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

The lights from the proposal hadn't completely faded when a crowd had already gathered around.

Wang Qiang was the first to rush forward and grab Li Chen's arm.

"Brother Chen! You're so unfair! You didn't even tell me about something this big beforehand! I didn't even prepare my wedding gift money!"

Zhao Zixuan stood to the side, waving his phone with a mischievous grin.

"Don't worry, it's high-definition video. I'll burn a disc for you later and play it on a loop at the wedding."

Chen Mo pushed up his glasses and calmly jotted something down in his notebook.

"Based on the peak value of the heartbeat light curve, the success rate of the proposal is 99.9%. The remaining 0.1% is to account for the possibility that Senior Yan Xi might refuse because the ring you prepared is the wrong size."

Before Li Chen could retort, Yan Xi had already lifted her head from his embrace and given Chen Mo a sharp look.

"He wouldn't be wrong about my size even with his eyes closed."

Chen Mo's pen left a long mark on the paper, and he silently closed the notebook.

Yan Zhen was the most excited.

His eyes were red-rimmed. He walked over and, without saying a word, slapped Li Chen on the shoulder with considerable force.

"You brat!"

He cursed, but his voice was trembling with tears.

Luo Yun followed behind, gracefully handing over a handkerchief.

"Alright, it's a joyous day, why are you crying?"

Yan Zhen took the handkerchief and wiped his face haphazardly. He pointed at Li Chen and said to Li Mohan beside him.

"My dear in-law, your son has swindled me out of the most precious thing in my life!"

Li Mohan kept a straight face, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

"Your daughter has good taste."

He looked at Yan Xi, who was being protected in Li Chen's arms, his eyes full of approval.

Shen Ruolan and Luo Yun had already stood together. The two mothers held Yan Xi's hands, looking at her from left to right, unable to get enough of her.

"Xixi, this ring is really pretty, but the design is a bit simple. I'll take you to pick out a bigger one tomorrow."

As Shen Ruolan spoke, she reached out to touch the ring on Yan Xi's hand.

"Mom, this will do."

Yan Xi pulled her hand back slightly, taking a precious look at the plain bracelet on her ring finger.

Li Qingcang stood with his hands behind his back, watching the group of young people with a smile.

"Alright, stop standing here in the cold wind, let's eat! It's on me today!"

Zhou Yan stood behind the old man, looking helpless.

"You didn't take your wallet with you when you left home."

Li Qingcang's eyes widened.

"Isn't my eldest grandson there?"

What was supposed to be a grand proposal eventually turned into a lively family dinner, surrounded by both families.

The car was quiet on the way home.

Yan Xi drove the car, looking straight ahead, without saying a word.

Li Chen sat in the passenger seat, looking at her profile. The light from the streetlamp flashed by, casting bright and dark shadows on her face.

He could tell she was angry.

It wasn't real anger, but rather a calm before settling scores.

The car was parked downstairs at the apartment building.

The two went upstairs one after the other. Once inside, Yan Xi locked the door behind her.

The "click" sound was particularly clear in the quiet living room.

She took off her high heels, put on slippers, and walked up to Li Chen, looking up at him.

"Li Chen".

"I am here."

"Shouldn't we settle the score?"

Li Chen was already prepared.

"Okay, you do the math."

Yan Xi reached out her finger and poked his chest.

"When did you arrange the lights on Ginkgo Road?"

"One month ago."

"Did you contact the school's logistics department?"

"No, I hacked into their power control system, wrote a temporary script, and added a separate wireless module to the streetlights."

Yan Xi nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"Where's the engagement ring? Didn't you say it was still being made to order?"

"Just kidding." Li Chen took out the velvet box that Yan Xi had returned from his pocket, opened it, and inside was the ring engraved with "Don't measure anymore, Yan Xi left it."

"I had someone erase the words on it and re-engraved my name."

He handed the ring over.

"Now, it's yours."

Yan Xi didn't answer.

Li Chen looked at her with a calm expression.

"How could I dare to propose without scheming against you?"

Yan Xi stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

She took the ring, tossed it casually onto the coffee table, then stepped forward and hooked her arm around his neck.

"The score isn't settled yet."

Her voice was low and carried a hint of danger.

"There are so many people here today, I'll give you face."

She leaned close to his ear, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe.

"I'll settle the score with you when we get home."

Li Chen felt his heart start racing again.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Okay, you can calculate it however you want."

Yan Xi didn't say anything more, but simply rested her head on his shoulder and quietly hugged him.

Only the pen holder lamp was on in the living room, its warm yellow light illuminating a small area.

On the table was the "Glimmer" project iteration plan, which Li Chen hadn't had time to put away.

Yan Xi's gaze fell on the cover of the project proposal.

"How are the preparations for next week's exhibition going?"

"That's about it."

"I'll go through it for you again tomorrow."

Yan Xi let go of him, walked to the drawing table, sat down, and turned on her computer.

As Li Chen watched her retreating figure, his heart was filled with an immense sense of happiness.

He knew he would never be able to settle this sweet debt in his lifetime.

His phone vibrated.

It was a WeChat message from Yan Xi.

