Chapter 3: Young People Have It Good, Falling Asleep Immediately
Before getting out of the car, Yu Shi left his jacket inside and sprayed himself twice with perfume.
He instructed, “Don’t mention later that I’m going back to the Third Institute. My family can’t stand the words ‘Research Institute’ and they can’t stand the smell of chemicals.”
Xu Bohan was dumbfounded. “They don’t like your job? Teacher, I’m a little nervous, what should I do? I… I also smell like chemicals. Should I spray some too…”
“It’s fine.” Yu Shi led him to the elevator. “They care about face; they’ll pretend to tolerate you.”
“…Huh?”
Confused, Xu Bohan was led upstairs. The hotel was resplendent. The manager and waiters lined the path to welcome them—it looked like the kind of place where a single bottle of wine cost his annual salary.
The private room was on the twentieth floor. Before entering, Xu Bohan thought it was just a large room. The reality was that the Yu family had booked the entire floor.
Nearly ten people sat around the dining table, men and women, young and old, all dressed fastidiously. Xu Bohan nearly had a social anxiety attack.
He looked at his elementary-school-level T-shirt, then at Yu Shi’s expensive shirt, truly appreciating his teacher’s family background for the first time.
Yu Shi walked over to greet them. “Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt… This is my student, Xu Bohan.”
Xu Bohan was so nervous his face went stiff. He squeezed out a smile to greet them. Yu Shi’s father, Yu Songwei, was a middle-aged man with a square face. His mother, Liu Yin, looked plump and kind, covered in jewelry.
Xu Bohan glanced at Yu Shi again and couldn’t help feeling it was odd. Yu Shi’s aura was cold and ethereal, completely out of place with this wealthy and powerful family. He looked like neither his dad nor his mom.
“Sit, we were just waiting for you. Little Xu, you sit too,” Yu Songwei greeted warmly, despite looking stern.
The relatives laughed. “The scientist is here. We were just watching your livestream.”
“For those things you developed, the superiors must have given a lot of bonus money, right?”
“Of course. Making weapons is very profitable; it can be counted as carrying on the family business.”
Yu Shi said flatly, “No bonus. The work I do doesn’t make money.”
The relatives looked at each other, expressions awkward, and turned to sizing up Xu Bohan.
“Little Yu, you’re mentoring students now?”
“He’s a student in name only, right? Being a teacher doesn’t pay much; it takes so much effort and wears you out.”
“Isn’t that the truth? My niece is a teacher…”
Xu Bohan listened awkwardly. Yu Shi turned and asked him, “What main dish do you want?”
Nervous, he blurted out, “Fried… fried rice.”
He wanted to slap himself after saying it. With a table full of delicacies from land and sea, where would there be fried rice?
Yu Shi waved to the waiter. “Bring me two orders of fried rice.”
The relatives’ expressions became even more colorful. The waiter immediately said, “We have seafood fried rice. I’ll notify the kitchen right away.”
Liu Yin smoothed things over. “You guys talk about money, money, money all day. Don’t be so vulgar, okay? My child is dedicating himself to the country, unlike a profiteer like Old Yu.”
Being called a profiteer, Yu Songwei just chuckled and put a piece of fish on her plate.
Liu Yin leaned over and whispered, “Baby, how were those blind dates this afternoon?”
Xu Bohan was close by. Hearing this nickname, he almost sprayed out the soup in his mouth.
Yu Shi was used to it. “Met them all. Compatibility was too low.”
“80% is still low?” Liu Yin was surprised. “For you, that’s the highest so far.”
Yu Shi didn’t tell her that person was a scammer.
She looked worried. “Your date is approaching fast; you have to match soon. By the way, a friend of mine developed a matchmaking app. I heard it works better than the Database and supports online chatting. You didn’t reply to messages a few days ago, so your dad and I registered an account for you.”
Yu Shi frowned. “What?”
“You child, I message and call you and you ignore me. What could I do? I had to grab a number for you first.” Liu Yin glared at him. “You surely went into the lab without bringing your communicator again.”
“Regulations don’t allow it,” Yu Shi said helplessly.
What app required grabbing a number?
“You just soak in there all day. Is there soothing agent in the lab? Is there a partner in the lab? There isn’t even anyone your age around you. How can we be at ease!”
