Then another matter arose — one that, however tentatively, brought a small surprise to the tense rhythm of their work and life:

Invincible Warrior had won this year’s “Government Award for Internet Industry Development.”

When Zhu Yun first received the notification, she thought it was a scam — she confirmed it several times before accepting it was real. No one in the entire company had ever heard of this award. Zhang Fang went online to look it up: it had only been established two years prior, introduced by the government to encourage innovation in internet technology. There were three award spots in the games category each year. Zhang Fang checked the previous winners and found they had all been PC games — Invincible Warrior was the only mobile game among them.

Zhang Fang pressed a hand to his own chest. “Why does this feel so unbelievable to me?”

Zhu Yun found it remarkable too. Li Xun told her it was probably Zhao Guowei who had put them forward.

So Zhu Yun packed up a proper selection of gifts and went to visit Zhao Guowei to express her gratitude — this time she could finally afford something decent, because Feiyang had officially shed its long-running deficit and moved into profitability.

Speaking of the profitability, Zhu Yun had complicated feelings about it. The game she had worked so conscientiously on earned almost nothing, and on top of that, the users were extremely demanding — one wrong line of dialogue could inspire thousands of words of emailed complaints. Meanwhile, Li Xun’s game was raking in money hand over fist, and users treated the developer like a deity — when Li Xun dragged his feet updating a single character, the player base practically lit incense and prayed to the heavens.

And yet Li Xun was planning to open up the source code of this very profitable project.

Right now, only she, Li Xun, Dong Siyang, and Hou Ning knew about this. Zhu Yun hadn’t dared tell Zhang Fang and the others — she was afraid they wouldn’t be able to handle the shock.

Before long, advertisers and investors began knocking on the door. Li Xun turned all of them away.

It was also around this time that the company’s employees, without quite realizing it, began to treat their interactions with Li Xun with an added measure of respect. They had probably come to understand that this man with the terrible temper was likely the leading contender in the entire startup park.

Days grew smoother. Zhang Fang often reclined in his chair and mused contentedly: “If things keep going like this, we can coast on these two games forever without a care in the world.”

Every time Zhu Yun heard it, she couldn’t help smacking him on the head.

The government award ceremony was to be held at Huajiang Hotel. When the invitations arrived, Zhu Yun was entirely unsurprised to see Jili Company’s name on the guest list.

Zhu Yun asked Li Xun: “Are you going?”

She had expected Li Xun to have no interest in this kind of event, but to her surprise, he agreed without hesitation.

The event allowed a maximum of ten attendees per company. This was where Feiyang’s small headcount worked in their favor — with only seven people in total, the entire company went.

The evening before the ceremony happened to coincide with an update day for Invincible Warrior, and Zhu Yun was busy until well past midnight before she got home. Even then her sleep was restless, and she woke early the next morning to rush to the office and check on the update.

Everything was fine.

Zhu Yun exhaled in relief, and only then remembered today’s event. It was scheduled for seven in the evening — there was still some time. She checked herself in the bathroom mirror. She was dressed far too casually — shirt, trousers, barely any makeup.

She considered whether to go home and change while she still had time, but there was still daytime work to get through.

She went to check on Li Xun and found he was dressed even worse. He had been sunk in his chair for nearly a week, and that grey T-shirt had clearly not changed in all that time. Combined with how heavily he’d been smoking, walking past him was like passing a biological hazard.

Zhu Yun thought it over and decided to forget it.

If the man himself was walking around like that, why should women bother getting dressed up?

So that evening, Dong Siyang drove his beat-up van and ferried a carful of scruffily dressed employees to Huajiang Hotel.

The moment they pulled up, Zhu Yun had second thoughts.

At the hotel entrance, a cluster of reporters was furiously photographing Wu Zhen. Compared to the last time Zhu Yun had seen her at the shopping mall, Wu Zhen’s appearance was even more glamorous: a floor-length gown, heavy, elaborate makeup, draped in colors like a blossoming flower, hanging on Gao Jianhong’s arm and softly answering reporters’ questions.

Zhu Yun scratched at the side of her nose. It wasn’t about competing, exactly, but she was still the only female employee at Feiyang — shouldn’t she at least hold up the company’s image?

