Cosmic Love Affair

Chapter 17 Oort Cloud Nine

Shen Zhichuan woke up in the morning with a splitting headache. The commotion in the middle of the night felt like a dream.

He got up to make coffee, and just as he added water, the doorbell rang.

On the monitor was the face of the property management steward from the community. Shen Zhichuan couldn't say whether he felt relieved or what.

The property steward, with a professional smile, said, "Good morning, Mr. Shen. This is the takeout your neighbor, Mr. Fang, asked us to deliver for you. He said you're not feeling well and it's inconvenient for you to come downstairs to get it. The money has already been paid. Enjoy your meal."

The door across was tightly shut, with the red signal light on the password lock panel still flashing.

Shen Zhichuan withdrew his gaze, took the exquisite takeout bag, and thanked politely.

Fang Xian not only wasn't deterred by his words last night, but instead became even more unrestrained after breaking the ice.

Shen Zhichuan had a headache and was full of frustration, roughly tearing open the kraft paper takeout bag as if letting off steam.

Inside were two boxes stacked on top of each other.

The boxes were printed with the emblem of a century-old shop in the city.

Shen Zhichuan had been to that shop. He also remembered this box, which was specially made by the shop to hold a certain dish.

In all the years he had been in Lancheng, he never knew this shop offered takeout.

He could almost imagine the restaurant's front desk receiving an irresistible takeout request and having to temporarily use the serving decoration boxes as takeout boxes.

Shen Zhichuan sneered inwardly, took out the boxes, and a note fell out.

"A newly developed dessert, I saw it yesterday and thought it must be delicious. I can't eat it, so I ask you to try it for me."

The handwriting was strong and elegant, three parts romantic and seven parts free-spirited.

Shen Zhichuan snorted, it was the same old story. If possible, he would rather meet the restaurant staff who wrote this note.

The takeout box lay intact on the kitchen countertop over the weekend. Shen Zhichuan didn't want to open it, or even touch it. He called the property management again, sternly stating that he refused to accept any takeout.

He thought that would be the end of it.

But on Monday morning when he went to work, he opened the door to find a paper bag still hanging on it, still warm.

Shen Zhichuan, with an expressionless face, grabbed the paper bag, and along with the meal box that had been there for two nights, threw them all into the trash can downstairs in the community.

He went to school with a stern look. As soon as he entered the building, he saw Teacher Wang from next door, with a bitter expression, escorting the head of the teaching office out of his office.

Shen Zhichuan walked over and heard Teacher Wang lamenting, "It's that time again when we have to offer up young virgins and boys!"

Shen Zhichuan was startled and hurriedly tried to escape, but the head of the teaching office pounced like a tiger: "Oh, Professor Shen, you're just in time. Let me tell you about the teaching assistant matter."

In other schools, teaching assistant positions are fiercely competed for, but at Landa University, they are all assigned by the teaching office. The reason is simple: the pay is low, the work is a lot, and it's very troublesome.

A teaching assistant gets three hundred bucks a semester, which averages out to the cost of three cups of milk tea a month.

Shen Zhichuan flatly refused, "No need to talk about it. The eldest is still abroad for an exchange and hasn't come back yet, and the second one is graduating next year and doesn't have time to deal with those undergraduates."

The director smiled a bit guiltily, "Didn't you take in a young one last year?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhichuan became furious, "That kid is still in his first year of direct Ph.D. program. Who's going to manage whom in the end? What if he gets bullied by the undergraduates?"

The director, feeling a bit uneasy, took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, "There's no other way, he has to go. The sooner he goes, the sooner he'll mature."

Xie Li knew he was supposed to lead the undergraduates' summer observation internship, and he almost cried, clutching Shen Zhichuan's sleeve, "Teacher, some of them started school late and are even two months older than me..."

Shen Zhichuan had no choice, "Your senior brother is busy with his graduation thesis and can't be distracted. The observation internship is only for a month, just endure it."

Xie Li had no choice but to accept it.

After he left Shen Zhichuan's office, he received a WeChat friend request.

The profile picture was the standard Long Whale Capital logo, and the nickname was also a standard name.

There was no chance for Xie Li to guess.

Xie Li accepted the friend request and held his phone, waiting for a while, but there was no movement.

