Luo Ying's academic performance was exceptionally outstanding. She maintained an extremely high average across all subjects, came from a wealthy family, and possessed striking beauty. Many male classmates were interested in her, but she had never responded to anyone.
Her roommate once asked her: "Why don't you date anyone?"
Luo Ying claimed she prioritized her studies above all else. "Romance" was merely an embellishment to life, not a necessity.
What she actually wanted to say was that, so far, no man had ever moved her heart. Perhaps it wasn't the men's fault, but her own—she couldn't experience what people called "adolescent flutterings." Her girlish sentiments were like a silent, dry well, remaining placid and unchanging year after year.
She had many friends but very few confidantes.
Friends often praised her for being "gentle."
However, she knew in her heart that her gentleness toward everyone was the same—polite yet completely devoid of emotional color. She rarely accepted invitations from female classmates to eat out, and she never replied to messages from male classmates.
Her daily social interactions were confined to the classroom, dormitory, library, and literature club.
Today marked the first time she had actively accepted an invitation, agreeing to visit the Laboratory with a junior student.
Why?
Luo Ying thought the answer was obvious: because Lin Zhixia was her direct junior from the same provincial high school in the capital city. Lin Zhixia's personality was lively and adorable, her features delicate and pretty—just like the sister Luo Ying had imagined having. She had often fantasized about having a sister like Lin Zhixia at home.
Thinking this, Luo Ying unconsciously moved closer to Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia looked at her: "Senior?"
Luo Ying said softly, "Shall we go to the cafeteria for breakfast?"
Lin Zhixia replied, "Okay, Senior."
Luo Ying wore a light gray dress with a fitted waist, layered with a thin black knit cardigan, and carried a dark gray leather bag with a gold chain on her left shoulder. Her skin was snow-white, her hair reached her shoulders, her skirt fluttered in the wind, and she carried a mixed fragrance of roses and lilies.
Lin Zhixia particularly loved that scent. She said bluntly, "Senior, your perfume smells wonderful."
Luo Ying linked arms with her: "Last month was your birthday. I heard you were busy, so I didn't contact you. Did you celebrate with classmates? I'd like to give you a bottle of perfume."
Male students passing by cast glances their way.
From their eyes, Lin Zhixia read complex emotions—awe, envy, curiosity.
It made sense—Senior Luo Ying was so beautiful and elegant. Being tightly linked arm-in-arm with her was probably an honor!
Lin Zhixia nodded but declined: "Thank you, Senior, but I don't use perfume."
"You don't use perfume?" Senior sounded surprised. After a few seconds, she added, "But you smell lovely, like fresh Strawberries."
Lin Zhixia analyzed, "I shower every night using only Strawberry-scented shampoo and body wash... My facial cleanser is Mentholatum's Strawberry foam cleanser."
Luo Ying laughed like silver bells tinkling: "Are you made of Strawberries?"
"Maybe," Lin Zhixia said. "When I was little, I often wondered if I was a Strawberry spirit in my past life."
Luo Ying asked further, "Is your nickname Strawberry spirit?"
Lin Zhixia answered honestly, "It's Xia Xia. My Mom and Dad both call me Xia Xia."
Luo Ying stopped walking, pondering, "I'd like to call you Xia Xia. Is that okay?"
Lin Zhixia was somewhat surprised.After all, at home, Lin Zeqiu would rather call her "Mommy's cling-on" than call her Xia Xia.
With Lin Zeqiu not around, Luo Ying took on the role of an older sister. Similar in age to Lin Zeqiu and exceptionally gentle toward Lin Zhixia, she practically replaced his position!
Lin Zhixia generously agreed: "Alright."
Luo Ying called out: "Xia Xia."
Senior Luo Ying had a lovely voice, clear and sweet like an oriole emerging from a valley. When she uttered "Xia Xia," Lin Zhixia felt particularly pleased and responded warmly: "Yes, Senior!"
Luo Ying held Lin Zhixia's hand as they entered the cafeteria, found an empty table, and sat down side by side.
They brought back two plates of steamed buns and two bowls of rice porridge from the cafeteria counter. Lin Zhixia picked up a custard bun and placed it in Luo Ying's bowl, while Luo Ying gave her a pan-fried bun in return. They naturally shared their food as if they had been close friends for years.
