Chapter 43 - 18: Brother Yi, Be Happy When We Meet Again

Chapter 43: Chapter 18: Brother Yi, Be Happy When We Meet Again

"Hey, Old Yu, you’re here." Shi Zuozhou greeted him, looking up from the novel he was reading.

"Hey, Senior."

He quietly greeted Yang Yiyi. In front of her sat a thick, English-language tome with a complex diagram of a neuron’s structure on the cover.

Yu Xian took out the research papers from his bag that he hadn’t finished reading yesterday, but he didn’t pull out the originals. Instead, he took out his own notebook.

The library was the perfect place to study. The morning slipped by to the sound of turning pages and the occasional rumble of distant thunder.

He had to admit, his progress in trying to fully understand what his parents had left him was still despairingly slow.

It felt like looking at a scene through a fogged-up window; he knew something was there, but he could never see it clearly.

Shi Zuozhou’s stomach growled. He put down his novel and suggested they get something to eat.

It was 12:30. The three of them decided to go to Cafeteria No. 2 for mini hot pot. Shi Zuozhou mentioned they had a special half-and-half pot today.

The rain was falling harder than it had that morning. The three of them walked with two umbrellas, and Shi Zuozhou instinctively ducked under Yu Xian’s.

"Brother Yi, are you really quitting?" Shi Zuozhou asked, hunching his shoulders as his breath plumed white in the cold air.

"Yeah... I just don’t have the energy for it anymore." Yang Yiyi lowered her umbrella slightly to block the slanting rain.

"Now that my spot in the direct-entry PhD program is confirmed, I have to make some choices. Besides... my advisor is putting a lot of pressure on me."

"Is it still for that ’wet dream’ project?" Shi Zuozhou asked cheekily, emboldened by his position next to Yu Xian.

"...It’s not the ’wet dream’ project, it’s MCH neurons," Yang Yiyi said with a sigh of exasperation.

"I had been following the project, but I was mostly just helping out. Now that I’ve officially joined the team, I realize just how much I have to learn. The project has been running for a while, and they churn out massive amounts of lab logs and data analysis every single day."

She sighed and continued,

"I barely have enough time to get through the reading materials each day, let alone handle student council duties."

"Will I ever see you again, Brother Yi? When we meet again, you must be happy, okay? Brother Yi, I won’t be in your world anymore, but that’s okay, you have to be happy on your own, Brother Yi."

Shi Zuozhou said with mock solemnity.

"Cut the crap."

Yang Yiyi chided with a laugh, cutting off Shi Zuozhou’s whining, melodramatic performance.

Listening to their conversation, Yu Xian suddenly thought of the TDI project.

’They’re both focused on researching dreams and sleep. Could Yang Yiyi’s project group have a connection to that TDI team from MIT?’

Thinking of this, he asked directly,

"By the way, Senior, have you ever heard of a project called TDI? It stands for ’Targeted Dream Incubation’ and also involves research on sleep and dreams."

Yang Yiyi faltered for a moment, turning her head to glance at him.

"Targeted Dream Incubation? I’ve heard of it. The one from the MIT Laboratory, right?"

Yu Xian’s heart skipped a beat.

’So she does know.’

"Why do you suddenly ask?"

Yang Yiyi resumed walking. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"The head of that project has had academic exchanges with my advisor."

Yu Xian thought for a moment and decided not to mention his own participation in the experiment yet. After all, spending 5,100 on an invitation code was a bit outrageous.

"I just happened to see an introduction to the project online. Is it related to your field of research?"

"Their project leans more toward clinical applications and psychological intervention, I think—using technology to guide dreams. What we’re doing is more fundamental research into neural mechanisms, basically figuring out the patterns of how dreams are forgotten. I don’t know the more specific details of their project, though."

Yu Xian nodded thoughtfully, though Yang Yiyi couldn’t see it under her umbrella.

The serious topic ended, and Shi Zuozhou started spouting more nonsense, something along the lines of, "This humble servant’s retreat shall be for a lifetime."

The three of them walked toward the bustling, noisy Cafeteria No. 2.