Cosmic Love Affair

Chapter 13 Oort Cloud Five

The mid-term exams had just finished, and Cheng Guang and Xie Li were called over by Shen Zhichuan to help grade papers. They each took one end and squatted in front of Shen Zhichuan's big desk, like two indentured laborers.

After looking at the papers for a while, Xie Li's head started to hurt. He poked his senior with the pen: "Check this out, is this a 3 or an 8?"

Cheng Guang leaned over and stared at it for a long time: "Why don't you just count it as a 3?"

Shen Zhichuan was sitting on the sofa nearby with his legs up, browsing updates on arXiv* on his laptop without even lifting his head: "If it's unclear, give no points."

Xie Li glanced down at the student's paper. The whole thing was a mess of scribbles - hardly any words were legible.

He hesitated, whispering worriedly to Cheng Guang: "Then this kid won't pass."

Shen Zhichuan had sharp ears. He put down his computer, walked over, snatched the paper from Xie Li's hand, glanced at it, and then folded it up and stuffed it into his bag.

"I'll bring this up when I announce the grades the day after tomorrow. This kind of behavior, where someone doesn't study during the semester, doesn't cram before the exam, and then tries to cheat points from the grader with blurry handwriting, needs to be talked about," Shen Zhichuan said with a stern face, looking very righteous.

Xie Li fell silent, lighting a candle for the student in his heart.

After finishing grading the papers, Cheng Guang was about to lead his junior away.

Xie Li pushed Cheng Guang to go first, then sidled up to Shen Zhichuan and put on a cute act: "Teacher, I have something."

Shen Zhichuan hummed in response.

Xie Li stammered: "It's about when you asked the neighbor to tutor me in English on the weekend..."

Shen Zhichuan looked up, his face a bit gloomy.

"He said he could give me some materials and would trouble you to pass them on to me," Xie Li sized up Shen Zhichuan's expression, steeling himself to finish the sentence, "I checked yesterday, the first round of the scholarship preliminary selection has already started, I want to prepare early."

After hearing this, Shen Zhichuan's expression eased a bit: "I'll ask around for you later."

Xie Li responded with an "Oh," said "Thank you, teacher," grabbed his bag, and ran off.

Shen Zhichuan called him back: "Why do you need someone else to find study materials for you? Don't you have hands?"

Xie Li mumbled a couple of words, not knowing how to reply.

Shen Zhichuan was annoyed and simply waved him out.

He was in a bad mood all day because of a dream he had the night before.

He dreamt of traveling to Brazil with Carson, visiting the Iguazu Falls.

At that time, Carson had just returned from McMurdo Station in Antarctica*.

It was February, and a cold wave was sweeping across the East Coast of the United States. Carson couldn't bear the endless icy and snowy weather and was a bit overwhelmed.

Shen Zhichuan felt pity and simply put aside his papers and resume, suggesting they go to Brazil for a few days.

They wandered aimlessly in Brazil, holding sugarcane juice, strolling from the art museum in São Paulo to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, and then hand in hand stepping onto the cobblestone streets of the Black Gold City.

Black Gold City was rich in gemstones.

Carson secretly bought a pair of exquisite blue agate rings and, in front of the St. Francis Church in Assisi, knelt down without warning to propose.

Shen Zhichuan stood in front of the church's freshly painted blue door.

A crowd of tourists cheered as if it were a festival, surrounding the couple and shouting "Say yes."

St. Francis, who suffered, looked down benevolently, watching this Chinese youth with tears in his eyes in the gentle sunset of Black Gold City.

The day after the successful proposal, Shen Zhichuan and Carson had an argument. The reason was that Carson wanted to go to Iguazu Falls. Because it was the rainy season at that time, the Iguazu River's flow surged, making the waterfall particularly spectacular.

But Shen Zhichuan disagreed.

Shen Zhichuan was actually a bit superstitious in a way that was hard to explain.

He had an indescribable lingering fear of the scene of******** standing alone under the waterfall, and thus regarded that innocent waterfall as an ominous place of breakup.

Carson had never seen the movie and couldn't understand this superstition, even scoffing at it - according to this logic, every famous scenic spot would be an ominous place foretelling a breakup.

The two had a big fight.

But in the end, they didn't go. It wasn't because Carson gave in, but because Shen Zhichuan received an email from Goldman Sachs, asking him to attend an interview.

In the morning, Shen Zhichuan sat on the bed for a long time.

The waterfall in the dream seemed to be a memory left by the movie scenes, dreamlike and blurry, with high water mist and a noisy crowd.

Carson was tall, with well-built and beautiful muscles, standing in front of the railing in a set of sportswear.

In the dream, Shen Zhichuan reached out and the person turned around. A face with a bright smile - it was his neighbor.

