Chapter 104: Jiang Qin, Stroll in the Rain!
TL: Etude
No one expected the rain to arrive so suddenly.
During the award ceremony, the sky was clear, but as soon as the competition ended, a sudden downpour began.
Jiang Qin was leisurely walking with Feng Nanshu by the lake when they were caught off guard by the rapid onset of rain. They had no choice but to jog back, eventually seeking shelter from the rain in Room 208 of the Entrepreneurship Center.
Dong Wenhao, Su Nai, Wei Lanlan, and Pang Hai had gone to the playground earlier, leaving room 208 empty. The windows were left open, and rain had already splattered inside, wetting a few campus newspapers but fortunately sparing the computers and documents.
“Wipe your hair, don’t catch a cold.”
Jiang Qin found a towel in a drawer and tossed it to Feng Nanshu, covering her face and eliciting a surprised yelp from her.
“Why didn’t you catch it?”
Feng Nanshu, expressionless, replied, “I didn’t react in time. Please wipe it for me.”
“Typical of a young lady, ordering people around must be ingrained in your genes.” Jiang Qin took the towel and roughly dried her beautiful long hair.
Feng Nanshu was slightly dissatisfied with his perfunctory effort, and with a cold gaze, she said, “Jiang Qin, aim better, don’t wipe my mouth.”
“…”
Rainy days are boring, especially in the office where you can’t lie down. The most comfortable place was the sofa in the adjacent 207. So, Jiang Qin moved Lu Xuemei’s computer to 207, planning to watch a movie and wait for the rain to stop with the little rich lady.
Why use Lu Xuemei’s computer? Because besides hers, there was only Su Nai’s computer left in the office.
He dared not touch that one.
What if there was some weird playback software running in the background, and the moans and groans would start playing at high volume? Feng Nanshu would surely be curious about the sounds.
That would be hard to explain. Really hard to explain.
“Come on, see anything you’d like to watch?” Jiang Qin opened Youku and pushed the computer towards her.
Feng Nanshu leaned towards the screen, her delicate face illuminated by its glow, “How about this one, ‘WALL-E’?”
“I suggest ‘The Village of the Dead’.”
“?”
‘WALL-E’ was definitely not an option. It was a bait-and-switch, entirely about romance, and watching it could easily make one lovesick.
The film’s characters were even worse: one was EVE, a rich and beautiful female robot, while the other was WALL-E, a worn-out lower-class robot tirelessly working. It felt too much like looking in a mirror.
Modern movies and literature seemed unable to survive without a touch of romance. Rubbish!
Eventually, under Jiang Qin’s suggestion, they watched ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’
This movie was sufficiently fantastical to suit Feng Nanshu’s taste, and the captain was a mix of scoundrel and loser, enough to shatter any girl’s illusions about men.
The windows in 207 weren’t well-sealed, letting cold air seep through the cracks. It was quite chilly.
Jiang Qin went back to 208 to fetch a blanket to cover them both, then sat close together, eyes glued to the screen.
Since the lights were off, the room was dark, and they huddled under the blanket, only their faces exposed, slightly inclined towards each other.
Click-clack—
After watching for a couple of minutes, Feng Nanshu kicked off her little leather shoes and tucked her feet, clad in lace thin socks, under the blanket, her gaze still fixed on the screen.
This time, she initiated it, right?
I must be a true gentleman, right?
Jiang Qin confidently massaged her feet, suddenly finding the movie a bit more interesting, though it seemed too short.
“Lad, I am Captain Jack Sparrow!”
“…”
“The real meaning of the Black Pearl is freedom!”
“…”
As the plot progressed, suddenly clear footsteps echoed in the otherwise empty hallway, distinctly the sound of high heels on the floor.
Jiang Qin couldn’t help but look back, seeing a long-haired woman walking past the door, but not going far. After a couple of steps, the heels stopped, presumably outside room 208.
Was she here for advertising placement in 208? At this time?
“You keep watching, I have something to take care of.”
“Okay.”
Seeing Feng Nanshu nod in agreement, Jiang Qin stepped out and, as expected, saw the woman standing at the door of 208, looking inside.
She wore a black trench coat, with a white shirt and suit pants underneath, and her long black hair had slight waves, clearly well-maintained. She appeared to be under thirty, exuding the aura of a professional woman, with a pair of silver hoop earrings dangling from her ears.
Hoop earrings like these were quite popular among city beauties back in 2008.
“Hello, can I help you with anything?”
As Jiang Qin spoke, the woman turned around.
“Are you in charge here? Let me introduce myself, my name is Ye Zi Qing.”
The woman spoke politely, revealing her basic information.
