Chapter 186 Pure Straight Man, Delivered Next Door
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“Senior Brother, good evening, have you left the school already?”
Lin Weiwei, who completed her bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees outside of Q University, theoretically had no direct senior-junior relationship with Xie Dingyuan. However, considering the latter’s status in the academic community in China, calling him “Senior” was not entirely inappropriate.
Moreover, there was a kind of unique intimacy.
“What’s the matter?” The man’s tone was cold.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, and then, after a few seconds, she asked softly, “Are you busy?”
This question was obviously too personal and too open-ended.
If Xie Dingyuan answered yes, would it lead to “What are you busy with?”
If Xie Dingyuan answered no, it would imply that he was available, giving the wrong impression.
So—
“Just say what you want, otherwise, I’ll hang up.”
A reply straight out of the textbook for a 24-carat pure titanium straight man.
Although it was too rough, it was effective.
There was even more silence on the other end. Just as Xie Dingyuan was about to hang up, Lin Weiwei suddenly spoke—
“Do you dislike me?”
“Not really.” Just a stranger, whether he disliked her or liked her, it was too much effort to think about.
“But Second Aunt wants us to get along well.”
Xie Yunlan was the wife of the second branch of the Lin family, and Lin Weiwei was the daughter of the third branch, so she called Xie Yunlan “Second Aunt”.
Strictly speaking, Xie Dingyuan was a generation older than her.
If it weren’t for their similar ages, Lin Weiwei should have called him “Uncle”.
Xie Dingyuan kept his eyes on the road ahead as he replied, “I’ll talk to Third Sister about it.”
Lin Weiwei was momentarily speechless.
“Why?” She didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with me?”
She thought her appearance, education, and family background were all commendable, with plenty of people chasing after her.
At twenty-eight years old, she had never been rejected like this before, and Xie Dingyuan was the first!
Lin Weiwei was genuinely puzzled, but more than that, she was indignant.
Xie Dingyuan: “Whether you’re good or not is not for me to judge.”
“Senior Brother,” she suddenly chuckled, “you really spare no effort to draw a clear boundary with me.”
Xie Dingyuan didn’t deny it.
Lin Weiwei bit her lip. “Since you’re so averse, why did you agree in the first place?”
“I thought I could accept it before, but after trying it out, I found that I couldn’t.” The man spoke frankly.
Lin Weiwei was dumbfounded by this straightforward answer.
Although this is a fact, did it have to be so direct? Doesn’t he care about her reputation?
“You can speak your mind. Is it too much to involve Shen Qiannan?”
Xie Dingyuan: “I’ve said it.” But you don’t listen.
He didn’t finish the second half of the sentence, but both understood the meaning.
Lin Weiwei’s expression soured, her cheeks flushed, but fortunately, it was over the phone, so he couldn’t see it.
She took a deep breath. “Brother, I think we’re both not calm enough right now. It’s not suitable to talk about this topic at the moment. Let’s leave it at that for today.”
After speaking, she quickly hung up.
She was afraid that if she waited another second, she would hear even more hurtful words from him.
Xie Dingyuan remained expressionless, hands steady on the steering wheel, unaffected throughout.
Not even a hint of emotion.
…
The next day, after breakfast, Xie Dingyuan drove to Q University again.
The experiment was in a critical stage, and his energy would be focused on the laboratory for the next week.
Naturally, he had no intention of getting entangled with Lin Weiwei.
After some thought, he decided to call Xie Yunlan, calmly explaining the situation, “…Third Sister, I’m sorry for disappointing your good intentions.”
“What are you talking about? Do we need to go through this between siblings? Don’t worry, I won’t think too much about it. Between men and women, it’s normal to come together and separate. Besides, you and Lin Weiwei have nothing between you. You just met once, not even friends. I’ll handle things on our side, it’s a small matter.”
“Third Sister, thank you.”
“Little Nine, remember, we’d rather see you happy than married. So, whatever decision you make, you don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”
Xie Dingyuan’s eyebrows twitched slightly, his gaze softened. “Okay.”
“Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll hang up.”
Xie Dingyuan parked the car and headed straight to the laboratory.
As he passed the third door, he paused and looked inside through the window.
No lights were on; the person hadn’t arrived yet.
…
Jiang Fuyue wrote down the answer to the last question’s final sub-question and suddenly looked up.
“Teacher, I’m done. Here’s my paper.”
