Xu Ai let out a long sigh when she stepped out of the principal's office.
She pushed everything onto Su Xuan's shoulders. The university officials looked at each other in shock, and the computer science professors accepted it easily.
Not only did she not get any punishments, there were also no records, no academic suspension, and no reporting to the police. They just asked her nicely to tell Su Xuan to fix their website as soon as possible. They believed her relationship with Su Xuan and didn't question her.
To her surprise, everything was smooth sailing.
Had she known everything would go so well, she really wouldn't have to tangle herself up. She almost scared herself to death. She should've confessed it all when she entered the principal's office.
The three people who had left earlier didn't go. They each looked at her with a bit of surprise when they saw the relaxed look on her face when she exited the office.
Zhao Yang came up to her first.
"Did you really hack my computer?" He kept his voice low.
Xu Ai blinked. It shouldn't matter if she denied it! It would be a valuable lesson for him! She shook her head. "You actually fell for that? I study business administration, not computer science."
"Then who did it?" Zhao Yang scratched his head and looked at her with confused eyes.
Xu Ai shrugged her shoulders, meaning there was nothing she could tell him. She walked past him and prepared to go to class.
Cheng Yanyan walked in front of her and stopped her. "How did this situation get resolved? We were all called here, yet we can't know anything?"
Xu Ai looked at her with an innocent face. "You can go ask the principal."
That immediately irritated Cheng Yanyan. "You…"
"This is the door to the principal's office. Just push the door, a gentle push, and you can go in." Xu Ai pointed the direction to her nicely.
There was no way for Cheng Yanyan to question the principal. Her pretty face turned livid.
Xu Ai didn't give a damn if the beauty queen was angry or not. She was in a very good mood, and her steps when she left were also light and lively. She didn't even look at Lin Shen, and it didn't take long for her to leave the building.
"Lin Shen, do you know what is up with her?" Cheng Yanyan suppressed the angry fires in her heart and softened her voice on purpose.
"She studies business administration. She only knows so much about computer science." Lin Shen was more likely talking to Zhao Yang than to Cheng Yanyan. He basically confirmed what Xu Ai told Zhao Yang earlier. Then, he left there with a dark look on his face.
Cheng Yanyan stomped her foot. "Zhao Yang, don't you think this is weird?"
Naturally, Zhao Yang thought it was weird, but he didn't know what exactly was weird. "It's probably because of Su Xuan..." He assumed.
Cheng Yanyan was shocked. "Is she really Su Xuan's girlfriend? How is that possible?"
Zhao Yang shrugged. "I don't think that's possible either."
"It's definitely impossible! I researched Xu Ai's family. Her parents live abroad and work as translators. She lives with her grandmother in the old residential area in Beijing. Her family's financial status isn't great, or else she wouldn't chase after Lin Shen and work for his company in the freshman year," Cheng Yanyan said surely, "Who do you think Su Xuan is? The Empyrean Financial Group's heir! Plus, he only came back two months ago."
Zhao Yang glowered at her. "You actually investigated Xu Ai so thoroughly?"
Cheng Yanyan looked at him. "I'm not going to hide from you; I like Lin Shen. If I plan to chase after him, then I have to investigate Xu Ai, who is always by his side."
Zhao Yang gasped, "Women are indeed scary animals." He was probably a little bit scared of Cheng Yanyan. He didn't speak more with her and left in a hurry.
Cheng Yanyan stood in front of the principal's office for a while before she left with a livid and confused look on her face.
When Xu Ai finished her morning classes and lunch, she received a phone call from Sun Pinting as she was walking to her dorm.
That woman's mocking voice came from the speaker. "Hey Ai-Ai, did you get into any trouble? Need your big sis to help you out?"
Xu Ai rolled her eyes. "Are you that bored?"
"I have no classes this afternoon." Sun Pinting was indeed a little bored.
"Could you help me censor those news?" Xu Ai figured she would feel much better if that stupid news could get censored. Even though Lin Shen said that the news saved his advertising budget, she still wanted to barf at the thought of that news content.
Xun Pinting was scared. "You want to censor the news?"
"Yes! Do you have any methods?" Xu Ai nodded.
