Chapter 75: Embrace part 1
Someone released news saying the Special Recruit could be found in the cafeteria between 5:00 and 6:00 AM. In this cold winter, as soon as the cafeteria doors opened, a batch of students surged in, craning their necks.
They seemed to be minding their own business, but their eyes kept glancing toward the door.
The empty plates on the tables stacked up almost half a person high, yet no one was “full.”
Before the surveillance monitors, Zhou Xie narrowed his eyes, feeling this scene was familiar.
“What is Leon up to again?” He didn’t wait for Li Ao’s report before speaking again. “These idiots were tricked once and didn’t learn their lesson; now they want to be tricked a second time.”
“Probably not the same batch as the hot spring group.” Li Ao typed on the keyboard. A black window popped up on the screen. Seeing the IP, he raised an eyebrow. “The news was released by Lin Qizheng.”
“What is Wen Rong planning now?”
At the mention of Lin Qizheng, his cousin almost unhesitatingly placed the target on Wen Rong. Li Ao guessed that his cousin had completely accepted what Leon said.
“Hard to guess.”
“…”
“There’s one more thing. Wang Allen denied plagiarism across all platforms yesterday afternoon. The online argument is very intense right now.”
“If he wants to keep mingling in the circle, he has to deny it.”
“Then shall we…”
“The Principal called me. The school anniversary is crucial. Let the Wang Allen matter pass for now.”
Letting it pass meant finding other news to divert the public’s attention.
Li Ao was familiar with this operation and decided immediately, “I’ll find someone at Bluebook to handle it.”
“It’s not suitable to contact Bluebook right now.”
Forgot. After the science software was made, it took away some of Bluebook’s traffic. Currently, Bluebook was secretly plotting mischief.
The only ones in the Federation who could handle public opinion and divert attention were Bluebook, with the most traffic, or Zhao Media, which controlled the press.
But Zhao Zeyang had been expelled, and relations between Zhao Media and Floriman Academy were hostile.
Li Ao paused. “Cousin, who should we contact?”
Zhou Xie turned around, his eyes clearly saying: You’re asking me?
Li Ao explained, “It’s hard to find anyone. We have some conflict with Bluebook, and some conflict with Zhao Media.”
The downsides of overly concentrated resources were obvious. After falling out with them, no substitutes could be found.
“…”
Clearly, this problem troubled Zhou Xie as well. After a few seconds of silence in the air, Zhou Xie withdrew his gaze and continued watching the surveillance.
A few more seconds passed before a slow voice drifted into Li Ao’s ears: “No need to protect Wang Allen. Let the Journalism Club do whatever they want.”
Li Ao was stunned. “Leave it to them?”
“Mm.”
Zhou Xie twitched the corner of his mouth. “Leon was right. The Federation really needs to change this monopoly structure. If he’s willing to push Wen Rong into the teeth of the storm, let him. If he fails, Wen Rong dies. If he succeeds, we can sit back and enjoy the rewards.”
“Mm…”
Not surprising.
It’s Cousin’s style.
Li Ao suppressed his internal discomfort. Just as he was about to continue monitoring Lin Qizheng’s movements, a weather forecast popped up in the bottom right corner.
Overcast, rain in the evening, 6°C.
These were secondary. Li Ao stared at the date, thinking of how Shi Ye gave them attitude yesterday, didn’t say much, and later ran to his room to ring the bell.
He thought Shi Ye was angry at his cousin, but only now did he realize.
—It was Shi Ye’s mother’s birthday.
Lin Qizheng: [Youngest, a lot of people went to the cafeteria.]
Wen Rong pursed his lips and smiled at the air.
The success of Senior Zhang Jincheng and the science software was enough to make others in the school harbor expectations of him.
This morning’s event was just the final confirmation: I carry weight.
Next, he needed to confirm how much weight he carried.
How to confirm… Wen Rong thought quietly.
Lin Qizheng: [By the way, Wang Allen denied plagiarism. What do we do next?]
Lin Qizheng: [Senior is now a blogger with 500,000 active fans. With one command, all the minions will move out.]
