Tian Hongtao was the quickest. As soon as he entered the computer room, he took a few brisk steps to reach Zhang Zhipeng's side.
"Dr. Tian?"
Zhang Zhipeng looked at Tian Hongtao with a face full of surprise, not understanding what the latter was up to.
Zhang Zhiling, on the other hand, was a bit nervous. "Comrade, is there anything wrong?"
She didn't know the identity of these people, nor did she understand their intentions. She was a bit worried that her brother might have done something wrong.
Fang Qingping smiled and explained to Zhang Zhiling, "Ms. Zhang, don't worry. We're here today to find a mysterious programming expert."
Tian Hongtao's gaze had already shifted to the computer screen.
Although he understood programming, looking at the screen full of code, he had no idea what Zhang Zhipeng was doing.
"Mr. Zhipeng, what are you working on here?"
Zhang Zhipeng smiled.
Finally caught, huh?
Now that they had caught him, there was no need for him to explain further.
Zhang Zhipeng said, "I felt that Kingsoft Docs wasn't very user-friendly, so I made some improvements."
Tian Hongtao was astonished. "You can modify such a complex software like Kingsoft Docs?"
Zhang Zhipeng said, "Just giving it a try!"
"It doesn't have a spreadsheet function yet, so I'm adding that. Also, its current formatting isn't very polished, so I'm working on enhancing that as well."
Fang Qingping exclaimed, "So, you are the mysterious programming expert?!"
Zhang Zhipeng waved his hand and smiled, "I wouldn't call myself an expert. I'm just a beginner, learning as I go."
Tian Hongtao asked, "Then, why didn't you admit to being that mysterious person when Mr. Zheng asked you?"
Zhang Zhipeng blinked, "I don't think Director Zheng asked me about that, did he?"
Tian Hongtao thought for a moment and realized that was indeed the case. Zheng Jingzhi had only asked if Zhang Zhipeng had seen any suspicious people.
Zhang Zhiling, standing nearby, was a bit dazed.
Her brother had really become a programming expert? But he had always been a good-for-nothing! His studies were a complete mess—how could he possibly have mastered such advanced programming skills?
Tian Hongtao asked again, "So, how far have you gotten with the modifications to Kingsoft Docs?"
Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, "I've just modified the basic framework. The detailed work isn't done yet."
"If you give me another hour or so, I think I'll be about finished."
Tian Hongtao nodded, "Alright! You go ahead and continue. We'll wait here."
Zhang Zhipeng glanced at his sister again, "Sis, go home and let Mom know I probably won't be back until around 9 PM tonight."
But Zhang Zhiling wasn't willing to leave just yet.
She still couldn't wrap her head around it.
Her good-for-nothing brother had suddenly become someone so impressive?
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
It was too surreal.
"I'll wait a bit longer. I want to see how you modify the program."
Zhang Zhiling said.
Zhang Zhipeng looked at the people standing around him and smiled, "Are you all just going to stand there?"
"Each of you can pick a computer and play some mini-games. The time will pass faster that way."
Fang Qingping asked, "Can we play Super Mario now?"
Zhang Zhipeng nodded and said, "You can play from 6 PM to 8 AM the next day."
As he spoke, his hands didn't stop, his fingers flying over the keyboard, typing out code.
After watching for a while, Tian Hongtao shook his head and said, "Compared to you, I'm just a nobody."
"Carry on with your work. I'll just sit here for a while."
Naturally, Tian Hongtao didn't go play games. He pulled up a chair and sat behind Zhang Zhipeng, watching him work.
Fang Qingping and another student walked over to the side, each taking a computer and trying out the games.
They discovered that they really could play games.
Zhang Zhiling also pulled up a chair and sat on the other side of Zhang Zhipeng.
At first, Zhang Zhipeng felt a bit uneasy. He wasn’t used to being watched while he worked.
However, he quickly became so absorbed in his work that he forgot about it.
Sometimes, he was rapidly typing on the keyboard with both hands; other times, he was swiftly moving the mouse to adjust the position of the code he was modifying.
Tian Hongtao, who was sitting beside him, had no idea what Zhang Zhipeng was trying to achieve.
Zhang Zhiling understood even less.
But even though she didn’t understand what he was doing, she still felt that her brother was truly impressive.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, an hour and forty minutes had passed.
Zhang Zhipeng had finally completed all the modifications he had planned.
“Alright, I’m done. I just don’t know how effective it will be.”
As he spoke, he rebooted the computer to apply his changes.
Tian Hongtao perked up. “We’ll know once we open WPS Office and take a look.”
The computer restarted.
Zhang Zhipeng entered a command to open WPS Office.
Fang Qingping, who had been playing games nearby, also came over to watch from behind.
Zhang Zhipeng smiled as he demonstrated the features he had modified.
The document editing process was much smoother now, and the spacing and layout of the documents looked more aesthetically pleasing than before.
In addition, the newly added table-drawing function was incredibly useful.
Tian Hongtao was dumbfounded.
“Mr. Zhipeng, when did you start working on these modifications to WPS Office?” he asked.
Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, “I started right after school ended this afternoon, around 6:30.”
Tian Hongtao checked the time—it was now 9:14 PM.
“My goodness! You managed to make such complex program modifications in such a short time?” Fang Qingping exclaimed, eyes wide.
Zhang Zhipeng replied, “It’s mainly because I had already planned it all out in my head beforehand.”
He knew that his programming skills were indeed a bit extraordinary.
Looking out at the pitch-black sky, Tian Hongtao was filled with excitement. “Mr. Zhipeng, I apologize for my earlier disrespect. I’m sorry!”
“I’m going to see if Mr. Zheng is still at school. If I tell him I’ve found a mysterious expert, he’ll be over the moon.”
Zhang Zhiling said, “It’s already past 9 o’clock. He’s probably at home watching the Asian Games opening ceremony by now, right?”
Tian Hongtao replied, “I don’t think so. Mr. Zheng is under a lot of pressure these days. He can’t sleep well because of issues with the avionics system.”
“He’s probably still busy in the lab.”
“Mr. Zhipeng, will you come with me?”
Zhang Zhipeng smiled and said, “Alright, Dr. Tian. Honestly, I’m feeling quite nervous right now.”
“Please don’t think too highly of me. I’m just messing around, really. It’s nothing impressive.”
Tian Hongtao shook his head and said, “After hearing you say that, I feel like I should just go bang my head against a wall.”
“I’ve always thought of myself as quite skilled in computer programming, but compared to you, I see I’m not even close.”
“Even the professors in our school’s computer science department are nowhere near your level!”
With that, Tian Hongtao led Zhang Zhipeng to find Zheng Jingzhi, while Zhang Zhiling went home to see her parents.
Zhang Zhipeng had assumed that on such a special day, Mr. Zheng would surely take a break and go home to watch the Asian Games opening ceremony with his family.
But he was wrong—Zheng Jingzhi was still in the lab.