surely be canceled. And if the school were to be more severe in their handling of the situation… Well, I’m sure you know how things would turn out.

“Of course, my words are just to let you know that I understand your difficulties. Right now, you must be busy leading your project, and you have to attend class as well. You must be tired out. If you come to me, you won’t have to worry about anything else.

“I’ve said it before. I’m someone with experience, and I know what will help your future the most. You should think it over, and don’t feel conflicted.”

The world grew still.

After a long moment, Li Xun finally said, “Teacher.”

Zhang Xiaobei, “Hm?”

He chuckled and said, “You’re really amazing… Seriously.”

Zhang Xiaobei replied, “Really?”

Zhu Yun quietly got up and left.

In the following days, Li Xun continued on as usual. He attended class, he worked, and he criticized their programming for rudimentary mistakes. When Zhu Yun was submitting documents to him, she always wanted to bring it up, but in the end, she never ended up saying anything.

A few days later, Zhu Yun saw Zhang Xiaobei in Old Mr Lin’s office.

“I hadn’t thought that he’d be so busy…” Zhang Xiaobei’s face was filled with distress.

Old Lin tried to comfort her, “I know, I know. Teacher Zhang, don’t be anxious.”

“How can I not be anxious?! I’ve already submitted the participant list. Ah… It’s my fault for not asking him first. I got excited when I saw the chance, and I took the initiative. Who knew that he’d… Ah…!”

“You had good intentions.”

“Even if I had good intentions, he still didn’t accept them. I’m dying here. The project will start soon, and my graduate students all have their own work to do. Where am I going to find someone.”

Teacher Lin replied, “The point is that Li Xun—”

“What am I supposed to report to the company now?”

After being asked continuous questions, Old Lin finally frowned. With some hesitation, he said, “Then, how about I—”

With her notebook in her hands, Zhu Yun knocked on the door. “Teacher.” Old Lin and Zhang Xiaobei turned their heads at the same time.

Zhu Yun gave a nod and said, “Um… I’m here to deliver the homework.”

Old Lin’s expression immediately brightened. “Come, come, come!” Zhu Yun walked over and Old Lin gave her shoulder a pat. He turned to Zhang Xiaobei and said, “This is my class representative. You know her already, I think.”

Zhang Xiaobei examined her, her eyes like a scale, repeatedly weighing her options. “I do. She was on the Languan project.”

Old Lin said, “What do you think about her level?”

Zhang Xiaobei nodded. “It’s not bad.”

“Right?! She’s very good at studying! Her mind is nimble, and her thoughts wide!” Old Lin proudly praised. He turned to Zhu Yun and said, “Have you heard of Treasure Technologies?”

Zhu Yun smiled and said, “I know it.”

That evening, Zhu Yun pushed pushed open the door and walked up to the rooftop. Fiery clouds burned up the sky.

Three people were sitting there. Ren Di and her two bandmates were gathered to discuss a new song. Zhu Yun walked over and sat down next to them. She pulled out her laptop and opened it up.

Ren Di teased, “Have you been infected by Li Xun? Carrying a laptop wherever you go…”

Zhu Yun slouched over and said, “I’m waiting for a file.” Zhang Xiaobei asked her to be on standby to receive the project requirements.

“Let me introduce you. This is our band’s guitarist, Eight. And this is our drummer, Little Six.” (t/n: The guitarist is called “ba ge”, literally eighth elder brother, or apparently the name of a bird.)

The two boys with strange names saluted Zhu Yun, “Yo!”

Zhu Yun returned their greeting with her own, “Yo!”

Ren Di laughed and Zhu Yun asked her, “Do you have a smoke?” Ren Di handed her a cigarette and helped block the wind so she could light it.

It had been a long time since she’d smoked. Zhu Yun looked at the far-off burning clouds, thinking of how he’d made her so busy that she’d forgotten everything.

She’d left first, so she hadn’t heard the end of the conversation between Li Xun and Zhang Xiaobei the other day. But she hadn’t been worried that Li Xun would give in to Zhang Xiaobei’s request. She knew that it would have been impossible, but still, she didn’t stay to hear the end of their conversation.

Zhu Yun thought for a long time about why. In the end, she realized that, from the bottom of her heart, she couldn’t bear to see Li Xun bow down to someone.

That arrogant, wild dog… How could he possible bow down to someone?

She couldn’t accept that. She wouldn’t allow it.

“What’s going on? Planning to kill someone?” Beside her, Ren Di laughed. “Why is your expression so scary?”

Her computer pinged. An email had come in.

Zhu Yun said, “Play something nice for me.”

“Alright.”

Ren Di picked up her guitar and started singing a song. Zhu Yun squinted at the requirements on her screen. When she read through the end, she smiled.

She sucked on her cigarette, and the she started tapping away on her keyboard.