"Uh—"
In the silence, Ji Jue shifted in his seat a couple of times before swallowing his saliva.
Thinking that whether he stepped forward or back, death was inevitable, he decided he might as well die cheerfully. After hemming and hawing for a long while, he finally spoke, "I feel... it's passable?"
"Indeed, it's passable."
Professor Ye nodded, her face expressionless, "It barely transformed from non-combustible trash to ordinary trash. I don't even know how you had the nerve to submit it.
A few days ago when I received it, I even checked the date to see if it was April Fool's Day.
With your skills, how long did you work on this thing?"
She asked, "Five days? Three days?"
"About..."
Ji Jue hung his head and hemmed and hawed for a long time, eventually not daring to admit he had only spent four hours on it, nor did he make any more excuses. Instead, he could only pull out his medical record from his pocket and hand it over with both hands:
"I had an accident, got hit by a car, and was in the hospital for a while."
To be honest, although he knew this stuff was makeshift, it wasn't actually that bad. With a bit of tidying up, it could be barely used for his thesis. But if Professor Ye only wanted that level of work, why bother approaching him?
Were there not plenty of university livestock outside, wild, free-range, pen-raised, with juicy, tender meat, who brought their own coffee when pulling all-nighters? Couldn't she just pull any one of them in to do it?
When he placed the medical record on the table, Professor Ye didn't even look at it.
She glanced at Ji Jue, checked he was intact from head to toe, then pointed to the stack of papers on the table, "Apart from the framework and data sections, rewrite the rest—especially the argument and thesis parts. Don't patch it up with old pieces. If I see any more of those 'big bananas also have big peels' nonsensical dreams, just smartly get out of here."
"Ah? Oh, oh!"
Ji Jue was startled for a moment, not expecting that this time Professor Ye would be so magnanimous. Previously, many students had been severely reprimanded over a single symbol or weight error in her team, but realizing his luck, he quickly took back his papers.
However, the thickness was beyond his expectation.
He hadn't written that much.
When he opened it, he saw densely packed annotations and questions in addition to his thesis. Among them were harsh judgments like 'utter nonsense,' 'rubbish,' and 'completely useless,' but even more were the sweat-inducing questions and suggestions for amendments.
Of course, the most striking was the cover.
There, in the position of the second author on the thesis, was a name circled in red, alongside, nearly occupying half the page, a question mark.
—[Ye Chun].
Clearly, she had seen through Ji Jue's desperate attempt to drag his senior sister down with him.
Ji Jue wiped off his cold sweat, "Ah, that was just for fun, just joking, just joking."
"I know."
Professor Ye blew on her tea leaves and said indifferently, "The trash she submitted also listed you as the second author."
"..."
For a moment, Ji Jue seriously wanted to call the police.
Indeed, every steamed dumpling, fried dumpling, and oatmeal bun paid for by fate was secretly priced... It was one thing to slack off together, but why pull others in to take the fall too?!
Just goes to show why you were so enthusiastic today, no wonder; unsolicited courtesies are suspicious, always up to no good!
"Alright, go on then, don't you still want to show your family around Tianmen?"
Professor Ye covered her teacup and finally waved her hand, "Remember to come back this afternoon, I have something else to assign to you."
"..."
In the silence, Ji Jue hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth to speak.
"What is it?" Professor Ye looked up.
"Professor, this afternoon..."
He hemmed and hawed, explaining, "I have plans."
It wasn't that he was lazy or unwilling to come; Wen Wen had asked him a few days before to make sure he freed up the afternoon, or else he would regret it—it seemed quite important, and he really couldn't get out of it.
"Hm?"
In the brief silence, Professor Ye looked at him, her eyebrows slightly raising in surprise. Soon, as if understanding, she nodded knowingly, "I see."
She suddenly asked, "In love?"
"No no no no no no!!"
Ji Jue almost jumped from his chair in fright, hurriedly gesturing with his hands, scared that Wen Wen might hear from hundreds of miles away and punch him in the chest, "Just a friend needed me for a big favor, I owe them a lot, couldn't duck out."
The professor didn't probe further.
She just waved her hand, not insisting any more.
Ji Jue packed up his thesis, dripping with sweat, and ran off.
Naturally, he couldn't catch up with Ye Chun, that woman who had long fled. After searching several times, he could only vent on the phone with harsh words like "Don't let me catch you on the streets of Tianmen University," showing his impotent fury.
And he was mocked back with a laughing dog emoji from Ye Chun.
In just half a morning, he took Lu Ling around half of Tianmen, met the counselor and classmates, and had just finished eating in the cafeteria when he received a call from Wen Wen.
"Where are you?"
The roar of a motorcycle came from the other end of the line: "Have you cleaned up? Don't dawdle, hurry up and get out."
"Where else would I be? In Tianmen." Ji Jue sighed, "Wen, I start school today."
"Good, just wait then."
The call ended.
Less than ten minutes later, Ji Jue heard the familiar roar of the motorcycle on the roadside. It audaciously drove right into the campus, speeding down the school roads like a blaze of orange and red, attracting countless gazes.
Then, before Ji Jue realized something was amiss and could make a run for it, it stopped in front of him.
"Do you have to be this extravagant, big sis?"
Ji Jue puzzled, "What's it all about?"
