The attempt to recruit Li Xun had ended in failure.
It didn’t come as much of a surprise to Zhu Yun. She had said it long ago — she had never seen anyone successfully persuade Li Xun of anything. If anything, it was Li Xun’s ability to persuade others that was truly formidable.
But still…
This was genuinely infuriating.
A fire was smoldering in Zhu Yun’s chest. She knew she couldn’t blame Li Xun for it — he had never been the type to hide what he was. Everyone had known exactly what kind of person he was since the very first day of school when he introduced himself.
And yet…
She didn’t know what she was fixating on, only that this resentment had nowhere to go. She buried her face in her pillow and knocked her forehead against it several times.
“Are you alright?” Fang Shumiao turned her head and looked at her with concern. “You’ve been like someone under a curse ever since you got back from the capital. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Zhu Yun climbed off the bed, changed clothes, and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Zhu Yun said listlessly: “Don’t know…”
“It’s Saturday — aren’t you going to the base? That’s unusual.”
“…”
Going to the base meant sitting there doing nothing. Gao Jianhong had gone to find old Teacher Lin, and Li Xun certainly wasn’t going to assign her any work.
Life had suddenly become deeply hollow.
Zhu Yun trudged out without enthusiasm and walked straight into someone in the doorway. She looked up — it was Ren Di.
The weather had been getting warmer by the day. Ren Di had been among the first to switch to short sleeves. Zhu Yun’s eyes went to her arm.
“You got a tattoo?”
“Yeah.” Ren Di made a point of showing it off. “Does it look good?”
A hornet.
Zhu Yun nodded. “It looks good.”
Ren Di had her guitar on her back — she had probably just come from the studio. She could tell something was off about Zhu Yun. “You look like your mind is somewhere else entirely.”
“I’m fine. What are you doing back?”
“I came to grab a few things.”
Zhu Yun nodded and was about to leave when Ren Di called after her: “Hey, wait — come have a drink with me.”
The rooftop of the library had a beautiful view.
“When you said ‘a drink’ you meant milk tea,” Zhu Yun said flatly.
“Of course.” Ren Di popped one open and handed it to Zhu Yun. “I don’t dare let you drink alcohol.”
“Hm?”
Ren Di said teasingly: “Li Xun told me you’re an absolute menace when you’re drunk.”
The moment she heard Li Xun’s name, that fire in Zhu Yun’s gut flared right back up. She huffed and puffed, blowing bubbles through her straw.
Ren Di chuckled. “What — has he finally gotten to be too much for you too?”
Zhu Yun narrowed her eyes. “Why do I feel like you’re gloating?”
Ren Di laughed outright and gave Zhu Yun a hearty slap on the shoulder. Zhu Yun choked on her milk tea and coughed until she couldn’t breathe.
“Watch what you’re doing!” Zhu Yun’s face had gone red. Ren Di put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a conciliatory little shake. “Come on, tell me what’s going on.”
Zhu Yun didn’t bother being coy about it. She told Ren Di about the competition, and Ren Di listened, then nodded.
“Makes sense.”
“How does it make sense?”
“He needs to make money.”
“Entering one competition wouldn’t take that long.”
“He plans everything out,” Ren Di said, trying to comfort her. “Here’s the thing — one time I wanted him to help us put together some music production software. He dragged it out for a whole month without having time for it, and in the end we still had to pay him for it, just treat it like a business transaction.”
Zhu Yun chewed on her straw and muttered: “I’ve never met anyone who loves money as much as he does.”
Ren Di paused, then said: “I think he’s been saving up.”
“He’s still a student. Why such a rush to save up?”
“He definitely wants to start his own company one day. He doesn’t trust people easily — he’d never be comfortable accepting investment from someone else. He’d have to build up the funds himself. And besides…” At that, Ren Di went quiet for a moment before continuing: “One time he came to watch one of our band performances. He was in a bad mood that night and drank a bit too much — he mentioned offhandedly that he still had a debt to pay off.”
Zhu Yun’s grip slipped, and she nearly bit her own tongue.
“What?!”
Starting a company, that she could understand — but being in debt, what on earth was that about?
“Can you keep your voice down!” Ren Di shot her a look. “I didn’t hear it clearly either — it was just something he let slip in passing.”
Zhu Yun was genuinely shaken.