Chapter 31 31 The Circling Rats: Did He Make a Mistake During Surgery?
When Liang Siyu returned from the animal room, Xu Aida's seat was already empty.
He looked closely and saw a sticky note on the table: "Go home first, don't worry. Ada." He tore it off, tucked it into his notebook, feeling both angry and helpless.
She knew perfectly well that he had animal experiments scheduled for tomorrow morning and that she needed to check on the animals' condition today.
In this sweltering heat, why didn't you wait for him to go home together? Why did you have to run home alone ahead of time?
He opened the door to find the living room and study empty. He rushed into the innermost bedroom, but still no one was there.
His heart skipped a beat. He reached for his phone as he walked out, and then he saw her backpack lying carelessly on the floor next to the sofa. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Click, the door opened, and she came in carrying a delivery box. He immediately went to take it.
“No need, it’s very light.” She flinched slightly, opened the box on the dining table, and handed him a long, narrow box. “It’s an Apple Watch that my dad gave me.”
Liang Siyu thanked her; he had been quite interested in the smartwatch when he accompanied her to the launch event at the end of April.
But now, he had lost the mood to experience it and just silently looked at her, wanting to find an opportunity to speak.
She started fiddling with the little gadget, and once she had it set up, she put her arm down and walked towards the bedroom without even looking up.
He finally couldn't resist and put his arm around her waist: "Let's talk, Ada."
"I don't want to talk about it right now." Her voice was clear and cool, like a snow-capped mountain spring.
Why should he be able to leave whenever he wants and talk whenever he wants? In the coffee shop, she wanted to have a proper talk with him, but his attitude made it seem like she had really cheated on him.
In his past life, it was the same. If he didn't want to talk, he could coldly tell her, "Don't come to visit the set," leaving her alone feeling lost and heartbroken. Even now, she's still thinking about it and trying to find excuses for him.
He bent down to meet her gaze. Her dark eyes were empty and blank, as if they were falling into the distance. He let go of her hand in a daze.
The bathroom door closed softly, and the sound of running water soon followed. Liang Siyu slumped into the sofa, wishing he could punch himself.
He tried to recall her expression in the coffee shop. Was she sad?
But his mind was a complete blank; he couldn't remember anything. At that moment, he was filled with his own displeasure; how could he possibly remember her expression?
Hsu Ai-ta dried her hair and came out, intending to just grab a banana for a quick meal, but then she saw several open bagels on the table, topped with avocado, scrambled eggs, and shrimp—the colors were perfect for summer.
She slowly looked up; he was washing his hands, and there was a small pot on the stove.
"The red wine and pear juice were just soaked," he said, sitting down and pouring her a glass of orange juice. Then he tentatively asked, "Would you like some before bed after it's chilled?"
She nodded, said thank you, and ate the bagel.
A silent dinner, a silent night.
When Liang Siyu came out of the shower, she was already asleep with her eyes closed, lying on her side like a slender little fish.
He tiptoed into bed, and she shivered slightly, as if sensing something. He reached out to touch her back, but stopped.
At 3 p.m. the next day, in the lounge, Liang Siyu was eating his late lunch while Cohen drank his iced coffee, frowning: "Brother, summer is terrible."
Liang Siyu picked up the second hamburger and replied, "I know, I'll take a shower after I finish eating."
After performing surgery for most of the day, no matter how much protection you take, you can't help but smell – rat bedding, disinfectant, and acrylic acid mixed together to create a "gift" from the animal facility.
Normally, he would take a shower before a surgery that takes about five hours, but today was the first round of pre-experimentation of the new electrode array. The two surgeries took nearly seven hours, and he was so hungry that his stomach was practically touching his back.
Cohen waited for him to finish eating, and seeing him chugging sugar-free Coke with a dark expression, he advised, "I know you're upset, but to be honest, Ada didn't do anything wrong. The way you gave her the look yesterday, how you shoved her hand away, I bet she..."
"I shook her hand off?" Liang Siyu's voice rose at the end. "When?"
Cohen stared at him as if he were a fish. How could someone who could recite an entire medical textbook not remember what he did yesterday?
