When getting out of the car, Little Brother Jiang politely hugged his milk bottle and said to Xie Dingyuan:
“Thank you, Uncle.”
Xie Dingyuan’s eye twitched. “…You’re welcome.”
After Little Brother Jiang got on the school bus, Jiang Fuyue got back in the car and headed toward the DNA Building’s experimental zone.
Xie Dingyuan went with her.
“Are you going into the lab today?” she asked.
“Yeah. There was a board meeting yesterday, so I had to attend, but normally I’m in the lab most of the time.”
Jiang Fuyue noticed that compared to yesterday’s sharp suit and perfect grooming, he was wearing casual clothes today—still ironed to perfection, not a wrinkle in sight.
They each entered their respective changing rooms. When Jiang Fuyue came out, she had already changed into her lab coat and was holding a bottle of milk.
She tilted her head back to take a couple sips, just as Xie Dingyuan came out from the side.
The first thing he saw was the girl’s pale neck, and as she tilted her head, her delicate jawline came into view.
The man swallowed; his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
But the moment Jiang Fuyue looked over, he quickly averted his gaze, pretending like nothing had happened.
“You go in first, I’ll finish drinking this outside.”
She had excellent lab habits—something Xie Dingyuan had known since they shared the interdisciplinary lab at Q University.
“No rush,” he said.
Jiang Fuyue didn’t argue, downing the rest of the milk in a few gulps.
As they walked in, Xie Dingyuan beside her, the faint scent of milk lingered in the air, mixed with her own orange blossom and amber fragrance.
His brows twitched slightly, and out of sight, his fingertips anxiously rubbed against each other.
They weren’t early—Old Bai was already there, slumped in front of the lab bench, nodding off over a screen full of data.
The moment he saw Jiang Fuyue, though, he perked up, straightening with a jolt of energy.
“I got through three sets of data!” he said, smug and proud, though the dark circles under his eyes betrayed the all-nighter.
Jiang Fuyue walked over to take a look, immediately sensing the tense defensive air radiating from him.
Was she that terrifying?
Old Bai (internally): Don’t you know d*mn well the answer to that?!
“There really are three sets…”
“Of course! I’m a top student from UPenn!”
“How long did you stay up?”
“Uh?”
Jiang Fuyue gave him a knowing look. “You didn’t go home last night? Slept in the lab?”
Old Bai: “!”
At 9 a.m., Jiang Fuyue sat down at her computer, pulled up the model, and began importing data.
She ran three computers at once, processing three sets of data simultaneously.
Old Bai was stunned: Wait—you can do that?!
So the three sets of data he’d spent the whole night crunching… took her the same amount of time it usually takes to process just one?
“What the—What are you doing?!”
Jiang Fuyue lazily glanced over: You already know the answer.
Old Bai’s lips trembled, his teeth chattering. “You—you little devil! That’s cheating!”
“This is called resource allocation.”
“So if I gave you a hundred data sets, you could finish them all in the time it takes to analyze one?”
Jiang Fuyue paused, then answered seriously: “If there were a hundred computers.”
Old Bai: “…” I’m done for.
The others, skeptical after hearing Old Bai’s stories yesterday, were secretly watching today to see for themselves if Jiang Fuyue was really that good.
And now, having seen it—they were speechless, silently offering Old Bai their condolences.
A top student from UPenn, getting absolutely steamrolled by a high schooler… d*mn.
It was brutal.
The optimized model was nearly twice as fast as Jiang Fuyue had anticipated. Before Old Bai could finish processing a fourth set, her three sets were already done.
Old Bai jumped up, but blacked out and nearly collapsed from dizziness. Luckily, Old Jin caught him just in time.
“What’s wrong?!” The others rushed over.
Leaning on Old Jin, half-conscious, Old Bai waved a hand: “It’s fine… just low blood sugar…”
People scrambled to get him glucose, chocolates—whatever they could find.
Fifteen minutes later, he finally came around.
Jiang Fuyue didn’t dare approach—he started trembling the second he saw her.
“Y-you—you—stay away from me!”
Jiang Fuyue: “…” Seriously?
