After Flirting with the God-Tier Beautiful Tycoon - Chapter 70

The car swayed as it arrived at the entrance of Wanning Electronics.

Last time, Shen Xiaojiang had been too nervous to truly appreciate this building made entirely of eco-glass. As expected of a tech company, every corner radiated a vigorous, youthful energy. Perhaps tech companies weren’t as profitable as traditional firms, but they were products of this era’s progress they were the heavy, tangible future.

Shen Xiaojiang suddenly felt a surge of deep respect.

She recalled when her family bought their first computer; she was very young then, just starting kindergarten. According to Shen Lanxin’s memories, Xiaojiang had shown an extraordinary passion for computers since that time. Initially, Shen Lanxin thought it was just a passing whim, but over time, she discovered that Xiaojiang could figure things out on her own and use the computer for many tasks.

For instance, she could turn it on and off, find the drawing software to sketch a portrait of their family of three, and navigate the internet by flexibly utilizing search engines. Later, in her school’s computer class, Shen Xiaojiang could actually follow the textbook and finish the entire curriculum in just two or three sessions. Many of the questions she asked were things even the computer teacher couldn’t answer.

When it came time to fill out her college applications in high school, her family asked if there was a major she wanted to study. Shen Xiaojiang blurted out almost instantly: “Computer Science.”

The trip down memory lane ended. Shen Xiaojiang adjusted her shoulders, gripped the strap of her chest bag with both hands, and looked earnestly at the four characters “Wanning Electronics.” She then took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to Bai Shuhua.

A moment later, Bai Shuhua appeared at the entrance wearing a wine-red shirt and a white pencil skirt. Holding her phone in one hand and twirling a temporary work ID in the other, she grinned and called out to Shen Xiaojiang.

“Student Shen, over here, over here!” Even though Bai Shuhua was nearly thirty-five, she looked incredibly energetic.

Shen Xiaojiang walked up to meet her.

“Whoa, those dark circles are a bit heavy,” Bai Shuhua noted, staring at the skin under Shen Xiaojiang’s eyes.

Embarrassed by the scrutiny, Shen Xiaojiang reached for the ID and said, “I’ll do it myself.”

The two then walked into the building side by side.

“It’s such a hassle to get a temporary ID every time. You should just come here for an internship,” Bai Shuhua said casually.

Shen Xiaojiang’s footsteps faltered slightly, but she remained silent.

Sensing the gap behind her, Bai Shuhua quickly turned around and waved her hand, smiling apologetically. “Oh, look at my big mouth. I was just speaking off the cuff. Don’t feel pressured; I won’t force you.”

The tension on Shen Xiaojiang’s face relaxed a bit as she quickened her pace to keep up.

It wasn’t that she was unwilling or refusing, she simply had her own ideas. Entering the Computer Science program at Nancheng University as the top science student or winning various gold medals in competitions were past achievements. They represented the past, not the present, and certainly not the future.

Shen Xiaojiang was meticulous about how she did things. She wanted to enter Wanning Electronics carrying fresh achievements. To put it another way, helping Bai Shuhua solve this problem was her chance to perform and prove herself. Only once the problem was solved would she say yes to Bai Shuhua this was a small pact she had made with herself.

Entering the Core

At the gate, with a “beep,” Shen Xiaojiang and Bai Shuhua officially entered the doors of Wanning Electronics.

The elevator doors slowly opened; people stepped out, and others stepped in. Among the crowd of hurried office workers, Shen Xiaojiang looked somewhat out of place. Hearing occasional exchanges in English, she suddenly felt nervous. Her grades were excellent across all subjects, but her oral communication skills were limited. Accustomed to praise, she worried she might be the “goose among swans.”

The elevator stopped at the Technical R&D floor. This floor was different from the others; the magnetic strip in the work ID alone wasn’t enough to grant access. This was a sub-core department of the company, requiring another “key” to enter.

That key was an iris scan. Every employee had to record theirs after joining the R&D department. Access to this floor required dual identification: the work ID and the iris scan.

