“Jie, you didn’t stay up all night again, did you?”

Song Jiucheng, still half-asleep, went to the bathroom and passed by Song Mian’s room. He noticed there was a faint light on inside. Peering through the light, he saw her deeply focused on her work.

“Shh—”

Suddenly hearing Song Jiucheng’s voice, Song Mian jumped in surprise. She quickly ran to the window and whispered, “How many times have I told you? Keep your voice down, don’t wake Mom!”

Song Jiucheng lowered his voice, “Jie, what’s going on with your company? They make you work overtime every day. Are the leaders in your company bullying you? I’ll go with you to the company tomorrow and find out which bastard dares to treat you like this—”

Before he could finish, the window was pushed open from the inside. In the dim light, Song Mian glared at him and lowered her voice, “Shut up.”

Although Song Jiucheng had a reckless reputation, he was raised by his sister since childhood, and for the most part, he listened to her. Now, when she shouted at him like this, he immediately fell silent.

“It has nothing to do with the company, I volunteered to work overtime. I’ve been very busy these days. Don’t cause trouble for me…”

“Oh.”

“Alright, I’m going to sleep now. Remember what I just told you.”

After Song Mian repeatedly reminded him, Song Jiucheng reluctantly nodded, “…Okay.”

Though he agreed on the surface, he was secretly rolling up his sleeves, planning to find a time to go to the company and get justice for his sister.

As for Song Mian, she couldn’t fall asleep in bed. Just now, she had finally finished designing the latest version of the blueprint. This version was the best work she had ever done. If it weren’t still dark outside, she would have gone straight to see Meng Jie to show her the new results. She wondered if this version of the design would meet Meng Jie’s expectations.

Although the lottery app was already designed by Lu Linshen, the website and network maintenance still needed someone.

Meng Suihuan remembered the phone number and address Lu Linshen had given her. She dialed his number, but no one answered. Without hesitation, she drove to the address. The location was in a suburban area, far from the city center, and it took her over an hour to drive there.

Notably, the area was filled with traditional courtyard houses, some of which showed signs of wear and tear. The walls outside were slightly dilapidated, revealing the toll of time. With the rise of commercial housing, many people had abandoned these old-style courtyards. She recalled that in the 21st century, a courtyard house in Beijing could be worth tens of millions, hard to come by. Lately, with people from Shoucheng Group rushing to acquire land and companies, it seemed a good opportunity to look for a batch of courtyard houses.

As Meng Suihuan walked, she soon arrived at her destination. She raised her hand to knock on the door, but it opened with a creak. A woman walked out crying loudly.

“Qian Ming, I must have been cursed to marry you. For years, you’ve been obsessed with that broken website, slacking off at the company. Now you’ve been laid off, and you’re messing around with these useless things. Our family will starve while you’re at it, are you satisfied? Since you don’t care about us, let’s divorce and part ways!”

The woman almost stumbled but quickly regained her balance, though she staggered a few steps before not falling. She wiped away her tears and apologized to Meng Suihuan before running off.

Looking through the open door, the inside was a mess. Tables and chairs were crooked, and a TV, radio, and old computer were scattered on the floor. The man crouched down and began to gather the items together, tidying up the wreckage. When he saw Meng Suihuan at the door, he walked over to apologize.

“Sorry, there’s been some family trouble recently, and I can’t help with repairs right now. Maybe you can come back later.”

“Did I get the wrong idea?” Meng Suihuan quickly explained, adding, “I’m not here for repairs, I want to discuss something with you. Lu Linshen sent me!”

Sure enough, when the man heard Lu Linshen’s name, he reacted and invited her inside. “Please wait here for a moment. The house is a bit messy, I’ll tidy up a little.” He helped lift the fallen chair, wiped it clean with a cloth, and then invited her to sit down.

She briefly explained her purpose, but the man didn’t show much reaction. Instead, he smiled and said, “It’s surprising that Lu Shidi still remembers me. But I haven’t touched these things in years. I returned everything I learned to my teacher long ago. I can’t take on this responsibility, you should find someone else.”

This answer was entirely expected. Fortunately, besides giving her the address and contact information, Lu Linshen had also mentioned some details about Qian Ming’s current situation. Meng Suihuan glanced at the fallen computer and slowly said, “Qian Ge, don’t underestimate yourself. I heard from Lu Linshen that you’ve never really left this field over the years. You occasionally help people fix computers and TVs, and when their projects get too busy, they come to you for help…”

Seeing that the other person still hadn’t reacted, Meng Suihuan glanced at the open door and said, “Qian Ge, since you truly love this field, and there’s such a great opportunity now, why not give it a try?”

