Chapter 40: I’ve Seen It

In a neighborhood in Magic City, Zhang Mingliu was looking at WeChat, and it seemed as if she had made up some kind of determination and dialed Du Qiu’s phone.

“The number you have dialed is switched off. Please try again later…”

“That’s so you, Du Qiu, turning off your phone so quickly! You don’t care about me, do you? Humph, let’s see if you get anxious when I really go on a blind date!”

Zhang Mingliu took out her frustration on a toy bear in her arms, venting her dissatisfaction.

……

In another neighborhood in Magic City, Ning Shuangshuang looked at the message she sent, which didn’t receive a reply after a long time, and let out a small sigh before putting down her phone and going to bed.

++++++++

When Du Qiu opened his eyes, he felt somewhat out of it.

He had dreamed nothing last night, and clearly, the seven-day dream cycle of the crystal pillow was still effective, unrelated to the interrupted dreams in the middle.

Getting up, Du Qiu once again picked up the crystal pillow and carefully observed it.

Could it be that this crystal pillow requires a charging period, hence it works for six days and rests for one?

What kind of energy does it use, and how does it recharge?

After all, it is just a piece of crystal with no circuits or anything like that, and no external interfaces.

If it were solar-powered, Du Qiu would bury it in a flowerpot when he went out, so solar charging doesn’t seem practical.

If only he could see the crystal pillow in his dreams, maybe with the super machine’s sensing system he could figure out what this crystal pillow is and how it operates.

Since he couldn’t figure it out, Du Qiu didn’t force the issue.

He turned on his phone, and a series of WeChat notification sounds rang out, indicating that he had received quite a few messages after turning off his phone last night.

Du Qiu opened WeChat and saw that there were three unread messages from “Two Orioles.”

“Have you thought of me in these two years?”

“Really asleep??”

……

“I’m angry now!!!”

……

Seeing these, Du Qiu could imagine Zhang Mingliu’s fit of rage last night.

In their relationship, Zhang Mingliu was always the initiator, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t reserved.

On the contrary, in the face of others’ pursuit, she was quite proud and aloof.

Such a strong-willed modern woman, raising the first question to her ex-boyfriend, was actually expressing a certain intention of reconciliation.

Du Qiu habitually rubbed his temples; although his head wasn’t hurting, he did feel somewhat troubled facing Zhang Mingliu’s initiative once again.

Although they had broken up after a quarrel, it wasn’t the kind where they completely turned on each other. It was just a clash of two dominant personalities that couldn’t mix.

Afterward, they stopped contacting each other until that day.

Once contact was reestablished, the original feelings slowly started to surface, although Du Qiu was more rational.

As a man in STEM, he was more rational than emotional compared to other men.

He had already avoided it several times, thinking that with Zhang Mingliu’s personality, she definitely wouldn’t give up her pride to confess her wishes to reconcile.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Mingliu took the initiative once again.

Just like that summer three years ago at the party where they were seeing off the “Big Fish” and his wife abroad, when she accidentally fell into the swimming pool at “Big Fish” wife’s house and Du Qiu rescued her.

After that incident, Zhang Mingliu clung to him and became his second girlfriend a week later.

Du Qiu shook his head, stopping the memories from flooding back.

Just as he was about to exit WeChat, he noticed an unread message on 【Shuangshuang】’s icon.

Ning Shuangshuang’s WeChat nickname was 【Shuangshuang】, which was easy to remember.

Du Qiu clicked to read it.

【Shuangshuang】: “I’m really thankful to you today, you’ve done a great service for the country!”

Du Qiu scratched his head, this Officer Ning was full of positive energy.

After thinking it over, he replied with “Hmm, if there is a military medal, I’ll be happy with half.”

After sending it, Du Qiu felt that the message might be misunderstood and withdrew it.

Just as he was about to retype, a new message appeared on the screen.

【Shuangshuang】: “I’ve seen it.”

Du Qiu’s hand froze. Why did she have to wake up so early? And just in time to catch his WeChat activity.

【Drifting Through the Stars】: “I was just joking. No one can share your military medal.”

【Shuangshuang】: “It’s rightfully yours anyway.”

【Drifting Through the Stars】: “You woke up quite early.”

【Shuangshuang】: “I have morning training.”

【Drifting Through the Stars】: “Mm, I need to exercise early too.”

【Shuangshuang】: “Then I won’t disturb you.”

Du Qiu paused, that’s not what he meant. But what to reply now?

The conversation seemed dead. So clumsy.

Thinking it over, he changed the topic.

【Drifting Through the Stars】: “In the future, if you encounter problems with electronics or software, you can come to me. I guarantee I can solve them.”

【Shuangshuang】: “Okay.”

Du Qiu sighed helplessly, it couldn’t be saved.

【Drifting Through the Stars】: “Then go to your morning training.”

【Shuangshuang】: “Okay.”

Two “Okays” in a row meant Du Qiu had to retreat.

As long as the topic was not case-related, Officer Ning hardly had anything to say.

Turning off WeChat, Du Qiu saw a text message about a missed call, which turned out to be from Zhang Mingliu’s number.

Obviously, she had called last night after he had turned off his phone. No wonder the last WeChat message read, “I’m angry now.”

Zhang Mingliu always hated Du Qiu for turning off his phone, believing that one should always keep it on, muted if necessary.

In this era, one relies on mobile phones to contact others; if it’s off for too long, it’s considered as if the person has gone missing.

Early in the morning, Du Qiu’s thoughts were disturbed by Zhang Mingliu’s messages.

For some men, an ex-girlfriend is still a girlfriend.

“It’s a pity I’m not that kind of man.”

Du Qiu sighed and decided to focus on running downstairs for exercise and having breakfast.

Today the company begins operations, and everything is difficult at the start, with many tasks awaiting him.

Du Qiu visited Tianqi Company in the morning and met with Wei Jianshe.

“President Wei, I wonder if you have any CNC machining centers in stock? I’d like to purchase a batch directly.”

Wei Jianshe asked with surprise, “Isn’t your company providing control software? Why do you need so many CNC machining centers?”

“President Wei, I need to carry out some compatibility tests with your company’s CNC machining centers. Otherwise, how could I deliver software to you?”

Wei Jianshe laughed and said, “Xue’s Director has gone back to the capital. Before leaving, she specifically instructed me to prepare a batch of CNC machining centers for you to carry out the software tests.”

“She and I are on the same wavelength.”

“Yeah, has your company been registered yet? Do you have a place? If not, I can temporarily lend you office space and a software testing site,” suggested Wei Jianshe.

“Oh, President Wei, you’re too kind. I couldn’t possibly trouble you like that. I’ve already secured a location, which is why I’m here to negotiate the purchase of the machines.”

Wei Jianshe expressed surprise at the quick progress and waved his hand, “You don’t need to invest in buying the machines. Director Xue said it herself: since you’re doing the supportive work for Tianqi, the testing machines should naturally be covered by us.”

Such cooperation depended on whether the hardware manufacturers were willing to provide free testing machines or not—and that varied greatly.

“Then, thank you very much,” said Du Qiu without further ado. The company was just starting out, and savings were crucial wherever possible.

After settling on the delivery time and address with Wei Jianshe, Du Qiu bid farewell and left.

A special thanks to “Book Addict 007007” for the tip of 100 coins!