Chapter 18: Soothing Teacher Shen is also precious.
In the early hours of the morning, a sigh drifted out from the laboratory.
Large patches of blue light shone on the screen next to the microscope, indicating that the cells had died, but it was far less alarming than what Lin Yuan saw through the microscope.
My vision was filled with fragments of cells, as if I had just experienced an explosion.
Lin Yuan slowly straightened up, sat in the chair, staring blankly at the screen without saying a word.
The entire filming location was quiet, with only the sound of the equipment running.
Shen Yuheng's faint sigh echoed in everyone's heart.
Through his performance, everyone on set felt the despair brought about by the failure of the experiment, especially when it failed again and again without being able to find the reason.
Everyone's gaze unconsciously shifted to Jiang Xinglan, wondering if this teacher Jiang also had such moments of despair.
"Teacher Jiang, what do you think of Yu Heng's performance?" The screenwriter leaned close to Jiang Xinglan and asked in a low voice.
Jiang Xinglan crossed her arms over her chest, watching Shen Yuheng through the monitor.
Upon hearing this question, she looked up at Shen Yuheng on set and frankly said, "Very good, very real."
It was so real that she felt like she saw herself in him.
Shen Yuheng's current state was all too familiar to her.
Even though everything is going smoothly, and you're just one step away from success, you always fail for various reasons, then start over, and fail again.
"Yuheng, hold on a little longer!"
"Cut! That last take is good!" Director Liu's voice rang out on set, injecting a touch of energy into the space.
Staff responsible for lighting, props, and other tasks entered the filming location one after another, instantly enlivening the entire set.
Only Shen Yuheng remained seated, still absorbed in his thoughts.
When his gaze fell upon the vast expanse of blue, many thoughts came to mind.
He recalled Professor Zhao's gentle tone, telling him, "Who says failure is necessarily a bad outcome?"
He thought of the blue mark that Jiang Xinglan had taken him to see before filming began—a mistake that could be considered a mistake, but one that helped her develop the correct operating habits.
He thought of Jiang Xinglan, who was alone abroad on New Year's Eve and could only watch the live broadcast.
And Jiang Xinglan, who recently forwarded his post late at night but then quickly deleted it.
These fragments, big and small, made him realize that the failures and despair he had experienced in the past three or four hours due to the experiment were just routine for her and for researchers.
Shen Yuheng forced himself to detach himself from this emotion.
He looked up, scanning the chaos of the film set, and precisely locked his gaze on Jiang Xinglan in the crowd.
The two looked at each other from a distance. Shen Yuheng nodded slightly and, accompanied by his assistant, left the filming location first.
Some things are not suitable to be said at this moment.
Jiang Xinglan seemed to understand the deeper meaning in his eyes and also sensed the weariness revealed in them.
All the failed shots were scheduled for this day.
For someone like Shen Yuheng, who is an experiential learner, it is indeed very mentally taxing.
Jiang Xinglan was impressed that although all the scenes were filmed on the same day, Shen Yuheng’s emphasis on each performance was different.
Even after Jiang Xinglan returned home, she was still comparing Shen Yuheng's performance with her own reaction in the same situation.
But later Jiang Xinglan felt that if it were her, she definitely wouldn't have been able to endure so much in one day.
"Fortunately, it's just because of the adjustment of the filming schedule," Jiang Xinglan murmured, leaning back on the sofa.
After resting for a while, Jiang Xinglan picked up her phone from the coffee table and sent a message.
"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Shen."
"You acted very well today, very realistically."
Shen Yuheng, who has also returned home, is watching a program that was recorded in Yuncheng at the end of last year.
After filming today's scenes, he was overwhelmed with a multitude of emotions.
He felt he needed to look at something to distract himself.
Just then, the cell phone that was placed to the side suddenly rang.
Shen Yuheng's gaze fell on the lit screen—it was the name he had silently recited many times.
He grabbed his phone, opened the chat window, and saw two messages from Jiang Xinglan.
He was stunned, and a dense, subtle pain welled up in his heart.
He twitched his fingers slightly. "Teacher Jiang, this is not enough."
Soon, the other side replied with a puzzled emoji.
Perhaps it was because he had accumulated too much emotion today, or perhaps it was the caring message she had just sent that gave him courage.
He subtly moved his fingers and dialed a voice call.
Just a second before the bell rang, Jiang Xinglan was still pondering the meaning behind Shen Yuheng's words.
Completely unprepared for this phone call, Jiang Xinglan hesitated for a moment.
Some inexplicable emotions prompted her to press the answer button when the phone rang three times.
On the other end, Shen Yuheng's tense nerves relaxed the moment the call connected, and he silently breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after the call was connected, a silent silence ensued.
Only the soft sounds of breathing intertwined through an invisible thread.
Time passed slowly, and Jiang Xinglan felt her ears getting warm, so she spoke first, "Teacher Shen."
Unexpectedly, the moment she opened her mouth, Shen Yuheng's voice clearly reached her ears.
"Teacher Jiang."
They both chuckled softly, and the next moment their voices intertwined again, "You go first."