It reminded her of that “puking kid” Hou Siyuan back in the materials competition class. Was she collecting nicknames now? First “Puking Kid,” now “Dizzy Kid”?
After Old Bai recovered and tried to get back to work, Xie Dingyuan ordered him to go sleep in the rest area, adding sternly, “You’re not allowed back in today.”
“But what about the data?” Over two hundred sets were left…
If he stopped now, the entire experiment’s progress would fall behind.
“I’ll do it,” Xie Dingyuan said.
“What?”
Everyone was stunned.
They’d worked with Xie Dingyuan for years. Though he’d started out hands-on, he’d long since moved to a supervisory role, overseeing the big picture—he never did the grunt work anymore.
Only Jiang Fuyue’s eyes lit up with excitement. The challenge in her blood was rising before they’d even begun—
Two equally matched rivals. Who would be faster?
Old Jin: “I don’t like the way that girl is looking at him.”
“Like she’s about to eat Professor Xie alive.”
“Skin, bones, everything—clean to the core.”
“…”
Old Bai walked out with a look of defeat, but the second his back was to them, he broke into a wide grin.
Thank God! I’m finally free!
He practically skipped away, muttering in his heart—
Cherish life, stay away from high schoolers. Amen!
Xie Dingyuan took Old Bai’s seat, right next to Jiang Fuyue.
It took him five minutes to familiarize himself with the setup. His gaze was sharp, and his hands moved fast.
Jiang Fuyue watched him closely the entire time, like she was studying a rare new specimen.
Curiosity, scrutiny, intrigue…
All of it showed in her eyes, and it made Xie Dingyuan strangely unsettled.
But he was disciplined enough not to show it—remaining calm and unshaken on the surface.
“All done,” he said.
Jiang Fuyue nodded. “Let’s start, then.”
Ten minutes later, he completed the first set.
She received the data and her fingers flew over the keyboard, simultaneously importing, analyzing, and optimizing.
Eight minutes later, the second set followed.
But Jiang Fuyue still hadn’t finished analyzing the first set.
She turned and looked at him, eyes deep and intense.
Xie Dingyuan could clearly see the fighting spirit igniting behind her gaze.
He smirked.
Jiang Fuyue pressed her lips together, then turned back and dove into her work.
Her fingers moved so fast they left afterimages, the sound of her typing like drumbeats on the heart.
Two minutes later, optimization complete—results for both the first and second sets were out.
She turned, smiling at him in open challenge.
Xie Dingyuan’s eyes darkened slightly.
Five minutes later, the third set came in.
From ten minutes, to eight, to five—his speed wasn’t slowing. He was getting faster.
And Jiang Fuyue’s optimization speed was keeping pace.
They were neck and neck—when one pulled ahead, the other caught up. Every round, they pushed each other faster.
One step ahead, the other right behind.
Gulp—
Old Jin swallowed nervously. “I’m seeing double. What about you guys?”
“Not gonna lie, I couldn’t even follow what was happening.”
“Are they racing to see who can smash their keyboard first?”
“I totally support that theory.”
“So who’s winning?”
“…”
No one was surprised by Professor Xie’s speed.
But that Jiang Fuyue could match it—that was terrifying.
Are all high schoolers this bad*ss now?
Both Jiang Fuyue and Xie Dingyuan were the kind who thrive under pressure, and the result was them pushing each other to move faster… and faster…
By the time the 132nd data set was completed, the gap between them had shrunk to mere seconds.
“That’s enough,” Xie Dingyuan said, calling it off first.
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
“It’s lunch time. Aren’t you hungry?”
She hadn’t been. But after he said that… she kind of was.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“Lunch.”
“…Oh.” She pushed away from the desk and stood up.
But after sitting for so long, the sudden movement made her stumble forward.
Before she could react, a pair of strong arms caught her, pulling her into a warm embrace.
Jiang Fuyue froze.
“You okay?” Xie Dingyuan asked.
She shook her head, stepping back out of his arms. “Ugh… my leg’s asleep.”
His arms suddenly empty, a flicker of disappointment flashed through his eyes.
