PCJ – Chapter 607 Encounter

“You guys!” Ma Nanli barged into the lab and was immediately dumbfounded. The stack of documents in his hand slipped to the floor without him even noticing, scattering everywhere.

Mei Qing turned around and saw Ma Nanli, but didn’t show a hint of embarrassment. She remained calm and natural. As a single-minded researcher, it didn’t even occur to her that hugging Zhang Jiaohua might be seen as inappropriate. In her mind, it was simply comforting a big kid—completely normal.

Zhang Jiaohua also glanced at Ma Nanli without any awkwardness or panic, maintaining his composure.

It was Ma Nanli who felt incredibly awkward. “Sorry, sorry! You two go ahead.”

He quickly fled the lab, not even bothering to pick up the scattered documents.

Mei Qing chased after him and called to his retreating figure, “Ma Nanli! Are you leaving those documents behind? What’s got you so flustered?”

Ma Nanli stopped. Yeah, why am I the one flustered? Shouldn’t they be the embarrassed ones? He thought to himself. I didn’t expect Zhang Jiaohua to be so sly. Managed to win over goddess Mei without anyone noticing. Guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Young as he is, he’s not just good at research—he’s great at wooing women too.

He turned around and smiled at Mei Qing. “Senior Sister Mei, I didn’t disturb you two, did I?”

“Disturb? Oh, you thought something was going on between me and Zhang Jiaohua? Actually, it’s not what you think. He was feeling down today, and I was just comforting him.” Mei Qing giggled, totally unbothered—because she genuinely hadn’t thought of it that way. Hugging Zhang Jiaohua felt like comforting a crying kid. She had no idea whether Zhang Jiaohua felt differently.

Ma Nanli looked at Mei Qing over and over, half convinced but still suspicious. “Senior Sister Mei, I’m feeling pretty low today too.”

“Ma Nanli! Are you itching for a beating? Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been chasing that journalism student. Want me to tell her what you just said?” Mei Qing teased.

“I swear I won’t tell anyone about earlier!” Ma Nanli quickly gave in.

“You’re such a perv sometimes, honestly. Whatever, I don’t feel like explaining. Why’d you come over?” Mei Qing asked, still slightly annoyed.

“I made some updates to the experimental proposal. I came to show Zhang Jiaohua,” Ma Nanli replied.

“How many times have you revised it already? Still not good enough?” Mei Qing asked.

“It’s not that it’s not good. It’s about perfection. Precision. Zhang Jiaohua always says that,” Ma Nanli smiled.

Mei Qing didn’t catch the humor. She was busy with her own experiments, having just finalized a plan that still needed testing for viability.

Zhang Jiaohua was inputting results from the second round of experiments and preparing for the third. His goal was to complete embryonic formation in vitro and nurture it in an artificial environment. Through this, he wanted to observe how consciousness formed in lifeforms and how biological structure regulation occurred. The experiment was unimaginably difficult. Normally, no one could observe such processes—but Zhang Jiaohua was no ordinary person. He could open his spiritual eye and see souls. If a soul forms during embryonic development, perhaps he could witness it firsthand.

“You’re done with the second batch of experiments?” Ma Nanli asked.

Zhang Jiaohua paused. “Why? Need something?”

“Do you have a moment? Can you look over the latest version of the proposal?” Ma Nanli asked, though he clearly saw Zhang Jiaohua was busy.

“Sure, I’ll take a look.” Zhang Jiaohua took the proposal and read through it quickly.

“Sorry about earlier. I didn’t know, um… that,” Ma Nanli said awkwardly.

“No wonder Mei scolded you for being dirty-minded. I was just remembering something sad, and Mei was comforting me. What were you imagining? Can’t people just have a little trust in each other?” Zhang Jiaohua rolled his eyes.

Ma Nanli felt ashamed but still asked, “So… there’s really nothing going on between you and Mei?”

“I’m not wasting time explaining. Your proposal’s barely different from the last version. These treatments you’re doing? Honestly, they’re just filler to generate data. They have no real meaning. Instead of doing this busywork, dig deeper into the topic. That way, you could connect your experiments into a coherent narrative. Publish a series of papers—that would actually be interesting.”

“You mean go deeper into the topic? Hmm… that’s a good idea. I’ll go rework the proposal right now.” Ma Nanli had long since shifted from his original goal of simply writing a decent thesis to graduate. Now, he wanted more. Maybe he should be more ambitious.

He jumped up and ran off.

“Hey! Aren’t you taking your documents?” Zhang Jiaohua called after him.

“Could you toss them in the trash for me?” Ma Nanli shouted back without turning around. He had a new idea and needed to start researching immediately.

“This guy’s all over the place. What did you say to him?” Mei Qing asked, watching Ma Nanli’s mad dash in confusion.

“I shot down his proposal. He’s off to make a new one,” Zhang Jiaohua replied.

“Wasn’t his experiment going well?” Mei Qing asked.

“Exactly. Because it’s going well, he wants to take it further,” Zhang Jiaohua said while typing away.

“When you’re done, can you look at some of my recent results? Something feels off, but I can’t figure out what.” Mei Qing handed him her notes.

Zhang Jiaohua continued typing with one hand while flipping through her data with the other.

