Chapter 28 Temporary Agreement "Tell me, where did you go wrong..."
Liang Siyu walked around the yard a few times, then took a bowl of raspberries upstairs. He knocked gently on the door, waited a few seconds, and when he didn't hear a response, he hesitated for a moment before opening the door and going in.
Xu Aida was wearing headphones and sitting in front of her computer. He placed the raspberry on her left, patted her shoulder, but then glanced at the email title and his heart skipped a beat.
She took off her headphones, glanced at him, and said, "Let me finish writing the email first."
He pressed down on her shoulders: "No, Ada, we need to talk. Let me explain first."
"I admit that my tone was off just now and I didn't fully consider your feelings, but there are some things I need to clarify."
He was a little anxious. "Even without you, Dad and Uncle Preston donate to the school every year. You don't need to feel any extra pressure."
“Wait,” Xu Aida interrupted him, “Ned, I understand, that’s not what bothers me the most. I just hope to achieve all this on my own, through my own abilities, instead of relying on you.”
Liang Siyu stared at her: "So, you'd rather take on outsourced algorithm work to earn research funding?" He had just seen the email title.
His eyes were red, and he was breathing heavily. "How much time will this take up for you? You'll have to stay up all night writing code again, won't you?"
"No, I absolutely won't allow it. You've been sick several times since December, you can't just ignore it like this."
Xu Aida was taken aback; she had never thought about this before. He truly cared about her and kept her in his heart.
A gentle warmth washed over her, and the strong words she had prepared remained stuck on her tongue, unable to be uttered.
Liang Siyu's mind was in complete chaos. No, she had to stop her. An algorithm outsourcing project? Was she going to have to stay up all night again, just like when she wrote that motion trajectory algorithm?
Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he blurted out, "Oh right, the algorithm, didn't you write the algorithm for surgical trajectory analysis for me? Can't you just consider it funding for this project?"
The warmth in Xu Aida's heart vanished instantly, leaving only barren sand.
"You think...you think I wrote that to get money and resources? You're simply..."
Her eyes reddened, and her voice became hoarse. "Utterly vulgar."
She thought he understood her, but... was this the soulmate she thought he was? Perhaps hormones clouded her judgment, making her see things through rose-colored lenses.
Some say that love is like an emotional account, where every act of giving is a "deposit" and every argument and disappointment is a "withdrawal"—this is truly how commercial society erodes people.
For her, love is the natural tenderness that overflows when two souls resonate in unison, and it is absolutely not some kind of "value exchange".
As soon as she opened her mouth, Liang Siyu realized he had made a huge mistake. He must be out of his mind to say such a thing.
He hurriedly hugged her, saying, "Ada, I was wrong, I was wrong. Don't be sad, I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean it that way."
Tears streamed down her face silently. She pushed him away, backed away, and almost bumped into the chair behind her, only to be picked up by him again.
She wiped her face haphazardly and turned her head away: "Put me down, I need to wash my face."
He carried her directly into the bathroom, and when she finished washing her face and looked up, he immediately handed her a towel. When she finished wiping her face, he reached out to take it from her.
She glared at him, and he carried her back to bed, holding her tightly and refusing to let go.
She took a breath and tapped his arm: "Tell me, what did you do wrong?"
"Your love should not be used as a bargaining chip; that would be a defilement to you."
His voice was muffled. After a few seconds of silence, he added softly, "But I don't think I've ever done anything for you, except..."
Aside from gifts and money, those didn't make her very happy.
Although he didn't continue, Xu Aida understood perfectly. She angrily punched his arm; it was hard and all muscle, and the impact made her wrist ache.
"Weren't you the first person to support me in doing surface electromyography? Didn't you accompany me in my experiments? Didn't you take care of me when I was sick? Are you out of your mind?"
“It’s different. Those are all too ordinary. Anyone can do that.” He was almost muttering to himself.
Any boyfriend should provide at least the basic care and companionship. Ada went to such lengths to help him write algorithms and share the project workload; what he did was incomparable.
She hadn't considered that possibility at all, assuming he thought the financial investment was what made him "extraordinary," and couldn't help but retort, "Oh, only spending money is extraordinary? You think all the guys who pursue me are poor boys?"
He tightened his grip on her arm instantly: "You're not allowed to think about other people. You said you wouldn't look at other people."
Of course he knew how many people liked her.
After falling in love with her, I realized that her gaze was all too easy to recognize—it carried curiosity, admiration, and ulterior motives.
He can even immediately notice someone brushing past him on the street or lingering for a brief moment.
"It hurts!" she protested. Does this guy even know how strong he is?
