The Nerd Who Conquered The World

Chapter 14

The news of the thirty million yuan deal broke publicly by the next morning and by noon it had reached every corner of the university group chat.

‘Did you see this? Lin Chen sold source code for Thirty Million yuan.’

‘Lin Chen. Our nerd Lin Chen. The one who used to fall asleep in the library.’

‘I can't believe it. If only I had been friends with him properly.’

‘He also licensed the antivirus to three companies at two million per year each. That's six million coming in every year while he sleeps.’

‘Su Xiaowan must be losing her mind right now.’

‘Where is Su Xiaowan? I heard Wang Hao threw her out.’

And Wang Hao's company is apparently completely paralyzed. They can't get the license for the one tool that could fix them.

‘Karma is a patient thing.’

‘I bet neither of them expect it’

In a small apartment across town, Su Xiaowan sat on the edge of a bed she had borrowed from a university friend and read every message as it came in. She read them quickly,

Thirty million yuan, getting licensing deals, Lin Chen name everywhere

She put the phone face down on the bed and sat with her hands in her lap as tears streamed down her face.

……

Lin Chen and Liang Hao were having lunch at a restaurant when Liang Hao cracked in laughter.

He had been reading the group chat under the table for twenty minutes, his food going cold, his expression cycling between delight and the agony of someone with important news they are physically struggling not to share.

He slapped both hands on the table hard enough to make the bowls jump.

"Lin Chen." He pointed across the table. "Can you see what is happening right now? Can you see it? I told you. I told you from day one that girl was going to get exactly what was coming to her. And Wang Hao" He picked up his phone and started typing furiously.

"His company is finished. This is karma, pure karma. Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west don't look down on the poor."

Lin Chen watched him typing. He could see from across the table that Liang Hao was composing a message to the group chat. He leaned slightly and read it upside down.

‘Yes, Lin Chen is my closest friend. I guided him personally throughout his entire journey. I always knew he had this in him. I never doubted him for a single day.’

Lin Chen looked at him. "Liang Hao."

"Hmm." Still typing.

"It wasn't karma."

Liang Hao looked up.

"It was the power of knowledge. That's all it was."

Liang Hao stared at him, as the typing stopped. He put the phone down on the table properly, not just setting it aside, actually placing it face down with both hands and looked at Lin Chen with an expression that had none of the usual performance in it.

"Lin Chen." His voice was quieter than usual. "You have genuinely made it." He paused. "I'm not joking right now. I'm actually proud of you."

Lin Chen looked at him.

"Don't forget me your brother," Liang Hao added as he put in a convincing look

"Now that you have made it. Don't forget me who supported you through the heart break."

"As long as you're with me, you don't have any problem" Lin Chen said as he bragged, "I'll take you all the way. I'm going to need someone I can trust when the company starts. And you're the only one I trust completely."

Liang Hao was quiet for a moment. Something settled in his face.

"Whenever you're ready," he said. "Just say the word. I'll be there."

Lin Chen's phone rang. It was the school counselor Du Mingjing.

"Lin Chen! Come to school. The Dean would like to see you personally."

"I'll be there soon."

He stood up as Liang Hao was already picking his phone back up as he waved. "Go, go. I'll be here finishing your food."

……

Du Mingjing was waiting at the school entrance, standing slightly straighter than usual, wearing the expression of a man who was preparing to be associated with something successful.

He grabbed Lin Chen's hand with both of his before Lin Chen had fully stopped walking. "Lin Chen! I always knew. I always said to my colleagues m that boy, that Lin Chen, all that reading is going to amount to something extraordinary. I said it many times. Ask anyone."

"Thank you sir," Lin Chen said his tone neither humble nor proud. "It was the foundation this school provided."

Du Mingjing beamed and fell into step beside him. "You know, I remember when you were in your first year, you used to come to my office about your scholarship paperwork, always so focused, always so determined I looked at you and I thought, this one is different." He lowered his voice confidentially. "I actually mentioned you to Professor Li once, informally, I said keep an eye on this student"

"That was very kind of you sir," Lin Chen said.

They reached the Dean's office. Du Mingjing knocked and opened the door with the air of someone delivering something valuable.

Two men with gray hair looked up from a conversation. Professor Li Wensheng Lin Chen's thesis supervisor, the person who had quietly recommended him to the outside world without ever needing credit for it stood immediately and crossed the room.

"Lin Chen." He shook his hand warmly. "I'm glad to see you."

"Professor Li." Lin Chen's greeting was genuine in a way that his greeting to Du Mingjing had not been. "Thank you for the referrals. I know that came from you."

Professor Li waved it away. "You did the work."

Dean Xu Haoran rose from behind his desk a tall man with the practiced dignity of someone who had been giving speeches for thirty years and came forward with his hand extended.

"Ah. So this is the young man himself." He shook Lin Chen's hand with both of his. As he laughed "you are a real testimony that what we build in this institution produces results. Sit, sit."

Lin Chen sat down near them.

"We wanted to congratulate you personally," Dean Xu said, settling back into his chair. "And to encourage you to keep going. Don't stop here. What you've done is remarkable but it's clearly just the beginning." He leaned forward. "And we would like to invite you to give the graduation speech at the ceremony in two days. To your fellow graduates. From one of their own."

"No problem sir."

"Good, good, good." The Dean tapped the desk with satisfaction. "Whatever you need from this institution going forward from any of us you only have to ask. You are a pride to this university."

"Thank you sir."

He stood to leave. Professor Li walked him to the door and held it open.

"Lttle Chen." He spoke quietly, just for him. "Whatever comes next and I think quite a lot is coming don't lose the thing that made you good at this. The curiosity. That's what none of the money can replace."

Lin Chen looked at him. "I won't, sir."

He walked back through the familiar corridors alone. The same corridors he had walked for four years carrying a laptop that was now burnt ash and a loan that was now paid off and a confidence that had been, for most of that time, quiet and internal and unrecognized by almost everyone around him.