"Nope!" Sun Pinting shook her head.
"Then there's nothing you can do to help. Get lost!" Xu Ai was ready to hang up the phone.
"Hey, wait," Sun Pinting shouted. She thought for a second and said, "If you want to censor the news, it's not impossible to do. Do you know who controls the news media, paper-print media, and all those media companies?"
Light flashed past Xu Ai's eyes, "You mean…"
Sun Pinting laughed and snapped her fingers. "Yes, everything is controlled by the Empyrean. You can go find your boyfriend. Any news can be censored if Su Xuan opens his mouth."
Xu Ai hung up angrily. Find Su Xuan? Heck no!
He wasn't even her boyfriend! If the news leaked out from media companies under his name, it wasn't her fault that it had gone viral. Whatever!
Violet and Autumn still weren't back yet when she reached the dorm. Lil' Wen was lying in her bed, with her face looking terribly ghastly.
Xu Ai threw away her bag and walked to her.
"Lil' Wen, is there anything wrong?" she asked with concern.
Lil' Wen shook her head. "No, I'm fine."
Xu Ai understood it was her heart that was paining her. She suggested, "You should rest for a few days! You can ask for a break and don't go to class."
Lil' Wen nodded. "I really don't want to go to class anymore."
Violet and Autumn came back as they were talking. They grabbed Xu Ai and asked, "I heard you guys were called to the principal's office today? Who hacked the school's website? What did the principal say?"
Xu Ai shook her head. "The principal didn't really say anything. We didn't hack it. The school is obviously going to find someone to fix it."
"Then it must be a computer genius! I hope I can get to know that person; I just don't know if this person is a cute guy." Violet already began fantasizing.
Xu Ai found it funny and pushed her. "What about those cute guys you met on the hiking trip?"
"Women must act reserved!" Violet held her head high and proceeded to take a catnap.
Xu Ai thought about whether she should restore the school's website right now, this evening, or tomorrow. She went back and forth between the three choices and decided to choose none of the above. Instead, she would restore it at midnight when everybody was sleeping.
So, later that night at 2 AM, Xu Ai took her computer to the bathroom and fixed the school's website quietly.
Of course, she wasn't nice enough to fix other schools' websites that she hacked; she only did her own school a favor and restored theirs. She turned off the computer and yawned, then she climbed back to her bed to enjoy her sleep.
The next morning, Violet screamed as she rolled out of bed, "The school's website is fixed now!"
"Seriously? Who fixed it?" Autumn asked.
Violet shook her head. "Someone posted a thread asking about it, and the replies said it wasn't our professors. Someone else guessed it probably was Su Xuan, then someone countered that statement and said Su Xuan is too high and mighty to do a tiny thing like this."
"Who knows; he probably did it for Ai-Ai's sake!" Autumn chimed in.
"Exactly! That's what I replied." Violet's fingers typed on the keyboard loud and proud.
Xu Ai looked at Violet helplessly. She seemed to really enjoy soaking in a cauldron of gossip. What kind of a future boyfriend would she have to find to put up with her gossip genes?
After her classes in the morning, Xu Ai received a call from Lin Shen as soon as she walked out of her classroom.
She exited the classroom building and saw Lin Shen. With one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cellphone, he was standing there nonchalantly.
The crowd slowly exiting the classroom building almost blended into a background to accentuate him.
Xu Ai drew in a deep breath. Even though he and Cheng Yanyan were dating, he still was her friend, right? It shouldn't count as crossing the line to ask him for a cellphone as her last chance of warmth that she could get from him!
Lin Shen saw her as she was bracing her psyche. He tilted his body and asked, "Is there anything you need to grab from your dorm?"
Xu Ai shook her head. "Nope!"
"Let's go then! We're not in a rush, so let's take the bus." Lin Shen turned around and walked towards the bus stop.
Xu Ai followed behind him and looked down at the invisible footprints out of habit. During the past three years, every time they got together was for his company. They usually took a cab from school and then took a cab back to school. Lin Shen's time was money, very, very precious money. She could count the number of times they took the bus together with her fingers.