He quickly let go, then carefully pulled his arm back, his arm stiff as a robot.
She felt both angry and amused. She had never thought of him as a jealous person in her past life; she guessed it was because of that breakup attempt in Seattle.
She could only coax him one more time: "Okay, okay, I'll only look at you."
He kissed the top of her head, then pushed his luck a bit: "Can you not be so formal? You always want to be completely separate from me, it's really making me nervous."
She stepped back slightly and then added, "I'm looking for a boyfriend, not a sugar daddy."
He suddenly had a bright idea: "You can stay up all night writing algorithms for me, but I can't ask my family for help? Ada, isn't that a double standard?"
She was taken aback, and subconsciously retorted, "That's different."
“Nothing’s different. My motivation is purely out of love for you. That’s what I really wanted to do.” He moved closer again.
Xu Aida couldn't come up with a reason for a moment, and could only say, "That's not your money."
Liang Siyu was furious. He had wanted to say, "Sure, I can use my personal account for the payments." Of course, that was something his grandmother had left him, not money he had earned himself.
But so what? His brother, relatives, and friends—aren't they all like that?
If any of these people had studied a little economics and sociology in high school, they would know how lucky they are to have grown up with the support and help of their families.
Even for her, how could she do without family support? Isn't it the same in the Bay Area? School district housing, academic competitions, community service activities, sports training? What's the essential difference?
Those born into middle-class or higher families in New York or the Bay Area are clearly lucky enough to have won the "womb lottery".
Of course, he had basic emotional intelligence and dared not touch on the topic again. If he did, Ada would definitely be so angry that she would leave immediately.
He could only return to the previous email: "You absolutely cannot take on outsourced projects privately. I can't bear to see you overworked and then get sick."
He quickly made a decision: "In this way, we can avoid any unforeseen complications during the election in July."
That's good, he can tell his father that he should respect his mentor's advice, and he doesn't need to communicate with his mentor separately.
She nudged his arm: "I promise I won't work overtime or stay up late, okay?"
He remained silent. In his opinion, it would be best not to, there was absolutely no need. However, her current attitude was so stubborn that he couldn't persuade her at all.
She asked, "You also have a foundation that handles donations, right?"
He nodded and explained, "Dad didn't go directly this way because he wanted to avoid suspicion."
She smiled and said, “In that case, we’ll accept Richard’s offer and go through the commercial IRB to start collecting data in New York as soon as possible. However, I’ll make a donation of $15,000 to your foundation before Christmas this year, and you can’t refuse it.”
"With such a flexible schedule, you don't have to worry about me working overtime late into the night, okay?"
She had estimated that she could get it done in four weeks of her spare time, but she didn't want Ned to become suspicious.
Liang Siyu looked at her intently, unable to think of a reason to refuse, and could only nod.
She was so radiant, yet so aloof, even though she had just promised not to set her sights on other men.
His heart seemed to be split in two, one half loving her madly more, while the other half anxiously worried about the future.
An anxious intuition crept deeper and deeper into his heart, and he couldn't help but think that proposing in July might be too fast, and she might not agree.
He interrupted the thought, forcing himself to think of something happy—a date, yes, a date.
They tidied themselves up and went downstairs, walking along the boardwalk in the backyard towards the sea.
Xu Aida, wearing a life jacket, carrying a water bottle and a paddle, walked unsteadily.
Upon arriving at the boathouse, Liang Siyu released the rigging, removed the kayak from the support frame, and dragged it along the long wooden boardwalk by the bow until they reached the sea.
"Sit forward, be careful." He stood in the sea and helped her onto the boat first.
He pushed the stern of the kayak again, settled himself firmly at the back, skillfully controlled the boat, and left the shore.
In her past life, she had come to Long Island for summer vacation three or four times, always going with him to the club to row boats, and never noticed that there were kayaks in the houseboat.
“I thought you only rowed,” she muttered, turning to look at him.
“This belongs to Ed. His dad used to row with him a lot when he was in junior high.”
These small boats are very durable, and Ed, the older brother, had always taken good care of them, occasionally helping out as well.
After paddling for a distance, he retrieved the oars and let the small boat drift. This was an inner bay of Lloyd Harbor, where the morning was calm.
The brothers were seven years apart. Xu Aida asked with a smile, "You were only five or six years old back then, right?"
"Yeah, I only remember watching longingly from the dock, but my mom wouldn't let me go. What's worse, he came back and bragged about it to me."
She couldn't help but laugh when she imagined the scene.
Her brother Ed was almost the complete opposite of Ned. He was outgoing, flamboyant, humorous, and so familiar that he intimidated her, perfectly matching her stereotypes about Wall Street.
