“Fu’er, what are you doing? Didn’t you say you were waiting for me to talk about the reopening of your brother’s case? I just finished a meeting and came to find you, but there was no one in your room. Didn’t you say you were at the Start Alliance Grand Hotel?”
In the empty laboratory building, Fu Luoyin’s phone vibrated, receiving a voice message from Dong Shuoye.
Although Su Yu and Dong Shuoye, this group of rowdy friends, usually enjoy hanging out at clubs to relax, they are serious about getting things done when it matters. Dong Shuoye is the Deputy Chief of General Affairs Department at the Alliance Public Security Bureau, while Su Yu rose even higher in rank. However, unable to withstand the pressure recently, he resigned and is now planning to use the New Year’s money he has saved over the years to start a small business.
Fu Luoyin glanced at the lights in the quantum analysis laboratory from a distance, walked back a few steps, and opened the message to take a look. Then, he dialed a number and said, “I just finished my meeting and I’m taking a walk outside. I’ll be back soon.”
“Where are you hanging out?” Dong Shuoye said. “If you don’t come back soon, I’m going to eat all the grilled lobster and spicy skewers. I just charmed the hotel kitchen staff to get them, and it took some effort for them to agree to let me take them away. I’m waiting for you in room 313. I’m too lazy to run up to your seventh floor, it’s too far.”
“You go ahead and eat. I’ll wait for someone to come home to eat later,” Fu Luoyin said.
He glanced back at the lights of the laboratory once more, hesitated for a moment, then walked out of the laboratory building.
Back at the hotel, Dong Shuoye cleared his throat sarcastically and said, “I~ will~ wait~ for~ someone~ to~ come~ home~ to eat~. When Fu’er refuses to eat junk food with us, I knew there must be something fishy going on.”
Fu Luoyin glanced at him.
Dong Shuoye asked him with a half-smile, “Most likely went to see your little lover at Star University, right? The other day, Zhou Heng mentioned you haven’t been home lately, just going straight there, and eating only the meals your little lover cooks. I was just wondering what you’re up to, taking walks late at night.”
Fu Luoyin said, “My stomach issues have flared up recently. I’m staying at his place to take care of it.”
Dong Shuoye tsked and said, “That good, huh? I’m telling you, Fu’er…”
Suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he whispered to him, “Fu’er, it’s been ten years. I heard that Xia Ran might be coming back.”
Fu Luoyin reached for the water, hesitated slightly in his movement.
“Do you know about that girl he’s close with, Ou Qian? She went on exchange from Star University’s undergraduate program before, and now she’s transferred back from the Eastern Hemisphere’s major branch to do her graduation at Star University. Xia Ran might also follow her back to Star City,” Dong Shuoye said.
Fu Luoyin took a sip of lukewarm water, his tone devoid of much emotion. “Is he still hanging out with those people?”
“Fu’er, don’t… don’t be so sarcastic and confrontational whenever Xia Ran’s matter is brought up. I mean, when I mentioned earlier that Xia Ran dumped you, ah, he did dump you, right? Don’t look at me like that. Do you just think you’re completely faultless, and it’s all his fault for letting you down?”
Dong Shuoye glanced at him, choosing his words carefully. “There’s really no need to make it like wheat spikes and barley grains. You used to argue all the time before, but now you can sit down and have a good talk, right?”
“I don’t think much of any of those people around him. We used to argue about this back then, and now it’s even more of an issue,” Fu Luoyin placed the cup back on the table. “There’s nothing more to say about the past. Let’s talk about something serious. My brother’s case needs to be reopened, and I want you to handle the investigation.”
……
At 11:30 PM, Lin Shuicheng rubbed his eyes, stood up, and stretched lazily.
Although he had requested to work overtime himself, in reality, it didn’t take too much time. By before midnight, he had already completed everything.
Many people encounter similar data sets, so Lin Shuicheng simply categorized and wrote a small program to extract and process them. Their specialization is in social sciences and military industries, bordering on a semi-confidential level, with resources at their disposal that others can’t imagine.
