Jiang Yubai missed Lin Zhixia's voice, breath, temperature, the way she looked at him, the soft laugh in his ear, the fingers that stroked his neck and shoulders... He could not clearly reproduce the past scenes in his mind. The fragmented fragments were enough to make him feel bound by longing.
At six o'clock in the evening, the plane landed at Boston Airport.
Jiang Yubai took a car from Boston, passing the Longfellow Bridge, and soon arrived in Cambridge. The driver stopped the car on the side of the road, and Jiang Yubai called Lin Zhixia again. She hurried down from the upstairs and ran towards Jiang Yubai happily: "I miss you so much!"
In the biting cold wind, Lin Zhixia's face was slightly red from the cold. Her eyes were amazingly bright, as if there were stars twinkling in the sky. The white street lights lengthened her reflection. She said again: "I miss you so much."
Lin Zhixia only used four words to break through Jiang Yubai's defense. He stretched out his hand to her, and she grabbed it. She asked softly, "Do you miss me?"
Jiang Yubai sighed: "How could I not want to?"
He took Lin Zhixia into the car.
The headlights broke through the darkness, and the car was still moving forward.
During the trip, Lin Zhixia was discussing her recent research progress with Jiang Yubai. She worked fourteen hours a day, waking up at six in the morning and going to bed at eleven at night. During lunch time, she would catch up with her colleagues to talk about the topic. Jiang Yubai asked her, "Are your colleagues working hard?"
Lin Zhixia summarized: "Most of the colleagues in our group have a hard time because the boss has a high recruitment threshold and high job requirements... I came to this group just to enter their laboratory, and now I have used almost all of their equipment."
Speaking of experimental equipment, Jiang Yubai turned the topic to the "PTSIC" quantum programming language platform founded by Lin Zhixia.
At present, the entire platform is affiliated with senior Wei Ruoxing's laboratory. However, Wei Ruoxing has her own projects, and her laboratory cannot fully meet Lin Zhixia's development needs.
Jiang Yubai plans to set up a quantum technology company for Lin Zhixia in the name of an Internet company to fully support the future development of "PTSIC" and no longer have to trouble Wei Ruoxing to use her laboratory resources.
Jiang Yubai took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Lin Zhixia: "This is the first version of the business plan for the 'Quantum Technology Laboratory'. Take some time to flip through it. We will discuss the specific content of the cooperation in detail when you return to China."
Lin Zhixia stared at Jiang Yubai closely: "You..."
Jiang Yubai looked at her: "Me?"
Lin Zhixia said solemnly: "Mr. Jiang."
Jiang Yubai leaned close to her ear and said, "I'm not a kid anymore."
Lin Zhixia's breathing stagnated.
Yes.
Jiang Yubai is not young anymore.
Many years ago, whenever Lin Zhixia called him "Little Jiang Zong", he would be extremely shy and embarrassed, avoiding her and not daring to look her in the eye. But now, his reaction was beyond Lin Zhixia's expectations.
Jiang Yubai booked a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel, which cost more than 4,000 US dollars a night, more than Lin Zhixia's monthly rent. Lin Zhixia had long been accustomed to this economic gap. She carried her schoolbag and walked into the room with confidence, walked to the master bedroom, and pressed the mattress with both hands.
Jiang Yubai took off his coat and said casually, "I'm going to take a shower."
Lin Zhixia turned around and looked at him: "I'm going too."
Lin Zhixia meant that she was going to take a shower in another bathroom. Jiang Yubai, however, unbuttoned a button of his shirt, intentionally exposing his collarbone, and left the bathroom door wide open, ready to welcome Lin Zhixia in for a visit.
Why is this happening?
After just a few months of not seeing each other, Lin Zhixia felt that Jiang Yu was using more and more tricks to take advantage of her.
Jiang Yubai does have his own considerations.
Jiang Yubai guessed that the reason why Lin Zhixia was willing to meet him on Christmas was because most of the research groups' projects were suspended during Christmas and the researchers went home to celebrate the holiday. Jiang Yubai had a rare opportunity to be alone with Lin Zhixia, so he decided to let go of his self-restraint appropriately.
