"Do you know anything about Jingnan? Is there anywhere you'd like to go?" The male voice beside her made Shu Yi turn her head.

Meeting his smiling gaze, Shu Yi shook her head and gave a bitter smile: "Actually, I didn't even know where to go in Jiaxing, let alone now that I'm in Jingnan."

Before Zhang Youye could respond, Shu Yi continued, "I just went back to my room to get my bag and Tingli told me that you work at a research institute and have even done secret research for the country. I didn't realize you were so capable. I've always been curious about your kind of work. Can I visit your research institute?"

He moved his toes to the brake and slowly stopped at the red light. After shifting to a more comfortable position, Zhang Youye casually placed his palms on the steering wheel and turned his head to look at her.

“Okay, Professor Xu should be at the research institute today. He and your grandfather are very close, so I can introduce you to him as well.”

Judging that Professor Xu must be a big shot at the research institute, Shu Yi asked, "Is Professor Xu your mentor?"

A large patch of golden sunlight fell on his blond hair. Zhang Youye shook his head and smiled, the corners of his lips barely curving upwards.

"No, but he was the mentor who led me into this field, since I didn't even finish high school."

"Your Zhang family isn't..."

Hearing her utterly surprised tone, Zhang Youye pursed his lips and interrupted her.

“Our family doesn’t need to study in domestic schools; exam-oriented education is not suitable for us.”

"In my memory, families with a higher level of cultural heritage and a longer-term vision tend to send their children to schools abroad from a young age."

"Those schools don't care about credits or rankings; they only cultivate talent for large families."

"When they return to China after completing their studies, some of them are unwilling to go back, but most of them follow their family's arrangements and either go into business or politics."

“Like your uncle, he went into business, and now he owns most of the Shu family’s businesses. If your father hadn’t run away from home back then, he would probably have entered the government. Your grandfather also has a younger brother in the government, but he’s too busy with official duties to come today.”

"I've heard Grandpa mention this before, but why did you say you didn't finish high school?" Shu Yi pressed.

When the green light came on, Zhang Youye turned the car around after passing the intersection ahead and drove towards the research institute.

Seeing that the person beside him was still listening attentively, he smiled and continued to explain.

“When I was fifteen, my father sent me to my second uncle’s juvenile detention center. I stayed there for many years and met a brother there. This guy was called Lu Kechen. He was very smart, a genius, and also Xu Lao’s favorite student.”

“During that time inside, he wasn’t affected at all and kept working hard. After getting to know him, I was also influenced by him and studied with him day and night, so much so that I didn’t even have time to sleep. After we came out, we were taken to the research institute in Jingnan and have been there ever since.”

Things that happened before I was fifteen.

It seemed he brushed it aside with great nonchalance.

There must be a reason why he wouldn't say. Shu Yi withdrew her gaze from his profile and didn't ask any further questions.

Shifting the topic back to scientific research, she asked in a relaxed tone, "But according to TV tropes, shouldn't you be the one portrayed as a scientific genius?"

Heaven truly rewarded his love at first sight; he really appreciated her sensibility.

With a few light laughs, Zhang Youye said, "I can take on any other persona, but I'll pass on the genius one. I can only take on the role of the clever one at most. If there's a chance in the future, I'll introduce you to this brother of mine. He lives in Jiacheng, just like you."

"Is he also from Jiaxing?" Shu Yi was even more surprised to find a fellow townsman in Jingnan.

Seemingly recalling that this genius's handsomeness was comparable to his own, Zhang Youye glanced at the woman beside him.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, then spoke lazily, his tone carrying a blatant hint of wariness.

"No, his wife is from Jiaxing. He's from Lingqing, but he stayed in Jiaxing for his wife."

Having briefly explained the relationships between the characters, she probably wouldn't be interested in this "fellow villager."

Just as he expected, Shu Yi simply said "oh" softly, and then added, "But it's also impressive that you were able to get into the research institute to do research. No wonder Grandpa both loves and hates you."

“Not just your grandfather, but my father too.”

After speaking with a helpless tone, Zhang Youye glanced at the right-side rearview mirror, turned on his headlights, turned right at the intersection ahead, and drove for another thirty minutes.

Soon, a very modern-style building appeared.

It slowly came into Shu Yi's view.

Living in the Shu family's ancestral home for the past two days, Shu Yi truly felt as if she had traveled back to the last century.

Suddenly seeing a modern, villa-like building, she felt as if she had traveled back from the last century to the present world.

The research institute is actually not far from the old Shu family house, and both are located in quiet, sparsely populated areas.

Grandpa wanted peace and quiet, so this villa-like research institute must be for the sake of secrecy.

After getting out of the car, Shu Yi followed beside Zhang Youye and asked anxiously, "What are you studying here? Should I not have come here? There are even soldiers guarding the entrance. Am I disturbing the people inside?"

"No, don't worry. A research project just finished recently, so there shouldn't be many people today."

Standing in front of the keypad door, Zhang Youye smiled and gestured for her to relax. He then casually took out his work badge and pointed it at the identification machine in front of him.

With a "approved" announcement, the thick password door opened, and Shu Yi entered the experimental area inside the villa, continuing to follow Zhang Youye.

It wasn't until Zhang Youye led him into a glass room that he heard him call out "Old Xu" with particular respect.

He gestured for her to stand still at the door, and Shu Yi finally saw Professor Xu Shixin, who was wearing black-rimmed glasses and a white lab coat.

Inside the door, Xu Lao slowly raised his head from among a pile of precision instruments, glanced at Zhang Youye, let out a heavy snort, then looked away and buried himself back in the instruments.

"Are you still angry? Ah Chen wants to spend time with his wife, you should be understanding of her. Look, I'm here with you, I'm back now," Zhang Youye comforted him with a smile.

Like Zhang Youye, Lu Kechen and Zhang Youye are both key members of the laboratory and are Xu Lao's prized students.

I learned from Zhang Youye that after returning to Jiacheng, this kid didn't want to go back to Jingnan for the sake of his wife, and instead planned to stay in Jiacheng to work at the research institute.

When this "love-struck" symptom kicked in, it infuriated Mr. Xu so much that he almost took a flight to Jiaxing overnight.

At that time, Zhang Youye tried his best to persuade Xu Lao for a long time before Xu Lao finally reluctantly agreed to part with his beloved possession.

As long as you are in the country.

It doesn't matter which lab you're in anyway.

Hearing his words of comfort, Old Xu finally turned his gaze back to Zhang Youye's face.

After scanning him up and down and giving him a few speechless glances, Old Xu finally reluctantly opened his mouth.

"You brat, why did you dye your hair that color? It looks awful."