Xue Jiao looked at her with a smile, calmly meeting Zhang Han's sharp gaze without flinching.

After a moment, Zhang Han averted her eyes and used a ruler to draw lines at positions 567 and 933.

Then she picked up the larger piece, tilting her head slightly to signal Xue Jiao to continue.

Xue Jiao's smile widened as she called out numbers: "113, 156, and 212."

Zhang Han followed her instructions with the ruler, not hesitating in the slightest.

As for questioning whether Xue Jiao's calculations were accurate?

That would be like doubting the validity of an Annals of Mathematics paper.

Across from them, Zheng Jiakun, who was also installing magnetic strips, glanced at the two girls working in perfect sync, his lips curling into an obvious smile.

Indeed... two capable individuals who respected each other's abilities could easily get along well.

Sometimes, having a human calculator by your side was incredibly convenient—especially when that calculator had a brain, knew what you were about to do next, what you needed, and what it could do.

Zhang Han's previously furrowed brows relaxed. From then on, Xue Jiao stayed by her side, assisting her in countless ways. Almost as soon as Zhang Han thought of something, Xue Jiao would place it nearby, and any required data was promptly provided. This was the most efficient Zhang Han had been all day.

To be honest, Xue Jiao also admired Zhang Han. Her assistant had already reminded her twice to eat.

But once she started working, she pushed herself relentlessly, stubbornly continuing until well past seven o'clock without pause or distraction.

At seven-thirty, Zhang Han set down her tools and rubbed her temples. "Let's call it a day. I'll come back on Saturday to finish the rest. One more day should be enough for the preliminary completion. After that, we'll gradually adjust things through experiments."

Her tone was flat, carrying a businesslike seriousness.

"Got it," Chu Sheng quickly responded.

Zhang Han removed her gloves and, noticing Xue Jiao beside her, paused briefly before adding, "You all should take this more seriously."

With that, she strode off without another word. Her assistant gave them an apologetic smile before following.

Xue Jiao was momentarily stunned before realizing Zhang Han's words were an admonition for them to be more dedicated to the project moving forward—a tacit acceptance of her absence this week.

Seeing her dazed expression, Chu Sheng thought she was taken aback by Zhang Han's attitude and hurried to explain—

"Xue Jiao, Senior Zhang Han is just like that. Don't take it to heart."

Zheng Jiakun also set down his work and chuckled. "Really, there's no need to mind it. Senior Zhang Han barely spoke to us all day. It's just her personality."

Xue Jiao shook her head with a smile. "It's fine. I don't mind."

And she truly didn't. Though Zhang Han had initially disliked her, by the time she left, she had accepted Xue Jiao because she recognized her abilities. This girl was indeed somewhat aloof, but only because she poured all her passion into science.

For someone like that, Xue Jiao had nothing but respect.

Chu Sheng exhaled in relief, stretching his stiff neck. "Alright then, let's call it a day and rest up. We'll continue on Saturday."

"Not until Saturday?" Xue Jiao asked in surprise.

Hearing her tone, Chu Sheng turned to her. "Yeah, Senior Zhang Han won't be back until—"

Xue Jiao's lips curved upward, her eyes brimming with amusement. "What I meant was, since Senior Zhang Han isn't coming tomorrow, we can work on it ourselves."

"Huh?""Whether we can finish it or not, we can't just wait for Senior Zhang Han, right? Senior Zheng Jiakun continues his part. I've started to understand what Senior Sister was doing today. Let's discuss it tomorrow and keep working in the meantime." Xue Jiao shook her head.

"You remembered?" Chu Sheng asked in surprise.

Xue Jiao nodded with a smile. "You've been buried in books the whole time. If you paid more attention, you'd get the gist too. Classmate Chu, as the initiator, shouldn't you be thinking more about how to proceed? It's just simulating a magnetic field—why leave everything to Senior Zhang Han?"

As she spoke, she patted Chu Sheng's shoulder with an amused expression.

Chu Sheng froze. When Zhang Han said she could handle it and would finish in two days, he'd naturally left the task to her...

Because of Zhang Han's capability, he'd unconsciously come to rely on her!

Chu Sheng's face flushed crimson with embarrassment, but at the same time, he felt grateful to Xue Jiao for waking him up with her words.

Blushing, he said sheepishly yet gratefully, "Then let's continue tomorrow. I was wrong..."

Xue Jiao's smile widened as she shook her head indulgently. "You were just too absorbed in your books. It's fine!"

"Don't you have classes tomorrow?" Zheng Jiakun asked curiously after packing his things.

"Two classes in the morning, then free from noon through the evening."

Zheng Jiakun nodded. "Alright, I have an afternoon class. I'll work on it in the morning, and we can discuss when you come at noon. I'm off to eat now—you two should grab dinner too."

"Sure," Xue Jiao agreed. "See you tomorrow, Senior."