After the meal, Lin Zhixia became Luo Ying's guide.
Lin Zhixia brought Senior Luo Ying to the laboratory building. Luo Ying preferred taking the stairs over the elevator, so Lin Zhixia accompanied her up the steps. When they reached the third-floor landing, they heard a strange sound.
Luo Ying quickly raised her hand to stop Lin Zhixia.
But she couldn't curb Lin Zhixia's curiosity.
Lin Zhixia slipped under Luo Ying's arm and tiptoed forward a step. When she looked up, it felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She saw Senior Tan Qianche from Provincial No. 1 High School standing in a corner kissing a girl.
Tan Qianche was 185 cm tall with a decent appearance, wearing silver-rimmed glasses that gave him a refined and scholarly air. However, Lin Zhixia's roommate had described him as a "wolf in scholar's clothing"—decent-looking but somehow not giving off a good impression.
Lin Zhixia held her breath, and Luo Ying remained silent.
Tan Qianche had his back to them. With one hand on the girl's shoulder, he leaned down and kissed her lips repeatedly, the air filled with ambiguous wet sounds. The girl wrapped her arms around Tan Qianche's back, crumpling his shirt into creases, her own deep red nails standing out even more.
"Is this what kissing is like?" Lin Zhixia whispered.
Luo Ying blurted out: "Haven't you seen it before?"
"I've seen it on TV," Lin Zhixia described, "and on the streets in Romania, but those were just strangers—I didn't know them. This Senior Tan Qianche is someone I know."
Luo Ying placed a finger to her lips and softly went "Shh."
Only then did Tan Qianche seem to hear some noise. He turned around and, upon seeing Lin Zhixia with her wide eyes, appeared even more embarrassed than she was: "What time is it now?"
"Seven fifteen in the morning," Lin Zhixia showed him her watch.
Tan Qianche coughed. The girl beside him punched his chest: "You're awful." He immediately grasped her fingers while looking at Lin Zhixia, and finally, his gaze settled on Luo Ying: "And this is..."
"She's my senior," Lin Zhixia introduced, "Senior Luo Ying, from the mathematics major, a sophomore. She graduated from the Olympiad class at Provincial No. 1 High School—our outstanding alumna."Tan Qianche straightened his clothes. He did not introduce his girlfriend to Lin Zhixia and Luo Ying. After exchanging a few quiet words with her, the girl left with flushed cheeks.
Within that brief minute, Tan Qianche had composed himself, acting as if nothing had happened. He put his silver-rimmed glasses back on and asked, "Did Luo Ying receive Teacher Gu's invitation too?"
Luo Ying walked between Tan Qianche and Lin Zhixia. As they moved, she replied, "I didn't get an invitation. I came with Lin Zhixia."
Lin Zhixia ventured, "Can Senior Luo visit the Laboratory?"
"Of course," Tan Qianche said. "Students from our university are always welcome."
They passed through a doorway where Tan Qianche entered a code on the keypad, scanned his face, and swiped his card before officially entering the Laboratory.
It wasn't even 7:20 yet, but three senior students were already in the Laboratory—one of them was Yang Shuwen, whom Lin Zhixia had met before.
When Yang Shuwen saw Lin Zhixia, his expression turned peculiar. His eyebrows twitched, and he abruptly lowered his head, continuing his work at the experimental bench.
"What's wrong with him?" Lin Zhixia asked.
Tan Qianche smiled faintly. "It's nothing. He recently got in touch with your former research group. There's someone named Niu Siyuan in your group, right?"
"What about Senior Niu Siyuan?" Lin Zhixia pressed for details.
Tan Qianche pulled out a glasses cloth and flicked it through the air with a flourish. He gently wiped the lenses and said casually, "Niu Siyuan sent Yang Shuwen an email... I didn't see the email myself, but I know Niu Siyuan mentioned you in it. It scared Yang Shuwen quite a bit."
"That's strange," Lin Zhixia mused, falling into recollection. "Senior Niu Siyuan has always been afraid of me."
She turned to Luo Ying. "Senior, did you know? Niu Siyuan trembles when he sees me."
