CH 31

At 8 o’clock in the evening, Shen Yuhuai received a message in the lounge of the Ninth Research Institute and took out his things from the locker of the lounge. The researchers who had finished the experiments and rested left one after another. Shen Yuhuai’s friend saw the bag he was holding in his hand and asked, “Hey, what are you doing with this?”

“I’m giving it to someone later.” Shen Yuhuai closed the locker. “You worked hard today.”

“What hard work? It is good to catch up with the progress and get more research funds.” The friend smiled and changed clothes. Then he walked out side by side with Shen Yuhuai. “The teacher said that if we finish sorting out the data, the rest will be left to him to operate. We just have to finish it before the end of the month. By the way, have you finished writing your thesis?”

Shen Yuhuai nodded. “The first draft is done. I just need to fill in the data at the end of the month.”

His friend felt at ease. Then it was fine. The preliminary data had basically been tested.

As the two of them talked, they passed the fifth floor of the institute. The friend left early because he was going to the laboratory to observe. Shen Yuhuai turned to the stairwell and glimpsed someone coming out of the laboratory administrator’s office out of the corner of his eye. It was He Shuhang.

He Shuhang was startled when seeing him and quickly greeted Shen Yuhuai. “Senior Brother Shen, you just came out? Is it so late today?”

He remembered that Shen Yuhuai usually left here at 5 or 6 o’clock.

Shen Yuhuai glanced at the closed office door. “What were you doing?”

“Oh, I forgot my key. I wanted to ask the administrator for a spare key but he doesn’t seem to be here.” He Shuhang seemed a bit flustered but he quickly found a reason to explain it. “It is okay, I’ll wait. My group will come later.”

Shen Yuhuai nodded and asked, “Is the progress of the experiment okay?”

“It’s fine. It is basically over.”

Shen Yuhuai retracted his gaze and walked toward the elevator. “There should be no problem with the exam-free graduate school quota. You don’t have to feel too much pressure.”

He Shuhang heard these words and followed Shen Yuhuai. He lowered his head when he heard the mention of the exam-free graduate school quota. Then he changed the topic and asked, “Senior, what about your experiment? I heard that it will only finish at the end of the month. Will you have time to participate in the competition?”

Shen Yuhuai briefly replied, “It isn’t too late.”

“Senior Brother, you are so confident that the data must be ready.” He Shuhang’s expression was a bit ugly before he forced out a smile. “Then Senior Brother, let’s separate here. I had better go and see if the administrator is in another laboratory to get the key from him.”

Shen Yuhuai and He Shuhang separated at the entrance of the elevator. Shen Yuhuai saw this person walking to the corner to go to another place and his eyes were filled with a bit of doubt.

Was it his delusion? He Shuhang’s tone today was very urgent. In addition, the door of the administrator’s office just now wasn’t locked…? He felt suspicious but the elevator had already gone down. He could only send a message to his friend to inquire about it.

He had just walked out of the laboratory building when he received a message from the other person.

[It is normal. The administrator went to the next laboratory to adjust the machine. I just passed by and saw him in 504. I guess that he wasn’t going far away so he didn’t lock the door.]

—

Shen Yuhuai parked in the parking lot of S College. By the time he got out of the car, it was exactly 9 o’clock. The air was a little damp and he saw that it might rain. He checked the time on his mobile phone, picked up the information bag on the passenger seat and also took out an umbrella.

He arrived at the door of S College’s library and found that Chen Qizhao was already waiting there.

It was now autumn and the night breeze was cool. However, Chen Qizhao was only wearing a long-sleeved jacket and knee-length sports shorts. His legs shone white in the light.

Chen Qizhao waved to indicate his location after seeing Shen Yuhuai and quickly ran over.

Once he arrived, Shen Yuhuai could smell the scent of shower gel on his body. It was as if this person had just taken a shower.

“I was delayed in the laboratory for a while and came out a little late.” Shen Yuhuai handed him the information bag in his hand. “I sorted out some introductory materials. If you are interested then you can read them.”