"Didn't I tell you I had a good opportunity to introduce you to? I've found the right path!"
I introduced you to one of the few alchemy masters in Cliff City, who recently announced that he's looking to hire an apprentice. Who knows how many people were so anxious they couldn't even line up, let alone meet him face-to-face.
Today's meeting opportunity took quite a bit of effort from your sister to arrange, so be respectful later, whether it works out or not is up to you!"
"Ah?"
Ji Jue was stunned; he didn't expect it. His paper had just been sent back for rewrite, and Wen Wen had just signed him up for some "Chosen One" tutoring class. He instinctively wanted to decline, "I haven't even finished my paper…"
"You can write it tonight, come on!"
Wen Wen threw him a helmet and pointed to the back seat, "Hurry up and get on!"
But with a pull of the hand, Ji Jue found himself sitting on the motorcycle, clumsily fastening the helmet without even noticing the familiar scent of perfume inside, and the bike began to speed forward.
He could only tighten his grip and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Not far! Just around the corner."
The motorcycle zipped past the lakeside, crossed the main road, and drove up a slope, moving between lush green vegetation on both sides.
But the further forward they went, Ji Jue felt more and more apprehensive, his scalp tingling.
This direction…
"Wait a minute, Sister Wen."
Ji Jue tried to stop her as they entered the lobby elevator.
"Hey, don't be scared, trust me," Wen Wen raised her eyebrows with a smile.
"It's not that, I…"
"Don't worry."
She waved her hand, signaling not to say more, "Wait for my good news!"
With that, she strode forward, head held high, chest out, and under Ji Jue's horrified gaze, pushed open... Professor Ye's office door!
Ji Jue was rooted to the spot.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
What now... can I still make a run for it?
Caught between shock and stupor, he could hear voices through the slightly ajar door, so familiar.
"Miss Wen, I'm sorry to trouble you to come all this way. Frankly, I've already decided on an apprentice. Although not entirely satisfactory, I am not planning on changing my choice for now."
"Ah, Master Ye, just take a look. I've brought him here, a very alert and capable young man, brimming with talent. Plus, he's willing to endure hardship, just tie him to the mill and he'll work like an ox; you might want to give him a chance?"
Saying so, as if afraid she might change her mind, Wen Wen pushed the door open, grabbed Ji Jue who was trying to bolt, and shoved him in front of Professor Ye's desk, slapping his shoulder forcefully:
"Look, what do you think?
Ji Jue, go ahead, introduce yourself."
Get her going!
Damn! Ignore!
"Ah… um… erm…"
In the silence, Ji Jue hemmed and hawed, unable to look up, let alone do any sort of flip, just timidly greeting, "...Hello, Professor Ye."
Wen Wen couldn't hold back and sneaked a kick under the table; such a good young man, why the stage fright? Bring out that smooth-talking charm you usually have!
If looks could convey words, Ji Jue would definitely send her a 50,000-word essay. He was capable of talking big, but he didn't dare!
Especially, Professor Ye's expression, gradually shifting from astonishment to amusement.
Looking at Ji Jue and then at the resigned Wen Wen, she suddenly asked, "Is this about… the afternoon matter?"
"Mm."
Ji Jue nodded obediently, his face nearly buried in his chest.
"...Didn't discuss?" Professor Ye pressed further.
Ji Jue shook his head frantically, "Really didn't, pure as driven snow!"
Professor Ye said no more.
Or rather, having lived for over forty years, she suddenly didn't know how to handle such a preposterous and awkward situation. Her home's destined research subject, merely an excuse to step out, suddenly came back as an inside deal, pulled back in by an introduction.
Until Wen Wen's thick nerves finally sensed something was off, looking puzzled at them both.
"What's going on here…"
"…"
During the brief silence, Professor Ye coughed twice, twitching her usually stern face, trying to speak calmly, "Miss Wen, let me introduce... The person next to you is a member of my new Fuel Element Power Structure project team at Tianmen University, and also the apprentice I plan to recruit, Ji Jue."
Wen Wen, delayed, turned back, glancing at Ji Jue and then Professor Ye, the air filled with the sense of an overloaded brain.
"So, what you're saying is…"
"Yes, exactly."
Professor Ye nodded, candidly saying, "You introduced my apprentice to me to be my apprentice. I must say, good eye."
Thus, an extended silence ensued.
In the mortifying, dead-like silence, Ji Jue watched dust particles slowly falling to the corner, striving to reduce his presence to near non-existence.
You could hear, from beneath the office floor, the sound of digging for a three-bedroom apartment.
After the three-bedroom was dug, it even extended to accommodate a 600-square-meter backyard, and additionally a football field and a gym to contain the sprawling awkwardness and suicidal urges, and possibly, the grave of someone named Ji Jue!
"…Sorry for the interruption."
Wen Wen bowed her head, politely squeezing out through the freshly dug crevice.
Soon enough, she pushed the door open again, came back in with her head down, grabbed Ji Jue, nodded to Professor Ye, and politely took her leave, "Sorry for borrowing him."
"Remember to close the door."
Professor Ye turned away, ignoring Ji Jue's pleading eyes, looking out the window.
It was a bright and cloudless day.
The weather really is getting more interesting.
She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and couldn't hold back, bursting into laughter.