Chapter 7: A Tech Guru in the Company
A perfectly fine person, why….
Rong Yi wished she could grab the “CTO” seat card from in front of Fan Xingze and stuff it into his mouth!
This tech guru was the epitome of high IQ and low EQ, with a severe case of specializing in one area to the extreme. His intelligence could reach the heavens, and his emotional intelligence could plunge into the deepest oceans.
Oh, he didn’t need to catch turtles in the ocean. He was a big-mouthed king himself.
Rong Yi forcefully pulled Fan Xingze aside, grinding her teeth and squeezing out a few words from between them, “Come to my office!”
Dragging the big-mouthed king along, holding meeting materials, her high heels clicking like they were forming holes in the ground with each step, she walked out of the full meeting room, attracting the prying eyes of executives filled with curiosity and gossip.
In this world, there’s never smoke without fire. If Rong Yi and Fan Xingze didn’t have some kind of history, this sentence might have been dismissed as playful banter between colleagues.
However, fate had its own plans, and Fan Xingze and Rong Yi had a connection that ran deeper than it appeared to others.
At least, that’s how it seemed to onlookers.
Back in the day, when the company aimed to poach the rising star who had won numerous international awards, Fan Xingze, there were not only one but multiple tech giants vying for him. Moreover, Fan Xingze himself was involved in promising personal projects. If it weren’t for his complete dedication to technology, being somewhat of a dork in business management, he might have already become a tech titan.
WBD’s HR department tried various methods to recruit Fan Xingze, but all their efforts were in vain. The company’s top executives, starting with the CTO, who was a die-hard fan of Fan Xingze, eagerly offered him the role of deputy chief if he joined. To demonstrate their sincerity, even WBD’s upper management joined the campaign to lure him away. However, history repeated itself, and all these attempts ended in failure.
Fan Xingze came from a well-off family and was indifferent to money and social status. Therefore, there were almost no means that could sway him. Having never experienced hardship, his mind was as twisted as the DNA double helix. Despite knowing that he wasn’t good at management, he was unwilling to join another company for collaborative development.
He was like an egg without any cracks, where not even a single fly could find its way in.
It wasn’t until the end that Rong Yi, who was considered the least promising of the recruitment team, was sent out by a desperate WBD.
But why was she considered the least promising candidate?
1. Rong Yi was the CFO, responsible for financial matters. The common tactics used in such situations involve spending money or offering equity stakes. As mentioned earlier, Fan Xingze was indifferent to these incentives.
2. Rong Yi was attractive. However, this was even less effective because it was widely known that Fan Xingze was a tech enthusiast and lacked those worldly desires.
But to everyone’s surprise, Rong Yi succeeded.
“Oh, it’s just that they offered a high salary and generous equity stakes,” Rong Yi shrugged, thinking to herself that there’s no such thing as lacking worldly desires, just insufficient compensation.
However, others wouldn’t believe that a tech prodigy who had been indifferent to material gains suddenly succumbed to money. Instead, they would prefer to believe in more dramatic versions: like falling in love at first sight, deepening feelings on the second encounter, and leaving an impression with a smile.
People’s fondness for drama is truly endless.
Rong Yi, a seasoned professional in the workplace, didn’t have a thin skin. Cracking harmless jokes in a work setting could help ease the atmosphere, and she didn’t mind.
Until she gradually discovered that Fan Xingze was quite a chatterbox.
This big shot’s mouth, if placed in the Lucky Carnival, was capable of triggering a world boss-level urge to smack it.
“Smack!”
She angrily shoved Fan Xingze into her office and slammed the door shut. To avoid suspicion, she pulled down the blinds facing the office lobby’s glass wall. While those outside couldn’t hear their conversation, they could see how furious she was at Fan Xingze.
“Zoe! I’ve told you so many times! When others who don’t understand the situation make jokes, I don’t have the energy to explain. You’re well aware that I have a boyfriend. Please stop making these kinds of remarks that can be misinterpreted, okay?”
“Consider the context! Look at the atmosphere! Jokes should have limits!”
“Our originally innocent colleague relationship is being tainted by others’ words. We can’t control what they say, but you’re adding fuel to the fire, fanning the flames! Even when the situation gets heated and it affects us, you’re still standing by watching without concern?”
After her outburst, she let out a sigh, relieved and exhausted, and leaned against the door.
She threw herself onto the soft sofa.
Exhausted from yesterday’s sudden plunge into the game, escaping death to clear levels, and a series of meetings this morning, she was truly worn out.
Fan Xingze was left dumbfounded after being yelled at. It seemed that he had finally developed some common emotions with humans. He handed her a glass of water and said softly, “Don’t be angry. Drink more water.”
Rong Yi sighed, took a sip after receiving the glass, then was scorched by the hot liquid and spewed out a rainbow.
…Oh well. He knew that offering water was already quite thoughtful.
“This can’t all be blamed on me.” Fan Xingze still stood his ground, “During the meeting, you kept staring at me, so I have the right to make reasonable associations.”
