Chapter 33 Whose Solo Performance: A Successful Workplace Counterattack and a Companion...
The tea that had been brewed had gone cold, and Liang Siyu had been in the bathroom for almost an hour.
Xu Aida walked around the room twice, walked to the bathroom door, then came back. After thinking for a moment, he added some ice to his teacup, picked up the iced tea, and went to knock on the door.
Just as she reached out, the door suddenly opened, and Liang Siyu came out drying his hair, bumping right into her.
A glass of iced tea soaked both of their clothes, so they both had to take a shower.
He sat on the edge of the bed, head down, while she stood in front of him, holding a hairdryer.
A buzzing noise, a warm breeze, and soft little hands brushing over his head.
He couldn't help but wrap his arms around her waist. She trembled slightly and took a half step closer, carefully drying every strand of her hair.
"I was such a fool today." He buried his face in her chest, his voice as soft as the steam rising from his hair.
This wasn't how he was used to it; a man shouldn't act like this. But at this moment, he suddenly didn't want to hide it anymore, didn't want to pretend anymore.
Xu Aida ruffled his hair, thought for a moment, and then replied, "To be, or not to be, that is the question." [Note]
For the first time, she realized that her tone always carried a touch of California girl's lightness at the end, and wondered if he would think she wasn't serious enough.
She actually replied with that, leaving him feeling a bit helpless and wanting to laugh at the same time. He sighed, "When did you start acting like Shakespeare?"
“While you were taking a bath,” she sighed with relief, lifted his head, and looked him in the eye, “I’ve been rehearsing for ages, you know. A one-man show is the hardest.”
He pulled her onto his lap: "So what else did you prepare? It can't just be this one sentence, can it?"
"The first scene was chamomile tea, and I even had a sudden inspiration to make it into iced tea, which would be perfect for summer." She paused deliberately for a beat, "but it turned into a stage accident."
He involuntarily lowered his head and stroked her cheek; a faint smile played on her rosy lips.
"Did you try it?" he asked, staring at her.
She nodded: "Hmm, not bad, really. Shall I go make another cup?" She tried to get up.
His arms tightened suddenly, and he lowered his head to quickly cover her lips with his.
A slight coolness, a deep warmth; he didn't want to think about anything, he just wanted to get close and possess.
She is so real, yet so unreal.
He was starting to wonder if today was a nightmare or a dream. He thought he had messed up, but it seemed like things weren't so bad after all.
The linen curtains were drawn back, and sunlight streamed directly onto the headboard.
"Ada, wake up." Liang Siyu half-lifted Xu Aida and urged her to get up.
"Sleepy. Just ten more minutes." She squinted as she slid into the covers and curled up.
Ten minutes later, Liang Siyu called again, and she dodged once more, pulling her head back under the covers.
If he hadn't known that she had arranged to meet with Cohen this morning to discuss a new project, he really wouldn't have wanted to keep calling her.
Xu Aida dawdled for a while, then glanced at her watch and saw it was past nine. She quickly rushed to wash up, and when she came out, Liang Siyu had already packed some bread for her to eat in the car.
As she ate her bread, she asked, "Are you going down to the animal house again today? Will you come back for lunch?"
He shook his head: "After you finish talking with Cohen, I'll ask him to take a look at that new Tense material. Evan's conjecture makes sense."
She held up the bread, looked at him, and smiled.
He met her gaze in the rearview mirror and smiled: "Thanks to Shakespeare."
She couldn't help but mutter, "Shouldn't we also thank the female movers?"
Although she is not a philosopher, she is certainly a conveyor of philosophical ideas.
He chuckled softly: "Well, thank you on behalf of my pajamas. It's the first time it's had chamomile tea, iced tea, lady."
She nearly choked on her bread, struggled to swallow, and retorted incoherently, "You were the one who hit someone first."
"There's iced coffee in the cup, drink some quickly," he reminded her as he turned right.
A few days later, the pathology results came out. At the joint discussion, Evan's conjecture was initially accepted by everyone. Then, it was necessary to verify the problem of the small deformation of the new material under edema compression as soon as possible.
Evan volunteered: "I can work with my colleagues in the materials science field to do simulations on the cryogenic model."
He and Ned were most familiar with the implantation of the new material. However, Ned was about to return to New York to conduct experiments.
“Actually,” Liang Siyu said steadily, “Cohen and I have already run a preliminary test. We used hydrogel to simulate edema compression and tested the stress deformation of a 4×4 array in a closed cavity.”
Meanwhile, Cohen distributed the pre-printed charts to everyone.
He looked at the charts and introduced the data, saying, "The data is quite clear. Today is the fourth day, and we have observed a deformation of 700 nanometers. You can see the deformation distribution every four hours."
"Although it's only two samples, this trend fully supports Evan's hypothesis."
While everyone else was discussing the result, Evan gritted his teeth inwardly.
The electrode array sample was on his end; Ned didn't have any additional samples to test.
Besides, one of these costs $1,500. Without a supervisor's permission, stress testing can't be done directly—it'll be unusable after deformation.
This young master clearly bought the samples out of his own pocket.
After reporting on the short test, Liang Siyu and Cohen exchanged a glance.
Liang Siyu said calmly, "Cohen has relevant experience in simulating frozen specimens."
Cohen knowingly picked up the conversation: "As long as the timing and experimental design are agreed upon in advance, I welcome any colleague from the medical group."
Although he didn't like Evan, work is work.
Professor Brooke nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the group before finally settling on Liang Siyu.
“Ned, recruitment for participants in New York hasn’t officially started yet. How about you postpone it for two weeks and finish this part of the simulation with Cohen first?”
