Chapter 243: Chapter 236 The Boss is Back! Chapter 243: Chapter 236 The Boss is Back! They hadn’t chatted with Fang Shaokang and others for too long outside, Zheng Tan and Mr. Jiao returned to the hotel to meet up with Xiao Guo and the rest. The next day, they returned to Chuhua City with the convoy.

Xiao Guo had gained quite a lot this time, snatching up quite a few deals. In a good mood, Xiao Guo kept chatting with Mr. Jiao and almost showered Zheng Tan with excessive praise, which Zheng Tan ignored.

Since Mr. Jiao had returned, Charlie didn’t stay by Zheng Tan’s side anymore; he took this opportunity to rest a bit more, as looking after a cat was not an easy task, fortunately, Xiao Guo had promised him a raise.

It was already evening when they returned to Chuhua City. When the bus passed near Chuhua University, Zheng Tan and Mr. Jiao got off and didn’t go anywhere else, heading straight for the courtyard. Mr. Jiao didn’t bring much back with him, just two bags and wore simple attire. Most of his luggage was checked, so it was convenient to move without needing help from others.

While still on the bus, Jiao Ma had made several calls, timing her cooking precisely, as rare as it was, more than a year later, the family could dine together again.

Jiao Yuan was distracted during the meal, constantly glancing at his father’s bags, curious about the gifts he brought.

Zheng Tan was also distracted while eating; not because he cared about the gifts, but because he suddenly remembered that with Mr. Jiao’s return, he could no longer secretly use the internet. Mr. Jiao was not like Jiao Ma; his observations were meticulous. Recalling the past instances, although he always cleared his browsing traces, Zheng Tan couldn’t guarantee they were completely erased, and he had never anticipated Mr. Jiao’s early return.

The meal was consumed with everyone having their thoughts, after which Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi went to check the gifts. Zheng Tan squatted nearby, listening to Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan discuss the gifts, yet his ears were tuned to the noises coming from the bedroom. At that moment, Mr. Jiao had already turned on the computer, probably contacting some colleagues. Zheng Tan looked over and couldn’t spot anything unusual from the side view, and since Mr. Jiao didn’t raise any issues about the computer, it relieved him. He assumed nothing was discovered, which was for the best.

“I’m going to make a trip to the Life Science Building,” Mr. Jiao said as he stood up, addressing Jiao Ma who was tidying up the living room.

“What, you’re going there at this hour to supervise the students?” Jiao Ma joked. Many students from the Life Science Institute would stay in the labs until after ten o’clock before returning to their dorms.

“No, I have some materials I need to scan and send to someone,” Mr. Jiao said. He didn’t impose strict regulations on his students; as long as they produced results, they could manage their own time.

“Hey, don’t forget to treat your students to a meal, you have five of them now.” Jiao Ma added.

“Mhm, there will be even more in the future,” Mr. Jiao sighed.

Two new students had joined under Mr. Jiao this year; all undergraduates from his previous batch had already graduated and left, although many master’s students were still around. The two newcomers, one from far away and the other a local from Chuhua City, one from our university and the other from a different province, included both a male and a female.

Since Mr. Jiao was busy during the master’s re-examination period and had many students applying under him, just reading the pre-examination emails sent to Mr. Jiao took a long time. However, Mr. Jiao was too busy to scrutinize them, he responded generally with a few words, and delegated the responsibility to another Professor in the institute and also had Yi Xin and others assist, as he didn’t like conflicts within the team and trusted that Yi Xin and their judgment wasn’t too off the mark.

Speaking of which, Mr. Jiao had yet to meet the two newly joined graduate students.

Zheng Tan hadn’t met them either; he only heard a few words about them when Jiao Ma was making phone calls during that time. However, Mr. Jiao’s mention of “there will be even more in the future” might imply that he was planning to recruit more people. He used to recruit only one, this year he took two, perhaps next year he’d take three?

Meanwhile, at Chuhua University School of Life Sciences,
Although most of the teachers’ offices were dark and empty, the students’ study rooms and laboratories were brightly lit and still quite populated. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean every student there was extremely diligent; in the study rooms, they enjoyed air conditioning, internet access, and didn’t worry about electricity bills, some even found relationships there, making those spaces quite comfortable. However, it was less harmonious for those students whose supervisors were strict, especially those who had “spies” in the study rooms. Overall, from the outside looking in, without knowing what was on those students’ screens, the scene was rather inspiring.

Inside Mr. Jiao’s office, Yi Xin and Su Qu chatted, while two PhD students who were close to Su Qu from another professor’s team also sat there. As for Zeng Jing, she was currently in the laboratory, guiding the newly arrived juniors in their experiments.

A large watermelon sat on the table, some of it to be saved for Zeng Jing and the two junior students, while the four men shared the rest. They didn’t stop talking even while eating. The two PhD students held heavy resentment, seizing the chance to vent it out.

In the teacher’s office, as long as the doors and windows were properly shut, it was almost impossible for outsiders to hear their conversation, especially since many professors weren’t in the institute at this time, so they weren’t worried about being overheard.

“Hey, speaking of Liu Geda, how did he even turn out like that? If I were his dad, I would have strangled him a long time ago.”

“But his dad treasures him like a gem. Otherwise, how could he be so cocky all the time?”

