Chapter 19: Annoyance

Chapter 19: Annoyance

For the next two weeks, Shi Ling’s life was a routine between the teaching building, the dessert shop, and the dormitory. While attending classes and working part-time, he also managed to refine the game’s script and code structure, keeping himself quite busy.

After those two weeks, Shi Ling ushered in his first small long holiday since starting college.

National Day.

Compared to other stingy public holidays, National Day, after some adjustments, was quite long. Even Mo Jin and Shao Qin, who lived far from home, had bought their plane tickets back home long ago and packed their belongings the day before the holiday started.

Before leaving, they made sure to drag Shi Ling out of bed.

Mo Jin said, “Shi Ling, bro is going home. Don’t worry, I’ll bring you back some delicious snacks!”

Shao Qin, rolling his luggage, nodded as well, “Yeah, even though we’re going home, we won’t slack off on our studies. We’ll strive to be able to help you soon. Remember to eat at school and don’t just busy yourself with projects all the time. Occasionally, you need to relax. Senior Jiang won’t blame you.”

Still half-asleep, Shi Ling didn’t say anything, just threw a pillow at them.

Are these two crazy? Can’t they let me sleep?

Mo Jin deftly caught the pillow and threw it back, “Alright, you two continue sleeping. We’re off!”

Shi Ling: …

He had a bit of morning irritation.

Shi Ling sat on his bed, scratched his hair with a disgruntled expression, and turned his head to see Fang Lingyun lying in bed, staring at him.

Shi Ling lazily yawned and crawled back into his quilt, “You’re awake too?”

Fang Lingyun moved his head slightly, “Yeah.”

Looking at the sleepy Shi Ling, Fang Lingyun hesitated but finally asked, “Shi Ling, do you want to go home during this long holiday?”

Shi Ling answered without a second thought, “No, where would I go? Of course, I’ll be in the dormitory.”

Fang Lingyun nodded and specially reminded, “Then be careful at school. I heard from my brother that the Zhou family seems to be looking for you again.”

Hearing this, Shi Ling, who was still drowsy, immediately perked up, “What did you say?”

Seeing that Shi Ling seemed unaware of this news, Fang Lingyun prepared to explain in detail, “It’s that old man from the Zhou family. Recently, with Zhou Su and Zhong Shao’s situation stabilized, he’s come to his senses and wants to find you again. Plus, Jiang Yulin has already looked for you once and knows you’re at Jing University, so my brother thinks they might come to find you.”

Shi Ling shrank further into his quilt, not wanting to face reality.

Admittedly, avoiding the Zhou family seemed difficult.

He couldn’t just stay in school and not go anywhere, right?

He still had to work part-time!

Shi Ling irritably rolled over, but since talking to Fang Lingyun while facing away was inconvenient, he quickly flipped back, “They won’t come directly to the dormitory, will they?”

Fang Lingyun felt a little panicked, “Probably not. But if they do come and you’re the only one in the dorm, won’t they force you back to the Zhou family?”

Fang Lingyun tensed up, “Shi Ling, how about you come home with me? The Zhou family definitely wouldn’t dare come to my house.”

Shi Ling shook his head, “No need. It wouldn’t make sense for you to go home for college and, after just a month, bring someone else back. Besides, I have to face this eventually. It’s just a matter of solving it sooner or later.”

Sighing, he continued, “Why can’t the Zhou family just give up? I’ve already left. Can’t they just pretend this never happened?”

Fang Lingyun nodded in agreement, “Exactly. They’ve already publicly declared they wouldn’t acknowledge the child they brought back. Yet, they still keep bothering you. Who knows what dirty tricks they’re planning.”

“Even if they do come, don’t bother with them!”

Shi Ling thought the same, “Of course, I won’t.”

Although Fang Lingyun’s home was in the capital and much closer compared to Mo Jin and Shao Qin, he still needed to prepare for his trip home since he had been away for a month.

Fang Lingyun lay in bed for a while longer before reluctantly getting up, “Still have to get up.”

As he folded his quilt, he looked at Shi Ling, “I kind of envy you, being able to lie down without a care.”

Shi Ling blinked, “Envy me for not having a family?”

Fang Lingyun turned away, “Never mind that.”

Although people often badmouthed his brother in front of him, his family treated him well.

Unlike Mo Jin and Shao Qin, who were in a rush to leave, Fang Lingyun left calmly, with several people helping him carry his luggage. He even had time to buy breakfast at the cafeteria and brought a portion back for Shi Ling.

This scene reminded Shi Ling of the first time he met Fang Lingyun.

