Chapter 109: Returning to School

After leaving the Science and Technology Library, Chen Mo walked to the window and looked down at the busy traffic below. He felt emotional inside.

After that incident where he accidentally saved Xiaoyu, the path of his life had changed dramatically. It had only been just over half a year, which seemed not very long, but the changes were huge. He had experienced too much during this time.

After his moment of reflection, Chen Mo sat back down in his seat and began organizing the technology for the Seismograph.

Earthquakes happened all the time on Earth, but their vibration levels were usually too low for people to notice.

Earthquakes were caused by the sudden breaking and shifting of underground rock layers. The energy turned into seismic waves that spread out in all directions. Seismic waves included transverse waves and longitudinal waves, transmitted as mechanical waves.

The world’s most advanced Earthquake Early Warning system used the principle that longitudinal waves travel faster than transverse waves to warn people about earthquakes early. This kind of warning system could only give a warning from 10 seconds to one minute before the destructive transverse waves arrived.

That was why Chen Mo was so overjoyed when he got this technology. Predicting a major earthquake five hours in advance would be an unprecedented technology.

Of course, this didn’t mean all earthquakes could be predicted within five hours. Sudden earthquakes caused by abrupt fracturing of underground rock masses simply couldn’t be predicted.

It was like a person’s daily life; if they followed a routine, you could guess where they would be five hours later. But if an unexpected accident happened along the way, those were unpredictable events.

For normal tectonic plate movements, earthquakes could be predicted five hours in advance. But for sudden situations, prediction five hours beforehand was impossible. However, it was still possible to speed up the warning time.

This Seismograph used electromagnetic waves to monitor the activity of underground fault zones. By monitoring the density and movement speed of the fault rocks, it calculated the time when the rocks in the underground fault zone would fracture and shift.

This was a kind of calculation. For small earthquakes, it couldn’t guarantee 100% accuracy, but for major earthquakes, the calculation accuracy rate was high. And since it was mainly major earthquakes that caused destruction, this was enough.

“Ink Girl, help me organize the technical documents.”

“Okay, Brother Mo, go ahead.”

Chen Mo immersed himself in organizing the materials. He only needed to speak the theoretical principles of the Seismograph, and Ink Girl could record them and organize them into documents. This was the benefit of Artificial Intelligence.

With Ink Girl’s presence, the speed at which he organized materials was many times faster.

Once he focused on it, Chen Mo paid no attention to anything else outside. It wasn’t until Ink Girl reminded him that Xiaoyu had entered the office area that Chen Mo snapped out of it.

“What’s up?” Chen Mo stretched and looked at Xiaoyu who had just walked in.

“Are you done with your research? It’s time to get off work now. If you’re done, let’s go back together. If not, I’ll go back first. I made plans with Ruoxi to go to the supermarket to buy some groceries.”

“I’m organizing some technical documents. We’re still in the theoretical verification stage of technical preparation, not yet at the point of working to death.” Chen Mo checked the time and realized it really was the end of the workday. “Let’s go, I’ll go with you.”

Chen Mo left the office area with Xiaoyu.

As they walked out through the company lobby, many employees leaving work had their eyes on Chen Mo and Xiaoyu. Some female employees, in particular, occasionally glanced at Xiaoyu with looks of envy and jealousy.

Chen Mo was the company’s Chairman. He was easy-going, had a good personality, and wasn’t bad-looking.

He was the perfect partner material, but unfortunately, he was already taken. This left many female employees in the company only able to fantasize but never touch.

Usually, Chen Mo stayed in his Laboratory. Regular employees couldn’t even enter the Experimental Zone. Even if someone tried every possible way to get close to Chen Mo, there was no opportunity.

“While working at the company, have there been any unpleasant rumors that bothered you?” Chen Mo walked shoulder to shoulder with Xiaoyu toward the company entrance, occasionally responding to greetings from employees passing by.

“Office gossip is inevitable. You are the shared crush of all the female employees in our company,” Xiaoyu said.

“How come I didn’t know that?” Chen Mo rubbed his nose.

