Chapter 1: The Deadly Cycle - C Language Cultivation

The glaring sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains; it had been bright for quite some time. Lin Xun checked the time—it was 9 o'clock in the morning. After a whole night of coding, it was time for him to get some sleep. He closed the compiler, and at that moment, a news notification popped up in the upper-right corner of his computer screen. Lin Xun rarely paid attention to the news, but this one was different. A particular keyword caught his eye. The headline read: "Yinhe Group Spends Lavishly, Investing 30 Million in Lions Company." Upon clicking, the details matched the headline, describing how Lions received a 30 million investment. Its founder met with the CEO of Yinhe, discussing future development plans and envisioning the significant revolution looming with the advent of intelligent trends based on artificial neural network engines. Expressionless, Lin Xun closed the window. Lions, a team gaining rapid fame in recent years, used neural networks as a gimmick and had made a splash at a certain creative exhibition. Lin Xun knew their founder; they had crossed paths during school. That person had invited him to join upon graduation, but he didn't think much of it and declined. In fact, it wasn't Lions that concerned him but rather the name "Yinhe." The CEO of Yinhe, a legend in the programming world, was his idol and also the idol of most programmers. This idol had started from nothing, initially working on the internet of things, then moving to artificial intelligence. For years, he had positioned himself at the forefront of technological advancements, transforming Yinhe into today's tech empire rooted in various domains. It was said, "Without Yinhe, the era of smart cities would be delayed by at least twenty years." In essence, the news suggested that someone he didn't think highly of not only got to chat intimately with his idol but also received 30 million from him. Lin Xun thought if he had that 30 million, he could surely do better than that person. After indulging in some jealousy, he started to feel a headache, the result of staying up all night coding. The veins at his temples throbbed. Just as he was about to leave the computer desk for some rest, his phone rang abruptly—another unfamiliar number. He had been getting too many calls lately. From the landlord urging rent payment to overdue notices for utilities—they all troubled him, because if he had the money, he'd at least buy a dozen energy drinks to stave off the fatigue. Lin Xun answered, "Hello." The sweet voice on the other end replied, "Hello, is this Mr. Lin Xun?" "Yes." "Hello, Mr. Lin, this is from Paper Cut Network Technology Co., Ltd. After two rounds of discussions, we believe your 'Luoshen' concept does not align with our company's developmental strategy, and also it..." Lin Xun leaned back in his chair, rubbing his brow and noting how hoarse his voice sounded, "Okay, sorry for troubling you." As soon as the call ended, someone pushed open his room door. A round-faced head peeked in and asked, "How did it go? Which company? Do we have any hope?" The person was Wang Anquan, a friend and partner of Lin Xun. He was wearing a green checkered shirt, stocky before baldness—a typical programmer's appearance made sly by his small eyes. Lin Xun tossed his phone aside, "No, Paper Cut declined too." Wang Anquan sighed heavily and collapsed onto the bed. Right then, a furious shout echoed from the living room, "Motherfucker!" Lin Xun asked, "What’s up with Jiegou?" Wang Anquan replied, "He's getting frustrated writing the business plan." The next second, sounds of a chair being kicked over came from the living room. A moment later, Zhao Jiegou stomped into Lin Xun's room, violently plugging a USB drive into his computer's port, "I'm done!" Zhao Jiegou was a Norwegian boy with brown hair and blue eyes, having a bit of Asian heritage. His original name was Louis and had an incredible talent for languages, with his Chinese being exceptionally proficient. The three of them had teamed up even before graduating from school. It's been three years now. Within this team, Lin Xun was responsible for writing algorithms and key coding, Wang Anquan—as his name suggests—handled network and data security, and Louis was in charge of system architecture. However, this young man named Louis, while learning Chinese, stumbled upon how... Wang Anquan’s name amusingly related to his expertise. He thought it was a genius naming method, thus dubbing himself Zhao Jiegou. Wang Anquan listlessly looked at the business plan, muttering, "Uploading it would be useless. We can't even pay the rent. No one is interested in 'Luoshen'. We should just disband." Zhao Jiegou said, "Disband? I've wanted to do that for a long time. Eagle has been trying to recruit me for a year." They both turned their gazes to Lin Xun. Wang Anquan