326: Chapter 326 General Li is here?

Gu Qing was stunned for a moment, looking at Zhao Yang as she spoke.

"Okay, I'll try. I adjusted the upper and lower bounds of the color scale once before, but the range might have been set too narrow, causing signals from some high-expression genes to be truncated. I'll re-run it when I get back and ask you if there are any issues."

"Sure."

Zhao Yang nodded with a smile and agreed.

The dishes were soon all served.

Zhao Yang picked up a piece of beef and chewed a couple of times.

Looking at Gu Qing in front of him, he began to shift the topic away from academics.

He spoke with a smile about what happened at the Changcheng chip factory a few days ago.

"Didn't I go back to Changcheng a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Gu Qing was slightly taken aback and looked at Zhao Yang curiously as she asked.

"During those few days, a young engineer worked overtime for three consecutive days to debug the angle parameters of the ion implanter. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep leaning against the wall next to the equipment, still clutching a hex wrench in his hand."

"Liang Mengsong saw him while passing by and didn't wake him up; he just had someone bring a jacket to cover him. As it turned out, the first thing the engineer said upon waking wasn't 'What time is it?' but 'Is the angle adjusted yet?'"

Gu Qing laughed after hearing this.

"That engineer is really dedicated!"

"Indeed! In our Dragon Kingdom, there are many such dedicated engineers! They are all excellent!"

Zhao Yang said with some emotion.

"By the way, what happened next? Was the angle adjusted in the end?"

Gu Qing looked at Zhao Yang and asked curiously.

"It was adjusted. It was changed from seven degrees to three degrees, and the resulting test data is very beautiful."

"How did you know that changing it to three degrees would work?"

Gu Qing's eyes were full of curiosity as she looked at Zhao Yang. Anything related to chip engineering wasn't simple; everything was figured out through bit-by-bit trial and error!

"Experience."

Zhao Yang said to Gu Qing with a smile.

Gu Qing glanced at him and didn't press further.

For Zhao Yang, making Gu Qing laugh at the dinner table was no difficult task. Having lived for over forty years across his past and present lives, whether it was dining with clients or socializing with his team, the sense of propriety and rhythm at the dinner table was long ingrained in his bones.

He knew when to tell a joke, when to listen intently, and when to use a casual remark to lift the atmosphere from dullness. Gu Qing didn't laugh easily, but Zhao Yang knew what worked for her—not deliberate punchlines, but suddenly saying something unexpected in a very ordinary tone.

"Once, I ran into Professor Wang Wenyuan at the Peking University cafeteria. Professor Wang sat down across from me with his tray and asked very seriously, 'Which do you think is harder, the riemann hypothesis or P vs NP?' I said they're both hard, and Professor Wang said, 'That's good then. I thought you'd think neither of them was hard.'"

"Pfft."

Gu Qing almost spat out her soup after hearing that.

"Did Professor Wang really ask that?"

Gu Qing wiped her mouth with a tissue, the corners of her eyes still glistening with tears from laughing.

"Really. At the time, the braised pork on his chopsticks had gone cold while he was waiting for my answer."

"So what did you say then?"

"I said the riemann hypothesis is harder. After hearing that, he nodded, said 'that's good,' and then finally started eating."

"Why is the riemann hypothesis harder?"

"Because the braised pork at the cafeteria was pretty good that day, and I wanted him to eat it while it was hot."

Zhao Yang said with a straight face.

Gu Qing laughed again. When she laughed, her eyes would curve into two shallow arcs, making her look like a completely different person from when she was pursing her lips and looking at data in the lab.

Zhao Yang watched her finish laughing and served her another bowl of soup. He hoped Gu Qing could laugh like this more often. She shouldn't always work so hard on scientific research, as if wagering her entire life on chasing some goal. She needed a moment to shed all her burdens, even if only for the duration of a dinner.

After dinner, Zhao Yang settled the bill. The two of them stepped out of the private restaurant, the streetlights in the alley casting a yellowish glow on the gray brick walls. Gu Qing walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped and fished two movie tickets out of her bag. As she handed them over, her fingers pinched the edges of the ticket stubs, and she didn't dare meet Zhao Yang's eyes.

