If You Don’t Go To Hell, Who Will? - Chapter 43
Zhongyuan’s birthday is quite unfortunate. It is said that he was born on the night of December 31st at 11 o’clock. However, shortly after he was born, his parents abandoned him and went off to celebrate the New Year together, leaving him behind.
On December 31st, I had classes all day, and I had an experiment to do in the evening. Zhongyuan was very unhappy about this, but there was nothing he could do.
During lunchtime, Zhongyuan asked me with a hint of anxiety, “What gift did you prepare for me?”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I replied, “Um, can cross-stitching do?” I had promised to cross-stitch something for him during the summer vacation, and now I finally finished it.
Zhongyuan raised an eyebrow slightly and said discontentedly, “You already promised me that.”
I felt guilty, but I truly didn’t know what else to give him. So I had to ask, “Then what do you want?”
After pondering for a while, Zhongyuan lowered his head and looked at me mischievously, saying with a smile, “How about giving me a person?”
I replied, “…”
Although Zhongyuan can be a bit rogue, I still felt somewhat guilty. So I decided to be bold, saying, “Alright then, tonight let’s stay up all night and have an all-nighter. How about that?”
Zhongyuan smiled meaningfully and asked, “Stay up all night?”
I wiped my sweat and said, “N-no, don’t misunderstand…”
Zhongyuan looked at me with a teasing smile and asked, “Oh, then what would be considered a misunderstanding?”
I lowered my head, feeling the heat on my face. I’m starting to feel confused now, who is the one being inappropriate, me or him?
What confuses me even more is that we are already in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, yet I always blush in front of him…
…
The experiment in the evening was a bit troublesome.
I’m not really good at experiments. Usually, I’m the last one in the class to finish the experiment, and I occasionally cause some trouble. The beautiful female lecturer in the lab knows me well, and whenever she sees me, she always wears a troubled expression.
Normally, I would finish my experiment by around 9 o’clock, so I had arranged to meet Zhongyuan at 9:30. pm But this guy came looking for me at 8 o’clock, just when the beautiful lecturer was giving me a reproachful look for breaking a beaker.
Although I’m not thick-skinned, after experiencing such situations multiple times, I’ve developed a thick skin to handle it calmly.
After the beautiful lecturer left, I saw Zhongyuan leaning against the doorway, smiling at me. I ignored him, cleaned up the broken beaker, and continued with my experiment. After a while, the lecturer brought a new beaker for me, and I had to show that I was working diligently. Although I’m clumsy, I have a professional attitude.
But Zhongyuan walked in as if he owned the place and stood beside me. He looked for a moment and said, “Is it that difficult?”
I glared at him. He was subtly mocking my incompetence… Even though I’m really clumsy >_<
At that moment, the lecturer approached and placed a new beaker in front of me. Her gaze lingered on Zhongyuan for a few seconds, then she looked at me and said, “Boyfriend?”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I realized that this topic wasn’t suitable for discussion in the lab.
However, Zhongyuan calmly put on a well-behaved and polite demeanor, bowed slightly to the lecturer, and said, “Hello, Madam.”
The lecturer nodded approvingly and said, “Since you have a date, then finish up quickly.” After glancing at Zhongyuan again, she floated away.
I watched the lecturer’s retreating figure and asked Zhongyuan in confusion, “What does she mean?”
Zhongyuan tapped my head gently and said, “Silly, it means we can slack off today.”
Although the lecturer allowed us to slack off, considering that I am a well-behaved student, I still had to go through the basic steps of the experiment. I’m usually confused about these things, and if I don’t practically carry out the steps, I won’t understand anything.
Of course, now I have a ready-made helper by my side, so I shouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. So…
“Zhongyuan, take these test tubes and wash them. Make sure to rinse them with deionized water.”
And Zhongyuan obediently carried the test tube rack to the sink.
“Zhongyuan, go weigh five grams of potassium permanganate, and remember to read to four decimal places.”
And Zhongyuan happily skipped off to the chemical reagent counter with a small beaker in hand.
“Zhongyuan…”
After a while…
“blockhead, you mixed up the 0.1 molar per milliliter hydrochloric acid solution with the 1 molar per milliliter hydrochloric acid solution.”
“blockhead, that’s an acid-base burette, and you added an alkaline solution.”
“blockhead, the reaction in that test tube hasn’t reached the required time yet, don’t disturb it.”
“You idiot, why would you drip concentrated nitric acid on your hand!”
A little later…
Zhongyuan proudly stood in front of the lab bench, bossing me around.
“blockhead, prepare a concentrated solution of iron(III) oxide.”
“blockhead, get some dilute nitric acid.”
“blockhead, go centrifuge this.”
“blockhead, go wash the test tubes.”
I labored on sadly, willing to do anything. I couldn’t understand why, as a chemistry major, I was working as an assistant in the chemistry lab for a guy studying finance.
I voiced my confusion to Zhongyuan, and he nonchalantly replied, still jotting down observations on paper, “The procedure is written clearly. Just follow it… Be a good student and record the experimental observations in the report, then get the lecturer’s signature. That’s all you need to do.”
I rushed into the lecturer’s office, tears streaming down my face, clutching the lab report. I still couldn’t figure out why, even though the experimental procedure was clearly written, I couldn’t do it right. This kind of thing couldn’t be explained with just the word “blockhead”…
The lecturer glanced over my lab report and signed at the end. “Well done.”
I held onto the lab report, looking at the lecturer with excitement. Oh, beautiful lecturer, you praised me for the first time…
The lecturer seemed a bit uncomfortable with my gaze, averted her eyes, and casually said, “You have good observation skills.”
I didn’t react immediately, “Huh?”
Ignoring me, the lecturer started reviewing other students’ reports. I thought that she still didn’t like me after all, so I dejectedly took a step back, intending to leave. But then she called me back from behind, “Come back.”
I stood still, trembling with fear as I looked at her, “madam…” You’re not going to change your mind, are you?
The teacher tapped the desk impatiently, “Compensation.”
Oops, I forgot about that. I reached into my pocket, feeling the panic rise. Oh no, I left my wallet in the dorm…
At that moment, Zhongyuan happened to be peering into the office from the doorway. Seeing that I was lingering, he walked in. I had no choice but to tug at his sleeve, “Can you lend me some money?”
Zhongyuan smiled and pulled out his wallet, “How much?”
“21.5 yuan,” the lecturer replied.
Zhongyuan handed her a red Mao Zedong bill, and the lecturer frowned, “Don’t you have any change?”
“you’ll deduct the remaining amount next time,” Zhongyuan said, grabbing me and walking out.
I didn’t think much of it, thinking that I would just go back to the dorm later and repay him. However, I didn’t anticipate that such a small matter would bring me a lot of discomfort.
Anyway, it was time to celebrate Zhongyuan’s birthday.
Originally, when I mentioned “staying up all night,” I just wanted to accompany him and sing some songs. But unexpectedly, our all-nighter ended up at a hotel.
This matter is a bit complicated to explain.
