Unable to ask for the canvas bag now, Yun Li knew he meant well. She painfully glanced at the bag a few times before quietly tucking the commemorative pen into her purse.
Fu Shize placed the VR and AR devices from the box onto the table. He pressed the power button next to the VR headset, and from Yun Li’s angle, she saw a brief flash on the lenses.
Worried he might think she was meddling, Yun Li waited a few moments before asking, “Do you need my help?”
Fu Shize casually pointed to a spot about a meter away. “Stand there. I’ll adjust the positioning.”
He then had Fu Zhengchu stand opposite Yun Li, while he positioned himself between them and smoothly put on the VR headset.
Perhaps adjusting the virtual world’s boundaries, he held the controller with its front end pointing down, slowly approaching Yun Li.
They seemed to form an isolated, enclosed space, standing on the same narrow path. The man resembled a wandering monk, his somber aura instantly engulfing her space.
She wanted to retreat and escape, yet longed for him to come closer.
Fu Shize stopped a step away from her, using the controller to draw a virtual circle around her perimeter.
“That’s done,” he said, removing the headset with one hand. His hair was slightly disheveled as he looked at Yun Li and politely said, “Thank you.”
He then proceeded to check if the other equipment was functioning properly.
Fu Shize had brought another small box filled with two thick stacks of brochures. According to EAW’s sponsorship terms, the “Climbing High” club needed to distribute all of these.
Fu Zhengchu noticed this too, his eyes widening. “Do we have to hand these out today?”
His incredulous expression was like a child seeing a strange creature for the first time. Seeing this, Yun Li couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Wasn’t it you who secured the sponsorship?”
“That’s true, but this is ridiculous. It’s just me,” Fu Zhengchu complained, his face looking pained. “This is too much. EAW only sponsored us a little bit.”
Fu Zhengchu had already forgotten that just two minutes ago, he was bragging to Yun Li about the substantial funding EAW had provided.
Seeing that Fu Shize didn’t respond, he added, “Uncle, don’t you think so?”
“No, I don’t,” Fu Shize replied.
“Why not?!”
Fu Shize glanced at him. “I’m not the one handing them out.”
Despite his vocal complaints, Fu Zhengchu didn’t dare to slack off. He picked up half of the brochures and started walking back. Seeing this and feeling she had nothing else to do, Yun Li followed, saying, “I’ll help you distribute some.”
Without waiting for his response, Yun Li picked up the remaining half.
Fu Zhengchu couldn’t help but look at Fu Shize as if he were looking at a strange person. “Uncle, look at the difference between you and Sister Li.”
Fu Shize couldn’t be bothered to respond, casually saying, “Wait a moment.”
He took half of the stack from Yun Li and placed it on the table.
Fu Zhengchu stammered, “Uncle, why didn’t you take from mine?”
“Because…” Fu Shize said indifferently, “This is the difference between you two.”
“…”
Yun Li, holding the brochures and following Fu Zhengchu, suddenly felt her right ear burning.
That last comment…
Although it seemed like a retort to Fu Zhengchu, it also implied, more or less, that she was special.
“Sister Li, I’ll go distribute on the other side. You can stay here, no need to go far. If it gets hot, you can take shelter under the tent,” Fu Zhengchu said before walking towards the other side of the square.
There were still quite a few people around, and Yun Li managed to hand out many brochures in a short time. Fortunately, her current position allowed her to see the entire area around the pull-up banner.
EAW’s decision to send Fu Shize to be promoted at the school was undoubtedly correct—his physical advantages quickly became apparent.
Most of those queuing were girls, many in groups.
This was the first time Yun Li observed Fu Shize working as a bystander.
He stood to the side, guiding students in using the VR equipment while setting up a temporary safety zone with cardboard to prevent collisions.
He appeared nonchalant, showing no smile, his actions neither enthusiastic nor negligent.
Yun Li lost in thought, occasionally glanced in Fu Shize’s direction before quickly looking away, deliberately handing out brochures to people coming from other directions.
It felt like she was stealing glances, trying to hide her interest.
Yun Li felt somewhat frustrated. Although she was the owner of these eyes, she couldn’t control where they wanted to look.
At quarter past four, there were fewer people, and all the brochures had been distributed.
Yun Li returned to the tent, where several members manning the booth were sprawled on the table, exhausted, some even covering their eyes with tissues as they reclined.
Fu Zhengchu brought a box of water. Seeing that there were still many people queuing at Fu Shize’s station, he handed two bottles to Yun Li. “Why are there still so many people at Uncle’s booth? Sister Li, could you take a bottle of water to Uncle? I still need to hand out flyers.”
Yun Li took the two bottles and walked over to Fu Shize.
He was still working. The student currently using the equipment asked him, “Is it the button on the right?”
Fu Shize replied, “The button on the lower right. Hold it down to grab objects.”
Unsure whether to interrupt his work, Yun Li stood quietly to the side, waiting.
After a few seconds, Fu Shize reached out in her direction, palm up.
Yun Li, startled, instinctively handed him the water.
His gaze remained level, focused on the student in the experience area, his eyes looking tired. Using his peripheral vision, Fu Shize took the water, slightly unscrewed the cap, then tightened it again before handing it back to her.
He then took the other bottle, opened it, took a sip, and placed it by the table leg.
These actions seemed almost unconscious.
Yun Li took a moment to process what had just happened.
She carefully examined the tamper-evident ring on the bottle cap, as if she could still see Fu Shize’s hand covering it.
Back at the booth, Yun Li was still lost in thought. It didn’t seem like such a remarkable event, yet it made her heart flutter.
Yun Li had always been the type to retreat into a corner and hide when faced with setbacks in interpersonal relationships.
