The two stared at each other, a flicker of something unreadable passing between them.
Chen Mo blinked. "Owe you something?" His brain flipped through every recent memory like a mental Rolodex. Other than last night's dinner, he couldn't think of any debt owed to Zhao Min.
Zhao Min smirked. "You forgot to give me the company's general manager contract."
"Oh. Right." He laughed, pulling out his laptop. "Let me fix that."
A few quick taps later, the employment contract was drafted, printed, and signed. Zhao Min slid her copy across the table to him with a satisfied nod, like a predator claiming new territory.
Chen Mo handed her the company documents in return. "I'll transfer the startup funds to the company account. From here on out, I leave the rest to you."
Zhao Min lifted her coffee and gave him a lazy salute. "Enjoy your genius lab life. I'll handle the boring part."
Then she reached into her bag, pulled out a brand-new phone, and passed it to him. "Brush it for me."
Chen Mo chuckled, pulled out his laptop again, and plugged the phone in. Ten minutes later, with a few lines of code and a quiet system chime, it was done.
"Here." He handed it back.
"So fast?" Zhao Min looked at him with mock suspicion. "I think my cousin really meant it when she said she wanted to marry you."
Chen Mo froze.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Juice sprayed across the table as he nearly choked, face flushing red. He slapped his chest, unsure whether it was panic, embarrassment, or… interest?
Zhao Min laughed so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. "Relax. She just said you were her type—tall, mysterious, slightly cocky. Plus, apparently you can code in your sleep."
"You're going to get me killed."
"Maybe. But you'll die a legend." She downed the last of her coffee, standing up to leave. "I'll start scouting an office location and begin recruitment. Don't blow anything up while I'm gone."
She tossed him a wink and sauntered out.
A moment later, a waiter appeared, smiling politely.
"Excuse me, sir. Here's your bill."
"Huh? Didn't the lady just now pay?"
"She said to give you this." The waiter placed a folded note on the bill.
Chen Mo opened it.
"This breakfast is sponsored by the generous and dashing chairman of our humble startup. —Zhao Min"
He flipped over the receipt.
Total: 1,386 yuan.
Chen Mo winced.
What did we eat, gold-leafed toast and truffle mooncakes?!
He sighed, pulling out his phone. "Paying by mobile," he muttered.
Once outside, he shook off the sting of the bill and headed straight to the library.
The day's goal: finish reading his 200th book.
With this, he'd unlock another reward from the tech library—two choices this time. One random, one deliberate.
Chen Mo's pace quickened at the thought.
Inside the study area, Xiao Yu was already seated, thumbing through a biology textbook. When she looked up and saw him, her face lit up with a gentle smile.
Chen Mo sat beside her and slid the newly-flashed phone across the table.
"For you."
"Huh?" She blinked. "Where did you get the money to buy a new phone? Aren't you just starting your company?"
He blinked. Right. She didn't know.
"I wrote some software. Sold it to a company. Made a little money."
"And you spent it on this?" she frowned. "I already have a phone. Take it back."
Chen Mo took her hand and gently pushed the phone back toward her.
"It's not just a phone. It's the first gift I'm giving my girlfriend."
The words made her cheeks flush a soft pink. Around them, other students were sneaking glances, grinning at the cuteness of it all.
"Well... okay. But your girlfriend says—don't waste money like this again."
Chen Mo grinned. "You said it."
"Now hush and read. People are watching."
They both turned back to their books. Chen Mo dove into a physics volume. This one was dense—slower going than others—but necessary.
Xiao Yu peeked over. "Why do you keep switching between math, programming, and now physics?"
"I'm a high-functioning intellectual. Gotta keep the brain fed."
"I've never met someone this shameless," she teased.
Later that night...
After walking Xiao Yu back to her dorm, Chen Mo rushed back to his apartment. Heart pounding, he dove into the tech library.
The interface shimmered to life. Shu Lao stood waiting.
"Good work," the old caretaker said with a smile. "Two hundred books in under a month. Better than I expected."
"I'm ready," Chen Mo said. "What are my options?"
"You have two choices today," Shu Lao explained. "One, a random draw from the library. Two, a free manual selection using your earned credit. Random comes first."
Chen Mo's eyes narrowed. "Will I get another useless invention like last time?"
Shu Lao raised a brow. "You don't like sanitary napkin production techniques? How ungrateful."
Chen Mo held up both hands. "Nope, I'm good. I'll stick to medicine and tech for now."
"Very well. Let fate decide."
The library shimmered, and a spinning light wheel appeared above, countless titles orbiting like stars. A moment later, one book dropped from the sky and landed in Shu Lao's hand.
"Star Office Software"
Chen Mo's eyes lit up. Finally! Something useful!
It wasn't flashy, but office software was a stable, in-demand product. Unlike an OS, which required massive market push, this could be developed and monetized almost immediately.
"Perfect," Chen Mo muttered. "We'll use this to launch the company properly."
Shu Lao gently pressed the book into Chen Mo's forehead.
A stream of glowing characters surged into his mind. Source code, UI flows, spreadsheet engines, word processing backbones—all of it neatly organized and embedded.
"You still have one more free choice," Shu Lao said.
Chen Mo hesitated.
"No need to rush. I'll save it," he replied. "Better to have a card up my sleeve. Never know when I'll need a specific breakthrough."
"Wise."
Chen Mo exited the library.
Back in his apartment, he booted up his laptop, opened a blank project folder, and typed two words into the directory name.
Star Office.
Time to work.