Chapter 58: Ask for Help
“Senior, do you want this?” After getting into the car, Wen Rong held the box out to Lin Qizheng.
Lin Qizheng used both his head and hands to firmly refuse. “No, no, no, no.”
Since that path was blocked, Wen Rong looked back at Zhang Lin. “Senior, a signature from the world’s number one…”
Zhang Lin also used his head and hands. “No, no, no, no.”
Wen Rong then looked at Zhang Jincheng. Before he could speak, Zhang Jincheng preempted him: “I’m driving.”
Wen Rong: “…”
Wen Rong looked down at the box. It was dark-colored, and his fingers could feel a hidden pattern on the surface. When opened, a bright yellow silk cloth cradled the ball inside, sufficient proof that Shi Ye’s signature was indeed “invaluable.”
But no matter how hard he tried, Wen Rong couldn’t connect Shi Ye with the image of an unreachable superstar. Holding the ball signed by him felt very strange.
His bangs, which hadn’t been trimmed for a long time, covered his eyes, but his delicate brows were furrowed, his thoughts all too obvious.
Lin Qizheng couldn’t help but suggest, “Youngest, you can sell it.”
“Sell it?”
“Right. Shi Ye’s signed tennis ball is useless to us, but he has tons of fans. Tennis is one of the most lucrative professional sports. His fans aren’t short of money; maybe it can sell for seventy or eighty thousand.”
Wen Rong’s eyes instantly lit up. “Where can I sell it?”
Lin Qizheng reached out his hand. “Give it to me, I’ll help you sell it. We split it 40-60.”
Wen Rong nodded enthusiastically. Zhang Lin slapped Lin Qizheng’s shoulder. “40-60? In your dreams. Youngest spun this.”
“Ouch, that hurt.” Lin Qizheng rubbed the spot where he was hit. “Okay, okay, I won’t take a cent. It all goes to Youngest.”
Wen Rong thought for a moment. “Can we use this money in the name of the four of us to develop the software?”
“Isn’t it better to keep the money?” Lin Qizheng asked.
“We only got the chance to draw because the President spent money. Besides, I don’t spend much in school anyway. It’s more useful as initial capital for the software.”
And so, the fate of the hot potato was decided.
For the next half-month, Room 100 returned to its state from the beginning of the semester. Every night, the four of them would gather in the small room.
Lin Qizheng typed on his keyboard with a clack-clack sound, Zhang Lin and Wen Rong studied nearby, and Zhang Jincheng slept.
The weather forecast said it would rain for the next half-month. Once the rainy season passed, winter would arrive.
Rumble.
Thunder lit up the window. Wen Rong happened to be stretching his neck and saw Zhang Jincheng sleeping face-down on the table. He suddenly felt a bad taste in his mouth.
He felt that spending 1.79 million that day hadn’t relieved the emotions in Zhang Jincheng’s heart; instead, it had beaten him down even further.
But giving up when facing setbacks wasn’t good, was it? Maybe he should watch more videos and learn how to face life positively?
While Wen Rong was letting his imagination run wild, a Black Pigeon notification popped up in the lower right corner of the computer screen: [Wang Allen performed excellently at the Spring/Summer Fashion Week. Yellow Card cancelled.]
This was the first time Wen Rong had seen someone get a Yellow Card cancelled. Since he also wanted to cancel Lin Qizheng’s Yellow Card, even though the person was the rude Wang Allen, he couldn’t help but be curious about how good his performance actually was.
He moved the mouse, opened Blue Book, and searched for Wang Allen.
@EntertainmentGossip: Genius designer Wang Allen’s dresses exhibited at the Spring/Summer Fashion Week are too fairy-like! Which female star do you most hope to see wearing them? [Image] [Image]
When Wen Rong saw the sparkling blue short dress in the picture that looked like a jellyfish, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He hurriedly pushed the computer in front of Zhang Jincheng. “President, isn’t this the dress you drew?”
Lin Qizheng had a natural sensitivity to gossip and instantly pricked up his ears. “What?”