Yan Zhenfeng: “?” Only ten minutes had passed since the start of class.
“You… you’re finished already?” Although Jiang Fuyue was usually fast and handing in early was nothing new, today’s urgency was unprecedented.
Lin Shumo couldn’t help but look up, casting a skeptical glance at her.
Ling Xuan also followed his gaze.
Unfortunately, Jiang Fuyue completely missed the concerned looks from the two boys.
After Yan Zhenfeng collected the papers, she picked up her backpack and left without a second thought, her steps hurried and her figure elegant.
“Did Jiang Fuyue drink Red Bull? Why is she so driven today?”
“Who knows? But the Big Boss going all out is really scary. I hadn’t even finished reading the questions, and she was already turning in her paper, d*mn…”
“So, is this Jiang Fuyue’s true ability? Was she holding back before?”
“She’s a deity; we mortals can’t compare.”
Lin Shumo and Ling Xuan exchanged a rare glance, and both of them spoke—another rare occurrence.
“What’s up with her?” Lin Shumo asked.
Ling Xuan shrugged. “You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?”
“Aren’t you two from the same place?”
“What’s being from the same place got to do with anything?” Didn’t know as usual.
Lin Shumo sneered at him. “You’re really useless.”
Ling Xuan remained expressionless. “Likewise.”
The next second, they both looked away, returning to their previous state of not interacting.
It was as if their brief conversation just now had been a figment of the imagination. But their curiosity and concern about Jiang Fuyue’s unusual behavior had increased by a few more degrees.
….
At nine-thirty, Jiang Fuyue arrived at the laboratory, unlocked the door, swiftly put on her lab coat, and eagerly got to work at the workstation.
Last night at eleven forty-five, the first set of experimental data came out.
Jiang Fuyue adjusted the parameters for the second phase of the experiment before leaving.
So, at this moment, she only needed to scan and input several sets of pre-collected observational data, then run them through parameter weighting and a fixed program to obtain results directly.
The whole process would take about two to three hours.
During this time, Jiang Fuyue didn’t idle either. She took out her computer and conducted a comprehensive analysis of the first-phase data.
After organizing everything, she began drafting her paper.
In the blink of an eye, the morning passed.
Jiang Fuyue didn’t want to waste time going to the cafeteria, so she ordered takeout on her phone.
During the summer vacation, takeout was allowed on campus.
So, thirty minutes later, a delivery guy in a yellow jacket appeared in the corridor outside the laboratory.
Checking the address, he found Lab A1 and saw that one of the doors was open, so he walked right in without a word.
The assistant who came to deliver food for Xie Dingyuan forgot to close the door when entering, and in the blink of an eye, a delivery guy barged in.
Xie Dingyuan looked up, instinctively frowning.
The assistant’s scalp tingled, quickly intercepting the person. “Who are you?”
“Haven’t you seen?” The delivery guy tugged at his yellow jacket and raised the bag in his hand. “I’m here to deliver the meal.”
“Did you make a mistake? We didn’t order takeout.”
“No order? But the address clearly says it’s the first floor of the Q University Technology Building, Lab A1.”
The assistant was also dumbfounded, casting an inquiring glance at the nearby professor. “Professor Xie, did you order this?”
Did he order this because he didn’t like the food he was brought?
Xie Dingyuan shook his head. “No.”
“But the address is correct, it’s written here…”
Xie Dingyuan ignored him, going straight to the delivery guy. “You’re mistaken, the person is next door.”
…
Jiang Fuyue was about to pass out from hunger, lying weakly on the workstation, devoid of any energy.
Perhaps due to excessive mental exertion, she felt unusually hungry today.
She ordered takeout, but it hadn’t arrived even after almost forty minutes, and there wasn’t a single call.
While she could track the rider’s real-time location on the app, she didn’t even have the strength to open it.
Suddenly, Jiang Fuyue thought of something and sat up straight.
Could it have been delivered to the next door?
She opened the door, prepared to go out and check, only to bump into the delivery guy coming towards her.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “The meal I ordered, thank you.”
The delivery guy handed it to her, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Sorry for being late.”
“It’s okay. I won’t give you a bad review.”
“Well, it’s partly your fault for not specifying clearly. Who would’ve known the lab was split into two sides? I just delivered to the next door, and they said they didn’t order takeout, so awkward…”
Jiang Fuyue: “!” She relaxed too early.
Still didn’t meet, it’s really hard!
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