“You focus on your work first. Don’t make mistakes,” Mei Qing urged.

But Zhang Jiaohua finished his input, glanced at the last few lines, and hit save. “Done.”

“You type so fast,” Mei Qing smiled.

Zhang Jiaohua scanned her results. “There’s a small issue. I think your reaction time is too short, causing incomplete digestion. Try extending the time—about thirty minutes. Do a time gradient test to find the optimal duration.”

“I thought there was a problem with the enzyme activity,” Mei Qing said.

“If that were the case, this segment wouldn’t show up. More likely it’s a time issue. You can also try another enzyme for comparison. You’ll be using this protocol repeatedly, so you need to get it nailed down.” Zhang Jiaohua said.

Mei Qing nodded and jotted down the notes. She had her own thoughts, but not the same certainty as Zhang Jiaohua.

While they were talking, Zhu Wenwu appeared at the lab door and knocked.

“Zhu Wenwu, what is it?” Mei Qing asked.

“Nothing much. Just wanted to see if you’re free tonight. I’m organizing a dinner—same old place.”

“Oh? Celebrating something?” Mei Qing asked.

Zhu Wenwu nodded. “I just submitted a paper—it got accepted.”

“So fast?” Mei Qing was surprised.

“It was mostly from my master’s research. I just added more. Labeling techniques are hot right now, so it was easy to get accepted. I developed a new probe. Though the journal’s impact factor isn’t high,” Zhu said modestly.

“Congrats,” Mei Qing smiled.

“How’s your research going? Someone with your background shouldn’t have any problem publishing,” Zhu Wenwu asked.

Mei Qing shook her head. “I scrapped my previous direction and started a new project. Just beginning.”

“What? Your old topic was cutting-edge. Why the switch?” Zhu asked, confused.

Mei Qing glanced at Zhang Jiaohua. “It just wasn’t right. Wanted a change.”

“Well, there’s still time. So, coming tonight? Fu Bo and Sun Bo will be there too,” Zhu invited.

“I’ll pass,” Mei Qing declined. She’d planned to take Zhang Jiaohua out to dinner to cheer him up.

Zhu Wenwu was a bit embarrassed. He had already told Sun Huachuan and the others. And more importantly, he wanted to use the opportunity to get closer to Mei Qing. The more he learned about her, the more he felt they were a perfect match.

“You really can’t skip it. Everyone’s going. Besides, even if you’re busy, you still have to eat,” he insisted.

“I really can’t. I have plans with Zhang Jiaohua,” Mei Qing said, a hint of displeasure crossing her face.

Zhu Wenwu had no choice but to back off. “Alright. Maybe next time.”

“Why didn’t you go with them?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“That guy always pesters me. I can’t stand their cliquish ways. We’re here to do research seriously. No need for all that nonsense,” Mei Qing replied, clearly disdainful of the social games played by Zhu Wenwu and others.

In academia, especially for graduate students, building networks and following unspoken rules is common. Without a “circle,” it’s hard to secure funding. Most students start integrating into these circles early on.

But Mei Qing wanted to stay pure—just a dedicated researcher.

“I think he’s not inviting you just for the food,” Zhang Jiaohua laughed.

“What’s he after then?” Mei Qing asked.

“You really don’t know? He’s into you! Hahaha!” Zhang Jiaohua laughed loudly.

“Zhu Wenwu? He likes me?” Mei Qing’s eyes widened. She really hadn’t noticed. She thought they were just classmates.

“I saw it last time. He saw us eating together and looked super jealous. You didn’t notice?” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Of course I noticed. I’m not dumb. But I didn’t know how to bring it up. If I say it too bluntly, he might not even want to be friends,” Mei Qing said with a wry smile.

“But if you don’t say anything, he’ll keep hoping. The longer it goes on, the worse it’ll be,” Zhang Jiaohua pointed out.

“You’re right. I’ll talk to him next time,” Mei Qing nodded.

As Zhang Jiaohua and Mei Qing walked out of the lab, Ji Jiaxin was standing outside.

“Zhang Jiaohua, Teacher Mei.” She greeted them both.

“She’s here for you. I’ll leave you two to it,” Mei Qing smiled and walked away.

“How’d you find me?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“I bought two movie tickets. Let’s eat first, then go,” Ji Jiaxin said.

“Sure. Let’s eat first,” Zhang Jiaohua nodded.

After grabbing a quick bite in the cafeteria, they headed off-campus.

At the movie theater entrance, they ran into someone familiar.

“Xu Xiaoting?”

“Zhang Jiaohua!”

Xu Xiaoting froze, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Long time no see.”

“Long time no see!” they said in unison.

“You came to see a movie too?” Ji Jiaxin greeted warmly.

“Yeah. You’re here with Zhang Jiaohua?” Xu Xiaoting’s eyes flickered with a trace of sadness.

“And you?” Ji Jiaxin looked around.

“I came with a classmate. She went to buy snacks,” Xu Xiaoting said, masking her emotions.

“Xu Xiaoting, why didn’t you come to the class reunion?” Zhang Jiaohua asked.

“How do you know I didn’t? You weren’t there either,” Xu Xiaoting smiled.

“I went home. Only heard about it afterward,” Zhang Jiaohua said.