move place
As the night deepened, twinkling lights lit up Qingwa Town.
The inn's courtyard was bustling with activity. The team members, unable to contain their excitement, gathered around a large round table, toasting to a few of the proprietress's signature dishes. Fatso Jiang enthusiastically recounted the day's astonishing experiences, while Zhao Teng showed off the incredible images from his camera. Everyone's face was brimming with the joy of success.
But the two protagonists of this celebration banquet did not go down.
The two of them were working on the final data integration and rendering in the quiet room 201 on the second floor. This was the most critical and exciting step in the entire project.
The dim light in the room illuminated Shi Guang's focused profile. He sat in front of his computer, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard, and lines of complex code scrolled across the screen like a waterfall.
The only sounds in the air were the hum of computer fans and the crisp ticking of time.
After an unknown amount of time, Time stopped. He took a deep breath, hovered his finger over the Enter key, and then looked back at Lu Yu.
Lu Yu nodded to him, his eyes full of encouragement and expectation.
Shi Guang pressed the last enter key.
The computer's processor began to operate at full capacity, the fan noise suddenly increasing. The screen fell into a brief darkness, as if brewing a great birth.
A few seconds later, a tiny dot of light lit up in the center of the dark screen. Immediately afterwards, thousands, perhaps even billions, of light dots burst out from that central point, rapidly building and expanding across the screen...
Finally, a three-dimensional ancestral hall model composed of billions of bright light spots slowly formed against a pure black background.
Compared to its daytime counterpart, it possesses a touch of the dreamlike brilliance of the digital age. The intricate structure of each bracket, the delicate texture of each carving, even the soul-filled eyes atop the coiled dragon beams, are all clearly visible. It's like a memory palace floating in the vast digital universe, solemn and tranquil, yet radiating an immortal light.
"It's done." Shi Guang let out a long sigh, completely relaxed, and leaned back in his chair. Dozens of hours of intense concentration had left a trace of fatigue on his face, but his eyes sparkled with the joy of creation.
The clamor and cheers from the courtyard outside the window seemed to come from another distant world, isolated by thick walls and glass. In this dim room, illuminated only by the light of the screen, time and space seemed to be frozen.
It was an indescribable feeling of tranquility and contentment. Like two artisans who had just collaborated on a masterpiece, at the moment of completion, all fatigue was drained away, leaving only the purest resonance and joy in their souls. This moment of silence was a silent medal, unique to them both.
Just when this quiet atmosphere was about to ferment into some deeper feelings, the death warrant that spoiled the mood sounded.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The door was slammed shut by Jiang Xiaopang with his signature force.
"Brother Lu! Boss Shiguang! What are you two doing in there?! We're short two for the celebration banquet! The boss lady has served all her signature dishes, like spicy diced chicken, twice-cooked pork, and boiled fish fillets... If you don't come down soon, there won't be anything left. We'll eat it all!"
Jiang Xiaopang's loud voice was like a sledgehammer, instantly shattering the thin layer of ambiguous barrier in the room.
As if startled awake, Lu Yu and Shi Guang simultaneously loosened their hands and took a half step back awkwardly. They exchanged glances, each seeing a mixture of helplessness and amusement in the other's eyes.
Lu Yu laughed and shook his head. He reached out and rubbed Shi Guang's soft hair very naturally, his gesture as if it was natural and intimate. "Let's go, our great CTO. You are the boss tonight. If anyone dares to snatch the last chicken leg from you, I will be the first to help you beat him up."
This sudden touch made Shi Guang's body stiffen slightly. He could clearly feel the warmth from Lu Yu's palm passing through his hair to his scalp, and a slight tingling current instantly ran through his body. He tilted his head uncomfortably, but did not shy away.
"Hmm." He uttered a very light syllable from his throat, turned around silently, saved all the project files, and closed the rendering program.
When he raised his head again, the unnatural blush on his face had faded, and he returned to his usual cold and quiet appearance, as if the person whose heart skipped a beat just now was not him at all.
When Lu Yu and Shi Guang appeared in the yard one after another, the originally noisy celebration banquet instantly reached a new climax.
"Oh wow! The two heroes are finally showing up!" Fatty Jiang was the first to cry out, standing up with a full glass of orange juice. "Come on, everyone, be quiet! Let's give the warmest applause to welcome the core of our Yuguang team, Brother Lu and Boss Shiguang, to the celebration dinner!"
There was an immediate burst of good-natured laughter and warm applause in the yard, and Zhao Teng even whistled exaggeratedly.
Lu Yu accepted everyone's teasing calmly. He pulled out a chair, pressed Shi Guang's shoulders and asked him to sit down, then sat down next to him.
