The “Software Engineering” course professor was named Wang Zihuan. According to reliable information, Wang Zihuan was a conscientious and responsible good teacher who had high requirements for students and gave low grades. For students to get a score of 95 or above from him was more difficult than climbing to heaven.
As the group leader, Lin Zhixia would not yield to difficulties.
She wanted every group member to get 95 points.
Saturday morning, Lin Zhixia and her five group members gathered at a café off campus. Everyone brought their laptops, talking about their project like a group of internet startup partners.
Lin Zhixia spoke first: “Our university has five departments and sixty-two schools. We could create an ‘Alumni Exclusive Software’ that records news and major events from different colleges, updates lecture information, club information, reading group information in real-time…”
Lin Zhixia stood up from her seat, and all the group members looked up at her. She picked up her glass, like the leader of a startup team: “For an internet software, what’s most important? Information and credibility, these two things are most important.”
The café was bustling with people coming and going, voices chattering. Nearby, a real startup company CEO was negotiating with an investor.
This CEO was named Chai Yang. He was only twenty-three years old, had just graduated from university, and had assembled several good friends to create an image recognition system. The company was newly established and needed money for everything. He urgently needed the investor’s sponsorship and vowed to be accountable to the investor.
Chai Yang spoke directly: “Mr. Qiu, could you give us one million yuan? I need to upgrade the server, restructure the software…”
Mr. Qiu asked in return: “Where’s your proposal?”
Chai Yang’s attitude was very humble. He sighed like a head eunuch before saying: “I sent an electronic version to your email. I brought a paper version today, would you like to review it?”
Mr. Qiu waved his hand, and the conversation reached an impasse.
The windows were bright, with an open view. The café’s music was melodious, and Mr. Qiu closed his eyelids, seemingly resting. One hand rested on the table, his thumb pressing on the saucer of the coffee cup, tapping lightly—Chai Yang observed for quite a while before realizing that Mr. Qiu was keeping time with the music.
Chai Yang was completely deflated.
At the adjacent table, Lin Zhixia was speaking excitedly: “Our software must satisfy students’ needs for information…”
Her group member, He Shangqing, suddenly raised a hand: “I have something to say.”
Lin Zhixia slowly sat down: “Do you oppose my view?”
He Shangqing had just come from the track field. He wore a pure cotton t-shirt, with sweat soaking through the fabric on his chest and back, clinging tightly to his skin, vaguely outlining hard and robust muscle contours.
He bent his elbow, tightening his pectoral muscles, his torso incredibly strong. This muscular build was the result of years of persistent exercise.
It was hard to imagine that He Shangqing came from the Physics Department.
Lin Zhixia had never seen such a physics student before in her life. She wasn’t intimidated at all. Gathering her courage, she asked again: “Do you oppose my view?”
He Shangqing reminded her: “The PowerPoint mentioned three modules: software design, software development, and software testing. If you add a bunch of features that need to go through multiple tests, there won’t be enough time.”
One of He Shangqing’s roommates agreed: “The teaching assistant said that if we complete the software that can run, we’ll get a minimum score of 70 points.”
“70 points?” Lin Zhixia was stunned.
Luo Ying chimed in: “70 points is too few.”
He Shangqing rested his arm on the edge of the table and calmly said: “We’re not students from the Software College or Computer Science College. We can’t create a large system in two months. We still have our exams. It’s the second semester of junior year, we’re studying specialized courses, and the final exams won’t be easy.”
Hearing his words, Luo Ying felt a surge of anger.
What did he mean?
Because he was busy, had many specialized courses, and difficult final exams, he wanted to lower the standards for the group assignment, just wanting to complete an ordinary system, unwilling to repeatedly refine and strive for excellence.
Luo Ying held back her anger and said softly: “On the day we formed our team, Lin Zhixia asked in class who wanted to spend more time to create a good system? You were the first person to agree, He Shangqing, do you remember?”
He Shangqing pinched his collar with his index finger and thumb, shaking it a couple of times to let in a cool breeze, reducing the heat and sweat on his body. He also wiped his face with a tissue before saying: “We’re juniors, Lin Zhixia is a sophomore, she’s a math genius, making small software isn’t difficult for her. I don’t have time to create a system, she does, and I’m not stopping her from doing it.”
Lin Zhixia remained silent.
She hadn’t expected…
She was going to fail at group collaboration again.
Why was it so difficult to communicate with teammates?
By observing He Shangqing’s every word and action, Lin Zhixia deduced that he was a person with strong opinions and difficult to persuade—such people are very likely to achieve success in the worldly sense. They have clear goals, plan meticulously, can be flexible when needed, have almost no sense of shame, and even if they do something wrong, they won’t look for reasons within themselves. They are the most sophisticated self-serving individuals.
Lin Zhixia sighed inwardly, thinking she had been too naive before.
