Give Up Already

Shen Qi knew this girl; her Xiao Lian, and she was Ou Ye's colleague in the same office.

Ou Ye doesn't have many close friends. One is her junior high school classmate who was her bridesmaid at her wedding, and the other is Xiao Lian.

"How much money did you lend him?" Ou Ye asked Xiao Lian.

"In total, cash, Alipay, WeChat, it's 38,627.5 yuan." Xiao Lian math master's student, wiped away her tears, looking quite aggrieved. "I also gave him a phone, paid for with a credit card, 6,880 yuan. I didn't keep track of the meals, but it was probably around 6,400 yuan, mostly paid for by me. He only treated me to one movie; the ticket was a free gift from the app, and I bought the popcorn and cola."

"Silly girl," Ou Ye said with heartache.

These days, it's not easy to borrow money. Xiaolian borrowed tens of thousands of yuan from people, in Xiao Lian and large sums. She's either too kind or too naive.

Ou Ye asked, "He doesn't plan to pay it back, right?"

"I never thought about asking him to pay me back, as long as he treated me sincerely... But... But..." As she spoke, Xiao Lian began to sob again.

"She spent over 50,000 yuan on a man in three months." Ou Ye shook her head, feeling sorry for Xiao Lian: "Over 50,000 yuan could buy a husband in Vietnam."

"Vietnamese men are so unattractive, dark-skinned, and short!" Xiao Lian firmly opposed buying a husband from Vietnam. She said, "I'm obsessed with looks. When I meet a tall, handsome guy, I can't resist... Oh well, I accept it. I hope he'll change his mind."

"Stop dreaming." Ou Ye poured cold water on his enthusiasm without hesitation, saying, "A guy who asks you for money but doesn't spend it on you, forget about it."

Xiao Lian: "Waaaaah..."

Ou Ye: "He's a scumbag, a gigolo."

Xiao Lian: "Waaaaah..."

Ou Ye: "You didn't go to a hotel with him, did you?"

Xiao Lian looked resentful. "I spent over 50,000 yuan and didn't even get a room! I've lost so much! Waaah... Waaah..."

Shen Qi, standing outside the door, was quite surprised to hear the conversation between the two women from the Department of Mathematics.

The main plot of this story is simple and clear: Xiao Lian met a handsome guy and spent more than 50,000 yuan on him over three months to date him.

Finally, Xiao Lian ran out of money and maxed out her credit cards, so she had no more money to lend to her boyfriend, Bai Gaomei, who then left her. Xiao Lian was left penniless and heartbroken.

News of gigolos seducing older single women is commonplace, but Shen Qi never expected that such a thing would happen to someone close to him. Moreover, the conversation between the two women was quite explosive, especially Ou Ye's, whose wife was so outspoken.

Knock knock.

Shen Qi gently knocked on the office door. "Honey, it's me. Are you off work?"

"Huh?" Ou Ye and Xiao Lian were both surprised. Academician Shen was so secretive, he walked without making a sound?

Ou Ye calmly replied, "No, come in."

Shen Qi entered the office. Mrs. Shen, heavily pregnant, sat upright in her office chair. Xiao Lian, her tear stains still wet, forced a smile.

"You heard everything?" Ou Ye asked Shen Qi.

"I just happened to be passing by and overheard a couple of things," Shen Qi said, then comforted Xiao Lian, "Xiao Lian, try to think more positively. Three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged men are everywhere. The best way to forget a relationship is to start a new one. You're twenty-five or twenty-six this year?"

"He's twenty-six." The Xiao Lian wasn't particularly pretty; he was slightly chubby with a round face, but he had some redeeming qualities: double eyelids and big eyes.

"Is your graduate major number theory?" Shen Qi asked again.

Xiao Lian nodded. "Analytic Number Theory."

"Let's get together tomorrow night. Sister Ou and I will treat you to dinner, and I'll introduce you to a new friend."

"Oh, thank you for your concern, Academician Shen," Xiao Lian replied.

Afterwards, Shen Qi drove Ou Ye home. It was quite close; it only took a few minutes to drive from the Big Mathematics Department to Academician Shen's villa.

"Xiao Lian is my best friend, and also my apprentice. She got cheated on by a scumbag, and I'm so angry," Ou Ye said bitterly.

"This can't be considered deception. When it comes to feelings, it's a matter of mutual consent." Shen Qi pressed his cheek against Ou Ye's belly to listen for any movement and said gently, "Little Nuofei, you're so great. Daddy and Mommy love you very much."

"Cold-blooded animal!" Ou Ye grabbed a cushion and threw it at Shen Qi, scolding him, "No compassion!"

"Honey, calm down, don't upset the baby! How am I heartless? I'm just planning to introduce Xiao Lian to a reliable new boyfriend, aren't I?"

"So this is how easy it is for that scumbag to get away with it?" Ou Ye really wanted to do something to help her best friend, but unfortunately, as a pregnant woman, her abilities were limited.