She was still deliberating whether there was enough time to buy a dress, when someone gave her a push from behind. Li Xun was tall, and standing up in the van required him to bend deeply at the waist. He said to Zhu Yun, impatiently: “Hurry up and get out!”

Zhu Yun: “……”

Forget it. In for a penny, in for a pound. Who’s afraid of whom?

On their way up the stairs, they ran into Fang Zhijing.

Zhu Yun had braced herself for a verbal clash, but to her surprise, Fang Zhijing merely looked down at them with a passing glance, then turned back to continue chatting with a reporter.

Zhu Yun looked back at Li Xun — he had come away from the computer and seemed sluggish, yawning as he walked inside, not even sparing Fang Zhijing a glance. She could see clearly the muscle in Fang Zhijing’s jaw tighten.

Perhaps things really were as Li Xun had said: Fang Zhijing was deeply afraid of him.

“Ah…” It was Zhang Fang’s first time setting foot in a five-star hotel. He was completely overwhelmed, gawking all around him like a country cousin in the big city. Beside him, Zhao Teng pinched him. “Could you not embarrass us like this?!”

Guo Shijie also said quietly: “The internet conference last time was held here too — if you’d been there, you wouldn’t be this shocked.”

Zhang Fang said sidelong: “So you’re saying I gave you too much work to do?”

Guo Shijie: “No, no, nothing like that.”

The internet conference last time had actually been at the International Convention Center — but the awards ceremony tonight was on the third floor of the hotel, in the grand ballroom, which was ordinarily used for wedding receptions. It was decorated like a fantasy, even more dazzling and resplendent, with three long rows of tables laden with exquisite food.

The Feiyang employees had all skipped dinner after work. Zhu Yun’s stomach was growling. At this point she had nothing left to prove, so she grabbed a plate and worked her way from one end of the tables to the other.

The speeches were handled by Zhang Fang, who fully put his silver tongue to use. He thanked the government, described the hardships and determination of the company’s startup journey, and even managed to allude darkly to the unfair competition the game had faced — all delivered in a performance so moving it was practically tearful.

Zhu Yun, meanwhile, was eating her way through the spread. With Li Xun on her mind, she picked out a pile of food for him too. Li Xun, however, was not paying attention to the awards or the speeches — he and Hou Ning were out on the large balcony smoking.

Zhu Yun carefully selected a few items and was carrying the plate over when someone intercepted her — an unexpected figure making a beeline for Li Xun.

Wu Zhen was dressed in a water-blue floor-length gown, carrying a delicate chain purse, and moving with elegant, swaying steps. She held a glass of wine and came to stand before Li Xun and Hou Ning.

Zhu Yun felt another pang of regret.

She really should have dressed better…

Wu Zhen said to Li Xun: “We meet again.”

The first time they had met was at the internet conference, when Fang Zhijing had introduced Li Xun as a “stray dog.”

Wu Zhen said in a soft, languid voice: “I heard you have a game called Playboy — apparently it’s phenomenal. Monthly revenue is almost hitting ten million.”

Li Xun had a cigarette in his mouth, leaning back against the balcony railing, and said nothing. The night wind was strong, blowing his hair and collar about wildly, pressing his clothing close against his body and outlining a lean, easy silhouette.

He narrowed his eyes into a smile.

Wu Zhen tilted her chin and said: “Don’t get too pleased with yourself. A bit of success and you’ve forgotten who you are. Look at yourself — even dressed in royal robes, you’d still be no crown prince.”

Li Xun smiled even more broadly. Wu Zhen’s face flushed red.

Li Xun finally drew the cigarette from his mouth, raised one eyebrow, and said lightly: “Likewise, Miss Wu. Even in a gown, you’re no princess.”

Wu Zhen’s face grew even redder.

Li Xun was tall, and even in her high heels Wu Zhen was still half a head shorter than him. His condescending remark, delivered from that height, made her feel heat rising all over her body.

Li Xun glanced casually over at Hou Ning. Hou Ning took the hint and slipped away, brushing past Wu Zhen as he left.

Wu Zhen’s heart gave a small lurch. She said with detachment: “Sending him away — what are you trying to say?”

