Reality Programming Association

Chapter 144 -59: Granny Shi Enters the Grand View Garden

“Alright, let’s go get something to eat first.” Shi Zuozhou shook his arm, and his sleeve slid down to cover his beloved new wristband.

The rain outside the window was still falling, and the puddles downstairs reflected the hurried crowd. It was the peak dinner hour. A long queue had formed at the window of Cafeteria No. 2, where the cafeteria lady tapped a stainless steel spoon against the trays, her hand shaking in a very rhythmic manner.

They found a seat by the window, the glass completely covered in fine water droplets. Shi Zuozhou and Yu Xian casually grabbed whatever food was available. Yu Xian mechanically shoveled rice into his mouth while staring blankly at the curtain of rain outside.

Two weeks ago, on a similarly rainy Wednesday afternoon, they had been incredibly busy with the “Life of Subtraction” reading sharing session. Their minds had been completely consumed by thoughts of how to set up the venue, design the posters, and ensure the lecture went off without a hitch. Thinking back on it now, the worries they had back then felt as luxurious as a distant dream. In just half a month, it was as if this torrential rain had washed away the world’s superficial layer of paint, exposing the mottled, bizarre true colors underneath.

“What are you thinking about? You’re so spaced out,” Shi Zuozhou mumbled indistinctly, taking a bite of his chicken leg.

“Around this time the week before last, we were still busting our asses in the main auditorium for Elder Su’s sharing session.” Yu Xian smiled.

Shi Zuozhou paused for a moment before it registered. “That feels like a lifetime ago. Our lives now aren’t about Subtraction anymore; it’s practically multiplication—and at an exponential rate.”

“Let’s go find Wen Xiao and the others this afternoon,” Yu Xian said, quickly wolfing down a couple mouthfuls of rice. “We need to exchange updates on the progress with Rabbit Hole over the past few days, and see how their development is going.”

Shi Zuozhou perked up. “Perfect. I can go show off my new watch and casually pitch the idea for a wristband-compatible version to Wen Xiao.”

After lunch, Yu Xian sent Wen Xiao a message. Holding up umbrellas, the two of them crossed the soggy campus and headed toward North Campus. Along the way, they spotted quite a few maintenance workers in uniforms inspecting street lamps and cables. Several sections of the perimeter wall—whether washed away by the storm or pushed down by rioters—had been cordoned off with blue construction barricades. The campus was working hard to heal its scars, trying to restore its former order.

Piggybacking off someone else’s access card, the two slipped into Building 3, North Campus.

The heating in the first-floor lobby was turned up high, and a faint lemon fragrance hung in the air. Beneath their feet were marble floor tiles polished to a mirror shine, and above their heads hung uniquely shaped geometric chandeliers. To their left was a row of vending machines and a shared power bank station, while on the right sat several extremely comfortable-looking fabric sofas.

Standing in the elevator hall, Shi Zuozhou was completely dumbfounded. He touched the gleaming mirror-finish stainless steel of the elevator doors and stomped his feet on the thick, sound-absorbing carpet. His mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, looking the very picture of Granny Liu stepping into the Grand View Garden.

“Holy shit…” After holding it in for a long time, all of Shi Zuozhou’s thoughts merged into a single classic curse. “Old Yu, did we go to the wrong place? Is this really a school dorm? It looks more like a fucking four-star hotel!”

Yu Xian smiled. He didn’t blame Shi Zuozhou for making a fuss; his own reaction had been pretty much the same the first time he came here. The boys’ dorm in the South District where they lived was famously known as the “slums.” It featured four-person rooms with bunk beds, bare concrete floors, and peeling walls that showered dust at the slightest touch. But here… never mind comparing it to the boys’ dorms. Even compared to the main building of the School of Physics, just the smoothness of the elevator ride alone crushed that creaky old piece of junk by a hundred—no, ten thousand times.

With a crisp DING, the elevator stopped at the 12th floor. When the doors slid open, there was none of that suffocating claustrophobia found in the South District. The walls on both sides of the corridor were decorated with abstract paintings, and there was even a high table with potted plants at regular intervals.

Shi Zuozhou looked at Yu Xian with a face full of grief and indignation. “Old Yu, we’re all JCU students. Why on earth do we live in a pigsty while they live in a palace? This place is practically… practically a hotbed of capitalism!”

