Bai Jinyan drove him, so Qiao Huaiyao didn’t take the hotel car.
Lu Lu, as an assistant, always had to be on standby when Bai Jinyan went out abroad.
However, when he saw Qiao Huaiyao, Lu Lu was completely bewildered.
He was so stunned that he didn’t even know where he was.
Isn’t this abroad?
Huh?
Why is Qiao Huaiyao here?
Watching the two get into the car, Lu Lu suddenly felt like he was back at Qing University.
Teleportation through romance?
Lu Lu scratched his head, utterly confused by the situation.
Lost in thought, he stood there in a daze.
Bai Jinyan glanced at him coldly.
Lu Lu snapped out of it, quickly shut the car door, and got into the car himself.
The meeting point was at the school-arranged accommodation.
It was quite close to the lab, while the hotel was much farther.
International labs are not usually built in busy city areas.
After breakfast, when they arrived, Qiao Huaiyao was not the last one to show up.
Seeing that the place was full of students, Bai Jinyan didn’t get out of the car. When Qiao Huaiyao was about to leave, he held onto his hand.
Qiao Huaiyao glanced at him, then closed the partially opened car door and turned to kiss Bai Jinyan on the lips.
Bai Jinyan’s eyes curved with a smile as he kissed back more deeply, holding Qiao Huaiyao’s waist tighter. He murmured, “I don’t want to go to work.”
Knowing that Qiao Huaiyao would be waiting for him at the hotel made it impossible for him to focus on work.
Especially this kind of job, just sitting and watching a show.
It couldn’t keep his attention; his mind would always be on Qiao Huaiyao.
Qiao Huaiyao smiled, rubbing Bai Jinyan’s hair, “Then quit the industry, and I’ll take care of you.”
Bai Jinyan raised an eyebrow.
Afraid of being late, Qiao Huaiyao leaned in and kissed his brow, “I really have to go, see you this afternoon.”
Bai Jinyan released his hand, “Okay.”
The car remained parked by the roadside.
Qiao Huaiyao walked towards the group, spotting Qiu Shufeng and some unfamiliar students waiting by the building.
However, the number of people seemed off, and the teachers were not there.
Qiu Shufeng greeted him with a smile, “Good morning, study god. The teacher went upstairs to get the remaining students. Once everyone’s here, we’ll go.”
There were two teachers leading the group, and they were both upstairs checking the dorms.
The teachers had already come down once, knocking on each dorm door and sending messages in the group chat about the meeting time. But when no one came down, they went back up to call again.
Everyone was tired from staying up all night, making it hard to get up early.
Qiao Huaiyao opened his phone’s memo app, looking through the list of things he planned to buy.
Visiting the lab wasn’t just a casual trip. Since he was here, he might as well buy some useful lab equipment.
“Study god, have you had breakfast? Want a bite?” Qiu Shufeng held up the breakfast he bought, including some prepared by the hotel. Since they left early and didn’t have time to eat at the hotel, he brought it with him.
“No, thanks.” Qiao Huaiyao looked at the logo on the bag and asked suspiciously, “Why didn’t you finish eating before coming out?”
Wang Zhan, who had booked the car, said, “I scheduled the car early. I was worried the driver might trick us, so I booked it a bit earlier. This way, if the driver bailed on us, I’d have time to find another one.”
Qiu Shufeng sighed, “We had plenty of time and could have eaten on the way. But the driver saw us with food and said we couldn’t eat in the car, so we had to wait until we got off.”
Qiao Huaiyao asked, “How many days did you book it for?”
Wang Zhan replied, “One day, renewed day by day.”
This gave the driver more flexibility. If he could make more money elsewhere during that time, he wouldn’t take their job.
Qiao Huaiyao saw the teacher coming out of the dormitory building and said, “Don’t renew it tomorrow.”
The butler lived nearby and was adept at arranging these things. It was much better than Qiu Shufeng and the others waiting here so early.
The teacher came down and waved, “Qing students, come here. Respond when I call your name.”
Although there were only ten students, the teacher didn’t recognize all their faces. A slight mistake in counting could be disastrous. So, he chose a simple and foolproof method.
Each of the two teachers took roll once.
