Chapter Ch26.1 - I’ve got this Scholar’s back (8)
Chapter 26: I’ve got this Scholar covered
In the following days, Gu Chuanbai continued to become busier and busier.
Although Lu Deng forces him to rest when he finds the right opportunities, he was still only treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. His Botany lecture was once a week. Except during cla.s.s, Gu Chuanbai was so busy that he almost hardly ever sees him. Once he enters the cyro-electron microscopy center, he would often be so busy he couldn’t even make a call.
No one could possibly keep up with this kind of diligent study. After a full cup of espresso was confiscated by Professor Lu and replaced with health-preserving jujube and white fungus tea, Gu Chuanbai finally took a rare doze in Botany cla.s.s.
It was probably because he has been really tired this past few days, when he was awakened by the noise around him, Gu Chuanbai realized that cla.s.s had already finished.
His back quickly broke out in cold sweat, Gu Chuanbai instantly sat upright and pulled over Jiang Li who was sitting beside him. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Your little professor gestured at me several times not to talk. Can you see that even the loudspeaker’s turned off? How could I dare wake you up in front of him?”
Jiang Li waved his hand with lingering fear. He stuffed the thermos cup into Gu Chuanbai’s hand, gestured with his chin, motioning for him to quickly send warmth. “Go. Go quickly, Comrade Chuanbai. We’re counting on you to get what’s going to be the focus of the Botany final exam.”
As the test period approached, many of the students began to feel a sense of urgency. Lu Jingmo, on the podium, was surrounded by a crowd. They had him surrounded so tight not a drop of water could get through. They were all students begging him to help them identify what would be the focus of the final exam.
Gu Chuanbai frowned, picked up the thermos and ran over quickly.
The lecture hall very large and conducting lectures with a mic was very strenuous for one’s throat, not to mention if one had to conduct the lecture using just one’s voice. Lu Jingmo was already reticent to begin with and he usually spoke quite softly. Gu Chaunbai wasn’t sure whether Lu Jingmo could still speak after nearly two hours of cla.s.s.
Unable to stop blaming himself, Gu Chuanbai pushed aside the crowd and squeezed in. Lu Jingmo was sitting in front of the crowd, marking the key points on a textbook. He raised his head when he heard Gu Chuanbai’s footsteps, his eyes curved with a smile.
Gu Chuanbai was rendered a little speechless. He unscrewed the thermos and handed it to him, squatting down beside him.
Lu Jingmo drank a few sips of water and bowed his head once again, patiently marking the key points on the textbook. The hand he had propped on his knee quietly moved away and landed on Gu Chuanbai’s shoulder. He turned his hand and there was another fruit candy on it.
The students’ attention was focused on the key points, sighing at each additional item. Counting on the young professor’s good-natured character, they begged him to reduce the number of key points. Lu Jingmo just smiled and refused to reply. After finishing the last entry, he handed the textbook back and attached a final note.
The words “Look at this first” were written beautifully and handsomely, but immediately caused a large half-real-half-fake sigh of lament.
Although the key points covered only half the book there was still room to negotiate. Everyone kept on guard for a while but seeing that the professor really didn’t mean to say more, the students gradually, half-happily and half-worriedly dispersed.
Gu Chuanbai’s chest ached. He stood up and packed his things in silence but suddenly his wrist was gently held.
Carefully looking at his complexion and seeing that the fatigue between his eyebrows had finally faded a little, Lu Jingmo nodded in relief, and squeezed his wrist. “When we go back, I’ll tutor you on your missed lesson.”
As soon as he heard it, he could hear that his voice had gone completely hoa.r.s.e. Gu Chuanbai’s movements turned slightly sluggish. Looking at the black eyes that were as always, patient and gentle, he whispered, “Jing Mo…”
“Today I gave the cla.s.s a ten-question cla.s.swork exercise.”
Before Gu Chuanbai could start to criticize himself, Lu Jingmo had already warmly cut off that thread of conversation. He paused for a while and his eyes revealed that familiar smile. “You’ll have to answer twenty questions.”
Conducting a two-hour cla.s.s by simply talking loudly was simply unbearable. Lu Jingmo caused the system to temporarily break the mic and meticulously prepared ten questions designed to help them master the subject via a comprehensive study of surrounding areas. As long as the students worked hard at it, the effect was not much worse than listing to a lecture.
The exam was about to take place in a month. The whole cla.s.s unanimously believed that this must be one of the key points of the exam and no one raised the slightest objection.
Gu Chuanbai’s eyes felt hot but he couldn’t help but smile. He squeezed his hand and nodded vigorously. “I’ll do fifty questions.”
The other party truly wasn’t your average homework-loving student. Lu Deng no longer remembered what happened the day they made ice cream. He opened his eyes wide in surprise. “Is fifty okay?”
“I’ll go to your office to answer it. I’ll do as much as you like.”
The little professor’s voice was so hoa.r.s.e it made him feel sad. Gu Chuanbai pressed his finger against his somewhat dry lips, smiled and let out a sound of agreement. He helped him carry his things. “Don’t talk. Save your voice. I’ll cook for you tonight, okay?”
His busyness these past few days had not been for nothing. While sorting out the data, he had inadvertedly compared a set of outlier values. Inspired by Lu Jingmo’s experiments, he designed an entirely new experiment to validate his finding. He had already submitted a complete experiment plan and application. If he was lucky, he could spend this winter vacation working out the results in the laboratory. Who knows? Maybe it might even be published in a much respected and impactful international periodical.
