Close Enough To Pluck the Stars” (GL) - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Liang Ke had been motherless since childhood, and naturally, she had no father either. She was picked up by Ms. Liang Jiyue under very accidental circumstances. Having served in a wartime performing arts troupe, Ms. Liang was known for her tough style and had unique views on the education of minors. Consequently, Liang Ke was forged into a warrior, both in domestic life and on the scientific research front.

Since she was a warrior, she was naturally filled with confidence, fortitude, and sunshine. The skill of “acting spoiled” was, of course, redundant; in short, she simply didn’t know how to do it.

When it came to acting spoiled, Liang Ke was inferior to everyone present.

Held tightly by the warm “Calico Cat,” Shu Qingchen felt a tickle at her neck. Her head was forced to lean to one side, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.

Luo Han attempted to save the day. She tugged at Liang Ke’s long, elegant fingers and asked, “Senior, did you take the wrong medicine today?”

“Mmh?”

Hearing the voice, Liang Ke lifted her head just a fraction, tilted it to look at her, thought for a split second, and then buried her face back into Shu Qingchen’s shoulder with a thud, stubbornly refusing to let go.

“O—K.”

Luo Han observed Shu Qingchen’s expression. She decided that while she had the heart to save the Cat, she lacked the power to turn back the tide. She backed away a bit to avoid getting splashed by any metaphorical blood.

Hu Yizhi looked over through the gaps in the crowd, crossing his arms in a conflicted manner. Zhang Zhang asked him what was wrong.

“I feel the bittersweetness of a father marrying off his daughter,” Hu Yizhi said. “And a little bit of jealousy. No student has ever hugged me with such deep affection.”

Lü Qiang and Ye Tianze locked eyes and lunged toward the old man together.

However, they collided mid-way.

Ye Tianze knocked the senior’s green eyeglass frames flying. Taking advantage of the moment the senior jogged to pick them up, Ye Tianze took the lead, hugging Old Hu and crying out affectionately, “Master! Your disciple is here!”

Hu Yizhi nodded with relief. “Mmh. This feels a bit strange, yet it’s tinged with a gentle warmth. I’m truly moved.”

Lü Qiang found his glasses, put them on, and stood to the side biting his lip.

Hu Yizhi waved at him kindly: “You come here too.”

Lü Qiang nudged Ye Tianze aside. Hu Yizhi pulled him in and asked, “So, you’re not relying on Liang Ke’s relief anymore? You have your own ideas? Were you holding back before?”

“Mmh.” Lü Qiang nodded sheepishly and whispered to Hu Yizhi, “Dr. Shu has been a great inspiration to me. The things I did before might fool someone like Liang Ke, but they can’t hide from anyone else, especially you and Dr. Shu. I was just being clever for my own sake—spinning a cocoon around myself.”

Hu Yizhi smiled but said nothing, only giving the back of Lü Qiang’s head a firm but gentle pat.

Everyone else was green with envy.

“Professor, me too!”

“Professor Hu, don’t play favorites!”

“Come, all of you!”

Old and new students alike cast aside their shyness and swarmed forward, accidentally sweeping Zhang Zhang into the fray. In the words of Eileen Zhang, “The doorway was packed with people—winter people, smelling of scalp oil and muffled in cotton.”

Consequently, no one paid any more attention to the fact that Liang Ke was abruptly hugging the leader and refusing to let go. Luo Han gave Ye Tianze a thumbs-up across the crowd, and Ye Tianze returned an “OK.”

…

Shu Qingchen didn’t end up getting angry. She took Liang Ke’s hand and led her to a deserted corner.

“Talk. What happened?” she asked.

Liang Ke frowned and stayed silent, her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes, looking utterly drained.

“Does it have something to do with M?” Shu Qingchen asked after a moment of thought, staring at Liang Ke’s pretty face.

The Calico Cat finally reacted, nodding huffily.

Shu Qingchen’s face immediately darkened with rage. “What did he do?”

Liang Ke rubbed the soft hair behind her ears vigorously with both hands, turning herself into a frizzy chestnut.

“Speak.”

“He… he, he, he murdered a small animal.”

Liang Ke closed her eyes, unwilling to recall the bloody scene of that day: the heart-piercing crying, the goose’s screams, the sound of breaking bone, and Professor M’s sweaty, tyrannical, almost manic face.

Although Liang Ke had quickly scooped up the child and covered her eyes, M’s daughter had still been severely traumatized. By the time she was taken away, she was numb and couldn’t even make a sound.

