Refusing the interview, time quickly brought the early days of July.
Beijing, after half a month of relentless sunshine, finally welcomed its first overcast day.
Perhaps it was because of the approaching end of the semester, but someone bored on the school forum started a thread:
"Discussion on the Major Events in School During the First Half of 2010"
1. Doctoral supervisor arrested.
2. Freshman Liu Chen skipped a year to sophomore.
3. Exchange student arrested.
4. Liu Chen's company, Meimei, expanded overseas, becoming a classic marketing case.
5. Our school won the national robotics competition.
6. ...
The poster posted a total of six items, a review of the major events of the first semester.
Then someone below summarized.
"Poster, you might as well just say, five points about student Liu Chen, and the robotics competition championship."
"Second that."
"Looking at it this way, while I was worrying about finals, student Liu Chen had already developed his business globally and caught two spies. *Sob sob*, how can there be such a big difference between people in the same school?"
"Don't say anymore, I'm already crying."
"My roommate has been so stimulated by the grade skipping that he studies until 2 AM every day. Let's be human and give ourselves a break."
-
When Liu Chen saw this post, it already had over thirty pages of replies. Reading the post, Liu Chen only then remembered that so many things had happened this semester?
As she was reflecting, she received a call from the Ministry of State Security.
"After interrogation, it was learned that someone abroad discovered the energy-boosting functional drink, Meimei Niu, which is perfect with almost no side effects. Therefore, someone abroad offered a bounty of 100 million yuan to bring you to the US intact."
Hearing the words on the phone, Liu Chen couldn't help but swallow.
After the initial two seconds of shock, Liu Chen let out a soul-searching question:
"One hundred million, just to have Sun Jin use a honey trap?"
Wasn't that a bit insulting to the 100 million?
Liu Chen didn't voice the latter part, but her silence conveyed what was on her mind.
"Ahem, it started at 100 million, but the deposit was only ten million. The two people who came that day spent two million in the US after accepting the task, then spent another two million on plastic surgery for the fake Sun Jin, and another two million on miscellaneous identity information. The remaining four million was originally intended for Sun Jin to create a rich second-generation identity, as an expense.
However, Sun Jin took the money and spent it all on grooming himself. They were worried that the money would run out and the mission wouldn't be completed, so they urged Sun Jin to complete the task quickly, but you never gave Sun Jin an opportunity.
Therefore, up to now, Sun Jin has not doubted that the fight that day was a trap."
Hearing about the expenditure of this money, Liu Chen still found it difficult to understand.
"But, but Captain Lei... why did they have to have Sun Jin use a beauty trap? You know, Ren Yu is my boyfriend, and he's quite good-looking too."
Hearing Liu Chen's confusion, Captain Lei sighed softly on the other end of the phone.
"Because after they planned to trick you away with Sun Jin, they also intended to eliminate Sun Jin's biological father and obtain the huge inheritance..."
Liu Chen was stunned to hear this. Was it her problem? Why did she feel that these three people couldn't even deceive themselves? Where did they get the confidence to plan a double deception?!!!
"Yes, that's right, it's not your problem. They might genuinely have some issues with their brains. We are currently tracing the source of the funds based on the payment accounts they provided. Because the amount involved is huge, and because your product is related to the military."
"Therefore, after deliberation, we have decided to place you under priority protection. To avoid alerting the enemy, we will protect you covertly. My phone number will be your emergency contact. You can send a message or call if you believe there is any problem."
Hearing Captain Lei's words, Liu Chen's lips couldn't help but curl into a smile. It was truly a case of 'sleepy heads arrive at a pillow.' While Xia Tian and Dong Tian were excellent bodyguards, in terms of anti-tracking, they were no match for the Ministry of State Security.
"Then, Captain Lei, thank you for your trouble."
As soon as she hung up the phone, Liu Chen's face was beaming with a smile. She even couldn't resist standing up from her chair and walking onto the small balcony, looking out at the dazzling sunlight outside. She quietly abandoned the idea of taking a walk.
However, at this moment, looking outside, Liu Chen suddenly realized that despite the strong sun, how vigorous were the large trees on campus! How charmingly bloomed the wildflowers under the trees! Even the slightly dilapidated corner of the green belt possessed an artistic beauty!