Zhang Jincheng was still sleeping. Hearing someone call him in a daze, he looked up to see three big faces looming over him. Startled, he sat up straight instantly. “What?”
Wen Rong pointed at the computer screen. “I remember you drew this dress. You even said it would be suitable for me to wear.”
Lin Qizheng tilted his head to look at the screen, then at Wen Rong, nodding to himself. “It really would suit you. Youngest, are you heading down Zhang Lin’s point-of-no-return path too?”
“Shut up.” Zhang Lin slapped him again and asked Zhang Jincheng seriously, “President, was your design stolen by Wang Allen?”
Zhang Jincheng finally snapped out of it, turning his head slightly away, afraid to look at the three of them. “No, I didn’t draw it. Youngest, you remembered wrong.”
“I didn’t remember wrong,” Wen Rong retorted.
“You just remembered wrong.” Zhang Jincheng reached out and closed Wen Rong’s laptop, standing up irritably. “I’m going back.”
“I really didn’t.”
“I said don’t—”
Zhang Jincheng’s voice rose, but before he could finish, he was grabbed by the collar by a suddenly exploding Zhang Lin and thrown back into the chair. “You’re so generous! You gave the design draft to Wang Allen, sending him to become the most outstanding designer of this year’s Spring/Summer Fashion Week. Now his status in the fashion world is elevated, his Yellow Card is cleared, and he can manipulate you however he wants again. You’re going to live in his shadow for the rest of your life.”
Zhang Jincheng was speechless for a moment. A rare look of anger appeared on Zhang Lin’s face as he grabbed Zhang Jincheng’s collar and shook him hard. “That idiot screwed you over like that, why are you still compromising with him?”
“Enough! You’re an outsider, why are you more anxious than me?”
Zhang Jincheng tried to push Zhang Lin away, but Zhang Lin wouldn’t let go, his eyebrows practically standing on end. “I was wondering why Wang Allen’s design style changed; turns out you gave it to him. Is there something wrong with your brain? If you held the exhibition yourself, you would have ascended, understand? You could have applied for craftsmen from the school yourself.”
As if stung by a sore point, Zhang Jincheng’s cheeks turned red with anger, and he forcefully threw off Zhang Lin. “I don’t even have the ability to get the dress made! Who told me to be an illegitimate son with absolutely no support!”
The words “illegitimate son” came out, and the air instantly fell into a dead silence.
Another clap of thunder rang out, and suddenly a torrential downpour began, the rain clattering against the window as if trying to shatter the glass.
Zhang Lin was frozen, unable to move. Zhang Jincheng pushed him away easily, shouldered his bag, and walked to the door.
The sound of rain briefly rushed in, ending with a bang. Zhang Jincheng was gone.
Wen Rong looked at Lin Qizheng. Lin Qizheng made a zipping motion across his mouth, signaling him not to speak.
Not knowing how to handle the current situation, Wen Rong obediently shut his mouth.
Zhang Lin stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds, then suddenly gave a helpless laugh and started packing his things. “I’m leaving first too. Qizheng, work hard on the software.”
Lin Qizheng acted as if he hadn’t been affected by the argument between the two, grinning, “You got it.”
However, the moment Zhang Lin left, Lin Qizheng immediately started packing his things.
“Senior, the software…”
“Working on it, working on it.”
“You promised Senior Zhang Lin.”
“He’s not here anyway. You won’t say, I won’t say, so he won’t know.”
“Alright.”
Wen Rong also shut down his computer.
With everyone gone, he didn’t want to stay in Room 100 alone either.
Ding—
Lin Qizheng’s laptop suddenly chimed, indicating a message.
He bent down to check the message, then stopped packing. Instead, he leaned close to Wen Rong and spoke slyly, “Youngest, could I trouble you with something?”
“What?”
“Do you remember the tennis ball signed by Shi Ye?”
Wen Rong nodded.
“Here’s the thing. A rich guy online wants to buy it for 60,000.”
“Mhm.”
