Zhang Han found that the discovery indeed gave them a sense of hope in desperate times.
But science isn’t about immediate usefulness upon discovering a problem—it requires repeated experimentation and revisions.
They failed time and again, only to start over each time.
However, because they rarely worked together so intensively, their progress was remarkably fast.
Even when they failed, they could quickly discard previous attempts and make new arrangements.
Senior Zhang Han would be going abroad for a while during the winter break, so this retreat could be considered their last concentrated effort on the project for the near future.
Xue Jiao was from the mathematics department, and though her physics knowledge had improved significantly over the past year, her focus remained on math. Her physics skills were hardly comparable to those of the other experts in the group.
She was mainly responsible for modeling and derivations, while the primary direction was controlled by the others.
Xue Jiao didn’t feel uncomfortable about this—after all, it wasn’t her area of expertise, so there was no need to compare herself to them.
Her strength lay in mathematics, and her role in the team was to leverage that strength. There was no point in obsessing over physics.
One must know when to push forward and when to take a step back.
Their retreat didn’t mean they never went home. On the first day, Xue Jiao returned home at 1 a.m., hastily washed up, and went straight to bed, only to rush back early the next morning to continue helping.
Zhang Han and the others did the same, sometimes staying even later than Xue Jiao.
Occasionally, they would just sleep in the adjacent office, wrapped in their coats, then wake up and keep working, making every second count.
Under such intense work conditions, Xue Jiao didn’t even have time to exchange messages with Lin Zhihua, let alone go on dates.
Lin Zhihua had considered reaching out to her, but he knew this was Xue Jiao’s busiest period.
If he disturbed her now, she wouldn’t be angry, but she certainly wouldn’t be happy to see him either.
Lin Zhihua reached out and touched the photo on his desk, his eyes filled with longing.
“Two days, little one. Once you’re done, you’ll have to make it up to me!”
Lin Zhihua had already decided—when this was over, he would make sure she didn’t schedule too many other things during the winter break. She had to spend the New Year properly with him!
By the fifth day, their simulations had achieved a new breakthrough—a glimmer of hope.
Xue Jiao no longer went home. Her phone had died from low battery, but no one paid it any mind.
Meals were delivered to the lab by Zhang Han’s assistant, and they had even taken over the neighboring large laboratory. Since it was the final exam period, few students needed the lab space, and those who did had been reassigned to other labs by Professor Jin.
That day was the last session of a specialized course, and the professor took attendance.
When Gu Xue Jiao’s name was called, there was no response. The professor’s face darkened as he marked her absent in the register.
“When you see her, tell Gu Xue Jiao to come to my office tomorrow!”
Mai Jiajia immediately looked worried, but since all the teachers knew Xue Jiao, there was no way to cover for her.
After class, Mai Jiajia tried calling Xue Jiao several times but couldn’t get through.
After some thought, she grabbed two cups of hot drinks and headed toward the physics lab.
The small lab Chu Sheng had borrowed was where Xue Jiao and the others often worked, and Mai Jiajia had been there before.
When she arrived, she hesitated at the entrance, not daring to go in.
The door to the usual small lab was closed, but the door to the larger lab next to it was open.
Inside, a young man with stubble was asleep, while another senior student and a senior sister were eating.She hesitated for a moment before the small door opened, revealing a man with a somewhat haggard face and unkempt beard, yet his eyes shone brightly. He passed by her as if she were invisible, heading straight into the main lab.
Mai Jiajia: "..."
Though she hadn't visited often, she had met Chu Sheng several times before. In the past, he would at least greet her when they crossed paths.
This time, she was standing right there, yet Chu Sheng walked past her as if she didn't exist...
"Let's get to work," Chu Sheng said hoarsely.
As soon as he spoke, the graduate students from the physics department who had come to assist shoveled down a few more bites of their meals, chewing while grabbing their laptops and taking whatever Chu Sheng handed them.
They were all so focused that Mai Jiajia still didn't dare to speak.
After waiting a while longer, Chu Sheng returned to the lab, and Xue Jiao finally emerged.
When she saw Xue Jiao, Mai Jiajia really wanted to ask—what on earth was going on in their lab?
The men were unshaven, and the women looked equally exhausted, their hair disheveled.
