Chapter 60: I Have the Remote Control!
“How did you do that?”
Shi Ye was someone who had won prestigious awards and learned early on to remain unmoved by favor or disgrace. However, the moment Wen Rong asked, he inexplicably felt the urge to pull out the gadget he had spent nearly half a month researching and show it off!
His thoughts drifted as he rested his hands on the table, miming the action of adding the chip, and explained the structure of Leon’s little gadget to Wen Rong in detail.
His deep voice echoed in Room 100. After an unknown amount of time, Shi Ye realized Wen Rong hadn’t spoken at all and wondered if he had understood.
He looked up. Opposite him, Wen Rong was leaning slightly forward, his head close to the table. The fine, straight bridge of his nose had a texture like jade or porcelain. Shi Ye couldn’t help but suck in a breath; his fingers, under Wen Rong’s intent gaze, went a little weak.
“If you really like it, I can take you to Leon’s studio so you can try it yourself.”
“Is it the room next to 101?”
“Mhm.”
“Isn’t that for the Senior’s club use? If I go, will others have an issue with it?”
“It’s not for club use; the school gave it to Leon. Do you want to go? I’m in charge of that room now.” After blurting it out, Shi Ye remembered he had been sleeping on the floor there recently and it was a mess. He hurriedly added, “I’ve been staying there lately, so it’s a bit messy. If you don’t mind…”
Wen Rong suddenly looked up, his light-colored eyes full of light. “Oh! So it was you.”
“What?”
“Someone on the forum said they heard strange noises in the Administration Building at night and thought it was haunted.”
“Pfft.” Shi Ye turned his head and pressed down the corners of his mouth hard. “How old are you, still afraid of ghosts?”
“Did you hurt your hand adding the chip too?”
Shi Ye paused, quickly hiding his hand under the table. “How could I get hurt doing something as simple as adding a chip?”
“If your hand is injured, what about the Tennis Open?”
“You know about the Open?” Shi Ye was surprised.
Wen Rong blinked his long, curled lashes twice rapidly. “The President took us shopping that day, and we came across a lucky draw. Guess what the prizes were?”
Shi Ye didn’t like shopping and never participated in lucky draws; he was the one handing out awards. When Wen Rong asked, his mind went blank.
“Third prize was gold, second prize was 10,000 yuan, and first prize was an island vacation. Aren’t the rewards generous?”
Wen Rong smiled as he spoke. His smile was so brilliant that these prizes, which meant nothing to Shi Ye, suddenly seemed inexplicably precious.
“Mhm.”
“And there was a Grand Prize. The probability of winning was just a tiny sliver on the entire wheel.” To help him imagine it, Wen Rong specially raised his hand and indicated a small section on his index finger, smaller than a fingernail. “Do you know what the Grand Prize was?”
“I… don’t know.”
“I won it. Do you really not want to guess?”
Shi Ye thought for a moment. “Money?”
“No.”
“Then what? A car?”
“I’ll give you a hint. It’s something more valuable than the island vacation, and it’s related to tennis.”
“A tennis racket?”
Wen Rong held back a laugh. “How can you still not guess it?”
Shi Ye felt a sense of defeat, but surprisingly didn’t feel angry. He pursed his lips and answered, “I’ve never won a prize.”
“Fine.”
Wen Rong took out his phone. His slender white fingertips tapped the screen a few times, his slightly long nails making a tap-tap sound.
It sounded like Shi Ye’s heartbeat.
He was actually curious now about what mysterious thing kept him guessing again and again.
Those brief few seconds felt stretched out like a spring under tension. Time moved agonizingly slow. Shi Ye swallowed, his throat incredibly dry.
“Still…” He paused. “Still haven’t found it?”
“Found it!”
A phone screen suddenly appeared before Shi Ye’s eyes. Just as he saw it was Wen Rong on the screen, he heard Wen Rong say, “It’s a tennis ball personally signed by you.”
“The host even wanted a photo with me as a souvenir.”
Shi Ye was stunned. He lowered his head, bit his lip, and raised his hand to cover the lower half of his face again.
He hadn’t anticipated this prize. His mood fluttered like leaves and branches seeing sunlight after a long time, and his voice trembled slightly. “What’s so… rare about that.”
“Maybe you think it’s nothing, but many people are your fans. Even for a 100-day anniversary gift, they want a tennis ball signed by you.”
“Anniversary gift?”
“Mhm. Senior Lin Qizheng’s relative likes you very much. Can you sign a ball for her as a gift?”
blah blah blah Anniversary blah blah blah likes blah blah blah sign blah blah blah.
Shi Ye rushed back to his villa, dizzy with excitement. He rummaged through the warehouse for a whole box of tennis balls. As he signed them with a pen, he thought: Leon can’t give this, so I have to sign the most beautiful ball for Wen Rong!
Wen Rong met Shi Ye at the dormitory entrance the next morning.
