Chapter 18: One Should Always Have Dreams—What If They Come True?

“Hey, who was that?”
Li Ya asked curiously when she noticed Li Ping’an’s expression had changed after he finished his call.

“Just some guy from our dorm,” Li Ping’an replied casually.

“Oh~~~”
Li Ya pursed her lips slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the vague answer but didn’t press further.

At that moment, Li Ping’an’s mind was completely consumed by the pet spirit software. He was eager to get home and log into the backend to check the data—there was no time to leisurely bask in the sun.

Without delay, he quickly greeted his grandfather, uncle, and aunt, then hurriedly took his sister home.

Along the way, Li Ya watched her brother push the accelerator to the floor, speeding like the wind. She was terrified and dared not utter a single word.

She kept worrying that if her brother’s driving skills weren’t up to par, one careless move might send them both tumbling into a ditch—a disastrous thought.

Only when they arrived home and Li Ping’an brought the car to a steady stop did Li Ya get out of the back seat, still trembling as she complained, “Brother, why did you drive so fast? I almost froze back there.”

Li Ping’an merely glanced at his sister, then put away his bike and strode toward the door.

He walked briskly, speaking over his shoulder to Li Ya, “Your brother’s pet spirit app has taken off. From now on, we’ll be living the high life. Everything’s riding on this.”

“Can you blame me for being anxious?”

“Taken off?”

Li Ya’s eyes widened in surprise.

Thinking about how practical and adorable the pet spirit app was, she found it understandable that it would become popular.

After all, good things are always discovered by discerning people—it meant many truly appreciated it.

Suddenly recalling something important, Li Ping’an stopped, turned back with a serious expression, and warned his sister, “Don’t tell anyone. We need to keep this quiet and make our fortune silently, got it?”

Li Ya was about to share the good news with her friends on her phone, but his sudden words stopped her cold.

Seeing the intense seriousness in her brother’s eyes, she swallowed nervously and nodded firmly, “I promise I won’t say a word.”

In her heart, she knew her brother had silently sacrificed so much for her, and she didn’t want to hold him back now with a careless slip of her tongue.

More importantly, she deeply cared about how her brother’s software could change their fate.

Who would turn down more money?

“Good. Just remember that.”

With that, Li Ping’an swiftly opened the door and dashed upstairs toward the laptop that had remained on standby, never once turned off.

His heart pounding with nervous excitement, he logged into the software backend.

When he saw the number of registered users, he gasped in disbelief.

Even with promotion by a blogger boasting millions of followers, he hadn’t imagined the user count would rocket past 200,000!

And that number was visibly climbing by the second.

He hurried to check the short video platform where the blogger had posted. In just the short time since returning from his uncle’s, the video recommending the pet spirit app had amassed over 200,000 likes like a tidal wave.

He couldn’t fathom the magnitude of the total views for such a video.

Millions of views? Even more?

As long as the app remained user-friendly and continued to be shared organically, Li Ping’an’s mind filled with thrilling figures.

Could the pet spirit app’s downloads and user registrations reach staggering heights?

A million-user app? It didn’t seem so far-fetched after all.

Dreams were meant to be dreamt—what if it really happened?

With that thought, Li Ping’an wasted no time and immediately contacted Li Nan, their part-time graphic designer.

“Are you there? Can we speed things up? I’ll raise the pay to 150 for overtime and 200 for the main UI design.”

Meanwhile, Li Nan, deeply focused on drawing her adorable puppy, lit up with joy upon seeing Li Ping’an’s message.

“Big boss is generous! Leave it to me—I’ll work overtime! I’ll try to deliver ten cute pet illustrations within two days.”

“The main UI design might take a bit longer, but I’ll push my classmates to hurry.”

“Great! As soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

After replying to Li Ping’an, Li Nan immediately set down her brush and contacted Yang Xu, a classmate responsible for the theme UI design.

“Yang Xu, the client wants it expedited, and the pay’s been raised. Overtime for a full theme UI design is now 150.”

“But remember, quality must be guaranteed. The client isn’t foolish with money—if the quality isn’t up to par, don’t blame me if we don’t get paid.”

Soon, Yang Xu replied, “Pay raise? Haha, awesome!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going out to play anymore—I’ll stay home and design properly.”

Seeing such a prompt and willing response, Li Nan finally felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

As for skimping on the price, she thought to herself, no one else would know besides her.

Yang Xu was happy to accept 150 and eager to work, so why pay 200?

From her perspective, as the middleman who introduced Yang Xu to the job and took a modest cut, it was entirely reasonable and justified.

Li Nan reassured herself repeatedly.

Even if Yang Xu backed out midway, there were plenty of other classmates eager to snap up the job.

With her mind settled, Li Nan dove back into designing the pets.

At this moment, Li Ping’an was completely unaware of Li Nan’s role as an intermediary.

Even if he found out, he probably wouldn’t object much.

For him, the most important thing was the final result—how Li Nan achieved it was of little concern.

Now, Li Ping’an’s gaze was fixed on the Huawei Developer Platform, carefully reading the official staff’s messages.

After a moment of thought, he responded calmly, “Hello, I am very grateful for your company’s strong recommendation. Regarding the development plan for the pet spirit app’s NEXT version, we preliminarily expect to officially start and advance it after the holiday.”

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