Liu Chen's girlfriend, Ren Yu, had experienced a surge in Weibo followers after their relationship went public, much like water flowing into a swimming pool – steady and continuous.
She now boasted thirty thousand followers, a significant figure. Of course, it was still a far cry from Liu Chen's hundreds of thousands, inching towards a million.
However, thirty thousand followers were enough for Ren Yu's "couple photos" to quickly catch the attention of netizens who were idly browsing online during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Some even zoomed in on the pictures on their computers for a closer look.
Guided by a few "discerning" individuals, netizens suddenly realized.
"Holy crap, wait! Weren't there five people's bowls and chopsticks at that dinner?"
"Confirmed, a family gathering."
"Met the parents already?"
"Is my goddess visiting the boyfriend's family for the New Year?"
"Damn, I'm so jealous of this guy, having such a beautiful and smart girlfriend."
Thus, the topic "Liu Chen Visits Boyfriend's Family" quickly gained traction. However, it also sparked some backlash from a segment of netizens.
"No wonder she's rushing to visit the boyfriend's family after just starting to date. She wants to show off her virtue and wifely demeanor, right? Otherwise, how can she marry into a wealthy family?"
"Heh, they just started dating and are already rushing to go public and visit the boyfriend's family. Such an overt gold digger. I personally don't like her, and I'll definitely boycott 'Meimei Brand' products!"
"Is that true? I don't believe it. I'll wait for my goddess's explanation."
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As the online comments continued to ferment, Liu Chen lay on his bed, engaged in his one-on-one tutoring sessions. Ren Yu, on the other hand, sat in her chair, her slender, fair hands with well-defined joints flying across the keyboard, seemingly oblivious to the online chatter.
It wasn't until eleven o'clock at night.
Ren Yu's phone alarm chimed. Only then did Ren Yu switch her screen from the code editor to the browser interface, open Weibo, and click to publish the meticulously crafted Weibo post.
Ren Yu: My conversation with the elder was very insightful.
[Image] [Image]
The photos showed her and Elder Chen in the study.
After posting, Ren Yu abandoned her stern, keyboard-pounding demeanor. She leaned back in her chair, tilted her head to the right, and gazed at the continuously refreshing comments on her Weibo with a doting smile.
"Hahaha, hilarious! Got proven wrong, didn't you? She was visiting the female's family. If we follow the logic of the commenters above, then Ren Yu is the gold-digging male!"
"As expected, even a rich and handsome senior couldn't resist the goddess's charm!"
Eleven o'clock at night was the peak online activity period for Weibo users. Coupled with the reversal provided by the two posts, it quickly ignited a counterattack from the majority of previously silent netizens.
Seeing that the tide of comments had stabilized exactly as he had anticipated, Ren Yu decisively switched windows again, returning to the pure black background to write code.
Previously, he had treated the attempts to breach the company's firewall with a playful mindset, even assigning these hackers to his employees as practice assignments.
Now, Ren Yu had resolved to focus on their relationship during their pre-school cohabitation period. He intended to make both his games and the company's firewall as impenetrable as a steel plate.
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Liu Chen opened his eyes, the final words of his last lecture about the future of food additives still echoing in his mind.
He got out of bed and sat at his desk, first outlining the key points from the previous night's lessons. Then, he clasped his hands together and stretched upwards, extending his entire spine before exhaling with a sudden release.
His back, which had lain flat and still all night, finally felt relaxed, a tingling sensation spreading through it.
As usual, Liu Chen went downstairs for breakfast. Sister Qiong was in the kitchen all morning. The moment Liu Chen stepped in, he felt her intense gaze.
Hesitating for a second, Liu Chen took two steamed buns and a bowl of congee. He had a flight to catch at noon and could buy something at the airport later. It was his last day, so he didn't want to shock Sister Qiong with his appetite.
And so, Sister Qiong, who had been on guard all morning, failed to find the culprit who had been raiding the kitchen's provisions.
Meanwhile, Liu Chen, now clad in a pure white Chanel hoodie and sweatpants, sat at his desk. A strong sense of urgency forced him to buckle down and continue reviewing the outline he had written in his notebook.
He realized that as his learning pace accelerated, his tutoring sessions also sped up. In just one week, he had already reached the first semester of his sophomore year.
If he maintained this efficiency, he could potentially complete the entire university curriculum by the end of his thirty-day tutoring period.
This meant that if he wished, he could even start writing his thesis in the second semester of his freshman year, apply for early graduation, and secure a spot for postgraduate studies.
With this thought, Liu Chen wrote a name in his notebook.
He Long.
The graduate students supervised by He Long conducted the most economically viable experiments among all food science graduate students at Tsinghua University, or rather, throughout China.
In other words, graduates from Professor He Long's lab were highly sought after by major food companies, ready to be employed directly upon graduation to develop new products.
Liu Chen's goal, however, was to become the boss of "Meimei Brand," capable of leading independent product development.
When a company's research and development relies on the ephemeral mechanism of system lottery draws, its foundation cannot be solid.
Furthermore, a marketer who doesn't aspire to be a new product developer is not a good boss.
Even the best marketing is a castle in the air without a solid product foundation. This was Liu Chen's hard-earned lesson from his past life as a salesman.
Lost in thoughts of his previous life, time slipped away unnoticed. When he finally came to his senses, his mother was knocking on his door, reminding him that his eleven o'clock flight required him to be at the airport at least an hour and a half in advance.
He changed from his sweatpants to a matching white fleece-lined athletic pair and put on a light blue long down jacket. Driving in the winter, sitting in the passenger seat in the summer, Liu Chen and Ren Yu sat in the second row of a business car.
On the plane, Liu Chen watched the city shrink below. Once the plane had reached a stable altitude, he took out his laptop and a pen to continue his unfinished revision.
Ren Yu, sitting beside him, also quietly took out her laptop and resumed writing code for the firewall.
Other first-class passengers who witnessed this scene felt an inexplicable sense of urgency about their own lives.
"A new year, and we must continue to work hard!"