Luo Ying’s academic performance was outstanding. Her average scores in all subjects were extremely high. She came from a wealthy family and was beautiful, so many male classmates were interested in her, but she had never responded to anyone.
Luo Ying’s roommate asked her: “Why don’t you date anyone?”
Luo Ying claimed that she put her studies first. “Romance” was the icing on the cake, not a necessity in life.
What she wanted to say was that so far, no man had moved her. Perhaps it wasn’t the men’s problem but her own—she couldn’t experience the so-called “adolescent stirrings.” Her girlish sentiments were like a silent, dried-up well, remaining calm and undisturbed year after year.
She had many friends but few confidants.
Her friends often praised her for being “gentle.”
However, she knew in her heart that she was equally gentle to everyone, a politeness devoid of any emotional color. When girls invited her out to eat, she rarely agreed; when boys sent her messages, she never replied.
Her daily social life was limited to the classroom, dormitory, library, and literature club.
Today was the first time she had actively accepted an invitation, willing to go to the laboratory with a junior student.
Why?
Luo Ying thought the answer was obvious, because Lin Zhixia was her direct junior from the same school, Provincial No. 1 High School in the provincial capital. Lin Zhixia had a lively and adorable personality, with delicate and pretty features, just like her sister. She had previously fantasized about having a sister like Lin Zhixia at home.
Thinking of this, Luo Ying unconsciously moved closer to Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia looked at her: “Senior?”
Luo Ying spoke in a soft voice: “Shall we go to the cafeteria for breakfast?”
Lin Zhixia responded: “Sure, Senior.”
Luo Ying wore a light gray, waist-fitting long dress with a thin black cardigan over it, and a deep gray leather bag with a gold chain hanging from her left shoulder. Her skin was snow-white, her hair shoulder-length, her skirt floating in the breeze, and her body emanated a fragrance that was a mixture of roses and lilies.
Lin Zhixia particularly liked that scent. She said frankly: “Senior, your perfume smells so good.”
Luo Ying linked arms with her: “I heard you were busy during your birthday last month, so I didn’t contact you. Did you celebrate with your classmates? I want to give you a bottle of perfume.”
Male students passing by kept glancing at them.
From the eyes of these male students, Lin Zhixia read complex emotions like amazement, envy, and curiosity.
It made sense—Senior Luo Ying was so beautiful and elegant. Being held tightly by Luo Ying must be quite an honor!
Lin Zhixia nodded slightly but declined her senior’s offer: “Thank you, Senior, but I don’t use perfume.”
“You don’t use perfume?” her senior’s tone was surprised. A few seconds later, she said: “But you smell nice, a fresh strawberry scent.”
Lin Zhixia explained: “I shower every night and only use strawberry-scented shampoo and body wash… My facial cleanser is Mentholatum’s strawberry foam cleanser.”
Luo Ying’s laughter rang like silver bells: “Are you made of strawberries?”
“Maybe,” Lin Zhixia said. “When I was little, I often suspected I was a strawberry spirit in my previous life.”
Luo Ying asked again: “Is your nickname Strawberry Spirit?”
Lin Zhixia answered honestly: “It’s Xiaxia. Both my dad and mom call me Xiaxia.”
Luo Ying stopped walking and contemplated: “I want to call you Xiaxia, is that okay?”
Lin Zhixia was somewhat surprised.
After all, at home, Lin Zeqiu would rather call her “Mom-clinger” than call her Xiaxia.
With Lin Zeqiu not by Lin Zhixia’s side, Luo Ying played the role of an older sibling. Luo Ying was about the same age as Lin Zeqiu and was especially gentle to Lin Zhixia, practically taking Lin Zeqiu’s place!
Lin Zhixia graciously agreed: “Sure.”
Luo Ying uttered: “Xiaxia.”
Senior Luo Ying had a lovely voice, sweet and clear like an oriole emerging from a valley. When she said “Xiaxia,” Lin Zhixia felt particularly pleased and responded enthusiastically: “Yes, Senior!”
Luo Ying held Lin Zhixia’s hand as they entered the cafeteria, found an empty table, and sat down next to each other.