Li Xun continued to smile faintly.

Only Zhu Yun, watching from behind, saw it clearly: as Hou Ning passed Wu Zhen, he slipped the phone that had been tucked into the outer pocket of her small purse.

She set down her plate and followed.

Hou Ning left the third floor and made his way to the hotel’s rear emergency stairwell. Zhu Yun called out to him: “Stop right there.”

Hou Ning turned around. Zhu Yun caught up in a few strides, and Hou Ning, anticipating her, said before she could speak: “Don’t bite my head off — it wasn’t my idea. Li Xun told me to take it.”

Zhu Yun’s brow furrowed, and Hou Ning instinctively shrank back.

Hou Ning’s feelings toward Zhu Yun had always been complicated. On one hand, he resented her — from the first time he met her, her forceful manner had made him uncomfortable, and after he’d gone to work at Feiyang, she had never let her guard down around him, keeping close watch almost every day. But on the other hand, he had a measure of gratitude toward her: of everyone in the company, the person he feared most was Dong Siyang, and no matter how strictly Zhu Yun dealt with him herself, whenever Dong Siyang came looking for him to take him to task, she would always step in front to shield him.

Hou Ning took out his laptop from his backpack, then rummaged out a tangle of data cables.

Zhu Yun said: “What are you doing?”

Hou Ning: “Not much time — I’ll explain in a bit.”

She watched as he skillfully connected the phone to a small external device, which he then connected to his laptop. The computer worked at high speed. Though Zhu Yun didn’t know much about this side of things, she could tell he was cracking Wu Zhen’s phone password.

Zhu Yun: “What exactly are you doing?”

Wu Zhen’s phone screen unlocked quickly. Hou Ning’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he installed a piece of software onto Wu Zhen’s phone. He closed the laptop, removed the phone, and said to Zhu Yun: “Wait here for a moment.”

Before she could say a word, Hou Ning took the phone and headed back. Zhu Yun followed him to the ballroom, where she watched him pick up a plate and grab a few pastries, then nonchalantly carry them over to Li Xun. As he passed Wu Zhen, he slipped the phone back into her bag without a sound.

Li Xun indicated he had no interest in eating. Hou Ning, head bowed, turned and left again.

Zhu Yun waited for him.

“What are you two up to?”

Hou Ning beckoned her with a curl of his finger. “Come here.”

They returned to the stairwell. Hou Ning sat on the concrete steps, plugged a set of earphones into his laptop, and handed one earpiece to Zhu Yun.

Zhu Yun put it in — and immediately heard the ongoing conversation between Wu Zhen and Li Xun.

Wu Zhen was saying: “Honestly, I never thought much of you before. But if I had to compare you to Fang Zhijing, I’d say you’re better.”

Li Xun: “Is that so?”

Wu Zhen sighed. “Pity that my Lao Gao insists on sticking with him — I’ve tried pulling him away but he won’t budge.”

Li Xun made a noncommittal sound.

Wu Zhen shifted her tone again and said: “But I’m just a woman — I don’t really understand your business dealings. There’s no one else around right now. How about I tell you something from the heart?”

Li Xun: “Go ahead.”

Wu Zhen moved a few steps closer, her voice soft and enticing.

“The first time I met you, I wanted to say — you’re quite good-looking.”

Zhu Yun yanked out her earpiece — and not just her own. She pulled out Hou Ning’s too.

Hou Ning frowned. “If you don’t want to listen, fine — but why drag mine out too?”

Zhu Yun’s nerves were jumping. Hou Ning said teasingly: “What, jealous? This is exactly why you shouldn’t dismiss Li Xun so casually. Just wait — the further along things go, the more women there’ll be around him, and then you’ll really regret it.”

Zhu Yun said nothing for a long moment. Hou Ning sensed something off in the atmosphere and added: “What are you doing — you can’t go out there right now. If you do, the whole plan falls apart.”

Zhu Yun turned to look at him, voice low.

“What plan?”

Hou Ning scratched the back of his head. “It’s nothing major — you probably already get the gist. Li Xun needs to get the source code to them, but he can’t just hand it over directly. There has to be some setup.”