Chapter 411
This was more than just unreliable.
This was utterly unpredictable.
The man before her—no, judging by his attire, it was hard to tell his age at all.
A GAP sweatshirt.
Levi's jeans.
A Moncler down jacket draped over his arm.
A baseball cap covered his gray hair.
His slightly wrinkled eyes were hidden behind sunglasses.
How could anyone guess his age?
No wonder Alexander had described him as 'young at heart' and 'keeping up with the times.'
This was beyond fashionable.
"Professor Harrison, good to see you again."
Alexander stood up, smiling as he shook his hand, then glanced down at Sophia.
She quickly stood up as well.
Alexander made the introductions.
"My friend, Sophia Sullivan."
"This is Professor Harrison."
"Hello, Professor Harrison."
"Hello there, young lady."
"Sit, sit, sit."
"Don't be so formal."
"I'm not some old fossil with a massive ego."
"Let's just chat over coffee like friends."
"No need to treat me like some revered elder.
I don't care for that."
During their conversation, Sophia learned Professor Harrison was from Shandong Province.
No wonder he was so tall.
"Professor, here's the situation."
"Not long ago, I formed a team with two other students to participate in this year's National Collegiate Life Sciences Championship."
"The results were announced yesterday."
"To our embarrassment, we didn't win any awards."
"Now, I want to retrieve our research report."
"But both the university and the organizers have been unhelpful."
"I know you've served as a judge before."
"I just wanted to ask, as a participant, is it a reasonable request to ask for our report back after the judging is over?"
Professor Harrison looked surprised.
"You don't need to apply for it."
"According to the regulations, after the review process ends, all research reports are returned to each member of the participating teams."
"The students under me who entered the competition this year have already received their reports."
"How have you not received yours?"
Sophia was shocked.
"They get returned?
But we truly haven't received anything."
Professor Harrison stated firmly.
"Impossible."
"To my knowledge, the judging panel's work was completed by mid-January."
"Following past practice, the reports should have been returned gradually."
"By now, the organizers should have basically finished mailing them all back."
"Some received theirs as early as a week ago."
"Those who haven't should receive them by this week at the latest."
Sophia thought carefully.
She hadn't received any courier notifications in the last two weeks.
To be safe, she called Hannah and Marcus on the spot to confirm.
Both stated they hadn't received any couriered documents.
Seeing this, Professor Harrison pondered for a moment.
"You could also check with the university office."
"During the winter break, they might be short-staffed."
"Delays in receiving mail are possible."
"Alright."
After that, Sophia became somewhat quiet.
Thoughtfulness flickered in her eyes from time to time.
To avoid an awkward silence, Alexander kept chatting with Professor Harrison.
All the while, he kept an eye on Sophia's state out of the corner of his eye.
Professor Harrison set down his coffee cup, his brow slightly furrowed.
"Fifty percent of the projects submitted for this competition are grandiose and empty."
"Forty percent are pure nonsense."
"Only the remaining ten percent are barely worth looking at."
He sighed softly.
"Students these days are becoming more and more impatient."
"The academic atmosphere is also far worse than before."
"The winners from the earliest special award competitions were all potential candidates for 'Science' and 'Nature'."
"Now... sigh."
He shook his head.
"There was one pleasant surprise this year, however."
"The team from MIT, project titled 'Genetic Testing and Biomedicine', team leader Ashley Lowell."
"Grand Prize."
"The judging panel unanimously agreed it was worthy of submission to an SCI journal."
"Several professors specifically inquired about Ashley Lowell."
"Published numerous papers as a first-year graduate student."
"A renowned prodigy in the School of Life Sciences."
Sophia Sullivan didn't hear another word Professor Harrison said after that.
From the moment she heard the project title, her entire body went rigid.
This was their group's project!
How did it become Ashley Lowell's?
Her mind went blank for a second, then Sophia quickly composed herself.
This was serious.
...
Caleb Watson dragged his exhausted body back to his dorm.
The consecutive late nights left him with a splitting headache.
This winter break, on Professor Victoria Lowell's orders, everyone was forced to stay on campus.
The lab was under renovation.
Their research had completely stalled.
For the first couple of days, he still held out hope that the renovations would end soon.
Reality had harshly proven him wrong.
After idling around for a few days, Caleb felt himself becoming useless.
Fortunately, a senior recommended a part-time job.
A biological lab at a cosmetics company.
Daily pay of two thousand.
Caleb agreed without hesitation.
Even when they emphasized the high work intensity, he didn't mind.
Since when was making money easy?
It wasn't until he actually entered the lab that he understood the importance of his senior's warning.
It was truly exhausting.
But it was also genuinely fulfilling.
Caleb traveled between the lab and his dorm every day, persisting until now.
Ashley Lowell had contacted him a few times in between.
He didn't go.
Ashley called several times, hinting that he should continue writing the paper.
Caleb simply laughed coldly.
"No lab, how do I write? Steal? Rob? Give me a solution."
Ashley cursed him for being sarcastic.
Caleb calmly hung up.
Right now, all he wanted was to collapse into sleep.
But when he pushed open the dorm door, he saw Jude Granger sitting on the edge of the bed, crying.
Hearing the noise, Jude jumped up abruptly.
"Bro, you're back..." He turned away hurriedly, wiping his face.
Caleb's expression darkened instantly. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing..."
"Nothing? Then why are you crying?"
Jude stammered, "I watched a movie... was too moved..."
Caleb's face was expressionless. "Do I look that easy to fool?"
Jude fell silent.
"We worked hard to get from the countryside to Kyoto. It wasn't easy."
"We should support each other. Tell me the truth."
Jude's lips quivered. "It's really nothing."
Caleb frowned. "Is it about the competition?"
Jude's nose stung. He could no longer hold back. "Ashley kicked me out of the group."
"I didn't know until the awards were announced. My name wasn't on the list at all."
"I don't understand why she's targeting me."
"I participated in the entire project. Collected data. Did the grunt work. I did my best."
"Why would she do this to me?"
Jude Granger sat on the floor.