I am a direct disciple of a renowned programming guru in the industry. In my previous life, my girlfriend put a large dose of sleeping pills in my milk. While I was asleep, she stole the code I had spent over a dozen all-nighters completing, then turned around and gave it to the company’s genius programmer. During the staff meeting, colleagues looked at our identical code, exchanging bewildered glances. The genius programmer sighed: “I can’t believe a junior colleague in this company would steal my work. It’s truly disheartening.” The incident spread online, causing a huge uproar. Countless fans began doxxing my address, carrying knives, wanting to avenge their genius programmer. I had no choice but to stop working and move repeatedly. But I still couldn’t escape the rabid fans. In the end, they stabbed me to death with multiple knives, dumping my body in a dark alley. In this new life, I’ve returned to two days before the code was finished. Looking at the milk my girlfriend offered me, I coldly smiled. 1. I closed my eyes, feigning sleep, my ears constantly listening to the sounds from the next room. My fists clenched tightly. In the next room, the moans of men and women mingled. “Mm… Did you manage to give him the sleeping pills?” “Don’t worry. That idiot drank it without even asking. Ah… gently… he must be sleeping like a log now!” “Good… this code… no one else in the company could write it… that kid is pretty skilled…” “Nowhere near as good as you, honey. He only makes peanuts every month, completely useless…” The woman cheating in the next room was my girlfriend, Lily Thorne. In my previous life, I loved her to the point of obsession. She didn’t have to work, didn’t have to do housework; every day was spent getting manicures and shopping. I even worked overtime, sleeping only three or four hours a day for half a month straight to write code and win a bonus. When I woke up, I still had to wash her clothes and cook for her. But no matter how hard I tried to treat her well, she was always dissatisfied with me. I never imagined she had already hooked up with Vincent Vance, the “genius programmer” at the company. Not only that, but she also stole my code and exposed my home address. In the end, she caused me to be stabbed to death by radical fans. In this life, as soon as I was reborn, I quickly swapped out the code on my computer. I pretended to drink the milk. The code I had stayed up all night to write was now on my USB drive. I just needed to go to an internet cafe tomorrow to make a few minor modifications, and it would be ready to submit on Monday. As for Vincent Vance? The code he had now was utter nonsense. Genius programmer? Heh. He could just wait to be the laughingstock at Monday’s staff meeting! 2. Three days later, the boss, hearing that Vincent Vance had finished the code, beamed like a flower. He eagerly praised him in front of us new employees: “Look at him! Truly a genius programmer! No wonder our company paid so much to get him; he’s just that good!” “And then look at you lot! Just eating away all day!” On the surface, I listened to the boss’s lecture, but inwardly, I thought viciously: *Go ahead and praise him. The harder you praise, the harder he’ll fall!* At the staff meeting, Vincent Vance arrived half an hour late. The boss, usually hot-tempered with us, showed no irritation, instead bowing slightly. Vincent Vance, in slippers, casually opened his computer, sneering, “What’s wrong with you new employees? Such simple code, and not one of you could write it. I had to step in!” He slowly clicked on a file. After seeing the content of the file, my expectant mood for the show instantly plummeted. How was this possible?! His file wasn’t the one Lily had stolen. Instead, it was exactly the same as the file I had modified at the internet cafe! In that instant, I felt dizzy. I was certain that no one had seen me when I modified the code at the internet cafe. But now, the identical code proved that he had indeed stolen my code. After Vincent Vance ran the code, a chorus of praise erupted: “Truly a master! He’s incredible!” “Oh my god, he can even do it this way! The master’s mind is just too brilliant!” The honor that should have been mine now belonged to someone else. Everyone was genuinely amazed, but my heart was dead. Vincent Vance pointed at me, his face filled with a winner’s smugness: “This young colleague, I heard you also wrote this code? Why don’t you show it to everyone for their appreciation!” I gritted my teeth. It was the same in my previous life; I presented my code and confronted him. But on one side was a genius who had written countless divine codes, and on the other, an unknown junior programmer. Who would you believe? Naturally, public opinion overwhelmingly sided with him, accusing me of plagiarism. Heaven had given me another chance; I couldn’t risk it. Everyone’s eyes were on me, whispering: “Him? How could a new employee be that good?!” “Tsk, just bragging, I guess. Didn’t expect Mr. Vance to call him out. If I were him, I’d want to crawl into a hole!” “He has nothing. Let’s see how he handles this!” The pain was like a thousand knives cutting through my heart. I forced a faint smile. “No, you’re impressive.” Hearing my words, those around me showed undisguised disdain. “Wimp!” 3. When I got home, I was seething. Lily eagerly met me at the door, her tone unusually gentle: “Honey~ How was it? I heard your company’s Vincent Vance successfully ran that incredibly difficult code!” Her face was full of pride. I