“Well, actually, while I was preparing for my thesis defense, I also sold a piece of software,” Xiao He said. “Adding it to my savings, it came to exactly five million. I figured since the money was just sitting there, I might as well invest it in myself so it could generate more money in the future.”

Liu Rulan remained silent for a moment on the other end, then asked with some suspicion, "Are you that capable?"

In this technology-driven era, it's not surprising that a piece of software can sell for an astronomical price. However, she hadn't realized Xiao He had such great abilities before. Apart from staying at school to prepare for his thesis defense, Liu Rulan had never seen Xiao He typing away on his computer to develop software.

Xiao He coughed lightly: "What? I call this hiding my true abilities."

This software was indeed something Xiao He had been working on at school during this period. It is a network security software with AI defense capabilities and represents the strongest effort Xiao He could put in at his current level of novice hacker skills.

It just so happened that Xiao He's mentor was the vice dean of their department, who was highly experienced and had connections, so Xiao He simply asked the vice dean to help him make the connection.

Xiao He knew that based on his past experience, it would be impossible for him to independently develop such software. Therefore, he told the vice president that he would participate in the basic code and be mainly responsible for the later sales, while most of the other team members were employees of large companies and were engaged in private research and development, which was not convenient for them to appear in public.

Programmers taking on freelance work is an open yet secretive topic in the industry, and Xiao He's words did not arouse any suspicion.

Although the vice dean was usually quite strict, he was a decent person. Since he would definitely get a share of the profits as the recommender, after confirming the quality of Xiao He's software, he decisively helped Xiao He introduce a major company for promotion, and the software was quickly and successfully sold.

As a result, Xiao He made a fortune.

"Have all the taxes and procedures been completed?"

Liu Rulan still asked cautiously.

Xiao He said helplessly, "Sister Liu, don't worry, you don't need to clean up my mess."

"Phew, that's good—" Liu Rulan's voice instantly brightened. "I'll bring my lawyer with me when I come to the studio tomorrow."

"OK."

…

The next day, Xiao He arrived at their newly established studio—

The studio was located in an office building in a commercial district in downtown Shanghai. The location was extremely luxurious, so much so that it was no exaggeration to say that every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. As soon as Xiao He entered, he saw the name of their studio: "Linghui Studio".

"Ling Hui".

Xiao He stood at the door and silently repeated the name.

"Rising above all the stars, its radiance surrounds all others."

When Xiao He signed with Sister Liu before, he saw her name. At that time, he felt that Sister Liu was actually full of undisguised ambition and arrogance. Even if she left Jiaxing Entertainment, it was only for better career development and to make a name for herself in a wider world.

Xiao He felt a sense of relief at being able to cooperate with such an ambitious person.

"How about it?"

Liu Rulan walked up behind Xiao He in high heels. "These are all my designs. Feel free to browse around."

"Very impressive."

Xiao He praised him sincerely.

On the right wall of the studio entrance, there is a large acrylic photo frame, which is used to showcase the studio's artists. However, at present, the studio only has Xiao He, and there are not many magazine photos that are presentable, so this area is still empty. Only the warm light from above shines on the photo frame, leaving a few scattered starlight.

Passing through the corridor, you enter the open-plan work area. It's not large, but the layout and furnishings are very well done, and it doesn't feel cluttered or disorderly at all. Liu Rulan greets a few employees, and Xiao He sees them continuing to work with their heads down.

To the left is a completely separate lounge, fully equipped with everything from food and drinks to entertainment and relaxation. There's even a small reading area in the corner, with bookshelves displaying movie scripts, marketing, and other books related to entertainment.

Overall, the studio has both professional modern management and humane humanistic care. After walking around, Xiao He felt that it would be pretty good to be a programmer in such an environment.