Fu Shize’s aloofness had made her resolve several times to stay away from this frozen product, possibly one of those perpetually frozen goods with no clear thawing instructions.
Yet many small details smoothed out her thoughts of escape.
She unconsciously fixed her gaze on his cold figure, like a child who had stolen candy, a smile spreading uncontrollably across her face.
With only a few people left in the queue, Fu Shize looked around. The sky was darkening, and many booths were already packing up.
As he removed the equipment from the last girl, he lowered his head to adjust the headset’s length. The girl asked, “Can I take this prize?”
Fu Shize glanced back.
The girl was holding the canvas bag. Only some commemorative pens and papers remained on the table.
Seeing he didn’t respond and feeling an inexplicable gloom, she asked nervously, “Is it okay?”
After a moment of silence.
Fu Shize continued to put the equipment on the next person, his tone calm.
“I’m sorry, someone else asked for that earlier. Please choose something else.”
…
Yun Li helped Fu Zhengchu close the tent, roll up the pull-up banner, and straighten the edges of the application forms before putting them in the box. Fu Zhengchu said goodbye to the others, asking them to take the tables and tent back to the office later.
“Uncle, are you done packing up?” Fu Zhengchu casually draped his arm over Fu Shize’s shoulder. “Hurry up, let’s go eat.”
The remaining prizes were still on the table, including a canvas bag. Yun Li paused when she saw it. She secretly watched Fu Shize’s expression, then looked at Fu Zhengchu.
After hesitating for a while, when everything was almost packed up, she finally gathered the courage to ask, “Can I try it out?”
“Sister Li, didn’t you play with it when you went to EAW before?” Fu Zhengchu asked.
Feeling like Fu Zhengchu had called her out, Yun Li, unable to lie, quietly said, “I didn’t play… with the same one.”
Perhaps due to her guilty conscience, time seemed to slow down at that moment.
Fu Shize lazily flicked through the remaining shrink-wrapped items on the table, the corner of his eye lifting slightly. “Only the canvas bag is left as a prize.”
His meaning was clear: if she wanted to participate now, there were no other prizes to choose from.
Yun Li said, “I just want to experience it.”
She tried her best to appear sincere. “The prize doesn’t matter, anything is fine.”
In the crisp air, there seemed to be a faint laugh from Fu Shize’s throat, barely audible.
Just as Yun Li was about to inquire further, she looked up to see Fu Shize’s customary silence.
“Sister Li, you want this canvas bag, right? Just take it, there’s no use keeping it here anyway,” Fu Zhengchu, finally understanding Yun Li’s intentions, timely stuffed the canvas bag into her arms.
“Let’s consider it—” he thought of an excellent reason, “a reward for a loyal player!”
Fu Shize packed the equipment back into the foam bag, locked it securely, and carried it to place in the car’s trunk as if none of this concerned him.
The three of them went to eat at the popular restaurant on the second floor.
The restaurant had already gained fame outside the campus, and Nanjing Tech University had even been jokingly called an “influencer incubator.” But this didn’t stop citizens and tourists from Nanwu from coming to check it out.
This was Yun Li’s first time at this trendy restaurant. She stood in line at the rice noodle stall, while Fu Shize and Fu Zhengchu both went to the Korean cuisine window.
When Yun Li got her food, Fu Zhengchu was waiting for her at the exit.
Fu Shize had already found a table and was standing there waiting for them.
They had both ordered seaweed rice balls, neatly arranged on black glazed plates. The only difference was that Fu Zhengchu’s portion was twice that of Fu Shize’s, and he had also ordered a cola.
“Uncle, you only got chopsticks for yourself?” Fu Zhengchu asked in disbelief.
Fu Shize stared at the chopsticks on Fu Zhengchu’s plate, speechless.
“It’s okay, I forgot to get them myself,” Yun Li quickly intervened, placing her plate on the table.
The noodles on her plate looked plain and bland, just a few strands in clear water without any oil.
Compared to Fu Zhengchu’s indignant expression, Fu Shize seemed unconcerned. He told her to wait a moment, then got up to fetch chopsticks and a spoon for her. He also brought back two small side dishes, placing them on Yun Li’s plate.
Even though she hadn’t taken chopsticks earlier because her plate was too heavy, Yun Li looked at Fu Shize sheepishly and softly said, “Thank you.”
As soon as he sat down, Fu Zhengchu asked, “Sister Li, are you from Xifu?”
People from Xifu were known for their love of noodles. Yun Li hadn’t eaten them for a while, and couldn’t resist ordering a portion when she saw them at the trendy restaurant.
She stirred the noodles in her bowl; they were too hot and needed to cool down.
Yun Li nodded, “Yes, I lived in Xifu until I started my graduate studies.”
Fu Zhengchu asked, “Were you a top student at West Science University?”
Hearing “West Science University,” Fu Shize paused with his chopsticks and looked up at them.
“I attended a regular first-tier university in Xifu,” Yun Li shook her head embarrassedly. “West Science is almost the best university there is. Normal people can’t get in there.”
“That’s right, and I’m sitting next to an abnormal person,” Fu Zhengchu nodded in strong agreement.
“Oh…” Yun Li pretended to be confused and said awkwardly to Fu Shize, “So you’re from West Science University?”
Fu Zhengchu looked shocked, “Sister Li, you didn’t know Uncle went to West Science? He was the top scorer in the college entrance exam for Nanwu City that year. They almost hung celebratory flags to our front door.”
“That’s impressive,” her flat reaction caught Fu Zhengchu’s attention, so Yun Li quickly put on an exaggerated expression. “That’s truly amazing!”
Fu Shize: “…”