Cosmic Love Affair

Chapter 16 Oort Cloud Eight

Tan Ke heard the sound of his own heart beating in the darkness.

A strange passion, unrelated to gains and risks, unrelated to his personal wins and losses, just simply because he had to do it, was boiling silently in his chest, making him feel extremely happy.

He sat quietly for a while, then got out of bed, turned on the light, went into the washroom, and turned on the cold water to wash his face.

He got to know Xie Li in a ridiculous way;

He didn't even know Xie Li's mobile phone number;

He heard Xie Li clarify his age that day, and he was ten years older than Xie Li.

Xie Li was completely different from the people Tan Ke had interacted with before, looking innocent and pure, like a flower bud that had not yet fully opened.

Tan Ke thought, how should he define this kind of feeling?

He stared at the resolute man in the mirror.

This man had once been called a "vulture" by Kiplinger magazine. The magazine had commented on him - "A vulture that always finds the freshest meat. If you are targeted by him, congratulations, you are a good piece of garbage."

The mobile phone rang in the room.

Tan Ke's train of thought was interrupted, and he walked back to the bedroom to answer the call.

It was Fang Xian who called.

Fang Xian got straight to the point: "Let's exchange information. I know what activity your young man is going to participate in."

His voice was very urgent, and the surroundings were very quiet.

Tan Ke thought for a moment: "Except for the matters of Shen Zhichuan and Carson, I accept any offer."

"Sheet*," Fang Xian was a bit angry, "It won't hurt to tell me!"

Tan Ke didn't understand why Fang Xian, who had been quiet for a few days, was now interested in Shen Zhichuan again: "It won't hurt. But considering your complex relationship with Carson, and Carson's with Shen Zhichuan, I don't think it's a good thing for the three of you to get involved in this mess."

"You wait a minute." Fang Xian suddenly put down the phone and walked away.

Tan Ke vaguely heard someone speaking in a low voice on the other end of the phone.

After a while, Fang Xian came back: "What impact it will have on the three of us should not be decided by you. And from my point of view, since he and Carson have been broken up for so many years, does he still have to remain chaste for Carson for life?"

Fang Xian's tone was sarcastic, which was quite different from his usual good temper.

Tan Ke didn't say anything.

Fang Xian saw through Tan Ke's thoughts: "You think I and Shen Zhichuan are not suitable, right."

His voice was very annoyed: "Don't you think you are overstepping your bounds? Shen Zhichuan is thirty years old, not three. He doesn't need his ex-boyfriend's junior to interfere with his choice of partner."

"Sorry," Tan Ke said in a low voice, "I just think if he knew your identity, he would be very repulsive. You all should have more suitable choices."

"There is no such thing as more suitable in this world," Fang Xian said firmly, "There are only those I like and those I don't like."

Tan Ke gave in: "I will tell you when I find the time. You tell me about Xie Li first. What activity is Xie Li going to participate in?"

"It's the selection of the Hou Xue Scholarship. I saw his..."

Fang Xian was holding the phone and accidentally turned his head. Shen Zhichuan, who had been lying on his sofa with his eyes closed, was looking at him.

Fang Xian's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He hurriedly hung up the phone, walked to the side of the sofa and squatted down: "Are you feeling better?"

Shen Zhichuan stared at him silently, as quiet as a beautiful doll.

Fang Xian thought about his conversation with Tan Ke just now, and suddenly felt guilty, not knowing how much Shen Zhichuan had heard.

He stood up: "I'll get you some water."

The moment he turned around, he heard Shen Zhichuan ask in a hoarse voice: "What is your relationship with Carson Cox?"

Fang Xian didn't dare to turn back and hurriedly walked towards the kitchen.

Shen Zhichuan had a social engagement in the evening.

Being a university teacher is not an easy job, especially in this society where personal connections matter.

Colleagues in the project team, leaders in the department and faculty, the provincial and ministerial education department, and the fund committee all need to be dealt with through socializing and promoting oneself.

Otherwise, for projects that are almost the same, why should they give money to dark matter research instead of stellar evolution?

Today, there were schools from other provinces coming for exchange and learning. After the meeting, there was inevitably a round of toasting and drinking.

Shen Zhichuan, being young and good-looking, naturally became the target of everyone's toasts.

After round after round of drinking, when the banquet ended, Shen Zhichuan was still okay and could barely take a taxi for himself. After getting out of the car, he first leaned on the trash can at the entrance of the community and vomited for a while, and then his limbs became limp.

There was a period of memory that was blurred.

When he woke up, he heard someone mention Carson's name.

Shen Zhichuan lay on his back on the sofa, staring at the unfamiliar TV wall, thinking that Carson hated socializing the most. Fortunately, they had broken up, and he wouldn't see him in this state.

Shen Zhichuan didn't dislike socializing, nor did he dislike parties. He liked lively scenes.

Princeton had a Chinese Students Association. When fellow countrymen met, they would first have a big drink together.

Shen Zhichuan enjoyed gathering with these compatriots from all over the country. They would speak Mandarin with their local accents, cursing the stupid and unscrupulous bosses, complaining about the Indian colleagues who talked all day long in a language they couldn't understand, and discussing where to go for a group barbecue on Independence Day.

But Carson didn't like it, thinking that Shen Zhichuan was wasting his life. Every time Shen Zhichuan came home with the smell of hot pot after a party, Carson's face would be very ugly.

Later, Shen Zhichuan made excuses to go secretly, but was caught by Carson once.

