Chapter 30: Senior, Don’t!

  “What question?” Zhang Yang panicked when he saw Gao Qi take the contract back—that was his future source of living expenses!

  Gao Qi calmly pressed the contract against her chest and looked at Zhang Yang suspiciously. “With your skills, even ten Bai Liangfengs couldn’t take you. How did you get knocked out that night and have your camera stolen? Don’t tell me you two were in on it together?”

  Zhang Yang froze. There was no good way to explain that. His eyes were glued to the contract in her hands—he wanted to snatch it and sign immediately. He needed this job badly. Why was she asking irrelevant questions? It’s a job, not a police interview!

  “No, no, really not! Senior, even masters make mistakes, horses stumble too, even the prettiest girls have their time of the month, right?”

  “Ugh, what kind of comparison is that?” Gao Qi’s cheeks flushed slightly. She handed him the contract. “Two copies, just sign your name.”

  Zhang Yang skimmed through it, saw nothing major, and signed his name.

  Gao Qi stamped it, handed him one copy, kept the other, and grinned. “Ten yuan an hour. But if you take an hour off, I deduct twenty.”

  “What?! Ten yuan an hour but twenty deducted for one off? That’s daylight robbery!”

  “I’m kidding.” Gao Qi put the contract in a drawer, locked it carefully, and then looked up at him. “You can start working tonight.”

  “Great!” Zhang Yang finally relaxed.

  “By the way, didn’t Meining University expel you? What are you doing back?” Gao Qi stood up, curious. She almost asked if he’d come back for revenge, but looking at him, she dropped the idea.

  Zhang Yang shrugged. “I’ve got good karma. The school canceled the expulsion notice.”

  “Really? I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Gao Qi almost fell over. Since when could expulsions be undone?

  She shook her head in disbelief. “I heard Bai Liangfeng hates your guts. With his family’s ties to the Chemical Engineering Department, how could they let you off so easily?”

  Her face clearly said: I don’t believe you, not a word!

  Seeing how determined she was to dig, Zhang Yang shamelessly said, “That’s why I said I’ve got good karma.”

  “Ugh, not a single honest word.” Gao Qi gave up asking. “Fine, let’s go eat. My treat, to thank you for saving Qingyuan Hotel today.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Ah, I can’t accept that… unless you really insist.” Zhang Yang’s eyes flicked to her chest, swallowing slightly.

  That motion instantly made Gao Qi wary. “Stop right there. Don’t get any ideas.”

  “You misunderstood! I just meant, as a hotel employee, do we get VIP cards or discounts? Like, uh…” Zhang Yang scratched his head awkwardly, “like half-off for bringing a guest to book a room…”

  “Keep dreaming!” Gao Qi suddenly wanted to snatch the contract back from him.

  “Hey, don’t go! Senior, fine, forget it, but there’s still something I wanted to discuss.”

  Gao Qi glanced at him, instinctively pulling her collar tight. Damn this uniform—it always felt one size too small. “What now?”

  “You said you’d treat me to a meal, right? I was thinking, instead of treating me, how about just giving me half the money you planned to spend? Saves you the trouble, and I still make some cash…”

  “Get lost!”

  “Hey hey, then can I at least touch your boobs—ow! I was kidding! Don’t throw that vase!”

  *****

  Returning to the dorm after half a month, Zhang Yang was slightly touched to find that besides Li Jindong and Lu Shen, even the nerd Liu Qing was there. They must’ve been waiting for him.

  “Haha, throwing me a welcome party? I’m touched.” Zhang Yang laughed, but before he could finish, the three bastards grabbed him, pinned him to the bed, and beat the crap out of him.

  “That’s for leaving without a word!”

  “That’s for not answering calls for half a month!”

  “And that’s for deleting my collection of love movies, damn it! That was my only treasure in three years of college!” The most furious one was Zhou Wei—his beloved Wumei and Bodomei were gone.

  “Alright, now talk. Where the hell were you the past half month?” After the beating, Li Jindong sat in the middle, Liu Qing and Lu Shen on either side, ready to interrogate.

  Seeing their serious faces, Zhou Wei smacked a slipper on the desk. “Confess and you’ll get leniency, resist and face punishment!”

  “I was doing good deeds, believe it or not.”

  “Bullshit! Sounds like someone’s itching for another beating.” Zhou Wei raised the slipper again.

  Zhang Yang rolled his eyes and raised his hands in surrender. “Fine! I was saving the world! Hey! Not the face! Damn, when was the last time you washed that slipper?!”

  “Alright, enough jokes.” Liu Qing waved his hand, quieting everyone. After a pause, he turned to Li Jindong. “Dongzi, you say it.”

  Li Jindong nodded, glanced at Zhang Yang, and said calmly, “Rumors are all over campus that you slept with Bai Liangfeng’s girl, Xu Danlu, and made him wear a green hat. You disappeared for half a month to dodge the heat. True or not?”

  “Made Bai Liangfeng wear a green hat?” Zhang Yang took the slipper off his face, his expression darkening. “Where’d that rumor come from?”

  “Doesn’t matter. The question is—did you?”

  Zhang Yang sighed. He really didn’t know how to explain. Xu Danlu had been honest with him: at first, she wanted to use Bai Liangfeng to help her family, but they were never actually a couple. She never liked him. Still, they’d been close.

  But if he told anyone they weren’t dating, nobody would believe it.

  And now, he and Xu Danlu really were close—so close they were only a step away from crossing the final line. Yet they still hadn’t defined their relationship.

  So if people said he’d cuckolded Bai Liangfeng, well… it wasn’t exactly false.

  “That sigh means it’s true, huh?” Li Jindong pressed.

  “It’s not that simple…” Zhang Yang looked at the three idiots. “Xu Danlu isn’t the kind of girl you think she is.”

  “What kind of girl then, bro? She’s our future sister-in-law! Damn, you did it! You made us proud!” Before Zhang Yang could finish, the three cheered and clapped wildly.

  “Damn it, do you realize this? The four of us have been single from freshman to senior year. If we graduated like that, our dorm’s reputation would’ve been in the gutter. Now you’ve redeemed us all! Xu Danlu’s the campus belle—and you snatched her from that bastard Bai Liangfeng! That’s legendary!” Li Jindong pulled out a few beers and shouted, “Cheers! Drink up!”

  Zhang Yang stared speechlessly. Who the hell toasts with beer cans? But he couldn’t bring himself to drink—if the rumors were spreading, Xu Danlu must be under a lot of pressure.

  “You guys drink. I’ve got something to take care of.” He couldn’t shake the worry.

  The three looked at him in surprise. “You just got back! Where are you going?”

  “To see your sister-in-law.”

  “Hey, hey, you still haven’t explained something important.”

  “What?”

  Li Jindong chugged a beer and pointed at him. “How come the school didn’t expel you after all? That doesn’t make sense.”

  Zhang Yang paused at the door, glanced back at them, and asked, “You guys want to get recommended for grad school?”

  They stared at each other, then all nodded. “No shit!”

  “Then wait for my word.” Zhang Yang pointed his finger dramatically in the air, leaving the three completely baffled.

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Zhang Yang shrugged and left.

  Zhou Wei scratched his head and looked at Li Jindong. “What did he mean by that?”

  Li Jindong glared at him. “How the hell should I know?”

  “I know what he meant!” Liu Qing, sitting on the bed, said thoughtfully, staring at the door. “Haven’t you noticed he’s… different lately?”

  Li Jindong and Zhou Wei looked at each other, then grabbed pillows and slippers and started throwing them. “Damn it, stop acting mysterious!”