Chapter 26 Breakthrough "I'm a little curious."

“Teacher Jiang, just to be on the safe side, you should go first,” Shen Yuheng suggested.

“It’s alright, you can go ahead,” Jiang Xinglan pressed the service bell. “Perfect timing, I need to get a serving of almond tofu for my friend.”

"Should I pay before I leave?"

“No need,” Jiang Xinglan stopped Shen Yuheng. “It’s for my friend, I’ll pay for it.”

"Alright then." Shen Yuheng dawdled, as if his feet were rooted to the spot, and only reluctantly left after the waiter came to take his order.

Jiang Xinglan was carrying the packaged almond tofu when she was stopped by a waiter a few steps away from the elevator.

"This is your packed almond tofu, you forgot about it."

Jiang Xinglan picked up the bag in her hand, "But I already have one."

"Ah... I must have made a mistake," the waiter said, somewhat flustered, and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

But less than two minutes later, the waiter came back with the restaurant manager.

“Customer,” the manager said with a smile, “we just checked, the dish you have was ordered by the customer who was with you, saying that you should take it home to eat.”

The manager took another serving from the waiter and handed it to him, saying, "This is the one you ordered later."

"Oh, I see." Jiang Xinglan accepted it and said politely, "Thank you for your help."

"Of course, thank you for your trust. We welcome you to visit us again."

After the two left, Jiang Xinglan looked at the two servings of almond tofu in her hands and smiled helplessly.

No wonder he reacted strangely and hesitated when I said I wanted to order almond tofu.

Jiang Xinglan shook her head, picked up her things, walked towards the elevator, and pressed the down button.

The elevator opened with a "ding".

Jiang Xinglan looked over, but no one came out for a long time.

She took two steps forward in confusion, only to see Zhou Cuo come out from inside.

Jiang Xinglan had no idea she would run into Zhou Cuo here. After a moment of surprise, she quickly composed herself and greeted him.

"Brother Zhou Cuo," he added, seeing Song Huai behind him, "Brother Song Huai."

Song Huai was still wondering why this person stopped walking after a while, but he understood when he saw Jiang Xinglan.

He nudged Zhou Cuo beside him with his elbow, but Zhou Cuo was lost in his own thoughts and did not respond.

Song Huai had no choice but to speak up himself, "Xinglan, what a coincidence, you're here to eat too?"

"Well, a friend told me the food here is pretty good, so I came to try it out today," Jiang Xinglan explained.

"Really? You also like trying new restaurants?" Song Huai's eyes lit up. It was like finding a needle in a haystack!

"If I find a new restaurant in the future, will you come with me?"

But his grand plan soon fell through.

"I just happened to have some free time today, so I came." Knowing Song Huai, Jiang Xinglan declined.

"Alright, alright," Song Huai's tone shifted from cheerful to resentful. He glanced at Jiang Xinglan, then at Zhou Cuo, "You two are always the busiest, using this excuse to brush me off every day."

Jiang Xinglan gave a half-smile and said, "Then I'll be going now," lifting the almond tofu in her hand. "Su Wan is still waiting."

"Almond tofu?" Zhou Cuo, who hadn't spoken for a while, seemed to have found a reason to speak.

"Mm." Jiang Xinglan nodded.

"Su Wan seems to like eating this, I remember—"

"Shall I take you back?" Song Huai interrupted Zhou Cuo directly.

Song Huai was unaware of this because of his sudden outburst.

Zhou Cuo swallowed back the words "You like it too" that he hadn't yet uttered.

"No need, I drove here myself," Jiang Xinglan declined again.

The elevator doors opened again soon, and as Jiang Xinglan stepped into the elevator, Song Huai instructed her, "Drive carefully on the way."

“Okay,” Jiang Xinglan suddenly remembered something, “By the way, the head chef of this restaurant is on leave today, so it’s best to order the non-chef’s dishes when you order.”

"Okay, I understand." Song Huai nodded with a smile.

The elevator doors slowly closed, and Jiang Xinglan gradually disappeared from their sight.

The two found a seat and sat down.

"Hey bro, what's wrong with you? You didn't even say hello to Xinglan when you saw her," Song Huai said bluntly.

"I'm thinking about something," Zhou Cuo said expressionlessly, not wanting to talk to Song Huai.

"What are you thinking about now that's not the time for you to be thinking about anything?" Song Huai was completely baffled.

What are you thinking?

