In actual fact, Xu Tangcheng felt that giving the data and the model to Yu An did not have a very big impact on him. Dissertations weren't something that could be completed in one go. Most of the results of his research in the earlier stages had already been turned into papers and those that should be published were already published. The part that was really turning blank now was just the final section of his dissertation. However, having to postpone his dissertation defense was now inevitable and his graduation being delayed would naturally invite questions. He could fool other people but when it came to his own teacher, Xu Tangcheng had no choice but to brace himself to explain.

When his teacher first heard him talk about it, he did not understand at all and asked, hadn't Xu Tangcheng previously said that his preparations were almost done?

"Mm, there are some contents… that need to be improved," Xu Tangcheng said vaguely.

The teacher continued to ask, "Improve? Which part?"

Xu Tangcheng could not answer that question. From the incident until now, less than ten days had passed. In such a short time, there was no way he could have had a sudden change or breakthrough in his line of reasoning from so many years of research.

His teacher looked at him for a while, then suddenly got up and closed the office door.

Xu Tangcheng looked up, a little astonished, and saw his teacher sigh.

"Are you putting expectations that are too high on yourself? Actually, what you have done is already enough. You have also written enough papers. Didn't you previously want to hurry up and graduate and start working? If you ask me, you don't need to change it anymore. Just hurry up and defend it." After pausing for two seconds, he seemed to feel that his words sounded a little like he was instructing his student not to improve himself so he quickly waved and said with a smile, "Of course, there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve even further. If you stay for another two years and work for me, I couldn't be happier."

Xu Tangcheng did not respond to the first part of those words. He just smiled and picked up from the last sentence. "Then isn't that good?"

"What do you mean good?" His teached shot him a look. "Of course I would be happy if you stay longer but that job of yours might fall through."

Xu Tangcheng didn't say anything. But on that night when he decided to give his data and model to Yu An, he had even been glad that he hadn't told Yi Zhe about the job. Otherwise, given how stubborn that person was, he would likely never be able to get over this issue.

"Even though students from my lab never have to worry about finding a good job, to be honest, an offer that hands over an apartment located within the second ring road upon signing the contract is not something another company would give. Even though I previously recommended you to go to my friend's place, he wouldn't be able to give you this."

"I know." Xu Tangcheng nodded lightly. After a slight pause, he continued to speak, "But I have no choice. I really am not satisfied with the last section."

Back when that company contacted him, he had also been very surprised. After all, he had never heard of any company recruiting students in such a ferocious way.

The joining benefit plus the salary offered—it would be a lie if Xu Tangcheng said that he had not been moved. He believed himself to be a very practical person. In the past, he had seen Zhou Hui carefully calculating the money their family had, saving up for Xu Yueliang's and Xu Tangxi's medical fees, allocating an amount to every household expense item. It made him aware of the importance of money from a very early age. This awareness didn't mean that he was obsessed with money; instead, he was aware that he needed sufficient money to safeguard his life and respond to unexpected events. He wanted to give his family an even more secure and comfortable life, and had always been working hard for this purpose. Hence, when the other party came out with this enticing offer, Xu Tangcheng's immediate reaction had been a sense of relief that his many years of hard work had not been in vain.

His teacher looked at him. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. After a long while, he suddenly said something from his heart.

"Let me be honest with you. At the start, I even wanted to send you overseas for a couple of years and then let you join the faculty when you come back. Young people nowadays are all unwilling to do this kind of difficult work, everyone wants to write a few articles and become geniuses. The shortfall in the teachers in our team is too severe; until now, it is still the three of us no-longer-young teachers leading the team. This cannot go on. This team requires young people to support it and to continue running it. I hope that when I retire and can't work anymore, the team that I worked so hard to form will not disband and can continue to do meaningful work. But you weren't willing to go overseas at that time, so I dropped the idea." The teacher thought for a while, then said jokingly, "But thinking about it now, even if you had gone overseas and have the qualifications to join the faculty, I probably can't keep you here anyway. If you work at our university, you probably won't be able to afford a home within the second ring road. When a better life is open to you, as your teacher, I cannot stop you from going for it. Furthermore, you are worth this offer. Whether as a research student or a PhD student, the experience you obtained from working on projects with me is more than comparable with those who have worked outside for a few years."

His own teacher had never been one to talk a lot and was usually very introverted. These words were the most frank compliments Xu Tangcheng had ever heard from him. Perhaps because he was going to graduate and start working soon, his teacher was no longer that strict old man who kept telling them to know the direction of their work like the back of their hand and to not only have bits and pieces of knowledge. Instead, his words had more basis in the real world, like he was treating Xu Tangcheng as his own grown-up child.

"I say so much not entirely because I'm encouraging you to put importance on money, but to say that if there's a good opportunity, you must grab it. You should understand this logic, don't you?"

Xu Tangcheng fell silent for a while, then nodded.