Qian Ming replied, “I’m just helping out with a few small tasks, there’s no technical expertise involved. You should find someone else.”

This Qian Ming was really stubborn. She had said all the good things she could, but he was still resistant, like oil that wouldn’t absorb into salt. It seemed she would have to go back to Lu Linshen and gather more information about Qian Ming to figure out another way.

Just as she parked the car, Song Mian rushed over, her cheeks flushed, rubbing her hands together as if she had been waiting for a long time.

“It’s freezing cold, why aren’t you inside? What are you doing here at the door?” Though Song Mian’s voice trembled, her dark circles under her eyes were clearly visible, but her eyes were still bright and full of warmth, like a ray of sunlight in the winter.

“Meng Jie, I’ve made a new design! Please take a look!”

Ever since Meng Suihuan entrusted the task to Song Mian, she had been working hard, and staying up late had become a regular thing. Fortunately, her hard work paid off. Although the product design hadn’t met the project’s requirements, it had surpassed most of the other products in the market. Seeing her so eager, Meng Suihuan didn’t rush to leave and instead asked her to sit in the car. Looking at the dark circles under her eyes, which she had tried to hide, she said, “I’ve told you so many times, don’t stay up late drawing. If you keep this up, I’ll find someone else next time.”

This had a huge deterrent effect on Song Mian. She quickly smiled and pleaded, “Last night, I couldn’t stop when inspiration hit me! I’ll definitely sleep earlier next time!”

“Ah, Jie, please stop scolding me. Come on, take a look at this new design!”

Only then did Meng Suihuan open the design draft she handed over. The moment she saw it, she was frozen in place. This design was far better than her previous drafts—it was as if a painting suddenly came to life, with unique ideas and creativity. Although she had offered some suggestions and inspiration from her experience in the 21st century, they were all relatively simple and general, and she didn’t understand the core technology, so she couldn’t offer much advice. But Song Mian had figured it out on her own. The key elements of the design were things that didn’t appear until the 21st century, yet here they were in front of her.

The moment she saw the design, she almost couldn’t control her emotions. Song Mian had been waiting anxiously for her feedback, but seeing Meng Suihuan’s serious face and her silence, her excitement quickly turned into unease. She couldn’t wait any longer and said, “Meng Jie, this one is the one I drew last night, it might not be very good. There’s another design below, please take a look at that one instead…”

Her voice grew softer as she spoke, until it was barely audible.

Recently, she had made adjustments based on Meng Jie’s suggestions, but Meng Suihuan had always been dissatisfied with the results. Originally, she had designed another draft, but last night, a flood of inspiration came to her, and she stayed up to draw this one, too. But it seemed it hadn’t turned out well.

Upon hearing this, Meng Suihuan snapped out of her thoughts and, with a face that had shifted from seriousness to sheer joy, exclaimed, “This design is fantastic.”

“We’ll go with this draft!”

“What?”

The impact of these words on Song Mian was enormous; she stood there, completely stunned, like a wooden puppet.

After a long while, she finally regained her voice, though it trembled even more than when she had stood outside in the cold wind for over an hour. “M-Meng Jie, what did you just say?” She suspected she had heard wrong.

“You didn’t hear wrong. I just said your design has passed!”

“Song Mian, you did it.”

“R-Really?” In that moment, Song Mian was so overwhelmed with emotion that she burst into tears. Had she really succeeded? Since she had gotten this opportunity, she had worked so hard and kept improving, facing countless failures along the way. There were many times when she wondered if she should just give up and let someone else have the chance, but in the end, she persevered.

She had always felt like there was a tight string in her heart, and now that string had snapped. All of her emotions spilled out uncontrollably.

Meng Suihuan, naturally aware of the pressure Song Mian had been under, didn’t offer words of comfort but silently handed her some tissues.

As Song Mian cried her heart out, her voice becoming hoarse, Meng Suihuan heard a loud knocking on the car door from the outside. She turned her head and saw a familiar face—Song Jiucheng, the red-haired man she had encountered earlier. His face was burning with anger, and his mouth was moving as if he was saying something.

But Song Mian was crying so loudly that Meng Suihuan couldn’t hear him clearly.

With no choice, she lowered the car window. Before she could speak, she heard Song Jiucheng angrily shout, “Oh, so it’s you! Is it not enough that you bullied me before, now you’re bullying my sister too? You really think I, Song Jiucheng, am an easy target?”

“I’m going to make you pay for this!”

Meng Suihuan: “???”