sneered: “What, does whether he ran it or not have anything to do with you?!” Without waiting for her reaction, I snorted and went back to my room. Although Lily and I lived together, we always slept in separate rooms. She always said she was a traditional girl, and couldn’t be intimate before marriage. I believed her. Heh, she was certainly vocal when she was with Vincent Vance. Back in my room, I thoroughly checked my computer and USB drive. Making sure they were free of viruses. I checked the room, the computer, my clothes, even the furniture and lightbulbs. There were no hidden recording devices or cameras. I clutched my head, trying to figure out where things went wrong. Or was all of this truly just a coincidence? Impossible! Even if the code content was a coincidence, how could the comments be identical, word for word?! It had to be Lily and Vincent Vance playing tricks! Outside, Lily was banging on the door. “Adrian Miller, what do you mean?! You dare to talk to me like that?!” “Get out here and make dinner for me!” I rolled my eyes. She acted so gentle and sweet in front of Vincent Vance. With me, she couldn’t pretend at all. I opened the door, ignored her shouting, and went to an internet cafe again. But the surveillance footage showed no anomalies. I was a bit confused. I called my mentor—the industry’s most renowned senior programmer, Mr. Sterling. “Teacher, do you remember the code I asked you for help with a few days ago?” In other words, the final code, my mentor and I each had a copy. My mentor chuckled heartily when he heard about the code. “Of course I remember! You, you nearly surpassed your old teacher, how could I forget!” I tentatively said, “Teacher, at the team meeting today, someone in the company presented this code before me, and it was exactly the same as the code you and I made. His name is Vincent Vance. Do you recognize him?” If the surveillance and everything else was clear, then the only explanation was that my mentor gave this code to an acquaintance, and it eventually found its way to Vincent Vance. Otherwise, there was no other possibility. But Mr. Sterling only hesitated slightly before firmly denying it. “Impossible! You are my most gifted student; I would never casually give such code to anyone else.” The confusion in my eyes deepened. All possible paths were blocked. 4. Soon, before I could figure out what was going on, the company’s annual evaluation was approaching. The company conducted an annual evaluation, linked to the year-end bonus. If scores were too low, termination from the company was a possibility. A few years prior, an employee scored zero on the evaluation and was now flipping pancakes across the street. And Vincent Vance was always first place every year. Because of the previous incident, everyone in the company now said I was a boastful good-for-nothing. I narrowed my eyes, determined to clear my name. The questions were difficult. My brain worked rapidly, and I only finished and submitted just as the timer ran out. Although I was slow, I was certain that my answers were 100% correct. After all, by a strange twist of fate, I had recognized the esteemed Mr. Sterling as my mentor. I had studied with him for four years. He was truly a top figure in our industry, leagues ahead of Vincent Vance. Colleagues passing by were discussing: “Oh my god, these questions were too hard!” “I only managed to do one question.” “Me too, me too!” A group of people looked distressed until they saw me. They puffed up again: “Oh, Adrian, how much did you do? Don’t tell me you didn’t even manage one question!” “Hilarious, he was just bragging in front of Mr. Vance. Now he’s publicly humiliated, huh?” “Don’t you dare get a zero. Oh no, I hope I’ll still see you around the company later!” I couldn’t be bothered to respond to them, turning to walk back to my workstation. They found it boring and happened to run into Vincent Vance. “Mr. Vance, Mr. Vance, how were the questions?” Vincent Vance lowered his voice, pondering for a moment. “They were alright, not too difficult.” He glanced at me again. “Of course, for some good-for-nothing idiots who don’t know anything, it might still have been a bit challenging!” From the moment I joined the company, I felt Vincent Vance’s subtle hostility towards me. At first, he treated all new employees to bubble tea, but not me. I thought he had simply forgotten and went to get mine, but he cursed at me in front of the entire company: “Are you out of your damn mind with poverty? If you want bubble tea, buy it yourself!” Later, he always deliberately assigned me various odd jobs, which had almost nothing to do with my profession. This made everyone believe that I was a professionally unqualified waste. This evaluation, I would definitely prove myself! I looked at him coldly. “Who’s the good-for-nothing? That’s still up in the air!” 5. But when the evaluation results came out, I was completely dumbfounded. Not because my score was low. It was because Vincent Vance’s and my submitted answers were exactly the same! My breathing hitched. How could this be?! If the previous code issue was Lily’s doing, this was the company! Lily’s reach couldn’t extend here! If Vincent Vance had accessed the system after I submitted, but… he submitted his paper three minutes before I did! How was this possible?! Vincent Vance looked at me, sighing with disappointment. “Oh, you… I didn’t blame you for bragging before, but now you’re plagiarizing too!” “Are you really mentally deficient? Copying it