Jiang Yubai prepared himself mentally and turned on the faucet of the bath. The sound of water was rippling and warm mist filled the air. He sat in the rippling pool and heard Lin Zhixia ask him, "Are you taking a bath?"
He said nothing.
Lin Zhixia sneaked in.
Jiang Yubai leaned back.
Lin Zhixia was wearing a nightgown, kneeling on the edge of the bathtub. She looked at his whole body through the clear water. She was stunned for a moment, then reached out to touch him cautiously: "I... I saw you for the first time..." She paused in the middle of the sentence, suddenly raised her head, and stammered: "I dare not look at you again."
Jiang Yubai grabbed her wrist and kissed the back of her hand. Then he let her go and moved to another place to sit quietly. Lin Zhixia looked at his profile and was deeply tempted by him. She followed him into the water. When the water level reached her thighs, she retreated to the shore as if she had just woken up from a dream.
Jiang Yubai is Lin Zhixia's swimming coach. She clearly remembers what he looked like in swimming trunks, but she hasn't explored him to the last step. Even though they have lived together for a year, Lin Zhixia has not crossed the most dangerous line.
Those short ten seconds just now left a deep impression on Lin Zhixia.
Strong curiosity drove her to follow Jiang Yubai, but reason told her to stay where she was. She was in a state of confusion, and finally, she quickly fled the scene.
Lin Zhixia and Jiang Yubai stayed in the hotel throughout Christmas. They went out for a walk during the day, and played some games that only the two of them understood at night. At night, they slept in the same bed as usual, but Lin Zhixia became particularly honest and she no longer asked Jiang Yubai to unbutton her clothes for her to study.
The winter in Boston is cold and humid, but the room is bright and warm. On the last day of the Christmas holiday, Jiang Yubai and Lin Zhixia said goodbye at the bedroom door. Lin Zhixia gave Jiang Yubai a bag of golden camellia seeds. She said that when Jiang Yubai returned home, he would plant the golden camellia in a pot, and when the golden camellia bloomed next autumn, Lin Zhixia would return to China.
Camellia chrysantha is native to China. Lin Zhixia got its seeds at a botanical academic exchange meeting. Its flower language is "ideal love."
That pot of Camellia chrysantha became the first plant that Jiang Yubai planted personally.
Jiang Yubai placed the flower pot on the windowsill of his office and took good care of it every day. He also took time to read two books on "flower gardening" and consulted a professional bonsai master.
He and Lin Zhixia were very busy with their daily work, and the two maintained a weekly call record. Lin Zhixia published papers faster than when she was a doctoral student. Jiang Yubai watched her growth, just like waiting for a golden camellia to bloom.
Senior Wei Ruoxing taught Lin Zhixia how to apply for the Young Thousand Talents Program. With Lin Zhixia's academic resume to date, she quickly passed the university's resume screening and submitted her application materials in June 2015.
Lin Zhixia didn't know how fierce the competition was for this year's "Young Thousand Talents" program. She didn't ask anyone, but simply told Professor Shen Zhaohua about her plan - if she was lucky enough, she would become Professor Shen Zhaohua's colleague.
Professor Shen Zhaohua quickly replied to her and asked her whether her scientific research in the United States was going smoothly.
Lin Zhixia said truthfully that during her year in the United States, she got up early and went to bed late every day, closed off from social circles, and focused on scientific research. Her life was very peaceful, just like she was in seclusion. Lin Zhixia also provided a lot of new ideas for their research group, and collaborated with the boss of the group on two papers. All the colleagues in the group were very hardworking, and she learned a lot of new concepts and knowledge. Now, she can't wait to return to China.
The next second, the email notification sounded.
Lin Zhixia opened an email from Jiang Yubai. She saw a golden camellia in full bloom in a flowerpot, with tender yellow petals, lush branches and leaves, and a very beautiful scene.
Jiang Yubai wrote in the letter: "The flowers are blooming, it's time to go home."
Lin Zhixia replied to Jiang Yubai with four words: "See you next Monday."
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