Chapter 23 - I’ve got this Scholar’s back (5)
Chapter 23: I’ve got this Scholar’s back
Lu Deng taught a big class for fifty minutes. His throat was starting to smoke. He accepted the water flask and drank hurriedly and in big mouthfuls. Sure enough, he choked and started coughing.
Because the professor was very young, these boys didn’t feel a great sense of distance between them. Once he got down from the podium, the last bit of estranged feeling was wiped out. The courageous few were ready to move in with the idea of getting closer to the professor to get a few extra credits.
“Are you tired, Professor Lu? Drink slowly—”
Jiang Li was close to Lu Jingmo. Having found an opportunity, he smiled and raised his hand to pat him on the back. However, Liang Meng pulled him from behind and gave him a loaded stare.
How could he be their dorm leader when he didn’t even have the courage to worm his way into the professor’s good graces? Jiang Li curled his lips and slapped away his hand. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Gang swiftly covered his mouth with his hand and dragged him away from his seat.
Lu Deng wasn’t accustomed to dealing with crowds. His eyes widened in a surprise as he watched these people and their antics. Before he could return to his senses, the water flask in his hand had already been taken away.
Familiar arms reached behind him and took him to sit down on a vacant seat.
“It’s easy to choke using this flask of mine. Don’t worry, take it slow.”
Ignoring the fidgety movement of these people, Gu Chuanbai sat down close to Lu Jingmo. He patted him on the back and waited for him to stop coughing before passing him back the water flask. “There is a vending machine in the building. I’ll buy you a bottle later. Have you had enough to drink?”
“Yes, I have.”
Lu Jingmo was led by him to sit down. He was now holding a glass of water and drinking slowly. He nodded, his eyes curved with a smile. His eyes turned to the phone Gu Chuanbai was pressing down on the table.
It’s one thing to secretly take someone’s pictures, but it was another thing to be caught red-handed. The tips of Gu Chuanbai’s ears felt faintly scalding. He was about to hide the phone completely when Lu Jingmo held his arm. “Was your tutor asking you to go to him?”
Just now, Gu Chuanbai’s cell phone buzzed and although it had only been for a moment, he had already scanned the preview on the message notification.
Zhan Pei has a habit of calling the graduate students for meetings at any time of day and if a student was late, he would find fault with that student using every possible way. Taking on a graduate student required that you had a study and transferring tutors required mutual consent of both parties. Before he is able to transfer Gu Chuanbai over, Lu Deng must try to ensure that Zhan Pei would not maliciously try to make things difficult for Gu Chuanbai.
The message had just come in when he immediately covered it. Gu Chuanbai didn’t even have time to look at it. He was startled when he heard what Lu Deng said. He lowered his head and took a look, frowning. “Class isn’t over yet…”
“Go, I won’t do a roll call today.”
Lu Jingmo smiled and said warmly, giving him his earnest reassurance.
It was the other party’s first ever class but he was unexpectedly unable to finish it. Gu Chuanbai clenched his fist, a deep sense of guilt in his heart. He lowered his voice and said, “Jingmo, I—”
“But when you get back today, you’ll have to hand in extra homework.”
He continued on in an unhurried tone, meeting Gu Chuanbai’s slightly surprised gaze. Lu Jingmo’s lips couldn’t help ticking up. He raised his eyebrows, a smile on his face. “Can you do it?”
The young professor couldn’t help letting a smile show in his eyes. He titled his head as he looked at him. His eyes were bright, revealing a rarely seen shrewd look, as though he had seized some sort of great advantage.
Lu Jingmo has always been gentle and quiet. People a bit unfamiliar with him might not have been able to distinguish that rarely seen craftiness hidden in the small arc at the corner of his lips.
This kind of privilege made Gu Chuanbai’s chest fill with tenderness and sweetness. His eyes instantly overflowed with smiles. He almost couldn’t help but want to raise his hand to hug him. But, in the end, he reminded himself that they were in a classroom. He settled for just leaning in and smiling warmly. “I can. I’ll hand in as much homework as you want.”
He answered so easily that he caught Lu Jingmo by surprise. He looked at him with widened eyes, “As much as I want?”
“As much as you want.”
Gu Chuanbai still had a smile in his eyes as he stretched his hand forward. Using the table as a cover, he quickly stuffed a piece of chocolate into his palm and covertly squeezed his hand.
His little professor seemed to be suffering from hypoglycemia. He didn’t know when he’d be able to get back from the meeting. It would be very troublesome if he got hungry and fainted while in class.
