The evening.
Upon receiving news that Yu He would be returning tonight, Ye Jianming immediately organized a small family gathering.
Since securing investment from XS Group, Ye's company had resumed operations, found its footing, and begun to turn a profit. Ye Jianming had regained his former glory, his status in Beishi higher than ever. At home, he was slowly reclaiming his position as the head of the family, exuding an air of triumph.
He knew that his current success was all thanks to Yu He.
His daughter was not only an academic prodigy and a brilliant doctor, but also his lucky star. It was his own poor judgment and mistreatment of Yu He that had led to his bankruptcy. Fortunately, his daughter hadn't been too harsh and had given him a chance to atone.
At this moment, the sound of a car was heard in the yard. As the head of the family, Ye Jianming led the way to greet them, demonstrating his renewed sense of importance.
He had just reached the doorway when he noticed it had started raining. As he was about to find an umbrella, he saw Cui Yi emerge with two umbrellas, stepping ahead to receive the arrivals.
Then, Cheng Lizhu rushed out with a blanket, followed by Ye Qichen, who was holding an umbrella. He accidentally bumped into Ye Jianming.
Stumbling slightly, Ye Jianming regained his footing, only to hear his mother's voice from behind, "What are you blocking the door for? Hurry and get two cups of hot water. The weather is perfect for catching a cold. Don't let my granddaughter and grandson-in-law catch a chill."
Ye Jianming: "..."
Family status: -1.
Yu He, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had just unbuckled her seatbelt when Cui Yi opened the car door and shielded her with a large umbrella. As she stepped out, Cheng Lizhu draped a large towel over her.
Yu He: ???
"Don't get rained on, you might catch a cold. Hurry inside," Cheng Lizhu said, ushering her into the house.
"Mom, there's no need to be so dramatic," Yu He said, trying to pull away the blanket.
Cheng Lizhu stopped her and said in a low voice, "It's that time of the month for you, you need to be careful."
Yu He was taken aback. She had indeed started her period that morning. She hadn't expected Cheng Lizhu to be so considerate. Feeling a warmth spread through her, she allowed herself to be led into the house.
Qin Beiting followed behind, holding his umbrella and watching the Ye family fuss over Yu He.
As Yu He sat down, Ye Jianming brought over two cups of hot water. Seeing this, Old Mrs. Ye was displeased, "I told you to get hot water, and you just get plain hot water? Couldn't you boil some ginger water to ward off the cold, or add some brown sugar?"
Ye Jianming hadn't done such menial work in decades. He remembered how, when he was the head of the family, Cheng Lizhu would prepare and serve him his water.
He felt quite resentful, but since he was serving Yu He, and with Master Qin Seven watching, he endured it and quietly returned to the kitchen to redo the task.
Family status: -1-1.
"Oh, dear, sir, that's not how you do it. You have to wash the ginger first... Oh, you should just step aside and let me do it," Cui Yi said, pushing him aside.
Ye Jianming: "..."
Family status: -1-1-1...
Hearing the commotion upstairs, Ye Zizheng hurried down. Seeing Qin Beiting, he finally understood why his sister had given him those four books that morning. It was a way to give him extra tutoring, to help him surpass Qin Beiting.
Having made good progress with his self-study over this period, he felt it was time to show everyone his capabilities.
He trotted upstairs to get his laptop and squeezed onto the sofa between Qin Beiting and Yu He. He asked Qin Beiting, "How much Python have you learned?"
Qin Beiting was slightly annoyed by Ye Zizheng crowding between him and Yu He, but out of consideration for his younger brother-in-law, he replied, "Halfway."
Hearing this, Ye Zizheng felt a surge of quiet joy. Only halfway done? He was almost finished! It had been worth staying up late after classes to study.
"Sis, what about you?" he asked Yu He.
Yu He, who was drinking the brown sugar ginger tea made by Cui Yi, hadn't paid much attention to which page she had been on. She vaguely replied, "About the same as him."
"You guys are too slow! I'm almost done!" Ye Zizheng said with disdain, then opened his laptop. "I've even put my learning into practice and made a little game!"
He clicked on an image on his desktop. The splash screen was a large blue sky background, with green grass and a gray road. Bright color blocks formed a minimalist highway driving game.
Although it lacked any aesthetic appeal, the basic script for the game's operation was correct.
"What do you think? Am I amazing? I'm a genius!" Ye Zizheng looked proudly at Qin Beiting and Yu He, his face practically begging for praise.
"Wow, Zhengzheng, you made this yourself? That's great!" Cheng Lizhu leaned over to take a look and encouraged him.
"It's not bad. For a kid your age, it's passable," Ye Zicheng nodded in approval.
"The Ye family truly has a genius gene!" Old Mrs. Ye nodded with satisfaction.
Only Ye Jianming remained silent. Recalling how Cheng Lizhu used to explain her assignments to him when they were in school together, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
"It's quite impressive," Yu He also acknowledged. Compared to the average person her age, Ye Zizheng showed potential.
Qin Beiting: "..."
This was it?
"However, this part could be adjusted a little."
As Yu He spoke, she moved the laptop closer and brought up his code. Just as she was about to guide him, she felt a burning gaze fixed on her.
She knew whose it was without looking up.
A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and she deliberately typed in a string of incorrect code. She looked at Qin Beiting and asked, "Would it be better to change it to this? What do you think?"
"That's not right." Qin Beiting pushed Ye Zizheng aside and moved closer to Yu He, turning the laptop towards himself.
With this kindergarten-level skill, the young lady thought it was impressive? If he showed off a little, wouldn't she be completely in awe of him?
"It should be like this." His long, well-defined fingers rapidly typed a string of code on the keyboard, replacing Yu He's mistake and optimizing the original convoluted code.
Ye Zizheng, who had been pushed aside: ???
Yu He, looking at his effortless technique, narrowed her peach-blossom eyes and pointed out, "These few lines aren't Python functions. Aren't they from Java and Perl?"
Moreover, he used them so proficiently, and his logic was so clever. It didn't seem like he had just started learning!
Qin Beiting's hands paused. He realized he had been too accustomed to his old habits and had forgotten that he was supposed to be a beginner.
Given their current learning progress, they shouldn't have reached this point yet.
"Yes, when I slack off at work, I browse the learning forums on hacker websites and learned from the tutorials there," he coughed and explained. Then he looked at Yu He, "How do you recognize these?"
Yu He: "..."
Oh no, she had spoken too quickly.
She should have let him show off for a while longer, observing his programming logic and techniques.
Famous hackers had their own coding styles. Experienced hackers could identify a hacker's alias by their style.
By speaking up, she had not only interrupted Qin Beiting but also inadvertently exposed herself.
"Coincidentally, I learned from the tutorial videos on hacker websites too," Yu He explained.
Ye Zizheng: ???
They said we would study together, but you guys were secretly using cheat codes?!