Chapter 422
While Alexander Laurent was rolling snowballs in the snow, Sophia Sullivan was alone in the lab recording data.
Hannah Morse and Marcus Lawrence had both gone home for the New Year holiday.
She was the only one left in the lab.
She was so used to Hannah's constant chatter that it felt strange when she first walked in this morning.
But once she stood at the lab bench and started working, that feeling quickly disappeared.
Sophia was never afraid of being alone.
Those years Ethan Roscente kept her trapped in the Beverly Hills mansion, she had grown accustomed to solitude.
Reading alone.
Studying alone.
Cooking alone.
Eating alone.
Waiting alone.
Academic work could be done collaboratively, but it could also be a solitary exploration.
This was a truth she had understood long ago.
At noon, Sophia rubbed her sore neck and walked into the break room.
She took her lunchbox from her bag and heated it in the microwave.
She scrolled through her social media feed while eating lunch.
She suddenly saw a post from Professor Quincy Evans an hour ago—
Caption: So sick of rolling.
The attached picture showed three neat rows of snowballs arranged on the snow.
Three rows!
It was indeed impressive.
Sophia liked the post first, then left a comment:
[Prof. Q 666]
Quincy Evans replied instantly: [The 6 isn't me [smile]]
A few minutes later, he added another comment: [I think it's not 6, it's for iPhone]
Sophia didn't understand: [??]
Quincy didn't reply again.
For iPhone?
What did that mean?
She didn't think too much about it. After finishing lunch and taking a short break, she returned to the lab bench.
It got dark early in winter. Sophia didn't take a nap.
She was afraid she wouldn't be able to get up if she lay down, and she also wanted to finish the experiment early and go home.
Everything went smoothly today. She took a taxi home at 4 p.m.
Just as she entered the alley, she saw two children building a snowman in front of the next building.
It looked quite lively.
It had a nose and eyes, a red scarf, and a stainless steel colander on its head as a hat.
It was properly done.
Sophia couldn't help but stop and watch the children pile crushed snow onto the snowman.
Soon the snowman's belly became round and full.
...
When Alexander entered the alley, he saw Sophia watching the two children.
Her expression was more focused than when she was conducting experiments.
She didn't even notice him walking up behind her.
"Do you like it that much?"
Sophia turned her head sharply, then her eyes curved into smiles the next second. "Professor, you're back too?"
"Mm, efficient today."
Not only did he collected two sets of data., but he also learned how to roll snowballs.
Couldn't that be considered efficient?
Sophia pointed at the nearly finished snowman. "It's so pretty. These kids are amazing."
The two children turned at the sound of her voice and enthusiastically invited her. "Miss, come play!"
Sophia quickly waved her hands. "No, no, you play. I don't know how. I'll just watch."
Once the snowman was finished, the children were called home for dinner by their parents—
"Goodbye, Miss."
Then they politely waved to Alexander. "Bye, Uncle~"
After saying that, they skipped away.
"Sophia." Alexander suddenly called her name.
"Hm?" She turned to look at him.
"Let's roll snowballs! I was unstable this morning, but I can definitely do it this time! Northerners grow up playing in the snow. We can do anything."
Alexander never expected that the first time he ever boasted in his life wouldn't be about his academic ability, but about his skill at playing in the snow.
Sophia looked at him, her eyes shining. "Really?!"
"Come on, let's roll a big snowball."
As he spoke, he was already rolling up his sleeves, eager to start.
"Professor, let's not roll snowballs. Let's build a snowman instead! Okay?"
Alexander was stunned.
"You said you can do anything, right? Building a snowman is good. Let's build one even bigger than this..." Sophia didn't bother to look at the man's expression. She spoke while scooping up snow, starting to work following the steps she saw the children use.
She didn't hear Alexander's voice for a while. Sophia stopped and looked up at him.
"Professor?"
"...Build a snowman?"
"Mmhmm!" Sophia's eyes were bright.
"...Okay." He squatted down.
Although things weren't developing as he had imagined, it wasn't something he couldn't try.
And the result of the attempt...
Sophia looked at the two misshapen lumps of snow in front of her. They were barely stacked together, neither round nor square, and top-heavy!
Forget a nose and eyes, it didn't even have a basic shape.
You couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.
If she had to describe it, well... two lumps.
Sophia looked at Alexander, her expression complicated.
The latter awkwardly rubbed his nose. "Well... seems my performance is unstable again."
Sophia: "...It's okay."
The more she tried to make excuses for him, the more mortified he felt.
"It's getting late... and it's quite cold out. Should we go home?"
Alexander: "...Okay."
One boast led to a lifetime of introversion.
They went upstairs and entered their respective apartments.
Sophia had just entered her living room. Two seconds of silence later—
"Ahahahahahaha..."
Sorry, she really couldn't hold it in anymore.
On the other side, Alexander closed his door, sat on the sofa, immediately took out his phone, opened the messaging app, and found Quincy Evans.
[Why didn't you teach me how to build a snowman?]
[Didn't you say you could do anything?]
Quincy Evans: [???]
Alexander: [Teach me how to build a snowman tomorrow.]
Quincy Evans: [WTF?!]
[Can I just forfeit my vacation?]
Alexander: [Sure. Does that mean you don't want your doubled year-end bonus either?]
Quincy Evans: [Shocked]
Alexander: [Okay, canceled.]
Quincy Evans: [! Don't say snowman, I could even teach you to build a snow elephant!]
Putting down his phone, Quincy happily threw himself onto the bed, rolling around like a wild donkey!
"Double! Ahahahaha! Double!"
The next day, he got up early and rushed to the lab. After making all the preparations, he finally realized—
The snow had melted?
Melted?!
He exchanged a look with Alexander, who had also arrived early.
"Alex, you see... it's not that I'm unwilling to teach, right?"
Alexander didn't speak.
"What about the year-end double..."
"Gone."
"...!"
On her way to the lab, Sophia glanced at the remnants of snow by the roadside and couldn't help muttering, "How did it melt so quickly?"
Suddenly her phone rang. It was a landline number.
She answered. "Hello?"
"It's me."
It was Sebastian Evans's voice.
"Yeah, I know." She recognized it.
His mood suddenly sounded much better. "Grandma made something delicious today. Come over for a meal? I'll drive to pick you up."
"But I'm already on my way to the lab. How about tonight? Tell Grandma and Grandpa I'll come for dinner."
"What about lunch?"
"I'll order takeout." She woke up late today and didn't have time to make lunch.
Sebastian: "How about this: I'll bring lunch to you at noon, and you can come over for dinner."
"No, no, that's too much trouble!"
"It's no trouble. It's settled then."