Volume 10: Pro and Con
Chapter 5: The Interview (Part 2)
“You’re really Chen Jianing’s boyfriend?” The trendy guy’s eyes went wide. “How did you manage to get her? Isn’t she completely impervious, impossible to ask out?” The moment he finished speaking, his girlfriend kicked him. “You’re still thinking about her? What’s so good about her? She’s short, not…” Noticing Lu Li’s unfriendly gaze, she consciously shut her mouth.
Lu Li looked the two couples up and down. After studying at Chuanhai No. 1 High School for three years, he had acquired some ability to judge a person’s status. He could be certain that these two couples were not from wealthy families. Among the scions of the powerful clans at Chuanhai No. 1 High, Lu Li might have been a nobody, but if thrown into the world of ordinary people, he could also be considered part of the elite class.
“You… why are you taking the bus like us?” The trendy guy’s girlfriend’s tone gradually became strange. “Didn’t Chen Jianing say you were very rich?”
The other girl smiled and said, “Rich people can take the bus too.”
The two of them scanned Lu Li from head to toe, their smiles becoming even more playful.
Lu Li kept his eyes fixed, looking at the receding scenery outside the window. The gap between people was greater than that between a person and a dog. He had no desire to get involved in their conversation—a conversation filled with money-worship, consumerism, hedonism, and nihilism.
The two couples chattered on about some trivial matters. Seeing that Lu Li was ignoring them, they thought he was soft-tempered and grew bolder. “Buddy, which university are you at? How come I’ve never seen you?”
“Yeah, which university are you at? Jianing never told us.”
Lu Li’s lips moved. He couldn’t lie about this. “I’m interviewing at Mulan University tomorrow.”
“You just graduated from high school?” The trendy guy’s face showed surprise. “Damn, how many years older is Chen Jianing than you? One, two, three, is it three years?”
Chen Jianing’s two roommates tutted. “Are you really Jianing’s boyfriend? Don’t tell me you’re a relative just helping her save face.”
These people went on and on, questioning Lu Li from head to toe. Lu Li could taste many things in their words: the competitive psychology of men, wanting to one-up him in front of women; a constant undercurrent of jealousy; and also the schadenfreude of the women, taking pleasure in his misfortune.
“Why do you all talk so much?”
“We don’t talk much. Brother, you’ll have to call us senior in the future,” the trendy guy said with a grin, the metal ornaments on his clothes jingling. “Right? Junior, are you really Chen Jianing’s boyfriend? How far have you two gone? What base have you reached? Hehe, tell us, won’t you?”
Lu Li looked at him and felt that he wasn’t seeing a person, but a monkey with a head full of greed and lust—rude, impolite, and vain. He didn’t know what the point was for such a person to attend university. Perhaps this was what the aristocratic clans hoped for: ordinary people anesthetized by entertainment. Lu Li sighed, feeling that saying another word would be a burden, so he kept his mouth shut and ignored him.
The group didn’t expect Lu Li to answer. Seeing that he was ignoring them, they lost interest and stopped chirping around Lu Li, starting to talk about other things. They were talking about how hard it was to find a job these past two years, how pitifully few interview opportunities there were, when Lu Li got off at his stop. Lu Li felt that Chen Jianing’s university years hadn’t been easy either. That Annoying Ghost was indeed annoying, but compared to this group, she was a hundred times more lovable.
…
After finishing his business at the bank, Lu Li was walking out, thinking about the Little Tiger, when, as if by telepathy, a message came from the Annoying Ghost with the pink avatar: “Have you arrived in Mulan? Where are you?”
Lu Li sent his location. After a while, he bought two ice creams at a dessert stand by the road. When he turned around, he saw the stylishly dressed Chen Jianing trotting toward him. Chen Jianing’s appearance was indeed not bad; the delicacy of her features and her unique temperament were enough to overcome the flaw of her height. As she trotted toward Lu Li with her shoulder bag, many passersby stopped to look at her striking face.
Lu Li noticed she was wearing makeup today, her face fair and her lips red, looking utterly charming.
“A rare sight. You’re actually wearing makeup?” Lu Li handed her an ice cream. Treating a girl to a cold drink was a delicate matter; the time, place, and method were all important. Lu Li roughly knew her menstrual cycle and also knew that this girl’s cravings were so strong she would insist on eating cold drinks even during her period.
Chen Jianing hesitated for a moment and refused the ice cream Lu Li offered. “No, I’m wearing lipstick.”
“You’re really not having any?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll eat it.”
“…Mmm, just one bite…”
A few minutes later, Chen Jianing was holding the ice cream, happily licking it, without any of her previous ladylike demeanor. Taking her out, Lu Li felt like an older brother taking out his little sister who had just started junior high.
“What’s the rush? Why did you need to see me?” Lu Li asked.
“Um, um, what was it? It’s all your fault, you made me forget.” Chen Jianing thought for a long time. “Ah, right, right, it’s about the interview tomorrow! I found out for you, your main interviewer tomorrow is the lead teacher from the Winter Camp!”
“You found out for me?” Lu Li was stunned. This probably wasn’t a simple matter for the usually reserved Chen Jianing.
Chen Jianing pouted. She would never admit that she had brazenly used up all the courage she had for the rest of her life to go and ask the guidance counselor, and even pretended to have sprained her ankle to squat in the office and eavesdrop on the teachers’ conversations. Why would she tell him? If she told him, wouldn’t Lu Li know how much she cared about him?
Even the makeup, she had learned it for him. To meet Lu Li today, she had even broken her rule and used her private savings to buy a new outfit… But this heartless Lu Li didn’t even compliment her on how pretty she looked when he saw her.
She sometimes really felt she was so pathetic, but she just couldn’t control herself.
“Thank you.” Lu Li ruffled her head. He used to like treating Long Jing this way. “You’ve worked hard, Senior!”
“Tch, it was just a small thing.” The little bit of grievance in Chen Jianing’s heart disappeared, leaving only a chest full of joy. “Is the head of a senior something you can just touch? Hmph, you’d better go find that teacher in advance tomorrow. Don’t you have a lot of money? Take some out, find a chance to ask him out for a meal after the interview, and then…”
Lu Li smiled. He didn’t actually need to do this, but he still obediently listened to the Little Tiger’s nagging instructions. She was really very concerned about him.
“Senior, I’ve upgraded the Changle Production Team into a company,” Lu Li suddenly said, startling Chen Jianing. She scrutinized Lu Li seriously. “Oh.”
“I want to invite you to be the boss.” Lu Li startled her again.
Chen Jianing’s voice was tearful. “I don’t want to go to jail! What are you doing?”
What? Lu Li couldn’t follow this girl’s train of thought. “What do you mean, go to jail?”
“Isn’t that how it always goes in the movies? You invite someone to be the boss, and then when the company gets into trouble, that person takes the fall.” Chen Jianing looked at Lu Li. “Lu Li, did I offend you in some way?”
Lu Li couldn’t hold back any longer and flicked the girl on the forehead.
