They All Lived Like This, Right?

Old Shen can't talk too much; he needs to rest fully while waiting for surgery.

Shen Qi chatted with Old Shen for a while, then left the ward to get some fresh air downstairs in the inpatient building.

"The good news is that my dad is in good spirits, so we'll see how the surgery goes. I'll go home after his surgery," Shen Qi told Ou Ye was very concerned about her father-in-law's condition.

After reporting the situation to his wife, Shen Qi checked the WeChat work group again.

In the center's WeChat group, Sister Yu from the General Affairs Office sent a message: "Colleagues from the Mathematics Room, Physics Room, and Biochemistry Group, please come to my office to collect this month's family planning supplies."

Wen Yan: "The first half of the year is coming to an end, and the mid-year financial review is imminent. Please submit all kinds of expense reimbursement vouchers before June 30th."

Sang Tian: "The Party branch of the center will hold a meeting of all party members on the 20th of this month to discuss matters such as the admission and formal membership of comrades Xiao Junlong and Sha Dongdong. Please give your instructions, Secretary Shen. @Shen Qi."

Shen Qi gave instructions in the work group. "Please hold the branch party member meeting as planned. If I am not at the center on the 20th, please have Comrade Zhou Yu'an chair the meeting. Sang Tian @Zhou Yu'an"

After finishing his work in the large group, Shen Qi entered the smaller group.

In the FASTER Project Team chat, Tang Yuan posted several XRD and XRF images, which sparked a lively discussion among everyone.

"Nanocrystalline-amorphous composite systems with different structural inhomogeneities exhibit significant differences in their stress field response inhomogeneities."

"Is it possible to control the structural inhomogeneity of nanocrystalline Amorphous Materials by changing the particle size, the ratio of interfaces, and the density?"

"So, in the next step, will we use physical methods such as magnetron sputtering to achieve this?"

The Condensed Matter Physics physicists had a very professional discussion, and they got to the point.

Shen Qi, who had been submerged, couldn't help but surface and say, "It's also worth considering adjusting the unevenness of chemical elements."

Mobile office work is simple and efficient, but it also means that there is always work to be done, no matter when or where.

"Sigh..." Shen Qi sighed. His father was about to have surgery, his wife was about to give birth, and he was busy with work at his company. He hardly had any personal time.

"Maybe this is how most men my age live," Shen Qi said, putting away his phone, shaking his head and smiling.

As he was laughing, Shen Qi suddenly noticed a woman standing motionless a few meters ahead, seemingly staring at him.

The woman was tall, over 1.75 meters, and wearing sunglasses and a mask.

Her belt was cinched very high, so at first glance, it looked like her legs went on forever.

"Oh?" Shen Qi had sharp eyes and exceptional observation skills. Although it was difficult to completely discern the tall woman's facial features, Shen Qi recognized those long legs.

"Oh?" The tall woman shuddered and walked towards Shen Qi step by step, taking off her sunglasses and mask as she went.

"What a coincidence." Shen Qi stood up. She was an acquaintance. Because they had known each other for a long time, Shen Qi was unsure whether to shake hands or hug her now that they had met by chance.

"Hi, Xiaoting." Shen Qi waved and greeted his high school deskmate Chen Xiaoting.

"What a coincidence, Shen Qi." Chen Xiaoting waved back. The two hadn't seen each other for many years, and now they met again in the hospital.

"It must have been five or six years since we last met?" Shen Qi asked.

Chen Xiaoting: "In which year did you win the Fields Medal?"

Six years ago.

"That means it's been more than five years since we last met. The last time we met was a few months after you won the Fields Medal. You came back to China and treated me and Xu Rui to dinner in the capital. I thought you would come back for Xu Rui's wedding, but you didn't." It was a strange feeling. They hadn't seen each other for more than five years and hadn't been in much contact. Chen Xiaoting didn't feel too much of a sense of unfamiliarity when she saw Shen Qi.

"Sit down, let's chat." Shen Qi sat back down on the stone bench. It was still a bit of a surprise to run into his old classmate, but Shen Qi didn't feel any awkwardness, probably because they were too familiar with each other before.

"Why are you at the hospital?" Chen Xiaoting asked.

"My dad is in the hospital and will have surgery in a few days. I'm coming back to visit him."

"What's wrong with Uncle Shen?"

"You fell and broke a bone, but it's not a big deal. What are you doing at the hospital? Wearing sunglasses and a mask, are you a celebrity now?"

"My dad's in the hospital too, gallstones. He'll have surgery to remove his gallbladder in a few days. It's better to wear a mask in a hospital. Actually, I have a cold and I'm afraid of infecting my dad." Chen Xiaoting looked up at the hospital building and asked, "My dad's on the 10th floor, what floor is your dad on?"

"11th floor."

What a coincidence! The two fathers were staying at the same hospital, one upstairs and one downstairs.

Shen Qi asked Chen Xiaoting, "You're still in the media industry, right?"

"I guess so, but I'm working solo now, doing self-media." Chen Xiaoting took out her phone and showed Shen Qi some photos and videos.

"Ljubljana, the backyard of Europe, is a city with a really great vibe."

"This is Yellowknife, Canada. It's so cold, but the aurora is so beautiful."

"This is Iwate Prefecture. I once watched a great farming-themed movie called 'Little Forest,' which was filmed in Iwate Prefecture, so I went there and stayed for two months."

"The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, the 'Mirror of the Sky,' truly purifies the soul."

