Chapter 12 The Mystery of the Family Banquet: What did she miss in her past life...?
As Liang Siyu carried his shopping bags up the elevator, Melinda and he nodded to each other in greeting, but she couldn't help but feel resentful inside.
She had practically watched Ned grow up from a teenager, and always thought that Ned was a gentler and more refined boy compared to his older brother. She never expected him to be so impatient after starting a relationship, even tearing his girlfriend's clothes.
Liang Siyu had no idea how ambiguous his decision to go out and buy women's clothing was.
He pushed open the door to the VIP visitor room, where Ada was curled up on a single sofa, staring blankly at a bunch of electrodes.
"Change into something, wet clothes are uncomfortable." He had just bought a new set at a nearby shop.
Ada looked up in surprise, thinking he was angry and had gone out for a walk to clear his head.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to ask him if he was angry with her, but she swallowed the question back and turned her eyes away. She knew that she was being a bit fickle, but he was always the one tempting her to fall for him.
Liang Siyu thought that she was going to cut ties with him again and didn't even want to accept the two pieces of clothing.
He found scissors on the desk, cut off all the clothing tags, and shoved them at her.
"Okay, now it's too late to return it. If you don't wear it, I'll just have to throw it away."
She was stunned for a moment, then he pulled her up from the sofa, pushed her into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut.
Um, it's dark inside, the lights aren't on.
As soon as she opened the door, he frowned and turned around.
She quickly explained, "I'm just turning on a light." Then she pressed the switch and closed the door again.
Liang Siyu breathed a sigh of relief; she was still willing to accept his daily care and attention.
In the bathroom, Xu Aida opened the bag and secretly grumbled to himself.
Why would he buy a pink sweater? This soft, sweet color isn't her style; her clothes are mostly black, white, blue, and gray.
However, she changed into it anyway, as wet clothes are indeed not very comfortable.
The overall effect was alright; the loose, oversized style gave off a relaxed and casual vibe, but it wasn't particularly sweet, and she found it somewhat acceptable.
The gray wool trousers suited me surprisingly well, making me look somewhat like myself after starting work.
At that time, she felt that as a teacher, she couldn't dress as casually as she did in her student days, so Liang Siyu practically helped her put together half a wardrobe of professional attire.
She shook her head, trying to shake off those memories. Honestly, I'm always wallowing in self-pity. Didn't I decide not to think about it anymore?
Seeing her push open the door and step out, Liang Siyu paused for a moment. The pink sweater, a blend of mohair and cashmere, softly wrapped around her slender shoulders, like the double-petaled peonies often arranged in her home, Sarah Bernhardt.
A soft, pinkish-white mist, elegant and light, blooms quietly, yet it is impossible to look away.
"Want to go have lunch?" she asked casually, as if nothing had happened.
He resisted the urge to stroke her shoulder, nodded, and took her to eat.
They first went to the nurses' station on the third floor to get a meal box. The hospital provides standardized nutritional meals, and he thought the taste was acceptable.
Upon reaching the top floor, one finds a greenhouse garden, lush and green even in the cold winter. To the west, one can see the East River, where a few rehabilitation therapists and clients are dining at small cast-iron round tables.
He led the way to a corner on the east side, where tall rubber trees and areca palms created a partition, offering more privacy while obscuring the river view.
The salmon and pumpkin salad tasted good. She gave an exaggerated laugh and said, "Wow, I think I could open a restaurant like this!"
He laughed: "It's supplied by the restaurant in the hotel next door."
Uh, a silly mistake. She lowered her eyes, unconsciously poking at the salmon a few times with her fork.
His voice was gentle: "Ada, if you're in a bad mood, you don't have to talk."
She was in a bad mood, so why pretend in front of him? This way of speaking was not normal for her.
She froze for a moment, and her fork hit the plate with a clink.
She turned her head and saw a beautiful white orchid next to her, with a long flower stalk and seventeen flowers. She counted them one by one, observing the differences between each flower.
They finished their lunch in silence, returned to the makeshift lab, sat down together at the desk, and began the tedious work of data annotation.
Xu Aida first checked the video and signal, marked the start time of each action, identified obvious artifacts, and completed the initial cleaning.
Liang Siyu was responsible for further investigating physiological noise, electrode drift, and abnormal mixing of electromyographic signals.
They occasionally disagreed on some signal anomalies. She tended to think it was due to unstable electrode contact, while he pointed out that it might be unexpected co-activation of nearby muscle groups, and that this type of data could also be used to train generalization models.
At first, there was some interaction, but later, the two gradually became engrossed in their respective screens, leaving only the soft clicking of the mouse and the occasional tapping of the keyboard.
By 5 p.m., they had finally finished labeling the last set of data.
She rubbed her neck: "The data quality is okay, but the last two mixed movements are a bit messy."
He pressed his temples and said, "That electrode is loose. Next time, try adding a layer of medical adhesive."
They both breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged a smile. This kind of data cleaning is quite tedious, but it is the foundation of the entire algorithm.
The next day, Ada was assigned as volunteer number two and had electrodes attached. She gritted her teeth and persevered, but the mixed movements were forcibly stopped.
