We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

Ye Chen leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

This girl is shy; she's probably in her dorm, covering her face and biting her lip, struggling to find the right words.

He didn't urge him, but minimized the chat window and then casually opened his email.

Suya's daily work report is now at the top, with the title in bold.

Temple Run has surpassed 120 million daily active users in North America, with a game fill rate of 98.7%.

The numbers are dazzlingly beautiful.

Ye Chen scanned the key data and replied "Received".

Just as I was about to shut down my computer, the penguin icon in the lower right corner started flashing wildly again.

News of Shen Anran has finally arrived.

This time it wasn't just monotonous interjections; you could feel her cautious probing even through the screen.

"So... after you go back home for National Day, are you free? Can we meet up?"

Immediately afterward, as if afraid her intentions would be too obvious, she quickly added another line, but the meaning still slipped through her fingers:

I haven't seen you much this past month since school started, and I'm actually kind of thinking of... inviting you for a milk tea.

Ye Chen stared at the ambiguous "I kind of want to" for two seconds, and the image of her blushing as she pressed the send button flashed through his mind. He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After agonizing for two minutes, I managed to come up with this lame excuse.

He flicked his fingers and replied crisply, "Okay, I'll come find you when I get back."

After sending the message, he exited the chat with a lingering smile in his eyes, and didn't tease her any further.

Some things don't need to be said too much; you'll understand when you meet them.

There are about ten days left until National Day.

Before that, he had more important things to do.

Xia Meng will return with a new plan sooner or later. The data for "Temple Escape" is approaching a critical point, and he has already locked onto his next prey.

Ye Chen turned off the light and lay down on the bed, his eyes open in the darkness.

The phone screen lit up for the last time.

It was a text message from Xia Meng.

"Mr. Ye, I will investigate and apply to headquarters as soon as possible. I hope you can give me enough time next time we meet."

Looking at the text message that carried a hint of defiance, Ye Chen's lips curled into a smile. He casually silenced his phone, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

……

The next morning.

Ye Chen was awakened by the vibration of his phone.

He picked up his phone, unlocked the screen, and saw a WeChat message from Xia Shiqing, the beautiful Mercedes-Benz saleswoman.

"Ye Chen, your school's military training should be over by now, right?" This was followed by a cute rabbit peeking out emoji.

The timing was perfect, clearly indicating that they had been keeping a close eye on what was happening at Jiaotong University.

"Yeah, just finished yesterday." Ye Chen typed with one hand.

Xia Shiqing quickly followed up with a message: "Are you free today? I'd like to treat you to milk tea, and I'll also bring you the booklet for your car's future maintenance."

Drinking milk tea was just an excuse; the real reason was to get closer to her.

Ye Chen mentally reviewed today's schedule.

At noon, I had to meet Xu Jiao from the Foreign Languages ​​Department at a newly opened Western restaurant on the back street.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, I have to go to the Half Sugar Dessert Shop again, as I had agreed with Gu Yuxuan.

The day was meticulously planned, with the schedule fully booked, leaving no room for even half an hour of free time.

"Today? Not today." Ye Chen replied directly, without any hesitation.

On the other side, the morning sunlight was streaming into the bedroom through the gaps in the curtains.

Xia Shiqing was still curled up lazily in the soft quilt.

Seeing the crisp rejection on the phone screen, a flash of disappointment crossed his eyes, and his hand holding the phone tightened slightly.

No wonder he's a big boss who drives luxury cars worth millions; even college students can't easily schedule a meeting with him.

Just as she bit her lower lip, preparing to reply with "It's okay, let's meet up again sometime" to save face,

A second message from Ye Chen then popped up on the screen.

"Tomorrow, I'll pick you up tomorrow."

Upon seeing this sentence, Xia Shiqing's eyes lit up instantly, and the last bit of drowsiness and the disappointment from before vanished in an instant.

She was so happy that she couldn't help but kick her leg hard in bed.

The soft, thin blanket slipped down most of its length with the movement, and the neckline of the silk pajamas opened slightly.

She revealed a large expanse of fair, jade-like skin and a pair of exquisite and alluring collarbones.

She was completely oblivious to the sudden glimpse of spring, simply holding her phone with a wide smile on her face.

Not only did he agree, he even offered to come pick me up in person?!

Her heart raced slightly, and her slender fingers tapped rapidly on the screen as if afraid the other person might change their mind, replying instantly: "Okay! I'll wait for you to pick me up tomorrow! See you there!"

Ye Chen glanced at the replies on his phone, didn't type anything more, and simply locked the screen and tossed it on the table.

He stood up, stretched in the morning sunlight, and went to the balcony to wash up.

Ye Chen turned on the tap, filled a handful with cold water, and splashed it on his face.

The cool touch dispelled the last bit of sleepiness.

He grabbed a towel, casually wiped away the water stains, and turned to walk back to his dormitory.

Sun Haoyu, with his hair in a mess, leaned halfway out from the top bunk, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Old Ye, why are you up so early on the weekend? Going on a date with some pretty girl?"

Ye Chen took out clean casual clothes from the closet and put them on.

"Go take care of business. You can continue your pipe dream."

"Can you bring back some pan-fried buns from the back street? With extra chili oil."

Sun Haoyu rolled over, pulled the blanket over his head, and mumbled indistinctly.

Ye Chen ignored him, grabbed his car keys, and went straight out.

The campus of Jiaotong University was still quiet in the morning, with the air carrying the unique chill of early autumn.

He found a well-established breakfast shop on the back street and ordered two baskets of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and a bowl of black rice porridge.

After leisurely finishing his meal by the roadside, he paid the bill and also packed a few servings of pan-fried buns and soy milk for his colleagues.

The black Mercedes-Benz smoothly drove into the underground parking garage of Zhangjiang Integrated Circuit Port.

Ye Chen carried breakfast, took the elevator to the twelfth floor, and pushed open the door of Xingchen Interactive Company.

The office lights were still on, and the sound of keyboard typing was particularly clear in the quiet environment.

There was no one at the front desk, so Ye Chen walked down the corridor and saw Lu Yuan staring at two monitors, frantically typing code.

A cup of instant coffee, long since cold, sat on the corner of the table.

"Instead of sleeping in at home this weekend, you come to the company to experience the overtime culture?"

Ye Chen placed a plate of pan-fried buns and soy milk next to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan stopped what he was doing, picked up the soy milk and took a big gulp.

"Boss, you've come early for this surprise inspection."

"I looked at the backend data and found that the number of overseas online users had increased ridiculously. I was worried that the old server architecture could not handle the high concurrency, so I came here to do load balancing."

Ye Chen dragged over an office chair and sat down, looking at the dense stream of data on the screen.

"This kind of thing can be handled by Han Ming and his backend team. You, as the lead mobile programmer, don't need to do everything yourself."

"That won't do. This is our company's money-printing machine; we can't afford the slightest mistake."