Chapter 73 – Tenderness
Maybe because he felt that typing couldn’t convey the tone well, Bai Jinyan sent over a voice message.
On his end, it was quiet, unlike an airport.
Qiao Huaiyao wondered if after checking the message just now and not replying immediately, Bai Jinyan had found a quiet place with no one around to deliberately record this voice message.
Thinking this, Qiao Huaiyao’s eyes softened with a smile.
With fingertips hovering over the keyboard, there was a slight hesitation while typing. After flipping through the emoji list, he sent a [hug] emoticon.
Bai Jinyan replied with: [Hug.jpg]
Qiao Huaiyao smiled, asking him: [Have you boarded yet?]
Bai Jinyan: [Yes. On the boarding bridge.]
Qiao Huaiyao: [The housekeeper has arranged everything. Someone will be there to pick you up. Just go through the VIP channel.]
The housekeeper was always quick and decisive in handling anything, from contacting the hotel to arranging transportation from the airport to the hotel, all in one go.
Bai Jinyan: [Okay. I’ve turned on airplane mode. Pat on the head.jpg]
Qiao Huaiyao: [Nodding cat.jpg]
Putting down his phone, the teacher was still organizing the exam questions.
On the other side, Qiu Shufeng was still arranging materials.
Qiao Huaiyao thought for a moment, picking out the materials they would need soon and setting aside those meant to confuse them.
Wang Zhan approached quietly, “Study God, what experiments are these materials for?”
With so many things, a basic online search required four or five types, with even more experimental materials interspersed.
Qiao Huaiyao glanced at it, pointing to the search results on his phone, and said, “These.”
Wang Zhan immediately saved the content: “Thanks, Study God!”
Seeing his anxious look, Qiu Shufeng sighed lightly, “Unfortunately, I won’t be experiencing that thrilling feeling today.”
Wang Zhan: “…”
Are you going to die or not? If you don’t, I’ll kill you.
Unless he hurried back to the experiment, Wang Zhan had to roll up his sleeves and fight with Qiu Shufeng.
Just as Wang Zhan ran back, the teacher came down to issue the exam questions.
The teacher said, “Pay attention to the content, read the questions carefully, don’t make mistakes in the experiment, or start the experiment based solely on your own ideas.”
The teacher obviously had seen this type of exam room many times and was familiar with potential issues, distributing the experimental content while saying, “If the experiment goes in the wrong direction, not only will you get zero points, but all your grades will be deducted. Even if your written exam scores are outstanding, there will be no chance to visit abroad.”
After receiving the experimental questions, Qiu Shufeng glanced at them and handed them to Qiao Huaiyao next to him, “Study God, shall we start the experiment now?”
“Yep.” Qiao Huaiyao set down the experimental questions. “Let’s begin.”
“Great!”
Qiu Shufeng assisted. They might be unlucky, getting an experiment from a higher grade.
There were many materials annotated above that were not in the current textbooks.
However… seeing Qiao Huaiyao handling it with ease, he didn’t feel like he needed his own help.
Qiu Shufeng quietly passed things over, and within two seconds of Qiao Huaiyao saying something, he found the thing and handed it over.
Except for the materials that needed to be weighed, the rest of the experimental equipment was provided as needed.
They were busy with the experiment, and the other groups were busier.
It was unnecessary to lower their voices or keep quiet, and the teacher didn’t come to control the volume.
The two teams didn’t have much tacit understanding and certainly needed to communicate during the experiment.
With their hands holding the experimental equipment, it wasn’t until this time that they didn’t allow them to speak or make eye contact.
As a result, everyone was talking to each other, and there were many people in the examination room, so it was not noisy, but it was also very noisy.
Qiao Huaiyao rarely did experiments in such a chaotic environment.
Fortunately, these noises did not affect him, and the experiment was carried out in an orderly manner.
As long as the order of steps was correct and there was no need to wait too long, the experiment would produce results.
When this kind of exam first started, there were many people who signed up and there were not enough classrooms.
They could only do it one by one according to the student number, and one student would leave after the exam, clean up the laboratory table, and let the next student start the exam.
But few people would finish the experiment and leave early. They would wait until the exam time was up, and the teacher would come up to chase people away and threaten to cancel the scores if they did not leave, and then a batch of laboratory tables would be vacated.
Now it is not like before, but the rule of handing in the paper and leaving after the experiment has been retained.
Qiao Huaiyao raised his hand after completing the experiment.
Everyone was busy with the experiment, and it was easy to see if someone raised their hand.
The teacher was not surprised at all and came over with the equipment, “Okay, you can go back after the experiment is completed. After the results are announced, your respective instructors will post them in the class group, and the list of selected students will be announced at that time.”
After saying that, he just took a photo and heard a click on the left.
The teacher turned around and walked over aggressively, “No. 67, what are you doing?! Such a simple experiment can break things?!”
Qiu Shufeng was stunned, “Study god, then… can we leave now?”
“Yes.” Qiao Huaiyao only brought a pen and a mobile phone to the exam.
Qiu Shufeng glanced at Wang Zhan. They were still conducting experiments. “Study god, where are you going later?”
“Back to the dorm.” Qiao Huaiyao replied, opening a chat with Bai Jinyan as he walked out of the classroom.
In such a short time, the plane definitely hadn’t landed yet, so Bai Jinyan couldn’t reply to his message.
Even so, Qiao Huaiyao still sent an emoji.
“What? You’re going back to the dorm already?” Qiu Shufeng followed Qiao Huaiyao out. “Study god, you’ve been working all day without eating or drinking. What are you going to eat at the dorm?”
“My brother…” Qiao Huaiyao instinctively wanted to say, “My brother will cook for me or he has already made a reservation at a restaurant.”