He turned his phone to silent and put it away, focusing on the lecture, but less than a minute later, he took it out again, switched it to vibrate, and put it back in his bag.

The phone still didn't budge.

Xie Li thought the vibration mode was too subtle to feel, so he took it out and placed it on the table.

The teacher on the podium saw Xie Li's fidgeting clearly and knocked on the podium discontentedly, "Xie Li, stand up and tell me what the vibration mode variables qks and pks represent after the Hamiltonian equation is transformed into the second formula?"

Xie Li slowly stood up, staring at the full blackboard of derivation formulas, looking hesitant.

The teacher, catching him not paying attention, immediately said, "Some students, thinking they're smart, don't listen to the lecture and look down on this rigid teaching method."

He knocked the podium heavily with a laser pointer, "Not listening, relying only on a little cleverness, have you heard of the story of Fang Zhongyong?"

Xie Li felt wronged and widened his eyes, "But teacher, you haven't even finished deriving the first formula."

The teacher's face changed.

Xie Li then gave his answer, "qks and pks represent a pair of conjugate canonical variables."

He pouted, thought for a moment, and still couldn't help but say, "Actually, there's no need to derive the first and second formulas, it's going the long way around. Just substitute the homogeneous wave equation of the free field vector wave into it, and you can get the generalized coordinates of each mode."

"Pffft." A student in front couldn't hold back a laugh.

The teacher's face turned red, like a piece of pork liver that had been left out for too long and unsold: "Is following the steps considered going the long way around? What's wrong with you, student? Your learning attitude is not correct. Is this how you talk to your teacher?"

This teacher's surname was Liu, from the neighboring group, and he was also Song Yi's mentor. He had been unfavorably disposed towards Xie Li for quite some time. Mostly, it was because Shen Zhichuan was too outstanding, making everyone else seem like foils.

Xie Li had retorted to Song Yi's teacher and was delighted. He happily sat down, and suddenly had a mischievous idea.

He sent a red packet to Tan Ke with his phone, thirty-two yuan and fifty jiao, an exact amount.

When Tan Ke received the red packet, he was listening to Xiao Assistant talk about the Hou Xue Award selection.

Xiao Assistant was halfway through his report when he suddenly heard his boss laughing, and couldn't help but look up, "Mr. Tan, is there any problem?"

"Nothing, continue," Tan Ke said as he opened the red packet and saw the amount, and laughed again.

Xiao Assistant was puzzled but continued his report, "If we request to change the venue and bear the cost, Landa University has no reason to refuse. However, our requirements for the new venue are quite special, and it's difficult to find one that's readily available and perfectly suitable."

The Hou Xue Scholarship is funded by Long Whale Capital, but the fund management and operation are completely independent of Long Whale, and even the judges are provided by Landa University itself.

Tan Ke didn't want to compromise the fairness of the scholarship selection, he just wanted to create a comfortable environment for Xie Li within the possible range and protect his self-esteem.

Tan Ke thought for a moment, "I remember the conference room on the top floor has been unused since it was renovated."

"Yes," Xiao Assistant nodded, "It's too large, no one uses it."

Tan Ke pondered, "Help me contact an indoor event venue designer, as soon as possible."

After Xiao Assistant left, Tan Ke replied to Xie Li's message.

Xie Li, holding his phone, came out of the classroom and, looking at the three words "Where's the interest?" on the screen, smiled like a little chrysanthemum.

However, this good mood didn't last long.

Xie Li had heard the reasons Tan Ke mentioned and thought they were very correct. But when he tried to read English in front of Cheng Guang, his tongue would again be out of his control.

He wanted to speak up bravely, but his body was still immersed in the fear of the past.

Even Cheng Guang noticed something was off: "Li, have you practiced by yourself when you're alone?"

Xie Li nodded.

Cheng Guang scratched his head in embarrassment, "I think if it really doesn't work out, you could just tell your boss not to go. You're not short of money now. We can wait until you've practiced well and then go."

Xie Li held the manuscript.

The edges of the paper were frayed from being folded and crumpled repeatedly. He felt like he was like this piece of paper, already weakened and powerless.

He spoke softly, "No, senior, I'm a bit at a loss. I'm afraid I'll never get better."