Her excessive terror and despair had bled into Liang Ke.

The Calico Cat had always believed fathers should be like Boss Xiao or Old Hu; she never imagined there was a version like M.

She couldn’t understand, nor could she accept, the atrocity she had witnessed with her own eyes.

“It’s all my fault. I should have let Senior Sun return the goose. It was me who provoked M.” Liang Ke continued to rub her head in frustration.

Shu Qingchen pulled her hands down. Just as she was about to speak, two heads suddenly popped out from behind a partition.

(When Ye Tianze is anxious, he is never a civilized man, so we shall replace some words with special characters.)

He said: “[Redacted], [Redacted], [Redacted]!”

Luo Han had been a top student since childhood, known for being polite and not very eloquent. So she said: “[Redacted].”

Shu Qingchen looked at them silently, saying nothing, letting them take the hint.

The two “onions” quickly disappeared from the partition.

“Did he say anything else?” Shu Qingchen asked, cupping Liang Ke’s face in her hands.

Liang Ke’s processor short-circuited a bit, her face flushing bright red, but her memory storage was just barely functional: “He said he’s a divorced man, a free agent or whatever, and that it’s his freedom to pursue whoever he wants.”

As she spoke, an intern from the Materials Science Department peeked in at the door. Catching a glimpse of the Dean, he was a bit afraid to speak.

Lü Qiang asked him sympathetically, “What are you doing here?”

The intern walked in carrying a bouquet of roses. “I’m… delivering a package.”

“Valentine’s Day is already over. Whose flowers are these?” Ye Tianze craned his neck. “Wait, they aren’t even real flowers. They’re made of building blocks.”

“No, they aren’t blocks,” the intern explained. “This is a new type of material developed under the leadership of our Dean. It’s flexible, [redacted], easy to clean, and resistant to dust and oil. It symbolizes eternal youth and the ‘ever-blooming flower of love’.” He recited this a bit clumsily.

“Who are they for?”

“For your Director.”

Hu Yizhi’s old face turned red. Lü Qiang wanted to take them for him and asked casually, “The new Director or the old Director?”

“I told you, it’s the flower of love.” The intern bypassed Lü Qiang, ran to Shu Qingchen, shoved the flowers into her hands, and bolted.

Zhang Zhang was pleased to see this. Since they weren’t in the same department, it wouldn’t count as an “office romance.” Although there was an age gap, M had resources and connections; his future was bright, and he had raked in countless funds through various patents in recent years.

What puzzled him was why no one in the room was cheering to set the mood. Instead, everyone looked as gloomy as if they were at a funeral—especially Liang Ke. Hey, what was she doing?

Liang Ke opened her laptop and snapped her fingers at her fellow students. Everyone understood instantly. Starting with Lü Qiang, they lined up to tap a few keys on Liang Ke’s computer before stepping back.

Before long, every screen in the Intelligent Computing department—including the presentation screen and even Naonao’s display—was uniformly flooded with various forms of falling rose petals. Some were in cyber-pixel style, some were 3D renders, and some were in the style of “Loving Family” group chat profile pictures. In short, it was tacky yet romantic.

While fiddling with the program, Liang Ke kept stealing glances at Shu Qingchen.

Shu Qingchen watched with her arms crossed for a while, finally unable to help but laugh. “Childish.”

Cheers and jeers began to rise. Lü Qiang said he wanted this at his wedding too—better than fake flowers.

Zhang Zhang asked, “What are you doing? Why has the atmosphere become so… rampant?”

Liang Ke thought “rampant” was a very fitting word. She said without hesitation: “Testing the collaborative computing power of our equipment. We usually do this, but today we scaled it up so the leadership could observe.”

Hu Yizhi’s eyebrows were knit together.

The fellow students were, of course, even more rampant. Even Luo Han was eventually led astray, chiming in: “That’s right!”

Zhang Zhang left, satisfied by the bluff. Hu Yizhi went to his office to drink tea and calm his nerves. Shu Qingchen felt it was time to stop, so she signaled Wu Chuchu.

Wu Chuchu immediately began assigning a writing task—a symposium essay for Party members and activists, which effectively meant everyone.

Everyone got busy, especially Liang Ke, because as Shu Qingchen passed her desk, she casually announced the punishment: “Write a self-reflection. Hand it in before you leave. Hand-written.”

Liang Ke was shocked. “Hand-written”—what terrible news.

“But the Big Boss said it with a smile,” the crowd pointed out for her.