King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

In the stillness of the night, He Fan, with his right arm around Zhan Yiling, stared intently at the outline of the ceiling light.

Zhan Yiling's right hand was pressed on his chest, and her even breathing, every few moments, would gently blow on his neck.

When He Fan was extremely tired, he could manage to sleep intermittently for a while.

But any slight shaking or noise can wake him up immediately.

He was worried that if he woke up, he would make too much noise and wake up Zhan Yiling, so he tried his best to keep his eyes open.

No one can imagine or comprehend how he got through that night.

As dawn approached, Zhan Yiling suddenly convulsed and sat up in a daze.

He instinctively ran his hand over the sheets, mumbling, "Is it dirty...?"

Returning from the bathroom, Zhan Yiling noticed He Fan staring at her with his head tilted to the side, and quickly asked, "You haven't slept at all?"

He Fan said casually, "I was asleep, I just woke up."

Zhan Yiling turned on the bedside lamp, leaned over and pried open He Fan's eyelids, exclaiming, "So red! You stayed up all night, didn't you?!"

"No, I sleep for a while, then wake up for a while, just between being half asleep and half awake."

He Fan yawned and rubbed his dry eyes.

He scoffed, "In that half-dreaming, half-awake state, we forgot there was a tomorrow, forgot to reserve a little time, oh, so that this feeling could last forever..."

"You still have the mind to sing for me?"

Zhan Yiling was heartbroken. "This can't go on. We have to go to the hospital. You're so young and you already have such severe neurasthenia..."

"What's the big deal? I don't go to work anyway."

"At night I'll cuddle you, you sleep. During the day I'll sleep, you make money. Clear division of labor, isn't that great?"

"No, no, I'll take a day off and take you to the hospital."

"Sigh, speaking of money, I just remembered that when I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking about how you were going to celebrate your birthday this year?"

He Fan continued, "I should splurge a little, treat you to a meal at the Guomao Restaurant, and buy you a really expensive bag."

"The problem is, I don't have any money on hand right now; it's all tied up in new shares, waiting for them to go public."

"I'm thinking of borrowing from you, but I guess you don't have much money left."

"The second time I went to Shenzhen, you gave me back all the money you had given to your parents."

"Besides, lending you money for your birthday just doesn't seem quite right..."

Zhan Yiling hugged He Fan tightly and said, "The best gift you could give me would be if you could cure my neurasthenia before my birthday."

He Fan was still lost in his own thoughts, thinking, "Zhang Wei seems to have a lot more money on him lately..."

"If I extort him a lot, I should be able to squeeze some money out of him."

"Oh, by the way, why can't I use my stocks as collateral to borrow money?"

"A higher interest rate is fine, as it will help us revitalize the business."

"Can you please stop overthinking things?"

Zhan Yiling continued, "I've decided that I won't go out to a restaurant or accept any gifts for my birthday this year. I want to keep it low-key. You can owe me for now, we'll talk about it later."

"Then how about we pay in advance?"

He Fan muttered to himself, "I was hoping we could turn things around this year, but it's so hard to change our luck..."

Zhan Yiling ignored the second half of He Fan's sentence.

Although this birthday was destined to be just like any other year, she felt incredibly content, murmuring, "I'll make you owe me forever..."

...

The academic conference lasted all day, and it was already dark when Chen Jianghe and Su Wanqing came out of the ACL building.

The air was so thick there wasn't a breath of wind, and muffled thunder could be heard in the distance.

Chen Jianghe tugged at his shirt collar, feeling a bit suffocated.

"It's going to rain." He looked up at the sky. "I brought an umbrella, let me walk you home!"

"Mmm," Su Wanqing replied without refusing.

The two stood in the dim, yellowish light by the roadside.

The heated discussions and exchanges during the day are still lingering in my mind…

But neither of them wanted to bring it up at that moment.

Finally, an empty car appeared.

As soon as the two got into the car, raindrops began to fall.

At first, the raindrops hit the car window sparsely, but soon they merged into a large patch.

The windshield wipers swung monotonously from side to side, and the world outside the window became increasingly blurry.

The neon lights melted into the rain, like an oil painting soaked in water.

Su Wanqing turned her head to look out the window, the light from the streetlights flickering on her calm face.

Chen Jianghe's gaze fell on the headrest of the seat in front of him, as if he was thinking about something.

The car slowly came to a stop at a red light.

Su Wanqing seemed to let out a soft sigh, her voice so soft it was almost drowned out by the sound of the rain.

Chen Jianghe noticed that she subconsciously rubbed her left wrist.

That was a ailment she developed from long hours of sitting at her desk; she would easily experience aches and pains when the weather was stuffy and humid.

He didn't say anything, but silently lowered the passenger window, letting a cool breeze carrying the scent of rain seep in through the crack.

Su Wanqing seemed to notice, and turned her gaze away from the window. She glanced at him but didn't say anything, though she stopped rubbing her wrist.

The car quickly arrived at the entrance of Su Wanqing's courtyard.

"Let's stop here, driver, the car can't go any further," Su Wanqing said to the driver.

After the car came to a stop, Chen Jianghe asked the driver to wait a moment, and then got out of the car first.

He then opened a black umbrella, opened the car door for Su Wanqing, and tilted most of the umbrella over her head.

Su Wanqing got off the car and stood under the umbrella.

The space suddenly became smaller, and the two inevitably stood very close together.

They could smell each other's faint scent.

"Let's go, I'll take you inside." Chen Jianghe's voice sounded somewhat low in the sound of rain.

It's only a few dozen meters from the entrance of the compound to Su Wanqing's apartment building, but Chen Jianghe felt like he walked for a long time...

The bluestone pavement was polished smooth by the rain, reflecting the dim yellow light.

The two walked side by side, neither speaking, silently listening to the patter of raindrops hitting the umbrella.

Reaching the front of the small building, Su Wanqing turned around and said, "Thank you, I've arrived."

"Hmm." Chen Jianghe finally came to his senses and nodded.

A brief silence.

Both of them seemed to want to say something, but it was as if they had nothing to say, or didn't know where to begin.

"Your wrist," Chen Jianghe suddenly said, "go back and apply a hot towel to it."

Su Wanqing was slightly taken aback and looked up at him.

She hadn't expected that he would notice this subtle movement.

"…good."

She responded, her voice showing a very slight softening.

"Then I'm leaving."

Chen Jianghe smiled and took a step back.

"Go inside quickly."

He turned and strode towards the gate of the compound.

Soon, his tall figure blurred into the dense rain and night.

Su Wanqing stood under the eaves in front of the building, but did not ring the doorbell immediately.

She stood there for a while, watching the direction where the figure disappeared and listening to the sound of the rain.

I couldn't help but take a soft breath.

The air was filled with the scent of rain and a faint, lingering trace of his presence...