“You’re hiding in the Laboratory all day, how would you know?” Xiaoyu said.

There was quite a bit of gossip about Chen Mo. Once, two female employees went a bit too far, spreading rumors everywhere. Sister Zhao heard about it, fired the two, and the others became much more restrained.

The company’s Chairman was her boyfriend, and she was just an intern but already the President’s assistant. This kind of situation was bound to generate gossip within the company.

At first, she felt quite pressured, but after Zhao Min counseled her, she stopped caring about these things.

After all, when she first joined the company, she got in based on her own abilities. Chen Mo cherished and loved her. What others said didn’t matter; she still had to live her own life.

“It’s good if you’re fine. I haven’t really paid attention to this kind of thing. Don’t bother with what others say.” Chen Mo was really worried that his identity might cause trouble for Xiaoyu.

“Got it.” A gentle smile appeared on Xiaoyu’s face. She knew Chen Mo was worried about her.

As soon as the two walked out, Li Ruoxi, who was waiting at the entrance, came up to them. “Xiaoyu, Chairman.”

“It’s after work hours now, don’t call me Chairman. You weren’t so formal before,” Chen Mo said, shaking his head with a laugh. He had experienced Li Ruoxi’s skill at “selling out her roommate” back in the Library.

“Okay.” Li Ruoxi said, “Chen Mo, next week is our graduation thesis defense. Will you go back?”

“Definitely going back,” Chen Mo said. “I have to defend too.”

“Xiaoyu and I have already asked for leave and are preparing to go back. For the next period, we plan to stay in the dorm for a few days, to experience the last bit of campus life. After graduation, I’ll give Xiaoyu back to you, is that okay?” Li Ruoxi said with a laugh.

“Perfect, I was planning to go back too. Let’s go together,” Chen Mo said. “Ruoxi, how are things at the company for you?”

Hearing this question, Li Ruoxi made a pained face. “Aside from technical work, Minister Li makes me do everything. I’m exhausted. He’s taking ‘special care’ of me.”

“Do you want me to ask him to adjust your work?” Chen Mo asked.

“No need.” Li Ruoxi immediately shook her head. “Even though I do a lot, I’m learning a lot too. Thanks to you, I know Minister Li wants to train me, so the hard work is necessary. If I still complain, it would be letting you down.”

The three left the company, got into the car driven by Wang Hai, and headed to the supermarket. After buying groceries and dropping Li Ruoxi off at her Rented Apartment, Chen Mo and Xiaoyu returned to the Villa.

That evening, Xiaoyu sat on the sofa, quietly reviewing her thesis defense PPT. The defense was in just one week, so whenever she had time these days, she would look over her defense PPT.

After a while, Xiaoyu remembered something and stopped.

“Chen Mo, regarding the donation and scholarship matter, Sister Zhao already had someone contact the school. She asked me to ask you if you want to go in person tomorrow?”

“Definitely going back. After all, it’s my donation, so I should show up personally,” Chen Mo said.

Since leaving school, apart from occasionally taking Xiaoyu back for a stroll, he rarely went back. This was a good chance to go back for a while and complete the final steps.

“Aren’t you going back to school too? Perfect, come with me.”

“Alright.” Xiaoyu thought for a moment before speaking, then continued to focus on her PPT.

“I’ve memorized your defense speech by now,” Chen Mo said, closing Xiaoyu’s laptop. “Don’t be so nervous. There’s still a week, plenty of time. Now, shell some chestnuts for me.” Chen Mo grabbed a few chestnuts and put them in Xiaoyu’s hand.

Xiaoyu was both annoyed and amused by Chen Mo’s action. She smacked the chestnuts back into his hand.

“I cook and wash clothes for you, and now you want me to shell chestnuts for you too? Do you really think you’re a pig? You shell them for me, and these walnuts too, otherwise I’ll cut your rations.”

“Oho? Getting brave, threatening me?”

…

The night passed without incident. The next day, Chen Mo took Xiaoyu and hurried back to Binhai University.