Chapter 228: Computer Genius Li Ning
She randomly chose a stall on the snack street outside Nanhua University, ordered “Stir-Fried Spicy Tofu,” “Crystal Meat Paste,” and “Sweet Potato Noodles.” Bringing them inside, she ignored the beautiful woman watching her and showed no intention of treating her. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and started eating heartily, making Xu Yao feel like an extra. Watching her enjoy the tofu and meat paste so happily, Xu Yao didn’t know whether to speak up or leave.
It was infuriating!
If his rude attitude last time had left her confused, embarrassed, and angry, then now, his indifference made her understand what it meant.
“Hey,” Xu Yao finally couldn’t hold back. Her mouth felt dry from swallowing saliva repeatedly.
But who was Kaixin?
Having spent over two years with Xu Yao, he didn’t need to look up to know what she wanted. Without lifting his head, he said, “Order what you want. I’ll fill my stomach first.”
He was indeed very hungry—almost ten hours since lunch, his stomach empty. Even though Xu Yao had ruined his appetite, he still couldn’t resist eating.
“No need,” Xu Yao replied, her words stuck in her throat. She glared at Kaixin, who continued eating, wondering why he reacted and acted that way whenever she was around. She found it strange—Kaixin didn’t seem like someone who completely ignored others; he must have noticed her dissatisfaction.
Xu Yao was puzzled. She sat silently across from him, waiting for him to finish eating.
Many others eating late-night snacks witnessed this scene. Those who knew Xu Yao were puzzled, guessing the identity of the boy beside her. They couldn’t understand why the famously strict Rose would be so obedient to this unknown boy.
One ate, the other waited silently—no words exchanged, as if they were a couple.
Outside the snack street, a stylish man in a black suit happened to pass by the stall. He was quite handsome, with a delicate face. With his hands in his pockets and white headphones on, he moved to the rhythm of music, his unique style attracting many girls’ attention.
By chance, he turned his head and noticed a familiar silhouette inside the stall…
“Hm?”
The stylish man stopped with a soft exclamation. His first reaction was to take off his headphones and hang them around his neck. He glanced around the stall, then carefully studied the side profile of the girl inside, making sure he wasn’t mistaken before frowning and stepping in.
“Xu Yao, what are you doing here by yourself?”
The stylish man, like a top celebrity, exuded an innate sense of superiority and confidence that made the other students in the shop look over. As he entered the stall, he didn’t even bother to look at Chen Kaixin, who was eating hot plate tofu heartily, completely ignoring him.
“Li Ning?”
Xu Yao heard someone call her name and turned around, stunned. “How did you get here?”
“I happened to pass by and saw you sitting here in a daze. Um… your friend?” The stylish man, Li Ning, finally noticed what was going on. He raised his eyebrows slightly and gave a faint smile.
The man in front of her was somewhat handsome, but his eating habits were far from admirable. His outfit was quite ordinary for summer—just two slippers—which actually matched the stall well. But he would never believe that this man was Xu Yao’s friend; he definitely wouldn’t consider him that kind of friend.
“Oh, let me introduce you.”
Before Xu Yao could introduce them, Kaixin had already finished the last piece of tofu. Pushing aside the empty plate, he said in a calm tone, “I know him. He’s the genius top student from the computer department, ‘Li Ning’. He taught himself hacking skills and is currently the school’s network maintenance person as well as an assistant tutor for the computer department. I’ve long heard of his fame.”
Kaixin also knew very well that this guy had been Xu Yao’s close friend in his past life. He was highly skilled in computers and had a strong interest in Xu Yao. But he was arrogant and liked to flirt. After Xu Yao became his girlfriend, this Li Ning gave him a lot of trouble, and his computer exam scores were wrong several times. In short, they were complete opposites!
“Huh.”
Hearing Kaixin recite his details so accurately, Li Ning smiled proudly. “Haven’t met you before?”
“I’m also from the computer department, same class—Class 3, Chen Kaixin.”
“You’re Chen Kaixin?”
Li Ning seemed to have heard of this name too. He was slightly stunned and said, “The one the teacher approved to skip classes?” The disdain on his face faded slightly, even turning serious.
“That’s him. That’s why I wanted to come and interview him,” Xu Yao interjected, winking at him at the end. “Interview?”
Li Ning was stunned again. He glanced at Xu Yao, wondering why there was anything worth interviewing about such a person. He remembered that when he won first place in the Hunan region’s hacker training competition, Xu Yao hadn’t even thought of interviewing him. So why now, for such a trivial matter…?
Could it be because of that incident?
Li Ning recalled how some time ago, Xu Yao had asked him to use his system administrator privileges to retrieve Chen Kaixin’s file and Happy’s file from the “Nanhua Jianghu Ranking.” He was still very clear about Happy’s reputation… the sixth strongest in Nanhua, the number one expert in the jianghu, a highly sought-after figure. Yet Chen Kaixin hadn’t intended to reveal his secret. Could it be that Xu Yao planned to interview Happy about this secret firsthand?
That doesn’t make sense…
As he thought about it, doubt arose in his eyes.
He remembered that when Xu Yao learned of this secret, she had repeatedly instructed him to keep it confidential and not reveal it. So why now? Could she be interested in this guy?
At that moment, Happy spoke up again:
“Since you’re here, why not sit down and chat? To be honest, I still don’t know what to do. You must have been interviewed many times, Li Ning. Could you teach me how to do it? Oh, and beautiful Xu, do you mind having someone sitting beside you?”
“Of course not,” she replied.
Although she said that, she secretly gave Li Ning a glance, but he didn’t respond at all. Instead, he nodded with a smile, ignoring her signal, and sat down cheerfully.
“…”
Xu Yao was speechless.
She had originally planned to use this opportunity to get to know Happy better, perhaps to build a closer relationship and become more familiar with him for future reference. But now, with this interfering guy showing up, she was forced to conduct a superficial formal interview. All her preparations were useless, and in a hurry, she asked a few irrelevant questions before ending the interview.
The three of them perfunctorily went through the motions, then returned to school as the crowd thinned out.
Although Happy had initially treated Xu Yao perfunctorily, as time passed and Li Ning appeared, he became more convinced that Xu Yao had figured out his identity. Otherwise, given his high opinion of himself and his knowledge of Li Ning, he wouldn’t have shown interest in an obscure “good student” like him in such a small place.
Yipin Hall really does have some tricks up its sleeve!
“Do you want the past to repeat itself?”
On the way back to the dormitory, Happiness was somewhat angry, yet also couldn’t help feeling a slight sense of anticipation, wondering what tactics Yipin Tang used to make someone like Xu Yao willingly go against her own will to become his girlfriend.