Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

Chapter 129 Good News

9 month 30 day.

evening.

Lin Dong didn't go straight back to his dormitory after leaving the teaching building.

He walked around the campus for a while, and finally found a bench by Xixing Lake to sit down.

The sun was setting, and the lake shimmered with an orange-red light. Several egrets stood motionless by the water's edge. In the distance, some people were jogging, some were strolling, and some were sitting on the grass reading.

It's been a month.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the lake.

A lot has happened this past month.

Standing at attention during military training until your legs go weak, marching until your feet are blistered. You get tanned like charcoal on the parade ground, and wait in long lines in the canteen until you're starving.

After military training ended and classes began, he gradually realized that he didn't know anyone in his class.

It's not that I don't want to get to know someone, it's that I simply can't.

University classes are different from high school classes. In high school, students in the same class stay together all day, but in university, classes are held in different groups.

This class is in this classroom, that class is in that classroom, and the people sitting next to me keep changing.

Sometimes, the person sitting next to you in one class is someone else in the next. After a week, you can hardly remember the names of most of them.

Moreover, there are always people in the classroom who like to compare themselves to others.

What brand of shoes they wear, what model of phone they use, what kind of car they drive. Lin Dong listened without feeling anything, but he didn't like that atmosphere either.

On the contrary, the relationship between the girls in the dormitory is getting better and better.

Although they weren't in the same major, they left home together every morning, ate lunch together in the cafeteria, and chatted in bed together in the evening. Li Hu would talk nonsense, Chen Long would tease him, and Xu Zang would always listen quietly. They spent half of their 24 hours together.

No one in the dormitory compares themselves to others, and no one asks questions.

I won't ask where you're from, what your family does, or what you want to do. We just eat together, sleep together, and chat about pretty upperclassmen.

He recalled a saying he had heard before: "Four years of college are not as good as one year of living in the same dormitory."

I didn't believe it before, but I do now.

I've experienced everything that was supposed to be experienced.

Next, it's time to go back to the company.

The parts are almost here, and there's a ton of work waiting for him. If this drags on any longer, Zhang Mingyuan and the others will start to panic.

But he needs to figure out how to talk to the guys in his dorm.

He didn't want to break this friendship.

These guys were genuinely good to him, and he truly considered them brothers.

Fortunately, Shenzhen University offers day student programs.

Many local Shenzhen students go home to live, while students from other places rent apartments to commute to school; the school doesn't care.

He could use his parents as an excuse: his parents moved to Shenzhen, which is closer to the school, and he could sometimes go home to stay there, which was convenient.

Naturally, it didn't make them overthink it.

That's what I'll say.

He stood up and walked towards the cafeteria.

"One order of stir-fried noodles, no chili, extra cilantro."

The boss responded and started stir-frying.

Lin Dong stood to the side waiting when his phone vibrated.

It was Uncle Cai calling.

He answered the call.

"Mr. Lin, is it a convenient time to talk?"

Uncle Cai cleared his throat and began his routine report.

Once a week, without fail. This has been the case for the past month.

"Zhang's motherboard is running smoothly, and the data is stable. Dr. Zhou has optimized the touch algorithm again. Cheng Chuan, Cheng..." (Okay.)

The antenna parameters have been tested and are now running; we're just waiting for the complete system.

Designer Su has finished modifying the mid-frame. Ding Xiao has finished writing the driver; we can assemble it once the screen is properly adjusted. There's still some battery left, enough to last. Li Guohui has prepared the materials; we're waiting for your return to arrange things.

After reporting on his routine work, he paused.

"Mr. Lin, there's more good news."

Lin Dong was stunned for a moment.

"explain."

"All the parts have arrived!"

Uncle Cai's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, his excitement impossible to contain.

"The batch from the end of September arrived a long time ago, and the screens, cameras, storage, and connectors for October all arrived this afternoon! I just personally inspected the goods, and not a single item is missing!"

Lin Dong tightened his grip on his phone.

"Have they all arrived?"

"They're all here!" Uncle Cai grinned from ear to ear. "President Lin, it's been four months, and they're finally all here!"

""

Lin Dong didn't say anything.

Four months.

From June until now, we've gone from having nothing to having a company, talent, and equipment—everything we need.

Factory acquisition in Dongguan, negotiations in San Francisco, poaching talent from Stanford, battery development with ATL, screen discussions with LG—one thing after another, we've gotten through it all.

Now, we can finally begin.

His lips twitched.

"it is good."

Uncle Cai was still excited over there.

"Mr. Lin, shall we begin now?"

Lin Dong nodded.

"Notify everyone. There will be a meeting tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."

He paused.

"Call Li Guohui and Wang Mei along too."

Uncle Cai paused for a moment, then his voice suddenly rose eight octaves.

"Okay, okay! I'll notify everyone right away! Nine o'clock! Tomorrow!"

He said "okay" several times, and you could hear his excitement even through the phone.

Lin Dong's lips curved into a smile.

"Hang up."

"Okay, okay!"

I hung up the phone.

Finally, it's about to begin.

