Chapter 9: The Lucky Koi Share This Lucky Koi...
Jiang Xinglan paused, completely unexpected to see Shen Yuheng in this way.
On this holiday season of family reunion, I met someone I was relatively familiar with in a foreign land.
Jiang Xinglan watched his performance attentively, and only picked up her phone after the performance ended and the host reappeared.
In Jiang Xinglan's understanding, shouldn't fans express something, no matter how much or how little, about this kind of thing?
However, in her memory, Song Yu never seemed to have mentioned this matter, neither in her circle of friends nor in the laboratory.
Jiang Xinglan clicked into Song Yu's WeChat Moments and, sure enough, found no posts related to this matter before today.
The only relevant message was sent a few minutes earlier, cheering for Shen Yuheng.
Jiang Xinglan marveled at the fans' remarkable secrecy surrounding the event, then opened the trending topics list, where the top trending topic was—#ShenYuhengNewYearsEveGala#.
With a slight movement of her finger, she directly clicked on Shen Yuheng's homepage.
【Shen Yuheng V: Wishing all Chinese friends around the world a Happy Chinese New Year. With this song, I offer my solace.】
Video: Excerpt from the New Year's Eve Gala Performance
"@珩星星球: Brother's performance was amazing! The combination with traditional opera perfectly expressed the homesickness of a traveler!"
"@聿见珩光: That turn, that look in his eyes, Ah Wei keeps dying!"
…
Jiang Xinglan's gaze lingered on "Wanderer" for a moment before she looked up to her left.
The sun shines brightly outside the window, and the buildings in the distance shimmer in the sunlight.
The room was warm and cozy thanks to the sunlight.
But for no apparent reason, an unprecedented resonance quietly spread.
She thought she could probably be considered a wanderer now.
Before Jiang Xinglan could even process her feelings, she received a message from her junior sister:
Song Yu's Rain: "Senior sister! I've been holding back these past few days! I can finally say it!"
Song Yu's Rain: "Senior sister! Did you see that?! My brother has really made something of himself this year! He's even big enough to attend the New Year's Eve party!"
J_Stella: "I saw it."
Song Yu's Rain: "Isn't Senior Sister abroad?"
J_Stella: "The meeting ended early today, so I had nothing to do and watched the evening show."
Song Yu's Rain: "Oh, senior sister, do you also think Shen Yuheng is super awesome!"
Song Yu's Rain: "You have no idea, he specially found a professional drama teacher to study with for more than a month for this program."
Song Yu's Rain: "In the beginning, before filming wrapped up, I was constantly traveling between the two places. It only got a little better after filming wrapped up and I returned to Beijing."
So that's why Shen Yuheng looks thinner than Yun Cheng?
Jiang Xinglan moved the mouse and stopped it on the scene where Shen Yuheng was performing.
J_Stella: "I checked your WeChat Moments, and it seems you didn't post anything about him being at the gala?"
Song Yu's Rain: "Oh, this! We fans have agreed internally not to publicize it outside until everything is settled."
J_Stella: "I see."
Song Yu's Rain: "Senior sister asked me so many questions, do you want to become a fan of him with me?"
Song Yu's Rain: "Seriously, investing in this stock is a sure win!"
Faced with her junior sister's enthusiastic invitation, Jiang Xinglan's fingertip hovered above the phone screen for a long time.
J_Stella: "No need."
Song Yu's Rain: "Okay!"
After finishing her chat with Song Yu, Jiang Xinglan watched Shen Yuheng's performance again before continuing to watch the New Year's Eve Gala.
After Jiang Xinglan finished eating, the message notification sounded again.
Shen Yuheng: "Happy New Year's Eve, Teacher Jiang!"
J_Stella: "Happy Lunar New Year's Eve, the show was great."
Shen Yuheng's eyes lit up as he returned home by car.
Shen Yuheng: "Did Teacher Jiang see it?"
JXL: "Yeah, when I turned on the broadcast, it was your turn to appear on the show."
Shen Yuheng: "Rebroadcast?"
JXL: "I'm abroad, so I can only watch the live broadcast."
JXL: "So I was particularly moved by the homesickness expressed in the program."
Shen Yuheng knew without even thinking why she was abroad.
Nevertheless, the two lines of text before him seemed to transform into an invisible hand, gently gripping Shen Yuheng's heart, causing him an uncontrollable, dense pang of heartache.
He felt some regret, regretting that when he applied for the program, he chose one that expressed homesickness.
If he could go back in time, he would definitely choose something else, whatever it may be, so that she wouldn't feel so lonely now.
Jiang Xinglan, who hadn't received a reply for a long time, assumed that Shen Yuheng was busy with other things. After putting her phone on silent, she began to organize the contents of the morning meeting.
Therefore, Jiang Xinglan only saw Shen Yuheng's reply before going to bed that night.
Shen Yuheng: "Please take care, and I look forward to your early return to China."
This was followed by an introduction to several newly opened restaurants in Jinghua.
Shen Yuheng: "These restaurants have very unique environments and flavors. If you have the chance after you return to China, Professor Jiang, you can try them out."
---
Shen Yuheng was somewhat frustrated when he didn't receive a reply from Jiang Xinglan last night, but all his frustration vanished the moment he opened his phone.
