Tan Qianche stretched out an arm, hooked it around Yang Shuwen's shoulder, and said, "What Lin Zhixia talked about are all basic concepts. They are very simple. What do you have to be afraid of?"
Yang Shuwen looked coy: "Hey, take her for a walk."
Tan Qianche called Lin Zhixia's name, and Lin Zhixia followed him like a little tail. He introduced all the large equipment in the laboratory and described the production process of quantum chips. He answered all the questions raised by Lin Zhixia in detail. Finally, he asked with interest: "What do you think of me now?"
Lin Zhixia pointed at herself: "Are you asking me?"
Tan Qianche said with a smile: "Yes."
Lin Zhixia thought for two seconds and said, "From an academic point of view, you are smart, good at studying, have a solid foundation, and are experienced."
Tan Qianche sat on a chair and questioned, "No more?"
"Also," Lin Zhixia said softly, "from an emotional perspective, you are not upright enough."
As soon as these words came out, Tan Qianche burst into laughter: "How can I be considered upright?"
Tan Qianche acted nonchalant and cynical. There was a faint lipstick mark on his shirt collar - is this the adult world? Lin Zhixia was at a loss for words.
Luo Ying stepped in to defend him, "Senior Tan, you are ten years older than Lin Zhixia. Shouldn't you be more careful when chatting with her?"
Tan Qianche sat sideways, leaning against the back of his chair. He folded his fingers, and looked at Luo Ying with a casual look. After a moment, he stood up and said, "Lin Zhixia, come here, I have prepared something interesting for you."
He walked to an operating room, turned on the machine, prepared all the components, explained the experimental instructions again, and guided Lin Zhixia step by step.
Lin Zhixia memorized every word he said and couldn't wait to start a series of operations.
Tan Qianche called Yang Shuwen over again and asked him and Lin Zhixia to supervise each other. Yang Shuwen was very reluctant, but Lin Zhixia was very happy. She said, "If I make a mistake, don't be polite and correct me directly."
Yang Shuwen covered his forehead with one hand, his fingers resting on his hairline. He smoothed his hair back to ease his tension, then said, "Okay, I'll correct you."
The nearby conversations gradually stopped. Luo Ying stood at the door of the operating room and could vaguely hear the low hum of the machine. She said hello to Lin Zhixia and was about to leave first, but Tan Qianche stopped her.
In a secluded corner, two large machines blocked the figures of Luo Ying and Tan Qianche. Tan Qianche slowly approached Luo Ying and asked her: "Lin Zhixia is fourteen years old, how old are you? Are you an adult?"
Luo Ying said: "I'm nineteen."
Tan Qianche leaned against the wall and laughed for no reason: "Nineteen-year-old Luo Ying, how did you get your name? It reminded me of the text "Peach Blossom Spring" in middle school... The petals are falling and the grass is fresh. It's really beautiful."
The light was bright, illuminating his profile. He had an outstanding appearance, a straight nose, and silver-rimmed glasses, which gave him the illusion of being gentle and abstinent.
He kept doing fitness all the year round and maintained a very good figure. He wore a slim shirt, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, which made him look particularly thin. His abdomen and back had solid muscle contours, and all the male students in the laboratory were reduced to being his foils.
However, Luo Ying's attitude towards him was lukewarm: "Sorry, I want to leave first."
He made a "please" gesture: "I'll take you out."
He had no intention of trying to keep Luo Ying from leaving.
Luo Ying thought to herself, he is really an old hand in the world of women.
Tan Qianche mentioned it intentionally or unintentionally: "I guess Lin Zhixia won't go back until the afternoon. Her experiment takes time. Just waiting for the results will take half an hour. At noon, our group will have a lunch..."
Luo Ying stopped and glanced at Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia was discussing some problem with the doctors. She gestured in front of the computer screen for a while, and Yang Shuwen couldn't help but applaud her. She then buried her head in drawing sketches, completely immersed in the magical and mysterious world of quantum.