Luo Ying chuckled twice before asking, "Why is that?"
Lin Zhixia said, "Who knows?"
The Laboratory fell silent except for the hum of machinery. To Lin Zhixia, it felt like she had arrived at a brand new treasure land—a whole new planet where all the equipment and instruments awaited her exploration.
She wandered around, with Tan Qianche and Luo Ying accompanying her the entire time.
Tan Qianche asked, "Lin Zhixia, do you have any questions? If I can't solve them, you can go find Teacher Gu."
Lin Zhixia suddenly remembered Sister Zhu Chan from Shen Zhaohua's group. Back in the provincial capital, Sister Zhu Chan had been a great help on her academic journey. This had made Lin Zhixia fond of all doctoral sisters.
She couldn't help but ask in return, "Senior, was that your girlfriend from our group's doctoral sisters?"
To her surprise, Tan Qianche actually replied, "That woman just now wasn't my girlfriend."
In the vast quantum Laboratory, all footsteps ceased. Lin Zhixia felt astonished. "I didn't expect you to be that kind of person."
Just as Tan Qianche was about to explain, Luo Ying tugged at his sleeve. "Lin Zhixia isn't an adult yet. She's only fourteen."
This reminder made Tan Qianche pause.
He shrugged and said evasively, "It's a matter of mutual consent. You can't blame just me. What kind of person I am—you'll understand if you observe more."
Luo Ying undercut him by saying, "In quantum mechanics, observed wave functions collapse to eigenstates.""That statement of yours isn't rigorous enough. Would you like to transfer to our physics department?" Tan Qianche wasn't angry at all, and even managed to tease her in return.
She didn't respond.
She followed closely, step by step, keeping pace with Lin Zhixia.
Lin Zhixia had already walked over to Yang Shuwen. Yang Shuwen automatically shifted a small distance to the side, successfully avoiding Lin Zhixia.
Unfortunately, Lin Zhixia had no self-awareness whatsoever. She moved closer to Yang Shuwen again and asked him, "What are you working on?"
Yang Shuwen, wearing gloves, picked up a metal piece with tweezers: "This is our chip."
Tan Qianche spoke up from behind: "Guess what metals are used in this chip?"
Luo Ying couldn't figure it out.
Lin Zhixia answered easily: "Mostly niobium. The quantum bit circuit primarily uses niobium and aluminum."
"Are they useful?" Luo Ying asked.
Yang Shuwen didn't catch her question, so Lin Zhixia directly explained: "Senior, have you heard of superconducting metals? When the temperature drops very low, the resistance becomes zero, and the material exhibits zero resistance and complete diamagnetism."
Luo Ying quickly said: "I remember now."
"Mm!" Lin Zhixia picked up the tweezers and also lifted a metal piece.
Yang Shuwen raised his hand, pointing toward a machine. Before he could speak, Lin Zhixia preempted him again: "Senior, look, that's a dilution refrigerator. When current passes through the dilution refrigerator and the temperature decreases, the current approaching the qubit will generate an induced magnetic field."
Yang Shuwen scratched his scalp.
The day before yesterday, Yang Shuwen had contacted students from Shen Zhaohua's research group, wanting to ask them about Lin Zhixia's theoretical foundation—Professor Gu Likai had assigned Yang Shuwen and Tan Qianche to jointly mentor Lin Zhixia, with Yang Shuwen responsible for the theoretical aspects and Tan Qianche for the experimental parts.
Yang Shuwen had a good impression of Lin Zhixia and even considered organizing some training for her. Who would have thought that Niu Siyuan, a student from Shen Zhaohua's group, would send a brief email telling Yang Shuwen that despite Lin Zhixia's young age, her thinking was extremely terrifying and frightening.
Niu Siyuan even included an image with the text: "I'm not targeting anyone specifically, but everyone present is trash."
Yang Shuwen felt somewhat concerned. He turned to Tan Qianche and said, "You come explain this to them. I can't handle this job."
Author's note: Little Jiang: Lately, I've been feeling some inexplicable pressure.
Lin Zeqiu: My sister says her senior treats her very well, so why am I feeling nervous again?
OpenNovel