The Lighter and Princess Gown

Zhu Yun frantically escaped and returned to her dorm room. The door opened, and then closed, and then she leaned against it, panting heavily.

Fang Shumiao turned to her and asked, “Why’s your face so red?”

Zhu Yun’s reply came slowly. “Climbing the stairs…”

Zhu Yun didn’t study any more that night. After taking a shower, she headed to bed early. Li Xun hadn’t actually done anything. He just said that knowing sentence, and then, as if nothing had happened, he turned on his computer and started working.

Of course, Zhu Yun couldn’t be the first to confess. What if she was just jumping through the hoops that he made? Top Score Li was, after all, very clever, and he didn’t reveal his hand logically.

But that evening, Zhu Yun truly received too great a shock. That night, she had a dream.

In her dream, they took on the same positions, only instead of things being vertical, they were horizontal. Zhu Yun lied on a small bed, and Li Xun leaned over, on top of her. He turned his head, and with his ear to her chest, he listened to her heartbeat.

It was very quiet in her dream. She lowered her head to look at his face, but she could only see his bright, golden hair. She looked around her, and recognized her surroundings as the small, single room at the Lihua Hotel, where he’d stayed over New Year’s.

She quickly realized she was dreaming. She forced her eyes open and, as expected, the dark ceiling above greeted her. In the still of night, she grabbed onto her burning red cheeks, unable to fall back asleep.

The next day, she went to her meeting with Gao Jianhong, severe, dark circles under her eyes.

“I spoke to Teacher Lin again yesterday, and we decided on a plan.” Gao Jianhong put down the documents he’d prepared onto Zhu Yun’s desk. “‘Server defense system, based on microchip emulator.’ You guys, take a look.”

Zhu Yun and Wu Mengxing each grabbed a document and started reading.

“Hey, Li Xun, take a look at this for me too.” Gao Jianhong turned to Top Score Li. “Li Xun! Hey!”

Zhu Yun glanced back, over towards him. Li Xun was facing his computer, but he wasn’t typing. His expression was calm, as if thinking about something. Gao Jianhong continued calling his name, and finally, he came back to. He glanced over, and Zhu Yun quickly turned away.

Li Xun didn’t say anything, but he did wave Gao Jianhong over, who handed him the documents.

It was already Friday. The concert was just two days away.

He must have bought the ticket for Li Lan. So… Was he going to take her there?

The day went by peacefully. On Saturday, Zhu Yun and Gao Jianhong brought Wu Mengxing to Old Lin’s competition research event. They spent the whole morning steeping inside of the office.

Although Wu Mengxing was very excited and passionate about joining the competition, compared to Gao Jianhong and Zhu Yun, his skills were rather lacking. He spent a lot of time going through the logs.

Gao Jianhong and Old Lin explained the contents to him, while Zhu Yun stood off to the side. She looked like she was listening, but her mind had already flown away to farther pastures.

Wu Mengxing finally seemed to grasp the content, and then Zhu Yun and the boys returned to the project base. Li Xun was sitting in his seat, coding.

Zhu Yun glanced over near his feet. The concert ticket bag was still sitting there. Had Li Lan left already, or was she still nearby, waiting for him?

Finally, Sunday arrived. Zhu Yun headed over to the project base early in the morning and discovered Li Xun nestled in his chair, typing away. He must have stayed up all night, as his eyes were bloodshot. He looked very tranquil though.

It was still early, so he and Zhu Yun were the only ones in the room. Zhu Yun walked over and asked him, “You didn’t head home last night?”

Li Xun ignored her.

Zhu Yun continued watching him. “Did you grow out from that chair?”

She looked over to his screen, where line after line of code rhythmically appeared. He never made any edits, and it even seemed that he didn’t need to stop to think. He was as accurate as a machine spitting out code.

All his attention was focused on that task. He wouldn’t be thinking about anything else.

Zhu Yun quietly returned to her seat and waited for Gao Jianhong and Wu Mengxing.

When Wu Mengxing arrived, he looked depressed. “Sorry, I didn’t finish…” Last night, before they left, Gao Jianhong gave him some tasks.

“That’s okay. How much did you get done? We’ll help you look it over,” Gao Jianhong said. Wu Mengxing opened up his program. Zhu Yun glanced over it; it was a mess.

It was clear that Wu Mengxing had done a lot of homework, but he’d bitten off more than he could chew. He wanted to use an advanced algorithm, but he lacked the ability to complete it properly. By the end, all the bits were scattered about, mixed up, and the program unable to function.

Seeing Gao Jianhong’s furrowed brows as he looked over the code, Wu Mengxing blushed. “I’ll… I’ll fix it again.”

Gao Jianhong told him, “It’s better to just re-do it.”

Wu Mengxing clenched his teeth and lowered his head, nothing to say.

Gao Jianhong looked up from the computer, and upon seeing Wu Mengxing’s expression, he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

Wu Mengxing replied quietly, “I’m worried I’ll drag you guys down…”

Gently, Gao Jianhong said, “It’s not that there’s a problem with your ability. You just want to make something with bells and whistles, something showy. A program doesn’t have to be complicated. You should code according to the function you’re after. Often times, the simpler you work, the more secure. Keep that in mind. You have the ability, just don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Zhu Yun looked at Gao Jianhong. Compared to Li Xun’s genius-like abilities, Gao Jianhong was much more sincere and honest. He wasn’t as pointed as Li Xun either, and much more tolerant.

To be honest, she’d never met anyone as stubborn as Li Xun.

Gao Jianhong noticed Zhu Yun’s gaze and asked, “What is it?”

Zhu Yun shook her head. “Nothing.”

