Hualian AU ~ 1. The Ghost Groom

Part 2

"Congratulations Xie Lian! Nice to see you again", said Ling Wen, with, in Xie Lian's opinion, too much stress on the AGAIN.

"Hey Ling Wen, long time no see..." he replied, smiling shyly.

"Eight years. We all enrolled this uni at the same time."

Xie Lian didn't look much older, what with wearing an oversized white hoodie, skinny dark blue jeans and Stan Smith Adidas. He had a slight tan, as he's been spending time abroad on sunnier places, and his middle parted, neat hair looked lighter too.

"You must be far advanced by now. Masters maybe? Or even further?" he asked good-naturedly, without any hint of malice or sarcasm.

"I'm a PhD researcher, the uni's data manager and curriculum coordinator."

"You're working hard", he said smiling.

"I am. However, Xie Lian, you're the famous one these days."

"I am?"

"Yes. Your re-entry in this educational institution made waves, and you're currently trending"

"Trending?", he asked, puzzled. After going offline for three years, he's been limiting his online presence, and not following trends anymore.

"#mostlikelytobeexpelled"

"Oh", Xie Lian smiled uncomfortably. "Well they say there's no such thing as bad publicity."

"Putting on a brave face, that's a good skill."

"It's not that my current line of work follows trends anyway", he replies, his smile brightening.

"You mean you re-enrolled as soundtrack music producer right?"

"That's right", he smiled.

"Well with our self-education model, you can pick as choose the subjects more relevant to your career of choice, you only have to complete a certain number of credits per semester, or what we call here, 'merits'." Ling Wen explained. "Needless to say, if you wanted to pursue a career of music artist and YouTuber, you wouldn't even need to be here." She added.

"Well I've got something else in mind now, so I'm happy to go for merits at every chance I get", he said, smiling confidently. Like Ling Wen said, he's been there, done that and bought the t-shirt; he had a good idea of what he needed to go for now.

"In this case, I might have just the thing or you", Ling Wen said.

"Oh?"

"There's this app developed in one of our labs, Ming Guang Palace."

"Palace?", Xie Lian asked, puzzled.

"Oh right. We call ours labs 'Palaces', to match this 'Heavenly Uni' Xianxia thing", Ling Wen smiled.

"Ok. Go on, what about the app?"

"It's not taking off for some reason, and no one knows why. There doesn't seem to be a technical fault and yet..." she shook her head. As the curriculum coordinator, Ling Wen wasn't fond of research projects that weren't successful and therefore couldn't be licensed afterwards.

She went on, "How about I give you this assignment: go to Mount Yu Jun building – that's where Ming Guang Palace is – and check it out all about this app, see if you can find out what's wrong."

"Ok. App development isn't my thing, but I think I can be an UI research subject and test it out."

"I can upload more info on your private communication array. And better even, I can see if I can get other subjects to test the app with you, so you can discuss and report any finds to me."

Xie Lian didn't know this 'communication array', but he understood its meaning in the context.

"Oh I don't know. Who'd want to work with #mostlikelytobeexpelled?", and he smiled in amusement.

"I'll try anyway."

"In any case I'm used to troubleshooting by myself, so don't worry too much."

"So you accept the assignment then?", Ling Wen asked.

"Yes. What should I do?"

"Tomorrow, after you finish your lectures, go to Mount Yu Jun. I'll send you details, as well as access codes for the building as the lab."

"Thanks a lot, Ling Wen! Hope I can be of any help...", he smiled and put his hands together in a thank you gesture, which, together with his bright youthful looks, gave him the vibe of a Buddha.

"We have another eccentricity around here", Ling Wen smiled again. "When giving an assignment to a student, we say: May The Heaven Official's Blessing..."

Xie Lian interrupted, "Oh I know this one! Ihave to reply: No paths are bound." He smiled and winked.