The compet.i.tion in the scientific research community was fierce and cruel. Luck and strength coexisted together. The higher up you went, the more difficult it was. But he still wanted, as much as possible, to reach the level of his little professor and so that he could pursue the other, fairly and aboveboard.
Lu Jingmo had no idea what he was thinking. He was simply enticed by the other’s personal cooking. His eyes brightened, and he nodded expectantly.
Gentleness and warmth seeped through the bottom of his eyes. Taking advantage of the empty cla.s.sroom, Gu Chuanbai transferred the things to one hand and led him into the elevator.
He will do his best to advance.
*
Gu Chuanbai took Lu Jingmo back to his office. Completely at home with his surroundings, he spread open the dining table. He set a cooking pot on top of the induction cooker and he then took out a few ingredients from the refrigerator. He pushed the excited professor who wanted to help to sit back down on the sofa.
Lu Jingmo allowed himself to be pressed down to sit. But his eyes still remained bright. He clung to his arm, staring at the food on the table.
“Today I’ll be cooking tomato and sirloin stew and crab roe corn. Do you want anything else?”
Every time he got like this, it was easy to forget the other person’s true ident.i.ty. Gu Chuanbai smiled and rubbed his hair. He leaned over and asked warmly, handing him a memo pad and pen, “Come, what would you like to order?”
It’s been more than three months since they’ve met. He’s bought from the canteen, ordered takeaways and cooked his best meals for the other. Gu Chuanbai has tried every feeding method he could think of.
It was too easy to make off with Lu Jingmo by using delicious foods. Despite this, he was unexpectedly not picky. No matter what kind of food, he will be very satisfied. But the more Gu Chuanbai became aware of this, the more persistent Gu Chuanbai wanted to find him more delicious meals.
Knowing that Gu Chuanbai was trying to make him rest his throat, Lu Jingmo smiled and wrote a few words on the paper in all seriousness. He then handed it back to him.
He wasn’t expecting the other party to order food so happily today. Gu Chuanbai couldn’t help being a little surprised. He smiled and took a look. Immediately, he was a bit startled.
No dishes were written on it. Only three characters were written on it — his name.
He suddenly remembered Lu Jingmo’s bewildered state in the darkness at that time. The smile in Gu Chuanbai’s eyes gradually faded. His heart felt choked. He squatted in front of him, holding the little professor’s hand. “You want me to eat with you?”
Lu Jingmo nodded, still with that beautiful smile on his delicate face. He had once again taken out a genuinely succinct and easy to understand important order from behind his back, stuffing it into his heart.
Looking at the happy and gentle expression in his eyes, Gu Chuanbai couldn’t help it anymore. He leaned over to hug the other in his arms and tighten his embrace. “It’s almost done. Soon, very soon…”
When he was clear-headed, his little professor never knew how to express that he was feeling unwell.
His arms went around his neck and his warm body leaned forward. Gu Chuanbai pressed lightly against his cheek. He closed his eyes and hugged him for a while before letting go and straightening up.
“I’ll make the meal first. Let’s have a good meal and then I’ll do my fifty-question homework. I won’t be allowed to sleep until I finish it, okay?”
Lu Jingmo smilingly nodded and then watched him go back and continue to work in an orderly manner. He folded his legs and nestled into the sofa, working on the laptop to continue improving his project.
The two quietly settled into their own work and busied themselves. Although the only sound in the room was the sound of soup gurgling, there was no sense of awkwardness or coldness.
Gu Chuanbai set the rice to cook and took a piece of beef brisket, soaked it in the thick sweet and sour tomato soup. He blew on it to cool and brought a small dish of it to Lu Jingmo’s lips.
“Have a taste. Do you think it’s good now?”
The little professor eats everything with relish. He always brings a great sense of accomplishment to the chef.
Seeing those eyes all lit up with joy, Gu Chuanbai nodded in satisfaction and ladled the tomato and sirloin stew into a shallow bowl. The rice was served, the crab row corn was placed on a plate. Lu Jingmo, who liked sweets, had one small bowl of it specially set out and placed in front of him.
Lu Jingmo had already put aside the laptop. He sat at the table, waiting for dinner. Gu Chuanbai simply got the utensils ready and sat down with him. He smiled and was about to speak when his mobile phone on the table suddenly rang.
Receiving a message from Zhan Pei at this time should have been extremely disappointing, but Gu Chuanbai’s eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. He stood up, “Jingmo, you eat first. I’ll come back after I go to the laboratory— —I’ll be back soon! Wait for me. I have a surprise for you!”
For fear that the other party would be worried, he deliberately repeated it a few times. He even took him in his arms and spun him around a few times in his excitement. He finally put down the dizzy little professor, grabbed his jacket and rushed to the laboratory.
These days he’d been working without sleep or rest. Almost all of his energy had been put into designing this experiment. He had already done an unknown number of possible deductions.
Zhan Pei had the habit of signing as the first author on his students’ research papers, but it didn’t matter. Gu Chuanbai just wanted to do this experiment. As long as he can do it, he can truly find his strength and direction in the field of scientific research. He would be taking a most dependable first step.
He didn’t need Zhan Pei’s guidance. He could even take in more work. He was fine with looking after the lab for the entire winter vacation.
He just needed his approval to use the instruments and reagents in the laboratory so that he could do the entire experiment.
He wanted to see it again, the light in his little professor’s eyes when he stood in front of the huge cryo-electron microscope control board that day.