"I contacted the manufacturer, and we'll do a quick joint test."
Evan's expression changed slightly, which meant that Professor Brooke still preferred Ned to perform the second batch of pre-experimental surgeries, and even the formal experiments to follow.
Liang Siyu met her mentor's gaze: "Of course, I have no problem."
The mentor has already said so, so he can't possibly mess things up at this time. Besides, Professor Brooke is the project's coordinating PI, and they can't send out recruitment information without his permission.
Afterwards, Professor Brooke patted him on the shoulder: "Tell Ada that this is a special case. I heard you're planning to do high-density sEMG? Don't worry about funding."
Liang Siyu was slightly surprised and quickly expressed her gratitude.
After the meeting, Liang Siyu and Cohen went to the materials laboratory to continue examining the deformation of the new array.
Cohen complained the whole way: "You and Ada have ruined my vacation. That high-density sEMG? God, just thinking about soldering so many points gives me a headache."
"Come on," Liang Siyu retorted with a laugh, "Headache? Want me to give you an ibuprofen? It's an over-the-counter drug, you don't need to see a doctor."
Cohen rolled his eyes: "What I need are new friends, not workaholics like you."
Watching them walk away laughing and joking, Evan went into the break room.
Three or five RAs were whispering among themselves, wondering if Ada's "rumored sugar daddy" was really true.
He sneered and left, not being able to help but say, "She has a rich young master (trust fund kid) helping her, why bother going to such lengths?"
Others might not be able to tell, but he knew perfectly well that the fund was definitely being run by the Ned family.
As soon as he left, the gossip in the break room skyrocketed.
"Was Evan just hinting at...Ned?"
"Don't you guys think he does have a... rather unique charisma?"
"However, there are many types of trust fund babies. If there are many family members, you can receive a few hundred or a thousand yuan each month."
"Didn't you hear Evan's tone? It's definitely not a small matter."
“Go look at his early Facebook posts, I don’t believe you can’t see it at all.”
"High school, Collegiate, a private school in the West End."
"He didn't write it, how did you know?"
"Idiot, there are two Collegiate people among the comments under his photo with Ada. You can see them if you click on their profiles."
"Wait, that photo of Ada at sunset on the beach has metadata. After downloading it, you can see the geographic information. It's on Long Island."
“Lloyd Harbor, those holiday homes must cost tens of millions.”
"She's definitely a California girl; she's got the knack for finding gold mines. Nobody else noticed, how did she find it?"
"She was able to persuade Professor Brooke to help promote her dynamic trajectory algorithm. I heard that the professor has recently been allocating a lot of computing resources to her."
"They seem unassuming, but they're incredibly shrewd."
Of course, Liang Siyu was completely unaware of these discussions at the time; he was worried about something else entirely.
With the trip to New York postponed, Ada will likely miss her two-week trip home in late August. He had originally planned to accompany her home after collecting the data, so she wouldn't be scared traveling alone.
His dark brown eyes were fixed on her: "I'm so sorry, the professor made the request directly at the meeting, so I agreed."
"It's nothing." An unexpected new assignment is understandable. Xu Aida checked her phone calendar, planning her vacation.
"In that case, I can go home first, rest for two weeks, and then go to New York to meet up with you. After collecting the data, school will start around the same time. Oh, by the way..."
Liang Siyu had to interrupt: "Ada, this means you'll have to fly by yourself."
"I'm fine," she said nonchalantly, looking up. "Even if I go home in mid-August, I'll still be alone."
However, under his gentle gaze, she suddenly realized something: "Ah, you..."
"Yes, I was originally planning to go back with you. I did the math, and if our experimental schedule is a bit packed, maybe we can free up a week at the end of August?"
He softened his tone, trying to suppress his anxiety, "Perhaps, I could also visit your family?"
She shifted uneasily, her fingers lightly picking at the velvet fabric of the chair: "Isn't that unnecessary? The experiment schedule should also take into account the convenience of the participants, right? And what if the problem with the new materials takes even longer? You're tiring yourself out like this."
The more she talked, the more convinced she became of herself. She stopped fiddling with the chair and bravely met his gaze: "I can go back by myself. Didn't I take the plane by myself last time? Don't worry."
The last time she got off the plane, her face was whiter than a vampire's, and she was unsteady on her feet. Don't worry about her.
Liang Siyu sighed, a slight sense of frustration rising in his heart. He didn't dare to urge her any further, and could only say, "Okay, let's talk about it during the winter break."
Xu Aida thought that it would be best not to take the winter break either, but since he was willing to offer an alternative, she naturally nodded quickly: "Okay, let's talk about it later."
"In the future?" Liang Siyu saw through her immediately; she clearly thought that even the winter break wouldn't work.
He no longer expected to propose in one fell swoop; he just wanted to gain her approval gradually. But she was still so hesitant, which made him feel somewhat powerless.
He thought that if he liked someone, he would naturally let his relatives and friends know her. However, she seemed to be more than just "unprepared," it was as if she was "unwilling to be."
Her earlier statement, "Let's not break up this year," suddenly resurfaced, making him somewhat flustered.
When she nestled in his arms after her nightmare, begging him not to leave, he had already forgotten what she had said, concluding that she was just being stubborn.
But now, his heart sank. Perhaps that was her true feeling, or perhaps the so-called long-term promise was just a one-man show.
-----------------------
Author's note: [Note] The "to be" phrase comes from Shakespeare.
Whether this is a literal translation or not is a question (rather than an established fact).
Ada adapted Hamlet's famous soliloquy as a way of comforting and gently teasing Ned's "I am a fool."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