Of course, I was thinking about what she looked like when I first met her.

His brows and eyes relaxed, and his smile was gentle—a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.

He even wondered how he and she had suddenly become strangers.

"It's about the company." Zhou Cuo chose to keep it from Song Huai, otherwise he would have kept nagging on and on.

Zhou Cuo rubbed his temples. He didn't know if others could stand it, but he certainly couldn't.

"And then what happened? Xinglan mentioned Su Wan because she's a colleague, so why did you suddenly bring her up?" Song Huai leaned forward. "It can't be because she's your ex-girlfriend, can it?"

Zhou Cuo had a "What else can I do?" look on his face; this was the only topic they could talk about now.

Song Huai rolled his eyes at him. "You're hopeless, really."

---

After getting into the car in the parking lot, Jiang Xinglan took a picture of the two servings of almond tofu in her hand and sent it to Shen Yuheng.

Shen Yuheng seemed to have been waiting for her message and immediately replied.

"I thought Teacher Jiang would like this dessert, so when we paid the bill, I ordered one for you to try."

Thanks.

"Your intuition is quite accurate; I really like it."

After replying, Jiang Xinglan placed her phone in the center console, glanced at the two servings of almond tofu on the passenger seat, and drove away with a sense of pleasure she hadn't realized she was experiencing.

July's heat is intense, August's heat is scorching.

Two months is enough time for the noisy cicada chirping in Beijing to gradually subside.

This was enough for Shen Yuheng to quietly occupy Jiang Xinglan's free time.

It started with sharing various photographs that seemed to come by chance, then moved on to sharing literary works, movies, and music based on personal preferences, and eventually even incorporated everyday items like restaurants, snacks, and trinkets.

As a result, the number of items in Jiang Xinglan's favorites list increased dramatically, and the variety of content also became more diverse.

As Jiang Xinglan gradually got used to Shen Yuheng's occasional sharing, her experiment also made significant progress.

In the laboratory, all the lab members were intently watching the data graphs on the computer screen—the real-time concentrations of three proteins in the brain: SER3-A, Aβ, and Tau.

They designed a fluorescent label that disappears once Aβ binds to Tau, thus identifying which of the many products expressed by SER3 is responsible for the effect.

After more than two months of experiments, they turned their attention to the SER3-A protein.

Normally, when protein A is not delivered to the brain, the levels of fluorescently labeled Aβ and Tau proteins in the brain are decreasing.

However, once protein A crosses the blood-brain barrier and reaches the designated area, the binding rate between the two proteins decreases.

As the concentration of protein A increases, the binding of the two proteins almost stops.

Now they want to verify again whether the experimental results are accurate.

When the concentrations of Tau and Aβ proteins on the screen remained stable, just like in previous experiments, a cheer erupted in the lab!

"It's a success!!"

"It really worked!!"

"Does this mean that Alzheimer's can not only be diagnosed at an early stage, but there are even ways to intervene?" someone said excitedly.

"That depends on the drug research and development center, but fortunately, we already have a direction, and I believe that day won't be too far away." Jiang Xinglan was still able to maintain her composure, but her tone still revealed her inner excitement.

"Junior Sister Jiang, Junior Sister Su, no..."

"I was so excited when I thought I'd actually succeeded." Zhou Linfeng's voice was filled with excitement.

"I still have to thank Senior Brother Zhou for his design of the carrier; it really played a very important role," Jiang Xinglan said. "Otherwise, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly."

"Should we consider celebrating our victory now?" Su Wan suggested from the side.

“I think it’s fine!” Zhou Linfeng was the first to agree.

Jiang Xinglan hesitated for a moment. According to her usual habit, it would be better to finish writing the thesis first.

Based on her years of working together and understanding of Jiang Xinglan, Su Wan immediately knew what she was thinking.

“I’ve already asked Senior Brother Zhou about the thesis, and he’s almost finished preparing it.” As she spoke, Su Wan glanced at Zhou Linfeng and gave him a meaningful look.

Zhou Linfeng immediately replied, "Yes, I just need to add today's repeated experiment results, but will these results be exported tomorrow?"

“So, why don’t we relax for a bit today?” Su Wan came over and took Jiang Xinglan’s arm. “Tomorrow, after the results come out, we can have a meeting together to refine it. What do you think?”

Jiang Xinglan agreed to Su Wan's suggestion without much consideration.

