Lighter and Princess

Chapter 11

"He's a graduate student in our department."

Li Xun didn't react. Gao Jianhong at least asked, "A graduate student?"

"Mmh."

"You're sure you're not mistaken?"

"I'm sure." He was really ugly and thin as a skeleton, so he'd left a deep impression on Zhu Yun.

Gao Jianhong thought for a moment. Then he asked, "Do you remember who his advisor is?"

Zhu Yun shook her head. "I'll have to ask Fang Shumiao."

Gao Jianhong looked at Li Xun, who was lighting up a cigarette. He looked up and said, "What are you doing hanging around here? Let's head back."
　　
When they got back to school, Zhu Yun quickly found Fang Shumiao to question her.

"Who? What graduate student?" Fang Shumiao had entirely forgotten.

"When you went to that representative meeting, weren't there a bunch of other people as well? It ended really late, so I went to pick you up." Zhu Yun did her best to help her friend remember. Fang Shumiao was licking her lollipop as her eyes floated up.

"Ah! The skeleton!"

"Yeah, the skeleton. He's a graduate student in our department, right?"

"That's right. Han... What was his name?" Fang Shumiao took a bite off her lollipop. "He's not a student rep though. He was there as stand-in for his advisor."

"Who's his advisor?"

"I don't remember, but it was a female professor. Why do you ask?"

Zhu Yun shook her head. Fang Shumiao asked, "I've been really busy with the Student Union recently, so I haven't had a chance to drop by the project base. How are things? Did you guys get the contract?"

Zhu Yun responded. "We're waiting for the notifications, but it should..."

It shouldn't be a problem, right?
　
Well, that she didn't know. The next day, the skeleton graduate student came to visit their seminar group.

His name was Han Jiakang. After arriving, he called Li Xun out to talk for quite a long time. Zhu Yun hadn't yet figured out the situation when it was time for her afternoon class.

Li Xun didn't return during their C class, and Old Lin didn't ask about him. Just before class ended, Zhu Yun saw that there was a female professor waiting outside the classroom who greeted Old Lin. Old Lin instructed Zhu Yun to take care of the class assignments, and then he walked away with the female professor after class.

Zhu Yun was still untangling the situation when Gao Jianhong walked up from the back of the room. He sat down in Li Xun's seat and said, "We hit it."

Zhu Yun asked, "Hit what?"

Gao Jianhong replied, "The project." (t/n: I think he's saying they won the contract.)

When Zhu Yun had seen Han Jiakang at Languan yesterday, she'd suspected as much. Gao Jianhong was simply confirming what she already thought.
　　
"We really saw a demon," Gao Jianhong cursed. His eyes darted around the now empty room, and he quietly spoke, "I've heard about Zhang Xiaobei. She used to work in the automation industry. Don't know who she's got a relationship with at this school, but she came in as an associate professor this year."

Zhu Yun asked, "Automation? How did she end up in the computer department then?"

Gao Jianhong sneered. "What kind of profits could she have earned from that old lab. She changed professions."

When Zhu Yun didn't respond, Gao Jianhong asked her a baffling question. "Do you know how much can be gained from this project?"

Zhu Yun shook her head, so Gao Jianhong traced two numbers on the table for her to see.