Chapter 29

The competition disperses. Du Ruo drifts out with the crowd, unconsciously tiptoeing and taking a deep breath.
After an afternoon holed up in the gym, it’s already evening when she steps back outside.
But with summer approaching, the days grow longer. Though the sun has set, the sky between tall buildings still glows with a riot of color.
The weather lately has been just perfect.
She’s light on her feet, bouncing down the steps, when she spots Jing Ming. Hands in his pockets, he’s waiting under a thick plane tree by the sidewalk, watching her.
She’s long past pretending he might be waiting for her. Eyes fixed ahead, she brushes straight by.
As she passes, he lowers his voice, “Du Ruo.”
“…What do you want?” A mix of three parts wary, seven parts suspicious.
The game just broke up, so the street is busy with people heading home. More than a few girls dart glances at Jing Ming, stealing shy looks his way.
“Come over here.” He jerked his chin toward the back of the tree, his tone leaving no room for argument.
She frowned, delicate brows twisted in a knot. Reluctantly, she stepped up onto the curb, keeping a full meter between them. Her eyes stayed fixed on the popped collar of his baseball jacket, never meeting his gaze. “What do you want?”
“You add a photosensitive sensor to Astro Boy?” All business.
“Uh-huh.” She shot him a quick glance.
“That your idea?”
“Yeah.”
“How’d you come up with it?”
What’s with the third degree today?
“Not that hard to figure out. In non-humanoid competitions, the track gets twisty, and a ton of teams use them in their robots. People just never thought to use it for the humanoid category, that’s all.”
“You built the robot?”
“Nope.”
He waited a moment. “So?”
“Team effort.”
“Mm.”
“...” She had zero interest in keeping this going.
He stared at her, cold and unreadable, like he wanted to say more, only he didn’t. But he also didn’t let her go.
She kept glancing around, clearly itching to leave.
So many students were walking past after the event, all shooting looks at him, the “campus legend”. This was so not the time for rumors.
Plus, she honestly didn’t care to chat with him in the first place.
One second. Two. Her patience wore thin.
He scowled, running his tongue over his molars, obviously annoyed, and just as he opened his mouth,
“Du Ruo!” Li Qinghe’s voice broke in.
“Huh? Senior?” She spun around at once.
“Want to grab dinner together?” Li Qinghe asked, warm and smiling as he stepped up the curb. Only then did he spot Jing Ming lingering behind the tree.
Jing Ming’s face was unreadable. He nodded coolly.
They knew each other, apparently.
Li Qinghe smiled again at him. “Jing Ming! Didn’t notice you there.” Then to Du Ruo: “Was wondering why you were just standing here on your own.”
He smiled at Jing Ming again. “Oh, and congrats, by the way, on winning the championship.”
Jing Ming: “Thanks.” He tacked on, utterly expressionless: “Your team did well, too.”
Li Qinghe laughed. “Improving, at least. All thanks to Du Ruo.” He gave them a cheery wave. “Alright, you two talk, I have to run…”
“I’m done here. Let’s go get food,” Du Ruo said, following him down the curb. With Li Qinghe watching, she made a point of politely waving goodbye to Jing Ming.
Then she left, following Li Qinghe, never looking back.
Jing Ming stared after her for a few more seconds, then turned away, frost in his gaze.
Orbit might have lost to Prime at the competition, but Yi Kun still praised Du Ruo, just briefly: “Nice work. Keep it up.”
At that moment, Du Ruo was wiring something at the lab bench. Her whole face brightened, eyes crinkling in a genuine smile.
For about one second, before Wu Zhengbo piped up from nearby: “If you ask me, we shouldn’t have added that extra sensor just for her. Extra weight, trickier programming, the robot couldn't handle it. If not for that, maybe we’d have been faster.”
His voice was plenty loud and not at all subtle. The rest of the lab kept their heads down, not wanting to get in the middle or take sides.
Li Qinghe jumped in for her, arguing, “Wu, let’s be real. Jing Ming’s team absolutely crushed us, their robot was way faster, didn’t fall once. Ours barely managed to keep up and still wiped out twice in three matches. The tech issues are on us, how’s that her fault? Besides, our robot took the straightest path out of anyone’s. That was all thanks to Du Ruo. You going to pretend you didn’t notice?”
Wu Zhengbo was a grad student, always wielding that seniority like a club. Getting called out in front of everyone? That ticked him off. “If she’s so brilliant, why didn’t we win? I say the falls were all because of program overload.”
