"Go see Uncle Shen?" Bai Youwei swallowed the food in her mouth, thinking for a moment, "Is it really necessary?"
"Hey, it's not a question of necessity… it's about etiquette." Teacher Cheng earnestly instructed, "Everyone's in Shanghai, not far from each other, so it's only right to go and visit."
Teacher Cheng sighed, then continued, "Things aren't like they used to be. If we don't take the opportunity to meet and talk now, we might end up scattered across the world, and it'll be hard to see each other again."
His words added a touch of melancholy to the atmosphere.
Tan Xiao didn't want to listen to his nagging and nodded while eating, "Let's go! Let's all go together!"
Bai Youwei shrugged, saying, "I don't really care."
She was just afraid that the other party would feel uncomfortable seeing her.
Bai Youwei knew a few things about her mother. Although over forty, she looked no older than thirty due to her excellent maintenance, coupled with her noble and elegant temperament, which attracted many suitors.
However, her mother had no plans to remarry, focusing solely on her company and maintaining ordinary friendships with each suitor, unknowingly accumulating many "spare tires," one of whom was Shen Mo's father.
Some women might find this behavior "bitchy," but it's actually a very common businessperson's interpersonal relationship model.
Businesspeople don't easily fall out with anyone, treating everyone with harmony and politeness.
Bai Youwei paused, lost in thought.
That wasn't quite right…
She wasn't harmonious and polite with everyone, um… except for her daughter.
"Youwei?" Teacher Cheng, seeing her in a daze, couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
"Hm?" Bai Youwei snapped back to reality, smiling faintly, "Nothing, just thinking about what gift we should bring if we visit Uncle Shen."
"When Shen Mo comes back, let's ask him," Teacher Cheng said, "See if his father's lacking anything, or if there's anything he particularly likes to eat or use…"
Bai Youwei absentmindedly responded.
The topic ended there.
And Shen Mo still hadn't returned.
…
In the afternoon, Chu Huaijin personally came to pick up Bai Youwei, Su Man, and Zhu Zhu.
Although Chu Huaijin was nominally the leader of the organization, Bai Youwei realized that he was merely a pragmatist, while the soul and leader of the organization was actually Professor Song Mingchuan.
They met Yu Yaqing at the entrance of the conference room.
Su Man jokingly said, "Are women not allowed in again this time?"
Yu Yaqing chuckled, patting Su Man on the shoulder, "Holding a grudge?"
Zhu Zhu smiled, glancing at Su Man, "Women, of course, hold grudges."
"And love to dig up old history," Bai Youwei added.
The four women looked at each other, unable to help but smile.
Seeing that they were in good spirits, Chu Huaijin also smiled, saying, "Let's go in. Professor Song has many questions he wants to ask you about the game."
Mentioning the game, the smiles on their faces faded slightly.
It wasn't a pleasant memory.
Yu Yaqing walked ahead with a serious expression, taking the lead in pushing open the door to the conference room—
Inside was a long corridor with rooms on both sides. Continuing further, they saw that one of the rooms was lit.
"Professor Song," Chu Huaijin stood outside the door, saying respectfully, "They've arrived."
Bai Youwei was curious, tilting her head to observe the person inside.
She felt that Professor Song had aged even more in the few days since she'd last seen him.
He was wearing glasses and working at his desk, buried in a pile of drafts. Because computers couldn't be used casually, all calculations had to be done manually by him and other researchers, and repeatedly verified to ensure accuracy.
Being so old and still assigning himself such a heavy task, Bai Youwei really wondered if he would suddenly die from overwork.