Chapter 116: Educated Youth Who Abandoned His Wife and Child – 48

Shen Xiuyan could see the urgency in his eyes. Knowing it was all for the sake of national development, he didn’t turn him down.

He nodded. “Alright. But don’t send too many people—I don’t have time to teach a crowd. Just a few will do.”

“Yes, yes, absolutely.” Dean Qiu was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to fetch the people he had already selected.

While they were on their way, Shen Xiuyan was introducing the custom-built computer to Su Mingyue.

Sure enough, he was met with his wife’s gaze full of admiration.

Shen Xiuyan felt a deep sense of fulfillment—an even greater achievement than inventing the new computer itself.

So he became even more enthusiastic as he explained all the computer’s functions.

Su Mingyue tried it and was moved to tears. This was at least a hundred times better than the school’s computer.

Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the screen, and she didn’t forget to heap praise on him. “Hubby, you’re amazing.”

Dean Qiu let out a sigh and quietly retreated to a corner, looking at the sky, at the ground—anywhere but at them.

Pfft. This show of affection was never-ending.

He couldn’t bear to watch…
Very soon, Shen Xiuyan brought a few people with him and dove into a new round of research and development.

As for him, he had nothing to worry about anymore—he no longer needed to attend classes, and only briefly appeared on campus around lunchtime.

Others wanted to gossip about him, but they couldn’t even find the guy.

And that left Su Mingyue in a tough spot. She was the only person who knew what was really going on.

Well, there was also Chen Zhigang, but every time someone asked him, he’d say, “I can’t talk about that,” or “That’s classified,” until eventually, people gave up asking.

Chen Zhigang wanted to cry. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk—he’d signed a confidentiality agreement. For the sake of his future government job, he wouldn’t spill a single detail, even under threat of death.

But Su Mingyue was different. As Shen Xiuyan’s closest person, she knew more inside information than anyone else.

And from that day on, she was never without company.

Everyone quietly tried to dig out confidential tidbits from her. Some were genuinely curious; others had less pure intentions.

But Su Mingyue stuck to one rule: say nothing, and respond only with a smile.

Even though no one said anything openly, there’s no such thing as a wall that doesn’t leak wind. As the whispers spread, someone was always able to catch a bit of fresh gossip.

After various twists and retellings, wherever Su Mingyue went, she could feel the envious stares of others.

Who would’ve thought the invention of a new computer all began because Shen Xiuyan was worried his wife wouldn’t be used to the school’s machines…

The more people thought about it, the more jealous they became—but there was nothing they could do about it.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed. Shen Xiuyan worked at lightning speed in the lab.

The few people studying under him often hadn’t even fully grasped one concept before he was already on to the next.

Shen Xiuyan sighed. It wasn’t easy being him. These guys were practically the biggest obstacles to his progress.

But there was no helping it. He had promised Dean Qiu, so he could only grit his teeth and keep teaching.

One day, like usual, after making some rapid advancements, he turned to see the group staring at him with dazed, spiraling eyes.

Great—they didn’t understand again…

He patiently explained it all over once more, then left them time to digest it on their own.

These so-called “youth geniuses,” now all researchers, hugged each other and wept after he left.

It was too hard. Way too hard…

So hard, they even started doubting their own intelligence.

But this was for the country. How could they give up so easily?

They wiped away their tears, sniffled, and threw themselves into the next round of study.

Meanwhile, Shen Xiuyan, feeling bored after stepping out, wandered around the research institute.

Dean Qiu spotted him and was a little surprised. “Xiuyan, what are you doing out here instead of being in the lab?”

Shen Xiuyan shot him a sharp look.

Dean Qiu shivered all over.

Ah… He got it.

Those guys were holding up Shen Xiuyan’s progress again…

He forced a silly laugh. “Haha, how about I walk with you around the institute?”

Shen Xiuyan sighed. “No need. I’ve already wandered around for days.”

Dean Qiu: “…”

Good grief. Not a single day of fast learning from those people???

