The phone hung up.
The car was silent, except for the sound of the wind.
Liu Shuyao was startled by Li Meixun's sudden outburst, nearly dropping her phone.
She dared not look at Xiang Ran’s expression, choosing instead to pretend to be dead.
However, she tightly clutched the corner of her boyfriend’s shirt, her fingertips turning pink from the force. Her cheeks were flushed and hadn't returned to normal, making her feel hot and trembling even in her ears.
Xiang Ran had heard everything from the call clearly.
For some reason, he felt increasingly irritable.
He took out his earbuds and replayed "Computability and λ-Definability" at double speed to calm himself down.
Before long, they arrived at the school gate.
The streetlights cast long shadows as Liu Shuyao stepped carefully, following the outline of her shadow.
They reached the girls' dormitory, one in front and one behind.
Suddenly, Xiang Ran stopped at the stairs, causing the campus belle to walk into him without paying attention.
“Ow~”
Xiang Ran turned to see the campus belle covering her nose, pouting. Having left the ambiguous atmosphere of the KTV, Liu Shuyao’s courage shrank back into her shell.
It was a bit amusing to witness.
“You can just send the final adjusted design to my email. There’s no need to run back and forth between the science and art departments anymore.”
“Okay.”
The campus belle played with the hem of her clothes, instinctively nodding to her boyfriend's words.
It wasn't until after she agreed that she felt something was off.
She looked up at him, confused.
“What?”
Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of grievance.
“Can’t I go?”
Xiang Ran had already decided on the way back to drop her off. The first phase of the project was nearly wrapped up.
He felt some parts of his heart slowly changing, yet he instinctively wanted to avoid it.
At this rate, he really had no idea what would happen later. What if Liu Shuyao thought back on it and it became hard to resolve?
So, in response to her question, he simply nodded.
His expression was neutral, with Turing's paper still playing in his earbuds.
Research will accompany me for life!
“The rest is already in the official development phase; it won’t matter if you come over.”
“But...”
Liu Shuyao’s mind raced, muttering, “They’ve only been together for a few days, and he says it’s meaningless!”
“Then I still need to keep track of the progress!”
“I'll send you daily reports on the progress via email, including sending them to Teacher Wu, so don’t worry about that.”
“...”
Xiang Ran blocked every possible chance for the campus belle to come, and they tugged at each other for a few more minutes downstairs.
In the end, Liu Shuyao still went upstairs, downcast.
Watching her lonely figure, Xiang Ran furrowed his brows.
This was the outcome he wanted, yet he felt anything but happy!
...
Back in the dorm, the others hadn’t returned yet.
Xiang Ran immediately went to wash off the various strange smells he had picked up at the bar.
Then he turned on his computer to reorganize his upcoming tasks, marking out each project milestone one by one.
Development Testing Cycle (Time):
1. Data visualization large screen interface
2. Integrated data acquisition and processing functions
3. Added virtual gallery effects
4. Conduct functional tests and performance optimization
5. Troubleshoot issues and bugs
Collaboration Cycle:
1. Provide artwork (Contact: XXX)
2. Integrate resources into the data visualization large screen
Launch Deployment Cycle:
...
Xiang Ran was planning the workload when time flew by.
As it approached lights out, he stretched, glanced at the door, and thought about calling the dorm leader to ask about the situation.
Suddenly, the dormitory door was kicked open.
He got up to see Qi Dong and Wang Hao straining to move the fat guy inside.
Perhaps the fat guy's weight was too much, making both of them flush and exhausted; Xiang Ran noticed Qi Dong's legs were trembling.
“Quick, help us out!”
Qi Dong gasped for breath.
Xiang Ran hurried over to support the guy.
“Damn!”
“This fat guy drinks like he’s soaking in water!”
Xiang Ran nearly lost his grip; if he had been a second late, the guy would have fallen flat.
Then the fat guy started shouting loudly:
“Ah~”
“Hayyan~”
“If true love had a color, it would definitely be blue!”
“Where the King’s sword points, our hearts follow!”
“First there were saints, then the heavens; I, Hui Mei, am like a fairy in a painting!”
“All of this is the choice of the fate stone gate...”
“Gao Mu, the best in the world!!!”
“Shut up!”
Xiang Ran could no longer take it and, along with the others, tossed the fat guy onto a chair.
“Brother Ran, keep an eye on him. I’ll go to the bathroom!”
Xiang Ran nodded as Qi Dong leaned against the wardrobe, looking drained.
“How much did he drink? Whose birthday is it today?”
“Beats me!”
“I was chatting with Zhao Ying and the others. The dorm leader went out to video call a girlfriend, and when he came back, he looked like this.”
“He's already thrown up once; otherwise, it would have been worse.”
“What’s he shouting about?”
“Drunk.”
Qi Dong opened a bottle of electrolyte water, drinking half before feeling a bit better.
“Wife?”
“Where's my wife!”
Qi Dong’s response seemed to activate the fat guy’s energy. Barely sitting still for half a minute, he started again.
The fat guy's face was flushed, eyes squinted shut as he looked at Qi Dong and Xiang Ran, as if trying to identify something.
Then, he stumbled to his feet.
He walked over to the dorm leader's desk and grabbed the flowers he had planned to give his girlfriend tomorrow, then directly smacked them against Xiang Ran’s face.
Then... he hugged him!
“Wife!”
“Here, here’s the flower for you!”
Burp~~~
Uh~~
YUE...
...
Xiang Ran felt his patience nearing its limit. Watching the fat guy sway like he was about to fall, he gave him a push and tossed the roses back.
Qi Dong nearly burst out laughing at the scene, while Xiang Ran's face darkened, already thinking about where to bury the fat guy.
Is he out of his mind?!
Just then, the dorm leader came out of the bathroom, watching the three of them moving around like they were doing Tai Chi, and thinking about dragging the fat guy onto the bed.
“What?”
“Are you sure?”
Xiang Ran and Qi Dong were so exhausted by all this that they didn't even want to move.
“If he doesn’t go to bed, how will he sleep tonight?”
As the dorm leader continued speaking, he suddenly caught sight of scattered rose petals on the floor.
His brain took a moment to process, and after a while, he pointed at the remnants and asked, “Where did these rose petals come from?”
Xiang Ran raised his hand to point at the desk behind him.
Then he saw the beautifully packaged roses that he had planned to surprise his date with, now in tatters thanks to the fat guy.
The ribbon was torn, and out of the originally 19 roses, only 2 were still somewhat intact. The others were either ripped in half or had broken petals...
“fuk!”
“What the hell did I spend half a month’s living expenses on these shabby roses for?”
“You’re really dead meat!”
While the dorm leader vented his anger, he couldn’t take it anymore and, seeing the fat guy’s dazed expression, kicked him hard!
Well, now he didn’t need to sleep on the bed; he could just sleep on the floor.
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