Shen Zhichuan was in a very bad mood and blamed all of it on Fang Xian.

Fang Xian had been at his house the night before, pestering him with questions about his Ph.D. days for a long time. He couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him out.

Xie Li had been waiting anxiously for two weeks, not for Fang Xian's materials, but for the notification of being shortlisted for the Hou Xue Award.

The email informed Xie Li that the public speaking and Q&A session would be held together in two weeks at the Lan Multimedia Auditorium.

Xie Li panicked and went to the office to find Shen Zhichuan again, hoping to get some information about the unreliable neighbor and his materials.

This time, Shen Zhichuan seemed to have been hit by something and shot back at him with just a few words.

"What, you can't live without the materials? Speaking is about practice, not about reading others' materials. How old are you?"

Xie Li didn't dare to argue, nor did he dare to say he wouldn't participate.

Xie Li actually knew what his problem was.

When he was alone, it was okay, at least he could stumble through it. But when there were people around, he couldn't do it. He would get nervous, and the more nervous he got, the worse it became, until he was so nervous that he couldn't even speak.

Unable to wait for Fang Xian's materials, Xie Li had to search for them online by himself. Following the online advice, he started practicing with the people closest to him, beginning with his considerate senior who had a good temper.

Mentor Cheng Guang was very supportive of his junior and even said he would ask his wife to help Xie Li correct his pronunciation.

But as soon as Xie Li opened his mouth, he got stuck.

Facing Cheng Guang's concerned face, he just couldn't continue, even feeling that every sound he made was strange.

Cheng Guang comforted him: "You're just too nervous. Don't be so nervous. It's not the end of the world if you make a mistake. Go back and practice more. Practice makes perfect."

Xie Li was dejected and didn't say anything. He knew it was a psychological issue, but wasn't the hardest mountain to climb the one within himself?

Xie Li's problem with getting nervous when speaking English started when he went to high school in the city.

He had attended elementary and junior high school in a county town. His English teachers themselves were self-taught and couldn't possibly teach the students the correct pronunciation.

After he entered the key high school in the city, whenever he spoke up in English class, the students around him would snicker.

The problem became very serious after a speech under the national flag following a flag-raising ceremony.

The school required each class to take turns sending outstanding students to give a speech in English after the flag-raising ceremony every week.

Xie Li's head teacher put his name down for that week.

Xie Li would never forget what happened that day.

He stepped up to the podium and had just started speaking when the school leaders behind him whispered to each other, "The English teaching in the lower schools still can't keep up."

He was instantly stunned, his face burning hot.

The students below started to make a fuss, and he could even hear some nearby students imitating him.

After that speech, his classmates stopped calling him by his name and started calling him "Run Tu." This nickname spread so widely that even some teachers who didn't know the story followed suit.

Throughout high school, Xie Li never spoke English in public again.

When the English teacher called on him to answer questions, he would respond with silence.

The English teacher was so angry that she stamped her feet, but she couldn't do anything about it because Chapter 13 Oort Cloud Five

The mid-term exams had just finished, and Cheng Guang and Xie Li were called over by Shen Zhichuan to help grade papers. They each took one end and squatted in front of Shen Zhichuan's big desk, like two indentured laborers.

After looking at the papers for a while, Xie Li's head started to hurt. He poked his senior with the pen: "Check this out, is this a 3 or an 8?"

Cheng Guang leaned over and stared at it for a long time: "Why don't you just count it as a 3?"

Shen Zhichuan was sitting on the sofa nearby with his legs up, browsing updates on arXiv* on his laptop without even lifting his head: "If it's unclear, give no points."

Xie Li glanced down at the student's paper. The whole thing was a mess of scribbles - hardly any words were legible.

He hesitated, whispering worriedly to Cheng Guang: "Then this kid won't pass."

Shen Zhichuan had sharp ears. He put down his computer, walked over, snatched the paper from Xie Li's hand, glanced at it, and then folded it up and stuffed it into his bag.

"I'll bring this up when I announce the grades the day after tomorrow. This kind of behavior, where someone doesn't study during the semester, doesn't cram before the exam, and then tries to cheat points from the grader with blurry handwriting, needs to be talked about," Shen Zhichuan said with a stern face, looking very righteous.

Xie Li fell silent, lighting a candle for the student in his heart.

After finishing grading the papers, Cheng Guang was about to lead his junior away.

Xie Li pushed Cheng Guang to go first, then sidled up to Shen Zhichuan and put on a cute act: "Teacher, I have something."

Shen Zhichuan hummed in response.

Xie Li stammered: "It's about when you asked the neighbor to tutor me in English on the weekend..."

Shen Zhichuan looked up, his face a bit gloomy.

