At 9:30 AM, the competition officially began.

The competing teams were from Beijing’s two top-tier prestigious universities, which had loved and competed with each other for many years, always fiercely competitive.

Just like this intense robot competition.

When Shi Sui said she wasn’t interested in robots, it wasn’t entirely an excuse.

Her first exposure to the concept of robots was at the Yan residence, from Yan Tingli and Uncle Yan.

The company’s new products would first be brought home by Yan Tingli to test and play with at the Yan house.

When Shi Sui first arrived, she couldn’t figure out how to use the washing machine on the third floor.

She crouched in the washroom, staring at the washing machine in distress.

They were all intimate clothing items.

She didn’t want to ask the aunties for help.

Shi Sui really couldn’t get it open, and just as she decided to go back to her room to hand-wash everything, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded behind her: “Master, I am Little Y. If you need any help, you can always find me.”

Shi Sui turned around to find it was the home robot that Yan Tingli had brought back, which often wandered around the house.

But Shi Sui generally preferred to do things herself and had never ordered the robot around.

“I don’t know how to use the washing machine.”

“Command received.”

The next second, the washing machine’s lights turned on, and with a “click,” the door that wouldn’t open popped open.

Shi Sui: “…”

Later, Shi Sui felt like she was being monitored at the Yan residence.

Whenever she had any trouble using household appliances, Little Y would appear at her beck and call.

She heard that Little Y’s master control system was with Yan Tingli.

This gave Shi Sui a constant illusion that all her movements could be monitored by Yan Tingli.

This point almost made Shi Sui’s hair stand on end.

They say robots are a sign of human progress, likely representing a new technological revolution.

But Shi Sui thought this applied to smart people.

As for her, she would only be ruled by robots 😀

“Oh my god!”

“Wow! It jumped up.”

Shi Sui’s attention was drawn by the exclamations from the audience, and she turned her gaze back to the scene.

She saw the robot car controlled by Yan Tingli suddenly spring up.

With lightning speed, it knocked down the opposing robot car.

The previously intense battle situation was broken by this one jump.

On the big screen, Yan Tingli tilted his ear, giving strategic guidance to his teammates.

The entire A University robot team operated in perfect order, systematically breaking through S University’s defenses.

Victory was assured.

Amid the cheers in the venue, the competition ended.

“I’d only heard that Yan Tingli was amazing, but I didn’t expect him to be this amazing,” Shi Sui heard Xue Jing sigh in admiration, “Won so easily.”

Lin Anran said: “Exactly, S University’s team is also first-rate, but facing him, defeat was already decided. Is this the difference between genius and ordinary people?”

Shi Sui only knew that from his early education, Yan Tingli had been surrounded by the most advanced intelligent equipment in the country.

When most Chinese people still had a vague concept of AI, Yan Tingli was already receiving the most cutting-edge competitive programming guidance.

Not to mention the AI training resources and databases he could easily access.

Every step of his life was part of Yan Zecheng and Song Jie’s meticulous planning, excellence built up with money and resources.

Rather than saying it was the difference between genius and ordinary people.

It was more like the difference between the privileged and ordinary people.

Shi Sui suddenly felt a heavy blockage in her heart.

She exhaled lightly.

Thinking to herself that she was living more and more backwards, actually starting to resent the wealthy.

Shi Sui’s phone buzzed once, and she guessed who it was.

Her roommates were still beside her, so she didn’t open it to look.

—She didn’t want to look either.

Afraid of being called back again.

To do all sorts of messy things.

Shi Sui puffed out her cheeks, glanced at the exit, wanting to leave quickly.

Xue Jing still needed to stay behind to clean up the venue: “Who wants to keep me company~ I don’t want to go back alone.”

Zhu Wei had a date, Lin Anran was picking up packages, and each had their things to do.

“Sui Sui, will you stay with me?” Xue Jing said coquettishly.

Shi Sui nodded in agreement: “Okay.”