Luo Ying changed her tone and said, "Give me an empty table. I'll study here, okay?"
Tan Qianche immediately cleared a place for her.
She sat down slowly and took out a math book from her bag.
Tan Qianche set up a desk lamp next to him, adjusted the brightness, and said in a gentle voice, "I'm going to be busy. Call me if you need anything."
Luo Ying remained silent. She looked at the math book absentmindedly, letting time pass by.
Lin Zhixia didn't pay attention to Senior Luo Ying.
Lin Zhixia spent a whole morning and finally mastered some techniques. She summarized her gains this morning and browsed through the quantum circuit diagrams one by one. She could understand the structure and function of the circuit without anyone's explanation.
Yang Shuwen rubbed his face and thought of Niu Siyuan's email again.
Niu Siyuan said in the email: There may be one or two slackers in the experimental group. When those slackers meet Lin Zhixia, it will be like a chick meeting an eagle, which will completely expose their academic level and make their already poor academic career even worse.
Yang Shuwen had been under a lot of psychological pressure in recent days. When he looked at the wall, he saw Lin Zhixia's shadow, which became dark and tall, like an eagle spreading its wings and soaring.
Yang Shuwen took a breath of cold air.
Fortunately, at this time, Tan Qianche shouted loudly: "It's half past twelve! It's time to eat!"
Yang Shuwen immediately took off his gloves: "It's time to eat."
The doctors around him ran away one after another. They were like a group of negatively charged electrons. Tan Qianche was like a positively charged atomic nucleus, attracting a group of electrons - Lin Zhixia was the only one left alone.
Quantum computing is a field that Lin Zhixia has always longed for. Gu Likai's laboratory has world-class machinery and equipment. Lin Zhixia is eager to produce results and is working day and night to study it.
Tan Qianche called her again: "Lin Zhixia, take your time, you can't skip a meal."
Lin Zhixia came to him with a blueprint. He listened to Lin Zhixia's question patiently and said with a smile: "Not bad, you thought of this. Your senior Yang Shuwen has been with us for more than two months, and there has been no such progress."
Lin Zhixia turned around and glanced at Yang Shuwen secretly.
Yang Shuwen turned around and took two steps backwards.
Lin Zhixia was full of doubts: "What happened to Senior Yang?"
Tan Qianche said: "Don't worry about him."
Their laboratory is located on the fourth floor. There is a restaurant at the end of the corridor on the fourth floor, which is equipped with a sink, a microwave, a dozen tables and sofa chairs. This place is very close to the laboratory, with a good environment and cleanliness. Tan Qianche often has dinner here with his classmates.
Half an hour ago, several students in the group went to the cafeteria. Now, they came back with large and small bags of takeout boxes. The atmosphere suddenly became noisy and lively. Tan Qianche helped to spread out the lunch boxes and said, "Sit down. It's rare for us all to have time to get together."
Lin Zhixia blinked and looked around: "Are we on a AA basis? I brought some change today..."
"How can I ask you to spend money?" Tan Qianche handed her a pair of bamboo chopsticks. "This is your first day in the lab, and we, the seniors, should treat you."
Another senior echoed, "For two or three years, there have been no girls in our group. Let alone treating you to a meal today, even if I treat you every day..."
Everyone's eyes fell on him. He silently calculated the meal money and changed the topic: "Haha, my salary is not much. Tan Qianche gets more. He is the rich man in our group."
Lin Zhixia asked, "How do you usually make money? How much can you earn?"
Luo Ying wanted to ask Lin Zhixia if she was short of money, but she was surrounded by doctoral and master's students from Gu Likai's group. Considering Lin Zhixia's face, Luo Ying did not ask.