Shen Xiaojiang followed obediently behind Bai Shuhua, receiving various glances from people passing in the hallway. It didn’t feel like an illusion. Shen Xiaojiang noticed that the atmosphere on this floor was much more oppressive than the others.

Bai Shuhua pushed open the glass door of the R&D office and clapped her hands loudly. “Come, come, let me introduce a new friend to everyone.”

As soon as she spoke, the silence as still as a deep pond was broken by a stone, sending ripples through the room. Almost everyone looked up at the same time. Bai Shuhua walked inward several steps, satisfied.

The view suddenly cleared, and Shen Xiaojiang felt like she was standing under an overexposed spotlight, right in the center of everyone’s gaze.

“Hello, everyone.” Fortunately, she had a strong psyche, her voice was calm and steady.

The faces of those seated were marked with fatigue and exhaustion, and even a hint of annoyance at being interrupted. The technical department supervisor approached the two and responded politely, “President Bai, who is this?”

Bai Shuhua looked at Shen Xiaojiang, then back at the supervisor. “This is the ‘reinforcement’ I told you about yesterday.”

If that hadn’t been said, it might have been fine. But once it was, the gazes of many people present turned sharp, filled with deep doubt.

“Is she a transfer from another subsidiary?” the supervisor asked, trying to gauge her background. Bai Shuhua had only mentioned a “reinforcement” would be coming, but hadn’t specified who they were or where they were from.

“No, she’s still a student.”

“A student?” The supervisor’s expression shifted, turning noticeably dim.

While Shen Xiaojiang wasn’t one to constantly read the room, she had a basic level of sensitivity. She could feel the skepticism in the supervisor’s words and eyes.

Without waiting for Bai Shuhua to introduce her, Shen Xiaojiang volunteered: “Hello, my name is Shen Xiaojiang. I am a rising junior in the Computer Science Department at Nancheng University.”

She introduced herself clearly but made no mention of her honors. She carried an air of being neither humble nor arrogant.

The supervisor nodded and said nothing more, though the doubt on his face didn’t fade a bit. He wasn’t the only one, many people there assumed Shen Xiaojiang was some relative of a leader being shoved in through the back door and didn’t take her seriously.

The Test

The supervisor led Shen Xiaojiang to a basic programming workstation. A few people were huddled around a critical internal testing station, leaving Shen Xiaojiang forgotten in the back.

“Why not let her try the internal test?” Bai Shuhua asked the supervisor.

The supervisor avoided the point. “She just got here, she should get familiar with the basic operations first.”

“It’s fine. I let her look at it in advance. She has some ideas, let her try.” Bai Shuhua walked over to the group, crossing her arms with an expectant look.

The supervisor shrugged. “I’m sorry, President Bai. It’s not that I won’t let her try, but we detected a logic error this morning, and for the time being…”

“It was running before, but now it won’t?” Shen Xiaojiang’s remark, which sounded like that of an expert, caught the supervisor’s attention.

“You know about this?”

The supervisor didn’t look old, but his eyes were unusually bloodshot likely from chronic overtime and late nights. Though he only said those three words, his eyes were screaming, “How do you know that?”

Shen Xiaojiang put down her chest bag, took out her usual notebook and mechanical pencil, and walked over to the circle of people. “Restore the original List length, and multiply the dirty data List length by two. See if you can get it to run temporarily.”

The onlookers exchanged glances. To be in Wanning Electronics’ R&D department, they were all formidable characters, former top science students or gold medalists in programming competitions. None of them had intended to use such a “corrective” method because it was simply too basic.

They hesitated to move. If another error occurred on top of this, the entire original program would be ruined. The consequences were so severe that no one could take the responsibility.

Even Bai Shuhua felt the method was too simple, perhaps even outdated. Her crossed arms tightened, her palms growing damp with nerves.

Shen Xiaojiang, however, remained composed. She flipped through her notebook, looking at her recent notes. “Are you not going to try?” she asked calmly.

The group was nervous enough to go crazy, but they didn’t want to show it in front of this “kid.” They looked at their feet and waited in silence, though none of them knew what they were waiting for.