sighed, "…We've been at this for three years." Three years. From before even graduating, the three of them had thrown themselves into “Luoshen,” and now, finally, its basic framework was complete. Yet, no company or investor was interested. Today, three years later, they had finally reached the point where disbanding seemed inevitable. Lin Xun wasn't discouraged, ready to say something—suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit, followed by a severe headache. His vision blurred. The figures of Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiegou became fuzzy, and then two orbs of blue slowly rose from above their heads. Was sleep deprivation causing hallucinations? At that moment, his phone rang again. This damn thing ringing like a death knell every day brought only bad news. The familiar ringtone made Lin Xun feel suffocated. Zhao Jiegou glanced at the phone on the computer desk, "Who is it?" Wang Anquan picked up the phone to pass it to Lin Xun, but his body suddenly froze, staring blankly at Lin Xun, "Bro...brother...?" Lin Xun thought it might be the landlord demanding rent again. While recalling his credit card limits, he saw Wang Anquan thrust the screen in front of his face. The screen displayed two words. His blurry vision weakly discerned those words as Yinhe. Yinhe??? For a moment, Lin Xun's mind went blank, and he took the phone. "Hello, is this Mr. Lin Xun?" It was, once again, a sweet female voice. Lin Xun answered, "Yes, hello." "Hello, Mr. Lin, my last name is Ruan, Ruan Zhi, the executive assistant to Yinhe. May I ask if you’re available recently?" He had the call on speaker, so Zhao Jiegou and Wang Anquan could hear it. They exchanged looks. Wang Anquan slowly widened his mouth. Lin Xun’s heartbeat quickened, and he replied to the other end, "I’m available at any time." "Great," said the other side. "We’re very interested in your ‘Luoshen’ model. If you’re free, would it be convenient to visit Yinhe headquarters this afternoon? We’d like to discuss some matters with you in person." Lin Xun responded, "Sure...that’s fine." The assistant laughed softly, "Then I won’t interrupt your work any further. Looking forward to meeting you." The call ended. Lin Xun slowly put down the phone. Zhao Jiegou stepped in front of him, saying, “Brother Lin, I apologize for what I said earlier.” Wang Anquan immediately followed, “Xun, I, too, sincerely apologize for my earlier remarks — you, me, him, Lin the Algorithm, Wang Anquan, Zhao Jiegou, the three of us will never part ways, until the world ends or the seas run dry—” "Enough." Lin Xun cut off Wang Anquan’s overly sentimental declaration, unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips. The exhaustion from an all-nighter vanished, vision becoming clearer. Yet the hallucinations remained, two blue squares hovering above his partners’ heads. He found it peculiar but considering the day's events, deemed it reasonable—likely too emotionally charged, and they might vanish soon. After all, this was the best news he had received in his lifetime. Yinhe! Three million! His idol! Wang Anquan luxuriated on the bed, hugging a pillow, evidently having read that news and was now babbling like a madman, “Three million, three million, Jiegou, how did you divide our equity? Randomly?” Zhao Jiegou hugged another pillow, lying opposite Wang Anquan, echoing in madness, “Randomly, evenly split.” Wang Anquan, further deluded by visions of wealth... looked vacant. Zhao Jiegou smacked the mattress, “Ten minutes ago, I was tempted by Eagle's six-hundred-thousand salary offer...!” Wang Anquan caressed the pillow, “I was secretly thrilled by Lions' seven-hundred-thousand salary offer.” Zhao Jiegou's Chinese, enhanced by frustration, flared: “Why are you ten thousand more than me?” Wang Anquan declared, “Because Python is the best language in the world.” “What about Java?” Lost in a pointless argument, they hurled pillows and started wrestling. But Lin Xun was different. He began preparing for the meeting with Yinhe, uncertain who he’d meet—perhaps just a small product manager. Afternoon quickly arrived. After stepping off the vehicle, Lin Xun glanced at the car window, making sure his appearance was appropriate one last time. A white dress shirt, naturally perfect. He’d chosen a light gray, striped casual suit jacket—giving off a relaxed and bright demeanor. ——Quite presentable indeed. Zhao Jiegou rolled down the car window and whistled, “You are the most handsome!” Lin Xun smiled and said, “I’m off.” Wang Anquan let out a weird cry from inside the car, “Three million!” Under the afternoon sun, the glass facade of the Yinhe building glistened brightly. Lin Xun initially thought he'd have to navigate his way to the right place on his own, but as soon as he entered the Yinhe headquarters, a person dressed as a secretary approached him, "Are you Mr. Lin Xun?" He followed the