Unlike his fatigue yesterday, the 1.9-meter-tall figure looked even more upright and slender in the black uniform of Floriman Academy. His hair stood up strand by strand, and the half-inch of black roots that had grown out were dyed gray again.
He rubbed his hair and approached. “This. I found it for you in the warehouse.”
Wen Rong looked at the large box, which resembled a Lunar New Year gift, and asked curiously, “What is this?”
“Autographs. Didn’t you want them?”
Wen Rong opened the lid and saw at least eight balls inside. His eyebrows shot up.
Two balls were worth 500,000. Eight balls meant 2 million!
But after the joy, he hesitated a little.
He had only wanted one. Giving so many now meant a huge sum of money.
His light-colored eyes darted around, and he glanced cautiously at Shi Ye. “Um, are you free right now? Can you come to my dorm for a moment?”
Shi Ye’s slightly flushed face stiffened instantly. “It’s just a few balls, no need to go, right?”
“Just a few minutes!”
Last night, Lin Qizheng turned fear into motivation and produced the first version of the software. Wen Rong had installed it on his computer and wanted to show it to Shi Ye. After all, Senior Zhang Lin had said Shi Ye was very rich. If Shi Ye invested, Senior Zhang Lin wouldn’t have to worry so much.
Shi Ye lowered his head and ruffled his hair, spinning around in frustration before turning back to refuse with difficulty. “Better not.”
“Why?”
“It’s not good for me to go to your dorm alone.”
Wen Rong was confused for two seconds, wanting to know why it wasn’t good, but he forced himself to zip his lips and tell himself he couldn’t ask. It seemed Shi Ye’s investment intention wasn’t high. He needed to praise Shi Ye like last night to make him happy. If he was happy, maybe he would change his mind!
But how could he praise him if he didn’t go to the dorm?
Wen Rong felt this was much harder than last night. He racked his brains for a long time before blurting out, “You are so polite.”
The confusion transferred to Shi Ye’s face.
Wen Rong recognized the expression and knew his praise had missed the mark. He quickly switched topics. “Then I’ll describe it to you verbally, see if you’re interested.”
“What?”
“We plan to make a professional science popularization software, inviting students from Floriman Academy to provide help to ordinary people. Just like last time on the hike, you and Evelyn easily helped that girl.”
“Are you interested in joining us? As in, investing.”
“In… vest?”
“Mhm.”
Shi Ye’s expression turned cold instantly. “So you said all that just to ask for my money?”
Wen Rong felt there was something wrong with that sentence, but it was also the truth, so he nodded honestly. “Our software really has potential. I have the first version on my computer. You can take a look before deciding whether to invest.”
Shi Ye lowered his eyes. The figure in front of him split into three, and everything around him flowed rapidly like water.
Wen Rong’s voice instantly turned into other people’s voices. Shi Ye shrank, becoming a tiny person. Everyone around him was taller than him, their mouths chattering with flattery, all smiling, but those smiles were full of greed.
“Shi Ye?”
Shi Ye woke as if from a dream, seeing those curled eyelashes fanning like fans, creating a small breeze that blew onto his face.
He bit his tongue hard to suppress his anger.
Don’t lose your temper.
If I lose my temper, I’m the one out of the game. Wen Rong can turn around and find Shi Jing, or Leon, or Quantum Mechanics…
It took nearly half a month to barely erase Wen Rong’s “I hate you.” He couldn’t make another mistake.
“If you’re not interested, forget it.”
Shi Ye forced the corners of his mouth up, compelling himself to smile. “I’m indeed not very interested in software, but if you need investment, I can help.”
Wen Rong: “Really?”
“Mhm. But you have to promise me one thing.”
“Okay, tell me.”
“You have to play tennis with me.”
“Huh?”
Wen Rong opened his mouth in surprise. His lips were dry, just like at the start of school; if he opened them any wider, they might crack.
Shi Ye pursed his lips and looked away. “Consider this begging me for help. Whenever others beg me for help, they have to do something for me first.”
Wen Rong nodded. “What you say makes sense.”
Then he asked hesitantly, “Is tennis expensive?”
Shi Ye tilted his head. “Hm?”
“Don’t you need to buy balls and rackets to play? I-I don’t have those. If the racket is too expensive, I… I… I only have the 25,000 Senior Leon gave me. I have to make it last until next year’s scholarship distribution, so I need to save money.”
Shi Ye scoffed, thinking, Would I let you go without a tennis racket? But tasting Wen Rong’s words carefully, he couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. “Why did Leon give you money?”
“Because the Senior bought my underwear.”
Shi Ye froze, anger surging. “Is he a pervert? Why would he buy your underwear?”
“…”
“…”
Wen Rong’s silence made Shi Ye panic a little. He suddenly remembered that Leon liked Wen Rong, and what he was doing now wasn’t appropriate.
But the thought of Leon spending money to buy Wen Rong’s underwear, and doing unspeakable things with it, triggered a voice in his heart.
Not allowed.