"There's a first-aid kit in the third cabinet in the kitchen. Go get a bottle of safflower oil."

Li Chen was stunned for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

"That slap Dad hit you just now, it looked painful."

The message was followed by an "eye-rolling" emoji.

Li Chen looked at the message and couldn't help but laugh.

He went into the kitchen, opened the cabinet, and took out safflower oil.

He thought that this debt might have only just begun.

……

Two years later.

"Micro Light" Project Control Center.

On the huge circular screen, a dense stream of data flowed silently like a rushing waterfall.

Li Chen stood in front of the control panel, his hands resting on the table, his eyes fixed on the constantly changing countdown in the center of the screen.

"Thirty seconds left!"

Wang Qiang, dressed in a sharp suit, paced back and forth in the room with a walkie-talkie in his hand, his forehead covered in sweat.

He is now the Marketing Director of the "Micro Light" project.

"All channels are ready! Server stress test passed the final pass!"

Zhao Zixuan's voice came through the walkie-talkie. As the angel investor of the project, he was personally overseeing things from the rear today.

Chen Mo sat next to Li Chen, his fingers flying across the keyboard, lines of code flashing across his screen.

"All backend ports are stable, and the firewall level has been set to the highest level."

He reported calmly, as if the software about to be launched was not a piece of software that could change the lives of countless people, but merely one of his course papers.

The countdown has reached zero.

Li Chen took a deep breath and pressed the Enter key on the main control panel.

"The 'Glimmer' version 1.0 is officially launched."

As soon as he finished speaking, the data stream on the circular screen surged instantly!

The curve representing user visits shot up like a rocket, soaring vertically and instantly breaking through the preset peak threshold!

"Beep beep beep—"

The piercing alarm blared throughout the control center.

"What's going on! The number of visits exceeds the estimated figure by 300%!"

Wang Qiang shouted into the walkie-talkie.

"The server can't handle it! CPU usage is at 98%! Memory is about to overflow!"

Chen Mo's expression changed, and his fingers almost left afterimages on the keyboard.

"Massive attack traffic detected! Requesting the disconnection of some external connections!"

Li Chen's expression, however, remained unusually calm.

He stared at the national map on the screen that kept lighting up. Each dot represented a user who was downloading or using "Weiguang".

"Don't cut it."

He spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable power.

"This is not an attack, it's a distress signal."

He walked over to Chen Mo and took the keyboard.

"Reallocate computing resources, prioritize the mental health module to the highest level, and abandon some non-core data analysis functions."

His fingers flew across the keyboard, sending out precise commands.

"Zixuan, activate the backup server group! Wang Qiang, issue a notice stating that the system is experiencing excessive traffic and is undergoing emergency capacity expansion to reassure users!"

Under his command, the entire control center, though still busy, was no longer in a state of panic.

Just then, the door to the control center was pushed open.

Yan Xi walked in wearing a smart white suit skirt and high heels.

She was carrying several takeout containers and a few cups of coffee.

"Looks like I've arrived just in time."

She placed the lunchbox and coffee on the table next to her, walked behind Li Chen, and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

Li Chen didn't turn around, but his tense shoulders visibly relaxed a bit.

"It's getting a bit out of control."

"Yeah?"

Yan Xi's gaze fell on the map on the screen, which was almost completely covered by light spots.

"I think this is what a 'glimmer of light' should look like."

She walked to another screen and brought up a 3D model.

That was a very futuristic architectural design drawing.

"I designed the 'Glimmer' Experience Center."

She introduced herself to Li Chen.

"Online data is cold and impersonal, but here, people can intuitively feel their emotional changes. Every point of light, every flicker, corresponds to a real person."

Li Chen looked at the design drawing, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes.

That was a very special gift that Yan Xi gave to "Wei Guang".

At 3 a.m., the server finally stabilized.

The surging data stream transformed into a smooth river, flowing quietly across the screen.

Everyone in the control center was exhausted, slumped in their chairs.

Li Chen and Yan Xi stood side by side in front of the huge circular screen, looking at the map that was lit up by countless tiny lights.

"We did it," Li Chen said softly.

"Um."

Yan Xi leaned on his shoulder.

After a moment of silence, she took a folded piece of paper from her bag and handed it to Li Chen.

"By the way, your system seems to have missed a crucial piece of data."

Li Chen took the paper with a puzzled look and unfolded it.

That was a hospital lab report.

His gaze fell on the conclusion section at the very bottom.

Two words were clearly written on it.

That was an early pregnancy test report.

Li Chen's gaze was fixed on the word "positive," and his mind went completely blank for a moment.

He had just finished processing tens of thousands of concurrent requests per second, calmly directing his team to defuse a server crisis that could have crippled any internet company.

But now, looking at this thin piece of paper, he felt like his CPU had been burned out.

He looked up at Yan Xi blankly, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

The "data brain" that used to remember all her dietary restrictions and accurately calculate the emotional fluctuations behind every frown of hers has completely crashed.

Yan Xi couldn't help but laugh when she saw his silly expression.

She reached out and waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"What? Master Li? The system restart failed?"