21

 In order to avoid falling behind, Liu Shuyao pulled two all-nighters and downloaded a new tool, just in time for the next meeting.

This time, Fatty, having learned his lesson, decided to join them directly to prevent Xiang Ran from talking nonsense again.

Liu Shuyao created a new conceptual prototype on her notebook.

When presenting in the meeting room, she was so nervous that she stammered a bit.

"I’ve been looking at some UI designs from different websites over the past two days, familiarizing myself with their layouts, colors, and interactions."

"The timeline can be positioned at the top of the large screen, spanning the entire width. Important years and events will be marked on the timeline, mainly focusing on the history of art exhibitions."

"Users can browse through different years and events by touching the screen or using a remote control."

As she spoke, she observed Xiang Ran's expression. After confirming there was no negative reaction, she continued.

"In the center area, we can create a virtual gallery wall to display students' artwork. It could include various forms of art such as paintings, sculptures, photography, and digital art."

"In the bottom right corner of the screen, information about the school celebration will scroll continuously. This will include the date of the celebration, the event schedule, special guests, and a retrospective of the school's history."

This prototype included simple interactions and marked data points.

As soon as Liu Shuyao finished speaking, Fatty, being a loyal fan, immediately started clapping.

"Clap, clap!"

"Shuyao, how did you manage this in just a few days? You've already picked it up so quickly! This is so well done that many of our classmates probably couldn’t even do this."

Liu Shuyao blushed slightly at the compliment, but she kept her eyes fixed on Xiang Ran, afraid he might say something critical again.

Xiang Ran hadn’t expected Liu Shuyao’s ability to execute ideas so quickly.

After all, as an art student, she usually didn’t deal with this kind of stuff, but she managed to create a decent prototype in just two days, which was something he hadn’t anticipated.

He looked up at Liu Shuyao. This might have been the first time he saw her looking less formal, with a seriousness that showed her personal thoughts on this task.

In the past, she had always appeared as delicate as a doll, with a polite and distant demeanor toward everyone.

But today, with just a simple bun and a few stray strands of hair falling across her face, wearing a loose pink sweatshirt, she somehow seemed smaller and reminded him of her high school self.

But why did high school suddenly come to mind?

Back then, they barely interacted, even though they were in the same class for a year in their first year of high school.

All he remembered was that during the class division, Liu Shuyao was a liberal arts student. But after taking a leave of absence for a while, she returned and switched to studying art.

He was a science student, and their teaching buildings weren’t even the same.

Still, her name was well-known. From high school to university, she had a reputation that everyone recognized.

Even if you didn’t know who she was, you’d probably hear about her as you passed by someone on campus.

And then there was that innocent-looking student ID photo on the noticeboard at the school gate. For a while, she became famous at school.

Though her time away wasn’t long, Liu Shuyao still excelled in her studies and got accepted into Ningzhou University with outstanding results.

The school even promoted her achievements, but she didn’t attend the teacher appreciation banquet. The next time he saw her was during university club recruitment.

They couldn’t even be considered acquaintances before. In fact, they hadn’t really known each other until now, when Xiang Ran started to learn about Liu Shuyao not through rumors, but directly.

…

"Brother Ran?"

"Wake up, Brother Ran!"

"Stop calling me, I’m not asleep!"

Xiang Ran swatted away Fatty’s hand.

"If you’re not asleep, say something. You’re making Shuyao anxious with all this waiting."

“Ahem.”

For once, he felt a bit awkward. He looked up at the projection, avoided Liu Shuyao's gaze, and jotted down a few points that needed modification.

"It’s good."

"This version works. After today’s discussion, make some adjustments and show it to Teacher Wu. If he thinks the prototype is fine, we can move forward with the schedule."

"Got it!"

Liu Shuyao nodded in agreement.

Afterward, there was some discussion about specific technical implementations, like Tableau, JavaScript, HTML, and D3.js, but she couldn’t understand it. So she simply continued to improve her own prototype.

The meeting ended.

While Liu Shuyao was wrapping up her laptop cord, she asked Xiang Ran about his plans.

"Where are you guys going next?"

"Back to the dorm to rank up."

The chubby guy blurted out, but immediately felt a sharp gaze behind him.

Oh no! I forgot!

He quickly tried to cover it up by changing his words.

"I mean, we’re going to the library to do some research."

"I’m going to the library too, so we can go together."

By this time, Liu Shuyao had already packed her backpack and was obediently waiting at the door.

"Sure, let’s go together."

The chubby guy was more than happy to leave with a school beauty.

And just like that, the two of them made the plan with just a few words, without even asking for Xiang Ran’s opinion.

...

There was no other choice. The three of them walked together towards the library.

Liu Shuyao and Xiang Ran really did have tasks to complete. The chubby guy was different—since Xiang Ran hadn’t officially assigned him any tasks, he was still relatively free.

He patted the book next to Xiang Ran titled Storytelling with Data. “What’s this?”

“Some stuff about data visualization. I’m seeing if we can use it for our big screen display.”

“Oh~”

Judging by the chubby guy’s tone, it was clear he wasn’t interested.

Bored, he glanced around the library. It was his second time here, and the memories from his last visit suddenly resurfaced.

He quietly moved a bit closer to Xiang Ran.

"Do you think the book I couldn’t borrow last time is still here?"

Xiang Ran furrowed his brow, puzzled. It seemed he didn’t know which book he was talking about.

"The one! The one that would make you fall in love with me!"

The chubby guy tried to remind Xiang Ran, but ended up speaking too loudly, catching the attention of the school beauty.

"What?"

Liu Shuyao peeked her little head from behind her notebook, her long eyelashes fluttering.

"Chubby, what book about making someone fall in love with you?"

Since the school beauty asked, there was no way he could admit it was for him. After all, Xiang Ran was calm and indifferent, so he could easily take the blame!

"It’s Xiang Ran. Last time he saw a book titled How to Make the One You Love Fall in Love with You 2. He thought it would suit his tastes, so he wanted to borrow the first one."

"Pfft!"

Is it really that kind of book?

Liu Shuyao thought of the yellow book beside her bed and the slogan on its cover, and her face involuntarily reddened.

At this point, the school beauty didn’t dare look at Xiang Ran anymore. She buried her head back in front of her computer and quietly asked the chubby guy.

"Why does Xiang Ran want to borrow that book? Is it for what I’m thinking?"

What you’re thinking?

The chubby guy furrowed his brows in thought. How could he know what the school beauty was thinking? But either way, just push everything onto Xiang Ran! After all, there’s no way the school beauty would care about Xiang Ran’s love life.

Realizing this, the chubby guy nodded confidently!

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