Chapter 47

"Have you gone mute? And why did you bring your hat and coat inside? Such a poser."

"I've been relatively free lately, and I didn't see the coat rack, so—"

"Nonsense, the coat rack is right by the door. You have eyes, don't you? Look properly."

"Alright, let's not talk about that." Asher knelt by the bedside, reaching out to grab her. His hands were almost as pale as his shirt.

Wu Ying dodged, afraid of being caught, and scrambled backward.

She admitted it—Asher was good in bed. But this man only ever came for that one thing, and it drove her crazy.

"What's wrong?" Asher asked, puzzled. His empty hand rested on the blanket where Wu Ying had been lying, still warm, faintly carrying her scent.

"You're a pervert. Next time you come, write a report first. Explain what you're here for or don't come at all. And I'm changing the locks!"

Asher lowered his head, shoulders trembling slightly, then let out a few muffled chuckles from deep in his chest.

"I thought you enjoyed it too."

Wu Ying choked on her words. Well, technically, that wasn't wrong. She did enjoy it, but she didn't like him only for that.

"Go sleep on the couch. Don't bother me, you scoundrel!" Wu Ying yanked a pillow and hurled it at his head without hesitation.

Asher let himself fall, landing on the bed, and somehow ended up even closer to her.

Inches away.

Within reach.

Seeing the situation turning bad, Wu Ying pushed herself up to run. If she couldn't win against him, she'd just flee—

"Ah!"

Asher caught her hand and pulled her down with him. The two lay sprawled across the bed, tangled together. Wu Ying laughed in frustration as she felt herself being dragged closer, her earlier tender thoughts replaced by pure annoyance.

She stopped struggling. Once she was in his arms, she struck hard, pinching his chest. Her strength might not be enough, but she knew a little physics.

"Hiss, that hurts."

"Serves you right. Let that be a lesson for sneaking up on me."

Asher held her, his palm stroking up and down her lower back. He just wanted to stay by her side. It wasn't that he had to do anything—the temptation was just too great.

Wu Ying stopped pinching when she got tired, adjusted her position, and leaned against his chest, listening to his heavy, clear heartbeat. It was like being hypnotized, and she suddenly felt lightheaded.

"I'm sleepy."

"Then sleep."

"Aren't I such a good girl?"

Asher didn't expect her to say that. He paused, pursing his lips to hold back the laughter, letting only a breathy sound escape his nose. His sudden heavy breathing hit the top of her head, and Wu Ying felt a chill on her scalp.

She punched him. "What? Don't agree? Is there anyone in this world easier to appease than me?"

"Mm, you're a good girl."

Wu Ying got angry quickly, but she also calmed down just as fast. As she'd said herself, sometimes an embrace was all it took.

The next morning, Wu Ying rushed out of bed in a panic. When she saw Asher in the living room, she was so angry she couldn't even point her finger straight. "Did you turn off my alarm?"

"You set it too early. No need."

"You bastard. I'm going to be late!"

Asher frowned, watching her scramble. Wu Ying was the leader of the entire team, yet she was being pushed around like this.

"Pathetic. Haven't you dealt with the people in your lab yet?"

Wu Ying shook her head honestly, grabbed a nutrition pack, and hurried out the door. Say what you will, but that was her fault for misjudging him. She'd thought he was a good person, and since she was still a student, she'd shown him some respect—saying things like she lacked experience, and that she'd have to defer to him as her mentor in experiments...

And now the man was throwing his weight around, opposing her at every turn.

"Don't say anything more."

She regretted it deeply. The experiment wasn't even finished, and what was she supposed to do now?

"Little Wu, late again today, huh? See, you're still a student. Not motivated."

She was lectured the moment she walked in. Wu Ying paused mid-step, her smile worse than a grimace. He Fu was holding his battered water cup again, keeping watch. He'd mouth off at anyone who came in later than him.

"Ah, is it 8:30 already?" Wu Ying feigned shock, tapping her Light Brain. 8:01. Tsk. "Looks like Researcher He arrived early. It's not time yet."

"Tsk, we said work starts at 8:30, but can't you come a little earlier? Greedy for a few more minutes of sleep, aren't you? Useless. Didn't I say before? 8 o'clock! 8 o'clock!" He Fu sighed with every word, drenched in self-righteousness.

"Remember to come earlier next time."

Before Wu Ying could even think of a retort, He Fu turned and walked away. He just... left!

Give an inch, and they take a mile. She really was pathetic!

He Fu had plenty of flaws, but his skill was real. He had two assistants, forming a three-man team with a long list of research achievements—but he wasn't employed by any noble house.

That was exactly why Wu Ying had hired him. She never expected such a side effect. As soon as he joined the team, he rallied the others around him and opposed her at every turn. It wasn't until Su Yi told her that she learned the man was gunning for Asher.