Lin Qizheng: [What should I write this time?]
Wang Allen!
His fingers grew stiff in the cold air, but Wen Rong’s heart was hot. He switched to voice input: [Provoke him.]
With the plan set, he had pretty much arrived at Shi Ye’s villa.
Perhaps because of the cold weather, today’s villa was wrapped in thick darkness.
Approaching the gate, Wen Rong finally found the difference.
Usually at this time, someone would be trimming the lawn or cleaning, and the whole villa would have lights on, bright upstairs and down. Today, it looked like an abandoned old house—lifeless and unlit.
A bit strange.
Knock, knock.
He walked to the main door anyway and knocked.
It took a while for someone to open it.
Inside was even darker than outside. The crack in the door revealed the old butler’s aged face. He paused. “Hello. Are you here for the Young Master?”
Wen Rong: “We agreed to play tennis together this morning.”
“…” After a few seconds, the old butler said, “Perhaps the Young Master forgot to tell you. He has something going on today and it’s not convenient for him to see guests.”
Just as the butler finished speaking, the thud, thud, thud of punching came from inside. Wen Rong immediately guessed Shi Ye was hitting a sandbag.
This had almost become a signal for when Shi Ye was in a bad mood. Wen Rong unhesitatingly took a step back, deciding not to court bad luck.
Before he could say goodbye, the sound of punching grew muffled and heavy, pounding into his ears.
Wen Rong hesitated for a moment, then steeled himself. He had decided last night to treat Shi Ye well. Shi Ye must have encountered something, so this was a good time to repay him.
So he told the butler, “I came a bit early and haven’t had breakfast yet. Can I eat here before I go?”
The butler looked back. The punching sound stopped in tacit understanding.
In the darkness, a tall shadow drifted over, tone unfriendly. “Who’s outside?”
This question was awkward; Wen Rong encountered it every time he knocked.
He actually wasn’t used to saying his own name. In this life, he called others by their names more than he called his own.
“Me,” Wen Rong whispered, hoping Shi Ye could recognize his voice.
The air went quiet for a moment, followed by a panting sound. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you I have something to do today.”
“I’m a little hungry.” Wen Rong stole the topic to prevent Shi Ye from speaking in anger.
Sure enough, Shi Ye didn’t continue. He asked the butler, “Is there anything to eat in the kitchen?”
“I’ll go make some.”
The butler walked toward the kitchen. Shi Ye stepped aside to let Wen Rong in.
The villa was even colder than outside. Wen Rong shivered. He heard a beep, and a slow, warm current drifted from overhead.
“Want something to drink?”
Wen Rong shook his head. His phone vibrated. Lin Qizheng had sent another message: [Youngest, Wang Allen and Zhao Zeyang are in cahoots! Now Bluebook is full of water army bots saying the President is maliciously hyping things up. I didn’t provoke him, but now he’s successfully provoked me.]
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Wen Rong replied to Lin Qizheng with “Talk later” and put the phone back in his pocket.
Shi Ye sat opposite him with legs spread. The sofa was low, so his knees poked up high, elbows resting on them, hands clasped.
The hand wraps hadn’t been removed. Amidst the white was red—blood had seeped through from inside.
Wen Rong watched quietly, starting to think about Shi Ye always hurting his fists.
Of course, the cause was definitely emotional discomfort, needing pain to divert the distress. He used to be like that when he was little.
How did I change that habit later? His memory had always been good. With a little effort, he found it in his memory box.
“What are you thinking about, looking at me with that hesitant expression?”
Wen Rong snapped back to reality. “Did I do that?”
“Nonsense.”
“Oh.”
Wen Rong continued thinking. At that time, I just wanted to work hard to prepare for the college entrance exam and leave that place. I kept thinking about it, thinking about it, wanting it very much, so the pain was relegated to second place. I didn’t care anymore.
Grasping some methods, he asked directly, “Do you have a dream?”
“Pfft.” Shi Ye buried his head and laughed, his bangs shaking. “What kind of ghost question is that?”
“Or is there anything you want to do?”
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