Mark rubbed his eyes and stumbled towards the breakroom. Passing Wang Qiqi's office, he noticed the light was still on, which struck him as odd. He hadn't heard of any issues with Angel’s assigned work; what was she doing up at this hour?

Mark hadn't intended to bother Angel, but then he remembered he had wrongly accused her before. Besides, they had a new assignment starting tomorrow; if she wasn't sleeping tonight, how would she manage then?

Mark knocked lightly. Wang Qiqi was hunched on the floor, rapidly typing on her laptop. The knock made her first thought be that some urgent matter had cropped up. She desperately wanted to shout, "Who is it?" Although Wang Qiqi tried hard to suppress the thought, a touch of irritation still laced her voice.

"Mark." Hearing that tone, Mark immediately suspected she was in trouble.

Oh, it was Mark. "Come in." It was past midnight, and Wang Qiqi couldn't help but admire these people who could function perfectly well on three or four hours of sleep a night. If it weren't for the heavy dark circles under their eyes, she would be consumed with envy.

As soon as Mark heard the permission, he opened the door and was stunned by the scene before him. "Ah, why are you flipping through all these books now?" A pile of books was stacked high on the floor, startling Mark quite a bit.

"Working on my thesis," Wang Qiqi replied curtly. "Did something happen again?" This line of work was problematic because unexpected things often arose. She hoped nothing urgent had happened today, or she would be driven mad with anxiety.

Working on the thesis? "Didn't you already submit it?" Mark was confused. Angel had specifically mentioned rushing to finish the thesis when she arrived. Surely, her submission hadn't been rejected? Mark instantly felt like he shouldn't have come in.

"The boss said the thesis wasn't good enough, so I decided to redo it. I absolutely must produce a better one." Wang Qiqi didn't regret it entirely, but it was just too exhausting. She had already been cutting back significantly on sleep. She regretted letting a minor achievement cloud her judgment enough to agree to redo the entire paper. She felt, yet again, that her brain must not have been working properly that day; otherwise, why would she have agreed to start over? But how could she tell Manman or the others? It was even more impossible to tell the boss's favorite, Mark; that would truly be asking for trouble.

So, the thesis had been sent back. But judging by the situation, the previous draft must have been decent; otherwise, the boss would have simply declared it unacceptable instead of giving her the option to revise. "Well, do your best, but don't pull too many all-nighters. Get some sleep soon."

"Do you want me to pour you a coffee?" Now that he understood why Wang Qiqi was up so late, Mark didn't want to waste any more of her time.

"No, thank you." Wang Qiqi lowered her head and returned to her thesis. Of course, she knew staying up late wasn't ideal, especially with new tasks awaiting her during the day, but the thesis had to be done.

After pouring his own coffee, Mark was about to head upstairs when he noticed Wang Qiqi hadn't closed her office door. Knowing she was still plugging away at her work and that any further persuasion would be useless, he spoke up, "Did you know John is back?" Having already come downstairs, Mark planned to get some proper rest; otherwise, his head would keep pounding from staring at the screen. It was a good chance to ask her a few things, as asking certain questions amidst the busy crowd during the day was awkward, whereas late at night, fewer people were coming down for coffee. He stood by the doorway again; even if someone saw him, they wouldn't think much of it.

Wang Qiqi hadn't expected Mark to return, much less to bring up John. She felt quite helpless. She wasn't Zhang Yan; she didn't need to keep tabs on his movements. If this was about the investment, hadn't they said they didn't need the funds for now? Wasn't Mark supposed to be happy that John hadn't been scammed?

"John told me that even though they haven't accepted his investment yet, he's willing to wait. He even told me I'd regret it if I didn't invest." When John returned, Mark had been busy at the studio, but John had contacted him afterwards. On the phone, John sounded resolute about buying shares in that internet company, which made Mark pay closer attention. John had invested in numerous internet companies; if one rejected him, while he might be displeased, he usually wouldn't insist. This time, however, John was adamant about investing. Mark understood this wasn't just because Angel had hyped it up; the company must genuinely be doing well. Knowing John as long as he had, when John insisted on something, it usually resulted in a massive payoff. Mark realized he might have been a bit prejudiced before. He wanted to discuss it further with Angel. Honestly, he was quite curious why she would invest. He didn't believe it was solely because her boyfriend was starting a business; those studying economics always prioritized profit.

Wang Qiqi was a bit confused by Mark's statement, but his expression didn't seem angry. "I think it's great. Of course, everyone has different opinions. I’m happy John feels that way."