They brought back two plates of steamed buns and two bowls of rice porridge from the cafeteria counter. Lin Zhixia picked up a custard bun and placed it in Luo Ying’s bowl, while Luo Ying gave her a pan-fried bun. They naturally shared their food like friends who had known each other for many years.
After the meal, Lin Zhixia became Luo Ying’s guide.
Lin Zhixia took Senior Luo Ying to the laboratory building. Luo Ying preferred taking the stairs rather than the elevator, so Lin Zhixia accompanied her as they climbed the steps. When they reached the third-floor corner, they heard strange sounds.
Luo Ying quickly raised her hand to stop Lin Zhixia.
But she couldn’t curb Lin Zhixia’s curiosity.
Lin Zhixia ducked under Luo Ying’s arm and tiptoed forward one step. When she looked up, it was as if she had been struck by lightning. She saw Senior Tan Qianche from Provincial No. 1 High School standing in the corner, kissing a girl.
Tan Qianche was 1.85 meters tall and quite handsome, wearing silver-framed glasses that gave him a refined appearance. However, Lin Zhixia’s roommate had said he seemed like an educated scoundrel—his appearance was proper, but he didn’t look like a good person no matter how you looked at him.
Lin Zhixia held her breath, and Luo Ying remained silent.
Tan Qianche had his back to them. He placed one hand on the girl’s shoulder, bent down, and kissed her lips repeatedly, with intimate sounds lingering in the air. The girl wrapped her arms around Tan Qianche’s back, clutching his shirt into wrinkles, her deep red fingernails particularly eye-catching.
“Is this what kissing is?” Lin Zhixia asked quietly.
Luo Ying blurted out: “Haven’t you seen it before?”
“I’ve seen it on TV,” Lin Zhixia described, “and also on the streets of Romania, but those were strangers I didn’t know. This Senior Tan Qianche is someone I know.”
Luo Ying placed a finger over her lips and gently made a “shh” sound.
Only then did Tan Qianche seem to hear something. He turned around and, seeing Lin Zhixia with her eyes wide open, appeared even more embarrassed than she was: “What time is it now?”
“Seven fifteen in the morning,” Lin Zhixia showed her watch.
Tan Qianche coughed once. The girl beside him punched his chest: “You’re annoying.” He immediately grabbed her hand while looking at Lin Zhixia, and finally, his gaze settled on Luo Ying: “And this is…?”
“This is my senior,” Lin Zhixia introduced, “Senior Luo Ying from the Mathematics Department, a sophomore. She graduated from Provincial No. 1 High School’s competition class, our outstanding alumna.”
Tan Qianche straightened his clothes. He didn’t introduce his girlfriend to Lin Zhixia and Luo Ying. He whispered a few words to his girlfriend, and she left with a red face.
In this brief minute, Tan Qianche adjusted his composure as if nothing had happened. He put his silver-framed glasses back on and asked: “Did Luo Ying also receive an invitation from Professor Gu?”
Luo Ying walked between Tan Qianche and Lin Zhixia. As they walked, she said: “I didn’t receive an invitation. I came with Lin Zhixia.”
Lin Zhixia probed: “Can Senior visit the laboratory?”
“Sure,” Tan Qianche said, “Students from our school are always welcome.”
They passed through a door. Tan Qianche entered a password, scanned his face, and swiped a card before they officially entered the laboratory.
It wasn’t yet 7:20, but three senior students had already arrived in the lab—one of them was Yang Shuwen, whom Lin Zhixia had met before.
When Yang Shuwen saw Lin Zhixia, his expression was very strange. His eyebrows twitched, and he suddenly lowered his head, continuing to work at the lab bench.
“What’s wrong with him?” Lin Zhixia asked.
Tan Qianche smiled slightly: “Nothing. He contacted your former experimental group a few days ago. There’s someone in your group called Niu Siyuan, right?”
“What’s wrong with Senior Niu Siyuan?” Lin Zhixia probed further.
Tan Qianche took out a glasses cloth and shook it in the air, his movement quite dashing. He gently wiped his lenses and said casually: “Niu Siyuan sent Yang Shuwen an email… I didn’t see the email, I only know that Niu Siyuan mentioned you in the email, which scared Yang Shuwen quite a bit.”