Quantum analysts and typical business data analysts differ in their reliance on tools such as SQL, Scala, and Python crawlers. The Pili parsing system they use has automated these aspects, reducing the need for learning programming languages from the last century.
Lin Shuicheng knows a little of everything, but it’s mostly to find better ways to slack off. He’s not really a model student by any standard.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
When he was young, neither his nor Lin Dengs’s handwriting were good. Whenever they were punished by their grandfather to copy texts, his father secretly taught them to use pencils on carbon copy paper that he had invented. Lin didn’t dare to do this, but he directly used a 3D printer to make over twenty types of intricate graphite stroke bars in various sizes that could be assembled. With these, he could compose any character and simply stamp them onto the paper after assembling them.
Qtfc tf kjr sbecu, ybat tlr jcv Olc Gfcu’r tjcvkglalcu kjr cba ubbv-ibbxlcu. Qtfc atfs kfgf qeclrtfv ys atflg ugjcvojatfg ab mbqs afzar, atflg ojatfg rfmgfais ajeuta atfw ab erf qfcmlir ab agjmf bc atflg bkc tjcvwjvf mbqslcu qjqfg. Olc Gfcu kbeivc’a vjgf ab vb atja. Lf, bc atf batfg tjcv, vlgfmais erfv 3G qglcalcu ab qgbvemf bnfg akfcas vloofgfca rlhfr bo vfilmjaf ugjqtlaf ragbxfr. Ktfrf ragbxfr mbeiv yf jrrfwyifv lcab jcs mtjgjmafg, jcv joafg jrrfwyis, atfs mbeiv rlwqis rajwq atfw bcab qjqfg.
After his grandfather found out, he laughed and scolded him for a while. Surprisingly, he never forced him to write again, but instead focused on squeezing Lin Deng.
Nowadays, his handwriting is very beautiful.
After handing over the data to Group 2 and Group 7, he realized that Ou Qian had sent him a message hours ago: “Lin Shuicheng, our group finalized the division of tasks today. I’m in charge of gathering materials, Meng Yi and Lü Jian are responsible for writing the literature review. The rest will be handled by you and Senior Sister Mengmeng for organization. Is this arrangement okay?”
Lin Shuicheng glanced at it, didn’t reply immediately, but instead found Xu Mengmeng’s contact window and sent a “1” over.
Xu Mengmeng was still awake and quickly replied, “Junior Brother Xiao Lin, I’ve seen the division of tasks. I haven’t looked at the content we need to organize yet. I’m exhausted and sleepy. Can I come over tomorrow to discuss with you?”
Lin Shuicheng: “Go to sleep. First, send it to me.”
Xu Mengmeng quickly shared a cloud drive link. Lin Shuicheng logged in and downloaded it to take a look, furrowing his brow.
He quickly scanned through it and sent a message: “Is this the material they found and the literature review they wrote?”
On the other end, Xu Mengmeng was just about to sleep when his question startled her awake. She quickly opened it and read through, asking puzzledly, “Is there a problem?”
“The algorithm cases referenced in the literature review don’t directly match our project, and the data was downloaded based on keywords without any organized classification. We need far more data than just these, it’s completely inadequate,” Lin Shuicheng said.
Xu Mengmeng also opened and took a glance, then was dumbfounded.
Ou Qian’s idea of “organizing” is quite vague. Data collection is preliminary preparation, and the literature review is just a shortcut written in advance. The core content of the opening report paper isn’t mentioned at all; they’ve left all that to be “organized” by them.
Star University rigorously scrutinizes such projects. Even though it’s just for the opening report, discussing the feasibility, practicality, and necessity of the project, everything follows the strictest procedures during the defense. The records of the defense process are kept in the archives.
“So does this mean we have to do everything?” Xu Mengmeng said incredulously, feeling so annoyed that her drowsiness completely disappeared. “I’m going to call Ou Qian right now!”
