He's my senior, how could I not know?
"He's my senior, how could I not know?"
73.
On the last day of May, the Triennial Competition and Committee Re-election Conference of the Particle Physics Society was held at the International Conference Center of Nanlu University.
Chongming and Lanjian got up very early. Lanjian was both a staff member and a contestant today, but since the organizer was her supervisor, Xue Xiang, she didn't have high hopes of winning an award this time. After all, three years ago, when she was still at Nanhua University, as a staff member, she only received an encouragement award for her English oral presentation due to reasons such as avoiding conflicts of interest and the breadth of the topic. Of course, she secretly hoped to make a comeback this year and win an award for the lab and the nuclear research institute. Unfortunately, the doctoral qualifying exam and hosting the conference had taken up too much of her time, and she only finished revising her presentation in the early hours of this morning.
Lan Jian practiced her speech in the passenger seat. Her spoken English was better than her written English, and Chongming listened quietly for a while before becoming certain that she would win the award. He waited until it was almost time to get her out of the car, saying, "Remember to come to the conference hall at noon to help me count the votes. I won't be there for your competition this afternoon. Just make sure you bet on the time and don't go over it. I believe you can do it!"
Lan Jian unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned towards the driver's seat before getting out of the car. Chongming gave her a familiar, light kiss on the forehead. After the kiss, he turned his head and whispered in Lan Jian's ear, "Junior sister, remember not to give yourself away in front of your teachers and friends at Huada University."
Lan Jian playfully pushed him away, "You're the one who should be, Senior Brother!"
The couple, who kept saying they wanted to play the role of "senior brother and sister" in front of outsiders, couldn't help but smile knowingly when they heard each other's names from strangers.
The morning was filled with speeches and poster competitions. Chongming was in charge of managing the poster selection process when he unexpectedly ran into the same duo who had "unanimously" discussed Meng Lanjian in Professor Sang's lab two years ago. They had come with Professor Sang. Before, everyone in the lab looked like students, so Chongming hadn't noticed anything special. But when the two of them, dressed in matching suits, greeted him respectfully, Chongming suddenly realized they looked somewhat alike. They politely introduced themselves: the thinner boy was named Gu Yusui, and the boy with a slightly chubby face was named Xiao Zefan.
Before taking the two to put up the bulletin board, he chatted with them. They were Meng Lanjian's classmates in university, and after staying on to pursue a direct promotion, they were now continuing their doctoral studies under Professor Sang. Because the Sang and Jing families' labs had a good relationship, the three classmates were very close when they were at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Xiao Zefan was the first to spot Meng Lanjian not far away and nudged Gu Yu with his shoulder, saying, "Look, look! Is that guy squatting for cockroaches at the seminar again?"
"What are seminar cockroaches?" Chongming asked, puzzled.
"Oh, it's when students from other departments in the school know that a conference is being held here, so they pretend to be participants and come to freeload. They're called 'conference cockroaches' in short."
After Xiao Zefan finished explaining, Gu Yu added, "When it was held at Huada last time, the three of us were staff members. Meng Lanjian was responsible for catching cockroaches at the seminar. Every time he caught one, he would write it down and ask them to come and help clean up after the seminar."
"Isn't this... conscription?" As soon as he finished speaking, a high-pitched and clear female voice suddenly appeared in Chongming's mind. After a moment of stunned silence, he couldn't help but chuckle.
In the depths of his hazy memory, three years ago, when he had just returned to China and was invited to attend a seminar at the University of Washington, he heard someone shouting from a corner of the corridor, "Hey guys from the Physics Department, if you dare not come back to help, I'll personally go down to your labs and conscript men!"
He found it amusing and glanced back towards the source of the sound, only to see the back of a person in a seminar uniform. A young and beautiful girl with a neat ponytail skipped and swung her ponytail as she left through the emergency exit, a stark contrast to her cold and aggressive shouts.
At that moment, Chongming thought that he might have misheard.
Looking back on this incident now, the fierce yet bouncy image does indeed match Lan Jian's own personality.
Gu Xiao and Meng Lanjian hadn't seen each other for a long time, and like a pair of little shadows, they automatically joined the staff.
The three of them whispered and gossiped. Gu Yu said that he and his companion had hitched a ride with Jing You today, and Meng Lanjian immediately perked up her ears to ask, "How are things going between Teacher Sang and the old fox?"
Professor Sang is almost a decade older than Jingyou and was once his teacher's wife. I heard that when Professor Sang was at the Nuclear Research Institute of Nanhua University, she was married to a professor, but they divorced for some unknown reason and had no children. After the divorce, Professor Sang went to Huazhong University of Science and Technology. After Jingyou arrived at Nanhua University, he pursued Professor Sang intensely. Now, almost twenty years have passed, and Jingyou is still single.
