When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 225: Stunning the Entire Field

In the venue, the presentation by the first group from Rong University was drawing to a close.

After a burst of enthusiastic applause, the speaker didn’t show any signs of stepping down. Instead, he pulled a small USB drive from his pocket, laid both hands on the podium, and scanned the audience before saying:

"I am thankful for this competition, as it allowed me to witness many interesting projects."

Pei Yan paused for a moment, his gaze shifting beyond the rows of spectators to quietly look toward the grand doors at the front of the venue.

His next words seemed to be directed at someone else.

"Would anyone be interested in discussing methods to decrypt a certain financial encryption system and five schemes for implanting a data-stealing Trojan within a program?"

...

The whole venue fell into a few seconds of silence, then erupted into an uproar!

After the commotion, the grand doors at the back of the venue were suddenly flung open with a bang.

Everyone turned their heads in unison to face the glaring noon sunlight and saw a figure standing immobile at the entrance like a statue.

Having sold his patent, there was hardly anyone in the venue who didn’t recognize Lu Chen.

As the crowd was trying to comprehend the situation, they noticed that the person at the door and the person on stage were silently locking eyes.

Caught in the middle, the smarter members of the audience could already sense something unusual in the air, given the abruptly halted topic from Pei Yan.

At times like this, of course, most were there for the show.

Everyone tacaritly and eagerly awaited the ensuing showdown between the two men.

Yet shockingly, after over ten seconds of silent confrontation, Lu Chen slowly diverted his gaze, suppressing the unwillingness in his eyes.

He faced the panel of experts and bowed deeply.

"I apologize to everyone. Due to oversights in the later stages, our project currently has serious flaws. To avoid causing financial losses to our clients, we will be temporarily suspending our cooperation with enterprises. I am sorry."

The reaction from the crowd was not overstated by describing it as a colossal commotion.

Many mouths hung open in shock, as though they had encountered a scandal more sensational than some celebrity’s infidelity.

Jiang Shuyao slowly lifted her head amidst the noisy discussions. While everyone was focused on the entrance, she quietly observed Pei Yan onstage.

The silvery glow of the projector screen illuminated his back, casting the firm outline of his profile in a halo.

A smile hung on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes, carrying a touch of casual scorn and arrogance.

She had a hunch about what Pei Yan had been up to these days, and knew that it wasn’t going to be easy for Lu Chen to clinch the patent smoothly.

But she never expected that one day, an adversary who prized dignity over life itself would willingly bend his proud back under Pei Yan’s haughty dominance.

At that moment, Jiang Shuyao couldn’t describe how she felt; the tumultuous emotions were akin to the overwhelming waves that follow a tempest.

Lu Chen’s sudden act not only astonished the panel of experts, but the delegation of sponsors was in disbelief as well.

The contract that had just been agreed upon the previous day was unexpectedly terminated without warning today, and the defendant didn’t even notify in advance, canceling it publicly in front of so many people—utterly disdainful to the extreme.

The coach from Ligong University leading the team collapsed from his seat, angrily glaring, "This Lu Chen, has he gone mad?"

The venue descended into chaos due to the unforeseen event, and even after Lu Chen left, the buzz of debates didn’t diminish but grew more intense.

Many people craned their necks, still waiting to hear the continuation of the topic that had been interrupted from the man onstage.

Pei Yan seemed unaffected by the incident involving Lu Chen and gestured for everyone to calm down.

Surprisingly, quietude was quickly restored below.

The screen displayed several simple flowcharts; the audience was composed of top students in their field, and they could easily discern that the person on stage had meticulously documented the steps for decrypting the encryption system. The logic was strong, and the reasoning was clear. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

When it came to the exciting parts, the audience even clapped and praised without hesitation.

Once the decryption step demonstration concluded, the plans for data theft and virus implantation that followed were what truly left everyone breathless.

In this industry, good and evil were distinctly separate.

Most IT workers, having been indoctrinated from a young age, chose the right and proper path.

They looked down on the few antisocial elements, commonly known as hackers, yet in countless private moments suppressed their own longing and curiosity for extreme technology.

But never before had anyone dared to boldly share something of this nature in a form of open exchange.

The audience admired Pei Yan’s courage and ability, and their adrenaline surged uncontrollably.

It was unbelievable, so thrilling!

It was a shock that outsiders could never comprehend, like tearing apart the disguise of darkness, exposing all the secrets hidden in the dark corners of the world starkly in the light of day.

As time ticked away, the competition had its rules, and there were teams waiting to present. When the staff tried to intervene, they were stopped with a raised hand by the experts beside them.

The old professors were evidently ready to observe the sharp and prominent young student on stage with the greatest leniency.

To be precise, Pei Yan was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime talent for the academic experts who had immersed themselves in the field for many years.

He dared to break the rules and was willing to share his wealth of knowledge with a clear conscience to everyone present.

In this day and age, especially on digital financial platforms, the protection of people’s financial safety is the result of countless days and nights of defense and consolidation by the workers.

With the updates and iterations of the internet era, the realization of sharing technology with the masses will become the ultimate lifelong duty and goal of industry leaders.

If, in the next ten to several decades, over eighty percent of programmers possess at least the most basic encryption defense skills, the nation will welcome a private cybersecurity space that truly belongs to them.

This competition was unforgettable for everyone.

Putting other things aside, the work presented by Pei Yan’s team deserved first place almost without question.

But what everyone privately buzzed about was always going to be that half-hour share-and-discuss session.

The river of time flowed on, finely and slenderly.

Jiang Shuyao witnessed with her own eyes how her young man stunned the entire venue at the age of twenty.

After the competition, Jiang Xubai still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

Unlike the reactions of the other group members, after the initial satisfaction on his face, Old Man Jiang’s mood became indescribably complex.

Because just moments before, the competition organizers had announced a catalog of all the works from the participating teams.

No doubt, the last entry in the list, was Ligong University’s patented work, named "CRP Financial Encryption System."

That damn kid, he never gave him a day’s peace.

Old Man Jiang fell silent for a while, then pointed at someone lazily following behind him with his finger.

"You all go back to the hotel first, Pei Yan, come with me."

The group members looked at each other, realizing in unison that their teacher seemed somewhat unhappy after the excitement.

Why?

It shouldn’t be...

Back then they were young, thinking of superficial and simplistic things.

Nobody could have foreseen that from this bright, award-winning day onwards, all sorts of plots and intrigues would take root and grow wildly.