Lu Deng was startled. He felt out the candy wrapper and the shape of the chocolate with his hand. A bright and warm expression suddenly flashed across his face.
The system has said that giving chocolate was a precursor to the development of a deeper relationships.
Gu Chuanbai didn’t retain any memory of the previous world, and they’ve only known each other for a short time, in any case, he mustn’t let himself appear too forward. He didn’t expect to receive chocolates from Gu Chuanbai today.
This was really good.
For the first few classes of the new semester, you could expect the students to be quite noisy. They had a lot of tell each other. Most everyone had already had their fill of secretly taking the professor’s pictures and those boys at the back had, pulling and shoving, already exited the classroom. For now, no one was paying them any attention.
He swept his gaze quickly around him. After making sure that the surrounding area was safe, the young professor who had just lectured on the introduction to botany for fifty minutes, quietly blushed, pursed the corners of his lips, and secretly grasped his hand. He then got up and stepped aside to let him go on his way.
…
It was all too easy to abduct his little professor. Before finds out about this fact, he must feed him all the delicious things.
Seeing Lu Jingmo obviously so happy with his piece of chocolate, Gu Chuanbai had mixed feelings. He quietly steeled his determination, bid him goodbye and hurried to the laboratory.
*
The second half of class was finished. He had already issued in-class assignments twice, but Gu Chuanbai still hadn’t come back.
After discussing the last section, class had already gone on for exactly 105 minutes. Lu Deng closed the textbook and left them with homework. After which, he indicated that the students could already come and go freely.
Since Gu Chuanbai still wasn’t back, Jiang Li and a the others offered to help him but he declined with a faint smile. He then looked down at his still silent phone.
As long as there was still time, Gu Chuanbai would definitely rush back to pick him up. And if he couldn’t get away, he would have remembered to send him a message.
Now that he hadn’t received any messages, it could only mean that the other party didn’t even have the chance to take out his phone.
Lu Deng was a little uneasy. He packed away his laptop and plant specimens. He waited awhile in the now empty classroom. Seeing that there was still no word from Gu Chuanbai, he simply picked up his things and searched for the cryo-electron microscope central laboratory.
Academic knowledge should never be equated with character. Zhan Pei had very poor character, but when all was said and done, he definitely had real talent. He had four or five hot topic projects that were at the frontier of scientific research. Every year, his laboratory produces thesis with an impact factor of 3.0 or higher. He had the most ample funding in the Department of Biology.
Zhan Pei was extremely strict when supervising the graduate students under him. He encouraged the students to tell on each other. If he caught anyone who badmouthed him behind his back, they would be severely punished. The rest of the students were so scared that they didn’t dare to say a word. .
Both their graduation and career prospects were held by their mentor. No one dared to criticize him even a little bit. Therefore, even the university’s students only know that his laboratory produces good results and receives ample funding. And thus, batch after batch of high-achieving graduate students, without knowing it, were still thrown into the fire pit every year.
As he approached the door of the laboratory, Zhan Pei’s angry shouts could clearly be heard.
It’s already been more than an hour, but he still wasn’t done. Lu Deng stood at the door and after listening for a bit, he got a rough understanding of the situation. He transferred the laptop and specimen box to one hand, raised his hand and knocked on the door twice. He then pushed the door in without waiting for a response.
“You can’t do anything right! One cryo-electron microscope is several million dollars. Even if I sold the whole lot of you, it still wouldn’t be enough to buy another one — I don’t want to know who broke it. If one person has a problem then each one of you has to compensate me equally! You are all muddle-headed idiots, how could I ever have agreed to take you on in the first place…”
Zhan Pei’s cursing was interrupted by the opening of the door and he turned around in shock. He had a vague feeling that the person who came in was a bit familiar. Taking Lu Deng for a graduate student whose name he had forgotten, his anger poured out immediately.
“What’s your name? Didn’t I tell you that we were having a meeting right away? Was it just wind passing through your ears for you? Prepare for me 500 sets of the LB medium. If even one is missing before tomorrow, you’ll have to add another 100 sets!”
More than a dozen graduate students were standing next to each other, trembling in fright. None of them dared to raise their heads. Gu Chuanbai stood by the back and it took a moment for him to see the person who just came in. After a moment of confusion, he squeezed his way forward. “Professor Lu!”
He deliberately enunciated these words clearly so that everyone can hear them loud and clear. Lu Jingmo turned his head towards the sound. He gave him a slight nod and then passed him the specimen box.