Liang Siyu smacked his head twice. What was he doing yesterday? Had his brain wandered to outer space?
"And with that sour face, even someone who was skeptical before now thinks the rumor is true."
Cohen patted him on the shoulder and analyzed earnestly, "In two days, it might turn into you two breaking up because of this."
Exhausted and angry, Liang Siyu leaned back in his chair and said, "It's over, brother, I've messed everything up."
"Did you two fight again when you got back?" Cohen had assumed they would make up today.
Ada isn't the petty type of girl. Although Ned acts impulsively in anger, he's essentially just a helpless little dog barking, hoping his owner will squat down and pat him on the head.
"I actually hope she'll argue with me," Liang Siyu said in a low, indistinct voice. He'd rather take a few scoldings than be distanced from her.
Cohen simply didn't know what to say to him. He was usually quite calm and composed, but when it came to Ada, he was like a completely different person—or rather, like a high school student who hadn't grown up.
This great god is only concerned with his own love affairs, so it's up to him, a mere mortal, to do the important work.
Cohen sighed and tapped his phone: "If I were you, I would quickly post a group photo on Facebook to show that you're doing great and nothing's wrong, so that the rumor doesn't get more and more real."
That makes sense. Liang Siyu sat up straight, flipped through the photo album, found group photos and solo photos of Ada, put together a nine-grid layout, and posted it.
"Thanks, bro." He patted Cohen on the shoulder, got up, and went to take a shower.
Hsu Ai-ta, who is working from home, just opened Facebook Messenger.
This Monday, she released the first trial version of the "algorithm feedback program" and discovered that the biggest problem was actually the poor quality of the practice videos shot by MD students, which caused motion tracking to fail.
She quickly sent a new message in their group, emphasizing to the seed users that the uploaded practice videos must have a "fixed camera position, a clean background, and no large areas of reflection" in order to be used for algorithm analysis.
The notification lit up, and Liang Siyu had surprisingly posted an update. She naturally clicked on it and couldn't help but stare blankly at a group photo.
That was a photo taken by their coach when they were rowing a double rower. She happened to turn around, and he looked at her and smiled. The sunset was beautiful, and life was peaceful.
Seeing that many classmates had liked the post, she quickly realized why he had suddenly started "showing off his affection."
Perhaps, even if she didn't go to the lab today, a few bored guys will say she's too ashamed to show her face.
She sighed, got up and washed some cherries and raspberries, then waited for him at the dining table.
Animal surgery requires a high level of concentration and is quite tiring, so he'll probably go straight home after get off work.
This morning, after reading the message, she realized that he had specifically gone to buy her lemonade yesterday before going to the animal facility for a pre-operative check-up.
She was so angry that she forgot he had animal surgery and thought he had deliberately gone out. Naturally, she didn't want to wait for him foolishly anymore, so she went straight home.
So when he got home he was a little unhappy and insisted on talking to her, which seems reasonable.
She tied her hair up and then let it down again, repeating this several times, until she finally heard the door open.
She kept her head down as she continued fixing her hair, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.
His hair was half-wet and hanging down—why didn't he dry it after showering?
He washed his hands, sat down, picked up some cherries and ate them—silly boy, eating raspberries would make you sick of sourness.
She finally finished tying her hair up, and as soon as she put her hand down, he grabbed it.
He held her very tightly, which made her feel uncomfortable and a little heartbroken.
He got up and walked around her, but his hand still held on tightly, and his other arm was wrapped around her shoulder.
She gave him a very light nudge: "You've just come back from the animal house, aren't you going to take a shower?"
Actually, he had already washed quite thoroughly and changed all his clothes. He was clean and smelled reassuringly of soap.
However, he usually takes another shower when he gets home, both for cleaning and relaxation.
Liang Siyu leaned down and kissed the top of her head: "Let me hold you for a little while."
She froze for a moment, then leaned closer. He stroked her shoulder, reached out, and scooped her up, moving her to the sofa.
Neither of them spoke. She sat on his lap, nestled in his arms, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck.
“We look a bit like pigeons that have gotten tired of flying,” she said slowly after more than ten minutes.