"He said he could give me some materials and would trouble you to pass them on to me," Xie Li sized up Shen Zhichuan's expression, steeling himself to finish the sentence, "I checked yesterday, the first round of the scholarship preliminary selection has already started, I want to prepare early."

After hearing this, Shen Zhichuan's expression eased a bit: "I'll ask around for you later."

Xie Li responded with an "Oh," said "Thank you, teacher," grabbed his bag, and ran off.

Shen Zhichuan called him back: "Why do you need someone else to find study materials for you? Don't you have hands?"

Xie Li mumbled a couple of words, not knowing how to reply.

Shen Zhichuan was annoyed and simply waved him out.

He was in a bad mood all day because of a dream he had the night before.

He dreamt of traveling to Brazil with Carson, visiting the Iguazu Falls.

At that time, Carson had just returned from McMurdo Station in Antarctica*.

It was February, and a cold wave was sweeping across the East Coast of the United States. Carson couldn't bear the endless icy and snowy weather and was a bit overwhelmed.

Shen Zhichuan felt pity and simply put aside his papers and resume, suggesting they go to Brazil for a few days.

They wandered aimlessly in Brazil, holding sugarcane juice, strolling from the art museum in São Paulo to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, and then hand in hand stepping onto the cobblestone streets of the Black Gold City.

Black Gold City was rich in gemstones.

Carson secretly bought a pair of exquisite blue agate rings and, in front of the St. Francis Church in Assisi, knelt down without warning to propose.

Shen Zhichuan stood in front of the church's freshly painted blue door.

A crowd of tourists cheered as if it were a festival, surrounding the couple and shouting "Say yes."

St. Francis, who suffered, looked down benevolently, watching this Chinese youth with tears in his eyes in the gentle sunset of Black Gold City.

The day after the successful proposal, Shen Zhichuan and Carson had an argument. The reason was that Carson wanted to go to Iguazu Falls. Because it was the rainy season at that time, the Iguazu River's flow surged, making the waterfall particularly spectacular.

But Shen Zhichuan disagreed.

Shen Zhichuan was actually a bit superstitious in a way that was hard to explain.

He had an indescribable lingering fear of the scene of******** standing alone under the waterfall, and thus regarded that innocent waterfall as an ominous place of breakup.

Carson had never seen the movie and couldn't understand this superstition, even scoffing at it - according to this logic, every famous scenic spot would be an ominous place foretelling a breakup.

The two had a big fight.

But in the end, they didn't go. It wasn't because Carson gave in, but because Shen Zhichuan received an email from Goldman Sachs, asking him to attend an interview.

In the morning, Shen Zhichuan sat on the bed for a long time.

The waterfall in the dream seemed to be a memory left by the movie scenes, dreamlike and blurry, with high water mist and a noisy crowd.

Carson was tall, with well-built and beautiful muscles, standing in front of the railing in a set of sportswear.

In the dream, Shen Zhichuan reached out and the person turned around. A face with a bright smile - it was his neighbor.

Shen Zhichuan was in a very bad mood and blamed all of it on Fang Xian.

Fang Xian had been at his house the night before, pestering him with questions about his Ph.D. days for a long time. He couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him out.

Xie Li had been waiting anxiously for two weeks, not for Fang Xian's materials, but for the notification of being shortlisted for the Hou Xue Award.

The email informed Xie Li that the public speaking and Q&A session would be held together in two weeks at the Lan Multimedia Auditorium.

Xie Li panicked and went to the office to find Shen Zhichuan again, hoping to get some information about the unreliable neighbor and his materials.

This time, Shen Zhichuan seemed to have been hit by something and shot back at him with just a few words.

"What, you can't live without the materials? Speaking is about practice, not about reading others' materials. How old are you?"

Xie Li didn't dare to argue, nor did he dare to say he wouldn't participate.

Xie Li actually knew what his problem was.

When he was alone, it was okay, at least he could stumble through it. But when there were people around, he couldn't do it. He would get nervous, and the more nervous he got, the worse it became, until he was so nervous that he couldn't even speak.

Unable to wait for Fang Xian's materials, Xie Li had to search for them online by himself. Following the online advice, he started practicing with the people closest to him, beginning with his considerate senior who had a good temper.

Mentor Cheng Guang was very supportive of his junior and even said he would ask his wife to help Xie Li correct his pronunciation.

But as soon as Xie Li opened his mouth, he got stuck.

Facing Cheng Guang's concerned face, he just couldn't continue, even feeling that every sound he made was strange.

Cheng Guang comforted him: "You're just too nervous. Don't be so nervous. It's not the end of the world if you make a mistake. Go back and practice more. Practice makes perfect."

Xie Li was dejected and didn't say anything. He knew it was a psychological issue, but wasn't the hardest mountain to climb the one within himself?

