The Meek Subordinate

The lunch standard sparked a widespread discussion among the participants...

Many even took photos and posted them on their WeChat Moments.

Boxed lunches are nothing unusual, but what was truly rare was a high-quality, even lavish, boxed lunch provided for free by the event organizers. As everyone knows, the catering standard for this kind of event usually follows the baseline of "be glad there's food at all!" Very few actually put any real effort into it.

Of course, bad food doesn't mean the competition itself is bad. It's like a wedding; even at a lavishly extravagant wedding, there's a good chance the guests will be given knock-off wedding candies...

But if the candies are from a proper brand, it will definitely leave a deep impression on the guests.

Right now, Li Xingya had a very good impression of White Night Holdings... which, in reality, mostly projected onto her impression of Su Bai.

To be honest, Li Xingya didn't have a good impression of rich people in the past. After all, the bosses back in her hometown were all incredibly shrewd. Not to say they were terrible, but they certainly weren't the easy-to-get-along-with type.

But Su Bai's aura was completely different.

At least the parts he had shown so far completely subverted Li Xingya's preconceived notions.

The competition lasted for a total of three days, and the time flew by.

Jiangnan University's Computer Science Association was quite experienced in organizing events. Everything was steady and smooth, without any major screw-ups.

For students lacking workplace experience, getting things done smoothly without messing up was already quite an achievement.

Especially for an event involving multi-department coordination and external personnel.

Over the three days, Li Xingya also noticed that Chen Yusheng would occasionally pay special attention to her progress. There wasn't any obvious favoritism, but Li Xingya was perceptive enough to tell that Chen Yusheng was observing her closely.

It wasn't until after the competition ended and the awards were handed out that Chen Yusheng added her on WeChat, explaining that she had been avoiding any suspicion of bias before.

After all, she was considered part of the advising team...

Li Xingya deeply agreed with this. In her eyes, Chen Yusheng was much more capable than those senior graduate students. Although she was young, many things in the computer science field had nothing to do with age anyway.

Those foreign tech giants who pioneered major breakthroughs also showed extraordinary talent at a very young age.

Li Xingya didn't think she was that amazing; all she wanted was to find a relatively high-paying job while she was still young.

For kids from poor families, choosing a major was all about how quickly it could pay off. For instance, being a doctor might offer both stability and a good income by middle age, but she couldn't wait that long. Nowadays, almost all decent hospitals required paid internships, and it wouldn't be until around age thirty that the income would start looking good.

So, even though programmers faced a higher risk of being laid off, at least the early-career income was high.

After adding each other on WeChat, Chen Yusheng offered to treat Li Xingya to a meal, just the two of them.

Li Xingya agreed without hesitation. Afterward, she clutched her phone, hesitating for a long time, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to send a private message to Su Bai.

When they bumped into each other at the breakfast shop, Su Bai had said he could introduce her and let her interact more with Chen Yusheng, and if things worked out, they could work on projects together in the future.

At the time, Li Xingya thought Su Bai was just being polite. She never expected him to actually follow through with real action.

Li Xingya was used to all kinds of empty pleasantries, so she felt somewhat flattered now.

The most amazing part was that Su Bai himself didn't show up, nor did he even contact her on WeChat. He truly just let Chen Yusheng come and recruit her.

It seemed she had misunderstood... Su Bai didn't seem to have any special intentions toward her.

Come to think of it, with an outstanding beauty like Chen Yusheng as his girlfriend, Su Bai probably wouldn't be interested in a girl of her level.

Li Xingya's emotional waves were a bit complex. On one hand, realizing that Su Bai only wanted her for her work capabilities made her feel quite encouraged, because this was earned through her hard study, rather than someone accommodating her for her looks.

Being taken care of just because she was a pretty girl was actually a situation Li Xingya hated. As for why she hated it, that involved her family background, which was quite complicated.

Yet, there was also an inexplicable sense of disappointment...

Girls' emotions are always complicated.

However, when Li Xingya arrived at the hotpot restaurant as promised, her slight melancholy was instantly dispelled, replaced by shock.

"Is... is this hotpot really this expensive?"

Looking at the menu, Li Xingya almost lost her composure.

When Chen Yusheng said she was treating her to hotpot, Li Xingya thought it would be a regular, traditional hotpot joint. It turned out to be a high-end mansion hotpot restaurant. Just looking at the prices on the menu, it seemed like it would easily cost over a thousand yuan per person.

Chen Yusheng, however, was very calm: "It's fine, my boyfriend is paying."

"...Oh, okay, but..."

"If you're not sure what to order, I'll do it. Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

"No, none."

"Good."

Having no dietary restrictions was a good thing; it meant her innate physical constitution was quite good.

Of course, after getting together with Su Bai and enjoying his doting, one's physical fitness would also improve. This was an aspect Chen Yusheng found very magical, yet felt quite smug about.

Even so, she still had to help Su Bai evaluate this girl's background. Su Bai's judgment was probably fine, but as his official girlfriend, she still had to act as the gatekeeper for him, hmph.

Chen Yusheng had been thoroughly tamed by Su Bai, acquiring a very orthodox first wife mindset.

While all sorts of eccentric thoughts danced in her mind, her face remained completely deadpan. It couldn't be helped; she was born that way.

"I watched you during the competition. Your learning speed and coding skills are pretty good, and you adapt to new architectures quickly. You're just a bit lacking in theoretical knowledge, but that's not a problem. Actually, doing projects nowadays doesn't heavily emphasize the theoretical side; 'good enough' works... Would you be willing to work with me? I'm short on hands right now."

"Yes, yes, I can!" Li Xingya nodded frantically.

"Let me make it clear first, the workload on my end might be a bit heavy..."

"That's okay. At school, I've pretty much handled all the major courses for my original major, so I have a lot of free time."

"That's good. Also, I'll pay you a salary, but it won't go through the school's accounts. It's Su Bai's... uh, personal sponsorship. It might not look very official..."

"How could that be? It's absolutely reliable. I trust Boss Su!"

Li Xingya's eyes sparkled. When she mentioned Su Bai, her emotions were quite positive, but she addressed him as Boss Su.

She was sensible and knew that even though she had a great impression of Su Bai in her heart, it was best not to show too much of it in front of Chen Yusheng.

It was all about emotional intelligence.

And so, the two had a very pleasant conversation over the meal.

Afterward, Chen Yusheng returned to the school... or more accurately, the startup park next to the school. Su Bai had been addicted to his CEO office these past few days, always sitting in there drinking tea and chatting idly. What a weirdo.