That statement hit home for Susan.
Denying Reed's genius was impossible, and their time together felt pleasant, but his priority on experiments and research vastly exceeded his focus on her—the very reason she hesitated on trying things out with him.
Now, hesitation was gone.
Reed liked experiments and research, so he could go right ahead and like them.
Benjamin liked meddling in his buddy's romantic affairs, so he could go find someone else to meddle for.
She was done catering to this!
PS: Recommend my other works: "Marvel: King's Arrival", "The Vampire: Strongest Reaper", "Marvel: Door-Door Fruit", "American Comics: Strongest Villain", "KO Ranking: Strongest God of War", "I Have a Dimensional Street in Marvel", "In American Dramas: Get Stronger by Spending Money!"
Watching Susan leave in a huff, Benjamin stood speechless and at a loss.
He didn't know whether to chase after Susan to stop her or call his good buddy Reed to rush over immediately.
For a moment, he was completely out of options!
You're a total single dog yourself, yet you dare help others land a partner, tsk tsk--
With a good buddy like you, Reed is truly out of luck.
Enjoying the spectacle without fearing things would get too big, Su Quan saw Benjamin looking clueless and blockheaded with no idea what to do, and dropped a sarcastic remark.
What malicious intentions could Benjamin possibly have?
He simply wanted to protect his good buddy's prospective girlfriend from being chatted up by others.
"Asshole, things only turned out this way because of you, and you still dare gloat!"
Angry, Benjamin directly threw a punch straight at Su Quan.
"Bang!"
Before the punch could even land, his angry expression suddenly froze as he clutched his stomach, trembling in agony, bending over while gasping for air.
"I am not taking the blame for this--"
Su Quan didn't narcissistically think that chatting her up a bit could impact the romance between Susan and Reed.
Clearly, they didn't have much romance to speak of.
Susan was so gorgeous that she surely had countless pursuers, and the future Doctor Doom, Victor von Doom, was one of them.
Being hit on and chatted up should be second nature to her, incapable of shaking the feelings and relationships she wished to take seriously.
In fact, before Benjamin poked his nose into things, Susan had already made her stance clear.
"I have nowhere to put your heart!"
Susan was angry, partly because Benjamin's good intentions had gone awry.
After all, this was America, where life was precious, love was even more priceless, and both could be tossed aside for the sake of freedom.
Freedom supreme, long live freedom!
On the other hand, it was likely because Reed was too much of a dense blockhead.
He was late for dates, and not just once; let alone not being together yet, even if they were, it wouldn't be long before he got dumped. Otherwise, how could Susan end up with Victor Doom after graduation?
Benjamin slowly straightened his back and looked at Su Quan. How could this guy be so scrawny yet so good at fighting? Was this kung fu?
The pain was real, but he couldn't back down. He adjusted his breath and prepared for round two!
Right at that moment, an unkempt man with a face full of stubble jogged over.
"Ben, what happened? I just ran into Susan, and she told me never to contact her again."
"Reed--he, he chatted up Susan, and I said you were Susan's girlfriend, so Susan--sorry, bro, I might have messed up." Benjamin lowered his head in remorse and apology.
He and Reed were both typical blockheads, and one trait or logic of blockheads was reasoning things out, or in other words, being rational.
Su Quan chatting her up was merely the catalyst; what truly angered Susan was him declaring Reed to be her boyfriend, which infringed upon her emotional freedom.
Hearing this, Reed felt a complex mix of emotions. He couldn't blame Benjamin for meddling, since it was done for his sake, but--
"F-, forget it. I'll go apologize to Susan; she should forgive me."
"I'll go with you." Benjamin wanted to apologize to Susan as well.
Holy crap, Su Quan muttered internally, weren't these two steel-headed blockheads just a bit too dense?
One thought apologizing would earn forgiveness and settle the matter, while the other was even more ruthless and insisted on tagging along?!
Reed might still have a chance to salvage things if he went alone, but with Benjamin tagging along--
Was this supposed to be an apology?
