Chapter 17#
Old Profession#
“Ah?”
The assistant looked at the large bouquet of small blue flowers and didn’t dare move. “Aren’t these all just…”
“Throw them away.”
A dot of crimson light vanished; a cigarette that had just been lit was pinched off in the middle and extinguished.
Luo Wenyun maintained the same expression, but the assistant shuddered inexplicably upon meeting his gaze. He hurriedly opened the car door, picked up the flowers, and threw them into a nearby trash can, not sparing a single petal.
The engine roared, and the exhaust combined with the evening wind to scatter the bouquet, which was already falling apart from rough handling, even further.
A thin curtain of rain fell.
The drifting petals twirled and were washed into the sewer by the rainwater.
The moment Mo Xuzhi reached the gate of Jinghua University, a torrential downpour cascaded from the sky.
With mud splattering his pant legs, Mo Xuzhi rolled up his sleeves, which were halfway soaked by the rain, and tapped on the window of the security booth.
The sound of the tapping reached the ears of the security guard. The uncle opened the window and, by the dim yellow light, saw the youth standing beneath the lamp.
His hair was a bit wet and casually swept back, with a few strands drooping over his eyes, yet he didn’t look disheveled.
The tall youth in the white shirt smiled at him and said, “Sorry to bother you, uncle. I’m Mo Xuzhi.”
“Ha, I recognize you.”
The security uncle took a closer look at the features of the person outside and smiled broadly. “I remember you from back when you were still studying here. It’s been over a year since you graduated, right?”
Mo Xuzhi nodded with a smile: “Yes.”
“Eh, haven’t seen you for over a year.”
The security guard waved his hand and said, “The people over at the Institute of Science have already given word. You can just go right in—oh, also, take this umbrella. Don’t get drenched.”
The uncle had a strong impression of Mo Xuzhi.
Even though he was just a security guard, he still had a desire for knowledge and had gone to several school lectures. Every time, the student representative was Mo Xuzhi. Coupled with many students constantly mentioning how amazing and good-looking Senior Mo from the Institute of Science was, he had become deeply impressed over time.
Mo Xuzhi’s smile remained unchanged. He took the umbrella, said thanks, and walked into the campus.
Usually, there would be people taking evening walks at this time, but with the rain today, Mo Xuzhi was the only person on the vast pedestrian path.
As the lights shone down, the figure holding the umbrella was constantly stretched, shortened, stretched, and shortened.
The light from the security booth had already disappeared from view.
Mo Xuzhi wiped away the raindrops sliding down his face and walked quickly toward the Institute of Science, looking straight ahead with an expressionless face.
He had been to the school just yesterday.
Not just yesterday; a few days before that, and a long time ago—he had already been here many, many times.
The security guard’s memory had been tampered with.
Mo Xuzhi discovered that as long as it concerned a side character’s changes, anything the novel deemed would affect the subsequent plot would be forcibly erased.
The security guard watched him come and go, yet still thought he hadn’t been back to school for over a year.
The Mo Xuzhi in the eyes of his alumni and the artist Mo Xuzhi were completely different people.
This wasn’t the first time this had happened, and he had already learned to treat it with a normal mindset.
Rainwater slid down the tip of the umbrella, crashed onto the ground, then bounced up, splashing mud onto his pant legs.
A faint sound of coughing was mixed in with the sound of the rain.
Mo Xuzhi heard the urgent tone of the person on the phone and knew something had likely happened. He didn’t delay. Considering the direct road to the Institute of Science was still under repair, he took a detour through the dormitory area.
A road that allowed traffic divided the male and female dormitories. Mo Xuzhi walked on the side near the male dormitories. As he walked, his chest felt itchy, and he coughed twice.
These two coughs were like a premonition.
After that, it became unstoppable.
He had been able to walk slowly at first, but then his pace gradually slowed until he reached a point where he couldn’t move his steps at all.
Mo Xuzhi bent over and coughed. His arm muscles were out of his control. He wanted to take a handkerchief out of his pocket, but his fingers trembled for a long time before he finally hooked it with a fingernail and touched the handkerchief.
“Cough, cough—”
“Is there some noise outside?”
The window kept all the cold out. The few people in the room were each doing their own thing, and the warm air conditioning made them feel lazy and sleepy.
the boy sitting by the window leaned his head over, pressed against the window, and took a few more looks outside, discovering a dark shadow by the streetlamp downstairs.
The reflection on the glass made it hard to see clearly, so he pushed the window open a bit.
A person stood half-bent by the streetlamp. The umbrella lay to one side, being struck by the rain with a faint, dull thud. The sound was covered by the dappled rain, and no one noticed.
“Cough.”
Another low cough, and he stood up straight.
As if hearing the slight movement of the window opening through the heavy curtain of rain, the person looked up, his gaze meeting theirs directly.
The cold white light shone down, making his already light-colored pupils appear even paler.
There was something blood-like on his lips, like crushed petals, deep crimson and lush.
So, so beautiful.
The boy was momentarily lost for words and didn’t dare meet that gaze. His mind went blank, and he reflexively turned to tell his roommate:
“Mo… Senior Mo is downstairs.”
“Who?”
“Senior Mo, the one who graduated last year.”
“…”
A flurry of footsteps sounded, and everyone in the dormitory pressed against the glass to admire the legendary Academic God.