Suddenly, Bai Shuhua snapped her fingers and said to one of the programmers, “Do as she says.”

“President Bai…” the person said, looking troubled.

Someone else spoke up: “President Bai, it’s not that we haven’t considered this method. The feasibility is too low. She’s just a kid and doesn’t belong to the company. She doesn’t have to take responsibility if she messes up the project. She can just say whatever she wants…”

Before he could finish, Shen Xiaojiang put down her notebook and pencil. “You tried it? But when you tried this method, you definitely didn’t account for the linear reaction of the dirty data.”

The man was left speechless. Because Shen Xiaojiang was right. They hadn’t thought the linear reaction was an issue.

The group looked at each other again, feeling as if Shen Xiaojiang had installed a surveillance camera over their heads and knew every move they made.

“Sigh, you guys are so slow.” After saying that, Shen Xiaojiang sat down and typed the data she had calculated into the computer as code.

The screen went blue. It seemed the system had crashed.

Bai Shuhua’s eyes widened, her fingernails nearly digging into her palms.

“There was never a blue screen before.”

“Yeah, at least we could see the code before, now we can’t see anything at all.”

“This is bad, it’s all over!”

In just one minute, everyone oscillated between frustration and irritability. Some sighed in despair, while others slammed their fists on the desks.

Just as everyone was ready to blame Shen Xiaojiang, a red “Loading” sign appeared in the center of the blue screen. The reboot time displayed was 9 seconds.

Unconsciously, the people who had just been questioning her began to count down together: “Four, three, two, one!”

The blue screen vanished, replaced by the previous program interface, and various data points began to stabilize and recover. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although it hadn’t solved the core problem, it had at least restored the corrupted program. At the same time, Shen Xiaojiang’s “First Look” was a resounding success.

The supervisor flashed a gratified smile, patting her shoulder while giving her a thumbs up. Those who had doubted her earlier now wore embarrassed expressions.

“Not bad, right?” Bai Shuhua asked the supervisor, wiping away sweat and feigning composure. The supervisor nodded vigorously.

Next, Shen Xiaojiang joined their ranks to tackle the difficulties. Following Shen Xiaojiang’s operational logic, Bai Shuhua had the team adjust the base data and reconnect to the dormant mechanical arm in the factory.

“Student Shen.” The supervisor brought a cup of warm water to Shen Xiaojiang’s side. “Why don’t you move over to the internal testing station?”

Shen Xiaojiang’s eyes were glued to the screen, her hands rapidly typing complex code. Her long, fair fingers seemed to dance across the keyboard. Focused and silent, she finally managed to resolve a small bug. She looked up and gave a faint, fleeting smile: “Thank you, Supervisor, but that’s alright. I feel more comfortable at the basic workstation.”

After speaking, she lowered her head and went back to work. Knowing that further words were useless, the supervisor set down the water and walked away.

Shen Xiaojiang knew the supervisor was giving her a way to “move up.” However, she had her own principles in work and life. Unless necessary, she didn’t feel obligated to take every “step up” someone offered her. Moreover, she wasn’t an employee of the company; the basic workstation was indeed more appropriate for her current status. Here, talent was everywhere, and people with abilities exceeding hers were common. She wouldn’t let a temporary success go to her head, she still had much to learn and a long road ahead.

Two hours later, Shen Xiaojiang had entered all the research she had done in her dorm into the initial code. She took a sip of the now completely cold water and took a brief break.

At that moment, Bai Shuhua rushed in. “You, you, and… Shen Xiaojiang, you three come with me.” She was out of breath and looked serious.

Not knowing what had happened, Shen Xiaojiang simply grabbed her phone and her notebook and followed behind the group. The elevator stopped on the third floor, and Shen Xiaojiang was the last one out.

Bai Shuhua stood at the door waiting for her. “Why are you walking so slowly? Are you getting nervous now that you’re about to see the real deal?”

Shen Xiaojiang blinked. She wasn’t nervous, but she was certainly expectant. Finally, she was going to verify her theories about the entire program she was eager to try.