Lu Jingmo has always had a smile on his face. During the rare times he wasn’t smiling, his features took on a cold expression, and a sharpness appeared in his stark eyes. Only when he looked at Gu Chuanbai, did he reveal some of that familiar gentleness.
This actually fit better with people’s mental image of an elite genius scholar.
He wasn’t clear on how Lu Jingmo came to be here so suddenly. Gu Chuanbai was worried that Zhan Pei would harm him out of anger and so he hurried over to take the specimen box and inconspicuously, shielded him with half his body as well.
Finally recalling the specially-appointed professor that the dean had personally invited back, Zhan Pei couldn’t help it as his expression turned a bit strange. His exaggerated anger faded, but his tone remained cold.
“Professor Lu Jingmo? This is the cryo-electron microscopy center. If you want to use the instruments, please fill in the application. If you want to visit the laboratory, the instrument has broken down and I don’t know when it will be repaired—”
Lu Jingmo ignored him and simply looked up at the abnormal data projected on the screen.
The reason for Zhan Pei’s anger was that a graduate student’s mistake had caused the cryo-electron microscopy program to go haywire. They didn’t know yet whether it was the hardware or the software that was faulty.
It costs a lot to get someone to overhaul this expensive instrument. Hearing what he said, it was obvious that he intended to spread the cost evenly among these graduate students.
It was the first time he had seen his little professor put on such a awe-inspiring and impressive manner. Gu Chuanbai was a little surprised and then he immediately understood. He stepped forward and apologized, “Boss, our professor is more introverted and not very talkative…”
Now that someone had given him a way out, Zhan Pei’s expression improved a little. He looked him up and down. “Are you his teaching assistant?”
Teaching assistants were paid positions. According to Zhan Pei’s rules, being a teaching assistant took up time that should be allocated to experiment and research. Thus, 20% of the teaching assistant’s salary has to be turned over to him.
Gu Chuanbai gritted his teeth but his heart was filled with sweetness.
Worst comes to worse, then he’ll just save a bit more. Handing over and doing without that bit of money was worth it to be able to say “I am his teaching assistant”.
The distinguished young professor didn’t seem to care much about his assistant. Or rather, he didn’t care about his surroundings at all. He was fully concentrated on browsing the data on the projected screen.
The projected blue light reflected on his dark pupils, making his originally delicate facial features more distinct. He was silent, with one hand in his pocket, revealing faint indifference and unapproachability.
From start to finish, he never spoke. Zhan Pei gradually became impatient and was about to open his mouth to send this uninvited guest off, when Lu Jingmo suddenly raised his hand and opened the backend control panel.
“Don’t touch that!”
These instruments were all money. If the damage grew bigger than this, he would lose his excuse to divide the cost of repair amongst the students.
Zhan Pei was anxious and he shouted at him to stop. He stretched out his hand to stop him but Lu Jingmo raised his hand and barred his way. “I’m in a hurry. I’ll pay for it if it breaks.”
It was the first time he had spoken since he entered the door. His cold and indifferent arrogance, caused Zhan Pei’s movements to slow. The corners of his eyes secretly twitched.
This newcomer, Lu Jingmo, had taken the bulk of the funding for experiments this quarter. Since he was willing to shoulder the cost of repair for this instrument for him, he wasn’t afraid that when the time comes, this incident would be planted on him.
With his plan settled, Zhan Pei no longer blocked him. He simply coldly looked on with his arms folded, a mocking sneer appearing at the corners of his mouth.
Different trades are separated as by mountains. A cryo-electron microscope was not usually among the instruments used by botanists. Lu Jingmo might not be proficient in this aspect. Gu Chuanbai was a little worried and wanted to speak up but Lu Jingmo stuffed his laptop into Gu Chuanbai’s arms, taking the chance to covertly press down against his arm.
He wanted to protect Gu Chuanbai and to do that he couldn’t make Zhan Pei’s grudge against Gu Chuanbai any deeper. The best way was to pull the other party’s hatred directly onto him.
The principles of cryo-electron microscopy was complicated and he didn’t understand it at all but the problem now lay in the computer programming. As far as the system was concerned, as long as it was a computer, there wasn’t much of a difference.
During this delay, the system had successfully examined where the problem lay and it had submitted a complete repair plan. It waved a small flag to him in his mind. “Host, let him have it!”
Lu Deng’s lips gave an indiscernible tick up. Still looking up at the screen, leaning forward slightly, he brought out the backend code and his fingers tapped out dazzling characters on the keyboard.
Zhan Pei couldn’t understand what he was doing but he could tell that he wasn’t just aimlessly typing. His brows furrowed even tighter and he watched as Lu Jingmo inputted the last line and hit enter.