“Strange,” Lin Zhixia recalled, “Senior Niu Siyuan was always afraid of me.”
She turned to Luo Ying: “Senior, do you know? Niu Siyuan trembles when he sees me.”
Luo Ying laughed twice before asking: “Why is that?”
Lin Zhixia said: “Who knows?”
No one spoke in the laboratory except for the rumbling of machines. Lin Zhixia seemed to have arrived at a brand new treasure land—this was a new planet, with all the equipment and instruments waiting for her exploration.
She walked around, accompanied by Tan Qianche and Luo Ying.
Tan Qianche asked: “Lin Zhixia, do you have any questions? If I can’t solve them, you can ask Professor Gu.”
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered Sister Zhu Chan from Shen Zhaohua’s group. Back in the provincial capital, Sister Zhu Chan had been a great help on her academic path. This had caused Lin Zhixia to like all female doctoral students.
She couldn’t help but ask in return: “Senior, is your girlfriend a doctoral sister in our group?”
To her surprise, Tan Qianche answered: “The woman just now is not my girlfriend.”
In the vast quantum laboratory, all footsteps stopped. Lin Zhixia found it incredible: “I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person.”
As Tan Qianche was about to explain, Luo Ying grabbed his sleeve: “Lin Zhixia is still a minor. She’s only fourteen.”
This reminder stopped Tan Qianche.
He shrugged and said tactfully, “When both parties are willing, you can’t just blame me. You’ll know what kind of person I am if you observe more.”
Luo Ying countered: “In quantum mechanics, an observed wave function collapses to an eigenstate.”
“That statement isn’t rigorous. Would you like to transfer to our Physics Department?” Tan Qianche wasn’t angry at all and could even tease her back.
She didn’t respond.
She followed closely behind Lin Zhixia.
By now, Lin Zhixia had already walked to Yang Shuwen’s side. Yang Shuwen automatically moved a short distance away, successfully avoiding Lin Zhixia.
Unfortunately, Lin Zhixia had no self-awareness and moved closer to Yang Shuwen, asking him: “What are you doing?”
Yang Shuwen wore gloves and used tweezers to pick up a metal piece: “This is our chip.”
Tan Qianche spoke from behind: “Guess what metals were used in the chip?”
Luo Ying couldn’t guess.
Lin Zhixia answered easily: “Mostly niobium. The quantum bit circuit part mainly uses niobium and aluminum.”
“Are they useful?” Luo Ying asked.
Yang Shuwen didn’t hear her clearly, so Lin Zhixia explained directly: “Senior, have you heard of superconducting metals? When the temperature drops very low, the resistance becomes zero, and the material has zero resistance and complete diamagnetism.”
Luo Ying quickly said: “I remember now.”
“Mm!” Lin Zhixia picked up the tweezers and also lifted a metal piece.
Yang Shuwen raised his hand, pointing to a machine. Before he could speak, Lin Zhixia jumped in again: “Senior, look, that’s a dilution refrigerator. Current passes through the dilution refrigerator, the temperature decreases, and the current near the quantum bit produces an induced magnetic field.”
Yang Shuwen scratched his scalp.
The day before yesterday, Yang Shuwen had contacted students in Shen Zhaohua’s group, wanting to ask about Lin Zhixia’s theoretical foundation—Professor Gu Likai had asked Yang Shuwen and Tan Qianche to guide Lin Zhixia together, with Yang Shuwen responsible for the theoretical part and Tan Qianche for the experimental part.
Yang Shuwen had a good impression of Lin Zhixia and wanted to arrange some training for her. However, a student named “Niu Siyuan” from Shen Zhaohua’s group sent a brief email, telling Yang Shuwen that despite Lin Zhixia’s young age, her thinking was terrifying.
Niu Siyuan had also attached an image with the phrase “I’m not targeting anyone specifically, but everyone present is trash.”
Yang Shuwen was somewhat worried. He turned to Tan Qianche and said, “You come over and explain to them. I can’t handle this job.”
**Author’s Note:** Young Master Jiang: Lately, I seem to be feeling some strange pressure.
Lin Zeqiu: My sister says the senior is especially nice to her. Why am I feeling nervous again?