kvmb Chapter 32 Spring
Chapter 32 Spring
At the end of February, Zuo Cheng returned to Huaxia University.
The magnolias on campus are in bloom, their white and pink blossoms adorning the branches, filling the air with a sweet fragrance. Compared to when he first stepped onto this campus half a year ago, nothing has changed—the sycamore-lined avenue is still the same sycamore-lined avenue, the library is still the same library, and the braised beef noodles in the cafeteria still taste the same.
It was he who changed.
On his first day back, Zuo Cheng did three things.
The first thing to do is to go to Lin Zhiyuan's office to report on my winter break internship.
He didn't mention the specifics of the Sky Dome project—the confidentiality agreement was still in effect—but only told Professor Lin that his internship results had been highly recognized by Blue Bay Communications, and that he would have the opportunity to further explore his technical field after graduation.
After listening, Lin Zhiyuan took off his reading glasses and wiped them. Zuo Cheng noticed that this was a habitual action of his—he would wipe his glasses before saying anything important.
"Zuo Cheng, I've officially recommended your graduation thesis to the college for the provincial outstanding graduation thesis selection. With the quality of your thesis and the results of your research, winning the provincial award is a sure thing." He put his glasses back on. "But I want to talk to you about something further ahead."
"You said."
"I suggest you consider pursuing a PhD in Engineering directly," Lin Zhiyuan said seriously. "An Engineering PhD is a professional degree, designed for working engineers and technicians, and doesn't require full-time on-campus study. You only need to complete the required coursework and your doctoral dissertation, and you can conduct research at your company or Lanwan Communications. With your current academic achievements—a top-tier journal article plus research results from Lanwan Communications—you're more than qualified to apply for an Engineering PhD."
Zuo Cheng had actually been waiting for this topic to come up.
"Teacher Lin, I do."
"Okay." Lin Zhiyuan smiled, a rare occurrence. "I'll be your doctoral advisor. I'll help you prepare the application materials, and we'll go through the college's fast track. It should be approved before the start of next semester."
After leaving his office, Zuo Cheng stood in the corridor, processing the developments.
Doctor of Engineering. Lin Zhiyuan is the mentor. No need for full-time on-campus work.
This means that even after graduation, he will remain a doctoral student at the University of Washington, and will be able to legally use laboratory resources, participate in academic conferences, and maintain close contact with the college.
More importantly, he now has a place at the university.
When this thought popped into his head, he didn't picture the laboratory, but rather the window seat in the library.
The second thing I did was go to the college's academic affairs office to pick up the officially published version of my paper.
Two brand-new journals, their covers dark blue with gold lettering reading "Journal of Signal and Information Processing." Zuo Cheng flipped through the table of contents and found the page number for the article—first author Yu Ying, second author Zuo Cheng, corresponding author Lin Zhiyuan.
He packed the two journals into his bag and went to the library.
Yu Ying is in her old position.
A pile of documents lay open in front of her, her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and she wore a light gray sweater with a corner of her white shirt peeking out from the collar. When she saw Zuo Cheng walking over, she paused for a moment, then smiled.
"You're back?"
"You're back." Zuo Cheng sat down opposite her, took a magazine out of his bag, and pushed one towards her. "Yours."
Yu Ying took the journal, turned to the article, and slowly traced the printed words with her fingertips. Her expression was calm, without exaggerated joy, but rather a sense of relief that everything had finally settled down.
"It feels unreal to see my name in a top magazine for the first time," she said softly.
"You'll get used to it." Zuo Cheng smiled. "There will be more to come."
Yu Ying looked up at him, something flashed in her eyes for a moment, then she quickly looked away.
"How's your internship at Blue Bay Communications?" She closed the journal and naturally changed the subject.
"The gains were substantial. I can't go into specifics; a confidentiality agreement was signed."
"So mysterious." Yu Ying laughed. "So after you graduate, are you going to Blue Bay Communications or staying with your own company?"
"The company," Zuo Cheng replied quickly. "Blue Bay Communications will continue with project cooperation, but my focus is on 402."
"How is 402 progressing now?"
Zuo Cheng briefly explained that the incubator has already moved in, Liu Wei took on three small projects before the Spring Festival, and the team remotely completed an enterprise-level communication system optimization order during the winter break. They are preparing to recruit the first batch of formal employees after the start of the new semester.
After listening, Yu Ying looked at him with an expression that Zuo Cheng had never seen before.
"Zuo Cheng, don't you feel... that the path you've covered in the past six months might take others five or even ten years?"
