Jiang Jianian had already planned how to politely and respectfully decline Li Lizhang's invitation while maintaining a distance, but he did not expect such an unexpected turn of events. It seemed that the plan that started when Ye Qingcheng proposed that Dean Li of the Research Institute wanted to see him had to be rearranged.
Jiang Jianian, who could have explained things clearly in a few words, smiled warmly at the dean's wife. He restrained his cold nature, pretended that he was not a kind person, and asked with a gentle and refined manner, "Grandma Wei, may I take a look?"
The dean's wife, Wei Yunshu, has always loved children, especially talented and good-looking ones. She was initially disappointed when her husband told her that Jiang Jianian and the Ye family's young lady knew each other. However, she was surprised that the young lady was so polite as to ask to see the photos in order to save face.
The dean's wife was naturally pleased and greeted them, "These are all photos of the Ye family's little girl when she was young. She doesn't like to come anymore after she grew up. It's all because this old man always puts on airs like a professor, holding a book and wanting to give lectures!"
"You make it sound like you didn't actually talk to her about it. You clearly liked her and wanted to encourage her to do research, constantly telling her how great it is for girls to pursue master's and doctoral degrees. That's what scared her away!" Dean Li shook his head. "That little sly one. She's afraid I'll say something to her father and actually try to persuade her to go down the academic path. She runs away whenever she sees us. When Old Ye came over, she made all sorts of excuses not to come. What a stubborn little brat."
He criticized Ye Zhiwei for not studying hard, but his tone was full of affection.
Looking at Ye Zhiwei's photos in the album, and hearing Li Lizhang's helpless yet doting tone, Jiang Jianian chuckled: "These do resemble Ye Zhiwei's style."
"Did she come here often when she was little?" Jiang Jianian suddenly asked.
Dean Li smiled and said, "I have a very good relationship with her father. He actually hopes that this child can study well and brought her here to let her experience the academic atmosphere. Don't be fooled by her father's seemingly indifferent attitude towards her. Old Ye is just not good at expressing himself. After the child realized that Old Ye couldn't bear to scold her if she didn't come, she naturally stopped coming. I heard that she spends all her time playing with that grandson of the Ji family."
Jiang Jianian casually continued to ask, "Are Dean Li and Uncle Ye on good terms?"
“We’ve been friends for decades! Old Ye had to go into finance because of his family. Back then, he was just a young man, a young man who wanted to pursue academia. He said he didn’t want to be covered in money and wanted to be a scholar like me, an intellectual!” Dean Li shook his head. “He envied me, and I envied him for having a beautiful daughter at such a young age.”
Dean Li shook his head as he spoke, then returned to the main topic, urging Jiang Jianian, "Let's not talk about them anymore! Little Jiang, good boy, reconsider the research institute's program. If you're not interested in the telomere project, the research institute has other projects. Don't waste such a great talent of yours..."
Jiang Jianian was holding a photo album in his hand, which contained photos of Ye Zhiwei when she was a child: her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at the instruments that Dean Li needed for scientific research with some curiosity.
Ye Zhiwei was so cute even when she was a child.
Jiang Jianian tightened his grip and replied after a long while, "You can tell me about other topics, and maybe I can give it a try."
Just as Dean Li was about to lament missing out on such a young genius as Jiang Jianian, it took him a while to react before he excitedly said, "Yes, yes, of course! How can there be no other projects? Our research institute has many other very interesting projects!"
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