Chapter 11
The sumptuous dinner was eaten without tasting it, and Lin Lu realized that he had oversimplified many things.
For example, his marriage to Xue Wensong, where he thought of himself merely as a roommate. He had never considered why it was like that. Now, thinking about it, for Xue Wensong, he must be a burden, right?
Lin Lu felt increasingly uncomfortable, as if sitting on pins and needles, until a shadow fell over him, and he suddenly snapped back to reality.
Xue Wensong helped Lin Lu unbuckle his seatbelt and opened the car door. In this position, he asked, “What are you thinking about, little one?”
Xue Wensong was too close, and his breath seemed to move Lin Lu’s bangs in front of his forehead. He hunched down slightly and asked, “Do you… dislike my family members a lot?”
Actually, Lin Lu couldn’t say how much he liked them himself.
“No.” Xue Wensong ruffled Lin Lu’s hair and got out of the car from his side.
Lin Lu couldn’t tell if Xue Wensong’s words were sincere. He hurriedly got out of the car and followed Xue Wensong, cautiously saying, “I always feel like they’re forcing you to do things you don’t want to do.”
Xue Wensong smiled and locked the car, asking Lin Lu, “Do you feel like our marriage was forced too?”
Lin Lu hesitated. He didn’t want to talk about it, but in the end, he nodded.
Seeing the heavy expression on the child’s face, Xue Wensong comfortingly held his hand. “No one can force me to do something I don’t want to do.”
Xue Wensong led Lin Lu towards home, and Lin Lu followed behind him in a daze. Xue Wensong’s hand was large, and the warm feeling seemed to transmit to his heart through the tingling sensation in his arm.
So…
Was Xue Wensong’s marriage to him voluntary?
Lin Lu’s thoughts were quickly interrupted when Xue Wensong asked, “Do you want to come to my new company tomorrow?”
“New company?” Lin Lu didn’t know much about Xue Wensong’s work and wasn’t aware that he had registered a new company.
“Yeah.” Xue Wensong lowered his head to look at Lin Lu and chuckled. “Your husband is not a jobless wanderer anymore. Are you happy?”
“I, I couldn’t care less if you’re a jobless wanderer.” Lin Lu blushed.
Although Lin Lu said he wasn’t interested, he actually cared a lot about whether Xue Wensong, the industry legend, could make a comeback.
Early the next morning, with his backpack packed, Lin Lu eagerly looked at Xue Wensong. Xue Wensong found it amusing. “Do you want to come with me?”
The little deer nodded honestly.
Xue Wensong’s new company was located in a high-end office building in the city center, not far from where they lived.
Lin Lu had visited Future Intelligence in his freshman year and remembered it had an entire impressive office building. But now, Xue Wensong’s company only occupied one floor in a leased office building, which made Lin Lu feel uncomfortable.
However, when Lin Lu stepped into the modernly decorated office, the gloom on his face vanished instantly. He looked excitedly at the large characters at the reception desk and asked, “Is the new company called ‘Wensong’?”
“Yes.” Tan Xiao, who had her hair tied in a ponytail, popped her head out from inside. “Always reminding the boss not to be fooled by others.”
At this moment, a guy holding a stack of A4 papers came out from inside. As soon as he saw Xue Wensong, he put the papers aside and stood up straight. “Good morning, boss.”
Xue Wensong nodded faintly. “Morning. Go do your work.”
In the spacious office, besides Tan Xiao, Luo Yun, and Song Xin, there was only one cleaning lady. Lin Lu looked around and whispered to Xue Wensong, “Was that guy also from your team?”
“He’s a newly recruited intern,” curly-haired Luo Yun chimed in, “A senior from Q University, Xiao Wang.”
Q University was also located in P City and was one of the top 985 universities in the country. Although P University was also among the top 20 in the country, Q University consistently ranked among the top three domestically.
Lin Lu knew he was the least knowledgeable one in the entire office. He muttered uneasily, “You’re hiring interns as soon as the company starts…”
“We need someone to do the grunt work,” Xue Wensong paused, “Interns are cheaper.”
Lin Lu thought about it and agreed. Interns didn’t require high salaries. But then again, Q University students certainly didn’t lack good internship opportunities. Xue Wensong started a company and managed to recruit top university students for internships, indicating that he still had some influence.
“Not only cheaper but also reliable,” Song Xin added straightforwardly, “At this time, it’s not easy to poach people from other companies.”
Lin Lu couldn’t help but be curious. “What’s special about this time?”
The trio of programmers fell silent, all glancing at their boss.
Xue Wensong led Lin Lu to the lounge area by the floor-to-ceiling windows and sat down casually on the square table. He asked, “Do you know what Future Intelligence was researching before?”
“Artificial intelligence,” Lin Lu said, “But they shifted to O2O in the past two years.”