Du Ruo was indignant. “We divided up the project. I was in charge of wiring and circuits, my job was to make that work. Stuff like speed and balance? Not my task!”
Wu snapped back, “Still your fault if you didn’t coordinate, ”
“Enough.” Yi Kun cut through, silencing the three of them.
The lab fell quiet.
Yi Kun’s gaze flicked over all three faces, then landed squarely on Wu Zhengbo. “Every issue, separate it out. If you think the robot’s too slow, can’t balance, or keeps falling, figure out a solution. No need to pick apart someone else’s idea if you can’t fix yours.”
Wu and Li Qinghe both shut up. Du Ruo dropped her gaze and said nothing more.
Yi Kun left it at that. Wu was deputy leader, after all, no need to embarrass him.
He grabbed some brochures and handed them out, switching the subject fast: “End of the month. Stay focused.”
Du Ruo took one and saw it was for the university’s “AI Startup Expo.”
The Expo was held every two years, a launchpad for countless student startups and fledgling companies.
Every department would send their project teams. Orbit’s autonomous brake project was well underway, so naturally, they were going all in for the event.
Even if Du Ruo wasn’t on the core project yet, once the lab got busy, she pitched in more and more wherever she could.
But it was in this whirlwind of May, with sunflowers blooming across campus, that the university debate club stirred things up, a freshman-only, interdepartmental debate tournament.
The school leaders and student affairs office got on board fast. Venues and funding came through, and soon the competition was in full swing.
As one of the new faces in the debate club, Du Ruo was tasked with recruiting for her major, selecting team members, running training, and making sure they actually had a team. No pressure.
And day one, disaster hit: zero sign-ups.
She lapped the girls’ dorm a few times, but her three roommates all refused. The girls across the hall, same story. Some thought debates sounded like a waste of time, others were too shy or outright terrified: “What if everyone else is flinging verbal daggers and I just freeze up? Nightmare fuel.”
By the end, the girls’ dorm was a no-go. Not a single volunteer left.
Now she was flabbergasted.
She’d thought everyone would rush to sign up, making her job hard just narrowing it down. Instead, she didn’t even have enough people for a bare-bones team.
She couldn’t just do it solo, could she?
Next, she pleaded with the guys in her class. But most of them were shy, barely said a word except to friends, and some even got tongue-tied just giving presentations in class, never mind debating strangers.
Their guilty response: “Sorry, Du Ruo, can’t help this time. Next time, we promise!”
She waved it off, assuring them she didn’t mind, that they shouldn’t worry.
The few she was friendly enough with still refused, like debate was some kind of monster waiting to eat them alive.
Wang Zi’ang was a perfect example.
Du Ruo tried the classic bribe: “C’mon, Wang Zi’ang, join the team and I’ll treat you to dinner, yeah?”
“Du Ruo, how about I buy you dinner instead? Three meals, even, just spare me!” Wang Zi’ang pleaded.
Du Ruo couldn’t help but laugh.
She slumped over her desk, letting out a weary sigh: “Now I finally get how our class sports rep must’ve felt at the high school track meet, chasing people down, begging for sign-ups. Brutal.”
Li Wei, hearing this, shook his head, half-amused: “Alright, fine. I’ll sign up.”
At the end of the day, Li Wei was her one and only recruit.
Undeterred, she kept casting her net wider.
After the first period of General English, as soon as the bell rang, she dashed straight to the back row where the guys clustered, hoping to snag them before they escaped.
“Hey, big event coming up! Freshman debate tournament, join us? It’ll boost your logic skills, help you get better at public speaking, and you’ll meet people from other departments! Triple win!”
She stood at the back, “campaigning” enthusiastically, waving her flyers. The boys all grinned, watching her with amusement.
Then a not-so-gentle voice interrupted from behind: “Move.”
Du Ruo startled and glanced back.
Jing Ming had appeared out of nowhere, towering over her from behind.
That’s when she noticed the empty seat in front, and his backpack shoved under the desk.
But this was a huge lecture hall; the rows of desks and chairs were all fixed. If he wanted to get in, he needed to ask people to move. She was standing by the seatback, but not in his way, really.
Still, she didn’t want to mess with him. She pursed her lips and shifted aside.
Instead, he braced one hand on the chair, swung his legs up, and leapt right over the seatback into his place.
