Chapter 5

"Do you have a Chinese name?" Shuangyun changed the question.
"Cheng Lang," Landon said.
"Cheng Lang, I like your name." After saying this, Shuangyun moved away from his desk.
She opened the door and looked back at him. "Nice to see you again, Teacher Cheng."
After saying this, she closed the door and left.
When she came in, her knock was light. When she left, her door closing was also light.
A soft "click," like that night, disappearing like a wisp of smoke.
Cheng Lang was distracted for a moment but quickly regained his focus. He'd been in the US for three months for an exchange visit. The company had several new interns, and he hadn't expected to run into the woman he'd met at the pub that night.
He didn't like beautiful women. Especially women like Shuangyun Liang.
She was very aware of her advantages and didn't hesitate to use them as weapons. But she'd picked the wrong person. He didn't like complicated things, and he didn't like games between adults.
On his computer, TUFLOW was still running the newly adjusted model Cheng Lang had made. While waiting, Cheng Lang opened Google Scholar and searched for Shuangyun's name. Her name wasn't common, so Cheng Lang quickly found her.
She'd done both her undergraduate and PhD at the same university in Sydney. She had four papers under her name, all first author. Two were published in quite good journals. Not particularly outstanding, but at least she had publications to graduate.
Cheng Lang didn't click into her papers to read them in detail, because the model had finished running.
His phone received a message from Jason, telling him he'd already moved out.
Cheng Lang had been in the US for three months and had sublet his one-bedroom apartment in the city center to Jason. A friend from his student days, not particularly close but they knew each other. That night he'd just flown back from the US and Jason had dragged him to the pub to be a third wheel.
Jason and that girl hit it off and went to a hotel that night, but accidentally took Cheng Lang's apartment keys with them.
Thinking about his rented apartment, Cheng Lang thought of Shuangyun again.
They'd never run into each other in the apartment building, but that was normal. He'd barely seen his neighbors on the same floor a few times, and he'd only moved in about a year ago.
Shuangyun Liang... Cheng Lang's gaze returned to the computer screen, no longer thinking about unrelated things.
After the trip to the US, he'd fallen behind on a lot of work.
Cheng Lang finished work at 9 PM. The lights outside the office were still on. He walked out and saw someone still in the corner.
The company didn't encourage overtime. Cheng Lang was about to walk over and tell that person to go home early when he saw it was Shuangyun.
His steps stopped, as if knowing there was a trap ahead.
But Shuangyun's words made him step forward the next second.
"Landon, can you help me look at my model?"
Cheng Lang couldn't refuse such a request. He walked forward and saw Shuangyun was adjusting a very complex large-scale watershed model coupling surface water and groundwater.
"This isn't company work. It's a model for my dissertation. I want to see if I can add a pollutant diffusion module." Shuangyun's tone didn't have any ambiguous meaning. Her gaze was on her model, her brows slightly furrowed.
Cheng Lang pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. "Mind if I take a look at your model first?"
"Of course not." Shuangyun naturally moved her chair slightly to the side.
Cheng Lang sat down next to her.
"What are the boundary conditions and initial conditions? What's the main purpose of the simulation?" Cheng Lang asked.
Shuangyun opened her thesis. "There's detailed background information here."
Cheng Lang stopped talking.
The office lights were very bright. Shuangyun could see all of Cheng Lang's expressions clearly. His gaze was focused on her thesis, occasionally highlighting key points with the mouse.
Shuangyun quietly leaned back in her chair, her body positioned to his right rear, so her gaze could observe him without restraint. Unlike in the pub where the lights were dazzling, or in the office where she had to deal with him trying to get her to leave. Right now, Cheng Lang was sitting right next to her.
He probably worked out too. His frame was broad and straight, looking like he had some muscle. He didn't have the typical tech nerd's hunched back problem. His fingers moving over the keyboard and mouse were long and strong.
Shuangyun was quite satisfied with his physique and appearance. She quietly sniffed—he had no scent on him.
Cheng Lang suddenly asked her at that moment, "What's your main problem?"