What Bad Intentions Could a Spoiled Little Brat Possibly have? - Chapter 36.1

From This Day Forward, We Have No Further Entanglements

We shall have no further dealings with each other from this point on.

Cheng Huai encountered no obstacles along the way as he headed straight for the CEO’s office. Just as the door pushed open, a sweet and jubilant cry of “Brother—” slipped from his lips, only for the final syllable to come to an abrupt halt.

A circle of people sat on the sofas, sitting upright and still; the atmosphere was solemn. Every gaze instantly focused on this suddenly appearing, excessively beautiful youth.

Fu Zheng sat in the head seat, holding a document in his hand. Hearing the sound, he lifted his eyes, his movements pausing almost imperceptibly.

Under a collective gaze that could hardly conceal its shock, his expression remained characterized by its usual composure. He did not say much, merely tilting his chin slightly toward his large office desk, signaling for Cheng Huai to go over there first.

“It will be over soon,” Fu Zheng said to Cheng Huai, his voice neither high nor low.

“Oh.” Cheng Huai understood immediately, obediently quieting down without further interruption.

He flashed a polite yet flamboyant smile at the unfamiliar faces present as a greeting, then, carrying his backpack, walked with practiced familiarity toward the desk that belonged to Fu Zheng.

Although many employees at Yunhuan had long heard rumors that the CEO had such a deeply pampered younger brother, rumors were, after all, just rumors.

Witnessing firsthand this treatment entering the inner sanctum without announcement and Fu Zheng’s almost natural acquiescence and indulgence, the hearts of those present were already galloping like ten thousand horses. The spirit of gossip burned fiercely, yet they had to force themselves to maintain professional, calm expressions.

As for the person-in-charge who was currently giving a report, upon hearing Fu Zheng’s “It will be over soon,” it was as if they had received a silent order to hurry. Their speaking speed increased involuntarily, and the content of the report became increasingly concise. They wished they could compress ten minutes of content into one, fearing they might delay the boss’s important business.

Cheng Huai was in no rush. He sat down in Fu Zheng’s large, comfortable office chair and opened his laptop, but his gaze involuntarily drifted over the top of the screen, landing on the figure surrounded by the crowd not far away.

Fu Zheng tilted his head slightly, listening to the report and occasionally asking questions. The lines of his profile appeared sharp and focused under the cold white lights of the office.

Cheng Huai originally thought it would be difficult to concentrate in such an environment, but listening to the steady, methodical discussion coming from that side, the sound instead became a comforting white noise, allowing him to gradually immerse himself in his own study tasks.

After an unknown amount of time, a warm, broad palm landed gently on the crown of his head, giving it a rub.

Cheng Huai looked up in a daze, only then realizing that the vast office had become empty and quiet at some point.

The midday sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, plating everything in the room with a soft, warm golden hue.

Once again, it was just the two of them.

Fu Zheng stood behind him, not speaking immediately.

The hand resting in his hair stroked slowly, carrying a silent comfort, while the other hand reached over him to skillfully press the power button on the desktop computer.

“Hungry?” Fu Zheng asked. Keeping his posture of leaning over to turn on the computer, his gaze swept over the complex code interface on Cheng Huai’s screen and the several heavy professional books spread out beside it. His voice was kept very low.

Cheng Huai nodded. Almost as a reflex, he turned his body and raised his arms, wanting to hook them around Fu Zheng’s neck as he usually did.

Fu Zheng, however, unobtrusively retreated half a step, just barely avoiding the embrace. His gaze returned to his own computer screen, his tone calm and rippleless: “Ten minutes.”

He then dialed the secretary’s private line, asking Zhou Yuan to bring in the food that had been prepared in advance.

“Do you have a lead yet?”

Fu Zheng opened his computer to deal with the mountain of unread emails accumulated throughout the morning. His eyes were on the screen, and his voice sounded like a casual, offhand question.

Cheng Huai was staring blankly at the clear line of Fu Zheng’s jaw. He was stunned for a few seconds before reacting, realizing Fu Zheng was asking about his progress on the laboratory assessment.

Recalling the main purpose of his visit today, he first nodded, then hesitantly shook his head, his voice carrying a hint of uncertainty: “I guess you could say I do, and I guess you could say I don’t.”

