On how PhDs become human evil

Cecilia said this while sitting down in the empty seat next to Bai Jie, and then carefully placed Bai Jie's head on her lap.

Seeing the scene before her, Yukiko shrugged, waved to Cecilia, and dragged her luggage toward the airport gate.

Cecilia gently ran her fingers across Bai Jie's cheek, gazing at his slightly tired face, before placing her hand in Bai Jie's.

"Indeed, you are the hand I should hold tight."

P.S.: Update

P.S.: I suspect I have a disease where I'll die if I don't update. When I finished writing this chapter, I actually felt like, "Four chapters in a row, now I feel so much better!" Am I hopeless?

P.S.: I'll probably give you some sweet moments in the next two or three chapters, and then Old Tan will come out and get beaten up.

Section 72, Chapter 10: I got scammed.

"Kiana, I have some bad news to tell you."

"What news?" Kiana's face showed a puzzled expression, her eyes full of confusion.

Taking a deep breath, Bai Jie composed himself and said, "Kiana, I'm no longer your brother. From today onwards, I am your father—"

"Wow ah ah!"

Startled awake, Bai Jie was covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily, his face still showing obvious fear.

Covering his face, Bai Jie murmured, still shaken, "Nightmare... This is definitely a nightmare... Impossible... It must be because I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Bai Jie, I just heard you shout, what's wrong?"

Outside the door came a voice that brought Bai Jie to a standstill – it was Cecilia.

(Speaking of which, I remember I went to pick up Cecilia from the airport, and then because of the explosion of the Celestial Judgment card, Cecilia's plane crashed... And then what happened? I think I did something stupid.)

"Bai Jie? Are you awake? I'm coming in."

The moment he finished speaking, he heard the doorknob turn. Bai Jie hurriedly said, "Wait a minute! I haven't changed my clothes yet! You go downstairs and wait, I'll be right down!"

"Really? Your screams just now sounded pretty pitiful."

"Really, really! Don't worry about me."

"Okay then, I'll go downstairs and wait for you. It's almost time for dinner."

After saying that, Bai Jie clearly felt footsteps coming from the corridor outside, so it seemed that Cecilia had already left.

With a long sigh, Bai Jie leaned weakly against the headboard: "What was bound to happen has finally happened. I've been running away from it for four years, it's time for a resolution."

————————————————————————————

After changing his clothes, Bai Jie came downstairs. At the dining table in Narumi's office, Shotaro and Philip were already sitting there, and opposite them, Cecilia was sitting quietly, as if waiting for something.

Hearing footsteps coming from the stairs, Cecilia turned her head to look, and the two of them met eyes the next second.

"Come down, hurry up and eat, or Shotaro and Philip will eat it all up."

"One thing I need to clarify is that Shotaro ate most of it."

"It's because Cecilia's cooking is so delicious, I couldn't help but eat too much!"

"You two, leave some for Bai Jie!" Cecilia couldn't help but tap them on the head. "Judging from your expressions, I can tell how you've been these past four years. Bai Jie, aren't you a good cook?"

Sitting down next to Cecilia, Bai Jie shrugged: "I would like to cook, but every time I come back Philip or Shotaro has already made it, and it doesn't taste particularly bad, so I'm too lazy to cook for myself."

"To put it bluntly, you're just lazy. Now that Cecilia's back, you should at least cook for yourself, right, Doctor?" Shotaro grinned mischievously and pointed at Bai Jie with his chopsticks.

"It's so annoying. Anyway, the human brain can keep functioning as long as there is glucose. Why don't you just eat sliced ​​bread every day from now on? If you think the taste is monotonous, there is jam in the refrigerator."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be so heartless, Doctor. What are you laughing at, Philip?"

“I remembered something happy.” Philip covered his mouth and laughed. “Last night when Shotaro was sleeping, he said he wanted to be slapped, but it must have been something else. He said it very vaguely and I didn’t hear it clearly.”

A moment of silence fell over the dining table, and then Bai Jie revealed a smile that, in Shotaro's eyes, was no different from that of a demon.

"Shotaro, come here for a second, I'm going to give you your favorite slap."