This gossip was no secret at Huada University. Xiao Zefan shook his head. "No matter how much Professor Jing tried to curry favor, Professor Sang remained polite and courteous. If it weren't for the two of us being there today, Professor Sang wouldn't have even agreed to meet Professor Jing."
car. "
"If Teacher Sang could be so easily swayed by an old fox, would the two of them have wasted twenty years?" Meng Lanjian was chatting happily, calling out her former boss's nickname, when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine. The moment she saw the expressions on Gu and Xiao's faces, she knew that the person standing behind her was definitely not the gentle and beautiful Teacher Sang.
"I think you two aren't 'prosperous when you encounter water,' but rather 'unlucky when you encounter a stream'!"
Gu Yusui and Xiao Zefan have a nickname called "Prosperity When Encountering Water". It was given to them by Lan Jian after he called their names "Yusui Zefan" together and realized that it sounded a lot like "Prosperity When Encountering Water" when he pronounced it quickly.
Hearing the familiar yet long-lost teasing tone behind her, Meng Lanjian pursed her lips and slightly adjusted her facial expression, putting on a smiling face to greet him, "Oh, our respected Daddy Jing is here! It's been so long, I've really missed you!"
Jing You has long, conductor-like hair and a beard. Meng Lanjian always jokes with Gu Xiao that if he weren't dressed so well, people might think that a wandering painter had come to Huada University.
Jing You easily dodged Meng Lanjian's attempt to hug him, saying, "You silly girl, it's been almost two years since I last saw you. Why are you still acting all pretentious when you see your father?"
Jing You was straightforward and unmarried, often mingling with his students and earning the nickname "Father Jing." Meng Lanjian, his direct disciple, found the title cloying and almost never called him that. The teacher-student relationship was chaotic. When things were good, Jing You would take Meng Lanjian on a picnic to a reservoir in the mountains, carrying his violin. While she was sketching, he would accompany her, gazing at the sky at a 45-degree angle and lamenting his tragic love story. Most of the time, their arguments were about academic matters, and the neighboring labs could hear them. On one occasion, Gu Xiao and the other teacher couldn't persuade the teacher and student to stop arguing so heatedly that they had to ask Teacher Sang to intervene and mediate.
Before coming to Nanjing University to pursue her doctorate, Meng Lanjian had a vague sense of pessimism, believing that the best time of her life was spent at Nanhua University.
It wasn't until she arrived at the twelfth floor of the nuclear research institute that she realized one shouldn't speak too soon.
Jing You, one of the key creators of what was once the "best time," reappeared before Meng Lanjian. She put away her insincere fawning smile, pouted, and said, "Teacher, you know we haven't seen each other for almost two years? Every time I wanted to go back to Huada to see you, you wouldn't let me go!"
The "Water Brings Prosperity" duo, seeing the situation was turning against them, immediately fled, leaving the long-separated teacher and student to pour out their hearts to each other.
"Are you bored out of your mind at Nanjing University? Why did you come back to see me?" Jing You bluntly shattered the affected atmosphere that Meng Lanjian had created. "I heard you're going to X University for a joint program? You're quite capable!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Meng Lanjian got a little annoyed by his retort, instantly reverting to the way they used to bicker and argue two years ago. "One of my three recommendation letters was written by you!"
"Didn't I ask you to write the template yourself and then I'd modify it for you? How could I remember it so clearly..." Jing You said, looking Meng Lanjian up and down. "Why are you suddenly acting like a child? The bravery you used to show when arguing with me has been swallowed up by the monsters here at the Nuclear Research Institute?"
Hearing the second half of Jing You's sentence, Lan Jian suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Back at Nanhua University, she was an immature undergraduate, a fledgling graduate student. But at Nanlu University, she had transformed into a doctoral student, always maintaining a proper attitude and knowing her place. She could no longer joke around with professors or argue heatedly over academic pursuits like she did in university. Here, in the nuclear research institute teeming with talent and scholars, everyone told her to be humble and not to be willful or temperamental. Everyone treated her kindly; she was Meng Lan Jian of the twelfth floor, but she was no longer the Meng Lan Jian of Nanhua University.
This feeling was overshadowed by the novelty of going to Nanjing University when she first left Huaqiao University. But time flies, and familiar faces returned to her. Meng Lanjian knew in her heart that this was her first meeting with them in two years, and also her last meeting for the next two years.
"Because I've grown up now!" Meng Lanjian said, suppressing the sadness of parting, feigning nonchalance. "Don't always treat me like a child. I'm going to be Professor Meng's person someday!"
Jingyou still had that same disdainful stubble, his casually curled hair swaying as he shook his head. "Even if you're incredibly powerful, you're still just a little kid in our eyes. Unless you never call me 'teacher' again, then I'll..."
