Zuo Baixuan snapped out of her reverie and shook her head: "It's nothing. I was just thinking that Luan Yenan is indeed acting strangely. You're right, her behavior these past few days has been different from what's been rumored. It's been even more so these past two days since she came back from the Luan family. She's locked herself in her study every day except for mealtimes."
“She didn’t interfere with me and gave me plenty of freedom. Her only requirement for me was to cook her some food. I didn’t even have to play the role of a well-behaved little rabbit; I just had to do some housework. I was like a part-time nanny.”
"Being a nanny is good, otherwise would you rather she treat you like a wife?" Jiang Lingdan said without thinking, and when she felt that her good friend's situation was not so bad, she couldn't help but say some witty remarks.
He immediately earned a glare from Zuo Baixuan.
Jiang Lingdan cleared her throat, opened a bag of potato chips, and changed the subject: "No wonder you submitted your task so quickly this time. Your sponsor even praised your coding skills."
Zuo Baixuan's attention was drawn: "How did you praise me?"
“The sugar daddy said: Hmm!” Jiang Lingdan said in a serious tone.
This was exactly what Zuo Baixuan had expected. She laughed: "Your standards for 'praise' are way too low, aren't they?"
“You know this sugar daddy, isn’t giving an extra ‘hmm’ a compliment? Never mind, never mind, that’s not the point. Keep talking about Luan Yennan.” Jiang Lingdan handed over the potato chips.
Zuo Baixuan waved her hand, refusing the potato chips, and leaned against the table, saying, "The strangest thing is about the bank card. She clearly wanted to scam money from the two mothers. But they gave me living expenses and told me to watch the money, so she actually gave it to me and didn't take it."
"Is she really not crazy anymore?" Jiang Lingdan didn't understand.
Zuo Baixuan simply shook her head and said firmly, "No, I think she's even crazier."
"Huh? Didn't you say she didn't do anything to you?" Jiang Lingdan was confused. "Wait a minute, are you planning to sue you after you've paid up?"
Zuo Baixuan bit her lip: "It's not about that. I don't know how to explain 'going even crazier.' She really seems like a different person. She hasn't done anything extreme since, but that makes me even more scared."
"Why?" Jiang Lingdan asked, puzzled.
Yeah, why?
Zuo Baixuan rubbed her temples, then remembered the "crazy woman" she had blurted out.
"Because her madness is hidden beneath her calm. She might drive me crazy."
Jiang Lingdan glanced at Zuo Baixuan.
I always felt that there was something strange about what he said.
You should know that she had only heard the phrase "will drive me crazy" from other friends when describing their partners.
Does that mean a marriage partner obtained through trickery or coercion can be considered a "partner"?
"Is it possible that you yourself are pretty crazy? Agreeing to marry Luan Yennan is absurd in itself," Jiang Lingdan muttered softly.
Jiang Lingdan didn't quite understand what was going on between the two of them. But at least she felt that Zuo Baixuan's treatment in the Luan family was much better than that of her former adoptive parents who had been exploiting her.
Let's take a look at the gold ring on Zuo Baixuan's hand and the gold jewelry around her neck. Although they are not as valuable as diamond rings or designer jewelry, they are more suitable for college students who are still in school.
Jiang Lingdan finally remembered that Zuo Baixuan was still a college student.
He slapped his thigh: "I almost forgot to mention the important thing. There's a rumor that Professor Chen's project team has finally recruited a suitable member, and I heard that he's been directly appointed as a visiting professor and parachuted in. The announcement might be made today. Haven't you always wanted to join Professor Chen's project team?"
"You've already received inside information before the announcement even took place. With your intelligence network, it's a waste not to be a spy." Zuo Baixuan never doubted Jiang Lingdan's information network.
Jiang Lingdan can be described as a social butterfly.
She built good relationships with senior students as soon as she entered university, became the moderator of the online forum in her freshman year, took over the campus confession wall and WeChat official account in her sophomore year, and even started her own platform with Zuo Baixuan in her junior year, which could be used as a graduation project and was officially recognized by the school.
While others are still struggling with employment issues, she is already creating job opportunities.
"It's alright, it's alright. But I'm more curious about the background of the person who got Professor Chen to use his connections to specially recruit him as a visiting professor. Professor Chen is known for his eccentric temper, otherwise this project wouldn't have taken so long to find a partner. It started in our sophomore year, right? Now we're all seniors. This time, not only did he select a partner, but he also personally opened the back door for her."
Jiang Lingdan rambled on as she poured the last bits of potato chip crumbs into her mouth.
Just as Zuo Baixuan was about to respond, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Seeing that Zuo Baixuan didn't react, Jiang Lingdan then opened the computer interface: "By the way, you might not be interested in this, but I still have to tell you."
Zuo Baixuan lowered her head and saw that the flashing notification on her phone came from the monitoring software she had installed on her computer, and she immediately became nervous.
Today she was wearing a preppy puff-sleeved blouse and a dark blue suspender dress, a ladylike outfit that was completely unsuitable for sports.