During this time, Chen Qizhao often chatted with Shen Yuhuai. In order to inquire about things, all the topics he talked about were professional and he sometimes mentioned He Shuhang with a few words. Then today, Shen Yuhuai said that he sorted out some relevant introductory materials. If he was free, Shen Yuhuai would bring it over when passing by S College.

“…Okay.” Chen Qizhao took the heavy bag and lowered his head to glance at the contents.

They were all introductory chemistry books and could vaguely see colorful labels on the pages.

Shen Yuhuai said, “It might be boring just reading the textbook. There is a notebook inside and you can take a look at it.”

“I’ll go back and take a look.” Chen Qizhao held the bag in one hand. “You just came out of the laboratory. Have you eaten?”

“I ate in the cafeteria over there.” Shen Yuhuai’s eyes fell on Chen Qizhao. “Have you been having headaches lately?”

Chen Qizhao had originally lowered his head to count how many textbooks there were. He stopped when he heard the words, realized Shen Yuhuai’s question and replied, “It’s okay. I’m already much better.”

The two of them were talking when several lightning bolts flashed in the air, followed by a muffled sound.

Chen Qizhao looked up and could vaguely see lightning among the clouds. Then he suddenly remembered. “I looked at the weather forecast in the afternoon. It said there would be a thunderstorm tonight.”

Shen Yuhuai nodded and saw that Chen Qizhao wasn’t holding an umbrella in his hand. “It should be heavy rain. You should go back to the bedroom first.”

Before he could finish speaking, a bean-sized watermark appeared on the ground. Rain suddenly came.

“It’s raining!”

A few students around them shouted.

Shen Yuhuai was trying to open his umbrella. Then the next second, his wrist was held by a cold hand.

“This way.” Chen Qizhao held the bag in one hand and Shen Yuhuai’s wrist in the other. Then he silently took Shen Yuhuai to the eaves of the library to shelter from the rain.

In just 10 seconds. The raindrops turned into a rain curtain. It was wrapped in the autumn wind and the rain was fierce and cold.

There were many students sheltering from the rain at the entrance of the library. Chen Qizhao saw the increasing rain and looked down to see a thunderstorm warning pop up on the screen of his phone.

It wasn’t just heavy rain, but also lightning and thunder.

The two of them stood and talked for a while, but the rain kept getting heavier.

“I’ll take you back to the bedroom first.” Shen Yuhuai frowned slightly when he noticed Chen Qizhao’s clothes. “This rain will probably last a long time.”

Chen Qizhao raised the hood of his jacket. He just wanted to say that he could run back but he caught a glimpse of Shen Yuhuai opening the umbrella.

Shen Yuhuai told him, “Let’s go.”

“Oh.” Chen Qizhao walked under the umbrella.

The rain fell on the umbrella and the incoming wind blew the umbrella back.

After all, the umbrella was a single umbrella. It was still too small for two adult men once it was opened.

Chen Qizhao and Shen Yuhuai were very close and his shoulder rubbed against Shen Yuhuai’s arm, bumping into it several times.

He held the information bag in his arms and tried to keep as far away as possible in order to not bump into this person every time.

The two of them just left the road of the library. The rain wasn’t small but it was heavy.

At this time, Shen Yuhuai suddenly reached out his hand to hold the other person. He lowered the umbrella, put his hand on Chen Qizhao’s shoulder and took the person under the umbrella.

“Come here.”

Just as Chen Qizhao wanted to speak, he heard a voice close to his ear. Half of his body was basically attached to Shen Yuhuai’s body. He could still smell the cold mint fragrance mixed with the rain.

Shen Yuhuai’s hand was very strong and didn’t relax at all when holding the other person.

The distance under the umbrella became smaller and the two men walked forward in the rainstorm without speaking to each other.

They arrived at his dormitory building. Chen Qizhao wiped the rainwater from the information bag but suddenly stopped as he raised his head.

The man who closed the umbrella shook the rain off the umbrella. Half of his shoulders were extremely wet and there were deep watermarks left on the light-colored clothes.

Shen Yuhuai’s eyes stayed on the rain curtain. “The rain won’t stop for a while.”

Chen Qizhao suggested, “Brother Huai, go to my bedroom and sit down. Wait until the rain is lighter before leaving.”