Notallowednotallowednotallowednotallowednotallowednotallowednotallowednotallowednotallowed.
“It was at the beginning of the school term. On the second day of school, you made the Senior buy the underwear I had worn.”
Notallowednotallowednotallowednot—
?
“………”
Dead memories flooded back into Shi Ye’s brain like a bolt from the blue, making him dizzy.
Fuck!
I forgot about that.
Wait, why did Wen Rong bring up such unhappy past events?
Oh, I brought it up.
Shi Ye rubbed his hair vigorously. “That day I, I…”
Wen Rong finished his sentence. “It’s okay. I completely understand your behavior at that time now.”
Shi Ye: “…”
He inexplicably didn’t want to be understood.
Wait.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be understood; if he wasn’t understood, he couldn’t be forgiven.
But now that Wen Rong understood the matter, he felt inexplicably irritable.
Shi Ye bit his lip and spoke with difficulty. “I’m sorry about that day. I couldn’t control my emotions and was a little angry because that… that smell wouldn’t go away.”
“Mhm.”
Wen Rong’s overly understanding attitude made his barely calmed emotions spiral out of control again. “No, why wouldn’t that smell go away?”
“Sorry, the soap at the orphanage was bought from the vegetable market and had a lot of artificial fragrance added.” He paused. “My old school uniform always had that smell too. Sometimes it would fill the whole classroom, and my classmates complained.”
Shi Ye imagined the scene of Wen Rong sitting in the classroom being pointed at by other classmates and felt inexplicably sorry for him.
He raised his hand wanting to hug him, but reason returned when he saw Wen Rong smile. He quickly shoved both hands into his pockets and looked away awkwardly. “Anyway, come to the Tennis Club for morning practice from now on. The club has tennis rackets, sportswear, and shoes. You don’t need to buy them yourself.”
“Thank you!”
“Um…”
“Hm?”
“If you’re short of money, you can come to me.”
“Do you give out loans?”
Shi Ye: “…”
“Although I won’t need it, thank you. Food and lodging at school are free. If I save a bit, I should be able to make it to next year.”
Shi Ye walked away rubbing his hair.
Wen Rong wasn’t quite sure what his complex emotions meant, but having all problems solved should be a happy thing. After breakfast, he delivered the tennis balls to Lin Qizheng and told Zhang Lin about Shi Ye’s willingness to invest.
Everything was developing in a good direction!
Most importantly, Wen Rong truly felt that through his studies during this period, he had become more excellent.
Senior Lin Qizheng was a bit lazy and lacked perseverance, so he needed constant supervision like Senior Zhang Lin provided.
Shi Ye loved being awkward, so one couldn’t just go along with what he said; one had to take control. As long as he was happy, everything would be easy to handle.
He had grasped the “remote control” Senior Leon once spoke of.
After afternoon classes, Wen Rong received a message in the News Club group chat asking him to come to Room 100 early.
Wen Rong: [Should I bring food?]
Zhang Lin: [No need, the President ordered food.]
That meant everyone was there!
This was their first reunion since the last argument. Wen Rong guessed that Zhang Jincheng and Zhang Lin had reconciled, so he skipped all the way to Room 100.
Click.
Wen Rong pushed the door open. “Seniors!”
The three were sitting at the table opening lunch boxes. Seeing Wen Rong enter, their faces stiffened for a moment before they hurriedly put on awkward smiles.
“Come, sit down.” Zhang Lin pulled Wen Rong to sit and handed him chopsticks. “How did you convince Shi Ye to invest?”
“Oh! He said if I play tennis, he’ll invest.”
“Do you like playing tennis?”
“I haven’t tried, but can playing tennis give you abs? Like Shi Ye’s muscles.”
Zhang Lin smiled barely. “Probably.”
“That’s great. All the difficulties are solved, and everyone is fine. Let’s continue to work hard.”
As his voice fell, the air inexplicably sank into silence. Lin Qizheng tapped his bowl—bang bang bang—for a few seconds, then stopped immediately, burying his head to shovel rice in embarrassment.
Wen Rong scanned the three faces. “What happened?”
Lin Qizheng ate noisily, and Zhang Jincheng didn’t speak either.
Wen Rong felt uneasy. “What’s wrong?”
Zhang Lin hesitated again and again, but finally spoke. “Youngest, we can’t make the software anymore.”
Wen Rong’s light-colored pupils suddenly contracted. “Why?”
Zhang Jincheng: “You might not have checked Blue Book during class. A professional science popularization software was launched today. People like Wang Allen have already been invited to register and use it.”
Zhang Lin held his breath. “It just so happens that Wang Allen is very popular recently. With the joint recommendation of the school’s official account and many seniors, the download volume of this software topped the major software charts in just a few hours.”
Lin Qizheng gripped his chopsticks with both hands and stabbed them into the rice hard. The wooden chopsticks against the porcelain bowl made a cracking sound.
“It must be Li Ao’s doing. His level is higher than mine, and his speed is faster too.”
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