Awakening Elementary School System in University

October 14th, Tuesday, 5:38 PM.

In the office, Chen Lin put the final stroke to his calculations on a piece of scratch paper and let out a long, heavy breath.

He stood up and stretched habitually, his joints letting out a series of crisp CRACKS and POPS.

His two-and-a-half-hour quota for math research today was used up.

He glanced around the now-empty office. Sun Yu’s and Huang Yiyi’s desks were already deserted, their surfaces wiped clean. They had clearly left right on time.

Chen Lin nodded in satisfaction.

He recalled when the company had just been founded. Sun Yu and Huang Yiyi had both brought with them the toxic habits of hustle culture. One had come from a corporate giant like Tiansheng, the other from a design institute where overtime was rampant.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Huang Yiyi genuinely had an endless list of tasks: legal, HR, payroll, administration... During the company’s startup phase, nearly all the non-technical miscellaneous work landed on her shoulders alone.

As for Sun Yu, he was a different case. Having spent so long at his previous company, he had developed the professional inertia of lingering at his desk until seven or eight o’clock, even when he had nothing to do.

To correct this unhealthy trend, Chen Lin had practically talked himself hoarse. He’d nag them in the group chat every day, painstakingly trying to instill in them the advanced thinking that good employees were the ones who left on time. In the end, he even had Huang Yiyi write "Strictly adhere to work hours and prohibit non-essential overtime" into the company bylaws.

Fortunately, Shen Yan and Yunqing were much less trouble in this regard.

As interns, the two girls had strictly adhered to their work hours from their very first day, never lingering.

This time, Shen Yan needed to work consecutive overtime shifts to crack the solid-state battery project, so Chen Lin had even posted a special announcement in the company group chat, emphasizing that this was a specially approved emergency and that no one else should follow her example.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Chen Lin glanced at Yunqing’s desk.

She wasn’t there, but her beige knit cardigan was still draped over the back of her chair, and the canvas bag she always used was sitting on the corner of her desk.

’She probably stepped out to run an errand,’ Chen Lin thought, not thinking much of it.

He took out his phone, expertly opened a food delivery app, and prepared to order dinner for himself and for Shen Yan, who was still battling away in the corner.

Last Saturday and just last night, he had stayed with Shen Yan, working overtime until past nine. Both nights, they had made do with takeout for dinner.

Just as he was about to ask Shen Yan what she wanted for dinner, a familiar, clear, and pleasant call, tinged with a hint of playful laughter, came from the office entrance.

"Boss, come get the dinner!"

Chen Lin looked up at the sound of her voice and saw Yunqing standing charmingly at the entrance. A huge takeout bag hung from each of her slender arms, and she was looking at him with a wide smile.

For some reason, looking at the scene, Chen Lin felt a sudden sense of déjà vu.

He walked quickly to the entrance and took the two bags from Yunqing’s hands.

Wow, they were heavy.

A rich, spicy aroma wafted out of the bags, instantly making his stomach rumble.

He carried the two large bags to the long conference table they usually used for meals and set them down. Looking inside, he saw they were filled with the kind of takeout containers used by high-end restaurants.

’These takeout containers... they look a little familiar, too.’

Chen Lin looked up and asked Yunqing, a little uncertain, "This place... have we eaten here together before?"

"Not a bad memory, Boss!"

As she spoke, Yunqing walked over to the corner, pulled up a still-immersed Shen Yan from her documents, and plopped her down in a chair at the table. Only then did she answer with a grin, "Yep, it’s the same Sichuan restaurant where the three of us ate together for the first time! And last time, I was the one who got takeout from here and brought it to you guys at the math study room."

With Yunqing’s reminder, it all came rushing back to Chen Lin.

He remembered.

He and Shen Yan had been in the middle of a paid, private math tutoring session when Yunqing had shown up at the door, two big bags of food in hand.

"Oh, right, I remember now!" Chen Lin nodded with a laugh. "I remember after we ate, you roped me into being your muscle to help move stuff at your band’s rehearsal space. I even got hit by a big speaker."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Yunqing remembered too, nodding her head like a chicken pecking at grain. A trace of lingering fear appeared on her face. "That speaker was about to hit Yanyan and me, but you pushed us both out of the way and took the hit yourself. You scared me to death back then! And you refused to go to the hospital. Thank goodness you were really okay afterward."

Hearing this, Chen Lin couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

’Of course I was okay.’

’The System had taken over in the emergency. It used up a whole Little Red Flower to strengthen my [Little Champion] title. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to me.’

Of course, Yunqing knew even less about what happened after that.

It was precisely because of that "hero saving the beauty" moment that when he walked Shen Yan back to her dorm, their relationship finally broke past being purely professional and took a small step forward.

Thinking of this, Chen Lin subconsciously sneaked a glance at Shen Yan beside him.

As it happened, Shen Yan was also looking up at him.

Their eyes met, and they both saw a hint of a smile in the other’s gaze.

...

「Twenty minutes later.」

Yunqing stared speechlessly at Chen Lin, who was across from her. He had just finished his second pig’s trotter and was still looking for more.

"Hey, Boss, how come whenever you eat with me and Yanyan, you don’t say a word and just focus on stuffing your face?"

She pointed her chopsticks at the nearly empty plates on the table. "Of all the food on this table, at least half of it ended up in your stomach, right?"

Hearing this, Chen Lin retorted righteously, "You bought so much! If I don’t eat more, won’t it go to waste? Frugality is a traditional virtue of our Huaxia people!"

Before Yunqing could think of a comeback, he immediately changed the subject. "By the way, did you have something to do today? How come you haven’t gone home yet at this hour?"

"Don’t you worry, Boss," Yunqing said jokingly, making a face at him. "I’m not illegally working overtime or anything. I clocked out a long time ago. I just saw my bestie slaving away all by herself here and felt so bad for her that I came back to keep her company."

With that, she turned her head to look at Shen Yan, who was shoveling rice into her mouth beside her, and asked with concern, "Yanyan, are you going to have to work this late every day for the rest of the week, too?"

When Shen Yan ate, she had a habit of chewing with her lips pressed together.

Right now, her mouth was stuffed with rice and other food, her cheeks puffed out, making her look just like a little hamster diligently stuffing its face. She was so cute you just wanted to reach out and pinch them.

She didn’t have a free moment to speak, so she could only blink and nod vigorously at Yunqing.