Shen Yuhuai originally wanted to leave but his vision blurred when he saw the lightning flashing in the distance.

It was also a long walk back to the parking lot from the dormitory building. It wasn’t easy to drive in the rain so he nodded slightly. “Okay.”

Shen Yuhuai had come to Yan Kailin’s bedroom several times but he rarely entered Chen Qizhao’s bedroom. Even if he said hello, he only stood near the door. As Chen Qizhao entered the bedroom, Shen Yuhuai found that Chen Qizhao’s bedroom wasn’t the same as Yan Kailin’s. It was the same layout but Yan Kailin’s side was as messy as a dog’s kennel. Meanwhile, Chen Qizhao’s side had been cleaned up and was simple and tidy.

In his impression, boys of this age should like to add a bit of decorations like posters of stars or game animation models. However, Chen Qizhao’s bedroom didn’t have it. The only place that seemed crowded and messy was the computer desktop. There were water cups and several books stacked on top of each other.

After noticing Shen Yuhuai’s observational gaze, Chen Qizhao walked silently to the desk and threw a certain ashtray into the trash.

Shen Yuhuai noticed the sound and looked over.

Chen Qizhao grabbed two pieces of paper and threw them into the trash can to cover the ashtray. Then he explained simply, “…I threw something away.”

In this life, his smoking addiction wasn’t as big as his previous life. He smoked one when he occasionally felt irritable. Fortunately, he didn’t smoke today and there wasn’t the smell of smoke in the bedroom.

Shen Yuhuai just wanted to speak when lightning flashed outside the window and the rumble of thunder was heard.

He went to the window to look at the rain outside. It showed no signs of getting smaller but was only becoming more intense.

Chen Qizhao also hadn’t expected that the thunder would be so loud. “I’m afraid this weather won’t go away. You might have to wait longer.”

Half an hour passed but there were no signs of the rain becoming smaller. Instead, there were several more weather warnings on his phone.

“Brother Huai, are you going back to the dormitory of the research institute?” Chen Qizhao asked.

“No, I plan to go back to the city,” Shen Yuhuai replied. “There is no arrangement for the laboratory tomorrow and I will rest for the day.”

Chen Qizhao recalled the location of Shen Yuhuai’s apartment in the city. It would take at least an hour to drive back from here. The way back wasn’t easy. He wondered, “Did you come by car? You probably won’t be able to go back there in this weather. The road outside S College often accumulates water on rainy days and it is easy for the car to stall.”

Shen Yuhuai also frowned. “I will wait for the rain to stop before going back to the research institute.”

“Yan Kailin isn’t here. He went out to drink at night and it is estimated that he won’t come back.” Chen Qizhao’s gaze fell on Shen Yuhuai’s wet clothes. “Or stay with me tonight. The rain outside will probably last for a while…”

He was stunned once he finished speaking. His eyes fell on the slightly wide bed. This should be big enough for two people to squeeze on, right?

The bed in the single room was larger. The width of the single bed was close to 1.5 compared to the 1.2 of other bedrooms.

The dormitory here required a special application. The two nearby buildings were basically single dorms for graduate students or doctoral students and the dormitory conditions were good.

Shen Yuhuai didn’t speak. His eyes stopped outside the window. It wasn’t good to come back in this type of weather.

Based on the access control, if the rain didn’t stop at 11 o’clock then he would probably have to spend one night in the car.

“It isn’t safe to drive in this weather and the bed in the dormitory is sufficiently large.” Chen Qizhao told him, “Don’t be polite with me.”

Shen Yuhuai couldn’t say anything else once he heard this. “If the rain doesn’t stop at 10 o’clock then I can only disturb you for the night.”

By 10 o’clock, the rain showed no signs of getting smaller at all.”

“Brother Huai, change your clothes first.” Chen Qizhao rummaged through the closet and found a set of pajamas that he bought last time. “They can be dried with the washing machine in my room. Take a shower and change clothes. Put your clothes in the machine and dry them. You should be able to wear it tomorrow.”

It wasn’t okay to turn on the air conditioner at night to let the clothes dry.