secretary into a private elevator. Observing the secretary press the button for the top floor, Lin Xun realized this meeting might not be as straightforward as he initially thought. He blinked hard. The secretary also had a blue, semi-transparent square above their head, much like the ones he had seen on Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiegou. "Ding." The elevator came to a stop, and Ruan Zhi, the executive assistant, stood waiting at the door, also topped with an identical blue square, smiling at him. Lin Xun truly found this situation peculiar, but pressed for time, he couldn’t afford to delve into it. He recognized Ruan Zhi, who frequently appeared alongside Yinhe's CEO in various media interviews. The call was from Assistant Ruan. Assistant Ruan came to personally escort him. Surely, he must be meeting his idol—who else could warrant such attention from Ruan Zhi? In that moment, the strange blue squares ceased to matter; his thoughts filled with only his idol. Suddenly, he was no longer envious of the 30 million. Today, he would have his own opportunity. Ruan Zhi opened the wooden office door, and the slightly spacious room inside was meticulously organized. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting light on the minimalist décor in silver and white. The walls glistened like the sheen of snow-capped mountains. As Lin Xun entered, he sensed a drop in temperature. The surroundings were silent, only the rhythmic sound of his footsteps resounding. At the far end of the office, behind a desk, sat someone engrossed in a document. A simple white shirt, an elegant and straight posture, a cold and aloof figure. The founder and CEO of the tech empire "Yinhe," he appeared quite young. Despite having seen numerous interviews and reports about him, seeing his idol in person was still a shock to Lin Xun. At the same time, his vision seemed to normalize—his idol didn't have a blue square hovering above him. Relieved, Lin Xun's gaze was drawn to his idol's hands. Long fingers turning the pages of the document. Cold, pale skin with faint blue veins, like the outlines of snowy mountains, beautifully jointed. If those fingers were on piano keys instead of paper, everyone would hold their breath, awaiting the ethereal melody to flow forth from them. —These hands truly had created countless lines of beautiful and awe-inspiring code for the world. In their teenage years, Lin Xun and Wang Anquan would spend entire days on GitHub, observing their idol's code, summarizing that this person... had their right hand kissed by Von Neumann, the left held by Turing. In university, Lin Xun finally felt his coding skills were presentable—by then, however, his idol was already developing his own programming language. Later on, Lin Xun veered towards algorithms rather than programming, perhaps realizing that in coding, there would forever be a legendary figure shining brilliantly and beyond reach. He moved closer. His idol looked up. The noise of the world seemed to fade, a snowfall descended. He had long black hair and wore thin-framed, gold-rimmed spectacles. As he moved, the golden chains of the glasses swung slightly in the air, catching the sunlight and reflecting a touch of dazzling light. Behind the lenses, a pair of cold, distant eyes met Lin Xun’s gaze. This person was stunning. His features, more sculpted than the average, bore a hint of mixed lineage but left no trace. The slightly lighter hue of his eyes showed not a flicker of emotion, making him seem all the more unreal. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lin," his voice matched his appearance, with a kind of detached aloofness from worldly affairs. "Hello," Lin Xun carefully chose his words, "...Dong Jun." —This was his well-known preference, whether in formal or informal settings, for people to call him Dong Jun. The name seemed associated with some ancient Eastern legend, altogether enshrouded in mystery when spoken. Dong Jun seemed to slightly curve his lips into a smile, "Please, have a seat." Lin Xun sat down, exhaling lightly; he was indeed a bit nervous. Dong Jun placed his fingers on the document, turned it around, and slid it towards Lin Xun, "The reason I arranged to meet you today is to discuss something." Lin Xun met his gaze, trying to keep his expression steady, though inside, overflowing with excitement. He imagined tomorrow's news headlines. "Yinhe to Invest 30 Million in 'Luoshen' Team!" Thirty million. He already felt as if he were flying, clutching the check, soaring into the heights of the sky. He could buy servers, expand the database, move out of an old residential apartment into a proper studio, launch his "Luoshen" to usher in a new era of trends... Thirty million! Noticing his distraction, Dong Jun paused before continuing blandly, "I intend to invest two hundred thousand personally for a share in 'Luoshen.'" Lin Xun blinked, “?”