Ignoring his friend’s dramatic flair, Yu Xian headed straight for the public lounge at the end of the hall. Shi Zuozhou followed behind, glancing left and right, muttering things like “evil capitalism” and “I want to undergo Corrosion by capitalism too.”

Through the glass doors, he immediately spotted Shao Yiyi and Wen Xiao sitting in the corner. Outside, the dreary rain continued to fall. Inside, the wall sconces cast a warm yellow light over the two girls. Wen Xiao was wearing an off-white fleece onesie, complete with two pointy cat ears drooping from the hood. She was typing code on her laptop, but for some reason, even through the glass, Yu Xian could sense that she seemed a bit restless. Shao Yiyi was wearing her usual dinosaur onesie with the hood pulled up. It was impossible to tell if she was slacking off and secretly sleeping inside it.

As they pushed the glass doors open, a blast of warm air mixed with the scent of lemons rushed over them. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the figure curled up in the cat onesie on the corner sofa jerked suddenly.

“Yo, ladies, you’re both here?” Shi Zuozhou’s face was a portrait of envy, jealousy, and hatred. He plopped his butt onto a fabric sofa in the corner and let out a sigh of comfort.

Yu Xian hung his umbrella on the rack by the door and greeted the two girls as well.

Shao Yiyi pulled back her dinosaur hood and giggled. Wen Xiao looked up, but the moment her eyes met Yu Xian’s, she quickly darted her gaze away and stared fixedly at her keyboard. In the dim yellow light, Yu Xian noticed her two hands clutching the hem of her onesie tightly, completely abandoning her typing.

Yu Xian was a bit perplexed. Although he knew this younger schoolmate was somewhat socially anxious, wasn’t her reaction today a bit much? It was even more exaggerated than when they had eaten stone-pot fish last weekend. He wondered if it was possible she still had some lingering trauma because he had yelled at her a few times that night. Why did she look like someone who had been caught red-handed doing something wrong?

“You’re both here,” Yu Xian said, pulling out a chair and sitting down across from her. With his approach, Wen Xiao seemed to grow even more nervous. She squeezed her legs together and sat with exceptionally rigid posture.

“What’s wrong? Are you still mad at me?” Yu Xian asked tentatively, observing her strange behavior.

“N-No!” Wen Xiao shook her head in a panic, her voice as thin as a gossamer thread. “Um… why would I be mad… It was my own fault for not doing a good job…”

Yu Xian paused, softening his tone. “There’s no need to be so tense. We mainly came over today to sync up on our progress and exchange information.”

“I-I know!” Her voice suddenly went up an octave. Seeming to realize this, she quickly lowered it again. “Um… the progress on Rabbit Hole… is pretty fast.”

Next to them, Shao Yiyi rolled her eyes at Wen Xiao’s behavior, clearly accustomed to her best friend acting so hopelessly timid. “She’s not mad. She just stayed up all night coding yesterday and short-circuited her brain. Just ignore her, she’ll be fine in a bit.”

While the three of them were chatting, Shi Zuozhou, eyes wide, finished inspecting the high-end decor of the entire lounge. “Your living conditions and standard of living are way too high! How are us folks from the South District slums supposed to bear this?”

Shao Yiyi looked incredibly smug. “There’s nothing we can do about it, Senior Brother Shi! The North Campus was originally built for master’s and doctoral students, so the conditions are definitely going to be a bit better.”

“But you two are undergrads too! What gives you the right to live here?” Shi Zuozhou pressed, clearly unconvinced. Yu Xian was also a bit curious.

Shao Yiyi giggled, revealing her devilish little canine teeth. “This is what we call the ‘power of money.’ A section of this building was originally rented out to the public as ‘talent apartments.’ As long as you can afford the management fees—which are more expensive than rent outside—you can come be our neighbor too!”

Shi Zuozhou was instantly silenced, seemingly at a loss for words. He looked around at the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, then at the vending machines and microwaves nearby. Finally, he could only let out a helpless sigh. “Dear Tovarisch, having witnessed with my own eyes the sordid, filthy, and despicable nature of capitalism, I have only grown to love the Bolsheviks even more…”