The lab erupted in cheers again, and then they began to clean up.

"I think you've really changed a lot lately," Su Wan said, looking at Jiang Xinglan who was washing her hands after changing her clothes.

"Hmm?" Jiang Xinglan lowered her head and washed her hands carefully. "Which aspect?"

"How should I put it?" Su Wan walked over. "I think you're a bit softer and more relaxed than before. Although you've always been like this, there's still a slight change."

Jiang Xinglan paused in wiping her hands, then threw the paper into the trash can beside her. "Really? I didn't even notice."

“Of course, it’s hard to notice such a change on your own,” Su Wan said, pulling Jiang Xinglan out of the room. “Haven’t you noticed that the atmosphere in the lab has improved recently?”

"If it doesn't affect the experiment, I approve of this experimental atmosphere," Jiang Xinglan said.

"Don't worry, it won't happen," Su Wan assured her.

When they went out, Zhou Linfeng, Song Yu, and the others were already waiting at the door. Song Yu said, "Senior sister, I've sent you the address."

Jiang Xinglan nodded. "I'll go back and get my bag. You guys go down first. If you find an empty taxi, go ahead. I'll reimburse you later."

"Yay! Long live Senior Sister!" Song Yu cheered, and everyone echoed her. Then they took the elevator downstairs first.

Zhou Linfeng stood there with his two team members. He glanced at Jiang Xinglan and Su Wan and said, "I'll go back to the lab first, and then I'll go over."

Jiang Xinglan wisely kept silent and looked at Su Wan.

"Okay, be careful on the road."

After saying that, Su Wan pulled Jiang Xinglan back to the laboratory quickly.

---

After dinner, Song Yu suggested going to karaoke, and Jiang Xinglan agreed, not wanting to spoil the fun.

However, this time they weren't allowed to choose the location themselves. Jiang Xinglan called her brother and asked him to help arrange a nicer place.

Jiang Yunye quickly sent over the address—Huaisheng's No. 3 private room.

Jiang Yunye had Chen Rui book the private room under the name of Xingye Entertainment, so Jiang Xinglan did not encounter Song Huai when she arrived.

Song Yu and the others were initially surprised by the level of luxury in the private room, but they quickly put it out of their minds and revealed their true colors again, starting to wail and howl.

Jiang Xinglan sat to the side with a glass of juice, watching them play cards and sing.

Just then, music familiar to Jiang Xinglan began to play in the private room.

She looked over and saw that the song on the screen was the one Shen Yuheng had recommended before.

Jiang Xinglan took out her phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Shen Yuheng: "I just happened to come across a song recommended by Teacher Shen."

Shen Yuheng quickly replied, "Teacher Jiang, are you at a karaoke bar?"

"Yes, after the dinner, my colleagues said they wanted to go sing karaoke."

"I'm a little curious about Teacher Jiang's singing."

Stop being curious, I don't sing.

"Doesn't Teacher Jiang know that saying this will only make people more curious?"

"Then your curiosity may be disappointed."

"Who are you chatting with? You seem so happy." Su Wan sat down after finishing a song.

"Nothing much, I just saw something interesting." Jiang Xinglan turned off her phone screen. "Having fun?"

"It's alright," Su Wan said, taking a sip of juice without asking any further questions.

She glanced at the time and whispered in Jiang Xinglan's ear, "It's almost time to go back."

“The car I contacted hasn’t arrived yet,” Jiang Xinglan glanced at her phone. “Then I’ll go out and pay the bill first.”

Su Wan nodded. "I'll go with you?"

Jiang Xinglan shook her head. "It's okay, I can manage on my own. I just wanted to get some fresh air."

After paying the bill, Jiang Xinglan simply walked to the window, opened it a crack, and stood there quietly, watching the endless stream of vehicles outside.

Although every private room was noisy and bustling, in the corridor, apart from the sounds coming from outside the windows, there was not a single sound of music.

"I'll find some time to ask Brother Song Huai which company makes this soundproofing material, and see if it can be used in the lab," Jiang Xinglan muttered to herself.

"It's better to ask me than Song Huai."

Jiang Xinglan was startled by the sudden sound coming from behind her.

She turned around immediately, and before she knew it, Zhou Cuo was already standing behind her.

The light in the corridor dimmed, and his face held an emotion that Jiang Xinglan couldn't decipher.

In the quiet atmosphere, Jiang Xinglan's phone rang.