Chapter 251

Outside, he didn't chat long with Fang Shaokang and them, Zheng Tan and Jiao Ba returned to the hotel to meet up with Xiao Guo and them. The next day, together with the convoy, they returned to Chu Hua Shi.

This time Xiao Guo's harvest was quite abundant, he gained a lot. In good spirits, Xiao Guo kept chatting with Jiao Ba, almost praising Zheng Tan to the skies, but Zheng Tan ignored him.

Since Jiao Ba had returned, Cha Li no longer needed to stay by Zheng Tan's side; he could also use this opportunity to rest a bit more—serving a cat is no easy task, but fortunately Xiao Guo promised him a raise.

When returning to Chu Hua Shi, it was already evening; as the bus passed near Chu Hua Da Xue, Zheng Tan and Jiao Ba got off, didn't go elsewhere to stroll, and went straight back to the compound. When Jiao Ba returned, he didn't bring much—just two bags and simple attire. Most of his luggage had been checked in, so he moved easily and didn't need others' help.

While still on the bus, Jiao Ma made several calls in succession, timing her cooking; it had been over a year, and finally the family could have dinner together again.

Jiao Yuan ate absentmindedly, his eyes constantly glancing at his father's bag, wanting to see what gifts he had brought.

Zheng Tan also ate absentmindedly; he wasn't worried about gifts, but suddenly realized that with Jiao Ba back, he could no longer sneak online—Jiao Ba wasn't Jiao Ma, and his mind was meticulous. Zheng Tan reflected: although he always cleared traces after going online, he couldn't be sure it was completely clean, and he had never expected Jiao Ba to return early.

During the meal, each had their own thoughts. After eating, Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi went to look at the gifts. Zheng Tan crouched nearby, listening to Xiao Youzi and Jiao Yuan discuss the gifts, but his ears were perked for any movement from the bedroom. At that moment, Jiao Ba had already turned on the computer and was sitting before it, presumably contacting some colleagues. Zheng Tan glanced over; from the side he saw nothing unusual about Jiao Ba, and Jiao Ba didn't ask about the computer, which let Zheng Tan breathe easier. He thought, hopefully nothing was discovered—better if nothing was found.

"I'll go to the Science Building for a bit," Jiao Ba said, standing up, to Jiao Ma who was tidying the living room.

"It's already night—what are you going over there for, supervising students?" Jiao Ma joked. Many students in the Science Institute still stay in the lab at night, returning to the dorms only after ten.

"No. I just need to scan a document and send it over," Jiao Ba said. He had no strict rule for students; as long as they could produce results, they arranged their own time.

"Hey, right. Then treat your students to a meal sometime. Now there are five students."

"Yeah. There will be more later," Jiao Ba sighed.

This year two more students joined Jiao Ba's team; the undergraduate graduating class has already graduated and left, while many master's students remain at the school. The two newcomers: one lives far away, one lives in Chu Hua Shi, one is from this school, the other from an out-of-province school; one male, one female.

Since Jiao Ba was absent during the graduate re-examinations, and many students applied to him, just looking at the emails those applicants sent to Jiao Ba before the re-exams would take a long time. However, Jiao Ba was busy then, had no time to examine them closely, gave a uniform brief reply, and also had another teacher in the institute vet them, with Yi Xin and others helping as well. After all, Jiao Ba didn't want to see discord among a small team's members, and he also trusted that Yi Xin and the others had good judgment of people.

Speaking of which, Jiao Ba still hasn't met those two new graduate students.

Zheng Tan also hasn't met them; he only heard Jiao Ma mention a few words in passing during her phone calls at that time. But does Jiao Ba's "there will be more later" mean he intends to start recruiting more people—previously only one per year, this year two, maybe three next year?

At this moment, the Science Institute of Chu Hua Da Xue.

Although most faculty offices were dark and empty, the student self-study rooms and labs were brightly lit, still with plenty of people. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean every student here is exceptionally diligent; in the self-study rooms there's air conditioning and internet, no electricity bills to worry about, and some even find partners there, enjoying a little romance while they stay—quite comfortable. However, for those under strict supervisor oversight, "eyes and ears" have been planted in the self-study rooms, making things less harmonious. Overall, judging from outward appearances—ignoring what's on the students' computer screens—it's still an inspiring scene.

In Jiao Ba's office, Yi Xin and Su Qu were chatting, and also seated there were two doctoral students under other teachers who got along well with Su Qu. As for Zeng Jing, she was currently in the lab guiding the new junior apprentices in an experiment.

A large watermelon sat on the table, some left for Zeng Jing and the two junior apprentices, while the four senior gentlemen were sharing the rest. As they ate the watermelon, they didn't stop talking; the two doctoral students had built-up resentment, finally finding a chance to vent. In the faculty office, with doors and windows shut, outside noise couldn't be heard, and moreover many teachers were absent from the institute at this time, so they didn't fear being overheard.

"Hey, what do you say about this Geliú Liu—what does he even look like? If I were his father I'd have strangled him long ago."

"But his father treasures him; otherwise he wouldn't be so arrogant and smug all day."

Su Qu sat quietly eating watermelon on the side, not initiating conversation; the three in front of him were all senior fellows, and the two criticizing were their own advisors, unrelated to Su Qu, so he felt even less inclined to interject.