A group of Chinese people were sitting around a big table in the hall of a Chinese restaurant, specially for hot pot. Carson stood at the entrance of the Chinese restaurant, with a gloomy face.

Shen Zhichuan hurriedly got up and ran after him, blocking Carson's car.

He felt extremely wronged in his heart and choked as he shouted at Carson, asking if there was anything wrong with wanting a little entertainment and relaxation in life.

Carson sat in the car and calmly asked Shen Zhichuan if it was wrong for him to have higher expectations for his lover.

Shen Zhichuan now suddenly couldn't remember how they made up in the end. He only remembered that he never went to the fellow countrymen's association again, and the people from the association also stopped coming to find him.

Fang Xian finally came back from the kitchen with a cup: "Drink some water first."

Shen Zhichuan struggled to sit up from the sofa and took the cup of water.

Fang Xian had a fierce psychological struggle and a quick risk assessment in the kitchen, and finally decided to take the route of confessing and being lenient.

"I do know Carson Cox. We went to the same public school in the UK and we have a good relationship," Fang Xian said cautiously, "But I only found out recently that you had dated him."

Shen Zhichuan understood immediately and nodded with the cup in his hand: "So you've been avoiding me."

Fang Xian lowered his head, which meant he admitted it.

Fang Xian avoided him in a very obvious way.

Several times when Shen Zhichuan went out in the morning, as soon as he stepped into the elevator, he would hear the door of Fang Xian's house open.

When he came back from work, he no longer encountered the neighbor who happened to enter the garage, get out of the car, and take the elevator with him.

Fang Xian's "coincidental" encounters were very deliberate, and his avoidance was very affected.

Shen Zhichuan remembered that strange dream.

He didn't want to play this kind of game and directly pointed out the obvious: "If you have a good feeling for me and want to date me, then I refuse. There's no need to waste time on me."

Fang Xian was stunned. He didn't expect Shen Zhichuan to directly banish him out of the country.

"Is it just because I know Carson?" He was a bit panicked.

Shen Zhichuan shook his head: "No, because we are not suitable for each other."

Fang Xian was defined as "not suitable" twice within an hour, which made him very wronged: "You haven't even tried, how would you know it's not suitable?"

Shen Zhichuan stared at the storage box on the coffee table in Fang Xian's house, which was used to put car keys.

Fang Xian followed his gaze and looked over, incredulous: "You think this is the reason we are not suitable?"

Shen Zhichuan didn't say anything.

A month ago, he had seen someone in the homeowners' group say that a tycoon had moved into this community and bought four parking spaces at once, parking a Porsche 918, an Aston Martin V12, a McLaren 650s, and a Lamborghini Gallardo respectively.

The community where Shen Zhichuan lived was already high-end, and it was common to see ABB, Panamera, or even ne in the underground garage.

But buying four parking spaces at once to park four sports cars was still very eye-catching.

Moreover, there were obviously more than four keys in the key frame on the coffee table. Fang Xian was what kind of person and what kind of family background he had, Shen Zhichuan already had a clear understanding in his heart.

The process of Shen Zhichuan finding out about Carson's infidelity was very absurd, it was almost a trick of fate.

That year, a logistics staff member at McMurdo Station was dismissed for some reason and became dissatisfied. So he wrote down his observations in the scientific research station over the years on forty-two pages of letter paper and sent them to eighteen media outlets.

It was full of descriptions of the debauched life of scientists in the remote ice fields.

By that time, Carson had been back from Antarctica for a long time. After proposing in Brazil, Carson became more and more considerate.

Shen Zhichuan just happened to glance at the news and didn't associate it with Carson at all.

But the situation became more and more serious.

The descriptions on those forty-two pages of letter paper contained a lot of personal information with clear directionality. Hair color, appearance, accent, hobbies, personality, research field, entry time, and so on and so forth.

Curious and fanatical people dug out the scientists behind the letter paper one by one according to this information.

That morning, when Shen Zhichuan walked into the office, everyone avoided eye contact with him.

At lunchtime, a female doctoral student from Texas indignantly sent a blog article on the Internet to his mobile phone.

Those sensual descriptions were like a knife cutting Shen Zhichuan all over, causing him unbearable pain. He stared at the name listed alongside Carson's, trembling and speechless.

He recognized it, a genius postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering, only twenty-six years old. It was said that the aerodynamic valve he designed had won three patents and had already been installed on the detector of the Sky Survey project.

At the Christmas party held by the school that year, that person, dressed in a tuxedo, sat opposite him and Carson.

Carson deliberately went over and talked to the blond man, and came back with an excited expression that couldn't be concealed, talking about that genius engineer all night long.

Shen Zhichuan and Carson had been together for so many years, always looking up to each other. Carson had hardly ever praised or complimented him. It seemed that getting this person's favor itself was already a great compliment.

Shen Zhichuan once thought so too. Although he seemed a bit mediocre in this place full of elites, if Carson was willing to be with him, then he must have his own strengths.

But the genius engineer shattered his love and forced him to recall what Carson had said,

Carson said, he had higher expectations for his lover.

Shen Zhichuan thought, so I can't meet his expectations.

Shen Zhichuan later thought that if he were to find a partner again, he would find someone similar to himself.

With similar income, similar achievements, and similar personality, two similar people are suitable to spend a lifetime together. Neither of them needs to have excessive expectations for the other.

An ordinary person and a genius cannot last long, and the same goes for an ordinary person and a wealthy person.

Shen Zhichuan slowly put down the cup of water that he hadn't even touched, leaned on the sofa to stand up, and said to Fang Xian: "Yes, this is the reason we are not suitable."