I am weak and friendly

Chapter 188 Don't stop, keep writing, Old Chen!

The next day, Tang Yiping and his brother bought a lot of dog food. By the time they returned to the company, it was already afternoon.

Upon opening the forum, Tang Yiping saw numerous mentions and a super popular post.

Lonely Ashtray 0208: "Is anyone there, boss? I want to thank you, boss, and everyone else too."

Tang Yiping was taken aback. The Lonely Ashtray Boss had arrived?

He quickly clicked on it and found that it was a very long post.

"Hello 0xT1P, I'm not sure how to address you without being impolite, so I'll just call you 'Big Boss' like everyone else. And hello to all the forum members. I'm 'Lonely Ashtray,' the one whose code you referenced. But you can also call me Old Chen, since I think I might be older than you, after all, I'm already 45. Of course, you can also call me Little Chen if you prefer..."

"To be honest, 20 years ago, after I wrote that piece of code, I went back to my hometown, a small county, and became a broadband installer. For the past 20 years, I had completely forgotten about it. I never expected that you, sir, would find it and use it in your work..."

“These past two days have felt so unreal. All my neighbors know me now. People come up to me and chat when I walk down the street. My old classmates and friends have called to ask if it’s true. Many reporters want to interview me. This is something I never dared to dream of 20 years ago.”

"Sometimes I think, ah, this day has finally come, even though it's twenty years late."

"I, Old Chen, have achieved success and fame, haven't I...?"

"Sometimes I think, what kind of success am I? What have I done to deserve this? This is not my own ability at all. It is all thanks to you, Boss."

"I haven't done much programming in recent years. I specifically looked at your work these past two days, and I'm not afraid to admit it, but I couldn't understand it at all. I just thought... Wow, so amazing! It's code I could never write in my entire life. How can there be such powerful code? What have I, Old Chen, done to deserve having my code cited by such a master? What have I, Old Chen, done to deserve having my garbage code appear in your work?"

"To be honest, before I fell asleep last night, I felt that my life had been worthwhile."

In this lifetime, how many things can one do that will be remembered?

"My wife said to me, 'Old Chen, I didn't know you had these skills. Old Chen, if you haven't been happy these past few years, why don't you just go back to coding?'"

"But how is that possible? You might not believe it, but the code you quoted is clearly written by me. I looked at it for a long, long time and couldn't remember it. To be honest, I can't even read it."

"Also, Old Chen hasn't had any great ambitions in recent years, but he doesn't seem unhappy. Maybe for someone like Old Chen, dreams are a heavy burden, and it's not so bad to not have any dreams weighing him down."

"Old Chen, I also thought, 'A scholar will die for one who understands him,' and the kindness of being recognized and appreciated is something I can never repay. I've actually written a lot of code before, although most of it is garbage, but if any expert or netizen likes it and is willing to take a look, or if it can be used somewhere, maybe this garbage of mine has some value? Even if it's just providing some experience of mistakes for later generations, that would be good. I dug out one of my old hard drives, wanting to open it and look for something, but I found that the hard drive had broken down sometime ago."

"Maybe this is God's will."

"It's like a fleeting dream; dreams eventually end."

"Thank you, big boss, for reminding me of all this. It allowed me to realize my youthful dream 20 years ago, 20 years later. I also thank everyone for your support, encouragement, love, and support. I'm sorry, I've let you down."

"To put it somewhat sentimentally, what merits does Lao Chen have to attract so much attention? The big shots have cited so much code, and Lao Chen is just an insignificant one among them. There is so much excellent code, but it is the useless Lao Chen who has wasted so much of everyone's time. I am apprehensive."

"However, although Old Chen is no longer of much use and can't write code, if you ever come here, please remember to contact me so I, Old Chen, can do my part as a host. Old Chen's salary isn't high, but I can still afford a few bottles of good wine and some local specialties. I humbly request that you give me this opportunity."

"Thank you again to the expert and to all the forum members."

Below this post, countless netizens commented:

"Don't underestimate yourself, Ashtray Guru. Actually, we can't understand your code either!"

"I am in awe of this master! 20 years ago, I couldn't even write a simple 'hello world' code! Seeing his code, I was truly learning while bowing down in awe."

"Boss, come back from the shadows! We need guidance from a senior like you!"

"Don't be discouraged, Ashtray Master. I can prove that no one in the world can understand your code. You are not alone."

"Ashtray Master, I actually don't understand the code you wrote either... You're already my idol. I'm just a newbie, striving to be like you."

"Wow, so close! And we're from the same hometown as the big shot! Can I go have a drink with him? It'll be my treat. My salary isn't high, but I can still afford good wine! Please give me this opportunity!"

