Chapter 443: Chapter 414 I’ll tell you_2 Chapter 443: Chapter 414 I’ll tell you_2 Such people…

Why did Xiao Zhuo take a fancy to him? How did Buddha agree?

Zheng Tan recalled Xiao Zhuo’s biological father, shook his head, and couldn’t remember. But no matter what, this man was too ordinary, wasn’t he? Could it be his personal charm? A professorial title, coupled with various honors, should nab him quite a few haloes.

Watching those two walk to the parking lot of the Physics College, after a while, Xiao Zhuo came out on an electric scooter, and the man also rode on another electric scooter.

Zheng Tan’s eyes widened. I mean, come on, not even a four-wheeled car?!

Zheng Tan had been to the parking lot of the Physics College and there were indeed many cars worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, especially the professors aged 50 and above who had a say in the college, basically each one had one car, even if not luxury cars, a basic model four-wheel sedan was a standard, right?

The two rode at a leisurely pace, and Zheng Tan followed behind until they reached a fork in the road and saw them go their separate ways, one heading back to the West District courtyard, the other towards the main gate.

Zheng Tan squatted in the bushes, pondering the expression on Xiao Zhuo’s face just now; she seemed quite satisfied, her smile wasn’t perfunctory–it even carried a hint of shyness.

In the following days, Zheng Tan spent every day staking out the vicinity of the Physics College, also hearing plenty of gossip about Xiao Zhuo and Yue Cheng. In the university, not just among students, teachers were also quite gossipy. Sometimes, he would see two 50-year-olds standing beside the teacups on the grass in front of the college door chatting, and inevitably they would end up discussing Xiao Zhuo’s affairs.

After listening to so much gossip, Zheng Tan found out that Yue Cheng was actually only in his mid-thirties, had been married once before but divorced early because the man was always busy with experiments and had no time for his wife. He didn’t have children, hadn’t been involved with anyone since the divorce, his health wasn’t very good recently, having come through a period of convalescence; he used to work at the National Academy of Sciences, then went abroad and met Xiao Zhuo. They knew each other for a couple of years before Xiao Zhuo returned home one year after him. Now, for Xiao Zhuo, Yue Cheng had moved to Chuhua University.

“I heard they’ve been colleagues abroad for those few years,” someone said.

“Really? No wonder they seem so familiar with each other, not at all like they’ve only just met,” another person exclaimed in surprise.

Zheng Tan thought in the tree, when had Xiao Zhuo gone abroad for a few years? Just as this thought crossed his mind, Zheng Tan suddenly paused, remembering that the few years Xiao Zhuo was away after joining that project, Buddha’s excuse was something about doing research abroad. Could it be that Yue Cheng was also a member of that project?

Thinking that, it could also explain why Yue Cheng, although only in his thirties, looked like he was in his forties and even seemed a bit sickly. Xiao Zhuo came back looking the same way.

If this was the reason, Zheng Tan felt that Yue Cheng wasn’t bad; to be selected by the nation to participate in such a project meant he must be among the elite of the elite.

Zheng Tan observed for a few more days and didn’t discover Yue Cheng doing anything too out of line; during the gossip sessions of the teachers and students in the Physics College, no one mentioned any negative news about him, so Zheng Tan decided not to meddle any further.

Just when Zheng Tan decided not to get involved, Zhuo Xiaomao called the Jiao family, saying that she would invite Zheng Tan over for dinner tomorrow. Zhuo Xiaomao often invited Zheng Tan over for dinner, so the people at the Jiao family were no longer surprised; Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma didn’t react much either, but Zheng Tan began to speculate that this dinner must be related to Yue Cheng.

The next day, when Zheng Tan arrived, Xiao Zhuo, wearing an apron, came to open the door.

“Heitan, come in; if you want anything to eat, just help yourself. Cat is on the balcony,” said Xiao Zhuo before hurrying back to the kitchen, where the food was still in the pot.

Since it was the weekend, Zhuo Xiaomao wasn’t at school, and Xiao Zhuo had temporarily put down her college affairs. Yue Cheng evidently did the same.

There are two balconies in this house, one is by the master bedroom, from where you can see the large leisure area of the courtyard with a relatively open view, while the other balcony is small, normally used by Xiao Zhuo only for drying clothes, and she hardly ever came to this side, with no scenery to speak of, only the building opposite. Zhuo Xiaomao usually didn’t come here either.

However, now, both Zhuo Xiaomao and Yue Cheng were there.

When Zheng Tan reached the balcony, Zhuo Xiaomao was busy working with Yuk Cheng’s help, wearing small gloves. They had set up a mechanical frame that extended above the railing and outwards; there were two indentations on the arm of the frame that protruded outward.

Seeing Zheng Tan, Zhuo Xiaomao waved, “Black, come here quickly! I saw in the Chinese textbook of the kid in fourth grade next door, it was mentioned about two iron balls landing at the same time. I’m preparing to do an experiment.”

Zheng Tan was not interested. What’s the point of making such a simple experiment so complex?

Uninterested though he was, since Zhuo Xiaomao mentioned it, and Zheng Tan didn’t know what else to do, he squatted at the side and watched the two of them get busy.

Beneath this side was a lawn; the mechanical frame extended far enough outward that it wouldn’t fall on the cement at the edge of the building, and it was situated to avoid the area beneath the balcony so nobody below would be hit if they poked their head out.

Once the frame was set up, the timer and some devices Zheng Tan did not understand were all installed, Yue Cheng looked around. Seeing no one nearby downstairs, he nodded.

After Zhuo Xiaomao saw this, she pressed the remote control in her hand. The indentations on the mechanical arm opened, dropping the two iron balls, one large and one small.

The sound of the balls hitting the ground echoed from below, but Zhuo Xiaomao’s immediate attention went to the timer. Then, with paper and pen, she began to scribble and draw.