"Jiao Jiao..."
"Huh? Jiajia?" Xue Jiao had almost walked right past her before snapping back to reality at the familiar voice.
Mai Jiajia: "..."
She sighed helplessly. "You guys almost made me think I'd learned how to turn invisible, since none of you seem to see me."
Xue Jiao scratched her head, sounding urgent. "Uh, Jiajia, we're really busy right now. Did you need something?"
"Not really. There was a roll call today—Professor Zhen wants you to see him tomorrow." Mai Jiajia handed Xue Jiao a warm drink as she spoke.
Xue Jiao took it and replied, "Oh, okay."
Mai Jiajia: "..." She could tell from the response that Xue Jiao wouldn't go.
"Then I'll let him know for you tomorrow—say you're swamped. Better than not showing up at all."
"Sure." Xue Jiao hugged her gratefully.
"Go on, then. Take care of yourself. It's only been a few days since I last saw you, but you've lost so much weight!" Mai Jiajia sounded worried.
Xue Jiao smiled at her. "I'm fine. I'll come find you once things settle down."
With that, she turned to leave.
Mai Jiajia grabbed her arm. "Wait—don't forget the exams are coming up soon. You can't miss them, and you should still review a bit..."
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. We've already given our exam schedules to Senior Sister Hu. She'll remind us when the time comes."
Mai Jiajia: "..." So they really weren't planning to study...
She exhaled weakly. "Alright, go on then."
"Bye, Jiajia! I'll come find you when I'm free!" Xue Jiao hurried off.
Mai Jiajia watched her retreating figure with resignation, then glanced at the others, all absorbed in their work.
A bunch of research maniacs!
But damn, they were adorable maniacs.
——
By the eighth day, they still hadn't succeeded.
But the overwhelming sense of impending victory made them abandon their original plan to "resurface."
In the afternoon, Xue Jiao went to take an exam before returning to help.
Zhang Han canceled his originally scheduled flight, postponing it by a week.
Coincidentally, this week was exam week, so they had to keep leaving for tests before returning to work. It was disruptive, but there was no other way.
By the tenth day, Professor Jin was visiting more frequently. He didn't disturb them much, just watched from the sidelines, nodding occasionally.
Yang Zhan left first—his exams were concentrated over the next two days, unlike Xue Jiao and the others, who could easily return after finishing theirs.
On the thirteenth day, Yang Zhan returned.On this day, they needed to establish a new model, but the original program couldn't support what they were trying to achieve.
They requested Professor Jin's help to contact Professor Tang from the Computer Science Department. That day, Professor Tang brought Cheng Mingze along to assist with modifying the software.
That night, they worked through the night running the model.
By eight o'clock the next morning, five heads—Zhang Han, Yang Zhan, Chu Sheng, Zheng Jiakun, and Xue Jiao—were huddled in front of the two computers, staring eagerly at the screens.
At 8:10 AM.
The simulation fully loaded on the computers, and a small indicator showed a 5kg car floating up...
"Is this... success?"
"Junior Sister!! What was your previous calculation?!" Chu Sheng grabbed Xue Jiao. He knew the data, but at this moment, he couldn't help doubting.
Xue Jiao's heart skipped a beat. She took a deep breath and said, "50.178 kg—the highest existing value."
"Ah—" Chu Sheng threw all the documents in his hands into the air, sending them fluttering everywhere.
Yang Zhan lifted Zhang Han in excitement, shouting, "We did it! We did it!!"
Zhang Han was also thrilled, his face slightly flushed, but he instinctively smacked Yang Zhan hard. "Put me down!!"
Xue Jiao watched their exhilaration, warmth filling her chest. She knew her expression mirrored theirs.
A whole year—this project had taken them a year.
Chu Sheng's eyes were red-rimmed. "Thank you, all of you. Really, thank you."
His childhood dream of a flying car hadn't been realized yet, but they had laid the first step.
This was how science worked—first came step one, then step two, and eventually countless others who shared the passion would carry it forward.
This was the progress of science, and the progress of humanity.
For now, they could only achieve 5 kg. The future might bring even greater challenges, but with the first step secured, the second would surely follow.
