Moving to the Golden Courtyard

[Eden's Golden House]

Professor: [Photo]

V2V is not just good-looking: What is this? So weird... Let me take another look!

Coder: Cool

Rin is still so cute: Did you go traveling today? That's great, the one holding Xu Qi's hand is Miss Mei, right?

Aponia: Alysia is as lively as ever.

The Destroyer of Worlds!: Not bad

Grandmaster: It is indeed Mei, she went on a picnic to Huazheng today.

I am Alahator: ...

Canned Goods: Huh!???

Canned Goods: Ah!???

Canned Goods: Why didn't you take me? I woke up early in the morning, and Brother Jie was the only one at home. You want me to stay with Brother Jie? Don't you feel bad about treating me like this?

May there be no disease in the world: Pardofelis, according to generally accepted theories, Kalpas should still be at home when you say this.

Canned Goods: ?

The Destroyer of Worlds!: You're done for.

Mobius looked at her phone and chuckled – although she didn't want to admit it, moving to the Golden Courtyard might be the only thing she would never regret in her life.

Chapter 5: Help me, Mei, please help!

"When you... are... ready... you... won't... your, Xu Qi..."

"!"

His eyes snapped open! His mouth gaped like he had just emerged from the water, frantically sucking in the surrounding air. His chest heaving, Xu Qi looked around in confusion.

He was still in the Golden Courtyard, in his rented room.

Xu Qi slowly sat up. A gust of wind brushed against his back, and the coolness stimulated his internal organs through his skin – he was sweating profusely.

What was that just now...?

Who was it?

"Knock knock."

The sound of knocking on the door startled Xu Qi. He put on his clothes, got out of bed, and went to open the door.

The person standing outside the door surprised Xu Qi. The most memorable thing about his unremarkable face was probably his eyes, which were so small that they could only squint.

Su... a surgical physician.

"Doctor? What's wrong?"

"I heard some noise just now, so I came to check it out."

Noise?

"Maybe I had a nightmare."

"Is that so..." Su's face showed obvious concern. "It's probably because you've been too tired these past few days and going to bed too late. Don't spoil Alysia too much sometimes, playing with her until so late."

Xu Qi scratched his head in embarrassment. To be honest... thinking back, he realized that he didn't seem to know how to refuse Alysia's requests.

"You have work tomorrow, get some rest."

"Yeah, you too, doctor."

Watching Su leave, Xu Qi breathed a sigh of relief – a nightmare?

Definitely not...

There was no memory of dreaming in his mind. Those vague words seemed to have appeared in his head out of nowhere.

Could it be... that I've really been sleeping too late and am too tired, so I'm hallucinating?

Xu Qi shook his head – it shouldn't be a big problem, I should get some rest...

Modu Subway Line 9, Jiuting Base.

When Xu Qi stepped into the technical office, he found that his colleagues' eyes were fixed on him. Xu Qi couldn't help but scratch his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Engineer Xu, Supervisor Xia is looking for you."

Supervisor Xia, of course, refers to Xia Ya, the technical supervisor of Modu Subway Maintenance Division 6. As for Xu Qi? Just a small technician, as for his abilities... let's not talk about that for now.

Xu Qi knocked on Xia Ya's door and pushed it open.

What came into view was a middle-aged handsome man who was about forty years old, sitting upright behind his desk. You can hardly see the decadence and self-abandonment of a middle-aged man in him.

He was in remarkably good shape, with a square face and no glasses. If he put on a suit, he'd probably charm a whole bunch of young women.

"Master, you wanted to see me."

Master...

That's right, Xia Ya, the technical director, was Xu Qi's master in this Modu subway company.

"Xu Qi, some university students will be here this afternoon for an industry-university collaboration—basically a tour. You'll be in charge of receiving them then."

"Huh? But this afternoon I'm supposed to be running the test line with Car 914..."

"I've already reassigned someone else to that."

Xu Qi suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on Xia Ya in front of him. But the other man seemed unmoved, still staring at the computer, seemingly engrossed in something.

"Can I get a reason?"

Xu Qi had been following the cable rectification and acceptance of Car 914 from start to finish, and now it was the final test run phase. Suddenly, he wasn't allowed to continue...

For a moment, Xu Qi even wondered if he had offended Xia Ya somewhere, offended his own master.

Once people enter society, many seemingly solid friendships become fragile due to something you don't even know or care about.

