Girlfriend

"Fine... Let's just say I was the one who came on to you. I'd had too much to drink and got a little carried away. Don't take it to heart. Let's forget about tonight and pretend it never happened. Just don't go blabbing to Sun Xiaoya. If she finds out, she and I won't even be able to stay friends."

Zhang Shuai said unhappily, "No way. You can't take advantage of me and then just run off. It doesn't work like that. You were the one who came on to me, and I'm a stickler about these things. You kissed me, so that makes you my girlfriend!"

"No, no, no. It really can't happen. If Sun Xiaoya finds out, she'll think I stole the person she likes. I absolutely can't do that!"

"What do you mean, 'the person she likes'? We're just ordinary friends. I've never promised her anything, and she knows I'm not into her. I can just make that clear to her."

"How could you possibly make that clear? You don't understand. From her point of view, she already told me she likes you, so as her good friend, I can't and shouldn't compete with her. If I became your girlfriend, she'd definitely hate me. Please don't put me in this position, okay?"

"How am I putting you in a difficult position? Just because she likes me, does that mean I have to like her back? What kind of logic is that? How about this: if you can't bring yourself to tell her, I'll do it. I'll make things clear and tell her I'm the one who likes you and pursued you. Then there won't be a problem, right?"

"It still won't work. Even if you say you were the one who pursued me, as her friend, I shouldn't accept your advances, no matter how you look at it. She'll blame me."

"Why do you girls have such strange ideas? I just don't get it. So what do you think we should do?"

"We can only keep seeing each other in secret for now. Once we graduate from college, we can make our relationship public."

"Doesn't that mean we have to wait another two years?"

"Two years will pass quickly."

Zhang Shuai emphasized, a little anxiously, "Then you'd better keep your distance from other guys at school..."

Lin Xiuwen smiled. "Heh, don't worry. You're the only one I like. Sun Xiaoya isn't the only one who has feelings for you. Deep down, I like you too. Otherwise, why would I have gone out of my way to ask you to get drinks?"

Now that they'd laid everything out, Zhang Shuai felt completely different. He had a girlfriend now. Although they couldn't make it public yet, at least their relationship was settled.

Having gotten a taste of her, Zhang Shuai put an arm around Lin Xiuwen and kissed her passionately again.

The two of them held each other close, cuddling together for a long while.

Suddenly, Zhang Shuai remembered something and asked softly, "Since you're my girlfriend now, can you be honest with me? Why did you suddenly ask me out for drinks today?"

Lin Xiuwen blinked her big eyes, looking a little innocent. "I'll tell you, but you can't get mad!"

Zhang Shuai nodded. "You're my girlfriend now. How could I get mad at you? Go ahead."

Lin Xiuwen said, "I looked at the stuff on your USB drive..."

Zhang Shuai's expression changed at once. "I only asked you to crack the password. I didn't tell you to snoop through it!"

"I was curious! The more you kept telling me not to look, the more I wanted to. So when I cracked the password for you, I secretly saved a copy on my computer. I went home and looked at it after dinner tonight, and then I couldn't sleep. That's why I asked you out."

Zhang Shuai was a little angry, but then he remembered that he'd found the stuff in the first place. And who knew? Maybe the country would make the cultivation manual public in a few years. There was no need to keep it from her. They'd already confirmed their relationship, so she could be considered one of his own.

"Fine, fine. You've seen it, so let's leave it at that. This has to stay strictly confidential. You can't tell anyone. Only the two of us can know!"

"I won't tell anyone, honey. I wanted to ask you, where did you get that USB drive?"

"It's like this..."

Zhang Shuai casually told her about how he'd run into a Japanese female spy on the road.

After listening, Lin Xiuwen said uneasily, "You really are brave. Don't you know that a lot of spy software has automatic data theft and location-tracking functions? The moment you plug a USB drive into a computer, its contents can be transferred within seconds. Some even have self-destruct programs..."

Zhang Shuai was stunned. "Are you saying the contents of the USB drive have already been sent to Japan?"

"Not at all. If the encryption had been that advanced, I wouldn't have been able to crack it. Don't worry, it's just an ordinary encrypted USB drive. There's no spy software on it. That Japanese spy probably wasn't very capable and wasn't a professional. My guess is that she's been living undercover in the Dragon Kingdom for a long time and has some status and connections here. Otherwise, she couldn't have found out about the establishment of the 749 Bureau so quickly or managed to infiltrate it."

Zhang Shuai suddenly seemed to remember something. Frowning, he said, "But the spy was taken back to the 749 Bureau. Could she tell them about me throwing away the USB drive? I was the only one there at the time, so I'm the prime suspect. And people from the 749 Bureau know my name."

Lin Xiuwen thought for a moment. "Probably not. From the farewell letter on her USB drive, she went to photograph the classified material fully expecting to sacrifice herself. Even her superiors didn't know about it. So even if she gets caught, deep down she'll be hoping someone finds the USB drive and gets its contents back to Japan. No matter what, she won't tell them."

Zhang Shuai thought it over and agreed that it was probably fine. If the female spy had given him up, the 749 Bureau would have sent someone to find him already.

"Honey, do you think this cultivation technique is real? Can people really cultivate their way to immortality?"

"Whether it's real or not, we have to give it a try. What if it is?"

"So you want to study ancient scripts at college to decipher the Small Heavenly Cycle Art?"

"Yeah. Real or not, since fate brought me this USB drive, I have to try my best."

"Good luck. I believe you can do it. You never forget anything you see, so you'll learn things quickly."

Although Lin Xiuwen had seen the contents of the USB drive, she still doubted whether the cultivation technique was real. These days, anything could be faked. As a college student with a higher education, she found it hard to believe in something so fantastical without seeing an immortal with her own eyes.

The two of them talked for a long time. It was late by the time they finally parted reluctantly. Zhang Shuai saw Lin Xiuwen into a taxi, then hailed one home for himself.

From that day on, apart from going to driving school, Zhang Shuai spent his time either chatting with Lin Xiuwen and sharing their love and longing for each other, or studying ancient scripts. His days were very full.

Ten days later, Zhang Shuai, Sun Xiaoya, and Lin Xiuwen all passed their road tests.

The next day, Zhang Shuai took the final driving test and got his license.

As soon as he had his license, Zhang Shuai wanted to buy a car. He spent ages browsing a car-buying app. Since he didn't have much money, he finally decided on an electric car from Biguan Di. It cost only 140,000 yuan, which he could just about afford.

When he told Lin Xiuwen, she offered to give him some money so he could buy a better gasoline-powered car.

Although he knew Lin Xiuwen came from a wealthy family, Zhang Shuai didn't want to use a woman's money, so he politely turned down her offer. He went to Biguan Di's dealership in the auto mall, paid a 2,000-yuan deposit, and ordered one of their electric cars.

The car had a range of 400 kilometers, which was enough for Zhang Shuai.

However, the dealership needed half a month to prepare the car and complete its registration. By his calculations, it would be ready just before Lin Xiuwen started school.

Over the next half month, Zhang Shuai managed to sneak in a few dates with Lin Xiuwen. Their feelings for each other were growing stronger by the day. Even so, they limited themselves to cuddling and kissing. Lin Xiuwen especially seemed to love making out with him. Every time, they kissed for half an hour, until her face flushed and her heart raced.