This job opportunity was indeed hard to come by, not just because of the salary but more because of what he knew about the company. He had always hoped to find a job that was innovative, where he wouldn't have to spend a lot of time on meaningless procedures and instead could pour more of his focus into overcoming a difficult problem with a team.

This company was a small one that was ambitious and was built on sound technical skills. It basically fulfilled all his wishes so he did not plan to give up on this opportunity.

University A designated four sessions every year for dissertation defence. Xu Tangcheng was thinking that if he spent these few months rushing, he could still graduate this year. Based on the promise that the other party had given him previously, as long as he could join the company this year, that offer would not turn invalid.

Finding a new innovative breakthrough point, redoing the last section, and perhaps even having to rearrange the structure of his dissertation as a result… finishing all these within a few months sounded rather fantastical but Xu Tangcheng had to do it.

After tying up the loose ends at university and before he started to be busy, he took the souvenirs he had brought back from Japan and went home. Tangxi was already in university, only Zhou Hui and Xu Yueliang were at home. Xu Tangcheng took out the souvenirs and one by one explained what they were and how to use them, then said that he would be busier at school for a period of time and might come back home less often.

Xu Yueliang had at least known about Xu Tangcheng looking for a job. Now, he felt that it was rather strange and asked, "Didn't you say previously that there wasn't much work left?"

"I still need to revise a part of my dissertation so I need to postpone the defence for some time."

"Then what about the job you mentioned last time?"

"It's not affected."

Xu Yueliang nodded and only said that as long as Xu Tangcheng knew what he was doing, it was fine. On the other hand, Zhou Hui had a face full of worry. "You still need to revise your dissertation? Isn't that very tiring?"

What a mother worried about was likely to be always different from other people. Ever since Xu Tangcheng started studying for his PhD, Zhou Hui had been worried that he would be exhausted. Even when she saw any social issue news related to PhDs, she would always carefully bring it up to Xu Tangcheng, fearing that the pressure on him was too great.

"It's not." Xu Tangcheng smiled very easily and also very quickly changed the topic.

In July, there were a few days where the weather was unbearably warm.

Taking advantage of the fact that their rented apartment was not far from campus, Xu Tangcheng and Yi Zhe usually went back for a forty-minute nap in the afternoon. Perhaps the sunshine was too strong during those few days; ever since then, Xu Tangcheng's insomnia started to show signs of appearing.

Initially, it was just that he couldn't fall asleep during the afternoon naps. A month later, he also started to sleep fitfully at night. When Yi Zhe got up at night to go to the bathroom, even his slightest movements could immediately wake Xu Tangcheng and he would not be able to fall back asleep. When the day was bright, he would have to drag his fuzzy and heavy head to his lab.

This vicious circle was the scariest thing. All the harm it caused was fed back to his own body.

Unable to sleep, having headaches—Xu Tangcheng did not dare tell Yi Zhe about all these things. And for the past over a month, he didn't even dare breathe a word about how busy he was, nor did he dare say to Yi Zhe that he was tired.

They had gone back as usual today to take a nap. Not long after lying down, Yi Zhe's breathing evened out. Xu Tangcheng turned around, lying with his back to the window.

Their curtains were light green, a colour the two of them had decided on together. This colour looked good but wasn't practical. It didn't block out enough light and even when the entire window was covered, the room was still fully illuminated. His thin eyelids also could not block the overflowing brightness. Xu Tangcheng kept his eyes closed but felt that his vision was still as filled with dazzling light as ever, and he felt extremely frustrated.

When the alarm rang, signalling the time to wake up, his head was already aching hard enough that his mind was hazy. He could not discern whether or not what he was hearing through his fuzziness was the alarm.

Yi Zhe didn't notice at the start and only thought that Xu Tangcheng hadn't woken up so he turned off the alarm and lay by his side quietly for a while. But when it was nearly half past two and Xu Tangcheng still hadn't moved, Yi Zhe turned his head, thinking to wake him up.

But what made him a little surprised was that the person beside him had his brows tightly furrowed. He didn't only look like he wasn't asleep, he also looked rather unwell.

"Tangcheng-ge." Yi Zhe tugged the light blanket, calling him softly. Xu Tangcheng mumbled something and buried his face in the blanket and even pulled Yi Zhe's arm over to cover his half-exposed eyes.

"Haven't slept enough?" Yi Zhe drew closer and asked.

"Didn't sleep."

"What time is it now?" Half of Xu Tangcheng's face was practically buried in the blanket, muffling his voice.

"Almost half past two."

Hearing that, Xu Tangcheng took a deep breath and struggled to sit up. He clutched at his hair, trying to wake himself with the pain, but the pain from inside and outside added up to make his scalp numb.

Yi Zhe also sat up. He was still rather startled. "You didn't sleep the whole time?"

Xu Tangcheng shook his head.

He really didn't feel well today, so much so that when Yi Zhe asked him, he couldn't stop himself from saying, "I always can't fall asleep in the afternoon."

"Why don't you…" Yi Zhe paused, "don't go to the lab in the afternoon?"