Xu Qi had long been used to it, but... looking at the man in front of him, he was reluctant to believe that he would end up like that with him.

"I had Li Fucong take over the project. Do you think that's a good enough reason?"

Xu Qi was stunned for a moment, and then he understood everything.

Li Fucong... wasn't that... ha! That was indeed a sufficient reason... Xu Qi's lips curled into a mocking arc as he looked at Xia Ya.

"Does Director Xia really want to take another step up?"

"Maybe more than one..." Xia Ya lit a cigarette for himself. "After all, you've figured it out, haven't you?

Everyone knows who Little Li's father is, but you're the only one foolish enough to offend him—whew~~ I'm over 40, and I don't want to be stuck in this position until I retire."

"Great, then I'll take this opportunity to congratulate Director Xia on his upcoming promotion."

Xu Qi left the office with a cold face. Of course, he didn't choose to have a big argument with the other man, or slam the door and leave, because that would look like the impotent rage of a defeated dog.

He finally understood why the people in the office looked at him so strangely when he came in this morning.

He must look like a stray dog being ridiculed now...

The anger buried in his chest made Xu Qi want to rush back to the office and drag that guy named Li Fucong out and beat him up!

He was just a 24-year-old young man, full of vigor and daring to do anything.

But... no...

Taking a deep breath, his steps towards the office gradually changed from heavy to light. Finally, he glanced at the closed door and Xu Qi chose to leave.

"Huh? Engineer Xu?" The door of the technical office suddenly opened, and a young woman from the project team came out. Her name was Xin An.

"Engineer Xu, Brother Li asked me to tell you that the data for Car 914..."

"It's in my computer. Tell him to find it himself."

"Then the password for your computer..."

"Don't know! You guys can try it yourselves!"

In the end, he still chose to be a little willful...

Xu Qi walked out of the office building, looked up at the cloudless sky today, and suddenly felt that even the sky looked incredibly ironic—cloudless, indeed...

He felt wronged... very wronged...

He wanted to confide in someone about this grievance—and the first people Xu Qi thought of were the members of the Golden Courtyard...

The reason he didn't go beat that guy up was probably because of that—if he lost his job, how would he have the ability to continue living there?

He had already moved out of his house... In the past six months, Xu Qi hadn't even called home once.

Truly alone and without support.

In the technical director's office, Xia Ya stood by the window, watching Xu Qi standing alone outside the building, catching the breeze.

At this moment, the door opened, and Xin An walked into the office lightly, with a faint smile on her face, and said, "Director Xia, I just went to find Engineer Xu, and he doesn't seem very willing..."

"I know." He interrupted her rudely, which surprised Xin An.

"Have Li Fucong come to my office later to get the data. You can leave now."

"...Okay, Director Xia."

What's with the airs... It's just a technical director.

"Buzz!~~"

The phone screen lit up, it was a message.

Raiden: Have you had breakfast? No matter how busy you are with work, you have to eat breakfast... I heard from Alysia that you always skip breakfast. That's not good for your health.

Raiden: If you need it... I can do it for you~~

Xu Qi's originally gloomy expression couldn't help but crack into a slight smile as he sent a reply.

Sparkling Qiqi: Needed, very much needed...

Raiden: Mhm.

Raiden: My crowdfunding group 456127940 has no classes this afternoon.

A sudden, seemingly random schedule report, but Xu Qi fell silent.

She really is a... thoughtful girl...

Was there something different about my reply just now compared to usual? That she actually noticed my inner gloom at this moment...

Sparkling Qiqi: Okay, I'll come find you later.

Xu Qi put away his phone, suddenly feeling—his mood had lifted considerably.

"Let's go, let's get some breakfast first. As expected, taking care of the body is still the most important thing."

Chapter 6: GD-78-2 Exoskeleton Armor

In the afternoon, Xu Qi, having just been demoted to educational training, naturally didn't bother to put his heart into receiving and arranging university production-study cooperation matters.

Calling it production-study cooperation sounds nice, but in reality, it's just a tour.

Although it's been less than two years since he graduated from university, Xu Qi really couldn't muster the interest to talk to these kids still living in their ivory tower.

But there are quite a few people who are happy to do such things.

After gaining some social experience, they can't wait to brag to their younger classmates and show off their not-so-impressive technical skills.

Satisfying the feeling of being needed and admired as an older classmate.