"Meng Lanjian!" Guan Shaoxiao's voice came from afar. He was extremely busy on his end, and when he saw Meng Lanjian chatting with someone, he called out to her, "Go and ask Chongming if he ordered separate lunch boxes for the school's midday election or if they're included with ours!"
When Meng Lanjian turned back, Jing You had already walked away alone.
The midday election was mainly handled by Chongming and Lanjian. Those present were all academic heavyweights, and both were extremely careful with their voices; Lanjian had to stand on tiptoe to speak, and Chongming had to bend over. Perhaps because their actions of listening intently to each other in the corner were so perfectly synchronized, Jingyou, sitting idly, snapped a few photos and sent them to Meng Lanjian.
Meng Lanjian saw the message after her competition that afternoon. She thought Chongming was too busy to come, but after she finished her bowing speech, she still saw Chongming leaning against the door panel at the back door of the competition room.
After the Q&A session, Lan Jian jogged off the stage. Jing You, sitting on the judges' panel, glanced back at the back door while the next contestant was preparing their presentation. The two senior and junior students were chatting and laughing. If it weren't inappropriate, he would have liked to take a few more candid photos of the well-matched couple.
—His beloved student, whom he had watched grow up since he was a teenager, has finally met someone he likes at the same age he once was. She's no longer the little girl who would be heartbroken if her pen pal forgot to reply on time!
Lan Jian and Chong Ming thought they had concealed their true feelings well in front of everyone, but little did they know that their subtle intimacy had already made them make numerous mistakes.
Xiao Zefan happened to pass by Chongming and overheard him discussing "desserts" with a middle-aged man in a suit. As if he had heard something incredible, he ran up to Gu Yusui and said, "Senior Chongming can actually talk so casually about desserts in a setting like this? Am I just being naive?!"
Meng Lanjian happened to be bringing over afternoon tea when she heard this. Her expression of disdain, which she shared with Jing You, appeared on her face. "He was discussing the 'sweetpoint' measured when they sent the instrument to the Nuclear Research Institute for calibration with the people from the dose detection company!"
How do you even know this?
"He's my senior, how could I not know?"
The speaker may not have meant anything by it, but the listener took it to heart.
The "Prosperous When Water is Found" duo's noses for gossip were as sharp as Zhuang Huiting's. They continued to chat about Chongming in front of Meng Lanjian, just like they had deliberately mentioned Lanjian in front of the Chongming senior back then, hoping to leave a good impression on Meng Lanjian in front of the future senior.
Gu Yusui: "Your senior from Chongming seems really amazing. I saw several big shots discussing with him. You hang around your senior every day, have you managed to learn anything from him?"
Meng Lanjian: "No, all he does all day is tell me to write code, write code, write code. I'm about to throw up from writing so much!"
Xiao Zefan: "So, when you look at Senior Chongming's face every day, don't you unconsciously swoon and feel a surge of romantic feelings?"
Meng Lanjian: "No, I'm just tired of the same old aesthetic."
Gu Yusui: "You're kidding me. The first thing you did when you came back from Nanjing University was to tell us that you met a senior who was exactly your type, and the key thing is that he wasn't bald!"
Meng Lanjian couldn't deny it any longer. They knew each other inside and out, so she honestly laid it on the table, "Are you two blind? Can't you see that I'm not just infatuated with my senior brother, but I also like him!"
Having gotten the answer they wanted, the duo excitedly gave each other a high five in celebration. Meng Lanjian didn't bother with their nonsense and went on to attend to her studies.
When she heard her name called, Meng Lanjian was sitting with Chongming in the last few rows of the conference hall, reviewing whether the vote counts in the photos she had taken during the vote counting matched the final registration. Her phone accidentally scrolled to a snapshot Jingyou had sent her; she had saved it in her album and hadn't intended to send it to Chongming, but he quickly intercepted her phone and forwarded it to their chat window.
Meng Lanjian was just about to grab the phone back to cancel the announcement when she suddenly heard her own name called. Thinking someone was asking her to help at the front desk, she quickly walked to the side of the stage. If Zhuang Huiting hadn't pushed her onto the stage, she wouldn't have known she was the winner—
He was also the only recipient of the "Young Scholar Award" at the event.
She stood on the radiant stage, thinking she was in the spotlight because of the lights, unaware that in the eyes of the many people who had watched her journey, the one who truly shone was Meng Lanjian.
The audience, including Chongming, whose heart and eyes were filled with nothing but Meng Lanjian.
@Lanjian: Actually, I have a trio name with "Prosperity When You Meet Water".
@Chongming: Could it be called "Menglanjian flourishes when it encounters water"?
@Lanjian: ...I feel like this name would be better...Actually, we call it "Suddenly encountering water and then flourishing".
@Chongming: ...
@RandomlyEnteredJingyou: I understand the joy of shipping couples now!
@Author: Half of the nuclear research institute's staff have arrived!
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