Pepper Picking Robot

After listening to Lu Yuning’s words, Su Bai nodded slightly.

Indeed, while Lu Yuning was a brilliant designer, sports mechanics, physiology, and data modeling were not her specialties.

Professor Tang’s lab, though short on funding, had the equipment and theoretical foundation ready to go.

But just hearing Professor Tang boast wasn’t enough; Su Bai needed to gauge the actual caliber of the people doing the real work.

“Professor Tang,” Su Bai said, leaning back against the sofa, his fingers tapping a steady rhythm on the armrest. “Since we’re looking at a partnership, let’s keep things efficient. Call together the PhD students who are actually leading the projects and can get their hands dirty, as well as the core members of your team. Let’s have a brief meeting.”

Professor Tang’s face lit up with delight.

Su Bai was getting serious!

“No problem at all!” Professor Tang agreed eagerly, his weathered face beaming with smiles as he nodded repeatedly. “I’ll get them here right away. Please wait just a moment, Ms. Su. Two minutes—no, one minute will be enough!”

Professor Tang practically jogged out of the lounge to round up people from the lab’s main hall and study rooms.

For him, this was a make-or-break moment for the lab’s funding over the next few years.

Everyone at Jiang University knew how generous Su Bai was. Professor Luo from Vitality Technologies now walked around with his head held high—if Old Tang could secure this investment, he’d finally be able to stand tall in the faculty, too.

Soon, Professor Tang returned with three graduate students in white lab coats.

Two men and one woman, all around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, their faces carrying the typical tiredness and awkwardness of research students.

Especially when they saw Su Bai lounging on the sofa, radiating an imposing presence, the PhD students fidgeted nervously, tugging at their coat hems, and lined up in a neat row.

“Ms. Su, Ms. Lu, these are the three most capable members of our team,” Professor Tang introduced enthusiastically. “This is my leading disciple, Li Bo, who mainly handles 3D motion capture and human mechanics modeling; this is Dr. Wang, responsible for flexible sensors and material data collection; and this is Zhang, who focuses on algorithms and data analysis.”

Su Bai studied them briefly.

The “born leader” aura granted by his system quietly permeated the room, making the already nervous PhD students hold their breath.

“Please, everyone, sit down. Don’t be so formal,” Su Bai said with a gentle smile, pointing to the chairs across from him. “I called you here today not for an academic defense, but to discuss the high-end customized sports equipment project that Baiye Holdings is planning to develop. I want to hear your professional opinions and see if the lab’s technology can meet our requirements.”

At Su Bai’s words, the PhD students exchanged glances, relaxed a little, and sat down in turn.

Over the next half hour or more, the meeting room became a hub of professional exchange.

Although Lu Yuning was socially anxious, once she entered her own field of expertise, she became confident and focused.

She pulled out a few sketches she had stayed up late to draw the night before, pointing at the stress points and cutting lines, and posed questions to the PhD students.

“Dr. Li,” she asked softly, her tone gentle but her questions hitting the mark, “if we want to customize the hardness and resilience of different zones on the sole for users with varying running gaits, how precise can your mechanical model be? Can it achieve millisecond-level dynamic plantar pressure fitting?”

Li Bo, the lead student, pushed up his glasses and grew serious. “Ms. Lu, that’s entirely feasible. Our 3D force plate has a sampling frequency of two thousand hertz. Combined with our modeling software, we can accurately analyze the pressure distribution on every square centimeter of the sole during the three stages of contact, support, and push-off. Based on that data, we can generate a pressure density heat map that can directly interface with 3D printing or modular sole production.”

Su Bai listened quietly, occasionally chiming in with practical questions about data lag, sensor lifespan, and industrial scaling.

His questions were down-to-earth, free of any abstract theorizing—directly aimed at product implementation.

This made the PhD students, who had initially assumed the wealthy boss was just here to “play around,” abandon their casual attitudes and develop a genuine respect for the young head of Baiye Holdings.

“Ms. Su,” Dr. Wang, who was responsible for materials, spoke up proactively, pulling up data on her laptop, “we actually worked on an optimization project for a national team’s ski suits before. We used this set of flexible sensors to measure muscle tension in athletes during high-speed downhill turns. As long as the funding comes through, we can develop a dedicated force database for women’s sportswear and compression leggings within three months.”

Su Bai looked at the data charts on the laptop and smiled in satisfaction.

It seemed that although Professor Tang’s lab was strapped for cash, the doctoral students under him were genuinely capable and hardworking—not the kind of slackers who just scraped by for a diploma.

“Alright, I have a good sense of your skill level now.” Su Bai stood up, shaking hands with the doctoral students one by one. “Professor Tang, please have Dr. Li and the others put together a detailed report on the research plan and budget over the next couple of days and send it to my email. If the plan is feasible, White Night Holdings will wire the first round of R&D funds to the university’s account by next week.”

“Oh, thank you so much, President Su! Don’t worry, we’ll deliver the best proposal possible!” Professor Tang’s face flushed with excitement as he grasped Su Bai’s hand with both of his, making repeated assurances.

The doctoral students were equally thrilled, knowing that this meant their research funding was secured—possibly even with a generous stipend for collaborative projects.

After the meeting wrapped up, it was already 11:30 in the morning.

Stepping out of the laboratory building, sunlight bathed them in the warm, gentle embrace of spring.

Lu Yuning quietly let out a sigh of relief and patted her chest, looking at Su Bai with a hint of embarrassment. “Boss, did I ask too many questions just now? Professor Tang and the others seemed a bit nervous.”