"Hey bro, wanna meet up? I'm a few friends and I want to go on Saturday!"

When Tang Yiping saw this post, it already had over a thousand replies.

He quickly replied with a message: "Hello, sir, you are too modest. I was amazed when I saw your code and copied it without your permission. I'm so sorry."

As soon as Tang Yiping replied to the message, countless people started tagging @LonelyAshTray0208: "AshTray master, come quick, the master replied to you!"

"Come quick! Come quick!"

Lonely Ashtray 0208 seemed to be online all the time, and he immediately replied: "Thank you so much, you actually replied to me!"

Tang Yiping was also a little excited.

He asked, "Why haven't you been coding all these years? It's such a shame! I really want to see your code again. You're so talented! Don't give up!"

When Chen Gongmo saw Tang Yiping's reply, he didn't know what to say.

Can I say that, over all these years, you are the only person who has said my code is good?

In all these years, the only download I've ever made was one I clicked myself.

Besides, it's too late to say don't give up now.

I gave up 20 years ago.

Looking at this sentence, he had a strange feeling.

This big shot...

Why do you look so young? Life has so many disappointments; how can you explain them all in just a few words?

Recalling his life over the past 20 years, his ups and downs, his joys and sorrows, Chen Gongmo felt a mix of emotions.

There's no going back, no way back, boss.

"But I haven't written code for many, many years, and the things I know are already obsolete..."

He replied to Tang Yiping.

"Dad!" his son encouraged him, "Look, even the big shots are encouraging you! Keep writing! Why don't you keep writing!"

“This is different…” Chen Gongmo said, “I’ve forgotten about it for 20 years…”

"If you haven't written in 20 years, you should start learning again..."

"But I haven't written code for many, many years, and the things I know are already obsolete..."

“Then learn new code,” the son said. “Dad, you’re a genius.”

"Learning new code isn't that easy!"

"Dad, is it easy to get into a good university?" the son asked.

Chen Gongmo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was stumped by the question.

"You keep telling me to get into a good university. How come you're saying it's not going to work out now?"

Chen Gongmo: "..."

Okay, let's go sell them. Tomorrow I'll sell the walking sticks and let my son test them himself!
A wheelchair is fine too!

"Dad, you always said that you missed a lot of opportunities because you didn't get into university. But even though you didn't get into university, you still wrote such excellent code. Whether you got into university or not doesn't diminish your genius. I think writing such excellent code must be even harder than getting into university. How many people did you even select, right?"

"You were able to do this back then, so why are you backing down now? It's not your loss that you didn't get into university, it's the university's loss, Dad! Don't think you're incapable because of this!"

"Have some courage, Dad!"

"Now, the opportunity has come, Dad!"

"At least do something great so you won't have any regrets, Dad!"

At this moment, Chen Gongmo was both excited by the encouragement and chilled by his own rationality.

Not to mention the torment.

No, no, I really can't.

Then, he saw Tang Yiping's reply to him:
"What does it matter? No matter how old the code is, I can copy it! If you really love it, don't stop! Even if it's outdated code, keep writing, Lao Chen! Keep writing!"

In front of the computer, Chen Gongmo stared blankly at Tang Yiping's words.

Old Chen, the 45-year-old broadband installer, stretched out his finger and typed two words on the screen:

“Okay,” he said.

"I admire you so much, Dad!" The son rushed up and hugged his head.

Stop shaking! If you keep shaking, you'll start selling Elizabethan collars!
……

Lonely Ashtray was the first person to become popular because of the "Listening" project.

But he wasn't the only one.

One after another, one after another.

This turmoil is far from over.

On the other side, after encouraging Lao Chen, Tang Yiping himself was also filled with enthusiasm.

He thought to himself that he couldn't just rely on others to work hard while he had to depend on the dog for guidance.

These days, writing code relies on [a certain program], and copying code relies on dogs. If I don't work harder, I'll be a complete failure!
I will work hard!

I will rise up!

I want to truly become a awesome boss!
With that thought in mind, Tang Yiping opened MarkNet and started working on algorithm problems.

I kept refreshing and refreshing all afternoon, and successfully lost 50 points.

……

While Tang Yiping was diligently grinding for points, someone posted a video online with "dog language dubbing" and the title: "I've discovered a very new encryption method!"

Although "users" are still in the queue, Diting has become popular in another incomprehensible and abstract way.

　Today was also two updates totaling 6 words, including an extra 9/10 update for Halliana. The title is too long to write...

　　I had something to do during the day and didn't have time to write, so the update is late. Sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)