Xie Li's problem with getting nervous when speaking English started when he went to high school in the city.

He had attended elementary and junior high school in a county town. His English teachers themselves were self-taught and couldn't possibly teach the students the correct pronunciation.

After he entered the key high school in the city, whenever he spoke up in English class, the students around him would snicker.

The problem became very serious after a speech under the national flag following a flag-raising ceremony.

The school required each class to take turns sending outstanding students to give a speech in English after the flag-raising ceremony every week.

Xie Li's head teacher put his name down for that week.

Xie Li would never forget what happened that day.

He stepped up to the podium and had just started speaking when the school leaders behind him whispered to each other, "The English teaching in the lower schools still can't keep up."

He was instantly stunned, his face burning hot.

The students below started to make a fuss, and he could even hear some nearby students imitating him.

After that speech, his classmates stopped calling him by his name and started calling him "Run Tu." This nickname spread so widely that even some teachers who didn't know the story followed suit.

Throughout high school, Xie Li never spoke English in public again.

When the English teacher called on him to answer questions, he would respond with silence.

The English teacher was so angry that she stamped her feet, but she couldn't do anything about it because the grade director, who taught physics, particularly protected Xie Li.

The year before last, Xie Li participated in a modeling competition, and the last day of the competition was a public speech.

Technically, Xie Li had contributed the most, and he should have been the one to take the spotlight.

But when he read the first sentence from the manuscript, his two teammates looked at each other and laughed, their eyes full of schadenfreude, and even the********* sighed and held her forehead. In the end, the opportunity to give the speech was naturally taken by his teammates.

Xie Li searched online for all related materials but still couldn't find a solution. Even after memorizing the speech in his mind, sitting downstairs in the dormitory with the manuscript in hand, his heart would race wildly as soon as someone passed by.

He had a premonition that he would embarrass himself again and became so depressed that he couldn't sleep or eat properly, and he lost a lot of weight.

Even Professor Fang noticed that something was bothering him.

Professor Fang had finished her book, and the second draft had been taken by the editor, so she didn't have any more work for Xie Li to do at the moment.

But Xie Li liked Professor Fang and still went to her house every Friday as usual.

Grandpa was also at the professor's house. The old man didn't remember the conflict that day and still waved to Xie Li when he saw him.

On his way, Xie Li bought a box of canelés on Falin Road.

The caramel-colored vanilla egg cake, paired with the slightly bitter rum, had a long-lasting aroma.

Seeing the pastry, Professor Fang smiled and said, "You kid, why are you buying me cake?"

Xie Li leaned next to Professor Fang, his eyes shining with a smile, "When I passed by, I saw many people buying them, so I thought they must be delicious."

Professor Fang regretfully waved her hand, "Unfortunately, the doctor doesn't allow me to eat sweets. Ask the aunt to make you a cup of tea to go with the pastry." She patted Xie Li's head, "I see you've lost a lot of weight recently. Haven't you been eating on time? You can't be careless just because you're young."

Xie Li didn't mention the English issue and changed the subject, asking Professor Fang about the Dian Nan Observatory.

After talking for a while, Professor Fang got tired and sent Xie Li to have some pastry.

Xie Li went downstairs by himself, holding the pastry box and standing at the kitchen door, sticking out half his head, "Auntie, could you make two cups of tea for me? I'm having it with grandpa."

The old man was overjoyed to have sweets.

When one is confused, there's no need to care about manners. He grabbed the pastry and stuffed it into his mouth, eating so hastily that he even burped.

Xie Li laughed while handing the tea to the old man, coaxing him to drink.

There were six canelés in the box, and the old man ate four of them until the nanny came in and persuaded him, "You can't eat any more, or the old man won't have dinner again tonight."

Xie Li helped the nanny take the tray and cups out. Passing by the living room, he caught a glimpse inside and was so startled that he almost dropped the tray.

Tan Ke had come at some unknown time, sitting on the sofa with his legs up, reading the newspaper, seemingly not noticing him.

Xie Li was extremely embarrassed.

Just now in the bedroom, grandpa called him "little doggy," and he playfully called grandpa "old doggy." The two "doggies" were so happy that they didn't realize there was someone in the living room.

Xie Li kept his head down, took the tray to the kitchen, then lingered and slowly returned to the living room, pretending to tidy up his school bag, and stealthily glanced at Tan Ke.

Tan Ke held up the newspaper, "Little doggy is peeking at people."

Xie Li choked, "It's the one who eavesdrops that's the little dog!" He paused for half a second, "You weren't looking at me, how did you know I was looking at you?"

Tan Ke put down the newspaper, smiling a bit smugly, "You know I wasn't looking at you, which means you were looking at me, right?"