Su Qu quietly ate his watermelon, not initiating any conversations. The three sitting in front of him were seniors, and since the two were criticizing their own supervisor, it was even more inappropriate for Su Qu to butt in.

The two complaining were Liu Geda’s PhD students, and like them, Yi Xin was also a PhD student, belonging to the direct PhD program. When his classmates were in their third year of master’s studies, he was already in the first year of his PhD. Therefore, here, Yi Xin and the two complaining PhD students were peers, which is another reason why Su Qu stayed out of the conversation.

“Last Friday, during our group meeting, Liu Geda went up and talked nonsense for half a day then let the room fall silent; I have no idea what he was thinking. He then called on our junior to crack a joke, like it’s his damn uncle’s jokes he’s talking about. Which mentor asks for jokes during a meeting? It wasn’t even funny, and he wasn’t satisfied, looking down on people, damn it, acting as if he himself is so humorous and witty!” said the person sitting in the corner aggressively biting into a watermelon.

“What’s so new about that! Some time ago, he went to listen to a seminar and came out looking displeased. Just so happens he caught me and asked me to smile. I smile, my ass!” another PhD student said resentfully, obviously still angry about it, “Had I known it would be like this, I never would have applied to Liu Geda for my PhD!”

The “Liu Geda” they are talking about, whose real name is Liu Geda, is nicknamed by many students behind his back. The professor, in his forties, has parents who are well-known in the circle, capable of leading major projects—the kind of big shots. Liu Geda himself is not very capable, but his bio on the institute’s website lists an array of impressive credits: various high-impact factor articles, major projects, various titles. All the students who reported to Liu Geda were deceived by these, because having major projects meant funds for students, making it easy to produce results and spice up their own portfolio, and it helped secure a good position after graduation, but unfortunately…

His character is really fucking cheap!

It’s really fucking full of fluff!

That’s what a lot of people think. Everyone was fooled by that display of honors.

Many teachers in the institute also dislike Liu Geda, thinking he’s not very capable. He’s hardly ever seen, only takes money without doing the work, sitting on the pot without shitting, occupying some positions without contributing. His students produce nothing, but he still manages to secure various million-dollar projects. There’s no way around it; his parents are too powerful to compete with. This is also what Fang Shaokang sarcastically calls a “strategic scientist,” only thinking about how to contrive projects and make money. As for scientific research, well, aren’t his family elders there? At that time, he could just hang his name there or directly claim the outcomes.

“If only he could speak a few good words for me at graduation, I’d bear with selling jokes normally. I’m just worried about being embarrassed by him at the graduation defense. Recently, a master’s junior of mine defended, and in front of so many reviewing teachers, Liu Geda ruthlessly criticized him without mercy, and at that time, my junior’s face turned green. Hey, tell me, which mentor criticizes their student in front of other teachers in the institute making them look like shit?!”

“I’m not afraid of being criticized; following him, my skin has grown much thicker this year. As long as he doesn’t deliberately thwart me and prevent me from graduating at the time,” another said.

Listening to these complaints from the senior brothers, Su Qu felt truly fortunate with her own mentor.

Yi Xin, like Su Qu, thought, “Although my boss doesn’t wield much power in the institute and is only an associate professor, he’s genuinely capable and amiable toward us. I tell you, even now if he came in and saw us spitting watermelon seeds all over his office, he wouldn’t even scold us.”

No sooner had Yi Xin finished speaking than the office door opened.

Yi Xin thought it was Zeng Jing, as only he, Su Qu, and Zeng Jing had keys to the office. But when he looked up, he saw his mentor, who was supposed to be on the other side of the ocean, standing at the door.

Mr. Jiao looked at the watermelon seeds on the ground for three seconds, glanced at the people in the office, and then cast a meaningful look at Yi Xin, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

The stocky Su Qu quickly threw her watermelon in the trash, not bothering to wipe her mouth, and stood up stammering, “Bo-bo-boss!”

The two PhD students sitting by didn’t recognize Professor Jiao, but hearing Su Qu call him that, they now understood and quickly put down their legs propped up, called out “Mr. Jiao” and then immediately scooted out.

“This… you’re back, I’ll clean this up right away!” Yi Xin quickly told Su Qu to help clean up.

“No need to rush, I just need to take some materials and then I’ll go.”

Yi Xin watched as his mentor truly took out a key, opened a drawer, took some materials, and then left.

After Mr. Jiao had left, Su Qu swallowed hard and looked at Yi Xin, “Senior brother, what do we do now?”

Yi Xin frowned and banged his head on the table, “Ah—done for, done for, I will definitely have my salary docked! My perfect image in the boss’s mind is totally shattered!”

In the third-floor laboratory, Zeng Jing was preparing a culture medium and suddenly realized she forgot a bottle, didn’t want to go back, and yelled, “Ke Heng, help me get the sodium citrate on the lab bench!”

Soon, a bottle of sodium citrate was placed beside Zeng Jing.

“Thanks, little junior brother, you found it quite fast this time. I’ll treat you to a meal later… Mr. Jiao!” Just as Zeng Jing, who had been looking down measuring samples, didn’t notice who was standing beside her. She looked up and realized it was her own boss, almost shocked enough to toss out the bottle in her hand, muttering inside, “Fuck! When did the boss come back? Senior brother didn’t even notify!”

Zeng Jing didn’t know that Yi Xin was also in a tight spot right now.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep