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

乖。

One word, one picture.

Li Chen stared at his phone screen, feeling as if his heart had been gently scratched by a warm cat's paw.

It feels itchy and numb.

On the podium, Professor Liu Yidao was still excitedly pulling him along, speaking at a speed like a Gatling gun emitting blue flames, planning from "studying my graduate program" all the way to "applying for a national key laboratory project together in three years."

The applause around them had not yet completely subsided.

The wolf howls of Wang Qiang and Zhao Zixuan, and Chen Mo's words "The Gospel of Li" still echoed in my ears.

But all of this seemed to have been muted.

In Li Chen's world, all that remained was the ragdoll cat pressing down on the little mouse's head, and that lazy yet domineering word "good boy/girl".

He could picture Yan Xi's expression when she sent that message.

He was probably leaning against something, his long legs crossed, his fingertips lightly tapping the screen, a playful, all-powerful smile playing on his lips.

"Li Chen? Are you listening?"

Professor Liu Yidao's voice brought him back to reality.

"Huh? I'm listening, I'm listening."

Li Chen quickly put away his phone.

"I don't care what your reasons are, you have to do this graduation project with me!" Liu Yidao declared firmly. "I'll talk to your advisor right away; you're the student I want!"

The professor's domineering attitude left Li Chen somewhat amused and exasperated.

He suddenly realized that this "famous detective" in academia was quite similar to Yan Xi in some ways.

They are all unreasonable and domineering.

The school bell rang, rescuing Li Chen from his predicament.

He barely managed to escape from a group of overly enthusiastic classmates and an excited Professor Liu. As soon as he stepped off the podium, he was surrounded by the three lively characters from room 302.

"Godfather!" Wang Qiang rushed forward to hug Li Chen's leg, but Li Chen dodged him with disgust.

"From now on, at Linjiang University, I will only recognize two people in terms of seniority." Zhao Zixuan solemnly held up two fingers, "One is you, and the other is my sister-in-law."

Chen Mo then handed over his laptop.

"This is the initial simulation model I built based on the second part of your blackboard notes. Although there are still many details that cannot be implemented, the core negative feedback mechanism has taken shape."

He pushed up his glasses, his eyes filled with an unprecedented fervor. "I named it 'Revelation'."

Li Chen looked at the rapidly scrolling code stream on the screen, somewhat surprised.

Chen Mo is indeed quite capable.

"Alright, stop joking around." Li Chen chuckled and patted their shoulders. "What do you want to eat tonight? It's on me."

"Haidilao!" Wang Qiang shouted first. "It has to be the same one as last time!"

"No problem." Li Chen was in a great mood and readily agreed.

He felt that his life had entered a completely new phase starting today.

He's no longer just an empty shell who gets talked about for being "handsome" and "relying on his female classmates."

He used his own strength to win a resounding victory in the field that was least favored.

This feeling is great.

He was even somewhat looking forward to seeing Yan Xi that evening and how she would praise him.

Although it was just the word "well-behaved," Li Chen knew that, given her personality, this was already extremely high praise.

Perhaps there will be a more substantial reward tonight?

For example, like last time on the tree-lined path, feed him something.

or……

Some erotic images began to uncontrollably pop into Li Chen's mind.

He shook his head, banishing these chaotic thoughts, and walked out of the teaching building with his roommates, arms around each other's shoulders.

I had just gotten downstairs when my phone vibrated again.

It's still Yan Xi.

[Yan Xi: Come to Room 501 in the Student Activity Center, there's a reward.]

Li Chen's eyes lit up instantly.

coming!

Speak of the devil and he appears!

"Um... guys, Haidilao might be a little late." Li Chen cleared his throat, trying to make his tone sound less excited.

"Got it! We all understand!" Wang Qiang winked and patted his back. "The Queen has summoned us; business is of utmost importance!"

"Go ahead, go ahead, don't let us lonely old folks ruin your time together." Zhao Zixuan had a "I'm very generous" expression on his face.

"Based on the time and location, this date was private, and the probability of it developing into something more is 82.3%," Chen Mo calmly analyzed.

Li Chen ignored them and turned to walk quickly toward the center of the activity room.

His steps were lighter than ever before.

My heart was pounding like a little rabbit inside me.

reward.

What kind of reward could it be?

Lost in thought, he soon arrived at the fifth floor of the activity center.

Room 501 is the private office of the student council president.

The door wasn't closed properly; it was ajar.

Li Chen calmed his breathing, straightened his collar, and then reached out and gently pushed open the door.

In the office, Yan Xi was sitting in the large boss's chair, looking down at a document.

Today she wore a beige fitted knit sweater, her long hair casually draped over her shoulders, and the lines of her profile were soft yet focused.

She looked up when she heard the door open.

"You're here?"

"Okay." Li Chen went inside and closed the door behind him.

He stared at her longingly, like a schoolboy waiting for candy.

"Um... senior, about the reward you mentioned..."

"Oh, a reward."

Yan Xi put down the documents in her hand and stood up.

She walked around the huge desk and stood in front of Li Chen.

Li Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Is it really that direct?

Yan Xi didn't say anything, but simply reached out and straightened his collar, which had become a little messy from walking too fast.

Her fingertips were slightly cool and carried a faint fragrance.

"You did a good job today." She looked at him, a satisfied smile curving her lips.

"It's...it's alright." Li Chen felt a little embarrassed by her gaze.

"You know what? You looked kind of handsome on the stage today." Yan Xi leaned forward a little more.

The two were so close that Li Chen could clearly see her long, curled eyelashes.

He felt his throat was a little dry.

"So..." he began with difficulty, "the reward is..."

"The reward is," Yan Xi's smile became even more sly, "to do me a favor."

As she spoke, she took Li Chen's wrist and led him to a workstation in the corner of the office.

It was a top-of-the-line graphics workstation, and on the screen was an extremely complex three-dimensional architectural model composed of countless lines and surfaces.

Next to the workstation, there was a mountain of documents and drawings.

"This is a very important ancient building restoration project for our architecture department, which requires 3D scanning and data matching of tens of thousands of components."

Yan Xi pointed at the screen, her tone nonchalant.

"This process is very tedious and prone to errors."

"I heard that our computer science department has produced a once-in-a-century genius. Writing a small program to automatically process this data shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

She turned her head and looked at Li Chen with a smile.

The expectation on Li Chen's face froze instantly.

He looked at the mountain of documents, then at the dazzling model on the screen.

My mind is blank.

So, the so-called "reward" is just to make him do unpaid manual labor?!

"What?" Yan Xi raised an eyebrow. "Our great genius can't even handle something this simple?"

"...I can handle it." Li Chen gritted his teeth and squeezed out three words.

"That's good." Yan Xi nodded in satisfaction.

She walked to the sofa, sat down gracefully, and picked up a magazine.

"Let's begin, my little boyfriend."

"I'm looking at you."

Li Chen stood there, feeling like a little mouse being toyed with by a cat.

He took a deep breath and resignedly sat down in front of the computer.

Forget it.

Come here.

It can't possibly run away.

While mentally grumbling about the exploitation that would make capitalists weep, he resignedly began browsing the data structures.

It's just writing a program, isn't it?

Consider it... a dessert before the meal.