“Are you here to place an advertisement?” Jiang Qin eyed her, feeling she didn’t quite fit the bill.
As expected, Ye Zi Qing shook her head calmly: “No, I used to be a student at Linchuan University and started a business in this classroom. I just happened to pass by today and wanted to reminisce a bit. I didn’t expect someone else to be here now.”
A form Jiang Qin had seen long ago in 208 flashed through his mind: “Oh, Jiu Hui Group Buying website, right?”
“How do you know about that site?” Ye Zi Qing was slightly taken aback.
“When I applied for this classroom, I found a stack of financial reports with that name on them.”
“Do you still have those documents? Can you give me a copy? Honestly, that was my first entrepreneurial attempt. After it failed, I was quite upset. Many memorable things were lost, and now they are hard to find.”
Jiang Qin shook his head gently: “Sorry, those documents have been cleared out. If you had come a month earlier, you might have still found them.”
Ye Zi Qing couldn’t help but sigh, yet she didn’t seem too disappointed: “Alright then, I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t bother you any longer.”
“Don’t you want to take a look inside? You can go in, I don’t mind.”
“Forget it, the past is the past, and this classroom is no longer what it used to be.” After saying this, Ye Zi Qing turned and left.
“Senior Ye, actually your group buying website was quite interesting. Having such an idea in 2003 was quite advanced. It’s just that you took the wrong direction, which led to failure.”
“…”
“Seriously, if I were running it, I wouldn’t use customer resources to find merchants. Instead, I’d use merchant resources to attract customers. I don’t know if you can understand what I mean?”
Ye Zi Qing turned to look at Jiang Qin, and then glanced at 207, clearly seeing the silhouette of a girl. She was beautiful, but due to the lack of light, it was hard to see clearly.
She smiled slightly: “Young man, you should just enjoy your youth. Entrepreneurship isn’t that simple. Remember, theoretical knowledge is shallow.”
“Heh, don’t believe me then.” Jiang Qin laughed and returned to 207.
This small episode might seem insignificant to others, and so both of them didn’t dwell on it and quickly forgot about it.
Jiang Qin went back to 207, snuggled back under the blanket, and continued watching the movie with Feng Nanshu.
“This girl. How far are you willing to go to save her?”
“How much would you sacrifice to save that girl?”
“I’d die for her.”
“?”
Jiang Qin was startled, thinking he didn’t remember this movie having a romantic plot. However, turning to look at Feng Nanshu, she didn’t seem to react much, instead showing more interest in the special effects of the ships.
After a while, the rain outside gradually stopped.
In the evening, the sky brightened bit by bit, and a splendid array of clouds covered the sky above Linchuan University, looking vibrant and particularly clear after the rain.
Soon, Su Nai, Dong Wenhao, Pang Hai, Lu Xuemei, and over a dozen others returned to 208, complaining about the unfortunate timing of the award ceremony that day that left them drenched.
Coincidentally, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ended at that moment. Jiang Qin uncovered the blanket, planning to escort Feng Nanshu back to her dormitory.
“Jiang Qin, give me back my socks,” Feng Nanshu looked up at him.
Jiang Qin wasn’t sure when he had taken off her socks, so he looked around and eventually found them under him: “Lift your foot, I’ll put them on for you.”
“Okay.”
Feng Nanshu extended her pale foot, letting Jiang Qin slip the sock on. She remained expressionless throughout, as if granting him a favor.
After they were ready, Jiang Qin escorted Feng Nanshu out of the Entrepreneurship Center towards the girls’ dormitory, where they ran into Gao Wenhui.
“Jiang Qin, I heard the campus beauty contest is over? The first place is Chu Siqi from the Law School?” Gao Wenhui asked indignantly, hands on her hips.
Jiang Qin was taken aback: “It’s okay, Little Gao, you can participate next year, or the year after. Anyway, you don’t stand a chance, but I can prepare a consolation prize for you.”
“Get lost, I don’t care about that. But Feng Nanshu should be the number one campus beauty, others don’t deserve it!”
“No, she doesn’t want to be the campus beauty.” Jiang Qin said, glancing at Feng Nanshu.
The little rich lady nodded seriously: “I don’t want to be the campus beauty.”
“Alright then, I have to go, there’s something in 208. We’ll talk another time.” Jiang Qin waved his hand and left.
Gao Wenhui looked unconvinced: “Feng Nanshu, does your world consist only of Jiang Qin? Do you listen to everything he says?”
Feng Nanshu coldly held up three fingers: “My world consists of three words.”
“What’s the third word?” Gao Wenhui was puzzled.
“Jiang, Qin, stroll.”
“…”
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