Zhang Fang’s words left a deep impression on Zhu Yun — or rather, planted a seed of unease in her heart.
Zhu Yun went to Li Xun and tried to probe, sideways and obliquely, about how Dong Siyang intended to find Hou Ning and what he planned to do once he had him. Li Xun’s responses were halfhearted and dismissive, too indifferent to engage properly.
The Playboy project was moving fast. On one hand, Li Xun was producing enormous amounts of code every single day. On the art side, standards had improved dramatically with Tian Xiuzhu’s involvement. The originally sluggish Guo Shijie, now energized by the presence of someone he admired, was throwing himself into the work as if he’d had an injection of something powerful — painting every day with furious speed, the progress remarkable.
In the past, when Li Xun was entirely absorbed in a project, Zhu Yun would never have disturbed him. But this time she made an exception. Every few days she went and found him, wearing him down with patient persistence in her attempts to get information.
Li Xun’s temper when working was notoriously volatile. The first time or two he managed to brush her off with minimal effort, but after enough repetitions he started losing his temper outright — slamming the desk, shouting reprimands, stopping just short of flipping the table over.
Still Zhu Yun didn’t give up. No matter how he tried to deflect, she kept asking.
By the end, even Li Xun’s temper had been worn smooth. His fists kept finding nothing but cotton. What could he do — what could he actually do to her?
“Can’t you go ask Dong Siyang?” Li Xun said, at the absolute limit of his patience.
“I can’t reach him,” Zhu Yun said.
Dong Siyang hadn’t appeared at the company for several days running in order to track down Hou Ning, which only deepened Zhu Yun’s worry.
“Get back to your own desk — don’t you have work to do?”
“Let’s resolve this first.”
Li Xun shoved his keyboard away in frustration and pulled out a cigarette.
Zhu Yun asked him for roughly the twenty-thousandth time: “What is Director Dong’s plan for finding Hou Ning? And what’s going to happen after he finds him?”
Li Xun gave his twenty-thousand-and-first reply: “I. Don’t. Know.”
Zhu Yun: “Have you even tried calling Dong Siyang?”
“No.”
“You haven’t even tried.”
Li Xun slammed the desk. “Are you done?!”
His voice had grown increasingly vicious. Zhu Yun stood her ground.
“I need you to call him and get a clear answer.”
“All you ever worry about is things that don’t matter!”
“Who says they don’t matter?”
Their voices climbed higher and higher. The three remaining people in the office all turned to watch.
Li Xun sat in his chair; Zhu Yun stood. She was wearing heels, which gave her at least a slight advantage in presence. Then Li Xun stood up too, and her heels no longer quite cut it.
“This is your last warning.” Li Xun’s voice dropped lower as he fixed his eyes on Zhu Yun. “I’m in the final stretch. If you want to talk, fine — give me three days.”
Zhu Yun held his gaze without flinching. “If this isn’t sorted out first, you won’t be finishing any final stretch.”
After hearing that, Li Xun clenched his jaw, slowly closed his eyes, letting his fury mount by degrees. Just as the volcano looked ready to erupt, Zhu Yun said one more thing —
“It was like this last time.”
The lava held back for one more second.
Li Xun looked into the eyes of the woman in front of him. Whether it was because of the argument, her eyes were flushed with feeling, urgent with something she was trying to make him understand — things she hadn’t yet said aloud.
It was like this last time.
You’d get volatile and everyone would let you be volatile. You’d go to pieces and everyone would give you room. You’d go silent and no one would press you… And then by some twist of fate, six years were lost for nothing.
When there had been another way.
Li Xun looked away.
Zhu Yun said, “The project will always be there — if this one doesn’t work out, we do the next one. But people can’t be undone. Do you still remember what Teacher Lin told you?”
You must walk the straight path.
Li Xun flung the documents in his hand hard onto the desk, grabbed his cigarette, and walked out of the office. Zhu Yun went after him. As he walked, Li Xun said, “Dong Siyang said before he left that he knows what he’s doing.”
Zhu Yun: “Does his definition of ‘knowing what he’s doing’ match a normal person’s?”
Li Xun: “…”
Zhu Yun looked at him with a furrowed brow. “You didn’t hand things over to Dong Siyang at first because you were worried he’d go too far, weren’t you.”
Li Xun’s expression was grave. He leaned against the window frame and said, “I wanted him to go a little far.”
“What?”
“Hou Ning needs a lesson.”
Zhu Yun was taken aback. Li Xun took a drag of his cigarette. “I want to use him, but right now he’s too reckless — too drunk on whatever ability he thinks he has. Dong Siyang keeping him in line is exactly right.”
“But what if Dong Siyang goes too far…”
“He shouldn’t.”
“What do you mean, shouldn’t?” Zhu Yun thought it through. “No — you need to go with him. Better safe than sorry. If something goes wrong it’ll be too late. Call Dong Siyang.”
Li Xun: “You’re coming too?”
Zhu Yun looked at him. “Do you know how to drive?”