Chapter 35: Some Beautiful Pictures

Inside Nanshan Restaurant, the six people left behind sat in silence.

Hong Yan was pondering her future relationship with Chu Siqi, while Chu Siqi was simply fuming. Wang Huiru, on the other hand, was mulling over the best way to resolve the situation.

Cao Guangyu, Zhou Chao, and Ren Ziqiang were filled with regret, kicking themselves for not leaving with Old Jiang earlier.

Three inexperienced guys—none of whom even had a girlfriend—had been caught up in this dramatic mess. Now, they barely dared to breathe, desperately searching for an excuse to slip away.

Meanwhile, Jiang Qin had already left the pedestrian street and returned to the main campus, heading straight for the school library.

As he'd always said, romance wasn't the main theme of his life—making money was.

There were plenty of students from Linda University's Computer Science Department taking on freelance gigs outside of class. Building a website or coding a simple program was child's play for them. Last night, Jiang Qin had posted a request for someone to build a site on the university forum and received a private message from a user named "Naixue."

They'd agreed to meet today, and that unexpected encounter had nearly derailed his plans.

See? Women really do get in the way of making money—absolute truth.

"It's too hot. I'll grab an ice cream to cool off and lower my blood pressure."

Jiang Qin picked out a small pudding pop from the freezer at the campus supermarket, licking it as he strolled toward the library.

Linda University's library was a massive, hollowed-out rectangular building with eight floors. The bottom six were public reading areas, while the top two were restricted archive rooms.

They'd arranged to meet on the third floor, so Jiang Qin headed straight for the elevator upon arrival.

Inside, the cool air hit him like a wave. After baking in the sun all the way there, the sudden chill was almost too much to handle.

Jiang Qin paused at the entrance to adjust, his gaze drifting down the corridor.

Linda truly lived up to its reputation as a 985 university. Even on just the second day of the semester, the library was packed. The sound of flipping pages filled the air, and there was even a faint scent of ink—maybe it was psychological, but it smelled damn good.

Jiang Qin watched for a moment, feeling a pang of awe. This is what a university should be like. Who the hell has time to obsess over dating all day?

Once he'd acclimated, he followed Naixue's directions to the third-floor social sciences reading room and found the person who'd taken his job.

That's right—Naixue was a senior.

A petite senior in a black dress, with twin braids and oversized black-framed glasses. Though she looked small, her sky-blue school ID badge clearly marked her as no freshman.

"Hi, I'm Su Nai, Computer Science Department, third year. Should I call you senior or junior?"

Jiang Qin sat down, thought for a second, and replied, "I'm Jiang, from the Finance School. You can just call me senior."

Su Nai nodded lightly, not questioning it at all. "Senior, I've looked over your website requirements. I can do it for you."

"How long will it take?"

"Three days."

Jiang Qin didn't know much about the website-building process, but three days instinctively felt tight. "Three days—are you sure? I'm not in a huge rush. The most important thing is that it's done well."

Su Nai, exuding the aura of a tech-obsessed shut-in, adjusted her glasses. "Trust me, three days is enough. Though it might need multiple rounds of maintenance later."

"Let's start with building it. If the results are good, I'll hand the maintenance work to you too."

"Thanks, Senior. So let's talk details. There are some parts I don't quite get, and I'd like you to explain."

Su Nai pulled out her laptop and set it on the table. On the screen was the post Jiang Qin had written last night. "I get the pop-up ads part, but what do you mean by 'beautiful lady picture pop-ups'?"

Jiang Qin coughed, glanced around cautiously, then lowered his voice. "You know, eye-catching picture ads. The kind with, uh, scantily clad ladies. It'll boost click rates."

"…"

"Still not getting it?"

"I get it. You mean those… naughty pictures?"

Jiang Qin's eyes widened in surprise. "Su Nai, your summarizing skills are top-notch!"

Su Nai pursed her lips and gave him a look. "Senior, are you really a decent guy?"

"Of course I'm decent."

"But what you're describing is shady content. If it gets reported, the site could get shut down."

Su Nai tried to reason with him, hoping this "Senior Jiang" would drop the idea.

"Su, remember this: technology itself isn't guilty!"

"Fine, but if something goes wrong, it's not on me."

"I've got it under control. Just build it and let's see. If it doesn't work, we'll switch it up."

Internet regulation in 2008 wasn't as strict as it would become. Otherwise, pirated sites like Movie Paradise wouldn't have thrived so openly. Jiang Qin didn't have the resources to spam pop-ups across the web, so the odds of getting reported were slim.

Besides, a domain name was cheap. If one got banned, he'd just grab another. One was bound to stick eventually.

Su Nai fell silent, head bowed, saying nothing. Jiang Qin assumed she had moral qualms, thinking this kind of work was beneath her talents. He spent a while coaxing and half-tricking her, only to realize she wasn't concerned about that at all. Her response threw him off completely.

"I… I've never seen those kinds of pictures. Senior, do you have any resources?"

Jiang Qin's mouth twitched. He grabbed her laptop, typed a string of characters into the browser, and pulled up a site.

In the hallowed halls of a 985 university, in the solemn and sacred library, the two of them huddled in a corner, silently staring at the screen. They spent half an hour browsing "beautiful pictures."

By the end, Su Nai's breathing had noticeably quickened. Even as a tech geek, she could clearly see why these images would drive click rates.

"I think I'll need five days to build the site."

Jiang Qin blinked. "Huh? Why?"

Su Nai pushed up her glasses. "Looking at this stuff lowers my work efficiency."

"I get that—I used to be the same way. But you should focus on work. It's better to steer clear of this stuff."

"I'll control myself, Senior. But you have to understand, this 'new world' is a huge shock for a shut-in like me. Five days, okay?"

"Fine, five days it is. But no later."

Su Nai nodded, then moved the mouse to the top-right corner of the screen. "Wait… there's a video section here too?"

Jiang Qin snapped the laptop shut and fixed her with a stern look. "Junior, once you open that door, it's not just a five-day issue anymore. Think carefully."

"Then I won't look," Su Nai said, pressing her lips together.

Jiang Qin nodded approvingly. "Good. Focus on the work, and don't go peeking at things you shouldn't."

"Got it. I'll build you a site you'll be happy with. Thanks for trusting me, Senior."

"No problem. Looking out for my junior is only right."

After hashing out all the website details, Jiang Qin left the library with peace of mind. Su Nai hesitated for exactly three and a third seconds before reopening the laptop, staring at the video section lost in thought.