"That's enough, Fatty. If you keep talking nonsense, you'll lose your chicken leg." Lu Yu scolded with a smile, picked up the serving chopsticks, and without saying anything, piled a small mountain of food into Shi Guang's bowl, including tender fish fillets, crispy spareribs, and a chopstick of lush green vegetables.
Shi Guang looked at the food sticking out of the bowl and felt a little overwhelmed. He rarely received such direct care in such a lively occasion. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should thank the person first or pick up his chopsticks first.
Team members came over with drinks in hand and toasted Shi Guang, offering simple yet sincere compliments.
"Brother Shi, you are truly my god! I feel like I could spend a whole year looking at that 3D model!"
"Boss, please accept my knee! From now on, I'm relying on you to support my graduation project!"
Shi Guang was not good with words. Faced with everyone's enthusiasm, he could only clumsily pick up his water cup and respond one by one, his ears turning redder with each response. Lu Yu, like a diligent agent, skillfully helped him deflect the overly enthusiastic teasing. With a few words, he managed the situation perfectly, maintaining Shi Guang's time without spoiling everyone's fun.
After three rounds of wine and five dishes, the noisy atmosphere of celebration was gradually replaced by discussions about follow-up work.
Lin Xiyue put down her chopsticks and opened the laptop she was carrying. Her delicate eyebrows knitted slightly as she said worriedly, "We've successfully completed the core data for the ancestral hall, thanks to the passage of time. However... the amount of surveying and mapping data for the other ancient building complexes outside our area is also staggeringly large, and there's still a lot of tedious sorting and preliminary modeling work to be done. I just made a rough estimate, and even if we split up and take turns working on it, it's probably going to take at least two or three all-nighters to get it done."
As soon as she finished speaking, the team members who had been extremely excited just now suddenly wailed.
"Yes." Sun Rui looked at Lin Xiyue's data sheet and added, "Also, to ensure the highest efficiency and absolute security of data processing, all core calculations and data integration work must be performed on the mainframe equipped with a graphics workstation in Room 201. Because the inn's electrical circuit is unstable, only that machine is connected to the backup UPS power supply, which has the most stable line."
These two sentences, like two precise lightning bolts, instantly illuminated Lu Yu's mind.
The opportunity has come.
The smile on his face remained unchanged, but his hands moved smoothly. He picked up the largest piece of braised pork and threw it into Shi Guang's bowl. Then, he cleared his throat and announced in a decisive voice:
"That's perfect."
Everyone's eyes were focused on him.
"Shi Guang has not slept for dozens of hours in a row in order to model the ancestral hall. His core task has been successfully completed. He cannot be overdrawn on the following finishing work. What he needs most now is a good rest." Lu Yu's tone was serious and solemn.
He glanced around at everyone and continued, "So, I've decided. Starting tonight, Room 201 will officially serve as our team's shared computer room and temporary operations room. Students from the peripheral data group will take turns working there all night, according to their shift schedule."
Everyone nodded, thinking that this arrangement was very reasonable.
Then, Lu Yu changed the subject and revealed his real purpose.
"In order not to disturb Shi Guang's rest and ensure his sleep quality, he temporarily moved to Room 202 next to mine."
After these words were spoken, the whole audience was silent for three seconds.
"Puff——" Fat Jiang almost spit out a mouthful of orange juice from his nose. He coughed desperately, his face flushed red, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Lu Yu was full of admiration and ridicule of "Brother, you are awesome, I surrender."
Lin Xiyue and Sun Rui, two rational people, did not think much about it. They looked at each other and felt that this arrangement was simply the optimal solution logically, which perfectly solved the two major problems. So they nodded in agreement.
Shi Guang was the only one in the room who still had the piece of braised pork that Lu Yu had just given him in his mouth. He couldn't swallow it or spit it out, and just stared at Lu Yu blankly.
So, in full view of everyone, in this discussion where he himself did not even express any opinion, the matter was decided by their wise and brave Captain Lu.
The celebration banquet ended in a warm atmosphere.
The hardworking team, led by Lin Xiyue and Sun Rui, eagerly grabbed their laptops and rushed to Room 201. They plugged in their computers, connected to the internet, and copied data, quickly embarking on a new round of intense work. The room was soon filled with the clacking of keyboards and the hushed whispers of work, transforming it into a veritable war room.
Lu Yu rightfully became the mover of time.
Of course, the scale of this move was pitifully small.
Shi Guang followed him, and the two walked through the short corridor one after the other and came to the door of the next room 202.
Lu Yu opened the door and went in first.
In stark contrast to the atmosphere of the war room in Room 201 and its minimalist decor, Lu Yu's room is filled with a vibrant and uninhibited atmosphere. A black windbreaker is casually draped over the back of a chair. On the table sits a portable Bluetooth speaker, where he listens to music, and next to it is a half-finished bottle of mineral water. There's even a pebble he picked up from the mountainside on the windowsill.
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