But then she lifted her skirt, which was in the way, and ran outside.
Jiang Lingdan was startled by the exaggerated action: "What's wrong? Is the house on fire?"
"Luan Yenan is using my computer!" Zuo Baixuan left these words behind, and her figure disappeared from the dormitory.
That's even more serious than a house fire.
Jiang Lingdan opened her mouth, but it was too late to stop her.
He scratched his head and looked at the forum interface on his computer. There were several speculative posts about Zuo Baixuan and Luan Yenan's marriage, which were even more popular than at the beginning of the semester.
She deleted all the posts on the Baidu Tieba forum using her permissions.
On the forum, she contacted the administrators to close the posts that violated the rules, but this didn't stop everyone from continuing the discussion, circumventing all the prohibited words.
She was certainly not the only one who knew the inside story that Professor Chen's project had been approved.
Zuo Baixuan, an outstanding student with excellent character and academic performance, would certainly be the top choice to participate in the project.
At this critical juncture, with so many posts appearing, she simply doesn't believe it's not someone deliberately stirring up trouble.
"I haven't had a chance to talk about this yet..." Jiang Lingdan was a little worried, but in the end she decided to send an email to Zuo Baixuan.
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-05-20 11:39:01 and 2022-05-21 13:59:41!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the rocket: SevenSevenNotAngryY2;
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Xun Chuan 4 bottles; Orange juice replenishing... 3 bottles; You Yu 2 bottles; Bai Zhi Nian, Cola-flavored [unclear] candy 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 20
"Huff... huff..."
Zuo Baixuan left her dormitory, hailed a taxi at the school gate, headed straight for her residential area, and jogged back.
He was breathing rapidly and his hair was disheveled.
She quickly took two deep breaths in front of the reflection in the elevator, wiped her sweat, and straightened her appearance.
We must not let Luan Yenan see through our disguise.
The computer has its own detailed savings plan, future career plan, and clues for finding that man.
Luan Yenan's current behavior is too strange and unsettling. Zuo Baixuan doesn't want this person to uncover any more of her secrets.
Even though the folders are encrypted, Luan Yennan shouldn't be able to find them, but she can't guarantee that Luan Yennan won't hire someone to crack them while she's not home.
Zuo Baixuan calmed herself down after the elevator took 24 floors to travel.
Step out of the elevator and walk through the corridor.
The semi-enclosed corridor was dimly lit.
As Zuo Baixuan walked by, the motion-activated lights turned on one by one.
The corridor, neither too long nor too short, took her fifteen seconds to walk.
His face had relaxed, unlike when he first returned to the neighborhood.
Enter the password on the combination lock.
The heavy security door was opened.
The room and the outside world are two different worlds.
Luan Yenan made no attempt to avoid the midday sun, and the entire room was brightly lit.
She sat alone at the dining table.
She was still wearing a loose shirt, her hair was casually tied back, and wisps of hair fell across her forehead.
The casual home style looks completely harmless.
The bright light casts a dazzling white glow on people, like a scene from a magazine.
She casually tapped the keyboard with one hand, making a pleasant, crisp clattering sound.
Holding a water glass in her other hand, she wasn't surprised at all when she looked up and saw Zuo Baixuan, as if she had known she would come back.
"You're back. Auntie was just here, making lunch in the kitchen. You're back just in time, you can wash your hands and eat right away."
Zuo Baixuan frowned slightly: "Didn't I say I was going to eat lunch at school? You're preparing mine too?"
Luan Yenan looked up at her, his gaze sweeping over her as he admired her fresh and simple outfit.
"Just adding a couple of chopsticks, did you know there was lunch at home and rushed back on special occasion?"
Seeing that Zuo Baixuan didn't seem inclined to go to the kitchen, Luan Yenan didn't insist and instead went to the kitchen himself. He brought out the still-steaming food to prove that he hadn't lied.
Zuo Baixuan followed and lent a hand.
As I put down the food, I couldn't help but ask, "Did you use my computer?"
"Yeah, I looked up some information. My old computer broke down, and since yours was on the table, which is in a public area and within a shared space, I borrowed it. You said not to send you messages while we were at school unless it was something important, so I didn't." Luan Yennan said, tapping the contract on the table as he spoke.
The contract details were added in the last couple of days when I had some free time.
Every single word is an explanation that everything is within the scope of the contract and is reasonable.
But every word she said pushed Zuo Baixuan to her limit, making her feel uncomfortable.
But the discomfort is self-inflicted.
It has to be said that she carelessly left the computer in the public area because she was certain that Luan Yenan wouldn't touch it. She just didn't expect this kind of accident to happen.
She sat back down in her seat and moved her laptop over to check it in front of the other person.
There is no record of reading the encrypted file.
As Luan Yenan said, the tracking records only contained web browsing history.
Zuo Baixuan closed her laptop and asked, "Are you done using the computer now?"
"My online order will arrive this afternoon, so I won't borrow your food anymore." Luan Yenan handed the food to Zuo Baixuan.
Her eyes were smiling, yet she was staring straight at Zuo Baixuan.