“Alright, let’s go.” The teacher checked the names off and led them to the bus.
Sitting on the outer seat, Qiu Shufeng couldn’t help but ask, “Study god, what do you think the international lab will be like?”
Qiao Huaiyao replied, “Probably similar to Qing’s lab.”
The main differences were in the equipment. The international lab also had a large space where multiple people could conduct experiments simultaneously. However, Qiao Huaiyao hadn’t spent much time there. He preferred working on his own.
Working in a crowded lab could lead to disagreements over results and complications with authorship. So, even though it might be more efficient, Qiao Huaiyao avoided it.
Qiu Shufeng nodded, thinking that while the international lab might have more top researchers, its own lab might not be that special.
Lost in thought, he said, “If I’m lucky, do you think I could find a mentor in the international lab?”
Before Qiao Huaiyao could answer, Wang Zhan, sitting behind them, reached out and said, “Did you have such beautiful dreams last night too?”
“I didn’t sleep well at all last night,” Qiu Shufeng leaned back and grabbed Wang Zhan’s arm in return.
Having slept on the plane, he wasn’t tired after landing and had stayed up all night.
As Wang Zhan playfully tussled with him, he added, “Be careful not to hurt our Study god.”
Leaning against the window, Qiao Huaiyao raised an eyebrow, “?”
Before they could settle their playful dispute, a stern look from the teacher silenced them, and they quietly returned to their seats.
Qiao Huaiyao scrolled through his chat with Bai Jinyan. While he was on the plane yesterday, Bai Jinyan had sent him many messages.
Now…
A row of [I miss you] messages filled the screen.
Just from the time he got out of the car until now.
It seemed like he was sending one every few moments.
Bai Jinyan was probably still in the car.
The afternoon activity required him to go early for styling. Judging by the timing… it seemed he was sending messages even while getting styled.
It’s a strange thing.
When they are far apart, knowing how much he misses the other makes him extremely restrained.
But when they are close, knowing that he can hold the other after missing them makes him yearn even more.
Qiao Huaiyao selected some [kisses] emoticons, responding to each message in order.
Bai Jinyan sent a photo: [How about this outfit? Should I go for a darker or lighter color?]
Qiao Huaiyao: [Darker.]
[Got it.] Bai Jinyan asked again, [Which watch from the first row looks best?]
Qiao Huaiyao zoomed in on the photo and gave his answer.
After that, Bai Jinyan kept sending more messages.
Practically every key point of his outfit and makeup was chosen by Qiao Huaiyao.
After everything was done, Bai Jinyan even posted on Weibo.
Seeing the reposted message, Qiao Huaiyao noted that Bai Jinyan didn’t post anything specific on Weibo, just tagged his account and included a mirror selfie, holding his phone sideways in one hand.
It was like a silent boast.
Qiao Huaiyao smiled and liked the post.
The car quietly stopped outside the international lab building.
Before they got out, the teacher reminded them, “Everyone, do not touch anything in the lab without permission. I know some things might be very interesting to you, but you mustn’t touch anything without approval.”
Inside, there were chemistry experts of all ages, valued for their skills, not their age.
Many had won international chemistry awards, and some might have a bit of a temper.
Additionally, personal lab equipment is very important to those dedicated to their experiments, so it’s normal for them not to want others to touch it.
The teacher didn’t want any student to unknowingly cause conflict.
He gave a lot of detailed instructions and finally raised his voice, “Did everyone remember?”
They were all university students, not kindergarteners, but the teacher wanted to be thorough.
The students replied in unison, “Got it!”
“Let’s go.” The teacher opened the car door and got out, “Teacher Peng, you lead the way. I’ll bring up the rear.”
Teacher Peng: “Alright.”
Qiu Shufeng tilted his head and whispered, “I feel so stifled here. I suddenly want to leave.”
The silence was palpable, and the air carried that distinctive lab scent. Plus, the security guards outside with real weapons added to the tension. They didn’t feel it as much while in the car, but after getting out, it made them hesitant to speak loudly.
Qiao Huaiyao chuckled softly and teased, “Didn’t you want to work here after graduation?”