After the crowd dispersed, Xue Jing pulled Shi Sui down from the seats to meet up with her student council colleagues.

“Just sit in front and wait for me,” Xue Jing said, “I’ll be quick.”

Shi Sui: “Do you need my help?”

“No need, we still have a small meeting.”

Shi Sui made an acknowledging sound and obediently sat in the front row to wait.

Taking advantage of no one being around, she finally took out her phone.

Below the previous message [Want to bite you], there was a new message: [Come to the back door]

Shi Sui tapped the screen: [I have to accompany my roommate]

[Come over]

[I can see you]

Her heart jumped, and she looked up to see Yan Tingli leaning against a pillar in the backstage direction, about a hundred meters away.

He was still wearing the white team uniform, the simplest sports shirt, which looked particularly tall and clean on him.

His dark eyes fixed on her, a gold medal hanging around his neck from the recent award ceremony.

Shi Sui didn’t want to go over.

She turned her head, looking in Xue Jing’s direction.

Their meeting seemed to have just started, with the team teacher speaking.

Shi Sui was still hesitating when messages popped up on her screen.

[I’ll count to three]

[If you don’t come]

[I’ll come over]

[3]

[2]

Shi Sui saw him already lifting his foot, knowing he really would do it, and immediately sprang up from her seat.

While sending Xue Jing a message: [Going to the restroom]

Seeing her come over, Yan Tingli also turned around, naturally heading backstage.

The two of them, one after the other.

Went in.

Most people had dispersed, the backstage was empty, and the lighting wasn’t very good.

Shi Sui didn’t see anyone and was looking around when suddenly someone grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a curtain.

This was a storage room, still piled with props from previous performances.

The environment was very cramped.

Before Shi Sui’s vision could clear, someone took her breath away.

She could only manage a muffled sound.

The wet, stirring sounds of kissing followed.

Yan Tingli’s breathing was heavy, whether from the excitement of being in a public place or from winning the competition was unclear.

In her dizziness, Shi Sui noticed something heavy had been added to her neck.

Looking down.

It was the gold medal that had been hanging around Yan Tingli’s neck.

“You…” She was dazed, and after several seconds, she spoke with slight difficulty, “Is this for me?”

Yan Tingli moved down, sucking at her neck. He always liked to do this, like marking territory.

Usually, Shi Sui would stop him for fear of being seen, but today she forgot to move.

“The day after tomorrow is yours.”

The day after tomorrow… Shi Sui’s mind took a turn, suddenly realizing this was the one-week consideration time she had mentioned.

So, the medal was for his girlfriend.

Shi Sui’s lips parted, her reason still prevailing, but her heart uncontrollably pounded, striking her eardrums.

“You can agree now, too.” His attitude was matter-of-fact.

This person was truly domineering to his bones.

Assuming she must agree.

She lowered her eyes, her fingers lightly stroking the medal’s surface, parting her lips to say something, but Yan Tingli’s cool fingers pressed against her lips: “Shh.”

“At a time like this, don’t say anything that would make me unhappy.”

Shi Sui looked at him. Yan Tingli didn’t give her any chance to think, holding the back of her head and kissing her again.

This time, he kissed very gently, softly playing with her lower lip.

Like when she was little and got a lollipop, but couldn’t bear to bite it, only carefully tasting a little sweetness.

Shi Sui closed her eyes.

She had always been someone who easily worried about the future.

But at this moment.

It seemed she suddenly didn’t want to think about anything anymore.

Standing on a cliff, one moment of indulgence.

Being loved was a few moments, and sometimes life was about living for these few moments.

“You were gone for so long?” Xue Jing had finished cleaning up the venue when she saw Shi Sui returning from backstage.

Feeling her complexion looked a bit strange, Xue Jing took another look.

Shi Sui’s gaze drifted elsewhere: “Mm, I looked for a long time.”

“Then let’s go, let’s head to the cafeteria.” Xue Jing linked arms with her.