“No need, I’ll write it,” Lin Shuicheng said. “It’s quite troublesome to adjust later. I’ll finalize it alone. If you have time, you can start working on the PowerPoint presentation.”
Xu Mengmeng said, “Are you doing this alone?”
“Yeah, it’ll be faster if I do it alone,” Lin Shuicheng said. “If you don’t have enough time, just leave the data running to me. Starting tomorrow, I’ll set aside some time for this. Let the others’ data wait for now.”
Lin Shuicheng patiently explained.
He really believed that he could work faster alone. Countless times organizing assignments from childhood to adulthood had taught him this—he wasn’t very suited to teamwork; he preferred working independently. Of all the contents in the opening report, the only thing he disliked doing was the PowerPoint. It seemed tedious and didn’t require much thinking, a waste of time.
Xu Mengmeng was shocked: “Are you sure you want to do it alone?”
Lin Shuicheng sent a cute kitten crouching emoji—part of his own series of emojis he had made for Chief—and added “Trust me, it’ll be fine.”
Xu Mengmeng stared at the cute and mysteriously mischievous cowcat emoji on the emoji, already imagining Lin Shuicheng’s gentle expression on the other side.
Why does she feel that Junior Brother Xiao Lin’s sending of an emoji is so charming? Is this the aura of a top student?
Lin Shuicheng searched for the necessary information himself and then listed out the points that needed to be included in the opening report.
After completing all of this, it was only half past midnight.
He felt a bit worried and a bit sleepy—although Fu Luoyin’s presence at home was unbearable for him, he also found it hard to endure staying up late like this consecutively.
He’s someone who places high demands on his sleep, so lying down and sleeping in the lab would be even more uncomfortable for him.
Lin Shuicheng faced the empty computer desktop, feeling a bit worried. After a while, he suddenly had a bright idea, and he opened his phone to search for nearby hotels.
Tomorrow the military is coming to visit, and there are several important meetings to be held. Hotels near Star University are all booked by various reporters. However, the Alliance Grand Hotel on the main campus of Star University usually reserves a few rooms for internal personnel and certain important figures.
During his undergraduate years, Lin Shuicheng often traveled with his supervisor. Each time they booked accommodations and arranged their itinerary, it was his task as the junior disciple to handle it, so he barely knew these rules.
His supervisor’s name was known to everyone, and it was once mentioned that if Lin Shuicheng continued to study chemistry after graduation, he could not only be recommended for graduate studies as an exception but also reserve a direct Ph.D. position for him.
However, when Lin Shuicheng graduated, there was an issue at home, so he went to work immediately to earn money. After working for two months, he met Fu Luoyin, and he started preparing for graduate school exams. However, the subject he studied was quantum analysis, and since then, he has been estranged from chemistry.
He opened his messages and sent a message to his supervisor: “Teacher, may I borrow your ID card number to book a room?”
His supervisor, despite the time difference, quickly replied, “You may. When are you coming back to continue chemistry? If you come back, feel free to borrow it; if not, don’t even think about it in the future.”
Lin Shuicheng typed out a dense paragraph of words, but ultimately deleted all of it.
He said, “Very soon, I promise. Thank you, teacher.”
When Lin Shuicheng checked into the hotel, the receptionist confirmed his name: “The guest checking in is Lin Shuicheng, recommended by Professor Yang, is that correct? We have already confirmed with Professor Yang. Until when do you plan to stay?”
Lin Shuicheng said, “Tomorrow morning at 7 o’clock.”
Next to him, someone checking out raised their eyebrows with interest and asked, “Are you a student of Professor Yang Zhiwei? Could you help me get an autograph?”
Lin Shuicheng paused for a moment, then turned his head and found it was a stranger.
Strangely, the person also paused for a moment upon seeing him.
The other person was dressed in the uniform overcoat of the General Affairs Department of Alliance Police Security Bureau, and there were others in similar attire bustling in and out of the lobby. They must be here for a meeting.
