Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Why aren’t they out yet?
Gu Nianzhi’s phone was about to go dead. She retrieved her charging cable from her bag and went into the lounge to look for a plug. As she was looking, she sent He Zhichu a text: “Professor He, do you still have anything for me, please?”
He Zhichu was sitting in Professor Douglas’s laboratory, observing her doing experiments and recording data and checking his emails. He saw Gu Nianzhi’s text the moment she sent it. After contemplating for a while, he replied: “I still need another four hours. Would you like to return to school first, then return, or would you like to just wait here?”
Gu Nianzhi stared at her phone and couldn’t believe what she had just seen.
Four more hours?! Then what about dinner?
Gu Nianzhi had already begun to feel hungry. She paced around the lounge for a while and thought it through. If she were to return to school now, she’d be delayed by an hour because she’d be taking public transport. If she were to return to school and come back again, the journey would take two hours. Why would she do that?
She neither wanted to return to school nor stay here. Turning on the map of her phone, she saw that there was a Starbucks nearby. Replying He Zhichu’s text, she said: “Professor He, I’ll go out for a walk and return in four hours. Is that okay?”
“Where would you be going?” He Zhichu was not pleased. Changing his mind, he replied, “Come in. Look at how Professor Douglas does experiments. You’d believe it if you saw it with your own eyes, wouldn’t you?”
Gu Nianzhi was speechless at He Zhichu’s persistence but could not think of any reason to retort. Moreover, He Zhichu’s caution in handling this had sparked her curiosity.
Did she really have a secret relationship with Gu Yanran? But if that was really the case, why had Gu Yanran not recognized her when they’d first met? If she was really her little sister, she had gone missing at only 12 years old. How could Gu Yanran not be able to recognize her? It wasn’t even like she’d gone missing as a baby…
Gu Nianzhi pouted and replied to He Zhichu: “Ok.”
“Come to Professor Douglas’s lab,” He Zhichu replied.
Gu Nianzhi went to the laboratory and knocked on the door. He Zhichu opened the door for her.
Upon entering, Gu Nianzhi walked to Professor Douglas and looked at the progress of the experiment. She fell in love with it the moment she set eyes on it. She was also extremely interested in the experiment and even asked questions when Professor Douglas was waiting for data to be churned out.
Gu Nianzhi did not major in Science at University, but it did not hinder her interest in the subject. Moreover, she was really good at hands-on experiments. After observing for a while, Gu Nianzhi was already able to help out with simple experiments.
“Little Gu, you’re such a genius.” Professor Douglas was pleasantly surprised, and said, full of smiles, “There’s a white laboratory coat there. Go on. Put it on and come over and help me with the experiment.”
Letting Gu Nianzhi do it personally would be a better choice to He Zhichu, wouldn’t it?
Professor Douglas looked over at He Zhichu to seek his consent.
He Zhichu nodded briefly and said, “Nianzhi, help Professor Douglas properly. Don’t be cheeky.”
Gu Nianzhi almost silently rolled her eyes 1,000 times. Cheeky?! She hadn’t been cheeky for 100 years! Please…
As she was occupied, Gu Nianzhi did not feel that time was passing slowly anymore. She put on the white laboratory coat in Professor Douglas’s lab and moved around the different apparatus and machines, stopping occasionally to record data. When she did not understand certain details, she’d bring the data over to ask Professor Douglas.
Even though it was her first time doing experiments, she was extremely observant, and her hands-on skills were excellent. There were some steps that required specific details; the moment Professor Douglas showed Gu Nianzhi the steps, she could remember them perfectly.
He Zhichu looked at Gu Nianzhi after he was done checking emails on his phone and admired Gu Nianzhi, who was putting all her attention on the experiment. His lips curled into a smile. This Nianzhi was indeed his Nianzhi…
…
It was five o’clock in the evening. The rays from the setting sun shone onto the white curtains in the lab. Gu Nianzhi placed the final test tube into the PCR, which was testing for DNA, clapped her hands, and said, “Professor Douglas, is there anything else? I’m all done.”
Professor Douglas smiled happily and replied, “That’s all, Nianzhi. We’ll have to wait for another hour and a half before the results are out. Come; let’s order some takeout. What would you like?”
Gu Nianzhi felt her stomach rumbling. “I want prawns, pork dumplings and some fruit. Would they have cantaloupes?”
Professor Douglas laughed. “That’s a lot! Aren’t you afraid of putting on weight, Little Gu?”
“It isn’t a lot…” Gu Nianzhi turned to look at He Zhichu. “Is it?”
Professor Douglas picked up the phone to place her orders and told Gu Nianzhi, “I avoid carbohydrates at night. I’ll only take vegetables and fruit, and they have to be raw.”
Gu Nianzhi smiled politely and shook her head. She wouldn’t eat those things. They were for rabbits…
He Zhichu ate even less for dinner, usually settling with nothing but a glass of red wine. However, seeing that Gu Nianzhi had such a good appetite, he also piped in, “I want prawns, pork dumplings, and cantaloupe as well.”
20 minutes later, their dinner arrived. The three of them had dinner in a small room.
After working hard for the entire afternoon, Gu Nianzhi was famished. She ate a lot but had exceptional mannerisms during mealtime. Even though she was really hungry, she did not gobble her food.
Professor Douglas was extremely impressed and treated her even better than before. “Where did you grow up, Little Gu? You look like a princess when you eat.”
After swallowing the last dumpling, Gu Nianzhi rinsed her mouth with some water before replying Professor Douglas. “Professor Douglas, I grew up here, but because the person who brought me up was a soldier, he was extremely strict when it came to discipline. Therefore, I was trained since I was young. If you feel that this is princess-y, I think the real princesses in Europe would beg to differ.”
Professor Douglas laughed heartily at Gu Nianzhi’s reply, and seeing that she was enjoying her food so much, she ordered some desserts and ice cream for her. They spent over an hour on the meal, and the atmosphere was cheerful and relaxing.
After dinner, Professor Douglas clapped her hands. “Mr. He, it’s time. Let’s go and check on the results.”
He Zhichu nodded and looked as cold and aloof as ever while he followed Professor Douglas back into the laboratory.
Gu Nianzhi followed. She looked closely as Professor Douglas took the things out from the machine and hung the developed pictures on a special frame one by one. There was data for the experiment as well; there were three copies, one for each of them.
Professor Douglas looked at the data and pictures and continuously exclaimed, “Oh, my Lord!” She looked at the pictures, then at Gu Nianzhi. Then she turned to He Zhichu and said, “Mr. He, the blood samples and dentistry records you brought are identical to Little Gu’s. They’re the same person. Look at the data here.”
“Impossible!” Gu Nianzhi objected. Her heart skipped a beat, and she leaned against the wall of the lab. She wanted to run but realized she had nowhere to run to.
He Zhichu looked at her firmly, pain and hurt in his eyes. “Nianzhi, you did the experiment with your own hands. I got the things with my own hands. You’re still not willing to believe this?”