She jumped, startled. “Whoa!”
Jing Ming settled in, then shot her a look, top to bottom, his face set in its usual “What are you freaking out for? Chill out” type of disdain.
She ignored him and turned back to the other guys. “So? Anyone interested?”
“Any guys from your class joining?”
“Yeah! Li Wei signed up already.” She perked right up.
“And?”
“...That’s it.” Du Ruo’s eyes darted. “But, y’know, the debate team’s supposed to represent the whole department, if it’s just our class, that’s not ideal, right?”
The boys snickered, totally seeing through her. “Alright, got it. Word is, the debate team’s desperate, you’re losing your mind, and your whole class already helped you push this in the dorms.”
Du Ruo: “...”
Of course. There are no secrets in the boys’ dorms, news spreads faster than Wi-Fi.
Jing Ming lounged back in his chair, hand resting on the table, twirling a pen, with that unmistakable look of someone waiting for the next joke to unfold.
"Let me at least show you the flyer. The back has the sign-up form." Du Ruo handed out flyers to everyone. When she got to Jing Ming, she hesitated, then set one down anyway.
Jing Ming didn’t so much as glance at it. He spun his pen and let the paper drift toward the edge of his desk. Just as it threatened to fall, he shifted idly, and his arm, so conveniently, caught it in place.
She didn’t notice, but she did spot the brochure on his desk, something about a "University AI Entrepreneurship Expo."
She skimmed it and decided to let it go. Right now, priority one: recruit debate team members.
"Just take a look. If you’re interested, sign up. Debate’s really worth trying." She worked down the line. "Chen Yi, Wu Fei, " reached Jing Ming, skipped him, and moved on, "Zhang Lei... C’mon, at least give it a shot."
"I’m way too busy, really don’t have the time."
"You know my personality, this isn’t for me."
"Debate’s not my thing."
"I’m useless at talking."
No one looked all that interested, apologetic smiles abounded.
"Sorry, Du Ruo."
"Hey, no worries, honestly." She smiled, moving to collect the flyers, better to gather them back than have them scattered on the floor like trash.
Zhang Lei asked, "So, what if you’re still short on people?"
"Keep searching, I guess." She smiled again, not a hint of disappointment. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
"Sure."
She’d gathered every flyer except the one on Jing Ming’s desk, and was about to leave.
Behind her, Jing Ming called out, "Hey!"
Du Ruo: "What?"
Jing Ming tilted his chin, fixing her with a skeptical look. "Come here."
Du Ruo eyed him warily, full defense mode active.
Hadn’t they agreed to act like strangers on campus? Yet he kept breaking the deal, over and over.
He frowned. "I said, come here."
The other guys had no clue about their history, just thought Jing Ming was bored and messing with classmates. They watched on with amused grins.
Du Ruo clutched her little stack of flyers and inched back over, guarded.
Jing Ming straightened the flyer on his desk, tapped it twice, and asked, "Did you ask me?"
Du Ruo blinked, completely thrown.
"You just asked every guy here, except me. Got some kind of beef with me, or what?"
Her eyes widened, looking bewildered, and her face felt like it was on fire. Her brain lagged, failing to keep up.
The guys laughed. Someone nudged Jing Ming, "Alright, man, stop teasing her."
"I have nothing against you." She snapped out of it, declaring in a small but stubborn voice, "I just figured, you’d never join."
"How would you know if you don’t ask me?" Fast as ever, he shot back.
With so many people around, Du Ruo tried to leash the stampede of alpacas in her heart and forced a pleasant, polite smile. "Fine. Jing Ming, would you like to join the debate team?"
"Sure." He answered in one crisp word.
Du Ruo: "..."
Working with him?!
Her expression blanked out again, staring at him in disbelief.
In her mind, a little stick figure fell to its knees, arms stretched to the sky in anguish.
He flipped the sign-up sheet over and pressed it into her hands.
She glanced down, his name and info were already scrawled across the form in that wild handwriting of his. She hadn’t even seen when he'd filled it out.
"Alright then." She tucked away the form, her whole face reading 'end of the world' as she turned to leave.
"Wait up." He called after her.
Du Ruo looked back, "What now?"
Jing Ming twirled his pen, asking, "I heard from Wan Zi’ang that you promised a free meal to whoever joins the debate team. That right?"
Du Ruo: "..."
Suddenly, she wanted the ground to just swallow her whole.