Yi Zhe didn't sound very natural when he said those words and Xu Tangcheng also felt uncomfortable hearing them. He had yet to bring down the hand that was clutching his hair and for a moment, he looked at the blanket spread over his legs and spaced out.

After the two of them got together, Yi Zhe had always been frank and straightforward with him. Even if he was sometimes succinct out of habit, when it came to expressing his concern, he had always been open and honest. Xu Tangcheng was used to that comfortable feeling and had almost forgotten what it was like when the two of them had both been very cautious in their own ways.

The air-conditioner was switched off. The wind panels folded close unhurriedly.

Like they were following the trajectory of the wind panels, his emotions slowly crawled back. Xu Tangcheng realised with a start that this awkwardness between the two of them had already become a constant in recent days.

He was afraid that Yi Zhe would blame himself, that he would feel bad, so he kept his lips sealed about his current difficult state. But they were with each other day and night, and Yi Zhe's eyes had always only contained him, so there was no way Yi Zhe wouldn't have seen his exhaustion.

As for the reason why Yi Zhe had kept his silence the entire time, Xu Tangcheng wasn't sure. Perhaps it was because he was still brooding over the way Xu Tangcheng had resolved the matter; after all, he had never approved of what Xu Tangcheng had done. It was just that he didn't want to argue, so he had not brought it up. Or perhaps, he was still keeping himself trapped in a cage, feeling that he had caused the predicament today, so he had no right to persuade Xu Tangcheng not to tire himself out so much.

All these were the guesses Xu Tangcheng came up with in an instant. He had no way to confirm them.

The two of them walked to campus. The humid warmth on the way there made Xu Tangcheng feel more unwell. He pushed his head back, moving it to the right and to the left. A pain radiated from his cervical vertebrae, accompanied by an intense dizziness that hit him at the same time. Xu Tangcheng was standing in the corner of the elevator. He subconsciously reached out to hold something for support but that hand of his seemed to have its own idea and changed directions halfway.

An enclosed space, a cold white light, the chilly handrail in the elevator. Xu Tangcheng recovered his senses and felt that the current situation couldn't be any worse.

The elevator reached the third floor. Everyone riding with them got off.

Xu Tangcheng had an impulsive feeling of wanting to follow them and leaving this place but without warning, his mind suddenly touched upon a scene in his memories that sent him into a daze right on the spot. There was a certain point in time in the past—also in an elevator—when Yi Zhe had told him that his dimples had perhaps just appeared.

When a person was exhausted to a certain level, the defences around their heart could really collapse easily. Xu Tangcheng looked at Yi Zhe's back and a deep feeling of dejection enveloped him. Not only was his heart aching and weak, his legs were also on the verge of weakening and letting him fall to sprawl on the ground.

All sorts of thoughts suddenly popped up in a jumble in his mind and just like his fitful sleep in the past few days, they pressed down on him until he could not breathe. He had always been quite good at thinking logically but somehow, no matter how he tried, he couldn't figure it out—the two of them clearly loved each other, so how on earth had they loved each other until the state they were in today?

His mind wandered so he did not see that the elevator door had opened once again and that Yi Zhe had turned to look at him for a while.

"Hmm?"Xu Tangcheng quickly glanced at the floor number. "We've reached?

Yi Zhe's staring made him feel guilty. He moved his legs to walk forward but after just one step, the person beside him stopped him with an arm around his waist. Yi Zhe was strong. Just one arm was enough to bind Xu Tangcheng until he could not move.

"You're not well."

It was not a question, it was a statement.

When the time was up, the elevator door began to close.

"I'm fine." Xu Tangcheng placed both hands on his arm, trying to get him to loosen his grip. "Don't fuss, the door's closing."

Yi Zhe didn't move. His arm was still around Xu Tangcheng's waist in a death grip.

Someone should have pressed the button for the elevator on the first floor. Xu Tangcheng watched as the down arrow appeared in the display panel and the floor number started to decrease.

Resigned, he gave Yi Zhe a look. "It's going down now."

But Yi Zhe said, "I'll take you to the hospital."

"I really feel fine."Xu Tangcheng saw that the floor number had already turned into "2" and hurried to talk reasonably with Yi Zhe. "Let go of me first. Other people will think it's strange when they come in."

Yi Zhe fixed him with a steady look. There wasn't any sort of expression on his face but he seemed like he wasn't going to let go. Perhaps Xu Tangcheng was overthinking it but in those familiar eyes, what he saw wasn't merely a staunch resolve, but also a bewilderment that was hidden very deeply. It was like a close-up focusing on a person; he was moving forward but the surroundings were fading into a thick fog.

First floor. A chime went off.

Just as Xu Tangcheng was about to be swayed by the look in those eyes, when he was hesitating over whether or not to bare all his thoughts and to communicate with him once more, Yi Zhe suddenly let go.

The door opened. It was rather noisy outside. The person beside him resumed his silence, turning around and standing with his eyes facing the front.