She remembered dragging him to take the bus when they first met. That caused them to be late to a meeting with a client. Actually, they were right on time and shouldn't be counted as late, but that client chided him for not being sincere enough to arrive early and lambasted him. Obviously, that deal fell through. After that incident, she never mentioned taking the bus again.
She whispered at the thought of that, "You don't have anything to do today?"
"No." Lin Shen turned his head back and glanced at her.
That put Xu Ai's heart at ease. He wouldn't be afraid of being late if he didn't have anything to do. She remembered that he was about to graduate and asked, "How's your graduation essay going?"
"Next week is my final round of thesis defense, then I'm all done." Lin Shen turned around.
Xu Ai didn't speak further. If he passed his graduation thesis defense, then that virtually meant he graduated. And once he graduated, he would leave the school.
They walked like that, one in the front and one in the back. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the bus stop. A bus was about to leave, but it only had one empty seat left.
Xu Ai thought about it. "Let's take the next bus!"
Lin Shen nodded.
Xu Ai looked at him in surprise. In the past, he would never take the bus. Even if he did, he would drag her on the bus even if it had only one empty seat. He must be really free today.
Buses were scheduled to arrive every ten minutes. They waited for the next bus after this one took off.
Lin Shen waited silently. Xu Ai didn't speak either.
Lin Shen seemed to have gotten used to being silent when Xu Ai first met him. Xu Ai wasn't as big of a chatterbox as Violet, but she was quite extroverted. She wanted to get to know him, and she wanted him to get to know her, so she often came up with topics to chat with him. She would be pretty talkative around him. Eventually, she realized how much he frowned when she talked a lot, and she gradually talked less and less in front of him.
Ten minutes went by very fast. They got on the bus, and Xu Ai sat on a window seat out of habit. Lin Shen sat beside her.
Xu Ai looked outside the window when the bus started moving.
Lin Shen also looked outside the window. After three stops, he spoke all of a sudden, "I want to live an extra year in the dorm building after I graduate."
Xu Ai was a little shocked. She turned around and asked, "Why?"
Lin Shen curled the corners of his lips as he stared at her but didn't reply.
Xu Ai thought, Is it because of Cheng Yanyan? She is planning on graduating next year as well. She turned around and said smilingly to mask her bitter heart, "Great! I thought you're leaving after graduation. I thought I might have to fly solo going in and out of the school if I work for you after you graduate. It's obviously best that you'll still stay in school."
Lin Shen's expression changed. "Do you still remember what I told you before?"
"What?" Xu Ai turned around again.
Lin Shen looked at her and said, "It didn't count as you working for me. I told you, you get a five percent share of the company."
Xu Ai blinked. "I thought you were kidding."
"How could I be kidding!" Lin Shen chortled, "I calculated your share. The five percent share has been under your name since two years ago."
Xu Ai saw that his light-hearted smile was different from the distant smile from him in the past. This one came genuinely from his heart, which made her smile. "Then you should've repeated that over and over and told me you weren't kidding. I would've worked my butt off to bring more profit to our company."
"You have been working very hard for the past few years. My company would never be where it's at right now if it weren't for you." Lin Shen smiled and shook his head.
His smile put Xu Ai in a trance. She wondered how nice it would be to watch him smile for the rest of her life. He should always smile like this, free of iciness, free of distance, free of silence, and free of indifference. She didn't care even if she lost the world; she only wanted him to smile at her like that. Or, even if he didn't smile, she just wanted him to be by her side.
"What is it?" The smile disappeared from Lin Shen's face.
Xu Ai coughed and looked away, then she shook her head. "Nothing."
He isn't in love with me, so how could he stay with me forever? Did he give me the five percent share to properly compensate me for all those years of camaraderie?
One hour later, the bus arrived at the terminal station. They got off the bus and hopped on the subway.
The air conditioner in the subway was on full-blast. Xu Ai wrapped her arms around herself but still felt a bit cold. She looked at Lin Shen, who wore a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Even in the dog days of summer, he never wore shorts like other guys. In fact, she had never seen him wearing shorts.
Lin Shen stood up after only one stop. "Let's go!"