The two complainers are both doctoral students of Geliú Liu; Yi Xin is the same, also a doctoral student, a direct PhD—when his peers were in their third year of master's, he went straight into first-year PhD. Thus here, Yi Xin and the two complaining students are at the same PhD level, which is also why Su Qu doesn't interrupt randomly.

"At last Friday's group meeting, Geliú Liu went up and babbled for half an hour, then the room went silent—I don't know what he was thinking. He called on a junior sister to tell a joke, telling his uncle's joke—what advisor asks people to tell jokes during a group meeting? Not funny, still dissatisfied, looking down on people, damn it, talking as if he himself were some hilarious wit!" The person seated in the corner vented by biting hard into the watermelon twice.

"What's the big deal? Earlier he went to listen to a report, came out looking unwell. Coincidentally he caught me and told me to laugh— I laughed at his sister, hah!" Another doctoral student also fumed, saying this matter makes him angry: "If I'd known it would be like this, I never would have applied for Geliú Liu's PhD program."

The "Geliú Liu" they speak of is actually Liu Ge Da, nicknamed "Geliú Liu" by many students in the institute in private; the name originated from the mouth of Professor Liu Ge Da's own students. This professor is about forty, his parents are well-known figures in the circle, capable of heading major projects—a big-shot level person—while Geliú Liu himself lacks real ability. Yet on the institute's website, beneath his personal profile hangs a long string of eye‑blinding honors: various high‑impact-factor papers, numerous major projects under him, various titles. Every student who applied to Geliú Liu was lured in by these, because the advisor holds big projects, pays students generously—makes them happy—and it's easy to produce results to pad one's personal record, making it easier to land a good job after graduation. Unfortunately…

His character is truly damn despicable!

The water content is truly damn high!

This is what many people think. Everyone has been misled by that string of honors.

Many teachers in the institute also dislike Geliú Liu, thinking he has little ability and is never around. He just takes money without doing work, occupies a position without contributing, holds some posts but doesn't fulfill them, while his students individually produce no results—yet he still manages to secure various million‑dollar projects, simply because his parents are too powerful to oppose. This is also what Fang Shaokang meant by the sarcastic "strategic scientist": only thinking about how to expend effort to grab projects and make money; as for research, heh, isn't there his parents' old folks back home? He just needs to hang his name there, or directly claim the results as his own.

"If he could say a few more kind words at graduation, I'd tolerate my usual forced smile; now I'm worried that at the thesis defense he'll embarrass me—just the other day a master's junior defended, and in front of all those evaluator professors, Geliú Liu mercilessly criticized him until he had no face left—my junior's face turned green at the time. Hey, you guys, which advisor would publicly dress down his own student like a pile of shit in front of other institute teachers?!"

"Being criticized doesn't scare me; after a year with him my skin's thickened enough—just don't let him deliberately block my graduation at the end."

Hearing those two senior brothers' complaints, Su Qu felt his own advisor was truly great.

Yi Xin thought the same as Su Qu: "Although my boss doesn't have much authority in the institute, being only an associate professor, he's genuinely capable and kind to us—I tell you, even if he came in now and saw us eating watermelon in his office and spitting seeds all over the floor, he wouldn't scold us."

No sooner had Yi Xin finished speaking than the office door opened.

Yi Xin originally thought it was Zeng Jing, since only he, Su Qu, and Zeng Jing had the office keys—but when he looked up he saw the advisor who should have been overseas standing in the doorway.

Jiao Ba stared at the watermelon seeds scattered on the floor for three seconds, glanced at the few people in the office, then gave Yi Xin a meaningful look that made Yi Xin break out in a cold sweat.

The burly Su Qu hastily tossed the watermelon in his hand into the trash bin, didn't even wipe his mouth, stood up and stammered, "Old… old… old… boss!"

The two doctoral students sitting nearby didn't know Associate Professor Jiao, but hearing Su Qu address him that way, they quickly understood, lowered their raised legs, called out "Professor Jiao," and immediately left.

"Um… you're back, I'll tidy this place up right away!" Yi Xin hurriedly called Su Qu to help clean up.

"No need to rush, I'll just grab a document and leave."

Yi Xin watched his advisor really pull out a key, open the drawer, take a document, and then leave.

After Jiao Ba left, Su Qu swallowed, looked at Yi Xin, and said, "Senior brother, what should we do?"

Yi Xin made a pained face and banged his head on the desk: "Ah—done for, done for, I'll definitely have my wages docked! My perfect image in my boss's mind has collapsed, collapsed!"

On the third‑floor lab, Zeng Jing was preparing culture medium when she suddenly realized she'd forgotten a bottle and didn't want to go back, so she shouted, "Ke Heng, please bring the sodium citrate from the bench over here!"

Soon a bottle of sodium citrate was placed beside Zeng Jing.

"Thanks, junior—you did great finding this so quickly… Professor Jiao!" Zeng Jing had just lowered her head to weigh a sample, not noticing who stood beside her; when she looked up she saw it was actually her boss, and she almost shouted in surprise, almost flinging the bottle from her hand, cursing inwardly: "Holy shit! When did the boss get back? And the senior brother didn't even give a heads‑up!"

Zeng Jing didn't know that Yi Xin himself was now in trouble as well. (To be continued…)

ps: (5.9)