No wonder he was so strong yet always working freelance in the market. Turns out he just hadn't found the right thigh to grab onto.

Luckily, for the rest of the day, He Fu stayed quiet. The entire lab worked from start to finish without a break, and the sky was already dark when they clocked out.

Back in their dormitory, Asher had finished his own work and also cleaned the place. Jiujiu was cooking, and Asher sat on the sofa waiting for Wu Ying to come home.

He'd lost count of how many times he checked the time when he finally heard a sound at the door.

"You're back? Dinner's ready."

Asher opened the door a step ahead, took the things from Wu Ying's hands, and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into an embrace. When she left this morning, she was full of energy—angry, sure, but not a sour little bitter gourd.

"Did someone bully you?" Asher frowned, reaching up to steady her wobbling head. She hung her head low, reeking of smoke and the stale exhaustion of a long day.

"Tired."

Wu Ying tilted her head, rubbing against his hand, letting the soft flesh of her cheek mush against his palm as she found a comfortable spot to shut her brain off.

Completely blank. The kind where she used no effort at all.

"Left the house this morning and got caught by that He Fu, who gave me an earful. Then today's tasks were especially heavy. Finally got a break to eat, and got lectured again. Boohoo, he's targeting me on purpose!"

"Coward. Why not use some of that energy you shout at me with at home?"

Asher flicked her head with his finger. "I'll go talk to him."

"No!" That would just be giving him exactly what he wanted. Even if he was going to put the man in his place, it wasn't allowed. Wu Ying pushed him away. A man is iron, rice is steel—she wasn't about to shortchange herself.

Asher wore casual clothes, his every move elegant yet lazy. Damn aristocracy! She glared at him fiercely. Asher looked confused, wondering what she was thinking. Then suddenly, she picked up her bowl and moved to the diagonal corner of the table, muttering to herself as she ate. Asher had a feeling she was cursing him.

She was venting her anger on him. "Where did you pick up that bad habit? Come here."

Wu Ying shot him a dirty look and kept chewing on the fragrant steak. Time was precious; she wouldn't waste it. Jiujiu was reporting on the greenhouse situation, a native reveling in technological progress.

"Master, your friend Luo Meng sent you a Red Butterfly Plant last week, and it's not looking good."

As Jiujiu spoke, it pulled up the monitoring data for the Red Butterfly Plant. On the holographic screen, the plant was actually wilting. The greenhouse conditions were far better than on a radiation-ravaged planet, yet it was dying!

Wu Ying chewed slowly. First off, was this plant even a flower? The only thing she could confirm was that it wasn't dangerous. But as a flower? Hmm, it looked a lot like a balsam.

As of now, Wu Ying only had experience cultivating seed-bank flowers. Wild plants that might be classified as flowers? She couldn't be sure.

Wu Ying flipped through a few pages—previous soil analysis reports, current soil adaptability data... This information would definitely help her experiments.

She decided to rework her experiment schedule. That meant more time. Wu Ying slowed down her chewing, her mind already full of plans.

"Eat properly."

The voice came from right next to her. Wu Ying turned her head—Asher had moved his own meal and sat down beside her.

"Your hands are covered in oil. Finish eating before you work." Asher pinched her wrist between his thumb and forefinger and gave it a flick. They both watched as a small crumb of food slowly fell from her finger to the floor.

Wu Ying's eyes crinkled at the corners. She almost laughed but immediately suppressed it, forcing a frown instead. "What are you doing! It was sitting perfectly on my hand. Wasting food—shame on you!"

"You want to eat it?"

A rare flicker of shock passed through Asher's eyes. He gripped her slender wrist harder and gave it a few more vigorous shakes.

As if he genuinely feared she might eat it.

"Hahaha, what are you doing? Don't you get food on you when you eat grilled meat?"

"I don't eat with my hands. And I wear gloves."

"Oh, please, get off your high horse."

Wu Ying tilted her head, rubbing her fingers together as if checking for residue. Such a show-off. The meat on Asher's plate was cut into uniform strips, with the bones neatly removed.

The next second, Wu Ying lunged at him, her oil-smeared hands leading the charge, aiming for his collar.

"Stop!"

Asher shouted, catching her claws with lightning speed. He pressed her hand down with his free one, looking like he couldn't get away fast enough.

"Nyah nyah, I'm gonna get you!" Wu Ying tilted her head back, her hands stretching forward, almost there, just a tiny bit more.

Asher didn't dare squeeze hard enough to hurt her, and Wu Ying kept pushing forward.

"Wu Ying!"

He called her name almost in exasperation. He knew perfectly well she was throwing a tantrum on purpose, yet he fell for it almost every time.