They’re all supposed to be geniuses—how can there be such a gap?

Seeing how bored Shen Xiuyan was, Dean Qiu tried to pitch ideas at random. “Since you’ve got time on your hands, why not think about how to improve computer performance?”

Shen Xiuyan sighed. “That’s about all I can do. Then can you approve a separate lab for me? I don’t want to stay with them. It’s infuriating.”

Staying with them meant either getting annoyed to death or driven mad.

Better to let them think for themselves. If they really couldn’t figure it out, he’d teach them again later.

“I understand, I understand,” Dean Qiu said flatteringly. “Xiao Li, take Shen Xiuyan to Room 6. That one should be empty right now.”

“Alright. Xiuyan, follow me.”

A few more days passed. Due to the others dragging things out, progress on the new computer remained slow. But Shen Xiuyan had already achieved something big on his own.

Dean Qiu looked at what Shen Xiuyan placed before him and twitched at the corners of his mouth.

“This is…?”

Shen Xiuyan smiled. “It’s a type of computer. Since it’s relatively thin, I call it a ‘laptop.’”

Dean Qiu: “…”

Don’t ask. The answer is pure suffocation.

What was Shen Xiuyan doing? The so-called new computer hadn’t even been completed, and now he’s made something even newer???

Faced with Dean Qiu’s quaking pupils, Shen Xiuyan said with mock innocence, “Sigh, it’s all because you mentioned improving computer performance that day. I looked over it and found there wasn’t much to improve, so I just made a new version. This one’s smaller, easier for my wife to carry around.”

Dean Qiu wanted to slap himself. He’d just said it casually—why’d the guy actually go and do it?

But then he grinned foolishly. Hehe, he certainly didn’t mind having more of these new products.

Dean Qiu looked at Shen Xiuyan with increasing affection. “So, Xiuyan, about this laptop…”

Shen Xiuyan waved his hand generously. “No problem. Same procedure as before. I can teach others, but I’ll still need to collect the patent fees.”

Dean Qiu nodded eagerly, feeling like he’d hit the jackpot.

“Do you want me to assign new people for you to teach?”

Shen Xiuyan shook his head wildly. “Please don’t. I’m already sick of dealing with the ones I have. Let them finish learning the first one. This one’s not too different—once they’ve mastered that, this will be easy to pick up.”

“Alright, alright. By the way, can you give me an estimate on how long it’ll take them? It’s been quite a while now, and you’ve even made a laptop… yet they still haven’t figured out the new computer.”

Shen Xiuyan let out a deep sigh. “Fastest, maybe a month. If they’re slow…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. After all, some of this knowledge was quite advanced—it really was like learning from scratch for them.

At their current pace, these few really weren’t slow—in fact, they were genuine, solid talents.

Dean Qiu clutched his chest. “I get it, say no more. I’ll go knock some sense into them right away.”

Since Shen Xiuyan had already said the soonest was one month, he didn’t even want to hear what the latest might be.

He grabbed the notebook on the table and headed out, ready to spur those researchers into action.

Maybe he moved too fast, or maybe he just wasn’t watching where he was going, but as he passed by the table, he bumped into a big, square object.

With a thud, the thing fell to the floor.

Dean Qiu reached out, trying to catch it—but missed.

He looked down at the thing on the floor, which looked like it was made of tin, and smiled sheepishly. “What’s this? It’s okay that it hit the ground, right?”

Shen Xiuyan walked over, casually picked it up, and set it back on the table.

“No problem. Just something I whipped up for fun. You know how the canteen food here is pretty good? I figured I’d bring some home for dinner, but I’m too lazy to reheat it at night, so I invented this little thing.”

Seeing Dean Qiu’s jaw nearly hit the floor, Shen Xiuyan went on smiling. “Don’t be fooled by how rough it looks—I didn’t put much effort into the exterior. But functionally, it works great. Cold food? Pop it in there, give it a spin for one minute, and it’s hot.”

Dean Qiu: “……”