While Xue Jing wasn’t paying attention, Shi Sui quickly hid the gold medal she’d been concealing in her palm in her pocket.

Walking to the entrance, a figure approached them head-on.

Wearing the same series, a black jacket. Shi Sui noticed this was S University’s team uniform.

The person looked around the venue.

His gaze settled in their direction, and seeing the work badge around Xue Jing’s neck, he stepped forward. The male student asked: “Classmate, I’m a contestant from S University today. My teammate dropped a watch here. Have you seen it?”

Feeling the voice was somewhat familiar, Shi Sui’s eyelashes fluttered, and she looked up to assess him.

With this glance.

She met the male student’s eyes directly, and both recognized each other for a moment.

The male student burst out: “Shi Sui?!”

Shi Sui stood frozen in place, staring at him wide-eyed for a long time before difficulty recognizing: “Gao Linhan?”

“It’s me!” Gao Linhan showed the surprise of meeting an old acquaintance, “You wouldn’t not recognize me, would you?”

It wasn’t that she was face-blind, but the person in front of her had changed too much. Compared to the high school version with a buzz cut, thick glasses, and a bit chubby, looking like a typical science war god, now he was a complete transformation.

The current Gao Linhan had curly hair with half-frame glasses, and his overall demeanor had become much more cheerful.

But Shi Sui naturally couldn’t say the truth, blinking and saying: “It’s that you’re too handsome now, I didn’t dare recognize you.”

This one sentence made Gao Linhan so happy he couldn’t find his bearings.

“Sui Sui, who is this?” Xue Jing looked between them.

“He’s my high school classmate.”

“Nice to meet you.” Xue Jing said, “I’m Shi Sui’s roommate, Xue Jing.”

“Hello, hello,” Gao Linhan familiarly extended his hand, “Gao Linhan.”

Xue Jing said politely: “Your performance today was also very exciting.”

Gao Linhan waved his hand, sighing: “But still second place.”

Shi Sui couldn’t help but comfort: “But you were still amazing.”

“Forget it, it’s been like this since high school. When encountering Yan Tingli, I accept my fate.” Gao Linhan showed an expression of not wanting to discuss it further, “Why was Yu born when Liang was already born.”

Xue Jing asked curiously: “Hey, did you know each other before?”

“Yes, we were high school classmates. Yan Tingli was in the class next to ours,” Gao Linhan said in surprise, “Shi Sui never mentioned this to you?”

Xue Jing looked completely bewildered: “No.” She looked at Shi Sui: “You don’t already know each other, do you?”

Shi Sui’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said: “No, we don’t know each other. How would he know me?”

“Haha, I know you’re not close, I was just asking casually.” Xue Jing laughed and poked her cheek, “It’s just that you’re too low-key. If I had such an amazing high school classmate, I’d tell everyone.”

Shi Sui: “…Cough.”

“Oh right, almost forgot the main business,” Gao Linhan checked the time, “Did anyone see my teammate’s watch? He has something going on and can’t get away for now.”

Xue Jing: “I haven’t seen it, but I can help you ask others.”

Gao Linhan pressed his palms together, “Thank you, thank you.”

Xue Jing asked around, and someone had picked up a watch, but they needed to wait for it to be brought over.

“Our other people are still waiting outside,” Gao Linhan said, “Can I come get it another day?”

Xue Jing said helpfully: “Sure, let Sui Sui help keep it.”

“Great, then let’s add contact information first.” Gao Linhan took out his phone, nodding toward Shi Sui, “And you too, add me. You disappeared after graduation, I always thought you went to the US.”

Shi Sui handed over her phone, explaining: “I didn’t expect to get into A University either.”

“Both in Beijing, but you never contacted anyone from our class. We had some revolutionary friendship, and after graduation, you just disappeared from the world, you heartless girl—”

Although being teased like this, it was also the truth, and Shi Sui felt a bit embarrassed and averted her gaze.

“I’m in a hurry today, let’s chat more next time.”