Chu Sheng was genuinely grateful to his persistent teammates. Xue Jiao and Zheng Jiakun were from the Mathematics Department, yet they had devoted an entire year to physics.
As for Zhang Han and Yang Zhan, they were already elites in the scientific community. Their year was incredibly valuable, yet they had stuck with him on this high-risk project.
Fortunately, they had finally succeeded—otherwise, the weight of failure would have continued pressing down on him.
Zheng Jiakun reached out and patted Chu Sheng's shoulder, smiling. "This was a project we were all passionate about. Why thank us? We should be thanking you for proposing such an interesting challenge."
Xue Jiao laughed along with them. After a year of perseverance, they had finally succeeded. Just half a month ago, they had been on the verge of despair, yet today, they reaped this joy.
Science didn't guarantee rewards for effort—they were among the lucky few.
Amid their celebration, Zhang Han's assistant glanced at the time and suddenly said, "Junior Sister, you have an exam at nine o'clock—your last one..."
"Ah?!" Xue Jiao froze, then immediately dropped everything, grabbed a pen, and sprinted toward the exam hall.
"Hey... Junior Sister... you haven't even changed..." Before the words could fully leave her mouth, Xue Jiao had already vanished.
As luck would have it, this was the exam where Teacher Zhen had asked her to come to his office—which she hadn't done.
Just as Teacher Zhen was handing the exam papers to the proctor, he saw her rushing in, disheveled, and his face darkened.
In a stern voice, he said, "Gu Xue Jiao! You have no participation grade! That accounts for 30% of your final score in this course."
Xue Jiao flushed with embarrassment and awkwardly replied, "I'm sorry, Teacher Zhen..."The other person had their hands clasped behind their back and continued in a stern voice, "You're only a sophomore—why are you in such a hurry to work on projects? So much so that you skip classes? Without a solid foundation, it's like building castles in the air. No matter how well you do on projects, if you fail any courses, you still won't qualify for graduate school recommendations!"
After saying this, Teacher Zhen walked straight into the classroom, leaving Xue Jiao to awkwardly hurry in after her.
Xue Jiao didn’t argue with Teacher Zhen because she understood that different people had different perspectives. Attending classes was important, and she knew that.
That’s why, unless there were special circumstances, she never missed a single class.
But this time, she had weighed the value of that particular lecture against the project and decided the project was more important.
During the final phase, which was mostly related to modeling, if she left, Zheng Jiakun would inevitably fall behind Zhang Han, Yang Zhan, and Chu Sheng, wasting everyone’s time.
So at that point, she felt the project took priority.
Besides, this course…
She had already thoroughly studied it when proving Fermat’s theorem earlier, and she had attended every lecture at the start of the semester, mastering all the material.
It wasn’t as if she absolutely needed that one class. Still…
Xue Jiao sighed helplessly as she looked at the exam paper. It seemed she’d need at least a 90 to avoid failing…
The questions weren’t difficult for her, and she finished quickly before handing in her paper.
She then hurried back to the lab to discuss the next steps for their paper with the others.
"I suggest everyone go back and rest now. Senior Zhang Han has a flight to catch tonight, and we’ve all been exhausted lately. Let’s get some proper sleep. The paper isn’t a problem—we can discuss it in the group chat later," Yang Zhan said seriously.
Chu Sheng nodded. "Agreed. I’ll print out all the materials so everyone can take a copy. Since winter break is starting, we can just work on the paper together in the group chat."
The others nodded in agreement.
So by noon, Xue Jiao was already heading out with her backpack.
She had sent a message in the family group chat saying she was done, and Lin Zhihua immediately replied that he would come pick her up.
Xue Jiao felt a little guilty—she had promised seven days, but it had ended up being half a month.
In a romantic relationship, she had left him hanging for a full two weeks.
Soon, the familiar car arrived. Xue Jiao smiled sheepishly and said in a placating tone, "Zhihua…"
Lin Zhihua’s face was expressionless. He opened the trunk, took out an electronic scale, and ordered—
"Step on it."
Xue Jiao: "…"
She hesitated awkwardly but eventually stepped onto it with some embarrassment.
42 kg.
Xue Jiao: "…" She had lost four kilograms.
Sure enough, when she looked up at Lin Zhihua, he was glaring at the scale, his face dark with fury.
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