"So that's why you went rowing? To be different from him?" she asked, a little curious.
"It's not playing, it's training," he corrected.
"That's part of the reason. Ed has always been a swimmer, and he's a very good one. At that time, I saw a commercial that said rowing was the fastest water sport, and I wanted to surpass him."
He practiced swimming for a while when he first entered junior high school, but he was always a little worse than his brother.
She smiled and leaned closer to him: "So proud of yourself?"
He nodded in agreement, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, with a hidden meaning, "Hey, I realized that I was good at using external forces to improve work efficiency back then. Ada, we Homo sapiens should make good use of tools."
"Come on." This guy, seizing the opportunity, is trying to add value to her.
She gave him a push, but the boat started to rock, making her nervous.
He laughed and adjusted her life jacket: "Don't be afraid, look, you have a buoyancy boost too."
Feeling a little embarrassed, she reached for the oars: "Let's row one more circle, it's no fun just drifting around."
The small boat glided forward in the gentle breeze, with a vast ocean stretching into the distance. She knew her insistence was somewhat stubborn; what truly bothered her wasn't the money, but the fear of repeating the same mistakes.
She didn't want to develop the same mindset she had on her wedding day in her previous life, assuming he would always be by her side. Perhaps he would still leave next year?
She knew she couldn't resist his care, his companionship, and his tenderness, but at least she had to set an anchor point for herself, an anchor point that would make her believe she wouldn't fall for him again.
Financial independence and social independence are her life jackets when she drowns again.
She gripped the oar tightly, her knuckles turning white, unwilling to admit that the life jacket might have already leaked quite a bit of air, its psychological comfort far outweighing its actual value.
They went on a long trip and didn't get home until noon, where they ate something simple.
Claudia wasn't home today; she went to an art gallery event, which was also a way to give the two young people some time alone.
In the afternoon, Xu Aida changed into a linen dress: "Yesterday Granny Vivi said the peonies in the yard were about to bloom, and I wanted to go see them and take a walk with her."
They sat around a small table in the garden drinking tea. Sure enough, the creamy white peonies had bloomed this morning and were now emitting a sweet fragrance, like lemon and lemongrass.
Liang Siyu reminded her, "Granny, you've already eaten one of these desserts."
Jennifer gave a soft hum, but the little silver fork didn't stop: "Even bees can't stop me from enjoying honey."
She glanced at Ada again and reminded her grandson, "Ned, at home, you need to be a gentleman first. Don't always act like a doctor; girls won't like that."
Richard and Ed are much more mature; they never concern themselves with such matters and always prioritize making the lady happy. This silly boy, doesn't he know how to learn?
Hsu Ai-ta couldn't help but laugh.
In the evening, they went for a walk, with Liang Siyu naturally supporting his grandmother. As they passed the fence, she stopped and gestured to her grandson, "The freesias are just right now."
He bent down and broke off two branches, one to tuck into the brim of his grandmother's straw hat, and the other to Ada.
They walked along the path behind the mountain. Ada would occasionally hold the freesia to her nose to smell it, and sometimes she would quicken her pace forward a couple of steps.
She pointed to the wildflowers in the woods and asked her grandmother, "Look, what kind of flower is that?"
A natural and relaxed atmosphere, full of joy and ease.
His unease from that morning was somewhat soothed by her smile.
He tried to deceive himself by thinking, "Should I take a gamble in July? What if she accepts my proposal? Maybe she'll soften and won't want to disappoint or hurt me."
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Author's Note: Some random thoughts about Chapter 28:
First, the concepts of resonance and exchange in love.
Both perspectives have their merits, and it's best to view them in a balanced way. However, it's normal for us to have different perspectives when we're caught up in a relationship.
Secondly, regarding the idea of the uterus lottery, is Ned more correct?
From a social structure perspective, Ned's viewpoint isn't problematic. So why doesn't he dare to say it? His apparent concern is that Ada would be angry, but if we think about it, we'll realize that this viewpoint, in Ada's own reflection, is fine; it's also fine for those whose family wealth is less than Ada's; but for Ned to say it is simply inappropriate.
It is an oversimplification of the efforts of someone with greater wealth and privilege to simply categorize someone who needs to work harder to reach the same level as "the same as us."
I usually advocate "letting the story speak for itself" and trying not to write extra explanations, but because of the characters' personalities, the story is presented in a rather subtle way, so I've added a few more words.
Going forward, I'll try to let the story speak for itself as much as possible, hoping not to spoil everyone's reading experience. Best wishes!
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