Chapter 45: 045 Complex Gaze
After finishing lunch with Pei Ningle, Wang Heng temporarily parted ways with her.
Bringing unrelated people into the office wasn’t great after all, especially since he wasn’t a formal employee of Penguin Company yet, so he couldn’t operate casually. So he ordered a cup of milk tea for Pei Ningle to sit in the restaurant a bit longer, while he himself returned to the office to ask Sister Lu for leave.
Entering the office, he directly knocked on a technical director’s door.
“Sister Lu, something came up at school regarding freshman procedures, so I need to go back this afternoon.”
Wang Heng’s skill at lying was naturally beyond doubt, and this kind of low-risk minor matter was no issue at all.
Lu Qi naturally didn’t notice any flaws and nodded: “Then go ahead. Actually, in the future, you don’t need to tell me when you have something to do, because your salary is calculated based on progress, not working hours. In other words, it’s about how much work you get done, not how long you sit in the office.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.”
Wang Heng suddenly realized that in this place, there was no need to lie at all… Wait, was there really no need? After a brief contemplation, he decided not to tell Lu Qi yet about buying Pei Ningle a plane ticket to stay in Rongdu. Anyway, as long as he didn’t let Pei Ningle come over in the future, these two wouldn’t run into each other.
Wang Heng: “Speaking of which, since my salary is based on workload, if I don’t write code but offer some useful opinion, does that count?”
Lu Qi: “Of course it counts! But you just started today—what opinion did you offer?”
Wang Heng: “You can ask Feng Zhuo.”
Lu Qi immediately called that slightly balding peer subordinate of hers, and in less than a minute, she understood what had happened that morning.
Hanging up the phone, Lu Qi raised her eyebrows and looked at Wang Heng, smiling as she said: “Impressive, you’ve really opened my eyes…”
Wang Heng waved: “You’re too kind, too kind.”
“Coming in and giving me a surprise right away, speeding up development by at least several days,” Lu Qi’s smile grew even wider, “How should I reward you?”
Wang Heng: “Cash is fine.”
“Rest assured, the bonus definitely won’t short you.”
After getting such a promise, Wang Heng left Lu Qi’s office satisfied, preparing to go find Pei Ningle. But passing by Feng Zhuo’s workstation, he noticed the guy sneaking glances at him, with rather complex emotions in his gaze.
But he didn’t think much of it and just passed by Feng Zhuo normally.
————
Wang Heng’s efficiency in finding a house surprised Pei Ningle, while Pei Ningle’s efficiency in making decisions astonished Wang Heng even more.
Just glancing at that 40-square-meter one bedroom, one living room, she decided on it. At this point, she had only seen photos of that 10-something-square-meter shared rental and hadn’t checked it out in person yet.
Seeing the young girl’s attitude so firm, Wang Heng paid the first month’s rent and deposit for her, handling the rental contract.
After seeing off the landlord, Pei Ningle leaned on the sofa and happily exclaimed: “This place is my nest from now on!”
Wang Heng stood by and asked: “Can you tell me now why you insist on this house?”
“Because it’s really great!” Pei Ningle counted on her fingers: “First, I don’t like sharing rent. I get easily disturbed when writing songs, and I like singing, which easily disturbs others. Second, I like high floors—the feeling of looking down from high up really sparks inspiration, so I chose a higher floor.”
“Okay then, you slowly spark your inspiration. I’ll head out first.”
The young girl was stunned: “You’re leaving now?”
Wang Heng shrugged: “What else? Everything’s done. Why wouldn’t I leave? Let me say this upfront: I’m your agent now, but not your life assistant. Things like tidying the room and cleaning—you have to do them yourself. Got it?”
“I didn’t expect you to do housework anyway, it’s just…”
“Just what?”
Pei Ningle sighed heavily: “Nothing, I was just thinking about how to make the video you mentioned.”
“Think about it yourself first. If you’re really stuck in a couple days, I can help brainstorm.”
With that, Wang Heng quickly retreated.
He could tell Pei Ningle was in a good mood right now. To avoid her suddenly dragging him into something else on a whim, Wang Heng didn’t plan to stay in this house one more minute.
————
Telecommunications Science and Technology University, this year’s Computer Science and Technology major Class 1 class meeting, began on the first evening of military training.
Military training ended a bit after six, the class meeting started at seven, and getting dinner from the canteen required lining up, so time was so tight that classmates couldn’t possibly change clothes. So when gathering in the classroom arranged by the counselor, almost all classmates were wearing military training uniforms.
The only exception was Wang Heng.
When he entered the classroom, he attracted most classmates’ gazes. Everyone had basically joined the class group, so they naturally knew why Wang Heng wasn’t doing military training. Thus, the gazes directed at him were quite complex. Of course, this complexity was still slightly less than Feng Zhuo’s.
But in this collective spotlight, Wang Heng not only didn’t feel nervous—he breathed a sigh of relief.
There were thirty or forty people in the class, but only five girls. Though all in military training uniforms, the girls’ hair was obviously longer than the boys’, so no guessing needed—Wang Heng could spot them at a glance.
The fewer girls, the safer his situation.
After all, though the assassin girl group only had four members, who could guarantee no new ones in the second playthrough? Considering the worldline correction mechanism’s nature, it wasn’t unlikely.
Amid the crowd of unfamiliar classmates, Wang Heng found three familiar faces—his roommates Tang Hexing, Wang Ke, and Fu Hanwen.
Wang Ke glanced around and whispered: “Everyone seems to be looking at you, Wang Heng.”
Fu Hanwen pursed his lips: “Of course. Right now, no one knows each other well, but everyone knows him. And we’re all dressed so ugly, while only Wang Heng looks sharp—who else would they look at?”
Wang Heng looked down at his clothes: “Sharp? Not really.”
Fu Hanwen: “Everything’s relative. Your outfit would just be mildly trendy on the street, but in our group, it stands out big time.”
At that moment, Counselor Teacher Liu came in holding the roster. The classroom immediately quieted down.
But Tang Hexing asked again: “Wang Heng, among the girls in our class, is there any you like?”
Wang Heng quickly shook his head: “I already said, I only like two-dimensional girls, not interested in real ones.”
Tang Hexing: “Then can you help guide me?”
“Guide what?”
“Wooing girls.”
Tang Hexing’s voice was low, but those simple two words drew astonished looks from his roommates.
After a few seconds, Fu Hanwen couldn’t help asking: “The girl you like is in our class?”
Wang Heng complained: “Five to choose from—pretty narrow range.”
————