Yu Shi pointed at Xu Bohan. “Isn’t this someone my age? Only one year younger than me.”
Liu Yin looked at him and smiled. “Young man, how old are you? Do you have a boyfriend?”
Xu Bohan nearly choked to death. “Auntie… I, I, cough, I’m an Omega…”
“Oh, sorry, I couldn’t tell.” Liu Yin withdrew her gaze and continued, “Baby, be obedient and download that app first. Just chat, no harm done.”
Yu Shi compromised with a headache. “Name.”
Liu Yin pulled out her communicator to show him. “It’s called this: Pink Cannonball.”
Xu Bohan: “…”
What a weird family.
“Mom, are you sure this is a legitimate platform?” Yu Shi’s mouth twitched.
“Of course. This was invested in by the friend of a colleague of the former leader of your father’s old comrade-in-arms. Very legitimate.”
Liu Yin smiled slyly. “By the way, your dad and I added someone with nearly 99% compatibility for you. Chat with him and see.”
“You guys added friends for me randomly?” Yu Shi said, finding it absurd. “There isn’t a 99% in the entire Database. That’s too fake; you definitely got scammed.”
“Oh, the platform recommended it. It won’t be a scammer.” Liu Yin changed the subject. “Eat, eat, eat more. You’ve lost weight recently.”
Thanks to bringing Xu Bohan, the family banquet, which usually started at three hours, was shortened to an hour and a half.
After eating, Yu Shi used the excuse of taking him home to successfully escape.
The car windows were wide open, the night breeze pleasant. Yu Shi rested one hand on the window, studying the pink app.
StarChat popped up a message at the top.
[Luo Shengge: Come to my office tomorrow morning, I have something to tell you.]
[Yu Shi: No time. Say it now.]
Luo Shengge was his direct senior brother. Later, they both studied under Old Tang. Tang’s entire lineage consisted of research fanatics. From top to bottom, outsiders couldn’t stand them but couldn’t get rid of them. Their style was unique in the academic world.
[Luo Shengge: There’s a task for you. Can get an honorary title.]
[Yu Shi: Get lost.]
[Luo Shengge: …]
This guy had tricked him into the award ceremony today and then disappeared. Yu Shi was already angry and had nowhere to vent it.
[Luo Shengge: Just listen to me first. You don’t need to do much, just teach two classes, guide some training. There’s prize money and evaluation points afterwards. Won’t delay your experiments.]
[Yu Shi: Why don’t you go?]
[Luo Shengge: They asked for you by name! K9 Red Header Document specifically appointed you!]
Yu Shi let the cool breeze hit him, ignoring him.
[Luo Shengge: Can’t explain clearly online. Come over tomorrow and we’ll chat in detail.]
[Yu Shi: Go stay wherever it’s cool.]
Luo Shengge ground his teeth on the other end and had to use his trump card: [Tang Old Man spoke. As long as you’re willing to go, your lab’s funding will be doubled next year.]
[Yu Shi: How many classes?]
[Luo Shengge: Not many, not many. Just two or three, three or four, like that.]
[Yu Shi: What time tomorrow?]
[Luo Shengge: …You money-grubbing fellow. 10:30. /eyeroll/]
[Luo Shengge: By the way, the power is cut off in the lab tonight, don’t go there. I guess you definitely didn’t read the notice.]
Yu Shi made a dissatisfied “tsk” sound and told Xu Bohan to drive to the dormitory entrance.
The Third Institute’s staff dormitory was an old building, with area allocated based on position. Yu Shi lived here purely because it was close to the lab, convenient for his day-and-night work.
He lived in a two-bedroom, two-living-room unit. One room was converted into a studio. The whole house was simple, with only basic furnishings.
After showering, he turned on his optical computer to work on plans. After a while, StarChat popped up a message from Liu Yin.
[Liu Yin: Baby, did you chat with him?]
Yu Shi sighed. She was just endless like this; as long as he didn’t chat, she would keep asking.
[Liu Yin: There are only 43 days left until your heat cycle. Mom is really worried. Reply to me when you have time, okay?]
Yu Shi opened the Pink Cannonball interface and took a photo for her: [Online.]
