Penguin Empire

Chapter 156

At 5:00 PM, the setting sun was burning brightly.

Inside the beat-up Santana of Tongda Driving School, it was as stiflingly hot as a steamer.

"You're releasing the clutch too fast. Are you trying to catapult us to the moon?"

Gu Ran's voice was lazy, carrying a hint of careless amusement.

His hand wasn't holding the handle at all; instead, it completely covered the girl's right hand resting on the gear shift.

His palm was scalding hot, the temperature burning all the way down the back of her hand straight to the tip of her heart.

"I... I know! Don't get so close..."

Ye Zhenzhen shrank her neck back, the tips of her ears red enough to drip blood.

She didn't know if her driving skills had improved after this afternoon's "private lesson," but her resistance to embarrassment had definitely been maxed out.

Gu Ran, this dog, was literally demonstrating "hand-in-hand teaching."

...

Returning to Riverside Gardens, the evening breeze was slightly cool, but it couldn't blow away the sticky atmosphere between the two of them.

"Student Ye, how was the teacher's teaching quality?" Gu Ran stood with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to look at her. "Aren't you going to give a five-star review?"

"Wandering hands, bad review, minus one star!" The girl put her hands behind her back, kicking a small pebble by the roadside with a humph.

"You don't get it, do you? That's called correcting movements, immersive teaching."

Walking to the bottom of the apartment building, Gu Ran paused his steps, his eyes playfully sweeping over her from head to toe.

"Since the service was up to standard, shouldn't we talk about... the tuition fee?"

Ye Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat. She crossed her arms protectively over her chest and took two steps back. "Wh-what tuition fee?"

"You can't renege on your debt."

Gu Ran took a step closer, his tall figure completely enveloping her. "Even the landlord has no surplus grain."

"Ah, we're home! I'm going to take a shower. I'm all sweaty and sticky."

After the girl finished speaking, she violently pushed open the building door and fled in a panic.

Gu Ran looked at her flustered back and curled his lips.

Run?

Have you seen my forty-meter machete? I'll let you run thirty-nine meters first!

...

As soon as she entered the door, Ye Zhenzhen tried to dive into the bedroom before even changing her shoes properly.

"Stop right there."

A large hand accurately clamped onto her wrist, and with a slight tug, she was pulled back.

"The private lesson isn't over yet. Is Student Ye planning to skip class?"

"We're... we're already home, what class is there to take!" Ye Zhenzhen pressed herself against the base of the wall, her eyes darting around, not daring to look at him.

Gu Ran smiled mysteriously, turning around to place two chairs side by side in the center of the living room.

Immediately after, he took a white ceramic round plate from the kitchen and forced it into her hands.

"Sit properly." Gu Ran sat boldly in the "passenger seat," crossing his legs. "Given your poor performance during the day, we are adding an intensive simulated driving lesson tonight."

Ye Zhenzhen looked at the plate in her hand with a bewildered expression.

"???"

How was this different from what she imagined?

Was he serious?

"The latest force-feedback steering wheel, limited ceramic edition, top-notch feel," Gu Ran said, patting the chair next to him.

"Gu 'Dog' Ran, aren't you childish?" The girl pouted, almost unable to resist smashing the plate into his face.

"Be serious!" Gu Ran used the remote control as a pointer, tapping the leg of the chair. "The evening rush hour traffic is complicated. Driver, please concentrate."

Ye Zhenzhen: "..."

Fine, she'd just treat it as playing with an idiot for a while.

The girl completely resigned herself to her fate, then gripped the edge of the plate, her delicate little face full of solemnity. "Reporting to the coach, Student Ye Zhenzhen is in position. Should I start the engine!"

"Ignite!"

"Vroom, dadada..."

As the saying goes, when two people are together, they either share the same values or the same illness.

The game they were playing might be a bit childish for elementary school students, but it was just right for prospective college students!

Watching the girl imitate a car starting, her little tongue rolling rapidly, Gu Ran was instantly stunned.

I couldn't tell, Ye Zhenzhen, you actually have some skills!

Steadying his mind, Gu Ran continued to get into... character. "Very good, turn left at the intersection ahead."

"That's a window!"

"I said it's an intersection, so it's an intersection. Am I the coach or are you?" Gu Ran interrupted unreasonably.

The game proceeded unexpectedly smoothly. Ye Zhenzhen's tense nerves slowly relaxed, and she even found this game of house quite relieving.

But she had clearly underestimated a certain someone's sinister intentions.

"Traffic light ahead, stop the car."

Ye Zhenzhen obediently stepped on the "brakes."

"Beep—! You crossed the line." Gu Ran pointed at the gap in the floor tiles. "Points deducted, level one punishment."

"Where's the line? This is a tile gap!"

"The coach reserves the right of final interpretation."

Before she could react, slender fingers suddenly drew close, lightly flicking the tip of her perky nose.

The movement was gentle, carrying a hint of doting.

