Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

A crisp "snap" sound.

Wan Lianghao's slap landed squarely on Zhang Jian's back, almost knocking the half-eaten fried dough stick out of his hand.

"What are you still muttering about? Has your soul been bewitched by that damn server?" Wan Lianghao said irritably, pushing Zhang Jian, who was like a sleepwalker, into the teaching building. "Save some sleep for yourself. Go sleep in the large classroom. Don't embarrass yourself on the street."

Zhang Jian jolted awake, his eyes still a little glazed, soy milk stains on his lips, and mumbled indistinctly, "I was just thinking that converting BMP to JPG could reduce it by another 5%..."

Before they even reached the door of the large lecture hall, Yang Bo, the second oldest, and Liu Jing, the fifth oldest, emerged from the corner of the stairs like secret agents making a rendezvous. Without a word, each carrying three thick, brick-like volumes of "Data Structures," they seamlessly handed over the hot soy milk and fried dough sticks to the other side.

"Hurry up and go into class." Liu Jing took the soy milk and slurped it down, his eyes a little unfocused. He gestured towards the corridor with his chin, "The situation inside... is a bit complicated."

Bai Yuhang's heart skipped a beat, thinking that something strange had happened in the department again. He tightened his coat collar and led a few brothers to squeeze inside.

As soon as they stepped into the corridor, they were dumbfounded.

Normally at this time, there would only be a few unlucky latecomers standing at the door of the large lecture hall in the computer science department. But now, the corridor is as crowded as a vegetable market during the pre-Chinese New Year shopping frenzy, with no room to even put your feet down.

"What's going on? Which celebrity came to inspect?" Jiao Liwei stood on tiptoe to peek inside. "I haven't heard that Andy Lau came to Harbin."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone in the crowd shouted, "They're here! 206 is here!"

That shout was like a bucket of cold water poured into a pot of boiling oil. Hundreds of eyes instantly turned like searchlights, all focused on the eight people who had just entered. The previously noisy corridor fell silent for a second, followed by a burst of low murmurs.

"Is that Bai Yuhang in the military overcoat? He looks quite young."

"Is that Zhang Jian eating fried dough sticks over there? I heard he's the one who set up the Counter-Strike server, he's a legend."

Bai Yuhang then realized that these people weren't there to see a celebrity, but to see a monkey. And judging from their appearance, there were mechanical engineering students, civil engineering students, and even a few foreign language girls carrying original texts—it was practically a cross-disciplinary group of onlookers.

After finally squeezing into the classroom, Bai Yuhang felt his scalp tingling.

The first row, usually reserved for chalk dust even dogs wouldn't sit in, was packed with girls today. There were no textbooks on the tables, just rows of pink notebooks and various breakfast items; their eyes were more curious than hungry wolves eyeing meat.

Just as Zhang Jian was about to squeeze into the back row, a pretty foreign language major girl wearing a beige trench coat suddenly stood up and boldly blocked his way.

"Um...you're Zhang Jian, right?" The girl blushed slightly, but her movements were quick; she slipped a pink envelope into Zhang Jian's arms. "This is for you."

Zhang Jian's computer crashed on the spot.

He was still holding the half-eaten, dripping oily fried dough stick in his left hand when an envelope was shoved into his right. As a seasoned tech geek who only dealt with code and sausages, this scene was clearly beyond his CPU's processing power.

"Huh? For...for me?" Zhang Jian stammered, his eyes darting around. "Excuse me, did you...enter the wrong IP address?"

A burst of laughter erupted around them. The girl couldn't help but laugh too, covering her mouth as she ran back to her seat.

It turns out that all these people were after "Qihang Campus Network".

Last night, to test server load and new features, the entire 206 team pitched in, uploading all their most treasured personal photos and selfies. They even wrote several serious test logs, such as "One Hundred Ways to Die for the Cafeteria's Braised Pork" and "The Love-Hate Relationship Between Code and Ham Sausage." They initially thought it would just be a few lines of data, but the website's traffic has become staggering. Overnight, they were officially featured on the homepage as "recommended users," making it impossible for them to remain unknown.

Dormitory 206 is now considered a walking data hog at the university.

Zhang Jian clutched the pink letter, the grease from the fried dough sticks on his hands leaving a small dark stain on the corner of the envelope. While he was still lost in thought, the surrounding commotion was already enough to lift the roof off.

"Third brother, stop spacing out. That girl left her ID with you." Wan Lianghao, with his sharp eyes, noticed the penmanship on the back of the envelope and nudged Zhang Jian's ribs with his elbow. "'Zhang Chunmei,' does that ID look familiar? Didn't you mention it in the comments last night, saying that this person visited your homepage more than forty times?"

Zhang Jian shuddered violently, nearly dropping the letter: "Holy crap? That's her?"

Zhang Jian held the pink envelope in his hand, and the half-eaten fried dough stick was neither something he could eat nor something he could throw away; it just stood there like a mascot.

Wan Lianghao leaned close to Bai Yuhang's ear and pushed up his glasses: "Sixth Brother, this is a bit much. Does that mean we can't wear slippers to the cafeteria anymore?"

"As long as you don't wear slippers to the computer lab, no one will bother you." Bai Yuhang plugged in the soy milk straw, took a sip, and the warmth subsided slightly from the exhaustion of staying up all night. He glanced around the classroom, knowing perfectly well that this wasn't about idol worship; it was the first firework of social media in this era, splashing sparks all over these young people, and everyone found it novel.

The chaotic scene exhausted the four security guards who had just arrived. They were wiping their sweat and shouting to maintain order. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that these students were about to stage a rebellion.

The bell rang, and the professor, clutching his lecture notes, pushed open the door. Looking at the room packed with people, and the back rows overflowing with auditors, the professor froze at the doorway. He took off his glasses to wipe them, then stepped back to check the room number, a look of self-doubt on his face: "Did I go to the wrong room? This is a large software engineering class, isn't it?"

For the students in dormitory 206, those two long lectures were nothing short of torture.

Bai Yuhang's carefully planned nap was completely ruined. Just as he was about to doze off on his desk, he felt a dozen burning gazes on his back and could vaguely hear the girls in the back row whispering, "Look at him, even though he's lying down, he knows everything."

Bai Yuhang stiffly straightened up and sat up straight. Liu Jing suffered even more; his nose itched and he wanted to scratch it, but as soon as he raised his hand, he saw several girls from other departments looking at him with admiration, so he forced his hand to push up his glasses and pretended to be deep in thought.

After finally enduring the get out of class, Department Head Wang appeared at the door with his hands behind his back, and chased away most of the students from other departments who had come to watch the commotion. Only then did the classroom regain some oxygen.

As soon as the bell rang, Bai Yuhang didn't even bother to pack his books, and gave his brothers a wink.

"withdraw!"

As if fleeing from debt collectors, the group shoved their books into their coats, lowered their heads, and fled through the back door, fearing that if they lingered even a moment longer, they would be cornered inside demanding autographs or computer repairs.

They ran out of the teaching building and were hit by a cold wind, which brought them back to life.

Zhang Jian stuffed the pink envelope into his pocket, grinning foolishly. "Sixth Brother, do you think we're officially famous now?"

"I don't know if I'll become famous or not." Bai Yuhang glanced back at the crowd that hadn't dispersed yet, gave a wry smile, and said, "Anyway, it's hopeless for me to sleep in class from now on."