Lin Mo had begun to suspect that the university was deliberately testing him. Not academically. Socially. He could handle difficult assignments. He could handle programming errors. He could even handle professors changing deadlines at the last minute. What he couldn't handle was people repeatedly appearing in his life. First Shen Yichen. Then Gu Wen. Then Jiang Rui. Then Chen Yu. Lin Mo looked at his schedule. It was a perfectly ordinary Tuesday. Classes in the morning. Library in the afternoon. Dinner. Game. Sleep. No surprises. Perfect. He nodded. “Today will be peaceful.” Xu An, who happened to hear him, immediately laughed. “You say that every time.” “And every time you're wrong.” “Exactly.” Lin Mo frowned. That was not reassuring. --- His first class went smoothly. The second class went smoothly. Even lunch went smoothly. Lin Mo began to relax. Then, after lunch, his professor stopped him outside the classroom. “Lin Mo.” He turned around. “Yes, Professor?” “Do you have some time this afternoon?” Lin Mo's heart sank. “For what?” “There's a student research group working on the library system. They need someone with your perspective.” Lin Mo stared at him. “Professor, I'm just a student.” “I know.” “I have assignments.” “I know.” “I have a game tournament tonight.” The professor looked at him. Lin Mo coughed. “That's... unrelated.” The professor smiled. “Just one hour.” Lin Mo sighed. “One hour.” “Good.” --- The research room was already occupied when Lin Mo arrived. Chen Yu waved. “You're here.” “You said one hour.” “I did.” Lin Mo looked around. “Who else is here?” “Two graduate students.” Lin Mo relaxed. No company representatives. No famous actors. No intimidating heirs. No suspicious people. Excellent. He sat down. The work was actually simple. They were discussing how to make the library's digital borrowing system more efficient. Lin Mo listened for several minutes. Then he pointed at the interface. “The problem isn't the database.” Everyone looked at him. “The interface?” “Yes.” He leaned closer. “Students have to go through too many steps to do something simple.” One graduate student frowned. “But that's how the system was designed.” “Exactly.” Lin Mo began explaining. The conversation quickly became technical. Before long, the entire room was discussing the problem. Lin Mo forgot about the time. He liked this kind of thing. No complicated human relationships. Just a problem. A solution. Something that either worked or didn't. Much easier. --- An hour later, Chen Yu looked at the clock. “You've been here for almost three hours.” Lin Mo froze. “What?” “You were enjoying yourself.” “No.” “You were.” “No.” Chen Yu laughed. Lin Mo packed his laptop. “I have a life.” “What life?” “Dinner.” “That isn't a life.” “It is to me.” --- When Lin Mo walked out of the research building, he stopped. A black sedan was parked near the entrance. He immediately recognized it. Not because he knew the car. Because he had seen it before. Shen Yichen stepped out. Lin Mo's first thought was— Why is he here? His second was— Please don't tell me this is about the research project. Shen Yichen saw him. Their eyes met. Neither looked surprised. After all, this wasn't their first meeting. Shen walked over. “You're leaving?” “Yes.” “Finished with the research group?” “Yes.” Lin Mo waited. Shen didn't say anything else. Lin Mo became suspicious. “You're not here because of me, right?” “No.” Lin Mo relaxed immediately. “Good.” Shen raised an eyebrow. “You seem relieved.” “I like being uninvolved.” “I know.” Lin Mo looked at him. There was something strangely familiar about the way Shen said it. As if he'd already figured him out. Maybe he had. Shen glanced at the laptop bag in Lin Mo's hand. “You've been helping the research team.” “Unfortunately.” “They said you were useful.” Lin Mo sighed. “That's becoming a problem.” Shen almost smiled. “Why?” “Because people keep asking me for help.” “Then say no.” “I do.” “Clearly not enough.” Lin Mo thought about that. “That's fair.” For a moment, neither spoke. The afternoon wind moved through the trees. Students passed them without paying much attention. It was strangely normal. Lin Mo suddenly realized something. He wasn't nervous around Shen anymore. He still didn't want to become involved with him. But he wasn't nervous. That was progress. --- Shen looked at him. “Do you have dinner plans?” Lin Mo immediately became cautious. “Yes.” “Where?” “Cafeteria.” Shen nodded. “Good.” Lin Mo waited. “That's all?” “Yes.” “Then why did you ask?” “I was curious.” Lin Mo narrowed his eyes. “You're strange.” “I've been told.” “By me?” “Several times.” Lin Mo couldn't help laughing. Shen looked at him for a moment. Then his phone rang. He answered. His expression changed slightly. Business. Lin Mo recognized the look. That was his signal to leave. “I'm going.” Shen nodded. “See you.” Lin Mo took two steps. Then stopped. He turned back. “Shen Yichen.” “Yes?” “About the library project.” Shen waited. “Thanks.” “For what?” “For not making it complicated.” Shen looked at him. Then said quietly, “You're welcome.” Lin Mo left. Shen watched him disappear into the crowd. His assistant approached. “Should we go?” “In a moment.” The assistant glanced in the direction Lin Mo had gone. “You seem less suspicious of him.” Shen was silent. After a moment, he said, “He doesn't feel like someone hiding something.” “And the technical ability?” “Still unexplained.” The assistant nodded. Shen looked toward the university buildings. “People can be complicated without being dangerous.” --- Lin Mo reached the cafeteria ten minutes later. He bought noodles. Finally. He sat down with a satisfied expression. His phone vibrated. A message from Gu Wen. «Are you free tomorrow evening?» Lin Mo replied: «Why?» The response came quickly. «I want to show you somewhere.» Lin Mo stared at the message. That sounded suspicious. He typed: «Is it troublesome?» Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared again. Finally: «No.» Lin Mo smiled. «Then okay.» He put his phone away. Tomorrow. Somewhere new. With Gu Wen. Probably harmless. Probably. Lin Mo picked up his chopsticks. He had no idea that tomorrow would introduce him to another small part of the world he had never noticed before. And, more importantly— another person he had never met in the original novel. For now, though, Lin Mo only cared about his noodles. And they were excellent.

Less Suspicious