Chapter 18: 018 Man’s Miserable Defeat
Everyone has a different body odor, determined by genes and the parasitic bacteria on the body. The more vigorous the metabolism, such as in midsummer, the stronger the body odor naturally becomes. So, what kind of smell would it be to gather over a hundred people with vigorous metabolism in a sealed carriage?
Wang Heng had memories of taking hard seats on long journeys, so today, when this green train was halfway there, he felt he could still persevere.
Until the attendant told everyone that the air conditioning was broken.
Then the body odors of the hundred people in the carriage began to mix and ferment, becoming increasingly intense. Adding fuel to the fire, many people couldn’t stand the stuffiness and heat, took off their shoes, and let the more impactful foot odor steam and assault the nose…
The auntie with a sallow yellowish face sitting across from Wang Heng even tugged at her flesh-colored thin socks after taking off her shoes, then placed her feet on the empty space beside him— just half an hour ago, confirming no one was sitting next to him, Wang Heng had felt a bit fortunate; but now, this fortune had been utterly crushed by the auntie’s uninhibited boldness.
He closed his eyes, trying to hypnotize himself, but soon despaired and gave up the attempt.
Wang Heng helplessly took out his laptop computer and played Minesweeper—this computer only had the built-in mini-games; he had been busy writing code to earn money before and hadn’t had time to download any.
Suddenly, an even stronger instant noodles smell drifted from behind. He sniffed and muttered, “Old Altar Pickled Cabbage…”
————
Wang Heng and Han Yixuan both didn’t know that they had boarded the same train.
But Han Yixuan was in the soft sleeper carriage, so a chance encounter was naturally impossible. And more crucially, the young girl wasn’t alone. Her mother had specially taken annual leave, planning to send her daughter to school and insisting on seeing what the school looked like and what the accommodation environment was like before feeling rest assured.
Halfway through the journey, night had also deepened. The mother was sleeping soundly in the lower bunk, but the young girl in the upper bunk suddenly woke up startled.
Han Yixuan touched her forehead and found two drops of cold sweat already there.
“Why… what’s going on?”
In the dream just now, she saw Wang Heng again. But this time, the protagonists in the dream were no longer just the two of them, but three. Beside Wang Heng, there was an unfamiliar girl. That girl seemed even more petite and cute than herself, but her face was shrouded in a layer of thin gauze, unclear to see.
In the dream, that girl was holding Wang Heng’s arm, her laughter crisp like silver bells. And Wang Heng seemed not to resist such an intimate act at all; it looked like their relationship… need it be said?
Then Han Yixuan woke up.
After waking up, the young girl understood that what she had just seen was only a dream, but she still couldn’t help feeling a bit panicked.
She picked up her mobile phone and saw a Q message received two hours ago, from her best friend Song Xiaoxia.
【I’ve already arrived at school. Oh my god, you absolutely can’t imagine how despairing the Normal University is. Too few handsome guys, too many beautiful girls!!!】
Han Yixuan smiled, but gradually, the smile became slightly bitter.
She replied: 【I haven’t arrived at school yet, but Finance University should be about the same. No worries, later go find handsome guys in the technical schools.】
After sending the message, Han Yixuan planned to continue sleeping, but unexpectedly Song Xiaoxia replied instantly: 【You haven’t slept yet?】
【Not yet.】
【Then let’s chat…】
Looking at these words from her best friend, Han Yixuan seemed to see the familiar scene of her holding her own arm and acting coquettishly. She sighed, quickly typed a line on her mobile phone: 【If you weren’t so thin-skinned when facing boys, you would’ve been out of singlehood long ago.】
Song Xiaoxia: 【You little girl still have the nerve to say that about me? Aren’t you single too!】
Han Yixuan was immediately speechless. Her hands holding the mobile phone trembled slightly.
She thought of the dream from earlier again.
After a while, the young girl replied in a huff: 【Not chatting with you anymore, going to sleep!】
————
At ten in the morning, Lu Qi arrived at the doorway of the airport security checkpoint. Her airplane ticket was for half past eleven, so boarding time was quite ample.
After passing security, she would board the airplane alone. But on the way to the airport, she wasn’t alone. Right behind her, there were three men not much younger than her—they were all Lu Qi’s former subordinates.
Normally, a superior who had been transferred away wouldn’t be seen off to the airport by old subordinates. But Lu Qi’s situation was an exception. These three old subordinates clearly had something to say to her but had held it in all the way.
“This is far enough,” Lu Qi turned around to look at them, “Thanks a lot, see you later if fate allows.”
Xiao Liu among the three blurted out, “What if there’s no fate?”
“Then don’t see each other, no big deal. Besides, if you want to contact me, do it online, but let me say first, I won’t fix bugs for you, that’s your own work.”
At this moment, another man finally mustered his determination, stepped forward two steps, and said in a low voice, “I have something I want to say to you, can we step aside?”
“Xiao Zhao,” Lu Qi narrowed her eyes with a smile, “Whatever it is, say it face to face, in front of everyone. Don’t be so secretive.”
The man called Xiao Zhao looked back at the two colleagues and gritted his teeth.
Those words, to say them in front of others, really required great courage. But thinking carefully again, if he didn’t say it today, there probably wouldn’t be another opportunity later…
Xiao Zhao lowered his head and said, “Sister Lu, I like you!”
“Holy shit?”
“Holy shit!”
Behind him, the two male colleagues exclaimed in unison. But that didn’t matter; what mattered was only…
After a few seconds of silence, Xiao Zhao heard no response and couldn’t help panicking. He raised his head and saw Lu Qi staring at him playfully, her gaze holding not just surprise, but also a hint of teasing.
So Xiao Zhao panicked even more.
Lu Qi cleared her throat and said, “You should know, I’m strongly against office romances.”
Xiao Zhao tried to salvage, “But you’re not at headquarters anymore, not in the same office at all!”
“Hmm,” Lu Qi nodded, but her eyes showed no approval, “But we’re all Penguin employees. You can’t deny that, right?”
“I…”
“We who write programs don’t like making things vague, so let me put it this way: your strategy was wrong from the start.”
Xiao Zhao looked stunned: “Strategy?”
Lu Qi sighed: “Direct confession—that strategy is the stupidest. Unless you’re devastatingly handsome, girls basically won’t agree. Look in the mirror: do you think you’re Edison Chen or Wallace Chung?”
“Neither…”
Xiao Zhao dejectedly lowered his head. Undoubtedly, what he faced today was another crushing defeat.
Lu Qi boldly patted Xiao Zhao’s shoulder and said, “No worries, life is like this; more failures naturally lead to success. If you like another girl in the future, let me tell you, you must first confirm sufficiently high favorability before confessing, got it?”
Xiao Zhao answered with a mournful face, “Got it, Sister Lu…”
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