He shook his head slightly, with a hint of a smile: "The pigeons in the university are probably not tired from flying, but tired from Skinner's training."
He felt the person in his arms chuckle, and a warm breath brushed against his neck.
His heart was completely at ease, knowing that she was back; she was always so easily moved.
"Miss Pigeon, would you like to take a bath together?" He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.
Miss Pigeon neither nodded nor shook her head.
After dinner, he sat on the sofa, and she rested her head on his lap, with old Beatles songs playing in the room.
Liang Siyu held his phone and replied to messages. He rarely posts recent photos, and many old friends sent him private messages or left comments.
A high school teammate invited him to go kayaking together when he returned in the summer, saying, "Let's all bring our girlfriends and have a race."
He showed it to her, smiling, and asked, "How about trying a speedboat race next time? But you'll have to learn how to capsize first. Are you scared?"
Of course she wasn't afraid; she'd learned all that in her past life. Xu Aida smiled and asked, "How did you offend him?"
In a race, they would definitely need to coordinate with the woman's stroke rate. She's not afraid of skill-based sports, but rowing requires a lot of muscle power and endurance, and with her small arms and physique, she's at a complete disadvantage.
"Once, after training, he fell asleep in math class and suddenly started snoring, which made the whole class laugh."
Liang Siyu shrugged. "He blamed me for sitting next to him and not reminding him. Honestly, I only didn't wake him because he was too tired and the teacher didn't see him. Who could have predicted he'd suddenly start snoring?"
This is such a bizarre story of how a feud started; it's unbelievable. Xu Aida laughed until his stomach hurt: "Are all the people from your all-boys school this childish?"
Liang Siyu put his arm around her and gently rubbed her hands a couple of times: "Where did you get that from? He's being childish, it has nothing to do with me."
However, when he met her accusing gaze, he lowered his head and kissed her forehead: "Okay, I admit, I was childish yesterday. Please forgive me?"
She rolled her eyes and looked towards the kitchen: "It depends on my mood. I'll make a glass of lemon water first."
"Yes, ma'am." He smiled and stood up.
Suddenly, my phone rang. It was a video call from the research assistant who had been taking care of me at night. One of the rats that underwent surgery today wasn't quite right.
He stared at the video for half a minute; the rat was spinning in circles in its cage—clearly abnormal neurological behavior.
"Take it out of the cage first, put it in the observation box, and record its frequency and speed. I'll be there in 10 minutes."
He opened the door, then suddenly turned back. "Ada, call me anytime if you need anything, okay?"
She smiled and said, "What could possibly happen to me? Don't worry, I won't go out tonight. You go ahead."
He left in a hurry, and she began to worry whether yesterday's events had affected his surgical condition, causing him to make mistakes during the operation.
In her past life, it seemed like nothing had happened at this time, but she knew nothing about surgery.
She sighed, spread out her yoga mat, and tried to clear her mind.
Liang Siyu's mind was racing with all sorts of anxious guesses.
The poor rat was circling counter-clockwise in its observation box, refusing to lie down and rest. This was the first time it had encountered such a situation.
Furthermore, when connected to the signal receiving system, the nerve signal output from the implanted electrodes is completely blank. Since the hardware is not faulty, then the problem lies with the implantation itself.
He observed it closely and noticed that its head seemed to be tilted slightly to the right. Could there have been a problem on the right side during implantation? He then palpated the rat's neck muscles and found that the right side was indeed more tense.
If you experience circling, head tilting, and neck tension, it's highly likely that your vestibular system is being compressed.
Could it really be that he wasn't focused enough during yesterday's surgery, and that drilling or removing the micro-actuator caused mechanical damage to his right side? Is there swelling and compression now?
He called the on-duty veterinarian as per procedure, reported his deductions, and the veterinarian reviewed the animal's condition via video, agreed with his opinion, and prescribed: dexamethasone, 0.1 mg per 100g body weight, intraperitoneal injection.
He immediately prepared the medication and administered it, staying overnight to continue observing the rats. By morning, the rats had largely resumed eating and normal behavior. Although the nerve signals were still noisy, at least everything seemed to be improving.
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