"I bought these a few days ago. It's for tonight's screening at 9:30. If you're tired, we can go another day."

Zhao Yang looked down at the title and showtime on the tickets. He was stunned for a moment but took them anyway.

"I'm not tired. Let's go."

The cinema was an old-fashioned one near Dongsi, about a ten-minute walk away. There weren't many people in the theater, and most seats were empty; the two of them sat in the middle of a back row. The movie was a domestic romance film with a simple plot, yet it wasn't bad.

Gu Qing didn't say much throughout the movie; she just quietly moved her hand from the armrest until it touched the back of Zhao Yang's hand, then left it there. Zhao Yang turned his palm over and held her hand. Gu Qing's fingers curled slightly in his palm before slowly relaxing, resting quietly in his hand.

It was already 10:00 PM when they left the cinema. There were far fewer people on the street, the streetlights stretching their shadows one behind the other, and the wind was a bit chilly. Zhao Yang was about to hail a taxi to take Gu Qing back to school when she spoke beside him. Her voice was very soft, yet she seemed to have summoned a lifetime's worth of courage.

"Actually... I don't have to go back tonight."

Zhao Yang's movements paused slightly, and he turned to look at Gu Qing.

At this moment, Gu Qing's face was visibly flushed under the streetlights, the red seeping through from beneath her skin. She didn't look away from his gaze, but her fingers were clearly clutching her handbag tightly.

Zhao Yang found a nearby hotel that looked clean and comfortable. While he was registering at the front desk, Gu Qing stood half a step behind him, looking down at her phone; the screen lit up several times, but she didn't unlock it.

The room was on the twelfth floor. Zhao Yang swiped the card to open the door and inserted the power card. The curtains were already drawn, and the bed was neatly made. Gu Qing stood at the door for a while before walking in, placing her bag on the sofa, and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking visibly uneasy.

Zhao Yang sat down beside her. He could feel her nervousness—it wasn't fear, but a state where expectation and uncertainty were intertwined.

Zhao Yang gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and pulled her into his arms, making no further move.

"Do you know why I've never touched you?" Zhao Yang's voice was very low, his lips almost brushing her earlobe.

Gu Qing shook her head gently in his arms.

"It's not because I don't want to."

Zhao Yang's hand rested on her back; he could feel her body heat through the thin knit sweater.

"It's because I feel you aren't ready yet. When the time comes that you're truly prepared and give yourself to me completely, body and soul, I certainly won't refuse."

Hearing Zhao Yang's gentle words, Gu Qing's body stiffened for a moment in his arms before slowly relaxing. She buried her face in his chest and, after a long while, mumbled, "Then I'll just sleep like this tonight."

"Mhm."

Zhao Yang turned off the overhead light, leaving only the bedside lamp on. The two lay down, with Gu Qing resting her head on his arm and curling up in his embrace, her breathing gradually evening out from its initial rapid pace. Zhao Yang gently patted her back with his other hand, as if coaxing a little girl who refused to sleep. Before long, Gu Qing rolled over, rested her forehead against his chin, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Zhao Yang took Gu Qing back to school. She was already in graduate school and had moved from the undergraduate dorms to the graduate dormitory building. She had long since stopped living in her old dorm; Wang Ting was so aggravating that Gu Qing didn't bother arguing with her and simply applied for a transfer. Zhao Yang said his goodbyes to her downstairs.

Back in the car, Wang Hai had already started the engine. Zhao Yang said, "To the Aero Engine Research Center," then leaned back in his seat to rest with his eyes closed. The car drove along the ring road toward Fengtai.

Upon arriving at the Aero Engine Research Center, Zhao Yang had just walked into his small meeting room and hadn't even had time to sit down when he saw two people walking down the corridor. The one in front had graying hair, wore a dark jacket, and walked with a steady gait—it was none other than General Li.

Zhao Yang was a bit surprised; General Li was usually very busy with the military, so why had he suddenly come to the Aero Engine Center?

General Li walked up to Zhao Yang and shook his hand.