Oh no! I've only been a freshman and I've already been targeted by a mean upperclassman.

Li Chen put his phone back in his pocket.

He watched the night view rushing past the window, a slight smile playing on his lips.

It is precisely in places like these that true treasures are most likely to be hidden.

he thought.

The car came to a smooth stop in front of the boys' dormitory building.

"We've arrived." Yan Xi unbuckled her seatbelt.

Li Chen, however, did not move.

He turned his head and looked at Yan Xi.

The light from the streetlights shone through the car window, casting a soft shadow on her cool profile.

"Xi Xi".

He spoke softly.

"Um?"

Are you free next week?

Yan Xi paused for a moment, then turned her head to look at him.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing serious."

Li Chen smiled. "I just wanted to formally ask you out on a date."

In all their previous interactions, Yan Xi had been in control.

Eating, watching movies, and taking tutoring classes.

Everything seemed to be a schedule she had casually arranged.

This time, Li Chen wanted to regain the initiative.

She plans a date just for the two of them, pretending to be her boyfriend.

Yan Xi looked at him, and something subtly changed in those eyes that always carried a cold and scrutinizing quality.

She did not answer immediately.

A subtle silence fell over the carriage.

Only their breathing could be heard clearly.

After a long while, she finally nodded gently.

"it is good."

Upon receiving an affirmative reply, Li Chen's spirits soared instantly.

"I'll set the time and place and then let you know."

"Um."

"Get some rest." Li Chen pushed open the car door.

"Wait a minute," Yan Xi called out to him.

Li Chen turned around.

Yan Xi took a small thermos from the storage compartment in the passenger seat and handed it to him.

"Staying up late is bad for your health."

Her tone remained indifferent, yet commanding: "Drink it before bed."

Li Chen took the thermos and found it warm to the touch.

He opened the lid, and a sweet aroma mixed with red dates and goji berries wafted out.

His heart felt as if it had been soothed and comforted by this warm current.

"Okay," he replied with a smile.

Watching the Porsche's taillights disappear into the night, Li Chen turned and walked into the dormitory building.

He did not return to his dormitory immediately.

Instead, she went to the balcony at the end of the corridor, enjoyed the evening breeze, and sipped the warm health tea slowly.

My body and mind felt warm and cozy.

Back in 302, the familiar group portrait of "demons and monsters" still appears.

Wang Qiang, shirtless, was engaged in a fierce online battle with his enemy on the screen.

"Jungler! You son of a bitch! Where are you?!"

Chen Mo wore headphones, his fingers flying across the keyboard, the screen filled with dense code.

Zhao Zixuan lay on the bed, holding up his phone, with a sweet female voice coming from the screen.

"Thank you so much for the rocket, Brother Zixuan! You're so generous!"

Li Chen's appearance shattered this harmony.

"I'm back."

"Godfather!" Wang Qiang was the first to turn around. Seeing Li Chen, he looked at him like he'd seen a savior. "Come quick! We're one short for mahjong, let's get the brothers to a win!"

"No, thank you." Li Chen shook his head. "You guys have fun."

He sat down at his desk and opened the laptop that had been with him for many years.

"Oh?"

Zhao Zixuan put down his phone and poked his head out of bed. "Not spending time with your amazing senior today? Going to be a bookworm instead?"

Li Chen ignored him.

His fingers tapped on the keyboard.

A professional programming interface appeared on the screen.

He is building a complex program framework.

This is a large and complex system that combines 3D modeling, dynamic lighting and rendering, and precise mechanical transmission simulation.

"Holy crap?"

Chen Mo, who was practically a top student, pushed up his glasses and leaned closer.

He stared in astonishment at the algorithm models and function libraries on Li Chen's screen, models he had only ever seen in top-tier journals.

"Brother Chen, what... what are you doing? Are you working on a space project?"

Li Chen smiled.

"almost."

He was breathing life into that one-of-a-kind music box.

Master Liu was responsible for creating its perfect "skeleton".

