Stand by

He and Ye Yi hadn't been in the lab since they were taken away by the college to compile textbooks last semester, and they didn't come back until the new semester started.

Pei Lu narrowed his eyes, nodded, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Liang Fan was taken aback, feeling that the other party seemed too indifferent, but he also knew that Pei Lu was not warm-hearted in the first place.

Pei Lu has always been socially friendly and polite rather than heart-to-heart. They were the ones who rushed to play with Pei Lu when they were young. Leaving aside the background, it is because of the admiration and Mu Qiang from their peers, because this person has been a little girl since childhood. They are all the first ones, and they are good at learning fighting games.

But Pei Lu was dispensable to their circle, he obeyed his parents' wishes and took everyone to play together.

Liang Fan was used to it, so he didn't think much about it, and asked with a smile, "With whom?"

The experiment of Jiang Xing's evidence is still in the end, and he has to wait for the last set of data, Pei Lu suppressed his impatience and said, "Friend."

Liang Fan looked at him suspiciously. Pei Lu had been abroad for so many years and came back to have any friends besides them, but he didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't force him to ask. He just smiled and said, "I'm busy recently? Brothers?" No matter how you call, you can’t come out, Wang Xiao and the others are all lining up to ask you out, urging you every day, I’m getting dizzy.”

"Well, busy," Pei Lu said, "my friend is waiting, let's go first."

"Hey—Brother Pei," Liang Fan pulled him back, and asked something that he had been holding back for a few days but didn't have time to ask because he couldn't see Pei Lu, "What's the matter with the review of those joint manufacturing projects? I heard Ye Zi said that it was stopped by UG?"

Ye Yi had a guilty conscience and deceived others. He didn't dare to mention to Fang Xu and Liang Fan that he called Pei Lu in the middle of the night and was answered by Jiang Xing.

Taking another ten thousand steps back, they don't pay attention to Jiang Xing's trivial matters at all. Such things are in their circles. It's a big deal, and it's been so long, so I didn't think about it.

Pei Lu withdrew his hand, stared at him quietly for a second, and said calmly, "It's nothing wrong, just follow the normal procedures of the board of directors."

Liang Fanzuo murmured, thinking that the board of directors was not the only one for Pei Lu, and if he wanted to speak again, Pei Lu said, "I have something else to do, so I'm leaving first."

A sense of strangeness and uneasiness faintly rose in Liang Fan's heart, his eyes followed Pei Lu's back, and caught sight of a vague but familiar figure the moment he entered the door.

It's just that he couldn't figure out who that person was at once.

After dinner, Pei Lu and Jiang Xing sent the two elders back to the hotel, and Tao Shi instructed: "Xing Xing, give some of the food to Xiao Pei."

Then he said to Pei Lu, "Auntie made them at home with her own hands. Our specialties, Xingxing has loved them since she was a child, so you should try them too."

"I didn't know I would see you this time, so I didn't prepare. Next time, let Xingxing take you to N City to play, and Auntie will do it for you."

Pei Lu had always been close, and rarely received such sincere care from his elders. He was stunned for a second, then lowered his head slightly, and said softly, "Thank you, Auntie."

Tao Shi smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Thank you, Auntie."

On the day the exchange and study ended, Pei Lu accompanied Jiang Xing to see off the two elders. Jiang's father asked Jiang Xing in a low voice while his wife was on the phone if he had enough money. He didn't avoid Pei Lu, handed him a card, and said City S has high consumption, so he doesn't have to worry about money, and he can buy whatever he wants to eat.

Jiang Xing said no, he got a full scholarship, and there are several projects with good salary, and the benefits of the laboratory are also very good.

Father Jiang still wanted to give it to him.

Jiang Xing hurriedly said: "Dad, put it away quickly! Don't let my mother find out, do you still want to copy ancient poems? I don't want to." He looked very afraid of being implicated.

"..."

Pei Lu smiled, and said to Father Jiang: "Uncle, don't worry, I will take care of Xiao Xing."

Father Jiang thought this was a bit strange, but Pei Lu was too calm and reliable, so he said, "Okay, okay, you should help each other when you study abroad."

At the end of August, when the summer is at its hottest, everything seems to be ripe, the orange and red fruits are pecked off by birds, and the green of the trees is so thick that water can drip out.

Jiang Xing explained the vivid images of Chinese idioms to Pei Lu, who has been abroad for many years: "Look, this is called 'Green Green is about to drop'." Pei Lu expressed that he was taught.

