Chapter 123: The GAE 'Concentration Camp'

As soon as class ended, Zhang Ya ignored the disdainful look from the "Extinction Master" teacher and hurried out of the classroom. She had already made up her mind; even if she couldn't come to see Jiang Xiwen for the rest of the semester, she at least wanted to say hello to him.

"Xiwen, I... I from now on..."

"You’re here? You’ve solved the problems, right? There are some more over there. Put down your solutions, take the new set, and I’ll check them once I’m done with my work." Before Zhang Ya could finish, Jiang Xiwen cut her off without even looking up.

His hands continued to fly across the keyboard as he spoke. Setting problems and having her solve them had become his habitual way of dealing with her. This young girl came to see him every few days. Her initial excuse was to help him with his studies, but she hadn’t really helped at all. Instead, Zhang Ya seemed to have grown accustomed to the cycle of Jiang Xiwen setting problems and her solving them, finding endless joy in it.

"Who cares about your problems!" Already feeling a bit aggrieved and hearing Jiang Xiwen’s casual dismissal, Zhang Ya’s eyes widened, and she shouted.

"Hmm." Jiang Xiwen replied, not looking at her.

"Jiang Xiwen, how can you be like this..." Zhang Ya grew anxious, her face flushing with anger. "I don't want to see you again!"

With that, she turned and ran off without looking back.

"Hmm..." Jiang Xiwen continued staring at the screen. It took him half a second to register what happened. When he finally looked up, only Zhang Ya’s retreating back remained. He muttered to himself in confusion, "What’s wrong with her? Could it be the legendary menopause?"

He shook his head, puzzled, and returned to his work. Less than ten minutes later, the door to the studio was pushed open violently with a loud bang.

When Jiang Xiwen was focused, he could achieve a state of complete immersion, almost like the meditative state he had reached in his past life as a hacker. Even though he was now writing PS programs, his concentration was no less intense.

"Jiang Xiwen!" Zhang Ya glared at him, her face full of fury.

He didn't care at all whether she came or not, yet she had been foolishly thinking about saying hello, hoping that perhaps Jiang Xiwen would find a way to secure more chances for them to meet.

Thinking about this along the way made Zhang Ya angrier and more aggrieved. She decided to return to his office to vent her frustration.

But even with such a forceful entrance, Jiang Xiwen remained indifferent. This left her unable to even voice her grievances, and she could only stand there helplessly, glaring at him.

"Eh?" Jiang Xiwen felt someone standing at the door, but he didn't have the time to look up. It wasn't until a few minutes later, when he finished the last line of code for the module he was working on, that he finally raised his head.

"Zhang Ya, why are you back?" Jiang Xiwen looked at her, bewildered. "Why do you look so angry? What happened to make the daughter of our mayor so furious?"

Seeing Jiang Xiwen’s look of innocence, Zhang Ya burst into tears—whether from anger or grievance, she couldn't quite tell herself.

"Zhang Ya, what’s wrong?" Jiang Xiwen hurried to stand up. "Don't cry. You won't look pretty if you keep crying."

"None of your business!"

"If you were a weed, I wouldn't bother, but you're a flower. Which piece of cow dung bullied you? Tell me, and I'll go torch them. Remember that guy 'Old Seven' back then? I got beaten until I couldn't even stand up, didn't I?" Jiang Xiwen raised his hands, imitating a strongman.

Zhang Ya burst into laughter at his antics, but immediately remembered what had happened and stiffened her face again. With a lingering sob, she said, "Jiang Xiwen, don't try to sweet-talk me. My dad won't let me come here anymore. From now on, we..."

Seeing her laugh, Jiang Xiwen breathed a sigh of relief and said with a grin, "That's normal. If such a beautiful girl were snatched away by me, that would be a disaster. Besides, we aren't exactly the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl..."

"You!" Zhang Ya was both shy and anxious. She quickly explained, "It's not like that, don't talk nonsense. My dad received photos of us together. They were taken in such a way—I don't know who took them. My dad is afraid these photos will affect his work, so he won't let me see you. He even wanted to talk to you privately, but I..."