Shen Qi snatched the pillow from Ou Ye's hands and asked seriously, "So, how do you want to deal with this scumbag? My lab can concoct magical acid, which is more than ten thousand times more corrosive than aqua regia. I also have more affordable alternatives, such as dimethyl dichlorovinyl phosphate, commonly known as dichlorvos. Tell me, do you want to poison him, or dissolve him?"

"Huh?" Ou Ye was speechless. She waved her hands repeatedly, "No need to be so cruel. Just teach that scumbag a lesson and make him pay Xiao Lian back, that'll be enough."

"Honey, you're still too naive. Borrowing money is easy, but getting it back is hard. Xiao Lian didn't make him write an IOU, so why should he pay it back? Besides, we're researchers, not thugs or gangsters. This cycle of revenge will never end. Relax, honey, just focus on your pregnancy."

As a renowned scientist, Shen Qi wouldn't even deign to look at a scumbag; he wouldn't even bother to find out the scumbag's name or background.

As for Ou Ye's best friend, Xiao Lian, who was seduced by a scumbag, Shen Qi can do is use healing methods to help Xiao Lian get out of the shadows and encounter a sincere and reliable relationship.

The next morning, Shen Qi and Ou Ye went to work.

In the car, Ou Ye asked, "Are you going to introduce Yu Lei to Xiao Lian?"

"Yu Lei?"

"Yu Lei is handsome, has good character, Associate Professor at Tsinghua University, and has a stable career. He's exactly Xiao Lian's type." Ou Ye cared a lot about her best friend; she felt Yu Lei met her criteria.

Shen Qi shook his head. "The problem is, Xiao Lian isn't Yu Lei's type. Yu Lei doesn't like slightly chubby girls; his type is the big-breasted, slim-waisted, long-legged type. Besides, Yu Lei isn't short of women; he's not suitable for Xiao Lian."

"Could Yu Lei be a scumbag too...?" Ou Ye now sees everyone as a scumbag, except for her husband.

Shen Qi drove to the School of Mathematical Sciences, dropped off Ou Ye, watched her enter the school, and then went to the center.

The Navier-Stokes equations project is progressing smoothly and efficiently, and the FASTER Project Team's research on Amorphous Materials is also proceeding as planned. Shen Qi has made proper arrangements for both projects, and he is overseeing the overall progress; everything is under control.

The preliminary research for the Mathematical Grand Unification Project was conducted by Li Zhenqiang, mainly focusing on constructing a preliminary framework for Algebraic Geometry.

Sha Dongdong is working on a fundamental physics project and occasionally consults Witten on a few questions.

Everyone has work to do, and everyone is very busy. The center's various scientific research tasks are being carried out in a busy but orderly manner.

Shen Qi arrived at the fourth floor, in laboratory 401.

"Old Yan, how's the progress?" Shen Qi asked.

"It's too difficult for me to synthesize Condo Caren by myself." Old Yan accepted the mission a few months ago, planning to synthesize the drug Condo Caren. However, it turned out that he simply couldn't do it all by himself.

Shen Qi said, "Let's put the Condo Caren experiment on hold for now. Come have dinner with me tonight, I'll introduce you to a girl from the Mathematics Department."

"We're busy doing experiments and researching science every day, when do we have time to interact with girls?" Old Yan didn't seem very interested.

Shen Qi retorted, "You don't interact with girls, you stay cooped up in the lab all day, researching science, and you haven't produced any results, have you?"

"Boss, that's really hurtful." Old Yan pulled down his mask and said, "Take a look at the girl's picture."

Shen Qi had photos of Xiao Lian on his phone. He downloaded them from Ou Ye's WeChat Moments; it was a photo of Ou Ye and Xiao Lian together. "Look, the girl on the left, the one with short hair."

Looking at the photo, Old Yan said, "The girl on the right with long, straight black hair is prettier and has a better presence."

Shen Qi: "Nonsense, the lady on the right with long, straight black hair is my wife. Old Yan, tell me, are you interested in this girl, Xiao Lian, from the Mathematics Department? If you are, come to dinner with me after work. If not, that's fine too, I won't force you. Anyway, I think you two are quite suitable, you should consider it."

"Is this considered a work assignment?" Old Yan asked.

"If you think so, then so be it. Hey, is it going to kill you to have a meal together? Even if a deal falls through, we can still be friends. Having more friends means having more options. Our circle isn't that big. If you're looking for a wife, it's more reliable to find someone within the industry. Don't worry too much about a girl's looks and figure. Can you handle a supermodel?" Shen Qi meant that researchers should look for girls from universities or research institutions. Glamorous girls from outside aren't suitable for introverted lab nerds.

Old Yan said, "Alright then, I'll walk with you after work. I've never thought about supermodels or young models, it's pointless. By the way, although I haven't been able to get Condo Caren these past few months, I've accidentally obtained a new product. Director Shen, could you help me analyze it? Is this compound valuable?"

"Oh, really? Look at your unexpected surprise." Shen Qi looked around the lab and spotted a suspicious bottle labeled C01A, which was clearly a code name.

"Boss Shen has a sharp eye, that's the thing," Old Yan said, and then reported the relevant chemical properties of CO1A to Shen Qi.