After the start of school, the undergraduates gradually came back, the sound of dragging the trolley case rumbled, and the court began to "boom, boom, boom" in the early morning.

The opening ceremonies of each department were held successively.

The School of Chemistry and Ph.D. is held together. Jiang Xing only selects the director of teaching and research to talk about the competition items and project specifications for this semester, and then sends a message to Pei Lu: "Are you going to the exchange meeting?"

Pei Lu was still sitting diagonally behind him, in a row with several young lecturers.

It seemed to be back to the regular Monday meeting a few months ago, when Pei Lu helped Jiang Xing pick up a pen, but he hadn't spoken to Jiang Xing yet.

He replied: "Probably can't go." The company is undergoing acquisitions and reorganization recently. Many of his decisions do not get the support of Pei Yiwen, and his development philosophy is also quite different. The current situation of the board of directors is unclear, so he must stay and watch.

There was no response from the other end, and Pei Lu sent again: "But you can go, the list has been submitted."

Jiang Xing is among the best in terms of grades and grade points, so there is nothing to say.

[Oh] Jiang Xing took a while before returning.

Pei Lu twitched the corner of her mouth and asked 【Do you want me to go?】

Jiang Xing replied quickly this time [No, just ask. ], for fear that Pei Lu might misunderstand that he cannot walk independently.

Pei Lu was a gentleman, so he didn't want to expose him, but just said [bring autumn clothes, the temperature difference there is big. 】

The exchange and study meeting was held at University A in the capital. More than a dozen people went to the laboratory, including Fang Xuliang, Fan Yeyi, and Jiang Xing. And expectations were compromised a little bit.

However, there are administrative assistants who arrange the itinerary in a unified manner. Jiang Xing only needs to bring his eyes, ears and brains to follow the large army.

During the two-hour flight, a brother sitting next to Jiang Xing turned around and talked to his team members a few times. Jiang Xing finished the outline of a thesis.

A century-old university, Jiang Xing almost came here to study at the beginning, but Jiang's father helped him carefully compare the rankings of major universities for this major, and the admissions office of S University persistently called and promised to give him a very attractive admission conditions, so in the end I chose S University.

With Pei Lu absent, Fang Xu was the one with the highest seniority position. The teacher sent by University A was a classmate he used to engage in competitions with. It sounds like he and Pei Lu are also old acquaintances.

Liang Fan caught a glimpse of Jiang Xing who was standing on the edge, and suddenly remembered the doubts that had arisen in the restaurant that day, rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Arito, let's say hello to you."

The young man seemed a little flattered, and they chatted about the anecdotes of teenagers who used to go skiing, barbecue and play basketball with Pei Lu like no one else, revealing their close relationship between the lines.

Jiang Xing doesn't really want to hear this, but he can't go too far, A is very big, and it's easy to get lost if he doesn't follow everyone.

After settling down, a simple opening speech was held, and then directly into the topic.

There is an experimental practice session. Jiang Xing is used to cooperating with Pei Lu recently, and he feels that it is not easy to cooperate with other partners. He misses the tacit and hearty feeling of being in front of the experimental bench with Pei Lu, overcoming difficulties together, and bearing the pressure together. Wait for the harvest together and witness the results together.

But he said to himself very generously, this is his problem, and he can't criticize the rookie, "the sea was too difficult for water", well, it's not their fault that Pei Lu is not good enough.

After all, how many people can compare Pei Lu's professionalism.

But he missed Pei Lu. Pei Lu seemed to be very busy these days, and the time to reply to his messages was slower than usual.

But it's not like this happened before, when Pei Lu was busy, he might not be able to see his information in time.

But this time it was him who was strange. I don't know if it was because of the strange environment, but he missed Pei Lu so much.

Seeing wild geese flying by on the library tower, I want him to read it too. When I eat duck rolls with roast sauce in other people’s cafeterias, I wonder if Pei Lu thinks it’s delicious. Have you ever drank it?

This sense of discomfort and emptiness does not come all at once. Pei Lu's weight and influence sneaks silently into the folds of daily details like water, and will become more and more obvious as life progresses and time goes by.

And more and more weight, thus, Jiang Xing also got a sense of the weight of life.

In the past, Jiang Xing was like a sponge, light and light, letting life rub and flatten him. He didn't care about many things and could adapt to any shape. It was water that gave him his own center of gravity and sense of reality.

Jiang Xing couldn't say what he thought about Pei Lu, but he just thought it would be good if Pei Lu was around.

The moments when he misses Pei Lu the most are those moments when he thinks "it would be nice if Pei Lu was here".