The Lighter and Princess Gown

9. Chapter 9

“I came at your invitation.”

After those words went out, the handful of people in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her. Gao Jianhong looked amused. Liu Sisi pouted. The room was still. Li Xun was chewing gum, his face expressionless.

Zhu Yun straightened her back. You can’t have forgotten your previous invitation, have you? Quit playing.

After a moment of exchanging glances, Li Xun closed his laptop and said, “Okay.”

Okay what?

Li Xun sighed lightly and stood up. One arm was hooked on his waist as he looked around at the seminar participants. After seeing his expression, Zhu Yun suddenly felt an ominous feeling.

What. What are you planning on doing?

Li Xun knocked the desk and said, “Come on, everyone stop what you’re doing.”

Zhu Yun tensed up.

Li Xun raised his hand and without further ado, he made an introduction.

“This—” He motioned to Zhu Yun, “…is the princess I’ve invited.”

Zhu Yun, “…………”

Gao Jianhong laughed out loud. Liu Sisi also covered her mouth. The other students didn’t know what to do, so they could only applaud. Fortunately, Zhu Yun had many years of teaching behind her, and she was able to remain calm.

Li Xun checked the time. “We’ll have a welcome party for the princess. My treat. Come along if you’d like.”

Zhu Yun held back her impulse to burn off his hair and told him, “Thanks, but there’s no need.”

Li Xun looked at her. “Come on. Since I invited you, I can’t let our princess feel unwelcome.”

Did I kill your whole family in a previous life? Why must you attack me like this.

Liu Sisi grabbed onto Li Xun. “Where’s the party? I want to go too.”

Li Xun gave the name of the place, a nearby karaoke lounge. Liu Sisi obediently grabbed her phone and left the room to make a reservation.

There was no use saying any more. Zhu Yun could only take her seat and wait for her classmantes to finish their work and give her a big welcoming.

At 7 o’clock, the group of six headed out.

Zhu Yun didn’t know that the karaoke lounge was such a hot destination. All the rooms were booked that Friday evening, and their group had only gotten one because Liu Sisi was friends with one of the employees.

The place was decorated nicely, but the soundproofing wasn’t that great. Zhu Yun grew dizzy from the shrieking next door.

Liu Sisi got ready to hog the mic on the stage. Indeed, Liu Sisi was worthy of being called an art student. She sang well and danced a bit as well. She seemed like a professional.

Although this get-together was, in name, a welcome party for Zhu Yun, after the group finished a case of beer, Zhu Yun had yet to experience what it felt to be the “main character.” She enjoyed the evening on her own, trying to listen to Liu Sisi’s singing against all the background noise. Suddenly, a tall figure walked over with two bottles of beer.

There really wasn’t enough space. Li Xun took a seat and sat down on part of Zhu Yun’s clothes. He handed her a bottle.

Zhu Yun shook her head. “I don’t drink.”

Li Xun didn’t press her further and placed one of the beers on the table. Then he drank from his own bottle.

Zhu Yun glanced over at Li Xun.

While very noisy, the atmosphere was really quite nice. Li Xun looked to have drunk a bit and he seemed very relaxed.

Zhu Yun took the chance to talk to Li Xun about the format for the seminar.

“Hey, uh, Li Xun.”

Their surroundings were so loud that Li Xun didn’t show any sign of having heard her.

Zhu Yun mulled over the thought briefly before shouting into his ear, “Li Xun!”

Li Xun choked on his drink and cursed, “Are you looking to die?!”

“……”

Zhu Yun decided to discuss things first, before apologizing. “You should do her homework for her next time!”

Li Xun looked at her.

Zhu Yun said, “It only makes sense to do your own girlfriend’s homework!”

Li Xun smiled and responded, but Zhu Yun couldn’t hear him clearly.

“What did you say?!”

Li Xun repeated himself, but Zhu Yun still couldn’t hear. “Speak louder—!”

The next second, Zhu Yun felt her collar tighten, and then her entire body was pulled over.

The light scent of Li Xun’s chest.

Don’t you think it’s strange? He smokes, drinks, dyes his hair, and engages in all sorts of debauchery, but he always smelled so clean.

Boss Li’s unruly voice sounded in her ear. “What makes sense is for you to listen to my words.”

Who do you think you are?

Zhu Yun wordlessly got up. As she pushed herself up, her palm accidentally slipped on his thigh.

Hic…

Zhu Yun’s eyes looked up. Li Xun sat on the sofa without a care, zero intent on moving. The colorful lights shining around the room reflected beautifully off his golden hair. Zhu Yun stared at him, wondering if he’d be taken away without a word if the Anti-Vice Squad were to come right now.

Li Xun asked, “What are you looking at?” He spoke quietly, but Zhu Yun could make out his words by just looking at his lips.

Zhu Yun shook her head and said, “Nothing…”

Li Xun leaned over to her, his monolids giving his features a particularly sharp appearance. “Be more straightforward and people will like you more.”

“……”

Li Xun turned and half jokingly asked the room, “Hey, let me ask you guys. Are women better when they’re a bit dumb?”

Everyone was a bit drunk by then. After hearing Li Xun’s words, Gao Jianhong was the first to raise his hand. “Yes!” The others answered loyally.