After Zheng Jiakun left, Xue Jiao shouldered her bag. "Chu Sheng, I'm heading back first—still have homework. Are you leaving?"

Chu Sheng shook his head. "Not yet. I want to review our current progress. You go ahead."

"Okay, I'm off then."

With that, Xue Jiao left with her bag. She truly had assignments to complete. Undergraduates taking on projects face two main challenges: insufficient knowledge and lack of time. With packed schedules and heavy coursework, squeezing in extracurricular work was demanding.

She hurried home, ate dinner, and immediately started her homework.

Senior Zhang Han's temperament stemmed from her competence. Only by growing stronger could one earn increasing respect.

Xue Jiao wouldn't resent Zhang Han's coldness, but it motivated her to work harder.

After finishing her assignments, she pulled out physics materials borrowed from the library to study further.

——

What Zhang Han could complete in one remaining day took Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng three.

They had to research, execute, and explore simultaneously.

It wasn't until Friday that they finished the remaining half of Zhang Han's work.

"Alright, time for the moment of truth!"

Zheng Jiakun smiled as he gently placed a piece of paper into the polygonal area before them.

The paper floated.

Chu Sheng quickly measured the height with a tape measure and cheered, "0.53!"

"Within 0.05 margin of error—perfect!" Zheng Jiakun clapped.

"We finally did it! I never thought we could complete this ourselves!" Chu Sheng exclaimed joyfully, jumping up.

Xue Jiao was equally pleased—every accomplishment brought a sense of achievement.

"It's finally done. Our skills are still far behind Senior Sister's, though.""Let's keep honing our skills. In a few more years, we won't be far behind," Zheng Jiakun said while packing up his things.

Xue Jiao and Chu Sheng nodded and began gathering their belongings as well. Xue Jiao still had a... date with Lin Zhihua later.

Moreover, the group had been working on this task continuously for days and hadn't properly studied the materials Yang Zhan had provided. If they didn't review them thoroughly tonight, it would be awkward when Yang Zhan and Zhang Han discussed things during tomorrow's project meeting and they couldn't follow along...

The three quickly packed everything and hurried off.

Xue Jiao walked briskly, sensing Lin Zhihua was probably already waiting.

However, as she passed by the Mathematics Department building, two people called out to her—

"Student Gu Xue Jiao, wait a moment!"

Xue Jiao paused in surprise and turned around. "Huh? What is it?"

The two—a young man and woman—ran over with bright smiles. "We've looked for you several times at Teacher Tan's office, but you were never there..."

Xue Jiao scratched her head. "I've been quite busy lately. What's the matter?"

"We're your direct seniors. I'm Zeng Bin, and this is Ge Donglin. We're third-year students now."

After their introduction, Xue Jiao nodded politely. "Hello, Senior Zeng, Senior Ge."

"Here's the thing—both Ge Donglin and I can pursue postgraduate studies in our university's Mathematics Department under Professor Deng. We're also planning to undertake a major project in our fourth year and were wondering if you'd be interested?" Senior Zeng Bin extended the invitation.

Xue Jiao was momentarily taken aback but quickly responded, "I'm really sorry, Seniors. I'm already working on a project with students from the Physics Department, so I won't be able to join yours. Thank you for considering me."

This wasn't the first time she'd received an invitation from the Mathematics Department, but having already committed to Chu Sheng, she wouldn't casually agree to others.

With her limited time, squeezing in one project was already demanding enough. Juggling multiple projects simultaneously was beyond her capabilities, so she naturally couldn't take on such a task.

However, others clearly had different perspectives.

The two seniors seemed surprised, and Ge Donglin spoke urgently, "Won't you at least hear about our plan? It's related to Fermat's Last Theorem—right up your alley!"

Xue Jiao frowned slightly. "I truly appreciate your kindness, but with the heavy course load coming up in my sophomore year, managing one project is already challenging. I can't take on a second one."

With a polite smile, she added, "Goodbye, Seniors. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

As she turned to leave, Zeng Bin raised his voice behind her. "Our project involves applying Fermat's Last Theorem—it's directly connected to your thesis! We guarantee significant results, and even if your participation is limited due to your coursework, you can still be listed as the third author. Why would a Mathematics major work on a Physics project anyway?"

Xue Jiao stopped and turned back. "Seniors, I don't believe being a Mathematics major means I can't participate in Physics projects. If I'm interested and willing to contribute, I should be free to try. Please don't generalize. Moreover, I've already committed to that project and can't go back on my word."Ge Donglin quickly explained, "No, Senior Zeng Bin didn't mean it that way. He just really wants you to participate in this project! He has good intentions. Every time our math department joins projects from the physics department, we usually just play minor roles and can only help with small tasks at most. Who are the members of your current project? If you feel bad about withdrawing from them, we can help talk to them. As long as they're undergraduates, it shouldn't be a problem! Your seniors still have some influence!"