Chapter 65: Claimed by Your Teacher

Seeing Jiang Wan with a look of utter shame as if she wished to die, Qin Hongfei quietly raised her cola in compromise and said, "I was only joking." It would be terrible if he really couldn't get over it and ended up committing suicide; after all, a life is a life.

It's just a piece of paper. She could write another one. It's really not that serious—not at all!

"I'm sorry," Jiang Wan forced a bitter smile. "I lost my composure. I have quite a few second-hand parts on hand, but what do you want them for?"

"Assembly. I'm opening an internet café," Qin Hongfei replied simply.

"You're assembling computers from second-hand parts?" Jiang Wan frowned slightly. "Won't those machines lag terribly?"

"It's not too bad, at least in theory." Qin Hongfei glanced around, seeing no other business, and looking at Jiang Wan's half-dead expression, sighed, deciding to chat for the sake of saving a life. "It depends on how you assemble them."

"You know how?" Jiang Wan asked in surprise. You're so young!

"If I told you, you wouldn't be able to learn it anyway." Qin Hongfei glanced at him, paused, then asked, "You studied computer science, right?"

"Yeah..." Mentioning his major, Jiang Wan painfully raked his fingers through his hair. "But I'm a failure. From college until now, I've achieved nothing. I finally managed to develop a system, but it always has bugs I can't fix." He wasn't sure why he was confessing all this to a child—perhaps he just needed to vent. "After today, I might switch careers."

Hmm?

Qin Hongfei looked at him in surprise. Developing a system was such a big deal, and he called it 'achieving nothing'? Was he mistaken about himself, or was she mistaken? Her interest piqued. "You developed your own system? What kind?"

There are two kinds of systems for computers: one that's self-developed, and one that's installed—meaning someone else designs it, and the user just follows the installation process. The latter is something even those studying computers in later generations can master; it's nothing special. But the former—that's impressive.

Jiang Wan explained, "It's a new system I made myself. The system we use now is all imported from abroad, and those foreigners always look down on what we make ourselves. So I wanted to create a local system. Though I managed to make it, but..."

"But there are incompatibilities, all sorts of bugs and loopholes."

"Very easy for viruses to invade? That's perfectly normal. New systems always have these issues. Usually, it takes years of dedicated research. You only spent two years..." Qin Hongfei looked at him, puzzled. "This is basic knowledge in computer science. Didn't your teachers ever tell you?"

Jiang Wan felt that this young comrade spoke rather boldly and forced a bitter smile. "My teacher said it was a failed project, that I had no talent for this, and always urged me to give up." His words were tinged with deep resentment.

A strange look appeared in Qin Hongfei's eyes, and she quickly guessed something. She said, "If self-developing a system in this field isn't considered talent, then I suppose the vast majority studying this are fools. Since you can make a system, you must have made quite a few programs as well. Let me guess—you showed everything you've created to your teacher?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"When you get home, check if the programs and systems you've made have been registered or published anywhere..." Qin Hongfei's gaze was calm, but there was understanding and pity in her eyes. She reminded him, "If your teacher isn't incompetent, I'm guessing it's highly likely your work has been claimed as his own."