A live stream of someone hand-making a giant white robot attracted the attention of the government,

At the other end of the laboratory, there was utter silence.

Su Wanqing buried herself completely in the thin blanket. The only thing she could hear was her own unruly heart pounding wildly in her chest, making a loud, drum-like sound.

Thump~ thump~ thump~

Each sound made her eardrums go numb.

Everything that had just happened was replaying wildly in her mind.

Those strong arms that reached under her knees, that warm, firm chest, the unexpectedly refreshing scent of metal and soap on his body, and the whispered words in her ear, "Overtime pay is here."

With a loud bang, she felt like she was about to spontaneously combust.

shame!

anger!

There was also an emotion that was completely indescribable, so absurd it almost overwhelmed her reason.

That bastard! How dare he! How could he do that!

Su Wanqing, from childhood to adulthood, has always been a favored daughter of heaven, the student council president, and the calm and self-possessed ice queen in everyone's eyes. When has she ever suffered such a humiliation?

"Company bankruptcy"?

He actually used this reason to explain his hooligan behavior?

This bizarre logic made it impossible for her to even form a coherent insult.

No, I have to get up!

She still has piles of documents to process, countless phone calls to return, and the future of Zero Boundary Technology to plan! How could she lie here sleeping like a piece of trash?

The moment the thought crossed her mind, she prepared to throw off the covers and sit up.

However, she froze halfway through her movement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the enormous white figure standing motionless beside the bed. The smiling face screen on its chest was facing her, and its round black eyes seemed to gleam with an inorganic, program-like coldness.

Bai Che's insane command echoed automatically in her mind.

"The alarm went off immediately, and the volume was turned up to the highest level."

"Change the sound effects to 'Good Days' and play it on repeat."

A terrifying image instantly formed in her mind.

The jarring yet festive music echoed throughout the underground laboratory. Startled, Bai Che, who was wearing headphones, took them off and looked at her with a "why are you being so troublesome?" expression. Then, all the awakened researchers, security guards, and even stray cats passing by in the laboratory building would gather around, drawn by the sound, to see Su Wanqing, disheveled, climbing out of the chairman's cot...

Social death is nothing more than this.

A chill ran up her tailbone, instantly extinguishing all her anger and courage.

Resignedly, she slowly shrank back into the blankets, wrapping herself even tighter, like a snail that had lost a fight and retreated into its shell.

That bastard, he figured out his own limitations!

He knew how much he cared about his reputation and how afraid he was of losing face in front of others. He used the most precise and shameless method to completely shut down all her resistance.

Su Wanqing buried her face deep in the pillow, so angry she was itching to bite down.

A faint, clean scent entered my nostrils.

It wasn't the smell of disinfectant and equipment from a laboratory, nor the smell of sweat that had accumulated over several days. Instead, it was a very refreshing scent, the clean fragrance of soap after a shower, mixed with a hint of the warmth of sun-dried cotton.

It's his scent.

This pillow, this blanket... all still retain his scent.

This realization caused her cheeks, which had finally cooled down, to burn hot again.

She felt completely immersed in his scent, with nowhere to escape.

Embarrassment, resentment, helplessness... all sorts of emotions churned within her, making her feel agitated.

But ironically, in this extremely chaotic atmosphere, the exhaustion that had been building up for nearly forty-eight hours and was almost overwhelming her suddenly swept over her like a flood.

Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, her brain was working at an increasingly slow pace, and her jumbled thoughts began to blur.

The tension that had been building up due to caffeine and intense work gradually eased in this strange atmosphere that was both shameful and...incredibly reassuring.

It was quiet all around, except for the low, lullaby-like hum of the server rack fans.

It was warm, with a thin blanket gently covering my body, keeping out the chill of the night.

Beside her... there was also an absolutely loyal, chubby white man protecting her.

In the last second before her consciousness completely sank into darkness, Su Wanqing had only one thought left in her mind.

This was probably the most restful sleep she had had in the past few days.

……

The dream was bizarre and fantastical.

She felt as if she were back at that press conference under the scorching spotlight.

Countless cameras and microphones, like dark gun barrels, were pointed at her. Below the stage, countless eyes, filled with scrutiny, doubt, and greed, made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

Just as she was about to be crushed by this immense pressure, a figure stood in front of her.

It's Bai Che.

He didn't turn around; he just stood there, shielding her from the madness of the entire world.

Those sharp and sarcastic questions, those trap-filled inquiries, vanished the moment they approached him.

He did nothing and said nothing.

But Su Wanqing felt an unprecedented, unbreakable sense of security.

It turns out he didn't leave her alone on the stage.

He simply built an invisible wall for her in his own way, a wall strong enough to withstand all storms.

The dream gradually faded, but the warmth of being protected remained deep in my heart.

She floated in an ocean of consciousness, surrounded by tranquil darkness.

She began to recall how her feelings for Bai Che had gradually changed.

From the very beginning, it was that "problem junior" who slept in class and gave her a lot of headaches.

Later, the "scientific monster" who conjured up nuclear fusion technology by hand in her dormitory shattered her worldview.

Then at the press conference, the "mastermind" who had given her everything but paved the way for her in advance was revealed.

Admiration, shock, helplessness, anger...

These emotions intertwined, and eventually, without her realizing it, fermented into something else entirely, something that even she herself found unfamiliar.

What is that?

It hurts to see him working so hard on his research.

I get angry when I see him being questioned by the outside world.

When I see him teasing me with those little technological inventions, I feel embarrassed and annoyed, but deep down, I also feel a secret joy that I don't even want to admit.

She realized that her all-out efforts to learn, work, and build Zero Boundary Technology's business barriers were not just to realize her own value, nor just for a promising career.

She is protecting.

Protect this man who seems lazy and indifferent to everything, yet silently shoulders the future of the entire world.

She wanted to shield him from all the troubles he disdained to deal with, and wanted him to be free forever, staying in his pure technological world to create one miracle after another.

The thought was so clear and so intense that it shocked even herself.

This is not a CEO's loyalty to the chairman.

It's a... deeper, more instinctive desire to take care of him and protect him.

This unfamiliar, surging emotion startled Su Wanqing from her slumber for a moment.

She slowly opened her eyes in the darkness.

The laboratory was dimly lit, with only the table lamps on the white workbench in the distance and the indicator lights of the servers emitting a faint glow.

The huge white figure still stood quietly by the bed, like a silent mountain.

The screen on its chest, at some point, had changed from that cute smiling face to an equally cute emoticon indicating that it was in hibernation.

(- . -)Zzz……

Looking at that silly and cute expression, all of Su Wanqing's shame, anger and resentment turned into a barely perceptible sigh with a heavy nasal tone.

She closed her eyes and let herself drift back into a peaceful dream.

That bastard.