Reality Programming Association

Chapter 107: Chapter 44: ”Who the Fish Head Faces” and ”Who Is Under the Car

”Miao Family Stone Pot Fish...” Yu Xian tipped up the edge of his umbrella, gazing at the signboard above the restaurant’s entrance.

”Old Yu! Over here!”

Diners were crowded beneath the narrow awning, while Shi Zuozhou stood on the steps a short distance away, waving at him.

Wen Xiao and Shao Yiyi had also arrived. The two girls shared a single umbrella, their matching bun hairstyles making them particularly conspicuous.

Seeing Yu Xian approach, Wen Xiao took a small step forward. But when she turned and saw Shao Yiyi standing there with a wicked smirk, she sheepishly retreated.

Wen Xiao’s style today was quite different from her usual look. She wore a light brown, long-sleeved preppy jacket over a white knit sweater, paired with a gray pleated skirt. Thick black over-the-knee socks hid her slender calves completely beneath the short skirt. A red scarf draped neatly around her neck, its ends swaying in the wind like a kitten’s tail.

When Yu Xian’s gaze swept over her, Wen Xiao seemed to jolt like she had been electrocuted. She quickly averted her eyes, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks as she lowered her head to adjust her already perfect scarf.

Beside her, Shao Yiyi was still wearing her slightly retro brown puffer jacket, the furry hood wrapping around her ears, and a pair of knee-high boots. Her eyes darted around, looking back and forth between Yu Xian and Wen Xiao before her lips curled into a meaningful, wicked grin.

”Oh my, Xiaoxiao, did you catch a cold from the freezing weather? Why is your face so red? You don’t have a fever, do you?” Shao Yiyi deliberately put on an anxious expression and even reached out to feel Wen Xiao’s forehead.

”Shao Chacha, you just wait...” Wen Xiao muttered softly, grinding her teeth.

Shi Zuozhou still had the energy of someone whose top priority was eating. He shoved Yu Xian toward the entrance. ”Let’s go inside! I’m starving to death!”

Yu Xian felt a bit puzzled, wondering why the girl was so easily embarrassed and socially anxious. It wasn’t their first time meeting; her reaction seemed a bit exaggerated.

The four of them entered the restaurant. Miao Family Stone Pot Fish had a modest storefront, but the dining hall inside was steaming hot. The unique spicy and numbing aroma of the stone pot fish mingled with the scalding steam, dispelling the chill from the diners’ bodies. Perhaps because it had just opened for the day and it was raining outside, the restaurant wasn’t completely full.

Shi Zuozhou navigated the place with practiced ease, finding a four-person table by the wall. Flipping through the menu, he noticed the prices had gone up slightly since classes were suspended.

”Boss! Four catties of longsnout catfish! Mildly spicy! We’ll take all the side dishes! And add a portion of yuba and wide glass noodles!” Shi Zuozhou shouted generously before starting to scald everyone’s bowls and chopsticks with hot water.

Hot tea was poured, and the curling white mist made their faces look somewhat hazy.

”Um, Yu Xian, Brother Zhou.” Wen Xiao cupped her teacup. Hiding behind the steam seemed to relax her a bit. ”The impact on the School of Physics at our university... it was quite severe this time, right? I saw online that a lot of laboratories were smashed.”

”Don’t even mention it. It’s too horrible to look at,” Shi Zuozhou sighed. ”I heard that there are barely any intact glass windows left on the first floor of the High Energy Institute, and a lot of equipment was ruined.”

He shook his head as he continued, ”These people are crazy. It’d be one thing if they were just keyboard warriors, but they actually dared to cause trouble in real life.”

Wen Xiao nodded, her gaze passing over Shi Zuozhou to land on Yu Xian. ”By the way, about what happened that night...”

Halfway through her sentence, she seemed to remember something, glanced at Shi Zuozhou, and quickly shut her mouth.

Yu Xian’s heart tightened. He knew Wen Xiao was about to bring up TDI and the Midnight Bus audio.

”That night?” Shi Zuozhou’s ears perked up instantly. Just a moment ago, he had been lamenting the ill fate of physics, but now the raging fires of gossip burned in his eyes.

Yu Xian facepalmed. Watching Wen Xiao’s hesitant expression, he instantly understood. He had specifically warned her not to tell Shi Zuozhou about the audio. She had probably just remembered that and, afraid of letting it slip, started stammering and covering up.

Shi Zuozhou shot them an ambiguous look, his eyes darting between the two of them. ”What happened that night? Is there some... unspeakable... little secret between you two?” He deliberately dragged out his words.