[Liu Yin: That’s good. Won’t disturb your chat /mouth-covering laugh/]
The app was gaudy. Every button was a pink bubble, and there were a bunch of messy like functions—tap once and a heart pops up.
He used the nickname “Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish.” His avatar was a face-covering selfie Liu Yin had dug up from his status updates years ago.
The friends list had only one person, named “Thank You Whole Family.”
It looked like he was cursing someone.
Yu Shi tapped on his avatar. It was a photo of abs with the shirt lifted, wearing a military uniform…
What decent person uses this kind of photo as an avatar? It looked more like a hookup app.
He frowned deeply. Suddenly, the other party came online.
First-time logins didn’t sync chat history. Yu Shi didn’t know what Liu Yin had chatted about with him, so he conventionally sent a “Good evening.”
A minute later, the other side replied with two words: [Hehe.]
Yu Shi: ?
Hehe what?
[Thank You Whole Family: Hello, Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish /smile/]
Such a middle-aged sticker. Yu Shi couldn’t find a suitable sticker to reply with for a moment.
[Thank You Whole Family: Not asleep this late? Are you used to staying up late?]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: …9:30. Is that late?]
[Thank You Whole Family: Hehe, young people all like to stay up late. It’ll be too late when your hair falls out.]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: .]
Both sides were silent for a few minutes.
[Thank You Whole Family: What do you like to do before bed? I often drink hot milk and eat calcium tablets to prevent osteoporosis. I liked reading before bed a while ago, but my eyes are a bit blurry recently.]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: I… usually just go to sleep directly.]
[Thank You Whole Family: Hehe, young people have it good. Falling asleep immediately.]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: .]
What is he talking about?
[Thank You Whole Family: Last time you said you work at the Research Institute. What do you do specifically?]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: Inconvenient to say. Confidential work.]
[Thank You Whole Family: Understood. My old comrade-in-arms was also in the Confidential Office when he was alive. Your work is very great /thumbs up/]
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: .]
When he was alive???
[Thank You Whole Family: I’m going to sleep in ten minutes. Appointment with an old friend to go fishing at 5 AM tomorrow.]
They were clearly Sundial characters, but combined together they were baffling. Yu Shi was about to type out honorifics.
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: Tomorrow is Wednesday. You don’t have to work?]
[Thank You Whole Family: Oh right, I’m still a student. Hehe.]
Yu Shi clicked on his profile. It showed the identity was authenticated, but detailed information required favorability points unlocked through interaction.
This platform wasn’t rigorous when it should be, but did confidential work well here—he didn’t even know the other person’s age.
Switching back, the current favorability was 10. Unlocking age required reaching 15, obtainable by chatting, commenting on their ‘Little Nest,’ liking, etc.
[Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish: Presumptuous to ask, but how old are you?]
Thank You Whole Family retracted a message.
[Thank You Whole Family: I’m 23, currently a third-year grad student.]
Yu Shi thought, With that chat tone, I’d believe you if you said 63.
At 9:40, Thank You Whole Family bid him goodnight on time, then went offline at light speed.
Yu Shi didn’t take this odd netizen to heart. He worked on the plan until 2 AM before sleeping. The next day, he clocked in at the Institute at 9 AM and continued fiddling with his experiment.
Approaching lunch time, he went to the adjacent lab building and knocked on Luo Shengge’s office door.
That intern named Qi Huan poked his head out. Seeing him, he was so scared his eyes stopped moving. He tremblingly pointed at the conference room, unable to utter a single word.
Yu Shi didn’t ask much and pushed open the conference room door directly.
The moment the door opened, the conversation inside stopped abruptly. Tang Senmiao was talking with two military officers. Luo Shengge was nowhere to be seen.
Almost simultaneously, relying on years of experience being pitted by this chicken-thief senior brother, Yu Shi judged the current situation to be extremely unfavorable to him.
The two officers wore the badges of the National Defense Military University. Their ranks were both above two bars. Their sharp eyes landed on him in unison.
Qi Huan whispered in the hallway, “Director Yu, Director Luo flew to Zone 2 for a meeting—”
Yu Shi made a prompt decision, said “Sorry, wrong room,” closed the door with lightning speed, and turned to leave.
Before he could take two steps, the door behind him opened. Tang Senmiao scolded, “Come back. Where are you running? We’re waiting for you.”
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