Fu Zheng stopped the movement of his mouse and turned his face toward him: “Let’s hear it.”

“I found the wrong answer, but I haven’t figured out where to start for the right one.” Cheng Huai turned the laptop screen toward Fu Zheng. “I carefully studied the baseline dataset provided this morning and found that if I only start with algorithm optimization under the existing framework, the ceiling will be very low. The background environment simulated by this dataset is too ideal and singular; the interference factors in the real world are much more complex and chaotic. So I think it might require a deeper optimization of the algorithmic structure to truly improve the model’s anti-interference and generalization capabilities in complex environments.”

As Cheng Huai spoke, his brow furrowed unconsciously, his tone revealing a slight frustration: “But my time is limited. If I want to beat the others, optimizing only the algorithm will definitely be too late.”

Fu Zheng gave an “Mhm” and asked, “What if the environment simulated by the dataset was more complex?”

“That…” Cheng Huai said without thinking, “If the dataset could be more complex ideally simulating light and shadow changes, smoke obstructions, and so on, the kind of complex situations encountered in reality and let the model train in ‘hard mode,’ then the robustness should see a massive improvement.”

His speaking speed grew faster and faster. The confusion that had originally occupied the space between his brows was gradually replaced by an enlightened excitement.

Fu Zheng watched his instantaneous transformation into a “light-up” state; a trace of imperceptible softness and admiration flickered in the depths of his eyes.

He did not offer much evaluation of Cheng Huai’s concept, his tone returning to its usual flatness: “Alright, come over and eat first.”

“Huh?” Cheng Huai’s train of thought was still immersed in the sparks of inspiration from just now; he didn’t react for a moment.

By the time he came to his senses, Fu Zheng had already stood up and walked to the lounge area, opening the insulated lunch boxes Zhou Yuan had brought in one by one. The aroma of food quietly permeated the air.

A second later, Cheng Huai suddenly slapped his own forehead, his eyes shining brilliantly: “That’s right! Data! I can start from the perspective of data augmentation and constructing a more complex training environment! That way, I don’t need to completely overturn the algorithmic structure! Brother—!”

He looked at Fu Zheng in pleasant surprise, then took three steps in two to rush over, jumping onto Fu Zheng’s back in one leap. He wrapped his arms around Fu Zheng’s neck, swaying as he spoke: “Brother, thank you, Brother! You’re amazing!”

He had been prepared to throw a tantrum or act spoiled; he originally thought it would take some effort and a lot of wheedling to get his brother to provide a lead. He hadn’t expected his brother to enlighten him so thoroughly with just a few words.

“Let go, sit down and eat.” Fu Zheng patted Cheng Huai’s arm. “No need to thank me; the correct answer was found by yourself.”

Only then did Cheng Huai slide off his back with a grin. He stumbled slightly upon landing but was steadied by Fu Zheng reaching out to hold his arm.

He moved to the dining table, tilting his head to inspect the opened lunch boxes, blinking in some confusion: “Brother, didn’t you say the restaurant had new dishes?”

These dishes, no matter how he looked at them, seemed similar to the ones Uncle Wang usually sent to the school all of them were his favorites.

“Mhm,” Fu Zheng picked up a pair of chopsticks and handed them to him, his expression as usual. “The new dishes will be sent up separately in a moment.”

Cheng Huai looked at the chopsticks held out before him but did not immediately reach out to take them. Instead, he lifted his eyes, looking at Fu Zheng with a bit of cunning and testing.

Fu Zheng warned: “Don’t look for trouble.”

Having preliminarily solved a difficult problem that had troubled him for a long time, Cheng Huai had not felt such heart-felt lightness and joy in a while.

While eating, the smile at the corners of his mouth could not be suppressed. He couldn’t help but chatter away, sharing his mental journey with Fu Zheng from the initial complete lack of clues to the accidental flash of inspiration, and then to the sudden enlightenment just now.

Several times, Fu Zheng wanted to interrupt him and tell him to focus on eating. But seeing the youth’s eyebrows and eyes dyed with vivid brilliance, even the soft tips of his hair seemingly dancing with joy, and recalling the heavy-hearted look he had when they first met at the start of the semester he was simply a different person compared to the one before him now.

The words at the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down. Fu Zheng suddenly couldn’t bear to interrupt this rare happiness.

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