Back then, the dorm was also bustling with people packing Fang Lingyun’s luggage while he sat on a chair, doing nothing.

After Fang Lingyun left, Dorm 412 was left with only Shi Ling.

Finally, it was quiet.

If he wanted to sleep a bit more, no one would disturb him. At most, there would be the sound of other dorm mates dragging their luggage in the hallway, but it wouldn’t be loud enough to bother someone comfortably lying in bed.

But now that it was quiet, Shi Ling didn’t feel like sleeping anymore.

He sat at his desk for a while and finally opened his computer to finish the last bit of code.

By the time he was done, it was already noon.

Shi Ling hit the last key but was about to test it when his stomach growled protestingly.

He looked at his phone, which showed “12:40.”

Shi Ling yawned and muttered to himself, "It's already so late, no wonder I'm hungry."

He rose from his seat, stretched his arms, and loosened his muscles. "I wonder how things are going on Jiang Xuejie's side?"

Jiang Sijie and the team she had hired were responsible for the modeling in the game, including character and environment modeling. This was undoubtedly a massive project, and if they wanted the project to truly stand out, the detail of the modeling could not be compromised.

If Jiang Sijie's team worked quickly enough, once he received the files and replaced the current models, he could show a sample to Boss Ji.

If things went even more smoothly, they might just receive their first batch of funding soon.

With these thoughts in mind, Shi Ling's mood lightened considerably.

He saved the files, thought for a moment, then locked them away and shut down his computer.

Although, logically, at this time, no one should be coming to their dormitory except him, there was always the possibility of an unexpected visitor.

After all, just this morning, Fang Lingyun had mentioned that the Zhou family was trying to find him.

What if some strange people entered their dormitory?

After taking all these precautions, Shi Ling finally put his phone, which had been on the table, into his pocket, preparing to have lunch.

——

Speak of the devil.

Shi Ling had just been thinking about how he hoped to cut all ties with the Zhou family and that they wouldn't come looking for him. But as soon as he walked down to the first floor, he saw members of the Zhou family at the dormitory entrance.

It was none other than Zhou Su, whom he had met at the Zhou family villa before.

And there were two other people with him.

One was Jiang Yulin, who had deliberately cornered him at the beginning of the semester, a person with rather touching logic. As for the other…

This person was dressed in a very fitting suit, appearing much more sophisticated than Zhou Su and Jiang Yulin.

Also much older.

Probably the President Zhong who had fallen in love with Zhou Su at first sight at the bar entrance!

But no matter who these people were, they had nothing to do with him.

Shi Ling muttered to himself, pretending not to see them, hoping to just slip past unnoticed.

However, his wishful thinking was soon shattered.

Just as he took a few steps towards the dormitory entrance, Zhou Su spotted him and, for some reason, suddenly smiled. "Shi Ling, long time no see!"

Shi Ling: ...

What is this, making it seem like they were very familiar with each other?

Perhaps Shi Ling's expression of disdain was too obvious, which made the young master Jiang next to him unhappy. Jiang frowned. "Shi Ling, what's your attitude?"

Shi Ling sighed. "The attitude of someone who's hungry."

"Move aside, I'm in a hurry to eat!"

Jiang Yulin still blocked his way, a smug smile on his face. "Shi Ling, there's a chance for you to return to the Zhou family. Will you take it?"

Hearing this, Shi Ling finally lifted his eyelids and looked at Jiang Yulin.

Just as Jiang Yulin was feeling smug, expecting Shi Ling to agree, he heard something unbelievable.

Shi Ling said, "Are you sick?"

He had worked hard to leave the Zhou family and escape the plot of the original story. Now they wanted him to go back?

No way.

Shi Ling's attitude was very firm. "If you want to play your games, go ahead and do it yourselves. Don't drag others into it, especially me. All I want is to finish my studies peacefully. During this time, don't bother me!"

Shi Ling's overly firm attitude seemed to surprise the other three people present.

Zhou Su pursed her lips and hesitantly asked him, "Shi Ling, do you really not want to go home? Mom, Dad, and Grandpa really miss you."

Shi Ling sneered. "They want me to work for them, right? Dream on. I'm eighteen, not eight. Not that easy to deceive."

At this moment, Zhong Shao stepped forward and stood in front of Shi Ling. "Shi Ling, would you like to talk to me?"

Shi Ling was decisive, bypassing him and continuing to walk. "No talk."

"Go back to where you came from. If you're that free, go earn more money and contribute to the country's GDP. Don't just think about blocking other people's paths. I'm busy!"

As he walked, he added, "Annoying."