Professor Xie, isn't this a case of forcing customers to buy products that don't match the

Shang Song opened the car door and got in. A week of separation and a whole day of chaos transformed into a torrent of grievances under Xie Jing's calm gaze.

The car started smoothly.

Xie Jing didn't ask him what had happened, but simply took out a thermal food container from the side and handed it to him.

"Eat something first," he said.

The food box was still warm, and inside were exquisite and delicious Cantonese dim sum.

Shang Song ate in small bites. The warm food finally stopped the cramping in his empty stomach, and his icy hands and feet seemed to regain feeling.

As he ate, he poured out everything that had happened that day, in fits and starts.

Special effects leaked, team collapse, no way to salvage the situation, suspicion of an insider, and even the possibility that Shen Yan might be implicated.

He spoke incoherently, his voice trembled when he was emotional, and he almost cried when he was down.

Xie Jing listened quietly the whole time without interrupting.

Only after Shang Song finished speaking and the food box was empty did he hand over a thermos filled with honey water.

Shang Song gulped down his honey water, muttering, "It's going live next Thursday... what are we going to use to cover it up...?"

The car drove into the underground parking lot of Genting Highlands, came to a stop, and the engine was turned off. Lin Zhou and the driver stood silently in front, without making any movement or sound.

Xie Jing then slowly turned his head to face Shang Song directly, "Qingguo has its own procedures for crisis management."

Xie Jing handed him a tissue. "What you need to think about now is not to worry about the whole company, but what you can do."

Shang Song took the tissue to wipe her mouth, her expression still pitiful. "I don't know what to do now..."

"Do you remember? In the rare book reading room, you once showed me a special effect about a 'black hole'."

Shang Song was stunned, looking at him with a blank expression.

That was a long time ago.

He was obsessed with visualizing astrophysics at the time, and stayed up several nights in a row to create a set of conceptual effects.

He excitedly showed it to Xie Jing and talked at length about his idea.

Simulates the visual effects of black holes tearing apart stellar matter, gravitational lensing distorting spacetime, and high-energy jets...

He remembered gesturing wildly as he spoke, while Xie Jing simply looked at his laptop screen, gave a faint "hmm," and continued reading his ancient books.

Shang Song was extremely disappointed at the time, thinking that Xie Jing might not be interested at all, or that he thought he was naive.

"You said you wanted to express 'tearing' and 'reconstruction,' the visual beauty under extreme gravitational distortion."

Xie Jing looked at the stunned Shang Song and slowly repeated, "The main color is deep space black, the gravitational lens you chose is a deep blue halo, and the radiation when matter is heated to the extreme is golden-red radiation."

Shang Song's eyes widened little by little, his heart pounding like a rabbit in his chest.

Xie Jing… he actually remembers it so clearly? He even remembers the concepts and color scheme?

"The uniqueness and visual potential of that idea," Xie Jing's gaze was fixed intently on Shang Song's face, with a cautious affirmation: "I believe it is no less impressive than the special effects idea that was plagiarized from you."

Yes!

That idea that he had forgotten in the corner of his hard drive, that he was once incredibly proud of, but that he thought no one would appreciate!

Moreover, those were entirely his inspirations from his student days, with absolutely no risk of being leaked!

"Yes! Yes! That's possible! If Ken and I redesign the algorithm and particle effects based on this core idea, combine it with the current engine and resources, work overtime, and get the programming team to help with implementation and testing... maybe! Maybe it really will be in time!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes shining brightly, his cheeks flushing red with excitement, and his body involuntarily turned towards Xie Jing, his fingers unconsciously gesturing towards the name, as if he could already see the new special effects exploding in the game.

He opened his arms, wanting to hug Xie Jing! He wanted to hug this big piece of wood that he loved most tightly.

However, he froze as soon as he started to move.

Xie Jing... Xie Jing has a contact disorder.

He can't hug me.

However, just as his movements froze and his expression became helpless, Xie Jing gently... opened his arms to him.

It was an extremely unfamiliar yet unmistakably clear gesture.

Invite a hug.

Shang Song's mind went blank for a moment.

Then, he practically pounced on him.

Carrying the fatigue of the day and the faint aroma of pastries on him, he bumped into Xie Jing's arms, wrapped his arms tightly around Xie Jing's waist, and buried his face in Xie Jing's shoulder.

Xie Jing's body stiffened for a moment, but immediately, his outstretched arms closed, and with a restrained force, he hugged the person in his arms back.

Shang Song is sad.

Shang Song needs him.

He wanted to hug Shang Song.

He placed one hand on Shang Song's slightly trembling back and patted it gently.

He placed his other hand on Shang Song's lower back.

Shang Song could feel Xie Jing's warm body temperature under his shirt, smell his pleasant scent, and hear their hearts beating faster.

The driver and Lin Zhou in the front seat remained completely silent, never turning around, and even breathing very softly, leaving the entire back seat space entirely to the two embracing individuals.

Several seconds later, Shang Song's voice came out muffled, with a strong nasal tone:

"Your expression was so indifferent back then. I thought you didn't like it, or weren't interested at all..."

His arms tightened unconsciously, as if to confirm the reality of the moment: "...I didn't expect you to remember all this. You even remember the details so clearly."

Xie Jing didn't speak, but the hand that had been on his back patted him very lightly, as if it were a silent comfort.

After a long silence, Xie Jing finally spoke in a low voice, "Go upstairs and rest first. I'll take you there tomorrow morning."

Shang Song nodded gently in his arms, like a cat whose fur had finally been stroked. He rubbed against him affectionately before reluctantly letting go of his arms. His cheeks and ears were flushed, but his eyes were surprisingly bright.

The two got out of the car and returned to their top-tier penthouse in Genting Highlands.

"Go take a hot shower and get some rest." Xie Jing took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack in the entryway.

Shang Song nodded and obediently walked towards the guest room where he had stayed overnight.

Everything in the guest room had been carefully prepared.

The pajamas and the clothes he'll wear tomorrow morning are all in his size.

The hot water washed away his fatigue. As he dried his hair and came out, he found that Xie Jing was not in the living room. The door to the study was ajar, and a little warm light was shining from inside.

Shang Song didn't disturb them and went back to his room.

He tossed aside the towel, took out his notebook from his backpack, and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed.

Upon booting up, he found a hidden folder containing various immature "works" from his student days.

He quickly found the video file named "Singularity_Concept".

Video playback.

What was once considered groundbreaking now has countless areas for improvement, refinement, and further development.

Countless ideas on how to modify the project surged through his mind. His fingers itched, and he couldn't wait to open the software and start a new project.

Just then, a soft knock sounded on the door.

Xie Jing's voice came through the door, "It's time to rest."

Shang Song opened his mouth, as if to say "later," but in the end, he only curled the corners of his mouth and answered loudly:

"Okay! I'll go to sleep right away!"

There was a moment of silence outside the door, followed by a soft "hmm" and footsteps gradually fading away.

Shang Song held the laptop, sat at the foot of the bed for a few more seconds, and then carefully placed the laptop on the bedside table before turning off the lamp.

He crawled into the soft blankets, closed his eyes, and forced himself to sleep, but the corners of his mouth remained turned up in a smile.

That piece of wood remembers everything.