"Ada, take a break. The fatigue is too obvious. There's no point in collecting any more data."
Liang Siyu turned around and advised her that the waveform had already undergone significant changes.
She sat back on the sofa, still arguing, "How is it meaningless? It's perfect for testing the model's generalization ability under fatigue."
He came over and started disassembling the electrodes himself—if he continued like this, she wouldn't need to type any code for two or three days.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She hurriedly protected her arm, but one of the electrodes had already been removed by him with precision and ruthlessness, leaving a small red mark on her arm from the adhesive.
He gently touched it and asked, "Does it itch?"
She instinctively shrank back; she wasn't itchy before, but his touch sent a tingling sensation through her.
"I can do it myself." Her voice trembled slightly at the end, like a butterfly whose flight path was skewed by the air conditioning in a greenhouse.
He held her wrist, removed the rest of the electrodes, and continued to massage her sore arm.
She hissed softly. He immediately noticed, softening his grip and slowing his movements. Her forearm was slender, like a long, thin crystal champagne glass.
Five minutes later, he finally let go of her and said, "Let's collect data from my left hand tomorrow for the validation set."
Ada's data today is probably only about a third of usable. She kept making slight wrist rotation movements, which caused her to tire so quickly and also introduced muscle signals that shouldn't have been activated.
Xu Aida checked her own signal curve and had to admit that her movement stability was not on the same level as Ned's.
Even if he switched to his non-dominant hand, he would probably still be much better than her.
Over the next few days, they collected, labeled, and cleaned the data.
Ada trained the algorithm and succeeded on her first try—of course, her failures and reflections all happened in her past life.
She waved to him triumphantly: "Volunteer number one, come and see!"
Liang Siyu leaned closer and, seeing the comparison between the algorithm's performance and the baseline algorithm, could hardly believe his eyes. He couldn't help but lift her up: "Ada, you're a genius!"
She was practically lifted onto his shoulder, and in a flurry of movement, she quickly grabbed his other shoulder to steady herself, exclaiming, "Ned!"
He spun her around twice before putting her back on the ground. She was a little dizzy and had to grab his arm to steady herself.
She was about to remind him when he crossed the line again, but when she looked up and met the smile in his eyes, she couldn't help but smile too.
Next, they plan to return to school early and, taking advantage of the holiday when no one is around, complete the entire route.
The neuroprosthetic to be controlled is in the laboratory; only after returning can the control signal output be verified and the effectiveness of the algorithm fully confirmed.
When Claudia heard about their plans to return to school, she smiled and suggested to Liang Siyu, "Ned, before you leave, why don't you invite Ada over for a simple meal? We should also welcome your classmate and congratulate you on a great start to your project."
He hesitated slightly, unsure whether Ada would be willing to come.
Claudia put her arm around his shoulder: "Ned, we're your classmates who invited you, there's no need to feel pressured, okay?"
He hugged his mother: "Of course, thank you, Mom."
His mother guessed that his proposal had gone wrong, but she didn't ask him anything; she just silently gave him advice and help.
When Ned suddenly wanted to order a diamond ring, Claudia hesitated. He was always calm and composed, but for his first love, he was so eager, which naturally worried her and her husband.
But seeing how happy he was when he talked about Ada, who was also a doctoral student at JHU, they decided not to interfere for the time being and to wait and see.
After Christmas, the marriage proposal came to nothing—Ada rejected him, but was still willing to collaborate academically, indicating that their feelings hadn't ended and that she was being rational.
Compared to girls who love parties, she felt much more at ease with this kind of girl.
When Liang Siyu asked Xu Aida nervously, she unexpectedly agreed quickly: "Of course."
Since she had borrowed equipment from the rehabilitation hospital, she would naturally accept his family's invitation; this was basic social etiquette.
That evening, Liang Siyu picked her up in the hotel lobby. When he saw her graceful figure walking out of the elevator, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Her long hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders, and she wore a camel-colored cashmere coat that revealed her slender ankles, paired with silver high heels, making her look like a New York girl.
She stopped and smiled: "What's wrong? Is something a little strange?" This wasn't her usual style, but it wouldn't be appropriate to wear jeans and sneakers to Claudia's dinner party.
She wore a little black dress underneath, so naturally she needed to match it with shoes and a coat.
The only problem is that it's really cold to dress like that in New York winters. As a Californian whose cold-weather genes have deteriorated, she greatly admires those New York girls who have persisted for so long.
Liang Siyu's eyes lit up, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily: "It's not surprising. You look...too beautiful."
Her everyday California casual style is fresh and natural, but this kind of outfit highlights her lightness and agility.
Her slender waist and straight legs made him wish he could wrap her in his coat and not let anyone see her like this, and he couldn't bear to let her take another step in the New York snowstorm.
When the valet drove the car to the hotel entrance, he bent down and picked her up in one swift and decisive motion.
She protested, "Ned, you can't do this, we're..."
He looked down at her, his gaze focused: "Your shoes shouldn't be in the snow. That's it."
When he carried her into the car, his arms tightened around her excessively, as if silently declaring something.
