CHAPTER 415: CHAPTER 408: TIME TO CHANGE THE MAP

Today is a nice day.

The sun is bright, but not too hot.

It’s the kind that warms you just enough inside, making you comfortably sleepy.

Chonghui leaned back in his ergonomic chair, relaxed, and let out a long breath.

Then he started tapping his leg.

Thump, thump, thump—

Thump, thump, thump, thump—

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump—

"If you’ve got nothing better to do, come over and help, senior brother!"

A suppressed roar suddenly came from the side.

The location at the moment is Beidu Normal University, in Bai Qinghua’s research group office.

Of the seats that could accommodate ten or more people, only two chairs were occupied.

One belonged to Chonghui.

The other was occupied by a girl with loose hair and heavy-framed glasses.

On the desktop of the laptop in front of her was a photo titled [Shi Qianqian.jpg].

From this photo, one could see that after styling her hair and applying light makeup, the girl named Shi Qianqian could challenge a Z-value range of [0.8416, 1.2816] in the normal distribution in terms of looks.

Simply put, she surpasses 80% to 90% of her peers.

However, given her current untidy appearance, her final attractiveness might land around the standard Z-value 0.5244 of the normal distribution.

It’s understandable. As a grad student, who has the time to care about looks during daily work and study?

Chonghui shook his head: "Little Shi, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but the mentor scheduled other tasks for me today; besides, the materials you’re dealing with I haven’t touched before, starting from scratch would be a big project..."

Shi Qianqian slapped the table, stood up with her slender frame, and directly confronted Chonghui: "That’s nonsense. You did all this work last year. Dare to say you’re not familiar?"

Chonghui acknowledged defeat, his muscles contracting as if to show surrender.

He then skillfully changed the topic: "How many students does the mentor plan to take this year? How many have been chosen?"

Shi Qianqian took a deep breath to suppress her emotions: "Four. Two have already been given spots through recommendation, and the rest will be chosen from the exam candidates."

"How are the recommended students?"

Shi Qianqian glanced at the folder in front of her: "Their resumes are okay, undergraduate research is pretty detailed. If modified, they might be able to submit to ’Psychological Science’ during the first year. Their research direction is quite close; they could start working like packhorses after a couple of months."

"However..." Shi Qianqian shrugged, "That’s about it. The mentor’s real hopes are pinned on the one from Jiangdu."

Chonghui showed a knowingly smug expression: "Of course, Zhuren junior is the best."

Seeing the senior brother’s demeanor, Shi Qianqian rolled her eyes as she adjusted her glasses.

But she couldn’t help but be curious, asking Chonghui: "What exactly is this Nan Zhubin like?"

This name had surrounded her for days.

The teacher mentioned it, the head senior sister mentioned it, and now the senior brother was constantly talking about it.

The last person is temporary—though someone who could be memorable for both the teacher and senior sister, Shi Qianqian hadn’t seen before.

Chonghui looked surprised: "You can find him online; he’s the one who overshadowed his former mentor at the national supervisory meeting. It was quite the buzz!"

Shi Qianqian shrugged: "It didn’t trend, and the public accounts I follow didn’t write about him. Also, I’ve been so busy lately..."

Alright, talking about being "busy," Chonghui could only shift the topic, pondering how to describe their yet-to-enter junior colleague to Shi Qianqian.

"To describe him...the first impression is ’handsome’!"

Very straightforward.

Shi Qianqian wasn’t interested in this. Bai Qinghua’s firm also had psychological consulting services, and Shi Qianqian often went for consultations and exchanged with colleagues.

To go into psychological consultation, one’s looks must typically surpass just satisfactory, at least being ’pleasant to watch.’

Shi Qianqian felt she had seen enough.

Chonghui seriously emphasized to Shi Qianqian: "Not the usual handsome, but the kind that’s hard to describe...if you come with me to pick him up, you’ll see."

Shi Qianqian expressed her lack of interest: "I haven’t finished my work."

Chonghui advised: "Balance work and rest, or you’ll regret it."

Shi Qianqian waved her hand: "Any other keywords?"

The young junior sister hinted that research academics wouldn’t be swayed by ordinary appearance.

Chonghui sighed, thought for a moment, and said: "Second impression—papers!"

"???"

Such words used to describe a person? Someone looks like a paper?

"Seriously." Chonghui’s expression was serious, "Looking at him, I feel like seeing my future papers, even those in important core journals!"

Shi Qianqian displayed a "you’re kidding me" expression.

"Does the junior bring his own project when entering the group?"

"Yes and no...how should I explain this to you?" Chonghui racked his brain, "When you get along with him, you’ll understand."

Faced with this vague answer, Shi Qianqian was genuinely not interested in watching the senior brother any longer.

She rolled her eyes, ready to continue organizing the materials.

"Senior brother, our Zhuren junior’s flight should be arriving soon." Shi Qianqian saw the time in the lower-right corner, "You should go pick him up."

Chonghui blinked, abruptly grabbed his jacket, and rushed out.

This was the most important thing for him today.

"Little Shi, are you really not coming?"

"Not going. Once I finish organizing these materials, I still have data to process."

"You’ll regret not coming."

"Ha, impossible."

Chonghui shrugged.

The junior sister was still too young.

...

Nan Zhubin leaned back on the plane, resting his eyes.

The flight attendants passed by from time to time, walked by, and walked by again and again...

"Excuse me, could I get another cup of coffee?" A smartly dressed man in his thirties reached out, the sleeve subtly slipped down the wrist to reveal an expensive watch.

"Certainly." The flight attendant responded with a highly professional smile to fulfill the passenger’s request.

But didn’t glance again at the position or the watch, continuing calmly onward.

She squeezed past a colleague ahead.

The confined space was a bit crowded.

The stream of flight personnel seemed programmed with patrol instructions, persistently wandering the vicinity.

Just waiting for an opportunity.

Waiting for the man to speak.

Nan Zhubin sighed inwardly.

This scenario felt familiar in his memories.

Even when flying economy class, he enjoyed service comparable to first-class.

Though hardware aspects like seating and dining couldn’t be upgraded, lest it causes issues for other passengers.

Yet when choosing his seat, Nan Zhubin always found the exact spot he wished for, whether near the window or aisle. The space around him often remained empty, with no need to compete for armrest space or worry about a recently-drunken uncle.

Of course, the empty seat beside him would quickly be filled by attendants carrying pillows, blankets, blindfolds, and more, actively ensuring Nan Zhubin’s seatbelt was fastened.

As for the endless supply of water, coffee, and juices, it need not be mentioned. Nan Zhubin also enjoyed access to attendants’ shared snacks.

But today, Nan Zhubin was in first class.

Weng Pinting apparently made a call, turning this trip into a business expense and getting it reimbursed.

Nan Zhubin happily accepted.

Honestly, the first-class reclining chairs are larger and more comfortable.

The biggest perk is—

Nan Zhubin’s consciousness faded, comfortably slipping into the Dream Psychological Consultation Room.

Then, he started working on tasks.