-
Professor He Long's office.
He Long sat in his office chair, opened the lid of his thermos cup, blew gently to move the floating tea leaves to the other side of the rim, and then took a big gulp.
Then, with his right hand, he closed the lid of the thermos cup, but didn't screw it tightly. With his left hand, he placed the Thermos cup imported from Japan, bought by his daughter He Siyu, on the desk.
Then he silently looked at the students standing before him.
He Long had a total of eight doctoral students and three master's students under his supervision, totaling eleven. It sounded like quite a lot, but compared to other supervisors, He Long was supervising very few.
"Speak, why have you fellow disciples gathered together? Do you think the tasks this semester are too light?"
He Long clasped his hands over his stomach. Indeed, he had drunk too much tea today to show off the thermos cup his daughter bought him. After these brats were done, he'd need to go to the restroom quickly.
Eager to go to the restroom, He Long's eyes carried a hint of urgency.
As He Long's most beloved senior disciple, Han Guangli swallowed and, under the earnest gazes of his junior disciples, stepped forward.
"Teacher, we want to intern with you in the additive production workshop this summer!"
"Yes!" The remaining ten junior disciples quickly nodded in agreement and shouted in unison, startling He Long so much that he almost couldn't hold back.
Thinking of this, He Long's expression became even more serious.
"I understand. I will consider it. You can all leave for now. I will give you a reply after I've considered it."
No, no, if these kids stayed any longer, he really wouldn't be able to hold it! "Nature calls" was truly an accurate saying!
As the senior disciple, Han Guangli, upon hearing this, was convinced that his teacher was definitely trying to refuse! Normally, his teacher would make a decision on the spot and never talk about "considering it"!
"Teacher! We can forgo the internship fees!"
"Yes!"
He Long closed his eyes, gritted his teeth fiercely, and then suddenly opened them:
"Fine, fine, fine! All of you go! You little rascals! You said you don't want money, so what will you do if you can't afford to eat later!"
Hearing this, Han Guangli's face lit up with joy, and he said with a smirk,
"Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, Teacher! Teacher, don't worry, I definitely won't let my junior disciples starve!"
He Long took a deep breath and waved his hand impatiently,
"Alright, since I've agreed, you should all go back where you came from. Oh, right, you should explain this internship to your families, lest your parents think I'm some heartless scoundrel who tricked you into working for free!"
Han Guangli, nearly thirty years old, couldn't help but scratch his head,
"Teacher, what are you saying? You've given us bonuses for every project before, and we've all saved up. This time, we really want to see for ourselves what the Meimei factory, which you've praised so much and the school trusts, actually looks like."
"Alright, alright, if we keep talking, the sun will set."
Han Guangli chuckled, led everyone in a slight bow to thank their teacher for the opportunity, and then turned to leave downstairs together.
He Long listened to the footsteps outside, realizing they were probably going downstairs. He then quickly darted out of his office and into the restroom on that floor.
After coming out of the restroom, He Long felt a bit embarrassed thinking about his large group of students.
After some hesitation, between emailing and calling Liu Chen, He Long ultimately chose to call, as it seemed more sincere.
Liu Chen, looking at the incoming call from Professor He Long on her newly acquired iPhone 4, was quite surprised.
"What kind of day is it today? Why are all the people calling me so special?"
Complaints aside, Liu Chen quickly answered Professor He Long's call.
"Hello? Teacher He?"
"Of course, I am honored. No, no need. We are a contract manufacturer for additives. It's perfectly normal for you to bring your students for a visit and internship. Oh, besides the eleven senior students, are you bringing Teacher's wife and Sister Siyu as well?
We still have an empty three-bedroom apartment in our dorm, two rooms for bedrooms and one for a study, which would be perfect."
As Liu Chen said this, her eyes sparkled. If Ren Yu were here, he would immediately realize that this little fox, Liu Chen, was up to something again. Unfortunately, Professor He Long on the other end of the phone still had a very good impression of Liu Chen.
Hearing that Liu Chen was not displeased at all about him bringing extra students to observe and learn in the contract manufacturing workshop, and even proactively offered to include his wife and daughter, He Long felt even more gratified.
