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Eden's Golden House
Professor: [Photo]
V2V Isn't Just Good-Looking: What is this? So weird... Let me take another look!
Coder: Cool
Rin Is Still Too Cute: Did you go on a trip today? That's great. The one holding hands with Xu Qi must be Miss Mei, right?
Aponia: Alysia is as lively as ever.
The World's Terminator!: Not bad.
Grandmaster: It really is Mei. They went on a field trip to Huazheng today.
I Am Alahato: ...
Canned Food: Ah!???
Canned Food: What!???
Canned Food: Why didn't you bring me along? I woke up early this morning, and Brother Jie was the only one home. You left me here with Brother Jie? How could you treat me like this without feeling any heartbreak?
May the World Be Free of Disease: Pardofelis, according to general theory, Kalpas should still be at home when you said that.
Canned Food: ?
The World's Terminator!: You're finished.
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Mobius looked at her phone and chuckled softly. Although she really hated to admit it, moving into the Golden Courtyard might have been the only thing in her life she would never regret.
Chapter 5, Help Me, Mei, Help Me
"When you... are... when... you won't... yours, Xu Qi..."
"!"
His eyes flew open! His mouth gaped wide as he desperately sucked in the surrounding air, as if he had just broken free from underwater. His chest rose and fell unevenly as Xu Qi looked around in confusion.
He was still in the Golden Courtyard, inside the small room he rented.
Xu Qi slowly sat up. A breeze brushed across his back, and the chill pierced his skin, sending a jolt through his internal organs—he was sweating cold sweat.
What was that just now...?
Who was it?
"Knock, knock."
Someone knocked on the door. Xu Qi froze, then put on his clothes, got out of bed, and went to open it.
The person standing outside surprised Xu Qi. The most memorable thing about his ordinary-looking face was probably his eyes, so narrow they could only be squinted.
Su... a surgeon.
"Doctor? Is something wrong?"
"I heard some noise just now, so I came over to check."
Noise?
"I might have had a nightmare."
"Is that so..." Concern was plain on Su's face. "You've probably been too tired these past few days and staying up too late. You shouldn't indulge Alysia so much either, playing with her until so late."
Xu Qi scratched his head awkwardly. Come to think of it... now that he looked back, he really did seem unable to refuse Alysia's requests very often.
"You have work tomorrow. Get some proper rest."
"Mm. You too, Doctor."
After watching Su leave, Xu Qi let out a quiet breath. A nightmare?
Absolutely not...
He had no memory of dreaming at all. Those vague, indistinct words had simply appeared in his mind out of nowhere.
Could it really be because he had been sleeping too late and was so exhausted that he had started hallucinating?
Xu Qi shook his head. It was probably nothing serious. He should get some rest early...
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Modu Subway Line 9, Jiuting Base.
When Xu Qi stepped into the technical office, he found all his colleagues staring at him without looking away. Xu Qi scratched his head and asked, "What's going on?"
"Engineer Xu, Supervisor Xia is looking for you."
Supervisor Xia naturally referred to Xia Ya, the technical supervisor of Modu Subway Maintenance Division 6. As for Xu Qi? He was merely a junior technician. As for his abilities... that was still up for discussion.
After knocking on Xia Ya's door, Xu Qi pushed it open and entered.
The first thing he saw was a handsome middle-aged man who looked to be around forty, sitting upright behind his desk. There was hardly any of the listlessness or self-abandonment of a middle-aged man to be seen on him.
He maintained an excellent physique, had a square face, and wore no glasses. If he put on a suit, he was probably the type who could charm a whole crowd of young girls.
"Master, you wanted to see me."
Master...
That was right. The technical supervisor, Xia Ya, was Xu Qi's mentor at this Modu Subway company.
"Xu Qi, some university students should be coming this afternoon for industry-academia cooperation—they're basically here for a visit. You'll be responsible for receiving them."
"What? But this afternoon I'm supposed to take Car 914 along the test track..."
"I've already found someone else to handle that."
Xu Qi abruptly raised his head, staring straight at Xia Ya. The other man seemed completely unmoved, continuing to face the computer as if he were looking at something.
"Can I have a reason?"
The cable rectification inspection for Car 914 was a project Xu Qi had followed from beginning to end. It was now in the final testing stage, and suddenly he was no longer allowed to follow it...
For a moment, Xu Qi even wondered whether he had somehow offended Xia Ya—offended his own mentor.
Once people entered society, many relationships that seemed rock-solid became unbearably fragile because of some matter they knew nothing about or simply did not care about.