Compared to Luo Ying's cautiousness, Tan Qianche seemed very calm: "I have a fixed salary of 1,500 yuan per month, and the school will transfer the money to my card. I am a teaching assistant for the course "Quantum Computing", with an annual salary of 50,000 yuan. I have a president's scholarship of 5,000 yuan per month, and another project funding of 30,000 yuan per year. That's the total amount of money. There is another person in the group who earns more than me. He went out to play during the National Day holiday. I will ask him for you when he comes back."
Lin Zhixia calculated the total in one second: "So, even if you haven't graduated with a doctorate, you can get an annual salary of 158,000 yuan before tax."
"You can get it later." Tan Qianche smiled at her.
Lin Zhixia picked up a box of fried rice, thoughtfully.
It turns out that being a PhD under Gu Likai can make so much money.
Lin Zhixia remembered that the seniors in Shen Zhaohua's group were not so wealthy. For example, senior Niu Siyuan was a very frugal person. He often sorted supermarket discount cards on his desk and was a frequent visitor to the second-hand flea market. If he was as rich as Tan Qianche, he wouldn't have to cry poor in the office.
After thinking it over, Lin Zhixia couldn't help but ask, "Can I be a teaching assistant?"
Luo Ying was shocked: "You want to be a teaching assistant for undergraduates?"
Lin Zhixia said to herself, "Most of the undergraduate courses are relatively simple. As long as I am given some time to prepare, I will definitely be able to meet the teacher's requirements."
Luo Ying said, "The teachers in science and engineering are very strict, the teaching workload is heavy, and the teaching assistants are so busy that they have to stay up late."
"I won't stay up late," Lin Zhixia explained. "I have a detailed schedule. I can finish everything I want to do during the day. After 7 o'clock every night, it's my leisure time."
After listening to Lin Zhixia's words, Yang Shuwen picked up a bowl of extremely spicy hot and sour noodles. Tan Qianche was still trying to persuade him: "Yang Shuwen, you have a very light taste. You can't eat chili peppers, right?"
"It's okay." Yang Shuwen sniffed and took a big sip of hot and sour soup.
Lin Zhixia turned around and stared at Tan Qianche: "Are you still in need of teaching assistants?"
Another senior replied: "Teaching assistants are a scarce resource and the positions are full. You can ask about other professional courses."
"That's not a question of professional courses." Tan Qianche opened a can of beer. He took a sip and said, "You are younger than the average undergraduate. If you stand there, I'm afraid no one will regard you as a teaching assistant, Lin Zhixia."
Lin Zhixia was a little frustrated: "I will grow up, don't think I'm young."
Tan Qianche looked at her quietly. He shook his beer and smiled even more: "Don't worry, I will wait for you to grow up."
He lowered his head, holding the wine can in his hand, and muttered to himself: "It's only four years. I can wait. In four years, you will be eighteen years old."
Luo Ying suddenly punched Tan Qianche on the shoulder.
Luo Ying used all her strength, and Tan Qianche's face turned blue with pain. Most of his classmates were busy eating, and Luo Ying's speed was so fast and urgent that no one noticed how strong Luo Ying was.
Tan Qianche really didn't expect that Luo Ying, who looked so weak and skinny, could hit someone so painfully! That punch almost emptied Tan Qianche's blood tank. After several minutes, Tan Qianche barely recovered.
Luo Ying did not apologize to him.
Luo Ying was very angry.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was harmonious and cheerful. Several doctoral students were discussing circuit design, and some mentioned chip production in the next-door laboratory. Only four people were not in the right state—Yang Shuwen was holding a bowl of hot and sour noodles, looking listless and distracted; Lin Zhixia was considering a part-time job, she wanted to earn money while attending school; Luo Ying looked at Tan Qianche coldly, while Tan Qianche sat up straight, as if nothing had happened.
Tan Qianche whispered, "That's not what I meant. The people I date are all girls over 18 years old."
"Have you ever dated a girl?" Luo Ying asked sarcastically, "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Tan Qianche picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth: "I'm single now."
Luo Ying smiled and said, "The lipstick marks on your neck haven't disappeared yet."