"Why?" Xu Ai looked at him. "We still have a few steps away from our destination."
"Too cold!" Lin Shen already stood at the subway door.
Xu Ai had to get up. Some people had the habit of bringing a jacket with them when they took the subway, and she didn't have that habit. Sometimes, when she was in a bad mood, she couldn't feel the cold on the subway; when she was in a good mood, she'd just endure the cold.
Xu Ai felt spring was here again when she exited the subway. She peered at Lin Shen. "I never noticed you being afraid of the cold in winter."
Lin Shen didn't speak as if he didn't hear it.
Xu Ai pursed her lips behind him, then she followed him out of the subway station.
They had to take the bus now that they couldn't take the subway. They walked for a while and waited for the bus. They weren't at the terminal stop, so naturally, the bus was jam-packed with people, but they got on nonetheless.
Xu Ai didn't grasp the handle firmly and stumbled, and Lin Shen immediately reached out to hold her.
Xu Ai's heart pounded.
The bus was super-crowded that she almost had to lean against Lin Shen to stand up straight. People were standing elbow-to-elbow, mixed with all kinds of scents, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. She only wished for the bus to keep driving.
All roads came to an end, no matter the distance. Their stop wasn't far at all.
Xu Ai felt a little lost when she got off the bus and left the body that she leaned against. She even wondered enviously, What Lin Shen is like when he is with Cheng Yanyan? Does he hold her hand? If they are on the bus together, she probably wouldn't lean against him, but would he hold her?
She shouldn't think like this anymore!
Before, she never thought about how she would be if there was ever another woman by his side! Now there was another woman, and she realized that there was nothing she could do.
When they got to the mall entrance, Lin Shen grabbed her all of a sudden.
Xu Ai looked up at him as if she lost her soul.
Lin Shen's expression looked bad. "You almost bumped head-on into the door. What were you thinking?"
Xu Ai touched her head. "I feel a little dizzy. Probably because there were so many people on the bus."
Lin Shen seemed to fall for that. "Let's find a place to sit and have a rest first."
Xu Ai nodded.
Lin Shen found a tea bar when they entered the mall, and they ordered two cups of fruit tea and sat down.
The mall had a melange of electronics shops, clothing shops, makeup boutiques, and convenience stores. It would take a whole day to travel through all the shops.
Xu Ai sipped her fruit tea while looking at the people hurrying to-and-fro. "Actually, we don't have to travel this far to buy a cellphone."
"I also want to shop for new clothes!" Lin Shen said.
Xu Ai realized his true intentions.
After the two of them finished their fruit tea, they first headed to an electronics department and stopped in front of a counter. Lin Shen seemed to come here with a clear goal in mind. He pointed at a cellphone and said to the sales associate, "Please give me this one in red."
The sales associate stared at Lin Shen for a little bit before giving him the cellphone nicely.
Lin Shen fiddled with it for a while before passing it to Xu Ai. "How do you like this one?"
"This is the latest model!" Xu Ai took the phone, tilted her head to her side, and looked at him. "If you buy this, then it would cost you the same amount as advertising fees."
"As long as you like it!" Lin Shen turned to her. "Write the invoice!"
Xu Ai blinked her eyes and did not protest.
The sales associate recorded the invoice happily and then asked him if he would pay with card or cash. Lin Shen gave her his credit card, and she took it smilingly.
It didn't take long for the sales associate to come back and return the card to Lin Shen. She told him, "Sir, I didn't use your card to pay. Another gentleman overheard that this cell phone is for this lady and offered to pay for it."
Lin Shen was a bit dumbfounded. "Who was that gentleman?"
Xu Ai was curious too. There is someone who would rush to get the bill?
The sales associate smiled and said, "That gentleman is named Mr. Su. I wanted to come back and ask you, but he said he knew this lady and I didn't need to ask."
"Mr. Su?" Xu Ai couldn't recall anybody she knew with that last name. "What is his full name?"
The sales associate shook her head. "That gentleman wanted me to tell you that if you're not feeling well, then you should rest more and stop running around. He didn't want to see you at the hospital again next time."
Hospital? Xu Ai was shocked. "Su Xuan?"