JXL: "I'll take your recommendation and go if I have time."
Shen Yuheng held his phone and chuckled to himself for a while before getting up, opening the curtains, and stretching.
The first day of the Lunar New Year is indeed an auspicious day for everything!
Shen Yuheng originally intended to reply, but based on his understanding of the venue of this academic conference, he guessed that it was probably still late at night for Jiang Xinglan, so he gave up the idea.
Shen Yuheng was still smug, feeling that his relationship with Jiang Xinglan had finally made progress.
But soon, that feeling vanished completely.
When Shen Yuheng asked Jiang Xinglan some academic questions, he received the same polite reply and recommendations for relevant papers.
Even on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Shen Yuheng happily prepared some riddles, intending to share them with Jiang Xinglan.
Shen Yuheng: "Happy Lantern Festival."
Shen Yuheng: "The company has prepared a few riddles. Would you like to try them out, Teacher Jiang?"
After sending this message, Shen Yuheng had already entered the riddle he had prepared in advance into the input box, and was just waiting to receive Jiang Xinglan's reply before sending it.
JXL: "Thank you, but no need. Happy Lantern Festival."
Shen Yuheng's hand, which was about to press the send button, suddenly stopped. He held the phone, somewhat at a loss.
He thought that after their conversation on New Year's Eve, he had finally managed to crack a sliver in that transparent wall and truly connect with her world.
But now he feels that it was just an illusion; from beginning to end, he was politely turned away.
This feeling of gaining and then losing something made him more panicked than if he had never had it at all.
Shen Yuheng pondered for several days but still couldn't figure it out. He even wanted to rush to her research institute, stand in front of her, and tell her everything.
But how could he dare?
All his courage was crushed by that "Thank you, but no need."
Having no other choice, Shen Yuheng registered a fake account on a search engine website.
Post a message.
Question: Why is it that when I feel the person I like is being nicer to me, she suddenly goes back to how she was before?
Soon, Shen Yuheng received a reply.
Netizen A: "Why do you care so much! Just go for it!"
Netizen B: "If you're good-looking, you can try the method upstairs; if you're ugly, forget it."
Netizen C: "She's definitely trolling. Try ignoring her and see what happens!"
Netizen D: "Share this lucky koi fish image, and your goddess will immediately follow you!"
Shen Yuheng looked at the diverse replies from netizens and slammed his laptop shut.
What a load of nonsense this is, but...
That evening, all of Shen Yuheng's fans saw their idol reposting a post about a lucky koi fish.
This left the fans completely confused.
"@Hengxingxingqiu: Bro? What happened to you?"
"@HengCosmicObservatory: What happened?! @ChenYuhengStudio"
"@珩星-锦鲤保佑: Retweet this post //@沈聿珩V: Retweet this lucky koi..."
---
After the Lantern Festival, Jiang Xinglan, sitting in her office, opened her social media app, searched for Song Yu, and notified her to come over.
Not long after, there was a knock on the office door.
Having received permission, Song Yu pushed open the door and entered, her face showing the nervousness and trepidation one would feel when summoned by their mentor. "Senior sister, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I called you over mainly to ask about the progress of your recent experiments," Jiang Xinglan said gently, gesturing to a chair. "Sit down and let's talk."
Song Yu sat down properly in the chair and said in a serious manner, "My experiment before the New Year mainly involved extracting SER3 protein and injecting the extract into mice with the SER3 gene knocked out via intraperitoneal injection. The mice's cognitive abilities showed a trend of recovery."
“Yes, there’s a recovery trend, which is naturally good,” Jiang Xinglan nodded, her tone as gentle as if she were discussing the weather. “Have you ever wondered how the SER3 protein injected intraperitoneally crosses the blood-brain barrier and takes effect?”
Song Yu was taken aback, clearly not having considered this point. "Huh? I haven't thought about that..."
"Don't be nervous," Jiang Xinglan tapped the table with her usual pen, "I asked you to come here to help you redesign the experiment to verify this."
"Yes!" Song Yu nodded heavily.
"We now have two options: one is to find someone to take SER3 across the blood-brain barrier, and the other is to directly open a backdoor for SER3. Which one do you want to try?"
"What's the difference?" Song Yu asked.
"Hmm..." Jiang Xinglan leaned back in her chair. "There's not much difference. If I had to say, it might be the difference between following Senior Sister Su Wan and following me?"
“I choose Senior Sister Xinglan!” Song Yu said directly.
"If your senior sister Su Wan heard this, she'd be really upset," Jiang Xinglan joked, easing the tense atmosphere.
As if suddenly remembering something, Jiang Xinglan asked, "By the way, why did your profile picture suddenly become a koi fish?"
A note from the author:
----------------------
The research-related content is all fabricated! (I'm saying it three times because it's important!)
Then, let me explain why J_Stella and JXL changed their identities mainly due to perspective. From Jiang Xinglan's perspective, she was the one sending the message to Shen Yuheng, so it would be: J_Stella
From the male protagonist's perspective: When he receives a message from Jiang Xinglan, it will show as JXL (which is actually the nickname he gave her in his contacts).
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