Qiu Shufeng rubbed his nose, “Sigh.”
Upon entering, they went through three rounds of security checks. Anything not allowed in the lab had to be left outside and could only be retrieved upon leaving.
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t remember such strict regulations from his previous visit. Back then, no one had searched him. But it was fine; he only had his phone and bank card with him, leaving everything else at the hotel.
Other students had brought more miscellaneous items, and the first security check confiscated quite a few.
Since they were here to buy lab equipment, they had to bring their bank cards as large transactions couldn’t be made via mobile payment.
The first floor was relatively empty. After the security checks, the teacher led them to take the stairs.
With a large group, the elevator would be overloaded, and since they needed to visit each floor, the elevator would be more of a hassle with frequent stops.
“Whoa… this is so cool!” Qiu Shufeng’s eyes widened at the sight of a massive, unknown machine. “What’s this big thing for?”
It was almost the size of a small classroom.
Qiao Huaiyao calmly said, “It’s a cud-309 substance separator.”
“That’s right, this student is correct.” A man in a white lab coat emerged from the lab, placing his hand on the machine and smiling, “It looks impressive, but it’s only specialized for cud-309 substance separation and can’t do anything else. If you’re interested, I can demonstrate.”
Teacher Peng adjusted his glasses and introduced, “This is your direct senior, Miao Wenxuan. He graduated a few years before you. Just call him Senior. He will be showing you around the lab.”
Several outgoing students stepped forward, greeting, “Hello, Senior!”
“Senior, can we see the whole process when this machine runs?”
“Senior…”
The students were buzzing with questions about the machine.
Qiu Shufeng, initially at the front, was quickly pushed aside.
Miao Wenxuan pressed a few buttons, and the machine started. He casually remarked, “Did you come up from the first floor? Let’s head to the top floor first and work our way down. Some areas are on a timed schedule, so this way, you’ll see more.”
As he added materials to the machine, Miao Wenxuan said, “We’ll start with the fourth floor. The labs there should be open now. There’s not much to see outside; the real stuff is inside.”
Qiao Huaiyao stood at the back, not joining the crowd around the equipment. Seeing this, Teacher Zhang couldn’t help but say, “Qiao Huaiyao? Move closer; get a better look.”
Seeing the tightly packed crowd around the equipment, Qiao Huaiyao didn’t push forward but said, “Teacher, I’d like to go to the fifth floor to buy some things.”
Some of the lab equipment samples for sale were on the fifth floor. Once selected, they would be delivered to the specified address.
Teacher Zhang was taken aback, “Buying things on the fifth floor?” She glanced at Teacher Peng behind her.
Teacher Peng had also heard Qiao Huaiyao’s request. He hesitated and said, “Some of that equipment is quite expensive, and you’re just a freshman…”
He paused. Initially, he wanted to say that as a freshman, Qiao Huaiyao wouldn’t need such advanced equipment and that buying it would be a waste of money. But then he remembered the impressive experiment proposal Qiao Huaiyao had submitted.
So…
Teacher Peng said, “Teacher Zhang, you stay with the students. I’ll accompany Qiao Huaiyao upstairs.”
Miao Wenxuan had just finished his experiment and, hearing this, said, “You need an ID card to access the fifth floor. Let’s go together. We can start from the top and work our way down.”
Starting the machine’s self-cleaning process, Miao Wenxuan wiped his hands and said, “Follow me. There’s a large elevator over here.”
The multi-person elevator wasn’t open to the public; it was mainly used to transport lab equipment to the fifth floor.
“You must be Qiao Huaiyao, right?” Miao Wenxuan said with a smile. “The professor called me, asking me to show you around properly.”
Those who are into experiments are often sensitive to anything related to chemistry. When their alma mater produces a genius, it naturally garners extra attention.
Miao Wenxuan asked, “Have you decided what you want to buy?”
As they talked, he added a reminder, “Things here can be overpriced. Some equipment you can find outside is more expensive here and not necessarily better. It’s best to buy things that are hard to find elsewhere; otherwise, it’s not worth it.”
Qiao Huaiyao nodded, “Yes, I have.”
He had chosen items that were only available here. For everything else, his own lab was well-equipped.