Qiao Huaiyao paused. “I’m not hungry yet. I’ll figure it out when I am.”
Qiu Shufeng sighed. “Alright, then I’ll go to the cafeteria first.”
He had been anxious about the exam all morning and hadn’t eaten anything since.
Now that the exam was finally over, it was time to relax.
Qiao Huaiyao nodded faintly.
“The results of the experiment will be available faster than the written exam results.”
In the laboratory, the teacher monitored the progress of the experiment throughout, awarding grades during the process. If everything went well, the final score would be integrated when the results were announced.
However, the final grades would still have to wait until after the written exam results were released to complete the entire report.
By the time the group message was sent out, it was already the next morning.
The list of scores was arranged in descending order as usual.
Qiao Huaiyao unsurprisingly ranked first.
Advisor: [Everyone worked hard and seriously on this exam, as I saw at the door. Students who achieved good results can discuss going abroad with their families. If parents disagree, please communicate promptly with the teacher.]
[The school will arrange flights and accommodation uniformly, so there’s no need to purchase tickets separately. However, the school-prepared arrangements may not be high-end in all aspects, and tickets will be economy class. Students with additional requirements can purchase their own tickets, but it’s not mandatory. If you choose to buy your own ticket, please inform the teacher when the final headcount is taken.]
Tsinghua University does not select students based on wealth; students come from diverse family backgrounds.
Going abroad is a major event. The school provides arrangements, granting significant autonomy to students who do not need to follow the school’s plans.
[It’s essential to find a teacher quickly. Once the tickets are booked, you can’t arrange your own flights.]
Some airport routes cannot be booked repeatedly, and the price of refunding tickets is too high. Purchasing and refunding four-figure tickets within seconds might only result in receiving a few dollars back, making it a waste of money.
Money can be thrown into the water and still make a sound, but buying and refunding tickets quietly wastes it.
The school allocates funds to buy tickets, naturally forbidding wasteful behavior.
[Students who didn’t perform well shouldn’t be discouraged. There are enough spots this time, and they can wait for subsequent teacher recommendations.]
Perhaps considering that some students may not have suitable teacher recommendations, the advisor added reassuringly: [Moreover, during our four years at university, there’s an opportunity like this every year.]
For students who have already participated, they cannot repeat the experience. The difficulty level may also depend on the academic level of the incoming freshmen next year.
Qiao Huaiyao: [Understood.]
After sending the message, he exited the interface and opened the flight booking app.
Before he could even select a ticket, there was a knock on the door.
Qiao Huaiyao paused, wondering if it was a classmate.
He skeptically got up and opened the door. The familiar delivery person handed him a meal. “Mr. Bai ordered this for you.”
“Thank you.”
Taking the delivery, Qiao Huaiyao closed the door.
He blinked lightly, recognizing the packaging from the restaurant Bai Jinyan often ordered from.
The flight landing time was marked on the ticket booking app, and he checked the departure time.
Bai Jinyan should still be on the plane.
This lunch seemed to have been ordered quite a while ago.
Qiao Huaiyao smirked and snapped a photo of the meal, sending it to Bai Jinyan: [Having lunch.]
Looking at the still unanswered chat box, even the profile picture was dimmed.
He must not have connected to the internet yet, hence showing as offline.
From yesterday until now, he had sent Bai Jinyan many messages, but not a single one had been replied to.
The plane might be delayed or arriving early. The given time was just an estimate; the exact landing time depended on when Bai Jinyan would reply.
Supporting his chin with one hand, Qiao Huaiyao left his phone on the table, absentmindedly staring at the messages on it.
They had been together with Bai Jinyan recently. Even when Bai Jinyan was away, their phone conversations never ceased, and he usually received a response within a few hours.
Now…
It’s been almost ten hours by now.
Qiao Huaiyao lightly tapped the chat box with his fingertip, accidentally touching Bai Jinyan’s profile picture, but not opening his Moments.
Instead, a message popped up in the chat box: [You patted the Kindergarten Senior Class Catan Master.]
Qiao Huaiyao: “???”
What is this?
The following few words were his note to Bai Jinyan.
But why would tapping the profile picture bring up the phrase “patting”?
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t understand. At this moment, Bai Jinyan’s chat avatar returned to normal, and the status indicator showed he was online.
“…”
The automatically generated message was in transparent text, and long-pressing it had no effect whatsoever. Forget about deleting it; he couldn’t even click on it to read it properly.
Qiao Huaiyao hesitated on how to delete it. Immediately after, another message popped up: [The Kindergarten Senior Class Catan Master patted the little kids.]
Bai Jinyan: [Just landed.]
Bai Jinyan scrolled through the message history. Qiao Huaiyao, who wasn’t lingering in the lab, had turned his daily routine into one of staying in the dorm in front of the lab table.
It felt like working and studying in a different place.
Bai Jinyan initiated a video call.
Qiao Huaiyao answered and heard through the microphone that the reception wasn’t stable, with the sound of rushing wind that conveyed a chill even through the phone.
“Brother, did you pack enough warm clothes this time?”
Bai Jinyan put on his headphones, and the wind noise lessened. He walked outside while chatting with Qiao Huaiyao. “Just picked a few, should be enough.”
Casual wear was only for daily use; there were specific outfits prepared for each event.
This time, the main purpose was to appear at the event, so there was no need to bring too much casual wear.
Qiao Huaiyao nodded. “Tell me more once you’re in the car.”
He felt that the weather there was much colder than at his school. Just walking out of the airport gave a deep winter feeling.
Bai Jinyan chuckled softly. “It’s okay, it’ll be warmer once I’m underground.”