The seconds passed back, and noon quickly arrived. Gao Jianhong invited Zhu Yun and Wu Mengxing out for lunch, but Zhu Yun declined.

“I’m not hungry. You guys go ahead.”

She stayed behind at the project base, together with Li Xun—though she herself didn’t know what exactly that meant.

Li Xun was the same, quiet, tranquil. Programming required a lot of concentration. It had nearly been an entire day and night.

Zhu Yun sat at her desk, silent, organizing that morning’s discussion notes. After reading through less than 500 words, she had to re-read the sentences six or seven times, and she still didn’t have a clue what she was reading.

Finally, she put down her papers and looked over to Li Xun. “You’re not going to eat?”

No answer.

She tried again, “Maybe we can…eat something together?”

Again, no answer. She might as well have been speaking to the air.

After awhile, Gao Jianhong and Wu Mengxing returned. Wu Mengxing’s stomach was nearly hanging out. Gao Jianhong must have also talked to him a bit more, because he seemed quite happy, brimming with enthusiasm from head to toe.

“Come on! Let’s continue our meeting!”

Zhu Yun turned away, diverting her gaze from Li Xun.

Time flew by.

1, 2… 5, 6 o’clock…

The concert was at 8. Two hours for admittance.

Still not leaving?

You’re really calm, huh.

The sky slowly darkened, and the sun set in the west. Just like the afterglow on the bamboo grove, Gao Jianhong and Wu Mengxing’s discussion was disappearing and coming to a close.

Finally, Zhu Yun packed up her things. Gao Jianhong looked at her and asked, “What is it?”

Zhu Yun quietly replied, “Let’s continue this tomorrow.”

“Tired?”

Zhu Yun nodded. Gao Jianhong put away his paper and pen, and told Wu Mengxing, “Then, we’ll stop here for today.”

Wu Mengxing promptly replied, “I’m not tired. I’ll keep working a bit.”

Zhu Yun turned around and walked directly to Li Xun. She didn’t say anything or stop. She just bent over and grabbed the bag with the concert tickets before leaving.

Gao Jianhong had seen the scene from behind them. Finding it strange, he was about to ask about it, when Wu Mengxing bombarded him with his own questions.

The moment Zhu Yun left the room, those fingers that had been typing away on the keyboard for the past few hours finally came to a stop. He scratched his chin.
—

Zhu Yun raced out towards uptown. She went up and down the street in front of the school gate, checking every milk tea shop, every coffee shop, every dessert store… But she didn’t see any signs of those unsophisticated clothes.

Half an hour later, a dejected Zhu Yun dropped down and sat on the roadside, covered in sweat. This was like searching for a needle in a haystack. How would she able to find her…

Tired and panting, Zhu Yun checked her watch. It was already after 7. It was too late. The tickets were going to go to waste.

Zhu Yun gave up and opened up the bag. She pulled out the tickets. Two tickets, 1880 yuan each.

After a few seconds, Zhu Yun flipped out the bag to check for a ticket office or contact. Maybe she could return the tickets…

She didn’t find a ticket office contact, but she did find another slip of paper. Zhu Yun grabbed the paper and unfolded it. The contents of it were very simple—

“Taifu Hotel, room 408. When you’re done, come get reimbursed for transportation fees.”

My god…

Everything seemed to start spinning around her. Zhu Yun had a headache.

She stood up.

Reimbursed…

Recompense to your ancestors…

Looking at the handwriting on the paper, Zhu Yun could imagine his calm and composed manner as he wrote it. She could see his efforts to avoid being linked to the family, and yet he couldn’t let go of his sister, the one person who had taken care of him. Zhu Yun’s appearance in his life may be able to help with some odd jobs.

Doing some odd jobs wasn’t a big deal, but couldn’t he just say something. Was there a need to be so…

Zhu Yun stomped her feet. A passing child and parent glanced over at her.

Zhu Yun checked her watch. 27 minutes still. Being on time was out of the question, but if things went smoothly, they wouldn’t be too late.

Zhu Yun hailed down a cab. “Taifu Hotel.”

The driver paused. “Taifu? It’s just a 5 minute walk ahead.”

“I’m going somewhere else after. Wait for me!”

They arrived at the hotel in a jiffy. Zhu Yun jumped out of the car, but didn’t forget to call back, “Make sure you wait for me!”

She took the elevator to the fifth floor. Zhu Yun ran to room 408 and knocked clamorously on the door.

“Li Lan? Li Lan, are you there?”

A few seconds later, the door opened a sliver. Trembling with fear, Li Lan looked out. “…No need to clean. I’ll clean myself.”

Who’s here to clean for you? Zhu Yun pushed open the door and grabbed her. Then she pointed to herself. “Me. It’s me. Do you still recognize me?”

Li Lan said, “You’re…”

Zhu Yun was already familiar with her slow personality, so without waiting for an answer, she dragged the girl out. “Come with me!”

Li Lan tried to pull back. “What are you doing? Where are you trying to take me? What are you trying to do?”

Zhu Yun replied, “Just come with me!”

“No. No, stop pulling me…”

She really did work every day. Although Li Lan’s body was thin, her strength was rather startling. Zhu Yun couldn’t pull her, and finally she let out a sigh. She turned back and smiled as she said, “Li Lan, a few days ago, you said you liked bands.”

She didn’t know how sinister her smile looked, but Li Lan seemed frightened and didn’t respond.

Zhu Yun maintained her smiling face and said, “I’m taking you to a concert.”

Li Lan stared at her a moment, and then she shook her head. “No… Concerts are too expensive.”

“No.” Zhu Yun waved her hand. “It’s not expensive at all. I got them for free. It’ll just be a waste not to go.”