"Good luck."
"It's not luck." Yu Ying shook her head, her voice soft but earnest. "Having worked with you for so long, I can see that there's something very rare about you. It's not intelligence; there are plenty of intelligent people. It's your attitude towards time. You never waste a single minute, and you never expend energy on unworthy things. This quality is far more valuable than intelligence."
Zuo Cheng was stunned for a moment.
No one had ever described him like that. In his previous life, the most common criticisms he heard were "not hardworking enough," "not ambitious enough," and "not decisive enough." Those criticisms had been plaguing him for over a decade, and he had almost come to believe them himself.
"Thank you," he said, his voice softer than expected.
Yu Ying smiled, lowered her head to continue reading the literature, and said nothing more.
The library was quiet in the afternoon. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, casting a slowly moving dappled pattern on the table. Two people sat across from each other, each engrossed in their own things, the occasional sound of turning pages as soft as breathing.
Zuo Cheng read three pages of the document, but couldn't absorb a single word.
He was thinking about something.
He and Yu Ying have known each other for almost six months, from the summer vacation until now. From their first conversation in the library to co-signing a paper in a top journal, from academic partners to daily messages in the technical discussion group, from "That's great" in the corridor after the Blue Bay Communications defense to "The Milky Way" and "Envy" on New Year's Eve.
Every step was so natural, like two rivers flowing closer and closer without anyone noticing.
But he never took that final step.
It wasn't because she was unsure of her own feelings—the image of Yu Ying that flashed through her mind when she saw Yang Wei on the day of the blind date already made it very clear.
It's not because of timing, but because of the circumstances.
He didn't want to speak up before he was sure he was on solid ground. His previous marriage had taught him a painful lesson—relationships couldn't withstand promises like "I'll get better in the future." He needed to solidify his foundation before knocking on that door.
Has the foundation been laid yet?
The company was registered, the research project was completed, it was published in a top journal, the Tianqiong project was approved, the technology tree evolved, and money was sent home.
Not enough. But soon.
The third thing was that Zuo Cheng returned to 402 Technology's new office in the incubator.
The small room, about 25 square meters, contained two desks, a whiteboard, a printer, and a pothos plant that Liu Wei had somehow brought from somewhere. The window faced the campus's ginkgo avenue, and the spring sunshine filled the entire room.
Chen Hao, Zhang Lei, and Liu Wei were already there. On the table was the milk tea that Liu Wei had bought, with a handwritten label on the paper cup—"Brother Cheng's" cup was an Americano with two ice cubes.
"Welcome back, Brother Cheng!" Zhang Lei raised his milk tea cup.
"Stop joking." Zuo Cheng took a sip of his Americano, glanced around the small room, and said, "Let's start the meeting. I have some ideas to discuss with you regarding the next phase of planning for 402."
The four people sat down around the table.
Zuo Cheng opened his notebook; a few lines of text were written on the first page.
"402's current business model is to take on projects and settle accounts on a per-project basis. This model can sustain us, but it won't allow us to grow significantly." He pointed to a framework diagram on his notebook. "My idea is to add a new line—establishing a project management team specifically for high-difficulty projects that require technological breakthroughs from various clients. The results of these breakthroughs will be used by the clients, but the intellectual property rights to the core technologies will belong to 402, which can then be transformed into our own products."
Chen Hao's eyes lit up: "Use clients' projects to nurture our own technology, and then turn that technology into products to sell to more clients."
"Yes." Zuo Cheng nodded. "I'll lead the project team, and the rest of you will take turns participating according to your expertise. Once this line of work is successful, 402 will no longer be a purely service-oriented company, but a technology company with its own products."
Zhang Lei raised his hand: "So where will the first major project come from?"
Zuo Cheng glanced at his phone. Han Zhe had sent him a message this morning, which he hadn't had time to reply to yet.
The message reads: "The ground terminal signal processing module for the second phase of the Sky Dome project needs to be outsourced for development. The Blue Bay Communications Technology Committee recommends using open bidding. If your 402 is interested, you can submit a bid."
Zuo Cheng turned his phone screen to show the three people.
Zhang Lei almost spat out his milk tea.
"Blue Bay Communications' Sky Dome Project???"
"Hmm." Zuo Cheng put his phone away, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the weather. "This is the first one."
The ginkgo trees outside the window have just sprouted new buds, and their tender green leaves tremble slightly in the spring breeze.
A new year, a new beginning.
His technology is also growing.