"Alright, then I'll ask your Teacher's wife tonight and get back to you."
"Okay, Teacher!"
After hanging up, Liu Chen couldn't help but quickly walk out of her bedroom into the dorm's living room. Standing on her tiptoes, she moved in small steps and then jumped.
Humming the "March of the Swans" and grinning ear to ear, she thought:
"Oh~ God~ I love you so much~ As long as Teacher He Long's students have visited my factory, they clearly won't be attracted to other companies anymore~~ Then won't I be able to instantly set up my new product research department right here~~"
After saying this, Liu Chen couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hands to prevent her laughter from being too loud and making people outside the dorm think she had gone mad.
Just as Liu Chen felt today was already incredibly lucky and couldn't get any luckier, Ren Yu sent her a website link.
If Ren Yu weren't the world's top hacker, Liu Chen really wouldn't have clicked on the link suddenly sent via QQ.
It wasn't for any other reason, but it looked too much like those fake links that flooded the internet in her past life, the kind that would prompt you to enter your bank card password, then say the password was incorrect, and then ask for your mobile verification code.
Once you entered it, you'd find all the money from your bank card had been transferred away.
Clicking on the link in the QQ chat window, the laptop's built-in browser quickly jumped and opened the website link.
It was the official website of a magazine.
The name of this magazine was "Economy," which sounded quite impressive. After the images loaded, Liu Chen felt that she had laughed too much today, and her cheeks were sore from smiling.
On the website's homepage, there was a large portrait of Ren Yu, and next to it was the prominent title.
"Top Ten Wealthy Youth of Zhonghua Jia"
"Hmm? There are ten people, why is the homepage Ren Yu's solo portrait?"
As she mumbled, Liu Chen clicked on the title and then saw the other nine wealthy youths.
To be honest, they were all good-looking, but in front of Ren Yu, they were like stars next to the moon – bright, but not as prominent...
"Tsk tsk, the editors of this website are really trying to kill people with kindness..."
Although she said that, Liu Chen was still very happy for Ren Yu. Switching back to the QQ chat window:
Liu Chen: 'Brother Ren Yu's photo is so handsome~~ Congratulations, Brother Ren Yu~~'
Ren Yu: Your praise is a bit perfunctory.
Liu Chen: Heaven and earth bear witness, I genuinely think he's very handsome!
Ren Yu: Don't worry, no matter how handsome, he's still yours. Others can only look.
"Pfft~!"
Liu Chen looked at the words on the screen with a look of disbelief.
Liu Chen: Ahem, Brother Ren Yu, speak properly and don't learn all sorts of nonsense from others.
Ren Yu looked at the reply on the screen, then glanced at the hot thread on Tianya Forum on his browser.
"100 Phrases to Coax Your Girlfriend!"
Ren Yu silently moved this post from his browser bookmarks. Well, it really was a scammer.
Ren Yu: Got it. The vacation is almost here, what day are you booking your flight?
...
-
While Liu Chen and Ren Yu were chatting about the upcoming vacation, in City C, thousands of miles away, Ren Yu's father, Zhou Ren, sat in his newly renovated house, which had been aired out for three months.
This was an apartment assigned by his unit. Based on his title, he was allocated a nearly 160-square-meter four-bedroom apartment. The elevator was two units per floor, and he chose the fourth floor. From the living room, one could see the C City Wetland Park, separated only by a pedestrian walkway.
Of course, the wetland hadn't been completed yet; they were still digging.
Zhou Ren sat in the study at the very end of the corridor. On the computer screen was the magazine website that Liu Chen had looked at earlier.
Zhou Ren lit a cigarette but didn't smoke it. He just held it between his fingers and said in a voice so low that even he could barely hear it,
"Those fools are gone. Now is not the time for me to act, or I'll be implicated. Secondly, that newly built factory area, I saw cameras everywhere when I inspected it last time, it's impossible to act secretly.
Wait a little longer. When those outsiders make their move, I don't believe they won't go crazy for the performance-enhancing agent I told them has no side effects."
After organizing his thoughts, Zhou Ren flicked the cigarette. The ashes quickly fell onto the desk and floor, just like all of Zhou Ren's previous plans.