“Correct.” Xue Wensong picked a mint candy from the small basket on the table, peeled off the wrapper, and fed it to Lin Lu like a reward.
Without much thought, Lin Lu held the small candy Xue Wensong handed him and accidentally licked Xue Wensong’s fingers. Xue Wensong’s expression darkened for a moment, but seeing Lin Lu almost choking on the candy, he quickly changed his focus and handed over his water cup.
“Thanks.” Lin Lu took a sip and suddenly realized that his lips had touched the spot Xue Wensong had used, blushing involuntarily.
Xue Wensong admired the rosy cheeks of the little deer and said slowly, “I want to develop an artificial intelligence assistant, but the major shareholder of Future Intelligence—Xu Group—thinks several foreign companies have already done it well, so it’s not necessary to invest a lot of money into it.”
“Are you going to continue now?” Lin Lu held the cup and asked.
“Yeah.” Xue Wensong smirked. “Because an opportunity has arisen.”
Lin Lu blinked, waiting for Xue Wensong to continue.
“The government is introducing artificial intelligence guides into public facilities, including train stations and airports. It’s impossible to contract these projects to foreign companies.”
Lin Lu tilted his head and asked, “Would it be particularly impressive if you could secure a government project?”
“Yes.” Xue Wensong ruffled Lin Lu’s fluffy head. “I’ve already done most of the previous work. Now I just need to wrap things up and make some adjustments according to the government’s requirements.”
Lin Lu suddenly remembered something and furrowed his brows. “The previous work… wasn’t that done at Future Intelligence?”
“Yeah, that’s the biggest problem.” Xue Wensong crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Future Intelligence will also compete for this project. They have the program I wrote before, so I need to come up with something different in the final stages.”
“You can do it.” Lin Lu said without hesitation, “You’re Xue Wensong after all.”
Xue Wensong chuckled, “If I can’t do it, will you be disappointed in me?”
Lin Lu thought for a moment and replied, “Yes, so you must do it.”
“Alright,” Xue Wensong paused, “my dear wife.”
Lin Lu’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly picked up his cup to drink water, but suddenly realized it was the place where Xue Wensong had drunk from, causing him to choke on his water.
Tan Xiao approached with a tablet, “Boss, it’s almost time for the video conference. Should we still proceed?”
“Yes.” Xue Wensong stood up straight and said to Lin Lu, “I’ll go attend the meeting. Wait for me here.”
Lin Lu watched Xue Wensong’s departing figure and belatedly realized that he felt a bit strange.
Why did he blush and feel his heart race so easily when he was with Xue Wensong?
Lin Lu took out his phone and opened Lu Shaoyang’s Weibo, forcing himself to focus on his idol. At that moment, someone approached him, and he instinctively looked up. It was the intern, Xiao Wang.
Xiao Wang sat down next to Lin Lu and glanced at him, “Are you also here for an internship?”
“Um…” Lin Lu thought for a moment, “I’m here for a visit.”
With his backpack on, Lin Lu was automatically categorized as an intern by Xiao Wang.
“Which school are you from?” Xiao Wang asked.
“P University,” Lin Lu answered honestly.
“P University…” Xiao Wang smirked, “Are you related to Xue God?”
Lin Lu was taken aback, “Why do you ask?”
He didn’t think it was that obvious between him and Xue Wensong.
“Just wondering how Xue God would hire someone from P University.”
Lin Lu seemed to detect a hint of disdain in Xiao Wang’s tone.
“You misunderstood.” Lin Lu said awkwardly, “I really am just here to visit, not to work.”
“That’s about the same.” Xiao Wang said smugly, “I beat out hundreds of people to get this offer.”
“So many people wanted to come?” Lin Lu was surprised.
“Of course. The minimum requirement for this position is from Q, R, S universities.” The three schools Xiao Wang mentioned were the top three universities in the country.
Lin Lu swallowed nervously, “You’re really impressive.”
“I am.” Xiao Wang huffed, “It’s just a pity that Xue God is already married. Otherwise, I might have a chance.”
“A chance?”
“Yeah, why not?” Xiao Wang gave Lin Lu a disdainful glance.
Xiao Wang was also a top-notch individual, naturally more confident. He lowered his voice and said, “Everyone says Xue God got married to make a comeback. He and his wife don’t have any real feelings.”
“Well, that’s… true, but…”
But what? Lin Lu didn’t know.
“Do you also have a crush on Xue God?” Xiao Wang suddenly squinted his eyes and re-evaluated Lin Lu. Originally, when he heard that Lin Lu was from P University, he didn’t think there was any threat, but looking at it from another angle, he suddenly realized that Lin Lu’s appearance was somewhat threatening.
“I, I…” Lin Lu’s face turned red, and after hesitating for a while, he finally blurted out, “I’m not worthy.”
Xiao Wang snorted lightly, “At least you’re self-aware.”