Tan Qianche held the tissue and covered his chin: "Do you mind?"
Luo Ying picked up her lunch box, and the soup and oil splashed on her fingers. She said with a double meaning, "It's so dirty."
Tan Qianche seemed to never get angry. He leaned close to her ear and said in a voice that was almost like a whisper: "I haven't been dirty this month, so take my first time this month."
Luo Ying slammed the table and stood up.
Lin Zhixia came back to her senses and asked hurriedly, "Senior, what's wrong with you?"
Luo Ying said: "I can't eat anymore."
Lin Zhixia was surprised and asked, "Senior, what happened?"
The classmates around asked about Luo Ying's condition one after another. The boys who were responsible for buying meals felt a little guilty, thinking that they had not chosen the right meals and that the meals did not suit Luo Ying's appetite, which made her unhappy.
Luo Ying stood still for a moment, wanting to break up with Tan Qianche, but afraid of affecting Lin Zhixia's work in the laboratory. She could only hold back her rage. But she had been spoiled since she was a child, how could she have suffered such humiliation
She sat back in her original position. This time, she took the initiative to approach Tan Qianche.
Tan Qianche listened attentively.
Luo Ying said to him: "If you dare to say that to me again, or have any thoughts about Lin Zhixia that go beyond the friendship of classmates..."
"What about you?" Tan Qianche asked her.
She glanced at his entire body. "I'm not just going to hit you on the shoulder."
Tan Qianche took another sip of beer and asked calmly, "Are you not afraid of being expelled from school for fighting on campus?"
"My family is in the real estate business, so I had something to do when I dropped out of school," Luo Ying said softly, "The Peach Blossom Spring villa area next to the Provincial No. 1 Middle School was designed by my mother. You guessed it right, my name is related to "Peach Blossom Spring"."
Tan Qianche remained silent.
Luo Ying asked him again: "You earn 158,000 yuan a year, right?"
She raised her fingertips slightly, looked down at the floor, and put her Hermès Birkin bag on her lap: "It's not as expensive as my bag."
Luo Ying raised her voice a little, and this time, many people, including Lin Zhixia, heard her words. The group of doctoral students looked at each other, not quite understanding why Luo Ying suddenly showed off her wealth to Tan Qianche.
Yang Shuwen stood beside another table, holding a bowl of hot and sour noodles, and whispered to a doctor: "This is called PUA."
Lin Zhixia held the lunch box in both hands and walked behind them.
She heard Yang Shuwen say: "I was at home during the summer vacation and browsed the Tianya Forum. There was a post on Tianya that introduced PUA. PUA achieves its evil purpose by undermining a person's self-confidence and controlling his spirit."
Lin Zhixia repeated unconsciously: "Pua?"
Yang Shuming clearly heard Lin Zhixia's voice, but he did not turn around. He suddenly realized that Lin Zhixia's attack on him might also be a kind of PUA. The more he cared about Lin Zhixia, the easier it would be for her to defeat him.
After the lunch gathering, everyone returned to their respective posts.
Lin Zhixia recalled the operation process in the morning and devoted herself to the research work. She dared to try and make mistakes, and often encountered difficult problems. Sometimes, even Tan Qianche could not give an accurate explanation.
Lin Zhixia wrote an email, listing some difficult points, and sent it to Gu Likai's email address, with a copy to the entire research group.
Lin Zhixia believes that the problems she discovered will be helpful to all the students in the group.
However, after reading her description, Yang Shuwen's eyelids trembled, his head felt sleepy, and he just wanted to lie down on the table and take a nap.
Tan Qianche asked him to stay in the lounge for a while, but he declined. He put on gloves, put on his uniform, and continued his unfinished work.
While setting the experimental parameters, Yang Shuwen was still thinking about Lin Zhixia's email. He adjusted the instrument unconsciously, vaguely feeling that his stomach was very uncomfortable. He was not used to spicy food, and the hot and sour soup at noon... It really killed him.