Jiang Xiwen finally understood why she was angry and why she felt so aggrieved. Watching Zhang Ya, who was still muttering to herself, he found her quite adorable and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Zhang Ya’s face turned red at his laughter. "What are you laughing at?! I’m worried, and you’re acting like nothing happened."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Jiang Xiwen stopped laughing. "Class monitor, are we good friends?"

"Of course." Zhang Ya looked at him, full of doubt.

"Then are we friends on the surface, or in our hearts?"

"In our hearts, of course."

"Since it's in our hearts, there’s no need to be hung up on the formality of meeting. Your dad is just about to get a promotion and is worried that those stolen photos might cause him trouble. Once he officially becomes the Executive Vice Mayor, it will be fine. So, don't worry."

"Hmm." Zhang Ya thought for a while before saying, "What you said seems to make sense..."

"That's right. You should go back now. No need to come looking for me if there's nothing urgent; just keep me in your heart." Jiang Xiwen patted his chest, looking like a bright, heroic man.

"Oh, then... am I going?" Zhang Ya really wanted to stay longer, but she couldn't find a reason to argue with him, so she left, feeling a bit despondent.

However, this feeling vanished after she had walked only a few steps.

*Hmm, he is in my heart, and I am in his heart...* The words Jiang Xiwen had just said and the image of him patting his chest echoed in her mind. A blush rose on Zhang Ya’s face, and she smiled like a flower.

Watching her back, Jiang Xiwen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He silently thanked the person who took the photos; it had saved him a lot of time. He wouldn't have to deal with Zhang Ya for a long time, preventing her from becoming too deeply attached to him.

Although Jiang Xiwen didn't think she would actually fall in love with him, her behavior suggested she was leaning that way. To easily steal a young girl’s first love felt wrong to him. He felt he had to nip these feelings in the bud—a contribution to the healthy growth of the "flowers of the motherland." Jiang Xiwen felt quite noble.

Qi Huanchang had gone to Xijing on a business trip over the past two days, a task assigned by Jiang Xiwen. Before he left, Jiang Xiwen had given him a crash course in video game knowledge. In this era, it was rare to find gaming magazines in mainland China, so very few people knew about the industry. Much of what Jiang Xiwen taught him was completely unheard of to Qi Huanchang.

The reason for sending Qi Huanchang to Xijing was to contact the founding editors of China’s first-ever gaming magazine and establish a long-term partnership.

Jiang Xiwen had deep memories of this magazine. Words like "so cool" or "totally awesome" were things he had first learned from that magazine and introduced to his class—he was quite the trendsetter back then.

Moreover, Jiang Xiwen understood the future influence of this magazine. Despite focusing on video games, it would go on to dominate the entire Chinese gaming publication market.

As a long-term advertising partner, Jiang Xiwen certainly wanted to take advantage of this. If possible, he wanted Qi Huanchang to negotiate with the magazine staff to become their largest shareholder. He didn't understand the book and magazine market well, so if the negotiations succeeded, he would only provide the capital and operate from behind the scenes, while the staff handled the publishing permits and daily operations.

In the late afternoon, Jiang Xiwen received a call. Qi Huanchang had found the founders of *Electronic Game Software*. They were busy working on the inaugural issue and hadn't even decided on a name yet.

"Suggest to them that they call it *Game Concentration Camp*. It would be best to include a column like 'Notes from the Electric Chair,' recording the gossip and funny anecdotes of the editors while they play games. It would definitely be very interesting..." Jiang Xiwen explained the content and writing style of the once-famous column in one breath to Qi Huanchang.

"Good!" Qi Huanchang laughed and nodded. He felt Jiang Xiwen’s suggestion was brilliant; at the very least, a gaming enthusiast like himself would love it.

After hanging up, Qi Huanchang turned to the few young people his age. They were all gaming fanatics and had already become familiar with Qi Huanchang before he called Jiang Xiwen.

"Fatty Qi, who is that friend of yours? This idea is amazing! Why don't you invite him to be a special contributor?" Liu Rude said, rolling his eyes at Qi Huanchang. If Jiang Xiwen had seen him, he would have recognized him as the mastermind behind the "Notes from the Electric Chair" column—Editor Old D.