In the still of the night, amidst the blazing fire, lies Kunyu Bay, an upscale residential community in Haidian District.
Huo Yunchao stood on his balcony, the lights off, gazing at the magnificent view of the Western Hills in the distance. Starlight bathed him, highlighting his refined and elegant appearance.
He took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, lit one by rubbing the wheel together, and took a drag.
He never smokes in front of outsiders, nor is he addicted to cigarettes. Only when tackling technical challenges or feeling surrounded by loneliness will he light one or two cigarettes for a moment of comfort.
Sparks flew, ash fell, and he gently brushed it away, his index fingers as smooth as jade. Xue Qiandai once said with a smile that he had the hands of a pianist, and that whenever she held him, she would brush her eyelashes against her palms, making him feel ticklish.
The phone rang, and Huo Yunchao was overjoyed. He took it out of his pocket and saw that he was using a Blackberry. Back then, tech guys all loved Blackberries.
Oh, I'm a little disappointed, it's Qin Shu.
However, she answered the call anyway, saying calmly, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded urgent, yet also gloating. "Check Tianya, the hottest posts on Tianya."
At that time, Weibo had only been around for a short time and couldn't yet rival Tianya. Huo Yunchao extinguished his cigarette and casually tossed the butt into the living room trash can.
This is a two-bedroom apartment, decorated in a very academic style. One bedroom is for sleeping, and the other has been converted into a study, filled with books—not just the latest technology books, but also many humanities and social science books. On the desk is an Apple Mac, a gift from Xue Qiandai. She said the Mac is better for viewing pictures.
See, the "appearance-obsessed" attitude is no joke.
Huo Yunchao turned on his computer, found Tianya Community in his bookmarks, and clicked on it. The first thing he saw was the picture. Two girls were whispering to each other on the subway. Xue Qiandai's elegant face looked somewhat tired.
His heart skipped a beat. She actually took the subway? There was no Maybach to pick her up anymore.
Then he turned his gaze to the classic quotes above.
"If you can't find a partner in a school with a male-to-female ratio of 4:1, then there's no hope for your life."
"So now that you're down on your luck, you're most afraid of seeing your ex-boyfriend?"
"They are all excellent, but you only know that once you meet them, you realize that apart from the one who is right for you, everyone else is just a passing cloud."
Is Huo Yunchao the right one, or just a cloud obscuring his vision?
My thoughts were drawn back to two years ago.
Huo Yunchao replaced Qin Shu in the Qidian Talk debate competition, and he was flirted with as he left the debate venue.
The girl was very distinctive, with a stunning figure and narrow eyes that were full of cunning and unrestrained arrogance. Her slightly full lips resembled those of a heroine in an American TV series, like pearls waiting to be kissed.
She said lazily and jokingly, "Well done, beautiful lady."
Huo Yunchao didn't want to be in a relationship. During his student years, many girls had pursued him, but he didn't want to meet that person when he was at his weakest.
So, he excelled academically, participated in various entrepreneurship competitions, and by his junior year of college at the age of 21, he had saved up his first pot of gold—100,000 yuan. He persuaded several boys in his dormitory to work with him, and Qin Shu, who blindly admired him, joined in and won the gamble. During his first year of graduate school, Happy Farm was born.
After the debate, Huo Yunchao would often see Xue Qiandai by chance. She would sit in on their classes, find the classroom where he studied, and even "bribe" the people around him with money.
That evening, Huo Yunchao and Qin Shu were writing code and debugging programs in the second-to-last row of the study room. Xue Qiandai slowly entered. The study room was full, and the few empty tables were all occupied by books.
She spotted him in the crowd at a glance. A smile naturally appeared on her lips as she went to the only empty seat in the last row. She was two seats away from Qin Shu and three seats away from Huo Yunchao.
The girl stood up slightly, nudged Qin Shu's back, and asked in a low voice, "Hey senior, can we switch seats?"
Qin Shu saw the girl. To be honest, she wasn't particularly stunning at first glance; she wasn't a conventionally beautiful woman. But her clothes and overall demeanor were impeccable, and her eyebrows possessed a captivating beauty.
Qin Shu had seen this kind of situation many times before; he understood that the real intention was not what it seemed. He nudged Huo Yunchao with his elbow, implying, "They're after you."
Huo Yunchao recognized her out of the corner of his eye, but his mind was elsewhere; he continued writing code.
Qin Shu shrugged, indicating his polite refusal.
Xue Qiandai was not going to give up so easily, so she poked Qin Shu again, "Senior, please, helping others is helping yourself."
Qin Shu gritted his teeth, his train of thought interrupted. He lowered his voice and said, "He's... not available."
He thought he had made himself clear and the girl should give up. Five minutes later, the girl flew over a small note with a drawing of what had just happened. The girl was looking at them pitifully, while Qin Shu was drawn as an oblivious third wheel. Because the drawing was so cute, Qin Shu wasn't angry at all; instead, he chuckled.
He wrote a few words on the note: "This blockhead has no sense of romance."
Xue Qiandai's note arrived quickly. Qin Shu opened it and, wow, it was a red old man's note. "One hundred yuan, for your seat."
One hundred yuan was a lot of money in college; it was equivalent to 20 bowls of noodles at a fancy restaurant.
While they were discussing the girl's background in Qin Shusi Village, another note flew over from her. "Five hundred yuan, one seat."
"He who takes a bribe is bound to be obligated," Qin Shu thought to himself as he secretly pocketed the money and gave Xue Qiandai an OK sign. Then he asked Huo Yunchao to make way for him, saying, "I have an upset stomach and need to use the restroom."
He left swiftly, even taking his laptop with him. Thus, Xue Qiandai, clutching her little Apple laptop, successfully sat down next to Huo Yunchao.
Huo Yunchao ignored her and continued working diligently. Xue Qiandai, with her notebook open and one hand propping up her chin, observed the beauty's profile. His eyelashes were so long and thick; she wanted to swing on them. His eyes were brighter than the stars; she wanted to present him with a diamond.
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