Before they could look for long, someone in a dormitory upstairs also noticed the figure below. A shout out of nowhere successfully attracted everyone’s attention.
“Senior—I like you!”
They saw the person below pause noticeably while picking up the umbrella.
Originally, not many people had noticed the situation here, but thanks to that shout, many people in the female dormitory opposite also leaned out to watch.
Voices gradually rose, and teasing sounds followed one after another.
“Senior, I like you too!”
“Academic God, when will you hold another lecture?”
“Senior, why are you back so late? Is the umbrella big enough? Is it still usable?”
“…”
Mo Xuzhi picked up the umbrella again, raised the edge of it a bit higher, his gaze brushed over the crowded dormitories, and he smiled. He gave a small wave, answered none of the questions, and stepped back into the rain.
“Senior, I’m still voting for you as the school beauty this year!”
Mo Xuzhi’s foot slipped.
The people in both buildings burst out laughing.
It wasn’t until Mo Xuzhi’s figure disappeared into the darkness that the several people in the dormitory finally closed the window.
One of them slowly sat down on a chair and remarked with emotion: “Senior is so popular.”
“He was the school beauty and school hunk for four consecutive years and continued even after graduation. His looks are just there.”
“Mainly because he’s a good person and amazing. Those seniors from the last batch didn’t fail their finals thanks to him… Now we can only rely on ourselves for the finals. Who knows what kind of hellish questions Professor Wang will come up with again.”
“Don’t say that. The department beauty or hunk from the Civil Engineering department next door finally managed to add him on WeChat before,” the boy sitting by the window propped his chin with a face full of excitement. “It’s really as they say, he answers every question, very serious and gentle.”
“And then?”
“And then they confessed and were rejected.”
The narration was concise and direct, the story full of twists and turns.
The roommates fell silent for a moment.
The boy gave a ‘hehe’ smile, picked up his phone and shook it. The call interface flashed by.
“Hello, Brother Ji, how are things at the hospital? Guess who’s back at school…”
Mo Xuzhi entered the Institute of Science, placed the umbrella borrowed from the security uncle in the umbrella rack, entered the changing room, and quickly changed into a clean shirt. Ignoring his hair and pants, he went through several doors with fingerprint unlocking.
A middle-aged man in a white lab coat stood at the entrance of the laboratory, sweat constantly breaking out on his forehead. Seeing Mo Xuzhi arrive, he breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward, and handed a white lab coat identical to the one he was wearing to Mo Xuzhi, leading him inside.
Mo Xuzhi listened to the man beside him as he put on the coat.
The man beside him was named Li Zhenhua, a professor at Jinghua University and one of the participants in this experiment.
He spoke with great efficiency, never saying a single redundant word. He highlighted the key points in a few sentences and handed Mo Xuzhi a folder.
Mo Xuzhi took out the glasses from the pocket of the lab coat and put them on, opening the folder.
Li Zhenhua glanced at Mo Xuzhi.
To this day, he still hadn’t understood this young man beside him.
He was gentle to everyone, yet frighteningly cold and indifferent.
The only thing that could likely cause a ripple in his emotions was the experiment in his hands.
When he had no expression, he appeared very cold. After putting on his glasses, the lenses covered most of his emotions, making him appear even more distant.
He was clearly just a junior, yet not a single person in the laboratory treated him as a student who had just graduated.
“The others are inside. We can chat while looking at the materials.”
Li Zhenhua pushed open the frosted glass door.
Mo Xuzhi looked up.
Most of the people sitting in the room had young faces.
This was their team.
The white-haired old man sitting in the middle smiled at him.
The meeting lasted for one hour and fifty-four minutes. The others left one by one, leaving only Mo Xuzhi and the old man in the conference room, while Li Zhenhua stood outside the door.
Another half hour passed.
The frosted glass door was opened. Li Zhenhua turned and saw a faint smile on the old man’s face, while Mo Xuzhi still had the same expression, his emotions unreadable.
“It’s not early anymore. Child, go back and rest first.”
The old man raised his hand to look at his watch and found it was already late at night. Remembering that Mo Xuzhi had just said he had to go to work tomorrow, he spoke while putting on his lab coat.
“I’ll leave in a bit.”
Mo Xuzhi adjusted his glasses, spread the folder open on the table, and turned to ask Li Zhenhua, “Professor, can I see a more detailed record of the experiment just now?”
“Yes, it’s temporarily stored on the computer. I’ll have someone print it out.”
While Li Zhenhua went to get the materials, Mo Xuzhi poured a cup of coffee and leaned against the table, taking small sips.
He intended to pull an all-nighter.
The old man knew he couldn’t persuade Mo Xuzhi back, so he didn’t say much more.
In fact, reality did indeed need Mo Xuzhi. In terms of theory, the other kids in the team weren’t bad, but in terms of actual operation and risk avoidance, Mo Xuzhi was the only one who could take the lead.
He seemed to be born for experiments.
If he wasn’t there, many things could only be temporarily shelved. If the progress could be pushed forward, the result would be what they hoped for.
Mo Xuzhi looked down at the documents in his hand. The mist rising from the coffee cup clouded a large portion of his glasses, obscuring his vision.
After a long time.
He chuckled softly.
In the end, he had actually gone back to his old profession.