Shao Yiyi also adopted the expression of an eager bystander ready for a good show, cupping her face in her hands with a fond, knowing smile.

”COUGH, COUGH.” Wen Xiao’s face grew even redder as she frantically waved her hands, her voice becoming somewhat muddled. ”Oh, it’s not what you think! We were... we were exchanging academic ideas!”

Yu Xian felt lines of exasperation drop down his forehead. It felt like the misunderstanding was only getting worse the more she tried to explain. Just as he was about to clarify for her...

”I get it! I get it!” Shi Zuozhou suddenly interrupted with a wicked smirk, winking and making faces at Shao Yiyi. ”Academic exchange! Pure academic exchange! After all, some academic subjects simply must be discussed!”

Shao Yiyi chimed in to egg them on, ”Oh my, Xiaoxiao, should Senior Shi Zuozhou and I excuse ourselves? Why does the light over here feel so bright? Is it because there are two third wheels?”

Wen Xiao was so flustered she became incoherent, helplessly looking to Yu Xian for rescue.

Yu Xian sighed. Just as he was trying to come up with an excuse to explain, a waiter carrying a massive soup pot came to their rescue.

The milky-white fish soup was poured into the steaming stone pot, its fragrant aroma filling the air.

”Eat more fish head, no worries ahead! Eat more fish eyes, people will look up to you! Fish head raised, good things are praised! Fish mouth open, double the fortune chosen!”

The waiters shouted the slogan in perfect unison, drawing side-eyes from the diners at neighboring tables.

Shi Zuozhou first served everyone a bowl of soup, then glanced at the stone pot and said to Yu Xian, ”Old Yu, the fish head is pointing at you. Do you want to say a few words first?”

Yu Xian’s mouth twitched. Did Shi Zuozhou go to the student union in the Qilu Land for advanced training?

Shi Zuozhou didn’t care if Yu Xian answered or not; he just started talking on his own. ”Oh! Right! Speaking of which, I really have to thank Master Shao!”

Shao Yiyi paused. ”Thank me? Thank me for what?”

Shi Zuozhou gave a thumbs-up. ”Didn’t you cast a trigram for me before? You said I had an ominous sign recently and told me to be careful.”

”What? Did it come true?” Shao Yiyi asked blankly.

”Yeah! It completely came true!” Shi Zuozhou swallowed the fish in his mouth, lowered his voice, and spoke mysteriously, ”It’s about that Midnight Bus audio going viral in the boys’ dorms! You guys don’t know this, but that thing is totally cursed! If Old Yu hadn’t held me back, and if your trigram hadn’t kept me feeling paranoid lately, I almost would’ve fallen for it!”

Wen Xiao’s eyes went wide. She looked at Yu Xian in disbelief, then back at Shi Zuozhou. ”You... you know about that audio?”

”Huh? Yeah, I know.” Shi Zuozhou was startled by Wen Xiao’s intense reaction. ”Everyone in the boys’ dorms has a copy. How could I not know?”

Wen Xiao turned her head to look at Yu Xian, her eyes full of shock and inquiry. She shot him a complex look that clearly meant, ”Didn’t you say to keep it a secret? Why has it spread all over your boys’ dorm? Didn’t you want to keep him in the dark? What happened to your secrecy?”

Yu Xian rubbed his nose awkwardly. ”That audio spread really widely. It’s being sold everywhere...”

Now, it was Shao Yiyi’s turn to be confused. She looked back and forth between them, utterly bewildered. ”Wait... what audio? What bus? What are you guys talking about?”

She pointed at herself, then at the three people around the table who shared a tacit understanding. ”So after all this time, I’m the only one who doesn’t know about this? Am I the one left totally out of the loop? Huh?”

Wen Xiao lowered her head guiltily, pretending to drink her tea.

Yu Xian didn’t speak either, simply watching the stone pot fish bubbling away.

Discovering that Shao Yiyi actually didn’t know about the situation, Shi Zuozhou put on a mysterious face and started recounting the story to her from the beginning with vivid descriptions.

The girl with the twin buns nodded profusely, listening intently and occasionally revealing a horrified expression, clearly making for a great audience.

The audio had already spread this far. Shao Yiyi had only been temporarily isolated from the news because she lived in the apartment-style North Campus dormitories, which were more closed off, combined with the recent internet and communication outages.

Ultimately, this secret couldn’t be kept hidden.

Yu Xian sighed, giving up the struggle as he quietly sent Wen Xiao a text message.

”Tell him.”