Chapter 105
That day, Li Yu finished class a bit early in the afternoon. There weren't any training sessions scheduled for the night's ACM competition team at S University, so he arrived at the school gate even earlier than usual.
He had been living a fulfilling life that was full of joy recently.
Mu Cai and Li Yu started living together. Mu Cai was very tender towards him, his eyes often filled with laughter, devoid of the severe coldness and total indifference expected from a sugar dating arrangement.
Although Li Yu had never been in a sugar dating relationship before, he was unaware of how other lovers and sugar daddies interacted. He greatly valued the time he spent with Mu Cai and, secretly, he felt as if they were in a romantic relationship.
Upon this thought, Li Yu lowered his head to check his WeChat messages.
Just after class, he sent a message to Mu Cai, stating he was dismissed early. A quick response from Mu Cai came in through WeChat:
[I'm already on my way, will pick you up soon! I want to eat ribs tonight!]
[Obedient.jpg]
Seeing the animated image of a cat, dignifiedly sitting on the ground wagging its tail, moving its ears, and keeping a smile, Li Yu immediately recalled the vision of Mu Cai with soft black hair hanging around his ear, looking at him earnestly with sparkling eyes. Alongside the text from Mu Cai, it was a delightful sight.
He demanded so confidently and adorably, like a child throwing a tantrum, it was simply impossible for anyone to refuse him.
Of course, Li Yu agreed without hesitation.
He looked at the animated cat on his phone again, reaching forward as if he could pull Mu Cai through the screen to hold him.
Just as Li Yu was thoroughly enjoying this moment, a masculine voice suddenly sounded beside him, "Hello, are you Li Yu?"
Hearing these words, he paused, raised his head, and saw a well-dressed young man standing before him.
The man looked quite young, thin, and tall. He was about the same height as Li Yu, perhaps a bit shorter. There was a mask hanging from one of his ears, which seemed to have been just taken off. He was quite handsome. His appearance, though, was more similar to the trendy flower boy look - warm and harmless, unlike Li Yu's cold features and profound facial characteristics.
The young man looked vaguely familiar, like some C-list star on TV. However, Li Yu didn't watch TV dramas, so he didn't recognize this person.
The man's gaze held a subtle animosity, contrasting his gentle face.
Li Yu was all too familiar with such hostility.
Before officially giving himself to Mu Cai, he had seen such glances far too many times. It was present in the eyes of Mu Cai's childhood friends, in Rong Yucheng's eyes, in that guy named Lin's eyes. All of them shared the same look, as they all wanted to vie for Mu Cai!
Having deduced the identity and intention of this person, Li Yu generously admitted, "Yes, I am Li Yu."
Ming Zan looked him up and down, snorting, "You do indeed look good."
With that said, Ming Zan added another phrase, "But I suppose it makes sense. He does have a preference for young and good-looking individuals."
The amount of information implied in that sentence was massive. Li Yu's heart tightened, but his face remained impassive, his expression exceedingly cold.
Seeing him undisturbed, Ming Zan straightforwardly said, "I suppose by now you know who I might be."
Li Yu responded coolly, "I'm sorry, but I honestly don't."
Ming Zan choked on his words, then anger flickered in his eyes. "Of course, you wouldn't know who I am! After all, you are the current favorite. He wouldn't have told you about the previous favorites!"
Li Yu's pupils contracted sharply.
Upon noticing slight changes on Li Yu's face, Ming Zan, satisfied, continued, "I was once just like you, full of vanity, thinking that I was different and that I could be with Mu Cai forever. But in reality? You can see it for yourself. You're the one who's presently in this position!"
The more Ming Zan spoke, the more agitated he became. It seemed like he was venting all his grievances. He even paced around Li Yu, scrutinizing him with critical eyes. "Don't think that he truly cherishes you. He treats every one of his 'favorites' the same way. Hasn't Mu Cai been very gentle with you? Isn't he adorable when he eats? Does watching him melt your heart? Let me tell you, all of that is pretense! In half a year you'll get bored of him! It's for your own good that I'm warning you. Start preparing as soon as possible. Plan your next moves!"
Ming Zan finally felt his frustrations ease after his extensive monologue. He turned his attention towards Li Yu, surprised to find him remaining serene again, his eyes cool and detached. It appeared that his words failed to make an impact!
Li Yu responded coldly, "Are you done? Did you come here just to say all this?"
Ming Zan, his eyebrows furrowed, was ready to retort when the man across him straightened his posture and looked over with disdain. "What's the use of telling me all this? No matter how jealous or resentful you are, he's mine now. You have no relation to him. No matter what you do, he's not going to glance back at you."
Li Yu's blunt words, albeit true, stabbed Ming Zan's heart like a sharp blade.
Despite having broken up with Mu Cai for such a long period, he was still unwilling to accept this reality. His repeated harassment had crossed several boundaries, provoking the ire of the chairman of Rainbow Group and almost compromising his future in the entertainment industry. His overbearing actions had led to his agent scolding him.
But Ming Zan was unable to let go. Upon hearing that Mu Cai had a new love interest, whom he even brought into the company, Ming Zan immediately rushed over. He wanted to provoke Li Yu, to intimidate him into backing down, to sow discord.
But Ming Zan hadn't anticipated being checkmated this way!
Li Yu decided not to be sarcastic any longer. His face expressing silent contempt, he said, "However, thanks for your reminder. I'll do my best so that we can soon step into the world of marriage and be together for life."
"You–"
Before Ming Zan could finish, a soft and melodious voice sounded in the distance. "Li Yu!"
It was Mu Cai's voice.
