“You’re the new researcher who just joined the institute, aren’t you?” The deputy director of the research institute greeted Ye Shaohua with great warmth.
He served as the part-time deputy director of the institute while also holding a position in the Political Affairs Office—Xie Jingshan.
Naturally, no one at his rank was aware of Ye Shaohua’s current status.
When he saw Ye Shaohua dressed in a neat, grayish-blue female student uniform, he was somewhat surprised. Most people who understood science and technology in this day and age came from wealthy families, and right now in Shanghai, which socialite wasn’t parading around in a glamorous Western dress?
Seeing Ye Shaohua dressed like this, he couldn’t help but speculate that her circumstances might not be very good.
“It’s not easy for a fresh graduate or doctoral student to get into this lab. Make sure you learn well from your senior colleagues,” Xie Jingshan said encouragingly.
Ye Shaohua smiled. “Mm.”
“Director Xie, about the computer research… huh? Shaohua, perfect timing!” Jiang Zijin’s eyes lit up the moment he saw Ye Shaohua. He immediately pulled her over to the ongoing project. “Take a look at this discrete math problem here…”
The place was full of science fanatics, and within just a few days of her arrival, Ye Shaohua had already won everyone over with her brilliance.
“So that’s how it works…” The lead engineer in charge of the project finally had a sudden epiphany after listening to Ye Shaohua’s explanation. He immediately began running tests based on her proposed framework.
Xie Jingshan, as the head of the institute, had some understanding of the computer engineering project.
Their country had been operating under the banner of “never falling behind” and had tried to purchase computer technology from abroad. Unfortunately, Country F had asked for an exorbitant price, and with their current funding, they simply couldn’t afford it.
So what were they supposed to do?
They had no choice but to build it themselves.
The only problem was that the people in the lab had never even seen how a computer was constructed. All they had was a rough concept, and starting from scratch was proving to be incredibly difficult.
They had been stuck on the crystal component for two months now. If things continued this way, Xie Jingshan felt it would take several more months—at the very least—before they could make any breakthrough.
But he never expected that with just a few words and her proposed ideas, Ye Shaohua would suddenly clear up the bottleneck that had been plaguing them?!
What struck him even more was the calm, nonchalant look on her face—as if she didn’t even care about something so monumental.
Xie Jingshan was completely dumbfounded. Since when had scientific research become this simple?
Especially when he overheard a few people nearby discussing how Ye Shaohua was currently redesigning a camera, trying to create one that could capture color images.
Heavens above! To people like them, black-and-white cameras were already miraculous pieces of technology. And now she wanted to build a camera that could reproduce all the variations of color?
Xie Jingshan had initially thought she was just some fresh-faced newcomer, but now he realized he might have seriously misunderstood this young female student.
“Deputy Director.” Ye Shaohua withdrew her hand and, noticing Xie Jingshan’s gaze, gave him a slight nod of acknowledgment.
Xie Jingshan was delighted. “So you’re actually this brilliant.”
“I just picked up a few things from Mr. Derui.”
“Ah, Mr. Derui is indeed remarkable.” Xie Jingshan’s expression immediately turned respectful. So she was a disciple of that esteemed old scholar.
“She’s not his disciple,” interjected Jiang Zijin, the diplomat who had accompanied them on the inspection. He withdrew his gaze from Ye Shaohua and chuckled lightly. “She’s Mr. Derui’s cross-generational friend. They still exchange letters to this day. Also, I have a message from above for you—she alone is more important than your entire research institute combined.”
Xie Jingshan was stunned.
—
While the Ye family was busy scrambling in all directions,
Ye Shaohua’s standing at the institute—which also served as her cover identity within the Special Intelligence Bureau—was rising day by day.
Of course, apart from a few core personnel, hardly anyone knew that she was the one under the nation’s key protection.
Naturally, her father and the others, who were already buried in chaos, hadn’t noticed that over the past few days, some special agents had quietly appeared around the Ye residence. It wasn’t for any other reason—it was solely to ensure Ye Shaohua’s personal safety.
Even the Ye household itself had been infiltrated by several undercover agents, all without raising any suspicion.
In this era, what mattered most were talents like her.
Special agents were certainly valuable, but out of ten thousand people, you could still pick out a few. However, someone like Ye Shaohua—who was well-versed in foreign technology and understood countless things that others didn’t—was the only one they had discovered so far.
Ye Shaohua had helped the nation solve the computer problem, and now the experimental computers had already begun the first round of training.
For this reason, the lab had specially granted her three days of leave, hoping she would take a good rest.
Ye Shaohua declined, but her superiors overruled her decision, citing health concerns.
She had already advanced the computer project by half a year for them. These three days of rest were truly not much in comparison. And precisely because of that, they valued her all the more.
—
**
—
Because of the computer project, the state had relaxed some restrictions on banks and other sectors.
Although Ye Junqing still hadn’t been reinstated,
the Ye family had at least been able to breathe a little easier because of it.
The fifteenth of every month was their family dinner day, which happened to coincide with Ye Shaohua’s time off.
“Master, Madam, how is the eldest young lady’s matter going?” Aunt Hong thought about how Ye Shaohua had said the Ye family members wouldn’t have time to bother them—and sure enough, the very next day, they had stopped coming, and all of them had run into trouble at once.
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but glance at Ye Shaohua.
Such a coincidence… right?
She was probably overthinking it, Aunt Hong told herself. Lately, she’d been feeling a little paranoid. After all, she had watched Ye Shaohua grow up under her own care—how could she not know her well?
She stood behind Ye Shaohua, lost in thought, while asking Ye’s father and mother the question out of sheer courtesy.
Throughout the days when the Ye family was in turmoil, everyone had been rushing about, but Ye Shaohua hadn’t shown much concern at all. So Aunt Hong was essentially asking on her behalf.
“These are all political matters,” Ye’s mother replied flatly.
The implication was clear: even if she told you, you wouldn’t understand—or even if you did, what could you possibly do about it?
As she spoke, she shot a glance at Ye Shaohua, and it was far from a warm look—it was tinged with barely concealed disdain. “Wan’er put in a good word for you. After all, you are still a member of the Ye family, so you won’t have to return to Jinling.”
She was truly dissatisfied with this daughter.
For the past few days, she had been running herself ragged over her son and eldest daughter’s affairs, while Ye Junwan kept her company every single day. But this second daughter of hers? She hadn’t even shown her face once.
Instead, she had the nerve to go out and roam around every day, without lifting a finger to help with anything else.
It was as if this Ye household wasn’t even her home—as if she couldn’t care less about what was happening to her own family.
Aunt Hong had once been her trusted personal maid, and yet she had raised her daughter to be like this. Naturally, a part of her resentment was directed at Aunt Hong as well.
Upon hearing this, Ye’s father also cast a cold glance at Ye Shaohua. “You’re never home these days. What exactly are you doing outside all the time?”