"Um... I suddenly remembered I have a case to investigate, so I'll head out now. Philip, you come along too!"

After saying that, Shotaro grabbed Philip by the collar and ran out of the office. Bai Jie saw it clearly: Philip hadn't finished eating the potato in his mouth yet.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Bai Jie sighed helplessly, "Those two, they did it on purpose, didn't they?"

Now, only Bai Jie and Cecilia remained at the table. This situation made it hard not to believe that Shotaro's actions were premeditated. Bai Jie was certain that Shotaro had been hiding outside, ready to watch the show.

"Well, let's eat first. It's been a lot of work to resolve the plane crash." Cecilia placed a bowl of rice in front of Bai Jie. "I've been learning Western cooking properly during my four years in Europe. Why don't you try some?"

"I can probably guess why you're learning Western cuisine. You really don't need to do this, I—"

Cecilia interrupted Bai Jie before he could finish speaking.

Cecilia placed her index finger on Bai Jie's lips and said with a smile, "We can talk about our business later. Let's fill our stomachs first."

"......it is good."

Baked potatoes with cheese, roasted basa fish with lemon and potato salad, potato pancakes with apple sauce, vegetable salad, seafood pasta... Except for the dishes that Philip and Shotaro had already devoured, Bai Jie ate every single one of them.

It has to be said that Cecilia's cooking skills have really improved a lot during her four years in Europe. At least as the person in charge of meals at Narumi's agency, Bai Jie felt that he could hand over the kitchen to Cecilia.

"Um... how does it taste?" Cecilia asked somewhat anxiously. Although Shotaro and Philip both said it was delicious, it would all be for nothing if it didn't suit Bai Jie's taste.

Bai Jie wasn't picky about food; as long as it was edible, he was fine with it. Besides, when he worked at Tianming, there was a period when he ate compressed biscuits every day, so he didn't care about whether it tasted good or not.

However, just as one cannot say "it tastes bad" when one is hungry, Bai Jie could not say "it tastes bad" when faced with Cecilia's carefully prepared meal, because he knew that Cecilia had been preparing for this dinner for four years.

“It’s delicious, I really like it,” Bai Jie said.

Hearing Bai Jie say this, Cecilia finally felt relieved.

"Really? It's delicious! That's wonderful!"

————————————————————

Outside the Narumi Office, Shotaro and Philip were hiding in the bushes under the cover of night, with Shotaro holding a night vision binocular that he had bought online, watching the office without moving.

"Hey Shotaro, don't you think what you're doing is a bit perverted? You're like a stalker."

"Idiot, this is a matter of life and death for the Doctor. As his best friends, of course we should stand by and cheer him on!"

"Actually, you just wanted to watch the show, didn't you...? How's the situation now?"

"The Doctor and Cecilia have finished dinner and are sitting on the sofa now, probably chatting. Something interesting... uh, I mean something very important is about to happen! Wait, something's up!"

"What? Let me see too, Shotaro!"

Under the cover of night, two furtive figures crouched in the bushes, spying on the two people inside Narumi's office through the window.

P.S.: Update

P.S.: I played a match in King of Glory this morning. As usual, I played Bai Qi as support, and our Sun Shangxiang was in Gold rank. I thought I could carry her, since there are skilled players in Gold. But I was too naive. This marksman got some nerve trying to tower dive and kill the enemy Tachibana Ukyo at level three, giving up first blood. She even blamed me for not protecting her! I had just shielded her from a gank by the enemy Sun Wukong, used all my skills, and then shielded her when she tried to tower dive. She couldn't do it herself, so why blame me? Luckily, I noticed the enemy was taking down the Baron Nashor. I killed the low-health Sun Wukong and the Baron with my ultimate, then spun around twice, equipped with Sunfire Cape and Iceborn Gauntlet, and with the help of our jungler Kai, we managed a 2-for-4 trade. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have won. Seriously, playing support is really tough.

Section 73, paragraph 11. Open ending

About ten minutes after dinner, Cecilia and Bai Jie finished clearing away the dishes and sat down on the sofa.