Ming Zan quickly put on his mask and started to walk away. He wanted to see Mu Cai, but he knew that Mu Cai didn't want to see him. Ming Zan had snuck out this time. If the chairman of the Rainbow Group found out that he was still pestering them, he wouldn't have any chance in the entertainment industry.
Upon hearing this voice, Li Yu turned around immediately, ignoring the other person's presence. He saw a low-key black sedan slowly driving along the side of the road. As the window rolled down, a delicate pale face appeared.
Mu Cai looked at him with the remaining light of the setting sun illuminating his face, making his smiling face breathtakingly beautiful. "Was that one of your classmates just now? I thought I could give him a ride."
Li Yu paused, trying to sound as natural as possible, "He's not a classmate, just someone asking for directions."
Once he finished, his eyes were tightly locked onto Mu Cai's face.
The person in the driver's seat nodded, looking at his naturally calm demeanor, not finding any hint of evasion or guilt.
Li Yu suppressed his elation, showing only a small smile.
Mu Cai was not someone whose emotions were unreadable. Instead, he wears almost everything on his face, even revealing a bit of innocent naivety. If Mu Cai had really recognized the man, he wouldn't have been able to hide the change in his expression from Li Yu.
From this, it turned out that the object of his affection had completely forgotten about those insignificant people from the past.
Li Yu was happy, but at the same time, he got hit with a wave of intense danger sensing.
If Mu Cai could forget others, he could just as easily forget him too! Especially since he currently doesn't have enough 'chips' in hand to convince Mu Cai's family to trust him with Mu Cai's care.
His time was running out.
Mu Cai, unaware of the thoughts going on beside him, chatted casually about life as usual, "How is your competition preparation going?"
Li Yu, who was already in the passenger's seat and fastening his seatbelt, smiled in response, "It's going well. Even the instructor praised me."
He was the only first year student to make it onto the ACM competition team in the history of University S. After a long period of class and training, even the professor responsible for guiding them commented that Li Yu was extremely talented in this specific area, and suggested that they should work on a project together.
The professor also oversaw graduate and doctoral students, and was a renowned figure in the field of artificial intelligence. Working with the professor on a project at the undergraduate level would indeed be a valuable experience. At the time, Li Yu didn't give a definite answer, only stating that he would focus on competition preparation for now, and think over the professor's proposal after the competition.
The professor was very understanding, not putting any pressure on Li Yu, and expressed willingness to wait for his response.
Hearing this, Mu Cai was very pleased, "That's great, when is the competition? Maybe I can go watch it."
Li Yu looked at his relaxed expression, the corner of his bright, red lips uplifted, and couldn’t help but smile as well, "Next month we will be participating in a domestic competition. If we do well, there will be a regional competition in October or November. If we perform well in the regional competition too, then we will go abroad to participate in the global finals in April next year."
When Mu Cai heard this, his eyes turned into crescents, but soon a troubled expression surfaced as he said, "Will you not be very busy during this time?"
Li Yu greedily observed Mu Cai’s slightly pouting mouth, only to find his Caicai adorable no matter how he looked at him. Unable to resist, Li Yu leaned over and gently pecked on those soft lips.
After keeping some distance, he smiled and said, "That’s why I decided to temporarily pause my internship at the company. Instead, I'll take up a part-time job at school, which will be much easier. This way, I can spend the rest of my time with you besides studying and training."
Li Yu had already precisely calculated the balance in his card. Before starting college, he tutored to earn money during summer vacations. After entering University S, he received money awards from the local government, funding from society, poverty subsidies from the school, first-class scholarships, money from part-time work, and his recent internship salary. He usually only ate in the cafeteria and had very low consumptions, so by calculating like this, Li Yu's card should still have around forty thousand yuan remaining.
Supplemented by the modest monthly earnings from his part-time job, he could comfortably sustain his lifestyle while preparing for the competition. Even though Mu Cai offered to support him financially, giving him a credit card, Li Yu declined.
Fortunately, he wasn't pressed to accept it. This brought a sigh of relief to Li Yu.
Mu Cai was a little happy hearing this, but also somewhat concerned. He couldn't help but bashfully say, "There's really no need for you to keep me company. Your internship should be pretty important to you after all..."
After all, it was not only a salaried opportunity but also a chance to gain experience.
The person sitting next to him turned crimson, reminiscent of a brilliant ruby. His long eyelashes fluttered, akin to a startled butterfly. The more Li Yu looked at him, the more he felt attracted, simply stating, "Nothing is more important than being with you."
Mu Cai fell silent.
But Li Yu felt elated to see the blush that spread across his cheeks, as mesmerizing as the peach blossoms of early spring.
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A month later, Li Yu represented S University in the Chinese regional competition and, alongside his three teammates, clenched the championship.
By October of the same year, through relentless efforts, Li Yu and his team once again represented S University and won the gold medal in the regional competition.
In April of the following year, Li Yu represented S University on an international stage, competing with over a hundred teams from various nations. After a lengthy period of competition, they finally won the gold medal at the ACM World Finals for S University.
At the same time, their team managed to answer every question correctly, becoming the second team in international competition history to achieve such a feat, showered with applause. When the news reached home, it even sparked a sensation in the official media.
After the ACM competition, Li Yu politely declined all internship offers from various corporations. Instead, he joined the research team of a famous local professor, Professor Li, where he focused his studies on artificial intelligence.
In the year that marked the end of Li Yu's junior year, he had a meeting with Mu Hong, the chairman of Rainbow Group. He represented the research team of Professor Li and their startup, Dawn Technology, at this meeting.
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Author's note:
Now leaning on the mountainous support, the precious Consort Li remarked: I am about to meet with the regent. I believe that benefiting the country and its people is a good thing. I have a small request that only he can fulfill, I believe the regent won't refuse.
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