Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

Chapter 897: I Don’t Want to Be Your Idol, I Want to Be Your Boyfriend

Mr. Oda chuckled coldly. “Mr. Jiang, are you going to blame me for your lack of preparedness and content? It’s okay if you haven’t prepared well enough. You can always choose to give up the talk today. There’s no need to defame others like this.”

There was a wave of laughter in the audience. Nian Xi was furious.

It was the first time she had met anyone as despicable and shameless as Mr. Oda. Not only did he copy someone else’s idea, he was the pot calling the kettle black.

Jiang Yuning looked calm and collected. He replied to Mr. Oda saying, “Thank goodness I didn’t devote all my time in the past three years to a single research project. To prove myself, I will be sharing my research on the space black hole theory. I haven’t written a script for this presentation as I didn’t expect to be talking about it today. If I don’t speak as well as I would like to, I hope you understand.”

Jiang Yuning bowed to the audience before he started talking about space wormholes.

Nian Xi was sitting in the audience listening to his exhilarating talk. Everyone grew silent and listened intently.

Professor Wang remarked, “This guy is even better than his parents. He managed to complete two remarkable projects in three years. He’s speaking so eloquently on stage without a proper script; he will win the Nobel prize sooner or later. After all, he’s still so young.”

Nian Xi nodded her head in agreement. If she was in awe of Jiang Yuning before, he was her idol now.

She had grown up in a military family and she was deeply patriotic by nature. She admired the people who contributed to the progress of her home country and had never felt as much respect for anyone until this moment.

“You are a lucky girl.” Professor Wang looked at her enviously. “Four years ago, I wanted to introduce my granddaughter to him but he didn’t fancy her. You should treasure him. Although he isn’t the most romantic man, and might be a little dull, he is loyal and sincere. You should be proud of him and his accomplishments, not to mention his looks. I dare say he is more handsome than a lot of celebrities out there.”

Nian Xi was embarrassed. Professor Wang didn’t know that she was just putting on an act with Jiang Yuning, but he was telling her his sincere sentiments.

She looked over at Jiang Yuning who was still on stage. The halo around him glowed even brighter than some of the celebrities she had met. He didn’t even lose to Feng Ji Chuan. Although he wasn’t as hunky as him, he was much more intelligent and knowledgeable.

After twenty minutes, Jiang Yuning concluded his talk. The audience was silent for a minute before they erupted into a loud round of applause.

Jiang Yuning glanced over at Mr. Oda. “Do you still think I need to find an excuse for myself?”

Mr. Oda was glaring at him awkwardly. “I admit that you did a good job, but you shouldn’t accuse me of stealing your work. This is the result of my own hard work.”

“I’ve never said that you copied my work, but I will be publishing my nanotechnology report on the China Physics Research website tomorrow. Everyone can see for themselves then.” Jiang Yuning walked off the stage after that.

Everyone was looking at him, the young oriental man.

When he walked over, Nian Xi turned to look at him. Before she could say anything, he bent over and planted a peck on her cheek. She caught a waft of ginger, the smell of his shampoo. His lips were warm and tender, like a feather caressing her cheeks. Nian Xi was stunned. When she came to her senses, she realized that many people were looking their way. Her cheeks turned bright pink.

It was the first time anyone kissed her other than Feng Ji Chuan. Although it was just a simple way of greeting overseas, she was still an innocent Chinese girl.

“What are you doing?”

Jiang Yuning sat down and Nian Xi glared at him.

Jiang Yuning scratched the back of his head and said innocently, “I saw everyone else kiss their wives after they were done with their talk. Although we’re only putting on an act, we should try our best not to blow your cover.”

Nian Xi was speechless. He made a good point.

Jiang Yuning turned to grin at himself when Nian Xi didn’t say anything in reply. He looked a child who had just snuck a candy. If he had known that she was so easily convinced, he would have kissed her lips instead.

Jiang Yuning was staring at her lips now, Nian Xi was looking at him too.

“Do you think I was charismatic on stage?” he asked.

“…”

Nian Xi was suddenly flustered. She couldn’t bring herself to say all the compliments she had thought earlier. She stuttered as she nodded her head, “Yeah, you were. You were super charismatic. From now on, you are my idol.”

Jiang Yuning’s eyes lit up as he shyly lowered his head. He started to fish out his pen and notepad with a bit of hesitance. “I don’t want to be your idol; I want to be your boyfriend.”

“…”

It was too sudden. She felt a little faint. An internationally renowned scientist was asking her to be his girlfriend at such an important event.

It felt unreal.

She could brag about this for the rest of her life. Although he had brought this up before, she had always considered him a child before she witnessed his capabilities. Why did he suddenly bring it up again? Oh yeah. She remembered he had just spoken about finding himself a girlfriend that morning. Was he going through puberty? He seemed eager to get into a relationship.

Jiang Yuning’s proposal was interrupted by Professor Wan. He nodded his head with disappointment.

“Brat, you were awesome,” Professor Wang said and punched Jiang Yuning’s chest playfully. “In the three years that you fell ill, you managed to develop two amazing research projects. You’re going to drive all of us old guys mad!”.

Nian Xi heaved a sigh of relief.

She respected Jiang Yuning but getting into a relationship was another matter. When Professor Wang had finished, Jiang Yuning turned to look at her again, prepared to show her the same note.

“Pay attention to the presentation.” Nian Xi snatched the note out of his hands.

Jiang Yuning shook his head and continued writing, ‘I already know everything they’re talking about.’

Nian Xi was speechless. She pitied these old researchers who had devoted their lives to their work.

“I don’t know about their research,” she said.

Jiang Yuning frowned and wrote, ‘I’ll wait for your reply then. I’ll treat you well if you are willing to be my girlfriend.’

Nian Xi’s ears were hot. It was the first time someone’s written words were more impactful than what they said in real life. She focused on what the scientists were presenting on stage, but she noticed that Jiang Yuning wasn’t listening to the talk at all. He was still scribbling away on his notepad.

Nian Xi asked curiously, “Are you taking notes? I thought you said you already knew all these things. Aren’t you being a little too serious?”

Jiang Yuning looked a little lost, before he whispered, “I’m writing a love letter.”