Fantasizing again...

Su Bai's words gave Xia Lin a great sense of accomplishment.

After all, she had never played the role of an older sister to any guy before.

This was her first time, so she wasn’t very skilled at it.

But judging from Su Bai’s reaction, he was clearly enjoying it—which meant Xia Lin’s strategy was on the right track.

At the moment, there probably weren’t any other girls around Su Bai filling a similar role.

Zhou Jialu was old enough to fit the "older sister" archetype, but the problem was she didn’t seem very mature. Her family background also wasn’t substantial enough to provide Su Bai with the kind of support he needed in various aspects.

Xia Lin’s help, on the other hand, was unique. Only someone who had grown up privileged could access certain kinds of information—ordinary folks would have a hard time managing it.

Su Bai lay back for a while longer.

Before leaving, he stopped by the restroom to relieve himself.

...

Brilliant!

[Ding! Detected that Host is indulging in the affection of an older sister even while napping—how shameless! Slight improvement in physique and special attributes.]

Oh ho ho, so even this gives attribute boosts?

Su Bai glanced at his status panel. The numerical values hadn’t changed, but there was now a small upward arrow symbol next to them.

This was probably what the system meant by a "slight improvement."

"Seems like I’ll have to visit Director Xia more often from now on..."

Director Xia’s office was a pretty quiet place, perfect for afternoon naps.

If he had classes in both the morning and afternoon, he could just skip going back to the dorm and head straight to her office for a quick rest.

Perfect arrangement!

...

2:00 PM.

According to the lab’s regulations, this was the time everyone should be at their workstations, either reading papers or tinkering with code.

The overall environment in Professor Luo’s lab was pretty good—one of the reasons Chen Yusheng had chosen to work there in the first place.

"Chen, I ran the set of experimental data Professor Luo assigned last night for you."

As Chen Yusheng walked in, yawning, a senior male student greeted her with an ingratiating smile.

Chen Yusheng gave him a puzzled look.

It took her a moment to process what he was talking about.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Heh, it’s no trouble at all... Professor Luo isn’t a bad guy, he just tends to assign sudden tasks sometimes. You’ll get used to it... Well, actually, even if you don’t, it’s fine. I can always help you out with stuff like this in the future..."

"..."

Chen Yusheng could smell the desperation of a simp radiating off him.

In fact, ever since the semester started, this senior had been trying to strike up conversations with her in the lab.

She couldn’t be bothered to engage.

She had even made it clear that she had zero interest in socializing.

Yet, it seemed this senior still hadn’t given up...

"No need for your help in the future," Chen Yusheng replied flatly.

The senior froze. "Huh? Chen, did I... not do a good enough job?"

"No. What I mean is, I won’t have to deal with this kind of thing anymore. And you—stop bothering me."

"..."

Such a direct critical hit.

For a beta male like this senior, the damage was far too high.

It took him a long time to snap out of it at his workstation.

Staring at the research paper on his screen, the senior’s expression darkened.

He looked like some disposable villain from a cheap urban novel.

"This Chen girl really doesn’t know what’s good for her. How’s she going to survive in this research group with that attitude?"

The senior was aware that Chen Yusheng had a wealthy boyfriend.

But at the end of the day, she still had to function within the lab environment.

No matter how rich her boyfriend was, it wouldn’t have any impact on her life as an academic overachiever.

The lab had no shortage of students from well-off families, whether undergrads or grad students.

But under Professor Luo’s iron-fisted rule, even dragons had to coil up, and cats had to meow obediently.

In other words—

How comfortable Chen Yusheng’s life in the lab was...

As a senior, he could actually influence that.

For example, last night, when Professor Luo assigned a task in the middle of the night,

Chen Yusheng had probably just slept through it without noticing.

So the senior had done it for her... Well, more accurately, he had done it for Senior Sister Du.

Senior Sister Du had connections.

Her undergraduate credentials were practically the weakest in the entire research group.

But that didn’t matter—her father was a professor at another 985-tier university in a neighboring province.

Coincidentally, that professor’s research group had also taken in one of Professor Luo’s nieces...

This kind of thing wasn’t unusual. It was like the "revolving door" in foreign politics.

Big shots exchanged favors by taking care of each other’s protégés.

If the senior hadn’t helped Chen Yusheng with the data, Senior Sister Du would’ve thrown a fit, and Professor Luo would’ve held Chen accountable.

If something like this happened again and the senior conveniently "disappeared," Chen Yusheng would suffer. She’d realize how important he was.

She’d realize that her sugar daddy boyfriend wasn’t all that—hey, elite university students should really be dating within their own intellectual circles...

The senior stared at his screen, grinning foolishly for no reason.

Lost in another delusion—this time, about Chen Yusheng’s opinion of him doing a complete 180...

As for Chen Yusheng’s claim that she wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of problem anymore,

the senior just chalked it up to youthful arrogance.

But little did he know—

Just an hour later...

"Chen, come to my office."

Professor Luo appeared at the workstations and called her name.

That Chen Yusheng would be summoned by Professor Luo today was something everyone had expected. After all, when Professor Luo assigned the task in the group chat last night, Chen Yusheng had completely ignored him...

This freshman wasn’t just pretty—she also had an attitude.

She didn’t put up with Professor Luo’s exploitative tendencies.

Sure, she was talented at coding, but those familiar with Professor Luo’s temper all figured this girl was destined for a huge blowup with him sooner or later.

Could it be...

The showdown was today?!

Just as the other students turned their eager gazes toward Professor Luo,

they were shocked to see him walk in with an unusually pleasant expression.

The way he looked at Chen Yusheng was no longer the exasperated stare reserved for troublemakers.

Instead, it was the same gentle regard he usually reserved for well-connected folks like Senior Sister Du.

"Your academic advisor is here. Let’s discuss a few things together."

"Mm."

Chen Yusheng kept her poker face intact.

And followed Professor Luo out.

Not long ago, Su Bai had already told her that everything was taken care of.

The one handling the specifics was their advisor, Xia Lin.

Hmm...

Something about this felt a little off.

Chen Yusheng’s feminine intuition—her so-called "cheating radar"—was tingling...