He Shangqing seemed to be playing a game of strategy with her.
Lin Zhixia would definitely spend a lot of time creating complex software. And He Shangqing only needed to put in a little effort to gain a higher score by being a “team member.”
The Software Engineering professor had said that when any group encountered cooperation problems, they should first try to resolve them on their own, and if they couldn’t, then come to the teacher. But the teacher might give all group members a low score in the “intra-group communication” section.
Lin Zhixia had no chance of winning a vote within the group. In this group, three people were He Shangqing’s roommates, and only Senior Luo Ying supported Lin Zhixia. Although Lin Zhixia was the group leader, her actual power was effectively hollow.
Lin Zhixia was startled.
It was just a group assignment, but why did it feel like palace intrigue?
Lin Zhixia hugged her laptop and put on a serious expression. She knew that He Shangqing was unwilling to invest too much energy; his main battlefield was still physics. The reason he chose the “Software Engineering” course was that it wasn’t difficult to get 70 points in this course, 80 points were also possible, and being in the same group as Lin Zhixia, there was a high probability of reaching 90.
This was a low-risk, high-return decision.
Seeing that Lin Zhixia had nothing to say, He Shangqing revealed a slight smile.
He Shangqing held the glass with one hand, carefully tasting his drink. At this moment, the café’s main door was pushed open, and a bell rang at the entrance.
A young man wearing casual clothes entered the café. This young man was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a tall and straight figure, extremely handsome appearance, perfect from all 360 degrees, and as dazzling as brilliant stars even in broad daylight.
All the girls in the café were looking at him.
And he was staring at Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia waved to him: “Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang, come over quickly, I’ve saved you a seat!”
She didn’t call out Jiang Yubai’s full name, because she didn’t want strangers to know his name.
Jiang Yubai walked straight toward her.
There was still an empty seat next to Lin Zhixia, and Jiang Yubai sat down beside her without hesitation. He took the initiative to greet Lin Zhixia’s classmates and exchanged a few words with them. He was very attentive to conversation techniques, and within a few words, he had extracted basic information from those students.
He Shangqing noticed this and asked him in return: “Are you Lin Zhixia’s friend? Which university are you attending?”
Jiang Yubai only said: “I’m currently in my senior year of high school, and I’ll be going to college next semester.”
He Shangqing smiled but didn’t ask him any more questions.
Lin Zhixia handed her drink to Jiang Yubai: “Lemon strawberry juice, would you like to try some?”
Jiang Yubai lowered his head and took a sip of juice from the cup.
Lin Zhixia also said in his ear: “We haven’t seen each other for a long time. Today you happen to be free, and I’m also free. I invited you to the café, but I didn’t expect you to come so early. Anyway, we’ll be finishing our meeting soon… I can accompany you for the whole day.”
Jiang Yubai almost choked.
When Lin Zhixia spoke to him, she was still so straightforward, concise, and without any pretense.
Jiang Yubai turned his face and said in a low voice: “Continue your meeting, I’ll wait for you.”
Lin Zhixia said happily: “Okay, you’re so considerate.”
Jiang Yubai’s arrival improved Lin Zhixia’s mood tenfold.
The light cast obliquely on the window glass, outside the window, the street was busy with people and vehicles, and under the roadside trees were patches of green shade, creating a touch of serenity in the bustling city. Jiang Yubai looked sideways out the window, holding a cup in his hand; no one knew what he was thinking. He seemed like the quietest listener.
Lin Zhixia moved a little closer to him.
He sat still.
She moved another inch closer.
Luo Ying immediately spoke up: “He Shangqing, you don’t want to do the group assignment, right?”
The smile on He Shangqing’s face deepened: “I can’t possibly not do the group assignment. You must assign tasks to us. The back-end of the software should be layered… divided into three layers: logic layer, database layer, and request layer. I can be responsible for the database layer, and I can also implement several data encryption algorithms. Let my roommate Xiao Zhang handle the user interface, and you and Lin Zhixia can do the front-end, interface design, and other interface implementations… For our group, those who are capable do more work.”
Luo Ying wrapped her hands around her cup, her tone confrontational: “Are you the group leader? Are you arranging work for me?”
“I am the group leader,” Lin Zhixia interjected, “He Shangqing, since you are a member of our group, I hope you can follow the rules. The database doesn’t need a dedicated person to work on it, I can finish it in one day.”
Another of He Shangqing’s roommates interrupted: “Lin Zhixia, Leader Lin, if you can write most of the back-end functionality in one day, then no matter how the work is distributed, it won’t be fair, right? Why don’t you write the interface and client-side code yourself, and let us handle the other tasks?”
Jiang Yubai heard their conversation.
To resolve everyone’s dispute, Jiang Yubai spoke up: “I have a suggestion.”