He glanced at the fried noodles in his hand and walked back to his dormitory.

In the dormitory.

Li Hu was lying on the table with a copy of "Introduction to Computers" open in front of him, but he wasn't reading it at all; his eyes were staring blankly out the window.

Seeing Lin Dong enter, he called out weakly.

"Fourth brother, he's starving!"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Lin Dong place the fried noodles on his table.

Li Hu's eyes lit up instantly, and he jumped up from his chair.

"Holy crap! Fourth brother! I love you!"

He lifted the lid, and steam billowed out, filling the room with the aroma of cilantro.

Chen Long was reading a book beside him, not even raising his head, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Bringing it again? You might as well just give him a monthly subscription."

Li Hu had already buried his head in his food, mumbling indistinctly, "Fourth Brother understands me, Fourth Brother is my own brother."

Lin Dong walked to his bed and sat down in the chair.

This kid has class this afternoon, in the east wing, which is far from the cafeteria. His side is closer, so I just brought it along.

I'm used to wearing it.

He leaned back in his chair and watched Li Hu eat.

Li Hu ate quickly, and the plate was empty in no time. He leaned back contentedly and patted his stomach.

"Cool."

Lin Dong looked at him, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Um—I have something to tell you guys."

Li Hu raised his head.

"What is it?"

Lin Dong paused.

"I probably won't come back to live here often anymore. My parents have moved to Shenzhen, which is quite close to the school. It's more convenient to come back sometimes."

Li Hu was stunned for a moment.

"Oh? You don't come back to stay often either?"

Lin Dong was stunned for a moment.

"What do you mean by 'also'?"

Li Hu scratched his head.

"Um—I was just about to tell you that something came up at home, so I might not be able to come back often in the future."

Chen Long pushed up his glasses beside him.

"What a coincidence, I was just about to say the same thing."

Lin Dong looked at him.

Chen Long smiled.

"I have some family arrangements to make, so I probably won't be coming back often anymore."

After the three finished speaking, they looked at each other and laughed.

Then they all looked at Xu Zang.

Li Hu spoke first.

"Second brother, what about you?"

Xu Zang raised his head and glanced at them.

I won't reply.

Li Hu was stunned for a moment.

"You're not going back? Are you going to stay in the dormitory alone?"

Xu Zang nodded.

Li Hu smiled.

"Okay, then the second son is reliable in guarding the house."

Chen Long smiled too.

"The position of guarding the house is perfect for you."

Xu Zang didn't look up, but he hummed in response.

Everyone laughed.

The moonlight shone in through the window and fell on the four people.

No one asked any further questions.

Lin Dong leaned back in his chair and looked at them.

As expected of people from the same dormitory, their behavior is consistent.

He had been worried that his suggestion to commute would seem abrupt, but it turned out that everyone wanted to leave. Li Hu wanted to go home, Chen Long had things to do, so Xu Zang stayed home.

This is good.

If everyone leaves, he won't stand out. If he goes home, they won't think much of it.

His lips twitched slightly; this was fine.

October 1st. Early morning.

Lin Dong opened his eyes, and sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.

The dormitory was quiet. Li Hu's bed was empty, the blankets neatly folded. Chen Long's desk was also empty, the books still open. Xu Zang leaned against the headboard, flipping through his book.

Lin Dong sat up and glanced at the empty dormitory.

Last night before bed, Li Hu was still nagging about going to Window of the World for National Day, while Chen Long wanted to go to Dameisha. The two argued for a long time without reaching a conclusion. Later, Li Hu said, "Forget it, let's go home and eat braised pork first, and we can talk about going out later."

When they woke up in the morning, everyone was gone.

Lin Dong looked at Xu Zang.

"They're gone?"

Xu Zang didn't look up, but simply hummed in agreement.

Lin Dong asked another question.

Aren't you going out to play?

Xu Zang turned a page of his book.

"I'm not going."

Lin Dong looked at him.

"Seven days off, just reading in the dorm?"

Xu Zang raised his head and glanced at him.

"Um."

Lin Dong's lips twitched.

He got out of bed to wash up.

When he returned, Xu Zang was still leaning against the headboard, with the same book and in the same position.

Lin Dong packed his things, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked to the door.

I glanced back.

"I'm leaving."

Xu Zang raised his head and looked at him.

"Um."

The two stared at each other for a second.

Lin Dong nodded and went out the door.

At the school gate, a black Mercedes-Benz was parked on the side of the road.

Zheng Hao leaned against the car and peered into the crowd.

His eyes scanned one person after another, but he couldn't spot Lin Dong.

How is Dong Ge now? Was military training tough? Did he get a tan?

He recalled his high school military training, where after half a month he was as black as a lump of coal, and when he looked in the mirror back in the dormitory, he almost didn't recognize himself.

Dong Ge—I hope he won't be like that too?

He started specifically looking at the faces of the boys who were tanned.

I looked for a long time, but still couldn't find it.

"Hey."

Someone patted me on the shoulder.

Zheng Hao turned around.

Lin Dong stood behind him.