“He bought it.” Lin Qizheng dragged out the last word, staring dead at Wen Rong during those few seconds.
“That’s a good thing.”
“But—”
Wen Rong had a bad feeling. “But?”
“The signed tennis ball seems to be missing.”
“Huh?” Wen Rong was confused. “How could it be missing?”
Lin Qizheng buried his face in Wen Rong’s shoulder and fake-cried. “Wuwuwu, Senior doesn’t know either. Senior clearly remembers putting it on the table, but after a few days, it couldn’t be found.”
Wen Rong asked anxiously, “Did he pay already? Hurry and refund the money to him.”
“Youngest, this isn’t about money.” Lin Qizheng “cried” even louder. “He placed the order full of expectation. If I tell him the ball is missing, I think he will be very, very sad.”
“But you lost the ball; there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
Lin Qizheng paused, lifted his face, and wiped away non-existent tears. “Aren’t you familiar with Shi Ye? Ask him to sign another one.”
Wen Rong refused immediately without thinking, “No way.”
“Why not? He has so many balls at his court. Just picking one up and writing a name on it doesn’t even take two seconds.”
“I’ve already…” Wen Rong recalled his recent interactions with Shi Ye, characterized the nature of their relationship, and declared, “cut ties with him!”
Lin Qizheng was shocked. “No, why did you cut ties with him?”
Because Shi Ye was always hot and cold and loved to lose his temper.
Wen Rong privately thought it wasn’t good to speak ill of people behind their backs, so he said vaguely, “We were never very close anyway.”
“Sigh, then you’ve made a huge loss. Who doesn’t want to deal with Shi Ye? The youngest Grand Slam winner, the sports star with the most commercial value, and the heir to the Shi family. He’s simply a hexigonal warrior (perfect in all stats).”
Wen Rong: “Even if he’s that amazing, I’ve already cut ties with him.”
“Youngest, think about it. Our software is almost ready for development. The art design needs money, operations need money, and getting the license needs even more money. That tennis ball is our first batch of funding.”
“If we ask Shi Ye to sign again, shouldn’t that count as Shi Ye investing the money?”
“You don’t say, I don’t say, he won’t know.”
“…”
“Youngest, this mission is extremely arduous. You must complete it!”
Wen Rong still felt it was unreasonable. “I think this is bad.”
Lin Qizheng looked at Wen Rong silently for a few seconds. Knowing Wen Rong’s attitude was firm, he changed his tune. “Sorry, Senior lied to you just now.”
“Huh?”
“Actually, my cousin’s girlfriend is a fan of Shi Ye. My cousin plans to give his girlfriend a tennis ball personally signed by Shi Ye for their 100-day anniversary.”
Wen Rong sorted out the logic. “Then you can give the ball obtained from the lottery to your cousin.”
Lin Qizheng facepalmed. “You haven’t been in a relationship, kid, so you don’t understand. My cousin feels giving just one is unlucky. He insists I find another one to make a pair.”
Wen Rong indeed didn’t understand.
“This matter is really hard to understand, and I had no other choice, so I made up a lie.”
To continue the conversation normally, he had to try to understand, and then proposed a solution. “Senior, you can ask Shi Ye for help yourself.”
“I’m not close to him. You’re closer to him.”
“…”
“Youngest, help me out. My cousin said if I get him a pair, he’ll invest 500,000 into our software for free. No need to repay, and no need to give him dividends if we make a profit.”
Wen Rong couldn’t help but be curious. “Investing 500,000 for a tennis ball? What is he after?”
“You don’t know. People in the honeymoon phase are willing to pay any amount to prepare a thoughtful gift for their partner.”
“…”
“You agree, right?”
“I didn’t—”
Lin Qizheng interrupted him. “Just go try.”
“I just argued with—”
Lin Qizheng interrupted him again. “Just help Senior ask. Even if he refuses, it doesn’t matter.”
Wen Rong thought, fine, I’ll just help ask.
Lin Qizheng thought, kid, the moment you open your mouth, Shi Ye will probably sign every ball in the court and deliver them to you.
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