The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 550 - 482: Not This Material_2

Chapter 550: Chapter 482: Not This Material_2
"Forget it, don’t bother with her, she won’t amount to much anyway. Let’s continue with our experiment."
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"Mu Chenxi." As soon as Mu Chenxi stepped out of the laboratory building, she heard someone calling her. She turned around and saw Li Xiaoming.
Li Xiaoming, carrying his backpack, approached timidly, "I heard you are working on the PCR experiment, right?"
"Yeah," Mu Chenxi nodded, "How did you know?"
"The other day I happened to sit next to Jiang Xinyu from your dorm during class. I overheard her talking about it with another girl," Li Xiaoming pushed his glasses up, "Mu Chenxi, do you need any help? I’ve been reading books on this topic recently."
Mu Chenxi was immediately overjoyed, "Really? That would be great. I’ve been failing a lot lately and almost lost all hope. With a top student like you helping, it’s bound to succeed."
"Then I’ll come to the lab with you tomorrow to see if we can find the reason for the failures."
"Sure."
With Li Xiaoming’s help, Mu Chenxi’s experiments gradually started showing signs of improvement, but still, she hadn’t succeeded in growing living cells. One cell only survived six hours before dying, which was, however, the longest survival time she had achieved so far.
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"Li Xiaoming, lately have you been dating Mu Chenxi from Class Three?" Right after class, several boys from Li Xiaoming’s dorm surrounded him.
"You, normally so quiet, and here you’ve secretly gotten a girlfriend."
"But Mu Chenxi looks good, she even has dimples when she smiles, and I heard her family is well-off too; her dad works at a hospital. You really struck gold, didn’t you?"
Li Xiaoming, bombarded with comments from the others, was completely confused. Just as he was about to refute, Da Zhuang from his room patted his shoulder and mysteriously asked, "How far have you two progressed? Holding hands, or...?"
Li Xiaoming’s face turned beet red, becoming so nervous that he couldn’t speak, just stammering "I, I, I..." without managing to say another word.
At that moment, a stern voice came from behind, "Don’t you all have anything better to do? Why are you blocking the doorway?"
Everyone turned around to find Luo Shangqing standing behind the crowd, frowning and looking ready to burst into anger.
"Good day, Professor Luo." The crowd exchanged glances and quickly dispersed.
Even after the crowd had dissipated, Luo Shangqing’s frown did not relax, and he watched thoughtfully as Li Xiaoming walked away.
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When Mu Chenxi saw Li Xiaoming again, Li Xiaoshi deliberately kept a distance of five or six steps from her, like a thief.
"Hey, Li Xiaoming, what are you doing? Why are you so far from me, afraid I’ll eat you?" Mu Chenxi walked over quickly, grabbed the strap of his backpack, and pulled him forward, "Come on, you’re a grown man, don’t be so timid."
"Mu Chenxi," Li Xiaoming spoke hesitantly, "We should keep our distance."
"What do you mean?" Mu Chenxi stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him fiercely, "Have you changed your mind? Don’t want to help me with the experiments anymore? Let me tell you, what’s done cannot be undone."
Li Xiaoming quickly waved his hands, "No, no, it’s not that I don’t want to help with the experiments."
"Then what is it? Did someone threaten you?"
Li Xiaoming lowered his head, "Mu Chenxi, everyone misunderstood, thinking that you and I are dating. This could be bad for you. You’re great, and it might discourage other guys from pursuing you."
Mu Chenxi burst into laughter, playfully patted his shoulder, "So that’s why. What are you afraid of? Let them say whatever they want. We are being perfectly proper here."
"But..."
"There’s no ’but’. In my heart, you’re just a good buddy. Let them talk, and let’s go check if our newly cultured cells have survived."
Li Xiaoming had no choice but to follow her as she pulled him along.
"Li Xiaoshi, you think I’m very good?" Mu Chenxi asked gleefully.
"Yes," Li Xiaoming nodded emphatically, "You, you are a good girl."
Mu Chenxi patted his shoulder again, "Good eye."
The two talked and laughed as they entered the laboratory building, completely unaware of Luo Shangqing standing not far away.
Once inside the lab, Mu Chenxi eagerly went to check her experiment, only to find out that all the samples had died.
Just then, Qiao Tong and her roommate walked in. After inspecting her own experiment, Qiao Tong smiled smugly, her roommate excitedly said, "That’s great, this cell has survived for twelve hours now, success is close."
"Yes." Qiao Tong locked the experimental cabinet, and without forgetting glanced at Mu Chenxi nearby, "Some people should just give up early, stop wasting their effort here, or they’ll end up being the joke."
Li Xiaoming, hearing this, looked over displeased.
Qiao Tong snorted, "Thinking that bringing a helper will guarantee success, daydreaming, without even weighing her own capabilities."
If it were any other day, Mu Chenxi would have retorted, but today she just didn’t have the heart.
Once Qiao Tong left, Mu Chenxi slumped into her chair, hugging the vessel in her arms, burying her head in it.
Seeing her shoulders shake, Li Xiaoming was at a loss, "Mu Chenxi, don’t cry. Don’t listen to their nonsense. They are just jealous, afraid that you’ll succeed before them."
Li Xiaoming’s words only made Mu Chenxi cry harder as all the grievances of the past half-month turned into tears streaming down.
She had been studying almost without sleep, but still failed time after time. It seemed Qiao Tong was right; she just wasn’t cut out for this and couldn’t succeed. Perhaps it was time to give up and stop torturing herself.
But she couldn’t bear to give up, as this was her only chance to get close to Professor Luo; how could she let it slip away so easily.