Part 2 Hello, Mr. Major General I'm Gu Nianzi

241. Want some?

He Zhichu drove Gu Nianzhi over to the Huaxia Student Association's mixer party in his Mercedes-Benz.
He parked the car in front of the building and, to Gu Nianzhi's complete surprise and dismay, followed her inside.
Gu Nianzhi had tried several times to get him to leave, but he had waved aside her arguments easily with sarcastic retorts.
Gu Nianzhi gave up: she would just have to ignore him and pretend that he wasn't there. She walked into the building and began to mingle with the students inside.
She was young and extremely beautiful. All eyes were on her as soon as she walked in. What made her stand out further was how not only was she a good conversationalist, but also was cheerful and easygoing. Her fellow students quickly warmed up to her.
Gu Nianzhi scanned the room, but did not see the postdoc fellow she was looking for, the one from the School of Engineering. She pulled one of the party organizers aside and asked, in a low voice, "Hey, have you seen Zhao Quan?"
"Zhao Quan? I saw him a minute ago. Maybe he's in the kitchen, helping them out with grilling chicken wings?" The student pointed the kitchen out to her.
Gu Nianzhi thanked her and calmly walked towards the kitchen.
He Zhichu casually followed her. She was tense as he stopped in the kitchen doorway, and looked in.
A chubby man, half a head shorter than Gu Nianzhi, turned and hurried to the door. "Yes? Are you looking for me?"
Gu Nianzhi stood frozen in place.
What the heck!
This man did not look anything like his photo on the university website! He had been sitting down in the photo, which had made it impossible to tell how tall he was. Although, he had a pleasant face that was easy on the eyes, he probably could have passed for an "Adonis"if only he had been a little taller.
Gu Nianzhi stood and stared at her short, chubby "Adonis", chagrined. She could almost hear He Zhichu laughing at her behind her back.
Well, she thought, she was just going to have to go through with itshe was a woman on a mission, after all. He could have looked like a total pig, and she would have shamelessly worshipped the man as an a beautiful made idol even then, if it had meant getting the results she was after!
He Zhichu was, as Gu Nianzhi suspected, laughing at her, but only inwardly.
He coolly looked Gu Nianzhi's "Adonis" over, before turning to leave.
Once Gu Nianzhi saw that he was gone, she breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been so much more awkward if He Zhichu had hung around.
"Brother Zhao, I heard you're a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Engineering. That's, like, so amazing!" Gu Nianzhi looked admiringly at Zhao Quan with her large eyes; she bat her eyelashes at him and smiled. Zhao Quan's mind instantly went blank under the full force of her adoring gaze.
"Oh no, I-I-I'm just like any other researcher, r-really," stammered Zhao Quan. He handed her a grilled chicken wing. "Want some?"
"Thank you, Brother Zhao." Gu Nianzhi accepted the chicken wing. She held it up to her nose and inhaled. "Oh gosh, this smells heavenly!"
She began to butter Zhao Quan up again. "I'm a law student myself, but only because I'm no good at science. I never paid much attention in my science classes, you see, ever since I was little, so I really admire those with a head for sciencelike you, for example! Actually, now that I think about it, women have always been inferior to men when it comes to the sciences, haven't they?" Gu Nianzhi gave an exaggerated sigh.
Zhao Quan was feeling light-headed from all the praise. He quickly said, "Hey now, don't underestimate yourself. There are plenty of intelligent and accomplished women in the sciences, and many are better than the men in their respective fields even."
"Really? I don't believe you. You're just saying that to make me feel better." Gu Nianzhi fluttered her eyelashes at him again as she placed a grilled chicken wing on Zhao Quan's plate. "Here, you should eat too, Brother Zhao."