And he wanted to endow it with unparalleled "nerves" and "memory".

Over the next few days, Li Chen's life became regular and fulfilling.

In the morning, he would still go for a run with Yan Xi.

The atmosphere between the two did not seem to change because of that night's "meeting with the mother-in-law".

She was still the queen who would domineeringly take away the tea eggs he had peeled, complain about his excessive sweating, and "requisition" him for various reasons.

And he enjoyed it.

During the day, he's like a different person.

No longer the "genius" who would slack off in class and occasionally amaze everyone with his cleverness.

He became the most diligent student in the computer science department.

In every class, he sat in the front row, listened attentively, and took notes.

He spends almost all his free time in the library.

He was frantically absorbing all knowledge related to computer graphics, artificial intelligence, and embedded systems.

His terrifying learning ability and photographic memory were brought to their fullest potential at this moment.

The professors in the computer science department quickly discovered this "prodigal son returning home" gem.

Especially Liu Yidao.

He practically treated Li Chen as his last disciple, dragging him around every day to discuss all sorts of cutting-edge technical issues.

He was even granted the exceptional privilege of free access to his private laboratory.

But then it got dark.

After my roommates all entered their own "post-coital meditation" period.

The desk lamp on Li Chen's desk always stays lit until late at night.

He quickly transformed the knowledge he learned during the day into lines of exquisite code.

The software system for that music box is being perfected little by little at an astonishing pace under his guidance.

He even added a small "personal touch" to it.

A deep learning-based emotion recognition module.

He imported all the photos of Yan Xi from his phone as training data.

He hoped that this music box would "recognize" its owner.

Play cheerful music when she's happy.

When she is sad, a warm starry sky is projected.

It's a crazy yet romantic idea.

But Li Chen became obsessed with it.

He enjoyed the feeling of giving his all for a clear goal.

That evening, Li Chen had just finished debugging a key module.

He stretched and glanced at his phone.

It's almost midnight.

He opened WeChat, and Yan Xi's profile picture was quietly sitting at the top.

He hesitated for a moment, but still sent a message.

[Li Chen: Asleep?]

He had assumed there would be no reply.

Unexpectedly, the reply came almost instantly.

Yan Xi: No.

[Yan Xi: Looking at the blueprints.]

Li Chen could almost picture her wearing blue light blocking glasses, frowning, and staring intently at the computer screen.

[Li Chen: Don't stay up too late, it's bad for your eyes.]

[Yan Xi: Too verbose.]

[Yan Xi: What's up?]

Li Chen smiled and typed a reply.

[Li Chen: I miss you.]

This time, the other side remained silent for a long time.

Just as Li Chen thought he had failed in his attempt to flirt again and was about to say goodnight.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

Yan Xi sent me a picture.

It was a photo of a computer screen taken from her perspective.

On the screen is an extremely complex architectural structural design drawing.

In the bottom right corner of the screen, there was a small, pink sticky note.

Two characters were written on it in neat handwriting.

"Fool."

Li Chen stared at the sticky note, momentarily stunned.

Immediately, an immense, indescribable joy enveloped him.

He knew that those two words weren't meant to insult him.

Instead, it was a response to him.

In a way that is uniquely Yan Xi's, awkward yet adorable.

He carefully preserved that photo.

Then, he opened another chat window.

It was the contact person whose name was only one character, codenamed "Liu".

[Li Chen: Master Liu, I've sent the final version of the design to your email.]

[Li Chen: Also, regarding the miniaturization of the projection module, I've found a solution.]

He sent over a technical document that was dozens of pages long.

After doing all this, he finally felt a little tired.

He turned off the computer and lay down on the bed.

In my mind, however, I was still conceiving every detail of that music box.

What he wanted to give her was not a simple gift.

Rather, it is a unique dream that carries longing, makes up for regrets, and belongs only to her.

He closed his eyes, a smile on his lips, and fell into a deep sleep.

In my dream, there seemed to be countless intricate gears slowly turning under the starry sky.