Half a minute later, as soon as the phone was connected, Jing Mingqiu impatiently blurted out a string of questions.
"Principal, the engine is almost finished, what about the biology lab I requested? Didn't you say construction had already begun? Why isn't there even a shadow of it? You're not starting from the foundation, are you!"
Seeing Jing Mingqiu's agitated state, Feng Weiguo quickly soothed him, "Student Jing, don't be anxious. Biological experiments are very troublesome due to contamination. Although we are not building a new lab building, we are converting the original laboratory into a biological laboratory."
"But the conversion itself takes time. Moreover, we just promoted the Mechanical Engineering department from second-tier to first-tier and arranged for two academicians to oversee it. Adding a national-level biology laboratory now would easily attract the attention of foreign powers..."
Feeling a pain like torn ligaments, Jing Mingqiu directly interrupted Feng Weiguo, "What's so troublesome about that? I don't need so many high-end facilities for my research. Just give me a regular laboratory."
"We have plenty of regular laboratories. However, if you're researching gene agents, you'll definitely need a large amount of biological materials," Feng Weiguo paused. "What excuse will you use to get these materials into your laboratory?"
Under the torment of the intense pain, Jing Mingqiu's mind raced. As soon as Feng Weiguo posed the question, he immediately thought of an answer.
"Biomimetic mechs! Beast-form mechs! Principal, I can use the excuse that my research on traditional mechs has hit a bottleneck, and I'm looking for inspiration from animals."
On the other end of the phone, Feng Weiguo nodded slightly. "That excuse is quite reasonable. Besides, it can also explain why everyone else has inventions, but you, as the creator of the auxiliary mechs, have no new works."
"I can give you a regular laboratory right now. What experimental equipment do you need? List it now, and I'll have someone arrange it immediately. However, some sensitive equipment might take some time to avoid detection."
"It's fine. As long as the most critical biological materials arrive, I can handcraft the rest myself." Jing Mingqiu waved his hand grandly, intending to strike a heroic pose, but accidentally strained a muscle and couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
"Hiss! Principal, hurry up and arrange it, I can't hold on much longer!"
Feng Weiguo then remembered that Jing Mingqiu was capable of handcrafting lithography machines. However, he was very curious why Jing Mingqiu, who could eat and jump now, was about to give up. He casually asked.
Jing Mingqiu stammered, trying to gloss over the situation.
Standing beside him, Mo Ruixue couldn't stand it and chuckled, revealing the real reason for his distress.
After hearing Mo Ruixue's explanation, Feng Weiguo chuckled dryly.
"Student Jing, if you really don't want to participate in the dance class, I can give you a certificate, and you won't have to attend classes anymore."
"How can that be!" Jing Mingqiu flatly refused, "I'm not someone who retreats in the face of difficulty! Give me two weeks, and I'll show them what true gymnastics is. I'll perform a human pretzel knot!"
Mo Ruixue, unaware of Jing Mingqiu's true abilities, burst into laughter covering her stomach upon hearing his declaration.
Feng Weiguo, knowing Jing Mingqiu's repeated miracles, had an inexplicable confidence in him. He specifically cautioned Jing Mingqiu, "Just increase some flexibility to catch up with the other students' training progress. Don't push yourself to be too inhuman, as that can lead to unnecessary trouble."
"I know!" Jing Mingqiu shivered, recalling the state of Li Zhizhuan and the others lying in the ICU, half-dead. He quietly scaled back his wild ideas by ninety percent.
After hanging up the phone, Mo Ruixue asked Jing Mingqiu why he suddenly wanted a laboratory.
Jing Mingqiu appropriately revealed part of the truth to Mo Ruixue, wanting to avoid the situation in TV dramas where things could be explained in a few sentences but were kept secret, leading to huge misunderstandings.
Jing Mingqiu told Mo Ruixue in advance that some things were inconvenient for him to say, and some things he really couldn't say.
"Aqiu," Mo Ruixue stared intently at Jing Mingqiu, "I'll only ask one thing. Do the things you're hiding from me have anything to do with your ex-girlfriend? Are there other girls involved?"
Jing Mingqiu scratched his head. "I don't have an ex-girlfriend. You're my first love. As for whether there are other girls involved, I'm not very clear. Women can hold up half the sky, and many large-scale projects definitely involve girls."
"However, I swear, I don't like them at all. I only love you..."
Before Jing Mingqiu could finish speaking, Mo Ruixue silenced him with a tender kiss.
After a long moment, their lips parted, and both were blushing.
Then, Mo Ruixue whispered, as if a mosquito was humming, "Aqiu, you don't need to swear. I believe you!"
Jing Mingqiu's eyes went wide, and he involuntarily raised his hand to touch his lips, murmuring to himself, "This, this is my first kiss, and you just took it away!"
"As if this isn't my first kiss too, you bad guy!"
Mo Ruixue swung her small fists and pounced on him, and they tumbled together, wrestling on the bed...
For the next week, Jing Mingqiu's life returned to its normal rhythm.
As usual, he spent his days showering affection, attending classes, occasionally participating in club activities, and in the evenings, going to the biology laboratory to tinker with his gene agents.
The only difference was that every time dance class came around, Jing Mingqiu would request leave, citing the reason that he had hired a private coach.
The other students thought Jing Mingqiu had chickened out, but most of them didn't hold much ill will.
They all knew that if they hadn't stretched their ligaments when they were young, it would be at least ten times harder to stretch them after their muscles had hardened with age.
Therefore, after a few casual remarks, most of them returned to their intensive dance training.
However, there were a few with petty minds who held onto this, especially the boy who, during military training, had reported Jing Mingqiu for using auxiliary equipment, resulting in him being ostracized by everyone.
He took advantage of his childhood dance training and good flexibility. After Jing Mingqiu took leave, he kept spewing foul language, relentlessly belittling Jing Mingqiu and acting as if he wanted to crush him into the dirt.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was another long dance class.
After changing in the locker room, everyone went to the dance studio to warm up. To their surprise, they found a stranger yet familiar face in the classroom.
It was strange because they hadn't seen Jing Mingqiu in the dance studio for over two weeks. It was familiar because they had just greeted him during the political class that morning.
"Aqiu, why are you here?"
After a brief moment of surprise, Mo Ruixue was the first to react, rushing forward and hugging his arm. "Your medicine, oh, your special training is completed?"
"Xue'er, you guessed right!"
Jing Mingqiu lowered his head and lightly kissed Mo Ruixue's forehead. "After countless hardships, I have now achieved great mastery..."
Before he could finish speaking, a garrulous voice like a duck's squawk suddenly sounded in Jing Mingqiu's ear: "Great mastery! Heh, I think you mean 'nervous mastery'!"