Zheng Hao froze for a moment, then his head went black. It really went black.

She used to be quite fair-skinned, but now she's tanned to a wheatish color. Her face is a shade darker, her neck is darker, and her exposed arms are even darker. But her eyes are still the same—calm, with a hint of a smile.

Zheng Hao watched for a while, and then he couldn't hold back anymore.

"puff--"

Lin Dong looked at him with annoyance.

"Is it really that serious? I just got a little tanned! You can't recognize me?"

Zheng Hao covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

"Dong-ge—you look like you just came back from the army—"

Lin Dong pursed his lips.

He didn't think that much during military training. Why would a grown man wear sunscreen? Besides, that's the experience of military training.

Who would have thought the Shenzhen sun would be so scorching in September? It didn't rain for a single day, and the sun beat down relentlessly every day.

And then—I got a little tanned.

"Alright, alright." Lin Dong waved his hand. "Open the door and get in the car."

Zheng Hao suppressed a laugh and opened the car door.

Lin Dong got into the car and leaned back in his seat.

Zheng Hao started the car and glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

He's tanned, but still quite handsome.

"Dong-ge, your current tan is quite classic."

Lin Dong glanced at him.

"Really? Should I go to a beauty salon for a treatment?"

Zheng Hao waved his hands repeatedly.

"No need, no need! Dong-ge, this is fine, really, it looks even better than before."

Lin Dong's lips twitched.

"Alright, stop praising me. I know what I'm doing."

He paused.

"How's the company doing lately?"

Zheng Hao stopped laughing and straightened his expression.

"Everything is fine. Engineer Zhang is there measuring data every day. I've gone to check on him a few times. He sits in front of the screen for half a day at a time, not even bothering to drink water."

Dr. Zhou, I heard him say that the touch algorithm is much smoother than before.

Cheng Chuan is always fiddling with antenna parameters in the lab. When I visited, he kept pulling me aside to ask when Dong Ge would be back, saying he wanted to show me the data he had run.

Cheng Yu is a man of few words, but he's always present at meetings, occasionally nodding, and rarely speaking. Ding Xiao is still the same, glued to her computer, coding away; she didn't even look up when I arrived.

He paused.

"As for Designer Su, the mid-frame has been modified. Li Guohui sent over a batch of samples, and she spent a long time gesturing to them each time before finally nodding in approval."

Uncle Cai oversees the procurement every day, running around doing all the errands.

Li Guohui and Wang Mei also came several times, delivering materials and checking on the progress. Each time Li Guohui came, he would also visit Engineer Zhang, and the two of them would whisper to each other for a long time.

Zheng Hao thought for a moment and then added another sentence.

"Anyway, everyone's pretty busy. We're just waiting for you to come back."

Lin Dong nodded.

"Ah-Hao, that's good, you're very observant, but..."

'

Zheng Hao looked at him.

"What's wrong, Dong-ge?"

Lin Dong paused.

"You're not upset that I'm only letting you drive now, are you? Don't you feel—"

Zheng Hao's expression turned serious, and he quickly interrupted.

"Brother Dong, what are you saying?"

He gripped the steering wheel, his voice lowering.

"If it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be eating dirt right now. I'm so grateful to you."

Zheng Hao continued.

"Brother Dong, I'll do whatever you ask." He paused. "I'd be willing to stay by your side forever."

Lin Dong glanced at him.

"Ah Hao, I'm glad you're not blaming me. Let's leave it at that for now. I'll arrange things for you later. Don't worry, you won't be treated unfairly."

Zheng Hao nodded.

"I'll hit wherever Brother Dong points."

Lin Dong nodded.

The car continued driving forward.

Downstairs from the company building.

Lin Dong opened the car door and turned back, still worried, saying, "Ah Hao, do you really think I don't need to wear a mask or anything?"

Zheng Hao smiled.

"No need. Dong-ge, it's fine as it is."

Lin Dong's lips twitched, and he turned to go upstairs.

8:55 a.m.

Company conference room.

Lin Dong pushed open the door.

Everyone has arrived.

Zhang Mingyuan, Zhou Chengyu, Su Xiaowen, Cheng Chuan, Cheng Yu, Ding Xiao, Uncle Cai and Zheng Hao, Li Guohui and Wang Mei also sat on the side.

As soon as the door opened, everyone looked up.

Then..

There was a two-second silence.

Zhang Mingyuan suppressed a laugh, Zhou Chengyu pushed up his glasses, and Su Xiaowen turned her head away, her shoulders shaking.

Lin Dong glanced around.

He coughed once.

"Laugh if you want to, don't hold it in."

As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room erupted in laughter.

Cheng Chuan was the first to break down and laughed the loudest.

"Mr. Lin, seriously, you got a tan from a month of military training that's more intense than we are from a year of playing basketball!"

Lin Dong walked to the head seat, sat down, and said in an annoyed tone.

"Alright, alright, have you laughed enough?"

Everyone stopped laughing, but the corners of their mouths were still curved.

Lin Dong leaned back in his chair and glanced around.

Everything is here.

Let's begin.

""