This was a surefire way to completely ruin things!
Given Reed's personality, if Susan refused to accept Benjamin's apology, or accepted it without changing her mind, he would definitely blurt out something like "We've already apologized, what else do you want?" or "What will it take for you to forgive us?"
"Ahem--" Su Quan fake-coughed, turning to the two sullen-faced men and dropping a statement they never expected and found hard to believe.
"I've got a gig. Do you want it or not?"
Benjamin scoffed: "Are you out of your mind? You hit on his gir--, you hit on the person he likes, and you still expect us to work for you?"
Su Quan held up two fingers: "200,000 dollars."
"..."
Benjamin fell silent.
Su Quan pulled out the Time Controller and introduced it to Reed: "This is a Time Controller. It originally possessed the functions of storing and viewing footage, setting time, viewing, and traveling through different timelines and different parallel universes."
"Where it came from, don't ask. Who I am, don't ask either. Fix it, take the money to do whatever you want, and don't bring trouble upon yourselves."
"Are you doing it or not?"
Reed and Benjamin looked at each other in dismay. A Time Controller? Traveling through different timelines and different parallel universes?
For real?
That sounded a bit far-fetched!
Benjamin didn't really believe it, figuring they were being deliberately played with, but Reed believed it to some extent—or rather, as a genius scientist, he held a deep interest in such a topic.
Given his abilities, taking apart this Time Controller would let him see right away whether it was real or fake.
He could take the money first; if it was fake, it wouldn't waste much time. Even if he was being played, with 200,000 dollars on the line, he wouldn't mind being played a few more times.
If it was real, it would undoubtedly be a milestone in the history of human technology!
Just imagine, if one could travel through time and parallel universes, humans across the entire world, and even countless worlds, could potentially benefit from it and undergo earth-shattering changes!
PS: Recommend my other works: "Marvel: King's Arrival", "The Vampire: Strongest Reaper", "Marvel: Door-Door Fruit", "American Comics: Strongest Villain", "KO Ranking: Strongest God of War", "I Have a Dimensional Street in Marvel", "In American Dramas: Get Stronger by Spending Money!"
"I agree, but you must pay us the 200,000 dollars upfront and provide the equipment we might need during the repair process. If we fail to fix it, we can return the money to you. Also, we can sign a confidentiality agreement."
After pondering for a moment, Reed gave his answer.
"I'll contact you."
Su Quan nodded, turned around, and walked away with a very suave stride.
"He--he didn't even ask for your contact info, did he?" Benjamin asked blankly.
Reed remained silent for a long while: "He didn't."
"Then how is he supposed to contact you?"
"..."
Benjamin rubbed his gleaming bald head and said hesitatingly: "I'm telling you, he wouldn't deliberately mess with us, right? Whatever the time controller and 200,000 dollars were, they were just things he blabbered to fool us."
Reed fell silent once again. It seemed--that possibility couldn't be entirely ruled out.
Sunset faded, and night began to fall.
A high-end hotel near Columbia University.
Having run through a few street gangs to stealthily acquire the 200,000 dollars intended for Reed, and having also scraped together over 20 points, Su Quan had just stepped out of the entrance when he unexpectedly spotted Susan heading over from the direction of the school.
Susan also saw Su Quan: "It's you!"
"What a coincidence. Where are you headed?" Su Quan asked with a smile.
Susan smiled and nodded: "Yeah, I didn't expect such a coincidence. I'm just taking a walk."
"I'm heading out to eat. Without you, I won't be able to stomach it."
Susan: ???
Su Quan's remark left her utterly bewildered. Was he really being this direct? Weren't we far from being that familiar with each other yet?
"Sorry, I still have things to do, so--" Susan prepared to politely decline.
Su Quan smiled and said: "There was a man who wanted to invite a woman he fancied to dinner. At first, he asked: Can I invite you out for a meal? The woman told him: Women don't like questions."
Before you continue