Why did you make me reincarnate?

The discussion group was very well-attended today; seven or eight people were gathered around the long table in the reading room.

Wang Yu was unusually absent, saying he was going to Yanjing to attend an academic conference. Without his mentor present, the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed.

A group of first-year graduate students got together to chat about the project's progress, occasionally interjecting with complaints about the school cafeteria.

As usual, Xu Chaoyang turned on all the lights in the reading room and went downstairs to bring up a case of mineral water, which he placed next to the long table.

"Excuse me, classmate, I'm sorry to bother you again." A boy took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

He wore black-rimmed glasses, had slightly curly hair, and habitually squinted when he spoke.

After spending time together, Xu Chaoyang had become quite familiar with them and knew that this person was called Xie Shu. Although he looked unkempt, he was Wang Yu's most outstanding student. It was said that he had independently written a small homework system in his sophomore year.

Xu Chaoyang smiled at him: "It's no trouble, I have to be on duty anyway."

There was a long-haired young man named Jiang Mingbai next to him. His coding skills were second only to Xie Shu, but he was very talkative and the most talkative person in the whole group.

"Look at Chaoyang, and then compare yourself to them. Who broke my keyboard last week and still won't admit it?"

"You broke it yourself, didn't you? You took your anger out on the keyboard after losing at CS."

"Bullshit, I clearly won."

Xu Chaoyang felt that the atmosphere among these fellow disciples was really good, so he casually asked what they had been busy with lately.

Xie Shu didn't hide anything, saying that she was building a framework for an intranet forum, which was proposed by her mentor Wang Yu. The main purpose was to provide students with a place to exchange academic information.

Unfortunately, progress is still stuck on the database design. Everyone is working on it half-heartedly, and there's no rush.

After listening, Xu Chaoyang understood. This should be the earliest prototype of the VV Forum, and the timeline basically matched his memory.

He didn't rush to express his opinion, but simply said it was quite interesting, and then went back behind the desk to look through his own books.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket; it was a text message from Shen Ju.

"Comrade Chaoyang, are you busy?"

"Fortunately, I overheard a few senior students from the computer science department chatting nearby."

Shen Ju sent a smiley face and followed up with another message: "It's gotten colder in southern Jiangsu. My grandma had the sycamore trees in the old house pruned, and now the yard is all bare."

"Then wear more clothes, don't catch a cold."

"Okay, I understand. My mom has been in a good mood lately. She's gone to the gardens with me a few times. I feel like she's really relaxed this time, unlike when she was in Vancouver."

Xu Chaoyang typed: "That's good. You two should communicate more and try to get me off the blacklist."

"Hmm, but I always feel like she's hiding something from me, and she won't tell me when I ask... Never mind, when are you coming to see me? Sunan is very close to Yuhang, only an hour or two by car."

Xu Chaoyang thought for a moment and replied, "I'll go over after I've sorted things out at school. Then you can show me around southern Jiangsu."

"Okay, it's a promise, you have to come!"

Xu Chaoyang put his phone back in his pocket. Across from the duty desk, Jiang Mingbai said something that made Xie Shu shake his head.

Xu Chaoyang leaned forward to listen for a few minutes. It turned out that someone in the discussion group had started the topic and veered off course, turning from the forum design to the appearance of this year's freshmen.

Jiang Mingbai was flipping through his photo album on his phone, muttering to himself, "Let me tell you, this year's Foreign Languages ​​Department has really had a bumper harvest. Last time I went there to look for someone, I ran into a girl in the corridor, and her temperament was simply amazing."

"How so? Do you know the name?" someone nearby asked curiously.

"I think her name is Ning Qiushuang. She was the one standing in the front row during the performance. You should remember her."

Xie Shu immediately objected: "I know she is indeed considered pretty among the freshmen in Zijin College, but she wouldn't rank among the best in the entire Zhejiang University."

"If even this person can't get a spot, then who can?"

The argument began, with Xie Shu counting on his fingers as if reciting a familiar story.

"Let's leave aside Senior Sister Qin from the Law School. Speaking of freshmen, there's a freshman named Jiang from the Geology Department this year, and she's said to have an outstanding presence..."

"Sigh, our Computer Science department is so male-dominated..."

A senior student wearing glasses next to him retorted, "What makes you think our department is no good? Our class's arts and culture representative is just fine."

"Pah, of course your own girlfriend would say yes."

The group chatted amongst themselves, arguing about everything from which college had the most beautiful girls to what the standards should be for Zhejiang University's campus belle and who the candidates were.

Jiang Mingbai clearly talks about this topic often, and he has a lot of photos saved on his phone, which he takes out one by one to show off.

Xie Shu angrily rebuked him for being too superficial, saying that he had completely disgraced the graduate students, but she couldn't help glancing at his phone screen.

Xu Chaoyang pulled up a stool and sat down next to the long table with a smile: "What's the point of you arguing like this behind closed doors? The students outside can't hear us, and we don't have enough data to make an accurate assessment."

Everyone turned to look at him, thinking, "That's right, there are only seven of us here, so our data collection is seriously inadequate."

A bunch of guys who love to stir things up are clamoring to do a precise data survey.

Jiang Mingbai was the most enthusiastic: "How about we hold a vote in the department's group chat?"

"There are a bunch of professors in the department group chat. If you want Professor Wang to take the blame, just say so." Xie Shu clicked his tongue, annoyed that he didn't think before he acted.

"What should we do then?"

Xu Chaoyang pointed to the computer on the table and seized the opportunity to offer an idea: "Aren't you guys setting up a forum? Why not create a section where all the students in the school can upload their own photos? Wouldn't that be much more interesting than you guys making random comments here?"

Jiang Mingbai paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "That's right! Let everyone upload their own photos, and whoever gets the most votes is the most authoritative! That's what authority looks like!"

Xie Shu thought for a moment: "Technically, it's not difficult; we just need to add a voting function. But... will anyone actually participate in this?"

One of the senior students frowned: "The problem is the server. Our forum is using the college's computer lab, but it can't handle the traffic from all the students in the school."

"Give it a try. I can rent a server; it'll only cost a few thousand dollars a year."

As soon as Xu Chaoyang said this, the way the people present looked at him changed.

Jiang Mingbai opened his mouth: "You're paying for it? Aren't you working part-time at the library yourself?"

"I only do part-time jobs as a hobby."

Xu Chaoyang lied without batting an eye: "Actually, I like reading and I run a small business outside, so I don't have to worry about money."

"But what can we say when Teacher Wang asks? That wasn't the original intention of our forum."

Jiang Mingbai didn't care about all that. "Hey, I'll handle things with Lao Wang. I think he'll definitely be interested too."

"Then it's settled." Xu Chaoyang stood up and said, "You guys take care of the technology, and I'll pay for the server rental."