Astonishing victory

"Not this competition, you idiot. She is participating in the 99-software open competition. I am sure you must have heard of it." he said.

Now it was Mo Kio's jaws that dropped to the floor. "What! No way. She isn't. I mean, really?"

Si Xia nodded and turned to look at Yu Chen. She had completed checking Mo Kio's program and was stretching herself. Then she came and showed the paper to Mo Kio, "17" she said.

"WHAT!?!?! I DON'T BELIEVE IT." Mo Kio shouted.

Yu Chen: "Stop being dramatic. They were just common errors and I have corrected them."

Xi Hua: "17, hmm. That means..." she turned to Huo Zenghai and they both shouted in unison, "Chen won. Chen won. Yayyyyy."

Mo Kio had also admitted defeat, "I must say. You really are one in a million genius. I have lost."

Yu Chen smiled, and the words that came out of her mouth surprised everyone, "Well yeah. School computers are so slow. I had to slow myself down to make sure that the keyboard did not get damaged."

Mo Kio: "...."

Xi Hua: "...."

Huo Zenghai: "...."

Si Xia: "I know you are the best. Don't hold yourself back anymore. Okay?" he said with such a warm smile that Yu Chen blushed and had to hide her face behind the sheet which she was holding.

Mo Kio broke the tension and saved Chen. "So, about that treat. Does 6:30 sound good to everyone?"

Xi Hua and Huo Zenghai nodded. Mo Kio continued, "It's settled then. I will send my car to pick all of you up. Stay ready by 6:30"

One by one they all left. Yu Chen also gave the sheet to Mo Kio and said, "Make sure to go over each of them and don't make such mistakes again." As she began leaving, Mo Kio looked at the paper in his hand and called after her, "Hey Chen?"

She turned around with an enquiring gaze, "Hmm?" "Could you- could you walk .e through some of them. I'm not sure I understand all these." Yu Chen thought for some time and then said, "Sure." and she began walking to a computer. Bu Mo Kio stopped her, "No no no. Umm, if you don't mind, umm can we, umm?"

"Oh just spit it out." Yu Chen scolded seeing him stuttering so much.

"Could you come to my house. My computer there is the best there is for programming, and also..." he trailed off.

"Also....??" Yu Chen asked. He looked at her and uttered very fast, "My father would love to meet you."

Yu Chen was taken aback by his words. "Your-your father? Why would he want to meet me?"

Mo Kio understood that his words had conveyed the wrong impression so he quickly explained, "My father, you see, is a software engineer, that's where I get my talent from. And seeing that you wrote such a perfect code, he will definitely love to meet you." "Ohhh...." Yu Chen thought about it and then agreed. "Sure. It will also be a great learning experience to meet a successful engineer. Also, I will get to see all your cool stuff."

Mo Kio looked really happy as he jumped up and down. "Let's go." he said.