Yang Shuwen endured the discomfort and put a quantum chip in place. Suddenly, a red box popped up on the screen of the instrument, asking for a password. He had never seen this red box before, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Tan Qianche, what is the highest authority password?"
Tan Qianche was writing a report. He answered distractedly: "What do you want the password for?"
"I'm the only one in the lab who doesn't know the highest level of authority!" Yang Shuwen shouted, "What's the password?"
Tan Qianche directly said: "351426!"
Yang Shuwen entered the number "351426" on the touch screen. He clicked the "Confirm" button, but heard another doctoral student say, "Hey? Don't move yet. That's an old machine. It was bought several years ago and is used to make super-strong magnetic fields. The system of the machine has been modified by a senior. It usually won't ask you for the permission password unless the parameters you set exceed the safe range..."
Yang Shuwen's whole body was stiff.
He tried to click "Pause" but it didn't work. The system prompted "Experiment in progress". He hurriedly said, "Where is the main switch? Turn it off! Turn it off!"
Another doctor said, "Press the emergency button!"
The emergency button was only three meters away from Yang Shuwen.
At the critical moment, Lin Zhixia just walked out of another room. She was holding a stack of blueprints and was about to pass by Yang Shuwen. Yang Shuwen gave up the emergency button. He grabbed Lin Zhixia's sleeve and dragged her to the emergency exit, shouting as he ran: "It's going to explode! It's going to explode!"
Before he could finish his words, there was a loud bang in the distance.
The excessive current caused the coil to explode instantly.
Windows shattered and glass flew everywhere.
Light smoke filled the air and several boys screamed.
Lin Zhixia was shocked.
Her feet slipped and she fell to the ground, her ankle hurt so much and her experimental drawings were scattered all over the floor.
The lab alarm rang, and Tan Qianche rushed out of the operating room with a pale face. He quickly regained his composure and cut off the power supply to the relevant machines. Even though Yang Shuwen kept calling him, he still took his time to deal with the aftermath.
He organized all the students to leave in an orderly manner and called Teacher Gu. When Teacher Gu heard that the coil exploded, he immediately asked, "Is anyone injured?"
Tan Qianche squatted in the stairwell of the emergency passage. He looked down at Lin Zhixia's swollen ankle and sighed repeatedly: "Lin Zhixia fell and sprained her ankle. The other students are fine."
Teacher Gu said he would come right away and asked Tan Qianche to move the students out of the laboratory building first. Teacher Gu also said that on the 27th of last month, that is, September 27th, three doctoral students from the neighboring university also blew up the laboratory.
Tan Qianche said hurriedly: "Teacher, our loss is not serious. It's just that one machine. The coil exploded, the circuit was burnt, and the window was broken. There is a green belt downstairs, so no one was hit. I called the fire department and they will be here soon."
Teacher Gu instructed: "Okay, carry your junior sister downstairs and take her to the school hospital to take an X-ray to see if there are any broken bones..."
Tan Qianche hung up the phone and knelt on one knee in front of Lin Zhixia: "Come up, I'll carry you downstairs."
Lin Zhixia was still in shock.
She couldn't describe her memory to others.
When she recalled the accident, the deafening sound, the loud noise of shattering glass, the strange pungent smell, and the sudden fear, all overwhelmed her cognition like a tide. In that instant, she understood why she hated injections so much since she was a child, because the memory she feared most would emerge uncontrollably and make her experience the scene again, just like a real-life horror cruise ship that would play on a loop without end.
Her face was pale: "Mom..."
Tan Qianche lowered his head and asked her, "What are you talking about?"
She repeated, "Mom, I want Mom."
Tan Qianche thought: A 14-year-old girl shouldn't be so dependent on her mother, right? She's quite smart, why is she still a mama's boy
But she was very young after all, ten years younger than Tan Qianche, and was his direct junior. Tan Qianche patiently coaxed her: "Don't be afraid, it's okay, I'll carry you downstairs."