Bai Jie poured himself and Cecilia a cup of tea. After taking a sip, he looked at Cecilia and said, "Um... Cecilia, although I know it's pointless to ask this question, do you really think—this is a good idea?"

"Leaving aside your side, let's just talk about my side. I already have Chen, and we've filled out the marriage application. You were the one who personally agreed to let Chen into our family. There's also Talulah and Frostnova... and I'm your adopted son. From any perspective, I don't think your choice is correct."

"And how are you going to explain this to Kiana? Besides, you've never said you were divorced from Siegfried, so—"

Bai Jie didn't continue speaking because he had already made his meaning very clear, and Cecilia understood all of this as well. She had thought about these issues during her four years in Europe.

Bai Jie is her adopted son. He already has a beloved fiancée, Chen, and her younger sister, Qiana, who is her biological daughter. If she really goes down that path with Bai Jie, she will absolutely not be able to explain it to Chen and Qiana.

The biggest chasm between Cecilia and Bai Jie is their mother-son relationship. No matter how much Cecilia wants to be with Bai Jie, they can't openly confess their feelings. The world won't accept their relationship, and all they'll face is accusations and contempt from all sides. They could very well be ruined because of it.

“And you? What do you think?” Cecilia asked, looking at Bai Jie. “Ignoring external factors, just as Bai Jie, what do you think? As Cecilia, I sincerely want to be with you. What about you?”

"...Like you, I sincerely want to protect you and don't want you to leave my sight, but reality is not a novel, and it's impossible to ignore external factors. The scenarios in my imagination don't exist!"

Similar plots often appear in novels, where two people who are originally close relatives deeply love each other and refuse to compromise even under various difficulties. In the end, the two ignore all obstacles and elope.

Indeed, the plots in novels are beautiful, and the ending where lovers are united in marriage is always accepted by people, but it's different in reality.

One of Bai Jie's former students experienced a similar situation, but the person he loved was his sister. He was a high school student, while his sister was a junior high school student. Although they both wanted to be together, they ended their relationship when Bai Jie graduated from high school due to external pressure.

Now, how similar Bai Jie's situation is to that student's!

“Cecilia, I am still a scientist after all. I can’t let my emotions override my reason.”

“Is that so…” Cecilia lowered her head. She had expected Bai Jie’s answer, but hearing Bai Jie say such a cruel truth still felt like a knife had been slashed across her heart.

"Beep beep!"

Suddenly, in this eerily calm environment, a jarring ringtone sounded. Bai Jie looked in surprise at his pocket, where his cell phone was, but he didn't understand why someone would call him at this hour.

【Kousaka Kyosuke】

The name displayed on the phone was this—the student of Bai Jie, who once loved his younger sister.

"Kousaka? Why are you calling me?"

"Um...did I disturb you, teacher?" The voice on the phone sounded somewhat timid, as it had always been. Because of the help Bai Jie had given him in his relationship with his younger sister, Kousaka Kyosuke had always felt inferior in front of Bai Jie.

"...The timing of your call is really bad. If you were still my student, I would have made you copy every formula in the physics textbook two hundred times. — So, what's wrong? You've been out of school for three years now. You didn't call just to hear your mentor's voice, did you?"

"Kirino and I are getting married."

"..." Bai Jie felt his thoughts freeze. "Wait a minute, my mind is a bit of a mess right now. You just said you're getting married? And the groom is Kirino? Isn't that your sister?!"

"Sister!?" For some reason, Cecilia, who had been depressed, suddenly perked up.

During the phone call, Kyosuke Kosaka began to tell Bai Jie about his situation: "Teacher, you know, right? I broke up with Kirino after graduating from high school, but you see, Kirino and I live in the same house and see each other every day. Our feelings for each other have only grown stronger. Then, before, when my parents weren't home, I impulsively..."

"Although I was severely reprimanded by my dad afterward and even kicked out of the house, I still didn't want to leave Kirino alone, so I went home last week to propose to her. After being beaten by my dad again, I finally got a result."

"Kirino and I are getting married next week. Since we've received a lot of help from you, teacher, I really want to invite you to the wedding. If you're free—"