"Yeah. I initially thought you might have been exaggerating. Though John didn't secure the investment this time, the fact that he's willing to wait... If it’s convenient during the summer break, could I go take a look?" Mark felt that even though John had visited the site in person, he still needed to see it himself. He wouldn't be reassured about certain matters unless he witnessed them firsthand.

Mark's words gave Wang Qiqi the impression that he too was considering investing. "You want to invest?" Impossible. Wang Qiqi knew Mark’s capital wasn't vast; he was the type who preferred steady, reliable growth. Investing in the stock market wouldn't yield the high returns of investing in pre-IPO shares of an internet company, but the risk was significantly lower. For such a person, knowing John was willing to wait for the investment opportunity to suddenly make him want to invest—the shift in attitude was too drastic. Wang Qiqi found it hard to process.

Mark looked at Angel, feeling a bit awkward. His attitude before had been problematic; it was no wonder Qiqi would think that. "I do want to invest, but not a huge amount, so I need to conduct a very serious and detailed inspection." John had already gathered most of the information; Mark just needed to do some on-site verification.

So, he really was going to invest. Wang Qiqi was welcoming of Mark’s interest, as his acumen in the financial market surpassed Old Feng’s. Befriending someone like him couldn't be a bad thing. "I'll ask them when the time comes, but right now, our capital is quite sufficient, so we probably don't need to bring in new investors." Everyone was straining to achieve some tangible results and wouldn't be eager to sell off the fruits of victory cheaply.

"I understand, I understand." Mark certainly agreed that investing after some results were visible would be better. Even if the cost was higher, having a project underway with proven results significantly increased the probability of a successful investment. "If this really takes off, we’ve struck gold. By the way, if you run into any issues with your thesis, feel free to ask me anytime; we can discuss it together." Although he was only an undergraduate, his experience in the financial markets was greater than Wang Qiqi’s. The issue Qiqi was facing was that her theory was sound, but she struggled to integrate theory with practice.

Wang Qiqi murmured an acknowledgement. Given how busy Mark was and how pressed for time she was with her thesis, she doubted he could offer much real help; it was probably just a polite gesture. "Okay, I won't stand on ceremony."

Judging by Wang Qiqi's perfunctory reply, Mark knew she hadn't taken his offer seriously. He raised an eyebrow. Since Angel felt too awkward to ask him directly, he could approach her himself about any problems she might be encountering. "I'm heading up now. I can wrap things up and get some rest soon. You should get to sleep early too."

Once Mark stopped leaning against the door, Wang Qiqi quickly shut it, preparing for bed. To be honest, she had been fighting sleep the whole time; otherwise, her eyelids would have already dropped.

Wang Qiqi initially thought Mark’s offer was just politeness. However, in the following few nights, Mark would ask her about any issues she was facing when he went down to fetch coffee. At first, Wang Qiqi felt bad delaying his rest, but as she asked more often, and since her thesis progress wasn't smooth, she stopped worrying about imposing. One sat on the floor in her room, the other leaned against the doorframe, and they would discuss matters. More often than not, Wang Qiqi listened as Mark talked about the problems he encountered in actual operations and shared some of his perspectives. While these discussions didn't directly align with the theory of her thesis, they greatly broadened Wang Qiqi's thinking. Previously unclear points slowly became clearer. As a result, even though she had to redo the thesis on a tight schedule, she managed to submit it within the deadline.

"Thank you." Upon submitting the thesis, Wang Qiqi immediately conveyed her gratitude to Mark. Simultaneously, she received news from Shi Man that John had almost completely sold off the stocks he had previously bought, netting a tidy profit. This made Wang Qiqi very happy. The better John managed his portfolio, the more Apple shares she could acquire.

"Remember to treat me to a meal," Mark said, looking at the person who was repeatedly apologizing while clearly having her mind elsewhere. This actually annoyed him a little. Even though Angel had a girlfriend, she wasn't Mark's type, but he was, after all, quite handsome. How could such a handsome and promising man standing right in front of her be so thoroughly ignored? If he didn't constantly receive ambiguous texts or emails, he might truly believe he had zero charisma.

Wang Qiqi finally snapped out of her Apple stock reverie when she heard Mark demanding a dinner invitation. This request seemed reasonable to Wang Qiqi, and she was just about to agree readily when Mark added, "Your cooking skills are good; I tasted Ella’s the other time. How about you cook this time?" John had mentioned previously that Angel cooked well, but Mark had never tried her food and didn't have the standing to ask her to cook. Now that he had such a perfect opportunity, it would be a shame not to seize it. "It's cheaper to eat at home anyway."

What? Cook? Wang Qiqi truly felt like losing her temper, but she managed to restrain herself in the end. His intention was good, after all; going out to eat would cost a considerable amount of money. "Fine," the helpless Wang Qiqi could only agree.