After Gao Linhan hurried away, Xue Jing linked arms with Shi Sui again: “Your classmate seems pretty nice. You never mentioned having these connections.”

Shi Sui said honestly, “I haven’t contacted him for a long time either.”

“If I had such an amazing classmate, I’d keep in regular contact. Although he didn’t win the competition today, that was against Yan Tingli after all.”

This comment made Shi Sui recall some past events.

In high school, behind her sat a boy wearing thick glasses, with tutoring materials piled like a small mountain on his desk, consistently ranking second in their grade.

This person was Gao Linhan.

He even had a large sticky note pasted on the right corner of his desk with three characters written in bold strokes: [Yan Tingli].

Not only that, he also searched everywhere for the online courses and tutoring books that Yan Tingli used, obsessed to the point of spending big money to find out Yan Tingli’s home address, determined to move across from him, vowing that if Yan Tingli didn’t sleep, he wouldn’t sleep either, fighting each other until dawn.

The address he couldn’t get after a month of trying, Shi Sui moved into it not long after.

But unlike Gao Linhan’s envisioned battle until dawn, Yan Tingli went to bed on time every day, maintaining a standard of eight hours of sleep.

Even then, he still felt it wasn’t enough and was listless every day.

Thinking of this, Shi Sui couldn’t help but empathize with Gao Linhan.

They were naturally incompatible in high school, and in college, he still couldn’t escape this fate.

“From his tone, he seems quite familiar with you. Why did you lose contact after graduation?” Xue Jing’s voice interrupted her reverie, “I’m telling you, you should socialize more normally. Don’t just go home every vacation. What’s so special at home that you must return?”

Shi Sui’s long eyelashes lowered, not knowing how to respond.

That person was like a vine, gradually tightening, squeezing, and filling all her empty spaces.

When she came to her senses, it seemed her world only had him left.

The gold medal in her pocket was getting warm from her body heat.

Shi Sui unconsciously tightened her fingers, and after a long while, softly said: “I understand.”

The next day, Xue Jing placed a watch on Shi Sui’s desk, saying: “This is what I got from a junior in my department. Ask if this is the one?”

Shi Sui responded with an okay, picked up the watch, and was about to take a photo.

Suddenly, her movement stopped.

She picked up the watch face with her fingers.

Examining it carefully, her expression was somewhat dazed.

“What’s wrong? Is this watch expensive?”

“No,” Shi Sui murmured, “I just feel like I’ve seen this watch before.”

“That’s normal. Watches, there are many of the same batch on the market.”

Shi Sui: “Maybe.”

But the pattern on the surface was very similar to something she had painted in middle school—a blue-green toned oil painting of a starry sky over grassland.

She had attended middle school in Hangzhou when her parents frequently traveled for business, and Shi Sui often stayed at neighbors’ homes.

The neighbor family had an older brother who often helped her with homework, and Shi Sui had a good relationship with him.

When it was his birthday, Shi Sui designed a watch pattern herself, had it custom-made at a shop, and gave it to him as a gift.

But not long after, Shi Sui moved to Beijing with her parents for high school and lost contact with her neighbor’s brother.

Looking at the watch’s condition, it was still quite new, so it should just be a coincidence.

Shi Sui didn’t think much more about it, put the watch back on the desk, took a photo, and sent it to Gao Linhan: “Is this the watch your friend lost?”

He quickly replied: “That’s it. When are you free? My friend and I would like to treat you and Xue Jing to dinner.”

Shi Sui asked Xue Jing, who smiled: “Treating us to dinner? Sure, I’m free tonight.”

Gao Linhan was also straightforward, quickly settling on a restaurant.

Shi Sui looked at the location—it was in the university town, not far from school.

Before agreeing, Shi Sui checked Yan Tingli’s recent message to confirm.

Since he had just won the gold medal in the competition, he had a celebration banquet today and probably wouldn’t have time to bother with her.

Shi Sui felt slightly relieved.

She replied to the message, agreeing to the dinner.