Chapter 47 Adoptive Father?

Hearing this, Li Ping'an's lips twitched slightly. A bad feeling welled up in his heart, and a helpless, wry smile appeared on his face.

Sure enough, as the saying goes: good deeds stay at home, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

How much time had passed? Good grief, even his roommates knew about it. This news spread faster than the wind.

"Don't even mention it. It was all the fault of a system bug," Li Ping'an sighed helplessly, explaining, "Fortunately, I hadn't actually planned on walking in, otherwise I would have made a complete fool of myself."

Chen Hao swaggered over to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of fat-person happy water, took several huge gulps, and then let out a loud, satisfied burp.

He reached out, slapped Li Ping'an heavily on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Anzi, you are seriously lucky. It's a good thing you didn't blindly stumble into the women's restroom back then.

You know as well as I do how terrifying the power of the internet is nowadays.

Just imagine, if that kind of scandal had really blown up, you'd be one step away from failing to graduate and having your company go under!"

"Even though the number of users for Pocket Spirits seems quite large now, in the face of the powerful onslaught of public internet opinion, it's nothing more than a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Once negative news breaks out, netizens will swarm in for the attack, and no matter how popular a product is, it can be crushed overnight.

Not to mention that your company is still in its startup phase with shallow roots, it simply couldn't withstand that kind of beating."

Li Ping'an nodded silently. How could he possibly not understand the logic in what Chen Hao was saying?

It was precisely because he knew the stakes involved that he felt immensely grateful.

However, come to think of it, there had still been a teacher walking right behind him at the time. Even if that fellow student hadn't spoken up in time to stop him, the teacher probably wouldn't have stood by idly and would definitely have stepped in to block him.

"By the way, why are you all here?" Li Ping'an asked, as if suddenly remembering something.

Zhao Peng, who had already plonked himself down casually in a chair, wore a brilliant smile.

"Do you even need to ask? Naturally, we're going out for a celebration dinner!"

"In the past, whenever the few of us went out for a meal, we always held back a bit because we knew your family's situation, fearing that you might feel a psychological burden."

"So we didn't dare do it too often."

"But now... hehe, you've suddenly transformed and are way wealthier than any of us, so what is there to worry about anymore!"

The more Zhao Peng talked, the more enthusiastic he became. He leaned forward slightly, a spark of excitement flashing in his eyes:

"Since we're living in this world, we've got to enjoy ourselves in time.

Just think about it, a person's life isn't that long—at most just a few decades. Even with heaven-sent luck allowing you to live to around a hundred years old, it still passes by in the blink of an eye.

If you don't properly enjoy things when you have the chance, are you really going to wait until you're old, can't walk anymore, and can only lie in a hospital bed sighing and filled with eternal regret?"

That would just be way too foolish!"

"Oh, cut it out with you and your grand philosophies," Li Ping'an teased with a smile, shrugging his shoulders as he finished speaking.

"Still, you've got to admit, it actually sounds pretty reasonable!"

Li Ping'an grinned, revealing a row of white teeth, and laughed:

"You guys always used to treat me and foot the bill. No matter what, today's meal is on me.

The usual routine: KTV and barbecue all the way!

However, I can't drink alcohol tonight. As you all can see, my wretched guide dog still has a bunch of issues waiting for me to sort out, so I need to keep a clear head."

Within the span of those few sentences, the bottle of happy water in Chen Hao's hand had already been half emptied.

Chen Hao smacked his lips, still unsatisfied, and while vigorously tightening the bottle cap, he shouted excitedly at the top of his lungs:

"Brothers, what are we waiting for? Let's hit the KTV!"

"Let's go!"

Everyone cheered in unison, locked the door, and marched in a mighty procession toward the outside of the campus.

……………………………………

Li Ping'an had intended to stay completely sober last night, but once the atmosphere of the gathering heated up, it was impossible not to drink, so he had no choice but to have a few small glasses.

The morning light of Saturday filtered softly through the gaps in the windows, casting a gentle glow on the floor of Dormitory 602.

Ordinarily, at this hour, the dorm would already be completely empty.

Yet everyone had consumed quite a bit of alcohol last night, and even though they were awake now, not a single one of them was willing to get out of bed.

Half-asleep, Li Ping'an was awakened by the persistent, noisy sounds of Chen Hao endlessly scrolling through short videos.

Slowly opening his sleep-heavy eyes, Li Ping'an fumbled blindly beneath his pillow, felt for his phone, lit up the screen, and saw that it was already past eight in the morning.

"I'm heading to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast. Do you guys want anything brought back?" he asked softly.

As soon as his voice trailed off, the three fellows who had been lying on their beds looking as motionless as corpses suddenly sat straight up, as if some command had triggered a set of hidden springs inside them.

"Foster Father, get me four meat buns and a glass of soy milk, please," Chen Hao spoke up first, his ingratiating expression making it seem as though Li Ping'an truly were his provider and benefactor.

Zhao Peng chimed in immediately: "I want a bowl of preserved vegetable and shredded pork noodles, no spice."

"I'll have the preserved vegetable and shredded pork noodles too," another roommate echoed.

Hearing these repeated cries of "Foster Father," Li Ping'an broke into a wide grin. How could he possibly refuse these tiny requests from his "children"?

After getting up and briefly washing up, Li Ping'an stepped out into the morning breeze and strode toward the cafeteria.

At eight o'clock on a Saturday morning, the cafeteria was still bustling with activity. Many students, some seated and others standing, were heartily enjoying their breakfast.

Li Ping'an shuttled back and forth busily among the various service windows, and before long, both of his hands were completely filled with all sorts of food and drinks.

A short while later, Li Ping'an returned to the dorm carrying breakfast for the entire room. He pushed the door open, and deliberately raised his voice to shout:

"Children, get up and eat!"

One week later.

In mid-June, following a week of continuous testing and optimization, the guide dog was finally barely presentable.

Next came the task of continuously updating the guide dog's database to increase the information on recognizable obstacles.

For a visually impaired person, their range of activity and regular routes are generally relatively fixed.

Building upon this foundation, Li Ping'an added a route-memory function to the guide dog.

Right now, if he wanted to make the guide dog even more practical, relying solely on himself to test it during his spare time was obviously unrealistic.

What Li Ping'an needed now was real user experience.

Only through genuine user experiences and the subsequent feedback could the guide dog be continually optimized.

Inside the innovation and entrepreneurship incubation base, Li Ping'an twisted his neck and let out a deep, heavy sigh.

"I suppose I'll just have to figure out a way to get people to test it after I get back."

Li Ping'an hadn't forgotten that in two days' time, his younger sister would be taking her senior high school entrance examinations.

"I wonder if the counselor will agree to grant me leave."

"This is going to be tough."

Fortunately, it was only the high school entrance exams; if it were the college entrance examinations, Li Ping'an had no doubt that the counselor definitely wouldn't grant him leave.

After all, there were regulations from above.

Even given his family's special circumstances, the counselor wouldn't dare—and certainly wouldn't—grant him leave.

PS: Thanks to Scar 1122 for the tip and support.