In the end, even Liu Sisi at the stage shouted into her mic, “That’s right! Dumb women are the best! Long live the dumb women—!”

…These guys had all gone crazy.

Zhu Yun couldn’t stay here any longer. She got up and bid the group farewell. “I’m heading out first. Enjoy the rest of your night.” She had to reconsider whether she was going to remain enrolled in the seminar group.

After she put on her coat, she heard Li Xun call out, “You’re thinking up nonsensical things again.”

No, my thoughts are quite reasonable and fitting.

Li Xun motioned her over with his finger.

“……” After ten seconds of inner battle, Zhu Yun decided to tolerate him once more.

She leaned over and Li Xun lazily said, “Check your email when you get back.”

What?

After that, Li Xun payed no more care to Zhu Yun. He’d turned back to play dice with Gao Jianhong.

Zhu Yun returned to her dorm with a muddled head. She turned on her laptop and checked her inbox. There really was an email. The subject line read “To the Princess, Her Highness.” Zhu Yun’s nerves were skipping around. She clenched her teeth and opened the email. Then she stared at her screen.

The contents of the email were very familiar. It was the recommendations function that she’d helped Fang Shumiao write. But it was also different, like it had been edited.

Compared to his appearance, Li Xun’s code was very friendly, readable. After every edit he’d made, he added detailed comments and explanations. It was like reading a textbook. Zhu Yun only had to stop a few times to look up more information; otherwise, she read through the comments smoothly in half an hour.

Looking at his code was like listening to him speak. With just a glance, you could clearly see his intention and thought process, and even that high and mighty, needs a spanking attitude came through. There were no complicated tricks to his code, just the same as with his temper. Direct, clear, unobstructed, right there for you to see.

Zhu Yun made herself a cup of coffee, and then she checked the send time on the email. 7 o’clock that evening. 7 o’clock… Wasn’t that right before they left school? So, had he spent that afternoon going through her code? That can’t be right… How did he know that she’d written the function? When did he find out?

Full of suspicions, Zhu Yun recalled Li Xun’s carefree, smiling face. The image of him sitting in his chair, typing away on the keyboard. And finally, his head plopped down on the table.

In any case, she figured she should forget about quitting (the group) for now.

The next day was Saturday. Zhu Yun got up early and had a simple meal before heading over to the (seminar) project base. It was early, so she’d thought that she’d be the first on the scene. But when she walked inside the room, she saw Li Xun sleeping across two chairs.

The room reeked of a hangover.

Zhu Yun went to open a window, to let the air circulate. When she turned back, she noticed that Li Xun’s shirt was revealing his waist because of his sleeping posture. He had one hand rested on top of his eyes, and the other rested over his abdomen.

Were those chairs stable? They didn’t look very stable…

And his stomach was exposed. With the breeze from the window, would he wake up to a stomachache?

Zhu Yun took a peak outside the room. The campus was still on this Saturday morning. Like Li Xun, everyone was still sleeping.

Zhu Yun quietly walked over to him and grabbed hold of Li Xun’s shirt, planning to pull it down.

Nothing bad would happen, right? In more stories, something would happen at this point.

Zhu Yun tried to keep her arms steady as she pulled down his shirt. Halfway through the process, Li Xun moved. Perhaps the moving fabric on his skin made him feel an itch. His hand moved from his face to scratch his stomach. And then, he woke himself up.

Zhu Yun immediately pulled back her hand and looked at Li Xun as he opened his eyes. Her heart sighed.

See? In stories, this is when something happens.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a big incident. Li Xun clearly hadn’t slept enough. His face looked like he was constipated. He sat up, and his hair looked like a Super Saiyan’s again. His brows were so tightly knit that they could crush a fly. He wasn’t entirely awake yet, but the first thing he did was open his laptop and power it on.

Do you really need to push yourself that much? Aren’t you afraid of a sudden death?

Li Xun’s expression wasn’t great. Zhu Yun decided not to provoke an active volcano, so she returned to her seat.

Li Xun rubbed his face. Because he’d been drinking and he hadn’t slept enough, his eyes were a bit swollen. No matter how he rubbed, he couldn’t rid himself of the grogginess. He walked over to the washroom to wash his face with cold water.

When he returned to the room, his scary aura had already dissipated. He pulled up his shirt to wipe his face, but instead of a dry face, he ended up with a wet shirt and water drops on his face and hair.

After sitting down, Li Xun bent over and quietly said, “Lighter.”

Zhu Yun handed the lighter on the table to him.

Li Xun lit a cigarette.

“Tell me a joke.”

His voice was rarely this rough and low.

But… Tell a joke?

Zhu Yun turned to him. Li Xun was rubbing his temples as he spoke.

“To wake me up.”

The morning campus was quiet. The sun wasn’t high in the sky yet. The room was dim, gentle.

Zhu Yun thought for a moment. Then she said, “You’re not supposed to smoke in the laboratory building.”

Li Xun looked up from his hand. Zhu Yun was surprised to see his exhaustion had caused his eyes to become double-lidded. People with monolids were really a magical species.

His lips curved up.

“That is a joke.”