With a beep, the huge machine hummed and started to run, the stuck program resumed smoothly, the blue screen was cleared, and new data filled the screen in the blink of an eye.
Zhan Pei’s sneer froze at the corner of his mouth.
Seeing the new data scrolling smoothly through on the screen, although it was still subdued due to their mentor’s tyrannical abuse, one after the other, uncontrollable joy appeared on the graduate students’ young faces.
Zhan Pei’s expression changed. After standing frozen for a while, he finally spat out, “Do as you wish, Professor Lu”, and slammed the door on his way out.
There was a low cheer from the crowd. Many people were relieved. Their faces also showed sincere gratitude.
If someone from the foreign manufacturer had to come to fix the cryo-electron microscope, it would have cost five or six thousand dollars. If it came from Zhan Pei’s mouth, it would have risen to ten thousand dollars. Even if it was evenly shared among more than a dozen people, not only would they have to hand over this year’s internship wages, they would probably would have also needed to shell out a portion of their savings.
The moment Zhan Pei left, the coldness in Lu Jingmo’s manner also faded. Looking at Gu Chuanbai, whose arms were stuffed with his laptop and specimen box, a bright smile appeared in his eyes.
A genius scientist has to have some aura about him. Although they hadn’t rehearsed it beforehand, the cooperation between the two of them could undoubtedly be regarded as extreme high-level tacit understanding.
The corners of Gu Chuanbai’s lips were also ticked up. He held his arm, and before this bunch of graduate students could surround him and ask questions, had already taken Lu Jingmo round and out the laboratory.
The other party had spent all night last night preparing for his lecture. How was it possible that he would come here wanting to do an experiment using the cryo-electron microscope? Obviously, his little professor came here specifically to help him out.
The black eyes in front of him were clear and sleek. His face had on a gentle smiling expression. There was absolutely no trace of that commanding presence he had shown just now.
This was not the first time that insults and abuse have been rained down upon his head, but this was the first time that someone had protected him so determinedly. Gu Chuanbai’s heart ached and went soft. He adjusted his collar for him and smiled warmly. “Jingmo, thank you.”
Lu Jingmo shook his head and said seriously, “Next time something like this happens, please call me.”
They were all in the same department and Zhan Pei had a short temper. If Lu Jingmo gets into too many conflicts with him, someday he might be targeted. So Gu Chuanbai couldn’t let the other party help him with everything.
Gu Chuanbai nodded, but didn’t answer. He just transferred the things to one hand and put his other arm around his shoulders. “Let’s go, I’ll take you back to your office.”
It was just a little bit more hardships, a little bit more tiredness; just a few more scoldings. He just had to bear through it and it would pass.
It wasn’t that he didn’t regret it when he found that he had jumped into the fire pit. But after regretting it, he found that the days were still the same. He still found ways to eke out some time to do research and he found ways to use existing resources to produce valuable papers. At least for now, he knew that he could still handle it.
He sent Lu Jingmo back to the office and promised to meet him over the weekend to correct homework. Gu Chuanbai was in a good mood and he opened the roommates chat group to report that he had made it out safe.
The whole dorm room was aware of Zhan Pei’s revolting behavior and every time he was taken to a meeting, they would always offer him their sympathies. But this time, not only did he not receive any concern, Jiang Li directly gave him a call. “Vile spawn! Were you the one who made the little professor’s courseware? Confess!”
“It’s not me, he made it himself.”
Gu Chuanbai was a little surprised. He moved the phone a bit farther away and frowned slightly. “What’s the matter?”
“Two sets of classwork, a full eight questions. While you skipped class!”
Jiang Li roared over the phone and continued to interrogate him. “Was the essay on the history of botany homework your idea?!”
The amount of homework did seem to be a lot. Jiang Li’s voice had almost materialized into a solid exclamation mark.
Remembering that he even had to turn in double the homework, Gu Chuanbai straightened his back, gritted his teeth and continued to resist. “It’s not me. He assigned those himself…”
He just taught Lu Jingmo how to assign homework. Who knew why his little professor had such a strong obsession with assigning homework?
“You didn’t make his courseware and you weren’t the one to assign the homework. So what did you do in his office last night? Eat, play, and sleep? Then what use does he have for you!”
Jiang Li didn’t believe it one bit. He shouted angrily and hung up.
Listening to the busy tone over the phone, Gu Chuanbai stroked his chin. He gradually came to a stop and fell into deep thought.
Translator’s note:
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