“Too many? I think it was just right.” Su Bai smiled and ruffled her hair, casually smoothing her slightly messy bangs. “That’s how you do products—we’re paying for honesty and real expertise. You did great back there. You really have the presence of a lead designer.”

Her cheeks flushed pink at the compliment, a sweet feeling swelling in her chest like a bite of cotton candy.

“Hungry? What do you want for lunch?” Su Bai asked.

Lu Yuning blinked, looking at him with hopeful eyes, and replied softly, “Boss, let’s eat at Jiangda’s cafeteria. Sister Jia Lu told me they have tons of delicious options there.”

“Sure. Jiangda has five cafeterias. Which one do you want?” Su Bai agreed readily.

Twiddling her fingers, Lu Yuning bit her lip shyly and lowered her voice even more. “I want… malatang hotpot. The one… the one you used to take Sister Yusheng to.”

At this, Su Bai paused for a moment, then stared at her with an amused smirk.

Flustered by his gaze, she hurriedly explained, “I-I just heard Sister Yusheng mention it once, saying the broths there are really authentic… I swear I didn’t mean anything else. I just wanted to try it…”

Watching her adorable, transparent attempt to cover her tracks, Su Bai saw right through her.

This little girl was clearly acting on a hint of female jealousy.

Because she knew Chen Yusheng used to eat this with Su Bai, she wanted to experience the same thing, as if it would let her latch onto their shared memories and draw closer to him.

“Alright, your wish is my command.” Su Bai smiled, taking her hand and leading her toward the third cafeteria. “That hotpot place is really good. Sheng Sheng always craved the medium-spicy broth after her lab sessions back in the day.”

On the second floor of Jiangda’s third cafeteria, it was peak hour between classes. The dining hall was packed and buzzing with chatter.

Standing at 1.85 meters tall with his flawlessly handsome face, Su Bai drew plenty of eyes as soon as he walked in.

And beside him, holding his hand, was Lu Yuning. Even with a mask on, her striking figure and the cool, artistic aura she exuded made many passing male students turn their heads in quiet awe.

“Pick whatever you want. It’s on the boss today—eat your fill.” Su Bai grabbed a large plastic tray and tongs, handing them to Lu Yuning.

Obediently taking them, she stood in front of the refrigerated counter and carefully selected ingredients.

She chose with deliberation: some fatty beef, luncheon meat, wide rice noodles, baby bok choy, and her favorite bean curd sticks.

“That’s enough, that’s enough. I won’t be able to finish it all.” Seeing the tray piled high like a small mountain, Lu Yuning tugged embarrassedly at Su Bai’s sleeve.

“No worries, I’ll finish what you can’t.” Su Bai took the tray and handed it to the auntie at the weighing station. “Auntie, mild spicy, and extra cilantro.”

“Alright, young man—bringing your girlfriend for a meal? What a lovely couple!” the auntie said with a beaming smile.

At the word “girlfriend,” Lu Yuning’s face flushed crimson. She kept her head down, biting back a grin that inevitably curled up beneath her mask.

Ten minutes later, a steaming tray of hotpot arrived, gleaming red and rich with the thick, savory aroma of spicy paste—laden with chili oil and fragrance.

Su Bai found a quiet spot by the window and handed Lu Yuning a pair of disposable chopsticks.

“Go ahead and taste it. See if it’s to your liking.”

Lu Yuning pulled down her mask, revealing her flawless, delicate face.

She picked up a slice of fatty beef and popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly. Her eyes lit up immediately.

“Delicious! So fragrant and spicy, and the sauce has a really unique flavor,” she praised as the heat brought a vivid blush to her ruby lips, causing her to gently puff out breaths of steam.

“If you like it, eat up.” Seeing her so delighted, Su Bai felt a warmth of contentment himself.

However, as she ate, Su Bai noticed something interesting.

Lu Yuning was eating extremely slowly, and every time she picked up a piece of food, she would carefully search through the vegetable leaves or meat slices with her chopsticks.

She gently clamped a dark brown Sichuan peppercorn with the tips of her chopsticks, gave it a light shake, and placed it onto an empty plate beside her. Then came another, and another.

Her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, her expression as focused as if she were performing micro-surgery on a piece of fabric. Her big, watery eyes were fixed intently on the dish before her, afraid to miss a single peppercorn.

Because she was concentrating so hard, her pink tongue tip pressed lightly against her teeth, making her look incredibly cute and endearing as she flicked the peppercorns out.

"Ningning, are you conducting a peppercorn classification experiment?" Su Bai couldn't help but laugh, teasing her.

Lu Yuning paused, looked up a bit sheepishly, and explained in a soft voice, "I... I’m afraid of the numbing sensation. Once, I accidentally bit into a Sichuan peppercorn, and half my tongue went numb for two hours. I couldn’t even speak clearly. Ever since then, I have to pick out all the peppercorns when I eat spicy hot pot."

As she spoke, she carefully plucked a deeply hidden peppercorn from a piece of baby cabbage leaf, a relieved smile spreading across her face like a little girl who had just won a battle.

Su Bai watched her adorable, naive manner, his heart softening. He couldn’t help but reach out and gently tap her on the nose.

"At the rate you’re picking them out, the food’s going to get cold," Su Bai said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "I’ll have Sheng Sheng develop a 'peppercorn-picking robot' in the lab for you someday. They could use the computer science department’s visual recognition algorithms and a high-precision robotic arm. It’d sit right next to you—whenever a dish is served, the arm would just swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, pick out every single peppercorn without missing one."

Lu Yuning: "..."