The next morning, Wang Shuo got up early, washed up, and took care of his personal needs before lying quietly on his hospital bed, waiting. At exactly 8:30, Miss Chen entered Wang Shuo's ward on time.
She walked to the bedside, placed the items in her hand on the table, then went to the sofa, picked up her book, and sat down.
Wang Shuo glanced over and saw that Miss Chen seemed to have brought back a sandwich and a thermal cup.
If he wasn't mistaken...
Wang Shuo opened the thermal cup and, as expected, found it filled with steaming hot milk.
Sandwich with milk... tsk tsk, this really is the life of the wealthy. Wang Shuo didn't mind and took a big bite of the sandwich, which tasted pretty good; then he took a slow sip of the hot milk, still enjoying it immensely.
Occasionally, he would glance at the beautiful girl reading beside him, and even just sitting there quietly, she was a delight to behold.
Wang Shuo seemed to be growing fond of this kind of life. The annoyance he felt about Miss Chen's insistence on not letting him leave the hospital wasn't as severe anymore, and instead, he felt a slight twinge of guilt.
Yesterday, when he was washing up, he made a lot of noise on purpose. Apart from being a habit, another part of it was purely intentional on Wang Shuo's part. He was really curious to see what Miss Chen would look like when she lost control, as Chen Cheng had described it to be quite terrifying. As a young man who loved to push boundaries, Wang Shuo felt he had to satisfy his curiosity.
Initially, Wang Shuo thought his actions had no effect on Miss Chen, who seemed unbothered. But the taste of the milk in his mouth clearly told him that not only was it effective, but the effect was surprisingly significant. This also showed that the cold and indifferent Miss Chen was indeed just a regular person.
Wang Shuo looked at Miss Chen, who was quietly reading beside him, and suddenly felt curious about what kind of environment could cultivate such a unique personality.
He thought he should have a good talk with Chen Cheng sometime, but remembering Chen Cheng's evaluation of his cousin, Wang Shuo found him somewhat unreliable. Could this guy really answer such a profound question?
For the next few days, Wang Shuo's life fell into a predictable and unchanging rhythm. Every morning, he would wake up early, brush his teeth, wash his face, and then lie in bed waiting. Miss Chen would enter his ward precisely at 8:30 every day, bringing a warm sandwich and a steaming cup of milk.
The taste of the sandwich was always the same, which made Wang Shuo seriously doubt that it was made by a machine rather than a chef.
After breakfast, Miss Chen would sit on the sofa in her fixed position and start her day's reading journey, while Wang Shuo would hold a magazine that he never flipped through, just for show. In his mind, he would quickly review the knowledge of the humanoid civilization, occasionally transmitting the knowledge he was interested in to his mind for deeper study and understanding.
This routine continued day after day. It seemed to have become Miss Chen's daily life, and she appeared to have nothing else to do.
Their communication was minimal, mostly consisting of Wang Shuo talking enthusiastically while Miss Chen nodded slightly. Such a level of interaction was far from enough for them to deeply understand each other. However, it seemed that Miss Chen didn't have such intentions in the first place.
In her eyes, there was nothing but books. Initially, she was reading "Principles of Economics," but later, she pulled out "Principles and Construction of Machinery," "Principles of Computer Programming," and "Introduction to C Language" from somewhere. Although she often frowned while reading, she persevered.
In the evening, she would promptly put away the books, place them on Wang Shuo's table, and quietly leave without saying a word.
This situation lasted for three days. When Miss Chen took out a book titled "Research on Material Stress" one day, Wang Shuo finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Miss... Chen..."
After a few days of interaction, Wang Shuo felt that Miss Chen seemed to be sensitive to being addressed as "Miss."
Sure enough, Miss Chen immediately looked up.
"Can I make a suggestion?"
Silence...
"Are you reading these books... because you're planning to switch careers and become an engineer?" Wang Shuo pointed at the books in her hand. Over the past few days, she had been bringing more books without taking any back, and a thick stack of books had accumulated on the windowsill.
"No." Chen Xin shook her head.
"Then why are you reading them?" Wang Shuo looked surprised. "I remember you studied economics, right? These books... have nothing to do with economics at all."
Chen Xin remained silent, looking down at the book in her hand.
"And even if you want to switch careers to become an engineer, this range is too broad, isn't it? I can understand books like 'Principles and Construction of Machinery' and 'Principles of Computer Programming,' but what is 'Research on Material Stress'?" Wang Shuo exclaimed in amazement: "Do you also want to get into chemical research on materials?"
Chen Xin became even more silent. "These... are they useless?"
"Of course, they're useless!" Wang Shuo said confidently, "I'm a student majoring in Computer Science and Technology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology! A pure science student!"
"These are just basic entry-level knowledge, written to fool people who haven't been exposed to it before. Trying to self-learn from this is out of the question."
"Miss Chen, you've been reading for so many days now. Have you figured out the principles of circuits? Do you know what analog electronic technology is? Do you understand what digital logic is?"
"Not to mention deeper subjects like computer networks, advanced languages, data structures, operating systems, and so on."
"These are all very specialized knowledge. If you could understand them just by reading a few books, then what would be the point of our Huazhong University of Science and Technology?"
Wang Shuo spoke with pride.
Chen Xin asked calmly, "Do you understand them?"
"Of course, I do!" Wang Shuo, who had spat out the words in one breath, suddenly felt refreshed and boastfully continued without thinking, "Forget about basic knowledge; circuit principles and digital logic are child's play. I could even create a new advanced computer language or write an operating system without breaking a sweat. I've been very interested in these things since I was young, and my father has been very supportive, plus I'm naturally smart and quick-witted..."
Wang Shuo kept talking non-stop, but Chen Xin had already fallen silent.
She quietly looked at the books on the table, her beloved "Principles of Economics" now deeply buried under other books, herself, step by step, being suffocated by reality, buried, until she couldn't turn over.
"Useless?" Chen Xin muttered to herself. Didn't she know the futility of what she was doing? Then why... was she still struggling?
After talking for a long time, Wang Shuo looked at the distracted Chen Xin, who seemed to be looking at her books. He reached out, suddenly pulled out one of the books, dusted it off, and handed it to Chen Xin.
"So, Miss Chen Xin, you should just stick to reading your 'Principles of Economics.' I can see that you're in a much better state when you read this book than when you read others. Since you like it, just keep at it. Life is short; we should do things we enjoy. Leave the highly challenging task of crossing over to fields to geniuses like me." Wang Shuo smiled broadly.
Chen Xin stared at the book Wang Shuo handed to her, dazed. After a long moment, she finally reached out to take it.
"Wang Shuo," Chen Xin's voice was weak, the second time she had called Wang Shuo by his name in these days.
"Thank you... and..."
"You have a nosebleed."