In deep winter in Beijing, a howling cold wind swept fine snowflakes across the towering buildings of Zhongguancun. Chén Zhāoyáng sat quietly in a swivel chair inside the Qinghua University computer laboratory, his fingers flying across the keyboard as if performing a silent symphony. The code on the screen flowed like a clear, endless spring, demonstrating his mastery and deep understanding of programming.
Outside the window, darkness had long since swallowed the sky, wrapping the entire city like a huge sheet of black cloth. Yet against this pitch-black backdrop, the incandescent lights inside the lab cast a brilliant glow, clearly reflecting Chén Zhāoyáng’s silhouette against the glass partition covered in mathematical formulas, as if he were the only existence in the world.
The calendar on the desk rested on January 27, 1995—just three days away from the traditional New Year's Eve. Time slipped quietly beneath his fingertips, but Chén Zhāoyáng remained completely oblivious, entirely immersed in the world of code, forgetting everything around him.
Chapter 125