"Ah, you stingy thing. Let me go!"

Wu Ying didn't succeed; instead, she fell into his clutches. Asher grabbed both her wrists with one hand, pulled her close, wrapped his other arm around her waist, and hoisted her up. Wu Ying went flying.

Grab a little fun where you can. Wu Ying was busy with experiments, so Asher could only stay in the dormitory. He didn't step a single foot outside during his two days off, at most only walking to the door to see Wu Ying off and welcome her back.

On the night he left, Asher held her, his hand restlessly playing with her ear as he told her to stand her ground.

She swore she was already standing her ground!

"Researcher He, is there something wrong with today's experiment schedule?" Wu Ying took a deep breath and reached out to stop He Fu. Her gaze was on the equipment in his hands—she was certain it had nothing to do with the afternoon's experiments.

"Little Wu, I noticed your experiment plan is missing a power-substance test. Students need to be more careful. Don't worry, I'll have my people run it."

And have his people run it? That would definitely delay the whole timeline. Wu Ying's lips tightened, her voice stiff. "Actually, I analyzed that test and it wouldn't contribute much to our experiment, so—"

"What do you mean, no contribution?" He Fu cut her off. Wu Ying clenched her fingers. "Researcher He, could you let me finish?"

"If you really think the test is necessary, then by all means, submit a project report as soon as possible. Until it's approved, we'll stick to the original plan. Following proper procedure is the only way to ensure the experiment runs smoothly. Don't you agree?"

When Wu Ying finished, He Fu's face turned absolutely foul.

The two stared each other down for a long moment. Invisible gazes fell on them from all directions, but Wu Ying didn't budge an inch.

He Fu ground out, "Fine." He set down the equipment, looked around the lab, and finally fixed his gaze on his assistant. "A-Yong! Put that down! Didn't you hear what Team Leader Wu said?"

His voice was sharp and grating. Wu Ying's ears rang from it, and she reached out to steady herself against the desk nearby. He was obviously just using the excuse of yelling at someone else to vent his frustration at her.

But so what? No matter how angry he got, all he could do was yell at others. He wouldn't dare touch her.

"Ooh, so you actually stood your ground? No wait, you should've yelled right back at him. Who does he think he is? He knows you're the boss. What's he playing at, throwing his weight around!"

That was Cynthia's verdict, and Su Yi and Huo Lin nodded in unison.

She'd never agreed with Cynthia more.

"The experiment should be wrapping up soon, right? You might as well dissolve this team of yours."

It was precisely because they'd entered the final stage that he was getting restless again. He'd kept quiet during the rush to meet deadlines, but now that the experiment was nearly done and he still hadn't gotten to meet Asher's people, he was stirring up trouble once more.

She'd been preparing for this for a long time. She had to shut him down now, or her entire sophomore year would be wasted!!

"I can't just take the finals like this, can I?"

"Why not?"

Wu Ying firmly refused. She was at her limit. Between the experiments all day and not daring to let her coursework slip, she had to squeeze in time to study notes and videos.

She couldn't take it. She really couldn't take this suffering.

The day the experiment ended, He Fu wore a rare crinkled smile. "Team Leader Wu, the results are impressive. You've published a few research papers too—high-quality journals with good reputations. They'll be a great help to your studies. My contribution was the biggest, I'd say."

Wu Ying was packing up. She slowed her hands as she heard him. She normally wouldn't have listened to him speak, but he really did carry a significant portion of the team's workload. He'd contributed a great deal to the experiment.

"Researcher He has indeed worked very hard." She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. She knew He Fu's real point was coming next.

"Then could you put in a good word for me? Don't worry, I won't forget you." He still wanted into the Commander's private team.

"Why? You have the skills to stand on your own in the scientific community. Are the noble houses that important?" Wu Ying was genuinely puzzled. In her view, being able to run one's own experiments independently should be a good thing.

He Fu laughed bitterly at that. Working under Wu Ying this time had probably been his smoothest project in years. She didn't suppress him, she cared about the experiment even more than he did, and she handled every step with care. The patents were mostly hers, of course, but before this, many people seemed to think they only needed to throw money at things.

She wasn't domineering either. Well, occasionally he could even talk back to her. He didn't think he was going too far—compared to the suffering he'd endured under those noble heirs before, this was nothing.

He Fu spoke in fits and starts, looking utterly resigned. But no matter how much he said, he couldn't hide the envy and resentment in his eyes, as if the whole world had wronged him.

Wu Ying understood, but she didn't like dealing with people like that.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the standing to recommend anyone to the Commander."

Wu Ying looked apologetic, speaking with false modesty. He Fu's expression darkened, fury brewing inside. She was just hiding things to keep him from getting ahead.