Chen Qizhao handed it to him. “You should be able to wear this?”

Shen Yuhuai’s eyes fell on the pajamas in Chen Qizhao’s hand. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I can wear them.”

Chen Qizhao briefly explained the hot water switch in the bathroom to him and found an unused towel for Shen Yuhuai.

The door was closed and even the sound from outside became quieter. Shen Yuhuai stopped in front of the sink and noticed that there were razors and toiletries placed randomly. The smell of the shower gel in the bathroom was exactly the same as Chen Qizhao’s smell. He glanced around and saw a pack of cigarettes placed randomly on the drying rack platform. It looked like Chen Qizhao had brought them in when taking a shower but forgot to take them out.

Chen Qizhao heard the sound of running water from the bathroom and cleaned up the bed.

The materials that Shen Yuhuai brought him were placed on the bookshelf within his reach. He had nothing else to do so he sat down and searched for information on the Internet. The time when Fu Yanyu was exposed for using drugs was probably after the New Year’s broadcast. The popularity of the drama was originally high but it barely enjoyed the prosperity before it was overwhelmed by black materials.

Fu Yanyu’s black material of taking drugs had long existed but it was suppressed by capital for the benefit of the drama.

Once Lin Shizong finished with the overall situation, Fu Yanyu was abandoned as a pawn in the dispute between Chen and Yicheng, his final value realized.

Therefore, he had to wait until Yicheng came to grab the endorsement and Lin Shizong thought the bigger situation had happened.

After searching for Fu Yanyu’s information, Chen Qizhao searched for Nie Chenxiao. The drama that really became popular wasn’t Fu Yanyu’s one but Nie Chenxiao’s small web drama. Nie Chenxiao had become famous at a young age and his acting skills were solid. He had accumulated a lot of background. It was a pity that his luck wasn’t good and his original company wasn’t strong.

It wasn’t that the Chen family hadn’t touched the entertainment industry in recent years. As a real estate developer, the Chen Group’s interest in entertainment companies wasn’t large. It was a strategic alternative and they only engaged in one or two entertainment companies as a test. However, the entertainment industry was either monopolized by the big entertainment companies or the stars opened their own studio for development. The test results didn’t find any new breakthrough.

It was just that Chen Qizhao knew that the next few years would usher in an era of entertainment. New channels such as short videos live streaming would occupy a place in the market.

In his previous life, he followed the rules and directions originally done by Chen Shiming. His brother was very talented in this regard and many of the strategic plans were very effective. If it wasn’t for the Chen Group’s bankruptcy, Chen Shiming’s talent would’ve been able to completely pull the Chen Group to another height.

In this life, Chen Shiming was leading the way. In addition to sending the old fox Lin Shizong to prison, the thing Chen Qizhao could do was to fill in the loopholes in Chen Shiming’s strategic layout based on his understanding of the future.

Still, since the Chen family wanted to transform in multiple directions, it wasn’t impossible to pull up the Chen Group’s shabby entertainment company.

In the current slightly sluggish entertainment stage, the small amount of money earned by the entertainment companies wasn’t enough for the huge Chen Group. Nevertheless, any money earned shouldn’t be let go.

He was backed by the big mountain of the Chen family and had capital and a company. It was much better than the hell start of his previous life.

Nie Chenxiao was one of his candidates. In the matter of Yicheng, he not only wanted Lin Shizong to suffer but he also wanted to make the Chen Group the biggest winner.

“What are you looking at?” Suddenly, a voice was heard behind them.

Chen Qizhao was stunned for a moment. Then he looked back and saw Shen Yuhuai coming out of the bathroom.

The pajamas he bought were a bit small on Shen Yuhuai’s body. The top was fine since he bought a loose fitting one.

It was just that the pajama pants that originally touched the ground revealed Shen Yuhuai’s ankles when worn on his body.

Shen Yuhuai’s eyes fell on the computer screen and he asked in his usual voice, “Are you chasing a star?”

No.” Shen Yuhuai turned his head away, took his eyes off Shen Yuhuai’s body and closed the web page without thinking.

He explained a bit awkwardly, “I am just taking a look.”

“I’m not interested.”