Chapter 17
Approaching the end of the semester, most of the classes had been suspended. Most students were just waiting for the break after the examinations. As a result, the atmosphere in the dormitory building was more vibrant than usual.
Pushing open the door to 404, only Li Bo and Zhou Jie were in the dorm. The two of them were lying down on Chen Chen and Wang Wei’s bed respectively. They were tapping away on their phones, indescribable sounds kept coming out of their phones.
1
“A sword’s poor company for a long road.”
“Face Yasuo!”
Chen Chen glanced at Li Bo’s phone screen. “What rank is Lil Bo?”
“Gold, why?” Li Bo did not even bother raising his head. Suddenly, he screeched. “F**k, Nostril what did you take my red for? You’re just a spellcaster. What do you even need red buff for?”
4
Zhou Jie retorted immediately, “I’m low and have no TP, can’t you just take the red to heal?”
‘You make a good point, I have nothing to say…’
Chen Chen was speechless. Mobile LOL had been released for nearly half a year and these two still could not figure out that the red buff did not give health regeneration.
7
It was certainly true that blue buff could help recover mana but red buff did not recover health…
“Teamfight, teamfight!”
Zhou Jie followed up. “Lil Bo, quickly come to teamfight.”
“You still want to teamfight?”
Li Bo called out, “Master Yi is pushing high ground. I’ll go defend. You guys teamfight, go win a fight!”
3
Midway through his sentence, the chilling voice of Yasuo1 came from his phone, “Wuju? Hmmph, never heard of it!”
What came after was a mixture of chaotic battle sound effects.
“Ah—!”
Finally, a horrified shriek signaled the end.
At the same time, a round of shrieking also came from Zhou Jie’s phone as well as the announcement of “DEFEAT”.
3
Li Bo: “…”
Zhou Jie: “…”
In an instant, the entire dorm seemed to have fallen into a dead silence.
“Ahem, where’s Brother Wei?”
Chen Chen broke the awkwardness in the air with his question.
“Where else could he be other than the basketball court?”
After losing the game, Li Bo became extremely dejected. “I’m done, I’m done. I can’t carry a moron like Nostril!”
“Your dumba** is the moron!”
Zhou Jie stood his ground. “I said I’m done, that means I’m done. I’ll play a round with Lil Chen!’
“No, I’m good.”
Chen Chen quickly gestured his hands. “I’m just here to ask something. Any of you planning to stay in school during winter break?”
“Stay in school?” Both instinctively looked up. Li Bo’s eyes immediately turned wide as he exclaimed, “That’s crazy, at least wait till junior year to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination. What’s with the rush?”
“I’m preparing to conduct an experiment and a thesis on the findings.”
Chen Chen explained, “If anyone is willing to help, I can give him second authorship.”
“D*mn, that’s Lil Chen, the top student for you.”
2
Zhou Jie stopped playing his game and sat up looking shocked. “Where are you going, CSSCI?”
3
“No, SCI.”
“That’s King Chen Chen alright. Bravo, bravo!” Li Bo closed his fists together and put on a solemn face.
Zhou Jie did not say anything. He only gave a big thumbs up. His thumb then slowly switched into a middle finger, right in front of Chen Chen’s face.
1
“Coming or not, give me a confirmation.”
Chen Chen did not bother playing along with their jests.
“I have to go home for the new year. I’m the only son in the family. If I don’t go back for the new year, my dad will skin me alive.”
Li Bo quickly gestured. “In order to still be able to see everyone next semester, I shall appoint this momentous task to Nostril!”
“No, I have school phobia. It only acts up during the break.”
2
Right after Zhou Jie had finished his sentence, he suddenly looked like he was in pain. He grabbed his chest and collapsed on the bed. “Oh no, my phobia is acting up now! Oh no, oh no, I have to quickly head back home and enjoy the new year to recover!”
3
“Tsk, why don’t you just admit that you don’t think I can pass the draft?” Chen Chen snickered. “Just don’t tell me that I didn’t invite you guys when the time comes. Hope you don’t cry tears of regret!”
“No way, no way!” The two of them shook their heads in unison, a mischievous smile surfaced on the corner of their lips.
Right then, thunderous noises came from the corridor.
“Oh no, it’s snowing, take the clothes in!!!”
It was snowing?
The three of them instinctively looked out the window. Just as expected, the gray sky was littered with what seemed like pieces of scrap paper. What else could it be other than snowflakes?
2
What followed was the sound of stomping footsteps. After a moment, Wang Wei barged in with a loud “rua” as he exclaimed excitedly, “Have you guys seen it? It’s snowing outside!”
“Yeah, yeah, we saw it.”
Zhou Ji and Li Bo responded without a hint of enthusiasm before collapsing back in bed in the darkness.
“You… What’s with the lack of reaction?” Wang Wei was in disbelief.
“Lil Bo and Nostril are from the North.”
Chen Chen walked over and wrapped his arm around Wang Wei’s neck. “Brother Wei, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Get to the point. How much do you want to borrow?”
Wang Wei was initially taken aback before he became serious. “I only have five hundred left for this month. Counting out the expenses for food and the ticket back home, I can borrow you two hundred. I really can’t do any more than that…”
“It’s not about money.”
Chen Chen pulled Wang Wei to the corridor. “I met a rich woman in the library today. She’s willing to sponsor my stem cell experiment. We even have the laboratory sorted out already. All we need now is an assistant. Brother Wei, based on your exquisite skill set and talents, you’re the perfect candidate for an assistant!”
Unexpectedly, Wang Wei’s expression became somewhat stern after Chen Chen had finished explaining.
He patted Chen Chen on the shoulder and waited a moment before sighing. “Lil Chen, it’s not that I want to judge you. I see how much effort you put into your studies. You might even turn out to be very successful in the future. But you cannot be rash. Are you sure you can handle some sugar mommy out there?”
3
Wang Wei kept his voice low and continued solemnly. “As if the steel ball wasn’t bad enough, I’ve read online recently about how they even pull out the nails….1”
3
Chen Chen: “…”
When he saw that Chen Chen fell into a deep silence, Wang Wei continued giving his counsel. “What I’m saying here is to give me the name and WeChat ID of that sugar mommy and I’ll talk with her. I promise you she won’t bother you in the future. Let Brother Wei handle this for you!”
1
At this point, Wang Wei began ferociously beating his chest, thumping loudly.
Chen Chen: “…”
…
After several minutes of Chen Chen’s explanation, the two of them finally had a common understanding.
“I don’t mind helping you out this one time, especially since we’re going to work in a lab eventually anyway. It can’t hurt to get some experience now, but… Why do I have a feeling like I’m being suckered into this?”
Wang Wei scratched his head. Confusion was written on his face. “Hold up, if you’re making the sugar mommy the lead author and I’m the second author, then what about you?”
“I’ll be the corresponding author.”
Chen Chen explained, “This is my experiment after all. I’ll be responsible for the reliability experiment. Also, on the topic of intellectual property, the corresponding author takes credit as well, so I won’t be taking any losses.”
“Alright, then it’s settled.”
Wang Wei agreed without a second thought. “Then I’ll submit an application to stay in school!”
“Submit mine as well!”
Chen Chen quickly took out an application form and passed it to Wang Wei. After that, he headed to the library to pack his books and laptop.