Rong Yi: …No, it’s not reasonable. Plus, even if you had those thoughts, why say them out loud? Can’t internal processing stay internal?
She placed the teacup on the small table, reached for her laptop, pulled up the cryogenic storage file the ogre had sent her, turned the screen towards Fan Xingze.
“Boss, I’ve been watching you because I have a favor to ask.” Her throat was slightly hoarse from the scorching liquid, and her soft voice sounded quite helpless, “Can you help me change all the bodily data here to junk food?”
Fan Xingze was quite haughty and didn’t even glance at her, “Tasks like camouflaging and obfuscation are the tech team’s responsibility.”
“If the tech team can handle it, why would I come to you?” Rong Yi tapped the screen, “Take a closer look, this isn’t a commonly used language*.”
Fan Xingze pushed up his glasses. If it weren’t for upsetting Rong Yi just now, he wouldn’t have lowered himself to look at something so simple.
An uncommon language? Even if it’s an uncommon language, it’s still as straightforward as 1+1=2 to him.
But as soon as he glanced at it, he froze. He started scrolling down the screen, repeatedly pressing the “down” key, with lines of code reflecting on his wire-rimmed glasses.
He pressed his lips together and sat down on the spot, his hands flying over the keyboard.
Rong Yi knew that when this boss fell silent, he had entered work mode.
That’s really nice, hoping he works 24 hours a day, earning money and saving worry.
Fan Xingze typed for a while, then suddenly said, “I’ve never had junk food before.”
“Ah?” Rong Yi was taken aback, “Then you really missed out on your childhood.”
As she spoke, she stood up and pulled out a large cardboard box from under the desk. It was packed full of snacks.
To be honest, she wasn’t that fond of junk food. But her boyfriend really loved them, and he would carefully select his favorite flavors and send her batches of “love’s choices” from time to time.
“Wanna try?” Rong Yi pushed the astonishing box of snacks over to him and added, “Don’t eat up every flavor, leave me one or two.”
Fan Xingze tore open a pack of spicy strips, “What, you want me to plant the seeds and grow a field of spicy strips?”
“…You don’t understand,” Rong Yi blushed slightly.
It was all her boyfriend’s thoughtful gesture, and of course, she wanted to keep a few as tokens of their love.
Fan Xingze, being the typical outspoken straight guy, really didn’t understand. But he did understand that junk food was genuinely sinful yet delicious.
As he continued eating non-stop and making adjustments to the code, he shook his head and sighed, “With such high calories, I’ll have to add several more sets to my workout today.”
Before lunchtime, Fan Xingze let out a satisfied burp and left a mess of food wrappers on the floor, “It’s done.”
Rong Yi was busily processing files at her desk, and upon hearing this, she looked up, weariness evident on her face, “Ah, thank you. I’ll treat you to lunch.”
Fan Xingze burped again, “Are you jealous of my fit body? You’re quite cunning, woman.”
Rong Yi: …
Fan Xingze, with a poised posture, rose with his legs crossed, stretched his shoulders and neck, propping himself up on Rong Yi’s large office desk from a higher position, “Woman, I don’t want you to treat me to a meal. I want you to repay me in a different way.”
Without lifting her head, Rong Yi signed some documents, “Read fewer online novels. Moreover, if you keep saying things that can be easily misunderstood, I’ll make sure someone teaches you a lesson you won’t be able to forget.”
“Heh,” the boss shrugged off the comment without a care, “I want you to tell me where this piece of code came from. It should have a massive underlying system. Where is this system located?”
Rong Yi hesitated, “It’s complicated.” She suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, “If you can obtain more code, could you break into this system?”
And then release her and the other unlucky players from this cursed game!
Fan Xingze stroked his chin, his eyes gleaming with a self-assuredness that felt like he was looking down on the world, “Its language is quite interesting. I think I might be the only one in the world who can break into this system.”
It would have been an even more boss-like moment if he hadn’t licked the chili oil from the corner of his mouth right after saying that.
Rong Yi nodded. Perfect, then she would continue to extract more code from the game.
One day, she would not only escape herself but also free that bloody and cruel world!
“Huh? What’s this?” From his elevated viewpoint, Fan Xingze could clearly see a hint of bluish-black through the scarf that Rong Yi was wearing.
Curiously, he leaned forward and, taking advantage of her enthusiasm, promptly pulled down the scarf from around her neck.
The dark bruise was now plainly visible!
She hurriedly grabbed the scarf, “It’s nothing.” The bruise was in the shape of a handprint, and she wouldn’t be able to explain it properly if she went to the hospital. Instead, she had just applied some herbal oil to help it fade naturally.
However, Fan Xingze frowned, his expression becoming serious.
He held onto her delicate shoulders, his hands seemingly afraid to apply any pressure as if he didn’t want to hurt her. His tone was unusually gentle and profound, carrying a barely detectable hint of distress:
“Tell me honestly. Is your boyfriend abusing you?!”