Xu Qi was already used to it. It was just that... looking at the man before him, he was unwilling to believe that things would reach that point between them.
"I had Li Fucong take over the project. Do you think that's sufficient reason?"
Xu Qi was stunned at first, but then he understood everything.
Li Fucong... Wasn't that... Ha! That really was a sufficient reason... A mocking curve lifted the corner of Xu Qi's mouth as he looked at Xia Ya.
"Does Supervisor Xia really want to climb another rung so badly?"
"Maybe more than one..." Xia Ya lit himself a cigarette. "After all, you've figured it out too, haven't you?
"Everyone knows who Little Li's father is, but you were the only fool who went and offended him. Phew... I'm already over forty. I don't want to stay in this position until retirement."
"That's great. Then allow me to congratulate you in advance on your promotion, Supervisor Xia."
Xu Qi left the office with a cold expression. Of course, he had not chosen to get into a furious argument or slam the door behind him, because that would only look like the impotent rage of a defeated dog.
He finally understood why everyone in the office had looked at him so strangely when he arrived that morning.
By now, he probably looked like a stray dog, being mocked by everyone...
The anger buried in Xu Qi's chest made him want to charge back into the office and drag out that Li Fucong fellow for a beating!
He was only a twenty-four-year-old young man, full of hot blood and willing to do anything.
But... no...
He took a deep breath, and his heavy steps toward the office gradually grew lighter. After one last glance at the tightly closed door, Xu Qi chose to leave.
"Huh? Engineer Xu?" The technical office door suddenly opened, and a young girl from the project team stepped out. Her name was Xin An.
"Engineer Xu, Brother Li asked me to tell you that the documents for Car 914..."
"They're on my computer. Let him find them himself."
"Then the password to your computer..."
"I don't know! Try to figure it out yourselves!"
In the end, he had still chosen to be a little willful...
Xu Qi walked out of the office building and looked up at the cloudless sky. Suddenly, even the weather seemed incredibly mocking—cloudless for thousands of miles...
He felt wronged... deeply wronged...
He wanted to tell someone about his grievances—and the first people Xu Qi thought of were, unexpectedly, everyone at the Golden Courtyard...
The reason he had not gone and beaten that man up was probably because of this too. If he lost his job, how would he be able to keep living there?
He had already moved out of his family home... In the past six months, Xu Qi had not even called home once.
He was truly without anyone to rely on.
Inside the technical supervisor's office, Xia Ya stood by the window and saw Xu Qi standing alone outside the building, letting the wind blow over him.
At that moment, the door opened, and Xin An lightly stepped into the office. With a faint smile on her face, she said, "Supervisor Xia, I just went to find Engineer Xu. He doesn't seem very willing..."
"I know." Xia Ya cut her off without ceremony, which caught Xin An off guard.
"Have Li Fucong come to me later to collect the documents. You can go out first."
"...All right, Supervisor Xia."
What was that supposed to be...? What was there to act so high and mighty about? He was only a technical supervisor.
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"Bzzz!~~"
The phone screen lit up with an incoming message.
Raiden: Have you eaten breakfast? No matter how busy work gets, you still have to eat breakfast... I heard from Alysia that you have a habit of skipping breakfast. That's bad for your health if it continues.
Raiden: If you need it... I can take care of it for you~~
The gloom on Xu Qi's face eased into a faint smile, and he sent a reply.
Sparkling Qiqi: I need that. I really need it...
Raiden: Mm.
Raiden: I have no classes this afternoon.
It was a sudden, contextless announcement of her schedule, but Xu Qi fell silent.
She really was... a thoughtful girl...
Had something about his reply seemed different from usual? She had actually noticed how down he was feeling...
Sparkling Qiqi: Mm. I'll come find you later.
Xu Qi put away his phone and suddenly felt as if his mood had brightened considerably.
"Let's go get breakfast first. Sure enough, health comes first."
Chapter 6, GD-78-2 Exoskeleton Armor
That afternoon, Xu Qi had just been demoted to handling training and education. When it came to receiving and arranging the university students' industry-academia cooperation visit, naturally, he did not take it seriously at all.
It sounded nice to call it damn industry-academia cooperation, but in reality, it was nothing more than a visit.
Although he had graduated from university less than two years ago, Xu Qi simply could not work up the interest to chat with these students still living in their ivory towers.
Still, plenty of people were happy to do this sort of thing.
Once they had gained some experience in society, they could not wait to boast to their juniors and show off their technical skills, which were not actually all that impressive.
They enjoyed being needed and admired as upperclassmen.
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