verbatim!” “Tsk, I really don’t know how people like you get hired by this company!” The colleagues around me began to loudly mock me: “Oh, oh, oh, talking big one moment, getting slapped in the face the next!” “If I were you, I’d want to crawl into a hole!” The loud commotion quickly drew the attention of the boss. “What’s all this shouting about?!” One of the colleagues pointed at me and cursed, “Boss! He copied Mr. Vance’s answers, and didn’t change a single word!” The boss, his eyes wide and round, glared at me, his mustache bristling. “What’s wrong with you?! Have you no shame?! You even dare to plagiarize! You, pack your things and get out! Our company doesn’t need a black sheep like you!” I clenched my fists, my mind a blank mess. I couldn’t even utter a single word of defense. I hadn’t even reacted, but Vincent Vance was already anxious, blurting out without thinking: “Don’t fire him!” Noticing everyone’s reactions, Vincent Vance rubbed his nose, putting on a benevolent act. “I mean, it’s not easy for anyone. This young fellow just made a mistake in the heat of the moment. We should give him a chance!” I sneered inwardly. He’s afraid that if I leave, he’ll have no one to copy from! Since Vincent Vance had spoken, the boss reluctantly rolled his eyes at me. “Still not apologizing to Mr. Vance? He’s so magnanimous!” “Always stooping low, like a rat in a sewer!” I stared fixedly at Vincent Vance. “Who says I copied?! I clearly wrote my date of birth in the comments. Or are you saying, Mr. Vance, that you copied even that?” I emphasized “Mr. Vance,” filling it with sarcasm. Vincent Vance was astonished, clearly not expecting this move from me. And he himself had already copied everything, word for word. 6. Afraid they wouldn’t believe me, I pointed at the computer screen and said to them: “For this question about calculating birth years, I intentionally wrote my own birth year in the comments, just for fun. Or, is Mr. Vance going to claim even that from me?” The reason, of course, wasn’t just for fun. After the last incident, I was always afraid Vincent Vance would plagiarize. So I deliberately added a unique identifier in the code. But no one believed me; instead, they laughed even louder: “Hilarious! That’s just a string of ordinary numbers; you’re really using that as evidence?!” “Mr. Vance probably just typed it absentmindedly when he wrote it. Who would’ve thought he’d face such undeserved trouble!” “Damn it, can’t this arrogant guy just die off? He plagiarizes, then accuses the original author of plagiarism. You can’t even make up rumors like that!” Vincent Vance’s brief panic, hearing everyone’s words, turned into calm again. He squinted at me, full of triumph. I gritted my teeth hard, until my gums bled. I had thought they might hesitate and then choose to believe me. I had also thought they might hesitate and then choose not to believe me. But I never imagined they wouldn’t even hesitate. Each of them, as if bewitched, believed Vincent Vance. Just because he was a renowned genius programmer, did that mean we little programmers had no recourse when wronged?! The boss’s face grew even darker. He grabbed my collar and pulled me in front of Vincent Vance. “Have you made enough of a scene?! Apologize to Mr. Vance now!” “No!” I stiffened my neck, looking up at him. The head that had bowed before would not bow again! A true man, for justice, could not call a deer a horse. The boss’s face became even blacker. “If you don’t apologize, then pack your things and get out! Our company doesn’t need scum like you!” I gritted my teeth, scoffing. “Fine, I’ll leave. This lousy company isn’t good enough for me anyway!” I was telling the truth. When I was looking for a job, many big companies, believing in my talent, offered me positions. But Lily insisted this company was good, having seen it online, and forced me to come here. I wasted over half a year here, with low pay and too many trivial tasks. I had wanted to leave for a long time! 7. When I returned home, Lily was eating strawberries amidst a pile of trash. Seeing me back, she seemed quite surprised. “Why are you back?” “I quit.” Lily panicked, jumping up from the sofa. “What? How can you quit? If you quit, what about Vincent Vance?!” I narrowed my eyes, walking towards her step by step. “My quitting, what does that have to do with Vincent Vance? Or rather, what’s your relationship with Vincent Vance?!” Lily, frightened, collapsed onto the floor, her eyes darting around. “I… I mean…” Realizing I was actually interrogating her, Lily got angry. She stood up, hands on her hips. “Adrian Miller! Are you suspecting me now? Who gave you the guts?!” She thought I would pacify her as before. But from the moment she conspired with an outsider to scheme against me, I had completely given up on her. Without any love left, seeing her snorting and huffing like a pig, I felt utterly disgusted. I pointed at her, completely devoid of my former meekness. “You, leave my house now!” She froze, as if in disbelief. “You’re telling me to leave? Do you know what you’re saying?” I looked at her, speaking each word distinctly. “We’re over! You, get out now!” She glared at me for a long time, then suddenly stood up to gather her things. I followed behind her; anything she shouldn’t take, she wouldn’t. She could only take a pitifully small pile of clothes, threatening me, “Adrian Miller! Remember what you said today! Even if you beg me in the future, I won’t come back!”
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