"Don't let it happen again."

Ye Zhenzhen was stunned, her nose feeling tingly and numb.

This was... punishment?

It... it didn't seem that scary after all.

For a moment, she even felt that making a few more mistakes wouldn't be so bad...

"Green light, start moving."

This time, Gu Ran no longer sat obediently.

He leaned his body slightly, his warm breath intentionally or unintentionally brushing against the hollow of her neck. "Watch your following distance..."

Half of Ye Zhenzhen's body went numb, her palms holding the plate covered in sweat.

"Turn right, check your mirrors."

"Okay..."

"Wrong! That's going against traffic!" Gu Ran called a stop again. "Reaction too slow, level two punishment."

This time there was no flicking of the nose.

That hand gently pinched the girl's soft and tender cheek, the pad of his thumb rubbing it.

Gu Ran leaned in very close, close enough to count her slightly trembling eyelashes.

"Look into my eyes."

Ye Zhenzhen was forced to look up, plunging headlong into those eyes as deep as the sea.

The two stared at each other for two seconds, or maybe two minutes; the girl only felt the surrounding air start to turn thick.

"Pay more attention next time, hmm?"

The rising tone at the end was simply a fatal tease.

All at once, the girl's face turned as red as a ripe peach, her brain turning to mush.

Why did this simulated driving feel a bit indecent, and a little intoxicating?

"Last segment, get on the overpass." Gu Ran sat back in his original position, as if nothing had just happened.

Ye Zhenzhen took a deep breath, and just as she was about to "step on the gas," she heard Gu Ran suddenly shout.

"Accident ahead, emergency brake!"

The girl subconsciously slammed on the "brakes," her body leaning slightly forward.

Right at that moment, a powerful arm swept across, accurately hooking around her waist and scooping her back.

"Thump."

She crashed directly into a solid, warm embrace.

The ceramic plate fell onto the carpet with a "clang" and rolled far away.

"Serious error."

Gu Ran's voice came from above her head. "Failure to wear a seatbelt resulted in the driver flying out of the seat."

Ye Zhenzhen lay in his arms, her every breath filled with a pleasant minty scent, her whole body as stiff as a board.

"I... I didn't..."

"Shh."

A finger pressed against her lips, blocking all her excuses.

Gu Ran's burning gaze locked onto the girl in his arms, his eyes looking as if they wanted to devour her.

"Special class accident. License revoked."

"Now, executing the ultimate punishment."

Ye Zhenzhen's pupils shrank slightly, her eyelashes trembling violently.

The large hand at her waist restricted her like iron pincers, leaving her nowhere to retreat.

"The tuition fee, I'll take it myself."

As his voice fell, Gu Ran leaned down and fiercely kissed those red lips he had been longing for.

"Mmph..."

Ye Zhenzhen's eyes widened, feeling as if a massive firework had just exploded in her mind.

Under the crystal chandelier, two silhouettes overlapped.

Her hands, initially pushing against him, gradually changed their tune, gripping his collar tightly as her entire body melted into a puddle of water.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as she was about to run out of oxygen, Gu Ran finally showed mercy and let her go.

Both of them were breathing heavily.

Gu Ran wiped the moisture from the corner of her lips with his thumb. "Did you learn it, Trainee Ye?"

"You... pervert!"

Finally regaining a shred of reason, Ye Zhenzhen was dying of embarrassment. She shoved him away and, not even bothering to pick up the plate, dashed back to her room barefoot.

Click.

The sound of the lock turning was crisp and loud.

The living room returned to silence.

Gu Ran sat on the chair, touching his lips as he savored that jelly-like sensation. He couldn't suppress his grin at all.

"Private tutoring" was great. They needed more of it, absolutely more!

In an excellent mood, he was just about to get up and clean up the abandoned plate when a sound interrupted him.

Buzz.

His phone vibrated.

Who would be texting at this hour?

Gu Ran casually pulled out his phone. The screen displayed: [Employee GR-002] (Li Sinan).

He swiped the screen open.

The moment he read the contents, the smile vanished from Gu Ran's face.

The text was short, but every word felt like a knife:

[Boss, something terrible has happened.]

[Penguin Interactive Entertainment just announced the establishment of an independent mobile games division. Their first self-developed mobile game is codenamed 'Everyday Dash,' and its core gameplay highly overlaps with our 'Temple Run'!]

[There's also news that they are contacting the App Store, preparing to use their channel resources to launch it first in the domestic market.]

The summer of 2011.

That massive penguin entrenched in Shenzhen had finally caught the scent of blood in the mobile internet market.

It was here.

Bringing with it plagiarism, cloning, and the crushing weight of capital, it charged into this blue ocean.

Gu Ran took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them again, instantly losing his composure.

Do they have zero fucking shame?

Blatantly copying us?!

Do they really think their undefeated Nanshan legal team is invincible?

Fucking hell, it seems they actually are invincible.