When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 215: You Must Win

Unfortunately, before she could truly get close, the owner of the cup had already moved away.

She looked down and continued, "Zhong Yuan would practice the guitar on the rooftop every night, no matter the wind or rain. He never missed a single evening."

It sounded incredible, yet it was the truth.

Had it not been for that one rainy night when she saw Zhong Yuan taking a tent up to the roof, she would never have believed it possible for someone to be so desperate in their pursuit of music.

Just how cold a rainy night in the dead of winter could be, probably no one knew better than she did.

That night, Jiang Shuyao wrapped in a down jacket, stood in the corridor, the cold wind mixed with rain hitting her face like a layer of ice.

The tent was pitched near the railing, a faint orange light inside, and the intermittent guitar melody was raw and tough. Yet, for some reason, it sounded unusually determined and fluid to her ears.

He Shumiao widened her eyes in confusion and asked, "There are many places to practice guitar. Why go to the rooftop?"

Jiang Shuyao explained, "Because the rooftop is the only place that won’t disturb others."

More importantly, a person used to solitude since childhood can stand there and see very, very far.

With that, the dormitory fell silent.

Perhaps no one knew what to ask next.

After a long time, Fang Wei took off her shoes, climbed into bed, and dropped a casual remark, "If I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to be her roommate. Really."

Um.

He Shumiao blinked and asked, "So about the dinner tonight, Dorm Head, are you going, or...?"

"I’m on my period, can’t eat spicy."

"We could order the half-and-half hot pot."

There was no response from above.

He Shumiao tilted her head and looked at Jiang Shuyao for an explanation.

What does that mean?

Jiang Shuyao smiled, "I’ll head to the base first. Call me later."

Boss Pei had already reviewed the competition’s directory documents. Usually, when the boss spoke, the subordinates could only offer suggestions, hardly ever contradicting.

Especially Jiang Xubai, who always embraced his role as a lackey to the fullest.

But today the sun had risen in the west, and from far away, she could already hear a debate as she approached the door.

As she pushed the door open, she saw Jiang Xubai rolling up his sleeves excitedly as he stood up.

It wasn’t about starting a fight but probably because he felt that standing while speaking to someone might help him regain some momentum.

Jiang Shuyao didn’t interrupt them, instead, she carried on as usual, taking her cup to get water.

After listening carefully for a while, she finally understood what was going on.

Regarding the topic of this competition, Pei Yan wanted to make a web-based online CSS editor.

Essentially, the function was to modularize the front-end page elements, provide a graphical interface that allowed developers to use a PowerPoint-like method to achieve their intended page preview functionality.

Such an editor would not only need to be compatible with mainstream browsers on the market but also adapt to various mobile clients.

Not to mention the compatibility challenges, just the two hundred plus attributes in the CSS alone, excluding testing time, with just three months to modularize and drag-and-drop each attribute, and to complete their respective key functions and transmissions, achieving an accurate and intelligent display on the webpage interface was simply... a pipe dream.

Jiang Xubai couldn’t fathom how large a brain capacity one needed to come up with such a terrifying concept.

It wasn’t a competition; it was a death mission.

Jiang Xubai rubbed his throbbing temples and waved his hand in resignation, "It’s impossible. There’s too much we need to learn on the fly. To us at this stage, creating this editor is no different from delusions of grandeur."

Pei Yan said, "If I say it’s possible, it’s possible. Learning on the fly should be a piece of cake for you."

Jiang Xubai, "Do you have that much faith in me?"

"It’s not about whether I believe in you or not," Pei Yan leaned back in his chair, "If you want to pursue front-end development in the future, participating in this development will imbed a deep understanding of CSS and JS in your bones, an effect unachievable with any other project."

Jiang Xubai fell silent all at once.

He understood the reasoning, but there simply wasn’t enough time.

Humans aren’t machines, incapable of working tirelessly twenty-four hours a day for three months straight.

If they could succeed, taking first place would be all but guaranteed, but what if they failed?

Failure wasn’t just talk, it would mean that three months of their effort had been in vain, and he couldn’t accept such an outcome.

The conversation came to a temporary halt.

Jiang Shuyao, holding her cup of water, sat in silence beside them, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over Pei Yan’s computer screen, when suddenly something came to mind.

She gently tugged at his sleeve and asked, "The night before Lantern Festival, the all-nighter you pulled writing those codes, do they have anything to do with this competition’s topic?"

Pei Yan pinched her fingertips and hummed nonchalantly.

"Let’s have a look."

The girl’s voice was soft and tender, a stark contrast to the rough dialogue between the two grown men just moments ago.

Jiang Xubai also looked at Pei Yan, his intention clear without words.

"You wouldn’t understand," Pei Yan chuckled lazily, sitting motionless in his chair with a cheeky expression.

Jiang Xubai, his pride wounded, scoffed, "How would you know we wouldn’t understand if you don’t show us?"

"Fine."

As if he’d been waiting for that response, Pei Yan quickly pulled out a USB drive and plugged it into the computer.

The compiler interface opened and ran promptly.

After just one glance, both were stunned.

Jiang Xubai’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed, his eyes fixated on the screen, and after a long while, he said dryly, "Doing this, you make us look pretty useless."

Pei Yan just smiled, saying nothing.

After a while, he opened the source code, laying it out for both to see candidly.

Actually, Jiang Shuyao hadn’t been able to make sense of it initially, but after hearing his ideas about developing a label editor, things suddenly fell into place upon seeing his work.

It had to be said, Pei Yan’s mind was truly made for programming.

Compared to Jiang Shuyao’s composure, Jiang Xubai was visibly more eager.

He straightened up, his voice trembling slightly, "We’ve come this far, Boss, just say the word, and we’re ready to get to work."

Damn it, he had figured it out too.

Whether or not they won didn’t matter, just for those things he saw just now, three months of pure grind would be worth it.

The tug-of-war ended with the enthusiastic clicking of Jiang Xubai’s keyboard.

Jiang Shuyao approached Pei Yan and asked, "Why didn’t you show it to him earlier?"

Pei Yan took the cup, drank some water to moisten his throat, and replied, "Only when a person reaches the point of utter despair, and you reveal just a glimmer of hope, will they make the resolute decision to go all in."

All in.

"Weren’t you sure of winning?"

"Who said that?"

"..."

Jiang Shuyao watched him quietly.

Pei Yan smiled and asked in return, "Princess has always been indifferent to fame and fortune. What are your thoughts on this competition?"

Her thoughts.

He was right—most of the time, she wasn’t particularly competitive, and even when working on projects, her intention was to learn and help the team.

But for this competition, Jiang Shuyao felt an acute urgency.

What exactly she was so eager about, she didn’t want to admit. Instead, she looked him in the eye and said seriously, "Pei Yan, you must win."