Lin Zhixia lay on his back. He stood up and asked in surprise, "You are so light, do you eat well?"
Lin Zhixia remained silent.
Tan Qianche carried her on his back and quickly walked over the stairs.
All the students and teachers in the laboratory building were evacuated. The students walked down the stairs of the emergency passage. Along the way, Tan Qianche heard someone ask, "Which laboratory exploded?"
Another person replied: "It seems to be the group on quantum computing..."
“Why can quantum explode?”
"Quantum computers are based on spin, so the magnetic field needs to be strong. If the current is overloaded, won't it explode?"
"Don't they have any experimental operating procedures?"
"I just don't follow the rules."
These rumors are getting more and more intense. They hang in the air and continue to flow.
Tan Qianche had no choice but to speed up his pace. He ran out of the laboratory building with Lin Zhixia on his back. A group of security guards stood outside the building, and the atmosphere was serious and solemn. The security guards set up a cordon and did not allow any students to step into the laboratory building again.
Outside the cordon, Luo Ying had been waiting for a long time.
After lunch today, Luo Ying left the lab building. She wanted to go to the fruit store to buy some strawberries for Lin Zhixia, but she heard from her classmates that something big happened in a laboratory of the quantum computing group.
She immediately ran to the door of the laboratory building.
Students fled the building one after another, and Luo Ying followed the crowd. She found Tan Qianche and Lin Zhixia, and felt relieved. Seeing Lin Zhixia's pale face, she asked hurriedly, "Are you hurt?"
"I sprained my foot," Lin Zhixia replied, "and my ankle is swollen."
Luo Ying said: "I'll go to the hospital with you."
Lin Zhixia said: "Thank you, senior sister."
Tan Qianche still carried Lin Zhixia on his back. He asked her, "I took you up four floors, why didn't I hear you thank me?"
Lin Zhixia squeezed out a dry sentence: "Thank you, senior."
Tan Qianche and Luo Ying escorted Lin Zhixia to the hospital.
Ever since entering the hospital, Tan Qianche's role has not been obvious - Lin Zhixia no longer needs him to carry her on her back.
Luo Ying rented a wheelchair for Lin Zhixia to sit in. Luo Ying pushed Lin Zhixia around, helped her register, accompanied her to see doctors, took her for examinations, and waited for the results with her.
She sighed, "Senior is so nice."
Luo Ying said softly, "You are my junior schoolmate. We are from the same city, so of course we have to take care of each other."
Tan Qianche interrupted, "I'm also your fellow villager."
Luo Ying smiled with a fake smile. She found a seat at the edge of the corridor, with Lin Zhixia's wheelchair next to her.
The bright lights were reflected on the smooth tile floor, casting one white shadow after another. Occasionally, a nurse, doctor, patient or family member would step over the white shadows. Lin Zhixia looked at other people's shoes and couldn't help shaking her own feet.
"Does your foot hurt?" Luo Ying asked her.
She leaned over and rested her head on Luo Ying's shoulder: "It doesn't hurt much anymore."
"Are you still afraid? Do you want your mother?" Tan Qianche crossed his arms and asked Lin Zhixia in a low voice.
Lin Zhixia took out her cell phone from her pocket and called her mother on the spot. Her mother coaxed her for half an hour, and her mood gradually improved. Her mother also said that Lin Zeqiu was frightened after hearing what happened to Lin Zhixia. Especially the word "explosion" made Lin Zeqiu nervous. Lin Zeqiu asked Lin Zhixia to return to the dormitory tonight and must take time to have a QQ video chat with Lin Zeqiu.
Lin Zhixia reluctantly agreed to Lin Zeqiu's request.
After that, Lin Zhixia called Jiang Yubai again. Jiang Yubai told her that he would take the IELTS speaking test in a few days. Lin Zhixia encouraged him enthusiastically: "Come on, Jiang Yubai, you will definitely do well in the test!"