Seeing Lin Shuicheng’s surprise, the person smiled in a friendly manner and said, “Sorry if I’m being forward. I really admire Professor Yang. Could I add your contact information if it’s convenient?”
Lin Shuicheng smiled and shook his head, “It might not be convenient. My teacher doesn’t like to be disturbed.”
“It’s alright then. I’m glad to have met you,” the person walked over and decisively handed him a business card. They then leaned in to check Lin Shuicheng’s registration information, looking somewhat casual. “Lin Shuicheng, nice name. I’ll remember it. See you next time.”
Lin Shuicheng watched the person walk away, then glanced down at his phone to see a new message: “Remember to save this contact information. My name is on the business card.”
Checking the time, the message was sent while they were still talking. Surprisingly, the person had blindly typed it with their phone in their pocket.
The receptionist, witnessing the whole sequence of actions, couldn’t help but exclaim, “That was slick!”
Lin Shuicheng glanced down at the business card, “Dong Shuoye.”
He often found himself approached for contact information while walking on the street, encountering various tactics, but he didn’t take it seriously and went straight upstairs.
……
“Fu’er, have you left yet? If not, then let me tell you, you might not need to leave.” Dong Shuoye left the hotel, playing with a small piece of paper in his hand. On it were Lin Shuicheng’s name, phone number, room number, and ID card number, which he had just hastily glanced at and memorized.
He has an extraordinary memory and never forgets what he sees, which is also how he managed to become a deputy department chief at such a young age.
Fu Luoyin asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I just saw your little lover downstairs. I bumped into him as he was booking a room! What a small world,” said Dong Shuoye.
There was a pause, “Lin Shuicheng?”
“I saw his photo from Su Yu. I can recognize him at a glance, that teardrop mole is too distinctive. Are you in the midst of a harem fire, Fu’er?” Dong Shuoye loved to stir things up, lowering his voice. “Go straight to Room 607 now. You might catch them in the act.”
“Yes, Su Yu showed me his photo. I can recognize him at a glance; that teardrop birthmark is too distinctive. Hasn’t your harem been on fire recently, Fu’er?” Dong Shuoye loved to stir up trouble the most, lowering his voice, he said, “Go straight to Room 607 now. You might catch them in adultery.”
“Focus on driving and stop talking nonsense,” Fu Luoyin said. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
……
Lin Shuicheng tried to use the room card to swipe open the door of Room 607, but found that it wouldn’t open.
He tried many times, but the room card kept emitting a red warning beep, attracting frequent glances from passersby.
When he returned to the front desk to inquire, the receptionist looked apologetic and said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It seems there’s a system malfunction in room 607. Can I change it to room 313 for you?”
Lin Shuicheng just wanted to sleep at the moment and wasn’t so particular about it: “That’s fine, no problem.”
Author’s Note:
Dear Mr. Xiao Lin, your package has arrived at Room 313. Please check it. [doge]
Translator’s Rant
Author: Dear Mr. Xiao Lin, your package has arrived at Room 313. Please check it. [doge]
Mr. Xiao Lin: Dear Author, I’d like to return this package. It’s not as described, and it’s causing more pain in the chrysanthemum than expected.
Author: “Dear Mr. Xiao Lin, our policy clearly states ‘no refunds.’ Besides, this package has already been emotionally unwrapped.”
Character: “But it’s defective! The package’s communication skills are lost in shipping, and it seems to be operating on a permanent ‘infatuation’ setting. Plus, it’s only here because it looks like my previous… delivery.”
Author: “Sorry, Mr. Xiao Lin. This package is non-returnable. You’ll just have to handle it with the plot twists we’ve provided.”
The package, Fu Luoyin: “….”
Thank you for the update🌺
I doubt it’ll happen but fingers crossed that Lin Shuicheng just flat out tells Fu Luoyin to his face that he’s avoiding him because he’s a shitty bed partner.
LOL the translator and authors scenes are too cute 😂 Thank you as always!