When they got home, she took off her coat and handed it to him. Underneath was a fitted little black satin dress.
He took the coat, feeling a lingering warmth, and his breathing became heavier.
He helped her hang up her coat, and when he turned back, he saw her bending down slightly to adjust her skirt.
As the lights dimmed, her bare arms revealed the thin, beautifully sculpted muscles from years of swimming. The dress fit her waist and hips perfectly, with a slight fishtail hem that made his throat tighten and his fingertips tighten slightly.
He thought frantically, thankfully it was a family dinner tonight, no one else would see how beautiful she was right now. If they were in a restaurant, he would have wanted to carry her away in a second.
His mother, Claudia, came to greet the guests. She was of mixed Chinese and French descent, with her long, dark brown hair styled in a bun, exuding elegance effortlessly.
She apologized on behalf of her husband Richard, saying that he had received an urgent phone call and had gone to his study to answer it, and would be right back down.
Hsu Ai-ta said it was no problem and presented her with a bouquet of tulips and a bottle of Napa Valley red wine.
Claudia was overjoyed and directed Ned to put the tulips in the G Jensen silver vase and place it in the living room.
She then personally brewed a pot of linden blossom tea, the clear yellow tea soup gently steaming.
"Ada, try this. It has a grassy and treey scent, a naturally healing fragrance."
Xu Aida laughed. These words were exactly the same as those from a Christmas one year. Claudia still lived such a refined life.
They had drunk half a cup of tea when Liang Siyu's father, Richard, came downstairs and joined them.
He was outgoing and talkative, with a straightforward personality. He asked about the progress of their experiment and shared many interesting stories about orthopedics.
After changing his cocktails, Richard became more relaxed. When he got into the conversation, he casually mentioned, "A couple of days ago, a rehabilitation center in Brooklyn Heights was going to be sold. It's a really good location, but unfortunately, I don't have the time to deal with it."
Claudia took his hand; she knew her husband was unwilling to easily hand over management authority to a so-called "professional manager."
The eldest son, Ed, did not study medicine but instead studied finance and went to Wall Street.
Of course, they also fully support their children's freedom to choose their careers; however, it would be even better if they were interested in medicine and willing to take over the family business.
Ned's love for medicine and his exceptional talent are truly fortunate.
Xu Aida took a sip of her cocktail and glanced at Liang Siyu, who was still drinking tea, vaguely sensing that something was amiss.
Richard only mentioned it casually, and he quickly changed the subject, asking Ada how she felt about transferring from Berkeley to JHU and whether she had any difficulties adjusting to life there.
Xu Aida complained a bit about the cold wind in New York, and everyone laughed.
Claudia quickly finished all the preparations, and the meal officially began. Everyone except Liang Siyu had a glass of Riesling, a perfect complement to the seafood.
At the dinner table, Claudia was gentle and friendly, chatting about art, reminiscing about her university days, and even praising Ada's dress as very elegant.
For Liang Siyu, this evening felt like a dream. She was sitting at his family's dining table, across from him, smiling and chatting with his parents.
More than a month later, he thought of the diamond ring he hadn't given away again.
If it were in Ada's left hand tonight, what a perfect night that would be.
As Xu Aida watched Richard's pride and expectation toward Ned, her doubts grew stronger.
In her past life, a few years later, when she went downstairs to pour tea on Christmas Day, she heard Richard sigh and say, "As long as Ned is happy."
But now, he clearly has high expectations for his medical studies. Many of his words and actions suggest that he is eagerly waiting for him to graduate and mature so that he can help him.
She wasn't good at sensing other people's emotions, but with age and experience, she had grown slightly more adept. Tonight, it was only through comparing the two lifetimes that she noticed something amiss.
Richard isn't the kind of person who changes easily, so what made him change his mind?
It's January now. The first Christmas she spent at his house in her previous life was this December, and Richard hasn't mentioned the hospital expansion at all.
The following May, when Ned changed careers, his family showed no resistance or dissatisfaction. They even hinted to her that they expected her to be as supportive of Ned's choice as they were.
Of course she did; she's not the kind of person who hinders her lover's dreams and freedom.
Actually, she was very surprised at first. But Ned insisted that he was pursuing his dream, and his parents were also very supportive.
She could only suspect that it was because she came from a middle-class background that she was too constrained by social rules, too cautious, and lacked the relaxed attitude of her social class.
Looking back now, it really does seem strange. Ned was exceptionally talented, and they meticulously nurtured him; how could they so easily agree to his drastic career change? Besides, who doesn't know that Chinese-American male actors are marginalized in Hollywood?
A shadow fell over her heart. Had she missed something in her past life? Was there something she didn't know?
Involuntarily, she looked up at Liang Siyu across from her. All the mysteries lay with him, but at this moment, he was unaware that he would abandon medicine next year and embark on a completely different path.
Her gaze lingered for a moment, which he immediately noticed. He looked back at her intently, causing her heart to flutter in turmoil.
His eyes were filled with deep affection, almost overflowing.
This guy who didn't drink seems to be the most drunk.
A note from the author:
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