Shen Yuheng quickly added, "Teacher Jiang, you go first."
"Okay!" Jiang Xinglan touched her earlobe. "What do you mean by 'Teacher Shen's explanation wasn't enough'?"
"I just felt that I was exhausted after only acting for a few hours."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and Jiang Xinglan seemed to hear him taking a deep breath.
"I can't imagine how much perseverance researchers needed to keep going when faced with these failures in the countless days that followed."
"Although I don't think failure is so bad, it's still a result. But you can't just get used to it by experiencing it a lot. It will always leave some marks in your heart."
"Moreover, for various reasons or for some consideration, you may end up having to deal with it all by yourself, and those moments must be very difficult to endure."
Shen Yuheng's every word struck her heart precisely—a corner she herself had probably almost forgotten.
Whenever an experiment went wrong, her parents, family, teachers, and friends would tell her:
"It's okay, you can do it next time."
"You've achieved so much at your age, it's already very good."
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself; eating well and sleeping well are the most important things."
Everyone cares for her and loves her in their own way, and she never doubts that.
Over time, Jiang Xinglan felt that she didn't need it anymore.
If an experiment fails, just start over; it's no big deal.
But Shen Yuheng's words today reminded her of these things again.
Perhaps deep down, these failures still left their mark on her.
But she never expected that this recognition would come from Shen Yuheng.
I never imagined that those hidden traces would be gradually smoothed out.
Jiang Xinglan remained silent for a long time, and Shen Yuheng did not urge her either.
Silence fell again for a moment.
Until Jiang Xinglan let out a very soft sigh from the other end of the phone, gently brushing against Shen Yuheng's heart.
Then he heard her say, “I’ve heard a saying, ‘The next door is the potential territory.’ Besides, every researcher has an unsolvable problem behind them, and so do I. So, we have no way back but to move forward.”
“Therefore,” Shen Yuheng said without any hesitation, “such researchers are even more precious. Professor Jiang is one of them.”
Jiang Xinglan felt as if her heart skipped a beat.
My usually rational brain briefly paused at that moment.
She heard herself say, "Teacher Shen is also very precious."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Xinglan's phone emitted a notification sound indicating that the call had been disconnected.
Immediately, her phone vibrated. It was a message from Shen Yuheng: "Teacher Jiang, I'm sorry, the signal suddenly dropped!"
"Teacher Jiang, it's getting late, goodnight!"
She was taken aback, feeling both amused and exasperated.
But she considers herself to be understanding.
Especially with friends, and friends with whom you've just gained their approval.
So she simply replied, "Goodnight."
Then I gave him my other social media account.
Now that we're friends, there's no need to use the work ID anymore.
But to her surprise, she soon received a friend request, as if the other person had been waiting for this day.
After processing the friend requests, she got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the city night view outside, with its towering buildings and brilliant lights.
For some reason, Jiang Xinglan felt quite good at that moment.
But Shen Yuheng wasn't as leisurely as Jiang Xinglan.
He was somewhat agitated at that moment.
"Teacher Shen is also very precious."
These seven words struck him squarely in the heart.
Almost instantly, Shen Yuheng felt a surge of heat rush to his eyes.
The next second, his vision blurred.
At this moment, all the methods he had learned as an actor to control his emotions were completely ineffective.
Shen Yuheng hung up the phone in a flustered manner, not wanting her to notice his loss of composure.
Then I came up with a reason that I myself thought was terrible, and sent it over.
However, Jiang Xinglan was as considerate as ever, simply replying "goodnight" without asking any further questions.
And a new account was pushed to them.
Shen Yuheng instinctively clutched his heart and hastily wiped his eyes.
I started to wonder if my heart was beating too fast and I was just imagining things!
But the new account name card just sits quietly in the chat box.
A crescent moon hangs high in the sky above the image of a person, followed by the letters "JXL".
The new account name is the same as the nickname I gave her.
Following his instincts, Shen Yuheng sent out the application.
The application was approved very quickly.
Shen Yuheng leaned back in his chair, still reeling from the series of overwhelming surprises.
Even though his vision blurred again, he couldn't suppress the upward curve of his lips.
Nearly nine years of longing have finally been answered at this moment.
He was certain that the fragments had begun to come together and would eventually intertwine to form a path leading to her.
Shen Yuheng picked up his phone again and first pinned the new chat window to the top.
Then I clicked into the detailed information page.
I entered a new nickname for her—Astra.
A note that will always be at the top of his contacts.
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Late at night, Hengxing received another update from her older brother.
There was no text, only an image that was not yet fully connected to form star trails, with the hashtag #StarTrailFragments# appended.
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The author notes: 1. The meaning of Astra originates from Greek and Latin, meaning "star," symbolizing brightness, hope, exploration, and unique brilliance. —Source: Baidu
I chose this one mainly because it starts with A and is related to stars!
2. The research details are inaccurate. Also, trypan blue can be used to identify cell viability through staining: live cells, due to their intact membrane structure, refuse staining, while dead cells are stained blue (this is true). —Source: Baidu
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