"This is a national park in Tanzania, a country where automatic door locking is prohibited in cars. That day we forgot to lock the doors manually, parked to take pictures of the lions, and then the clever lions opened the car doors from the outside... It scared me half to death! Luckily, the lions had already eaten and were just teasing us."

"I was in Christchurch, New Zealand, planning to take a ship to South Pole from there, but then my mom called to tell me that my dad had a terminal illness... I rushed back crying, only to find out that my dad just had gallbladder removal surgery..."

Chen Xiaoting is immersed in her own experiences. According to her, she now makes a living by writing travelogues with pictures, videos, and accompanying text descriptions, and is an independent media professional.

"Except for South Pole, you've traveled to every continent on Earth. You're so free-spirited, Xiaoting. You've lived your own life." Shen Qi remembered that when Chen Xiaoting was admitted to the University of Media, her ambition was to travel all over the world and record everything she experienced from the perspective of a journalist.

Chen Xiaoting did it.

Of course, this requires ample financial support.

The information presented by Chen Xiaoting shows that she was not traveling on a budget.

"Shen Daniu, you can do that too."

"Me? It's difficult." Shen Qi has elderly parents to care for and young children to raise; how can he just leave and travel the world?

Chen Xiaoting doesn't understand the Navier-Stokes equation, nor does she know the market prospects for Amorphous Materials.

Shen Qi felt very relaxed because his conversation with Chen Xiaoting did not involve any professional knowledge related to scientific endeavors.

The pressure from life and work is immense, and Shen Qi needs a moment to relax.

Over the next few days, Shen Qi encountered Chen Xiaoting every day at the hospital.

The two did not make prior arrangements, but every afternoon around three o'clock, Shen Qi would sit in the pavilion downstairs in the hospital for a while.

Chen Xiaoting arrived at the pavilion around 3:10 PM. The two chatted for a while, and then each went to see their own father.

Old Shen's lumbar spine surgery was a success.

A weight was finally lifted from Shen Qi's heart.

Chen Xiaoting's father's gallbladder removal surgery was also successful; it's a common procedure.

With both fathers from the Shen and Chen families entering their post-operative recovery period, Shen Qi and Chen Xiaoting were able to relax.

Around 3 PM, in the pavilion downstairs from the hospital building.

"How many days will you stay home this time?" Chen Xiaoting asked Shen Qi.

"I'm leaving in a few days, there's a lot of work at the office." Shen Qi stood up and said, "I'd like to go visit the Second Middle School, want to come along?"

"Let's go." Chen Xiaoting walked with Shen Qi.

After leaving the hospital, it's just a few minutes' walk to Nangang Second High School Shen Qi and Chen Xiaoting's alma mater.

June is the college entrance examination season. This year's exams have just ended and are currently in the marking stage.

Senior high school students are relieved, while junior and freshmen students have returned to school to continue their studies in preparation for the college entrance examinations next year and the year after.

The fast food restaurant off campus is still selling fast food, but the owner has changed several times, and the fast food menu has changed from Chinese food to hamburgers and chicken legs.

At the school gate, Shen Qi looked towards the fast food restaurant and recalled the past, "That year, when we were in our second year of high school, the first time you treated me to a meal was at this fast food restaurant."

Chen Xiaoting covered her mouth and laughed, "That's right, you even used a bunch of mathematical theories to fool the shop manager just to save me a few dollars."

Shen Qi laughed too, "Back when I first started out, my skills were lacking, and my theories were full of flaws. Looking back now, I realize how naive I was."

"In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed since we graduated from high school." Chen Xiaoting stood in front of the fast food restaurant, looking at her reflection and Shen Qi in the glass, and said, "You haven't updated your WeChat Moments for years, or maybe you've blocked me?"

Shen Qi took out his phone. "I changed my number after I came back from the US. Should I scan your number or should you scan mine?"

"I'll scan your QR code, please accept." Chen Xiaoting scanned Shen Qi's QR code, then noticed. "Your new account's last post was over a year ago, and it was even a repost..."

Shen Qi: "I'm more of a 'like' reader; I rarely post on WeChat Moments."

"Thinking about it, it makes sense. Someone in your position needs to be careful what they say. Do you use Weibo?" Chen Xiaoting is somewhat famous on Weibo; she has a column called "Long-Legged Ladies Take You Around the World."

"Wow, Xiaoting, you're quite the Weibo influencer." Shen Qi glanced at Chen Xiaoting's Weibo and said, "I don't use Weibo, but I have a Twitter account, mainly to stay in touch with friends internationally."

"I also have a Twitter account, want to connect?" Chen Xiaoting and Shen Qi both registered their Twitter accounts with foreign phone numbers. They connected on Twitter and Chen Xiaoting discovered that Shen Qi only had 57 friends, all of whom followed Shen Qi.

"Xiaoting, you're very international! You have over five thousand Twitter friends."

"My friends come from all walks of life, Shen Qi. Aren't all 57 of your friends big names in the scientific community?"

"Not entirely. One of them was my administrative assistant when I was a professor at Princeton. So, International Ting, now that your dad's surgery is over, you'll still go to South Pole someday, right?"

"Yes, going to Europe to see cities, going to Africa to see grasslands, going to North America to see the aurora borealis, and going to South Pole to see polar bears is my lifelong dream. Now I only need to do the last one." Chen Xiaoting kept reminiscing about her South Pole trip.

Chen Xiaoting was being cheeky but serious, while Shen Qi smiled naturally, "Going to South Pole to see polar bears sounds great. If we have the chance, we could go to Mars to see humans."